#i watched both versions the same day like some feral creature

[bluekeaton]

i have one fear and its the dungeon meshi canaries with english/british accent in the dub

[tricoloredillusion]

More headcanons compilation:

Headcanon of Neo’s Semblance going off when she’s having nightmares and she just, manifests horrors around the room related to it, subconsciously

Her sleep paralysis demons are more real than you think, but they break as soon as she’s fully awake

Still creepy af to watch as an outsider

---

Thinking again about how my poor girl ended with a great pain in her throat because of the forced talking of the CC’s possession. The mix of possession magic to do so but while in a mute host like Neo, well, damaged her vocal cords even more for the moment.

She recovered from it after getting to the tree, but I don’t doubt the further inflammation or even infection/bleeding of defective vocal cords wasn’t exactly a nice experience.

It definitely added to the horrifying feeling of the possession. But that was the point, having an experience like that isn’t to be taken lightly, specially when it definitely felt like a mockery of who Neo was as a person.

---

Getting deeper into my Neo’s stay in the Ever After post V9-

So after deciding to keep being herself, with consequences and all, I’ve already mentioned how her intention was actually to help a little around the place, mainly because she thought it would help her find a purpose to go back to Remnant, or maybe one to stay there forever, thing is, with the changes of her body and behavior, the month she was around was probably more hellish for her than to anyone else.

Her /DIET/, while staying there she fed herself with fruits, cheese, and I want to imagine strange fish that she could either get from the beach or rivers around the Ever After. But because she now had the urges of a predator from time to time, the EFFORT she had to make to not eat any of the adorable and rational animal companions from the place was almost painful.

She installed her main spot in the Cake Acre. She may or may have not consumed a lot of sugary stuff there to keep her mind busy and get sugar high.

Her reputation as the Mad Hatter completely came from the fact that at times, in moments in which she wanted to eat some of the Afterans, she isolated herself in the Cake Acre for a closed tea party. One in which she was surrounded by illusions rather than real creatures. Playing pretend until the sensation of hunger for flesh went away.

There was no real Jabberwalker anymore because Neo killed it, but at least the Reassuring Rabbit helped with fixing the hearts of the Afterans a little, and in part it included Neo herself when going through a very bad episode.

The illusory characters that accompanied her delusions were, of course, based on the Alice in Wonderland characters. Other versions of them, anyway. Her own dormouse, the March Hare…and Alyx.

---

The things she gained from the post-possession are:

Heightened senses (smell, hearing…).

The white slit pupils. She can now see in the dark.

Sharp teeth. To tear apart prey.

Nails that grow like sharp nails (in both, hands and feet). Also to help with hurting.

Feral cat behaviour/urges of a predatory animal at times.

Heat cycles. A few days before her period, she gets one.

What’s only part of a trauma response of her Semblance:

Cat ears and a tail. When the CC possessed her, they made ears and a tail appear on the body, so subconsciously, she feels uncomfortable without them -ironically enough- because at the same time, the whole cat thing makes her disgusted with herself.

---

The fact I didn’t directly mention yet (around here) how my Neo has problems with wanting to eat ‘dead prey’ thanks to the feral side of her half-beast condition now.

Including other people.

She isn’t exactly too proud of it, but it has happened- :’)

+

When I mentioned the cannibalism headcanon, I avoided adding that Neo would go as far as to eat organ and bone like feral cats do, but now you gotta live with the burden of knowing as well.

And yes, her body changed enough to be able to consume raw flesh and stuff.

The only thing is that she’s small enough to never be able to eat her prey whole if it ends up being a person, pretty much.

---

It’s still funny whenever I refer to my Neo design as ‘my version of ascended Neo’ when, yes, she did have a talk with the tree and became wood, but technically she didn’t ascend, otherwise she would’ve lost all her memories.

NOW, the fact she chose herself very much like Ruby speaks by itself. My Neo would rather keep the memories of her life (specially because, how cruel would it be to FOREVER forget about Roman himself?) than lose them.

She would rather endure the trauma and the changes in her body to not forget Roman and her life experiences, even if she has to work through her struggles again. Like, there’s part of her screaming that she’s strong enough.

+

My Neo didn’t have a graceful fall into the tree at the end to ‘ascend’, she actually sat on the edge of the area after bowing to team RWBY and Jaune, unsheathed Hush, and cut her neck with the blade.

Letting her own weight to fall down into the tree afterwards, and finally 'ascending’.

Edit: it left a scar on her neck.

---

Depressing headcanon time for my Neo! So, beware. Mention of suicidal tendencies ahead.

Because I didn’t write this one down until now but, we already know that my Neo went through one of the biggest breakdowns after the fall of Beacon- Roman’s death and the shocking sight of his remains affected her REALLY bad, to the point her Semblance started going off to torment her with the images of her parents and Roman.

At that point in time the illusions couldn’t speak out loud, but Neo’s mind did enough with tormenting her with inner thoughts and the inner voices of the people she projected.

That being, Carmel, Jimmy and Roman. Not only was she extremely broken, but she also felt some guilt at first about not being there to protect Roman.

So, well, she fell into a depressive episode for some time. After 2 or 3 days of the fall of Beacon, she didn’t outright think of going to find Cinder at Mistral- she had to work through her mood at first, and at some point of the day, she was so emotionally exhausted, that she had a small incident in which she almost let the illusions to actually kill her.

Jimmy and Carmel holding her in place, and Roman choking her to death.

It was a subconscious wish of wanting to end with her life, but, of course, because there was still a part of her that wanted to live, the same way her subconscious gave her these living nightmares, it took them away, so before it could get too severe, she made the illusions disappear.

It was a very harsh week? Month? It really took her a while to recompose herself and turn her depression into wrath and thus, get into the path for revenge.

[arwenkenobi48]

Ok so I’ve been massively sleepy all day, but I’ve just woken up from the sweetest dreams and want to share them while I can still remember them.

The first dream was set in the future, after a socialist revolution. I was visiting a shop in Glastonbury and bought a few little mythical creature figurines and bc of the new laws in place, there was a policy that you could buy something without having to pay for it. Also when I was in that shop I was browsing through an old DVD section and found a collector’s edition of Disney’s Robin Hood inside a special cause designed to look like a Victorian novel.

Then some time later I was watching a new Star Wars series inspired by Tales Of The Jedi, only they’d retconned Feral’s death and he was now hanging out with his brothers on Dathomir and living a peaceful life, with Mother Talzin telling them all old folk tales. Just seeing Feral alive, well and happy made me feel so euphoric.

And the second dream focused on a film version of Faust. Or rather, an avant garde experimental low budget fantasy film like a cross between Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Dark Crystal that had a Faust subplot. Faust and Mephistopheles were even portrayed by Paul Hilton and Arthur Darvill just like in the Globe theatre production.

I remember two scenes with them the most. In one, they were in a forest and Faust was playing either a flute or some pan pipes and Mephistopheles was dancing to it in a rather, well, sensual way.

The other scene I remember with them was very similar to that, only they were in Hell and both playing strange flute like instruments while dancing with damned souls, with a song similar to David Bowie’s Lazarus playing in the background as the credits rolled over the footage. It also occasionally cross faded to an 80s music video of a glam rock singer dancing in slow motion in an opera star’s dressing room.

There was also a post credits scene to the film involving a funeral and some kind of turtle like creature called Snuffleupagus (like the thing of the same name from Sesame Street) and a running gag with two characters arguing about who was going to hold a dead fish before they went to fight a huge monster. They eventually reconciled and had this sort of bromance when they held each other hands and said “we’re both holding the fish” in unison and then sacrificed themselves to save everyone, yet somehow ended up being completely ok.

There was also a nightmare subplot about a curse I had to break but it never fully played out bc the dream became a lucid dream and I decided to retcon it.

I haven’t had dreams like this in a long time and I think it might be a sign that my life is finally getting back on track. And yeah I just want to share it with everyone. Hope I have dreams like this again ❤️

[bananagrin]

Here are a couple of L&S gremlin-experiment headcanons and ideas that disregard some canon

Stitch and 627 both sink like rocks because of their bone and muscle mass. This is a flaw of their superstrength; the materials they generate to make their bodies so powerful, fast and tough is also quite dense and heavy.

Reuben is sturdy, but isn’t indestructible like Stitch. But unlike Stitch, he does have rapid regenerative healing. Jumba marked the healing ability as a failure, and replaced that ability with indestructibility in future versions, for two reasons: the first reason is that the side effect of super-healing is an overactive metabolism - 625 requires massive amounts of nutrition, even when he’s not using the healing factor. The second is that healing does not negate pain, which leads to the experiment avoiding dangerous or strenuous circumstances altogether. (Additionally, Turo, Jumba’s home planet, does not have large bodies of water, and has a weaker gravitational pull, so indestructibility’s side effect of density is less of a hassle compared to regeneration’s metabolism.) Relatedly, Reuben can swim! Definitely not very well, but he can. Even if his superstrength means thicker muscles, he isn’t so heavy that the muscle can’t support itself, unlike his younger cousins. His swimming still looks a lot like flailing though.

The antennae on Stitch and 627 function less like an insect’s antennae and more like a cat’s whiskers, as well as sense heat like a snake and read electromagnetic waves like an eel. (Reuben doesn’t have antennae; instead, the brown-capped “fur” on his head extend into spines.)

Crowds cause the feral programming of the experiments to trigger - they do have minor destructive instincts beforehand, but in cities they’ll rampage. It also causes them to have a disregard for everything outside of this programming, making it impossible to hide them. (I love that Stitch & Ai had Stitch transform like a werewolf when he entered a city? That’s a great idea, but I’d make him more alien and monstrous, rather than just... bigger.) Also, Reuben does has this programming as well, despite his laidback attitude; that snarling when his pod was rehydrated wasn’t for show! He just personally doesn’t care much for it, he doesn’t see the point of Jumba’s objective. Why cause chaos when you can watch TV?

627 has a bunch of cool abilities, both new and old, but the faults of the old design weren’t fixed. 627 was kind of a rush job - “experimental” is the key word - he wasn’t really meant to be the ultimate perfect chaos gremlin, more of a test run for new features. He is bigger than Stitch so as to be more powerful, but it’s also because he has so many extra accessories to fit. More limbs, more organs, more teeth. He was also programmed to find malicious chaos fun rather than just having a feral instinct, in order to avoid another early retirement a la Stitch or Reuben. The hypothesis was that this would provide extra incentive, but this workaround ultimately failed.

Reuben was first activated on Turo, and spent his days being Jumba’s lab assistant - this much is canon. But he also already knows most of Jumba’s experiments, either from browsing Jumba’s files or from first-hand experience. He just doesn’t want to put work into helping Gantu, because again, he doesn’t see a point to it.

Jumba sampled some DNA from alien creatures, some of it was invented, and he even used his own DNA. It’s not a coincidence that the faces of some of the experiments resemble Jumba’s - low squinted eyes, wide mouth and large teeth, exact same nose. (For 628, who will always be purely a fanon character since their pod wasn’t ever activated, it’d be neat if Jumba took cues from some of Earth’s animals, specifically ones found on Kauai.)

Experiments take a while to create, even for a technologically advanced mad scientist. The amount created per year varies, but setting the bar at one experiment per 3 months, that would be 4 experiments per year. 600 experiments divided by 4 = 150 years. That’s probably a loose estimate but either way, Jumba’s gotta be kind of older than anticipated... He is an alien.

[indigobackfire]

HPHM OC Profile ✧

Phoenix Nobleworth

" You're like a poisonous flower, Phoenix. Beautiful and inviting with all your colors and aromas and deadly force. "

Full Name: Phoenix Lazar Nobleworth Silverwood

Nicknames: Pheny. Birdy (by some of his Hufflepuff friends). Nobleworth. Silverwood (by Snape out of spite).

Gender: Male.

Birthday: 12th of May, 1973.

Born: Deva, Transylvania, Romania.

Mother: Biological: Antonia Lazar, full Veela. Adoptive: Clarin (née Tramer) Silverwood.

Father: Biological: Emilian Nobleworth, Scottish, Half-Veela, Gryffindor. Adoptive: Palmer Silverwood.

Siblings: Jacob Silverwood (b. 1968), Indigo Silverwood (b. 1973).

Ethnicity: Romanian, Scottish.

Species: Veela.

Sexuality: Heterosexual.

MBTI Type: IN(TorF)P-T (I can't decide, so he's both).

Blood Status: Half-blood (I think.)

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff.

Appearance

Eyes: His eyes are a shade between green and blue with very light tones of lilac depending on the light. But due to his Veela powers he can change them into an shape or color he likes.

Hair: A light shade of golden blonde, wavy, usually grown below his chin. (At some point, he dyed a strand turquoise to impress his crush, I know, wild.)

Height: He's reasonably tall usually towering by little other boys, with long legs.

• He's got those handsome looks expected from a full Veela, structural face but round features give him a soft look. He's very strong despite his slim figure. His skin is pretty fair but he has a myriad of scars from past transformations.

• He's told he's a perfect mixture of his parents which gives him a friendly and suave look that easily turns authoritative and seductive when he uses his Veela powers of seduction.

Veela Form: Different from what's described in canon, I like to imagine Veelas having feathers that differ from people to people. Phoenix's feathers are fair golden with the inner side of his wing in shades of red, the feathers go up to the knees and elbows while hands and feet become bird-like with long black talons. His features and ears become sharper, and his teeth, fangs. His eyes turn silver-white when he turns by his will and bright yellow when forced to turn.

Transformation is hardly ever painless and he often hurts himself and takes longer to heal because of the Veela blood. Both spells and potions don't work as effectively, which is why he fights to control his temper, beyond the fact he can end up hurting somebody else.

Transformation occurs when he's either angry, instigated or when someone pulls out a string of his hair. Unless for the latter, he has partial control over his transformation/consciousness (nevertheless requiring practice and focus).

Magical Aspects

Wand: Pearwood with Veela hair core and an amber stone for stability, 14'' and flexibility. "Pearwood produces wands of splendid magical powers, which give of their best in the hands of the warm-hearted, the generous, and the wise, also among the most resilient." Veela's hair core is known to be temperamental — which is why Olivander had trouble making Phoenix's wand, having to insert molten amber to the torn wand for stability. The hair came from one shed by his mother which they used to keep stored for such use.

Patronus: Thunderbird. The Thunderbird is a large, magical avian beast native to North America. A close relative of the Phoenix. They can create storms as it flies and is highly sensitive to danger. They possess three pairs of powerful wings and have feathers that shimmer with cloud-like patterns.

Patronus memory: The day his wizard powers started presenting themselves — he stopped a sculpture from falling on his dad's head within a beat of his heart — and they had a real feast that night.

Veela Abilities: Beyond the popular ability to seduce - which really began when he turned 14 -, Veelas can also dwell and create fire from their hands in human form but requires training to control.

Boggart:

Penny (in specific because he hates to see her cry) holding his dead sister, hurt and bleeding, and hearing Penny say how could he have done that, because he's terribly afraid of losing his control and hurting Indigo.

Riddikulus: Penny tuns into Tonks and Indigo wakes up saying it was ketchup and makeup all along.

Amortentia: Regular burning candles, purple passionfruit, the smell of the house/apartment he lives in with his family, Peppermint tea, and the smell of fresh clay.

Once he gets over the fear of losing control somewhere around the end of his 4th year, his boggart in year 5 turns into Inferius versions of his parents after he learns about them in DADA, but even worse than described in the textbooks, with bugs crawling out of their mouths, a half-rotten dragon head on their lap and clothes stained with nearly black blood.

He has a hard time using Riddikulus on that one.

Miscellaneous

Pets: A Flama Squirrel (I made up from a real one), a magical squirrel that sets itself on fire when threatened, mostly predated by smaller breeds of dragons and Chimeras. The Flama's liver is commonly used in Erumpent potion with the intention of increasing its property but its lack doesn't spoil the potion, and their glands used to be common in perfumes for aphrodisiac fragrances until they started going extinct from excessive hunting.

Things he always carries with him: His wand, a chocolate bar, his favorite quill, a flask of water, and his class schedule cause he forgets them very often.

Lucky Amulets: A feather from his mom and another from his dad that he can wear on his hair and does on special occasions.

Best Friends

His sister, but as I did for her, I want to write their relationship in another post.

Aspen: Not only his cousin but also one of his best friends. Their personalities clash, her being outspoken and feral, and him being softer and more collected, yet they can't live without each other. He considers himself her protector, but from how savvy she is, it's her who ends up protecting him most times.

Boy!Rowan: His first Hufflepuff friend having met at the Hogwarts Express on their first ride. Rowan is his best friend and partner in crime. They usually spend time reading, walking open fields, and helping his sister with her plans of finding the cursed vault. Rowan supports him with tests and homework when his personal life gets overwhelming.

Chiara: They easily bond after he finds out her secret about being a werewolf, and they share support and help in times of instability. They like going out on picnics and to watch the creatures in the reserve. They actually enjoy dueling each other for fun, it's cute.

Penny: His first crush while still a boy in Hogwarts, he enjoys her company from her confidence and overall bright personality. Despite growing out of his affection for her, they're still good friends and enjoy each other's company. He offers a comforting shoulder when her relationship with her sister gets tricky.

Diego: He and Diego take a long time until they officially hit it off. Diego's personality being too grandiose and extroverted for Phoenix's taste. But as soon as he discovers that Aspen has a mad crush on him, goes out of his way to find out more about him, not trusting him to be a proper suitor for her. Despite his opinions, with time, their relationship evolves into a sincere friendship from Diego's good humor and adventurous heart.

Badeea: The one person he never thought he'd be friends with considering her intellectual (Ravenclaw-like) demeanor and collected attitude. But one day, when she gathers the courage to call him to pose for one of her paintings, he finds out she shared the exact same thoughts about him. Their friendship is quiet-like and profound, they share their thoughts about recent reads and go stargazing.

Orion: He first interacts with Orion when his sister joins the Gryffindor quidditch team and never he would've guessed how much Orion would mean to him. But with time he learns that Orion's presence is a suave and soothing one, and when he confronts Orion about how he can be that way, he decides to guide him into spiritual and mental balance. They meditate, chill and bond over shared experiences -- both being orphans, cool-headed, and deeply compassionate people.

Dormmates: It's him, Rowan, Diego, and two muggle-born boys, Lance and Edward, through which they learn a lot from the muggle world.

Academics

Favorite Classes:

History of Magic (when his friends are teaching)

Herbology

Ancient Runes*

Divination

Least Favorite:

Potions

Arithmancy

Favorite Professor: Minerva McGonagall. She's just so thoughtful and poise, the coolest animagus and the most powerful witch he knows.

Least Favorite: Snape for obvious reasons. He doesn't hate Snape but he also rather not be in his presence in potions class.

Quidditch: He cheers for Gryffindor when his sister is playing against the other houses, but his allegiance is to Hufflepuff. Imagine his excitement when Cedric Diggory joined the team and came down slaying with his abilities.

Yum,yum my Hufflepuffy boy, I love him. Can't wait to get into more detail about his past and romantic relationships.

[austarus]

Harrison Wells (Eobard Thawne) Integrated Revelations (3/3)

**A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me.

**Hey guys, enjoy the final installment! Meanwhile, I’m going to go cry about physics because our physics department is shit and I’d rather much learn from Eo or Harry physics since they’ll actually teach me. Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds! 

Part 1   Part 2

Word Count: 5770

“Right here,” future Barry responded calmly as he entered the Cortex. Both versions made eye contact before future Barry sighed to himself. He knew he royally screwed up big time. The speedster was supposed to be in and out with the speed equation. I didn’t intend to get them all tangled with- with that Time Wraith… What’s done is done, but at least I know Thawne and I are in the same boat. Barry took a glimpse at you. Not that it’ll matter anyway. He won’t deny the immense hole that would dig itself in your chest a year from now. Stoic and devoid of any of the warm emotions you normally bring to the labs. It… is what it is. Eddie made his choice that day, ‘there are no such things as coincidences’.

“Okay,” Cisco stepped out of the small lab with Caitlin following behind. “Not how I expected today to turn out.” You gave Eobard a look as if to say, you trained him. Eobard ignored the meaning behind your glance while you both remained in the side lab, observing the interaction between these four.

“Yeah,” Future Barry agreed quietly to himself.

“Okay, so I'm-who are... who are you?” Present Barry stumbled over his words, his mind trying to catch up with what his eyes were seeing.

“Who is he? Who are you?” Caitlin chimed in with an arched brow, eyes moving between the two Barry’s

Present Barry frowned at the biological genius. “What do you- I'm Barry. I'm Barry. Your Barry. He's-”

“-Your doppelganger.” You face-palmed at Cisco’s revelation, whispering an ‘oh my god’ to yourself while directed your gaze up to the ceiling. Eobard started to wheel out of the small side lab, where you and held be at the back of the standing group.

“No, not yet.” Eobard gave Future Barry a subtle incredulous look as he continued to talk. He clenched a fist tightly, resting an arm on the armrest of his wheelchair You mouthed, ‘Bro, just shut up!’ and even made hand gestures to your mouth. “I am you, Barry. Just… different.” Present Barry nodded in awe.

Cisco looked between the two, an urge to know which Barry’s a fraud or not, and if any of this is actually real, “Wait a second, how do we know which one's the real Barry?”

A hurt look crossed Present Barry’s puppy-like expression, “Dude, okay, I've watched ‘Wrath of Khan’ with you like five times.”

“Imposter!” Cisco pointed an accusatory finger at Future Barry. You know, the one that’s been running around this entire time after the comms incident and insistence on a speed equation.

Eobard just shook his head at the nonsense between the two Barry’s and Cisco, trying to somehow keep it together before he popped a blood vessel. “Yeah, and every time at the end, you turn to me and you say, ‘I have been and always shall be your friend’."

“Haha! You, imposter!” Cisco cried out in frustration, both arms directed at the two different Barry’s. Caitlin just narrowed her eyes to a squint at Present Barry. “What is going on here?” You were just baffled at this point and 1000% done with Bartholomew Henry Allen aka the best person to run his mouth and reveal everything.

“Okay, guys, I'm sorry. This was not supposed to happen. The tranq dart that Caitlin made,” Eobard started gesturing for Future Barry to not mention anything, “was supposed to last a lot longer.”

“I did not give him a tranq dart,” Caitlin defended herself, arms up as an act of innocence.

“Okay, no, yes, not you, the you from the time that I am from.” You were now just screaming on the inside because Future Barry just kept talking, revealing things he shouldn’t be and exactly what he did to knock his past self out. Eobard just gave up sending visual signs and mouth words to stop talking like any sensible person. You just gave Eobard an a ‘I don’t know what to do with this one anymore’ look, and you’re pretty sure he was have the same thoughts. You sighed inaudibly when Eobard just shook his head in defeat and shrugged his shoulders at you.

“The time that you are from?” Present Barry asked with a high level of disbelief, the words sounding foreign on his tongue.

“I think what he's trying to say is he's from the future,” Eobard finally stepped in (not literally, just figuratively), wheeling himself forward. His eyes hadn’t left Barry’s, maintaining a sort of placid look, but the emotion behind his eyes were far from stoic. Of course, now he was dealing with two ridiculous speedsters of his archnemesis. You saw Eobard run his thumb over the tips of his fingers on one hand while the other remained on the control panel of the wheelchair.

“The future?”

“Yeah.”

“The future?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, the future,” Present Barry was cut off the third time he asked.

“Yes,” replied for the third time in a flat tone, Eobard’s mind already launched into various ways to keep Present Barry from learning the truth of his identity and intentions. More importantly, all the ways the yellow speedster can keep you safe and out of the scarlet speedster’s grasp for any sort of leverage against himself.

“Are we saying I can time-travel?” Present Barry finally questioned his future self.

Future Barry chuckled lightly, nodding gently, “One day.”

“Oh, that explains the white on the symbol.” Cisco piped up once more, ideas whirling through his mind already. You saw your other best friend’s excitement rise at the possible time theories. “Well, wait a second. Suppose we now change your emblem. Will it be because we got the idea from this? Or, I mean, that would mean-”

“Stop talking.” Eobard shut Cisco up before rounding his heated gaze to Future Barry with a pointed finger. “You stop talking too, all right? More you say, the more the timeline is disrupted. Now I'm going to assume that your presence here is the reason that thing is attacking us. Hm?” Eobard tried a 3rd time to signal Barry to play along without giving any more information of the future to his past self and the others. The tone change should have been a clear indicator too.

“What? What thing?” Present Barry’s face contorted in confusion at Dr. Wells.

He legit looks like a lost puppy.

“Have you ever seen ‘The Frighteners’?” Cisco asked his present time buddy, who nodded at the reference. “It's sort of like that, but scarier and faster and it's after you-after him.” The mechanical genius corrected himself, pointed at the future version of his best friend.

“Yeah, it's been chasing me ever since I got here,” Future Barry confessed.

“Okay, so how do we stop it?” Present Barry looked to everyone for some kind of answer.

“We don't know.” You responded with Eobard, glancing at one another before running a hand through your hair tiredly. You wanted to just go home and lie down on a bed with a fluffy blanket with your boyfriend beside you, threading a hand through your hair while you give him teasing kisses just to hear that deep chuckle. Three Barry’s is too much in one day, if I’m going to be honest.

“Then what are we gonna do?” Present Barry raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“The one thing we can.” You and the others watched Eobard roll away, he had a plan or came up with some sort of reasonable plan. Both Barry’s glanced at each other once more, but this time a look of awe and a wave of thrill definitely rushed through both. Possibly infecting Cisco along with them. But they knew better, knew that this Time Wraith creature could hurt anyone and that the Team needed leveled heads to eradicate it.

***

“What-What are we doing here?” Future Barry questioned, entering the Time Vault with you and Eo. His green eyes couldn’t help but glance over the yellow suit with Dr. McGee’s Tachyon device attached to it. The staged night mulled through his mind rapidly thanks to his speedster abilities. How they were all tricked into essentially handing it over to the Reverse Flash. Either way it seemed that Thawne was going to get it. Charging it up for the next time Eobard would need it. Pressing your lips to a thin line, you immediately drew up the necessary schematics and scans for the city on your tablet.

“We're here for the answer to your speed equation...” Eobard held up an odd flash drive as he stepped over to the plinth, popping it in. The villainous speedster turned back to you and Barry. “The reason that you traveled back to this time, and the key to running faster. Tachyon enhancement.”

“The tachyons should give you just enough speed to time travel back to your time without getting caught by the Time Wraith.” You added in, not really knowing if this Barry has actually used Tachyons before or not. “If anything, you just need to time things right to get through the breach and have someone on the other side destroy the Time Wraith. Either way once you start using your speed it’ll find you.”

“I know what it does, I just don’t see why you’re needed here when you can be helping the others out there,” Barry scowled at you, to which you rolled your eyes with lips pressed into a thin line. You’re already done with this shit attitude since he’s been here, but the frostiness in his demeanor honestly did hurt in some part of your heart. The corner of Eobard’s mouth twitched with the amount of disrespect that he’s been showing you since this version of Barry Allen had traveled here.

“That’s it, if you keep talking to her like that then there’s going to be more hell to pay for it. You won’t be just dealing with the Time Wraith, Allen.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a warning,” Eobard looked at Barry with dangerously feral eyes. “You have a problem; you deal with me. Don’t you dare think of involving her in this feud.”

Barry kept his mouth shut for a moment, “This was not the deal.” He gestured to the plinth.

Eobard retracted the flash drive from the white column plinth once everything had been correctly copied to it. “If you think that I'm gonna hold your hand this entire way, you're sadly mistaken. Everything you need is on this drive. You follow its instructions; you will enhance the Speed Force in your system and run faster...” He dropped it in Barry’s open palm, “than you ever thought possible.”

“If this doesn't work, I'm coming back.”

Yeah, please don’t. I’m content without dealing with another Barry-time incident.

Cisco’s voice erupted from the comms set up all over the labs. “Dr. Wells, we need you.”

Eobard gave Barry one last look, whether it was a warning or a threat, you couldn’t tell. “Time to go home, Flash,” he responded sardonically.

***

The futuristic speedster exhaled through his nostrils, rubbing his face harshly as we stepped up from his wheelchair. The labs were vacant at the moment. His mind reeled through all the events that happened today. Tropical waters blue eyes flickered to the windows, he noticed that the sun was still in the air from the amount filtering into the Cortex. Eobard shifted his focus to the computer monitor, a thought whirling in his mind ever since both versions of this present time’s Barry had showed up. Words, phrases, hints. Everything that both had said to him about his future. I can’t trust either. With furrowed eyebrow’s, the dark-haired Wells impersonator ran a finger over the knuckles of his opposite hand. Not with my life on the line and her heart caught in the crossfire of it all. Guilt welled up in his chest, causing his stomach to churn uncomfortably.

A few seconds passed, he pulled out his phone to check the time. That was the excuse he gave himself because Eobard Tiberius Thawne knew exactly what time it was, there were clocks almost on every monitor screen in the cortex. But really, he was checking his lock screen picture. It was a picture of you on the beach of Coast City, gazing out onto the shoreline with the sun setting behind you. The fluffy clouds were dusted with velvety pinks and fiery oranges while the sun dipped to meet the cool blue waters. A candid picture, if you will. The sight of you allowed his tensed muscles to relax slightly. Eobard remembered how his heart had forcibly stopped, urging him to take a picture. How you added even more beauty to nature’s elegant scenery. How the waves gently glided with each, only to cascade onto the beach. You had coaxed Eobard to finally get out of the labs for once, to just take a trip somewhere for the evening. He had some speed after all. Just some time for you and him, that Barry and the others can handle one evening without him for guidance. “They’re adults Eo, let them handle a meta situation by themselves.” His heart ached if he were to… pass, leaving you here to face the others… alone.

His thoughts flickered back to the current situation at hand. He didn’t- He didn’t want to go down that trail of somber thoughts. Eobard had finally managed to convince you to go home for the day, he saw the exhaustion on your tensed shoulders, and he worried. He had allowed Barry to speed you home, that way you’d have arrived safely. The speedster knew what you would exactly do once you got home. Change into that new set of pajamas she recently bought, make some food while singing at the top of her lungs. Probably scare off a few birds and squirrels in the process. It’s sushi night, tonight. That’ll be interesting to see her make. Reluctantly, Eobard had to push thoughts of tonight off to the back of his ind.

“Alright.” A long sigh left his lips as he plopped down on a chair, adjusting his dark-clear glasses and recording remote in hand. Eobard slipped off his glasses, pressing his lips together tightly while avoiding the gaze of the camera. He needed to record some kind of will in case… Finally, looking up, he saw the determination in his own eyes, the realization of how his words could also be a possibility of occurring. “Hello, Barry. If you're watching this, that means something has gone horribly wrong.” While Eobard gathered his thoughts, he paused as an image of you popped into his head, he looked away. He swallowed thickly, “I'm dead and the last 15 years have been for nothing. Bummer.” He quirked an eyebrow ironically as his eyes meet the camera once more.

***

You pouted slightly, staring down at the bottle of painkillers on the granite-top island before your eyes glanced to your boyfriend’s alcohol cabinet. The headache would just not go away! With socked feet, you stood in the chilly kitchen in a new oversized sweatshirt and cotton running shorts. Your hair was in a loose, messy bun with the hood up over your head because the bum look is the most comfortable look, if we’re being honest. Do I want to make good choices tonight? You swallowed a bit and tapped a finger to your chin with your eyes flickering between the two once more. Your left arm crossed over your chest with your right elbow resting in your left palm, clenching and unclenching your right hand. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you chanted in your head as a pointed finger went back and forth between the Ibuprofen and alcohol cabinet. Halfway through the nursery rhyme, you found your gaze lingering more and more to Eobard’s tempting stash. Bad choices it is. With that you push the pills further away on the island and stomp over to the cabinet.

Why the fuck is bourbon the only thing here? You tilted your head with a raised eyebrow at the two fancy glass bottles. I swear this is the only thing he drinks when he needs to let loose a bit. Fancy bastard. Puffing out a breath, you grabbed the weighty glass bottle and shut the cabinet. I should get him to try a margarita or something. Pouring yourself half a cup of the amber-ish liquid, adding in a few ice cubes as you had seen Eobard do. You sealed the alcohol and put it away. You took a small sip, mentally knowing whether it tasted good or bad, you’d finish it. The liquid burned the back of your throat, allowing you to cough a bit before really tasting the drink. You shrugged looking at the cup. Not bad… I can see why he’s addicted to it. Though I still prefer my fruity drinks to hard liquor.

You saw a torrent of red lighting flash past the front door and to the direction of your shared bedroom. Someone’s home early. Shutting your eyes for a moment, you leaned back against the opposing counter to the island close to the fridge.

After a few moments, your speedster boy toy (yes, you use that phrase to describe Eobard mentally, ignoring its actually meaning because well… he’s your man and… he vibrates. Like a toy. You’re welcome.) strides through his home and to the kitchen, a towel hanging around his shoulders as he uses one hand to dry his hair. Eobard shot you a concerned look after seeing the bourbon and painkillers out.

“Don’t worry, I decided to make bad decisions with only alcohol.” You stand with one leg crossed in front of the other, handing him the cup so he can take a sip. He wouldn’t ever refuse his bourbon. “What happened to conserving your speed?”

“Couldn’t miss out on sushi night, also I wanted to wash up from all the... You know. I had too many Barry’s around me and I needed to scrub that off.” He shrugged at you, sipping the whiskey drink. You giggled, shaking your head at his dramatics about ‘Barry germs’. Eobard smiled to himself at your giggle, the sound of it made his speedster heart do multiple flips. He threw the towel in an empty bin by the laundry room.

“Sushi is located on the bottom shelf of the fridge.”

Eobard set the cup down and slightly narrowed his eyes at you. “Oh, you’re evil.”

“Learned from the best,” you winked at him, taking back your cup and downing the alcohol. Payback’s a bitch for all the times you purposefully put my things on the highest top shelf.

Slipping out the plate of sushi, there were six rolls left because obviously you ate some while you waited for him to come home. To be fair, you would have devoured the rest if he decided to stay in late at the labs. He took a roll and ate it while you poured yourself another drink with a second cup for him as well. “Mm, these are actually good. Nicely done, kitten.” He teased when he fully indulged in its taste and texture with that boyish smirk of his. You couldn’t help but play along.

“Are you insinuating that I’m not a good cook?”

“You’re just questionable at times, depends on the recipe.” Eobard continued eating, savoring every delectable sushi roll.

“At least I didn’t burn the pasta last time.”

“That was one time and I had to deal with Cisco and Barry on the phone!”

“Excuses, excuses,” you replied with a satisfied hum, pushing his glass to him.

“What about the time you added sugar instead of salt to the Königsberger Klopse?”

“They look the exact same and they were beside each other! It was an accident and you know it.”

“Excuses, excuses,” he mocked you with a cheeky grin, picking you up and setting you to sit on top of the cool granite island top. He leaned down to plant a kiss to your lips, a hand trailing to up your thigh. You shivered at his touch.

“You know, I didn’t notice it until today, but Barry’s a bit taller than you.”

“Your point?”

“Think it’s kinda ironic though. You’re shorter than he is, and you don’t have all your speed right now.”

“…”

“Is that also another reason why you hate him?”

“He’s like an inch taller than me, hardly anything to compete with him about. And my speed exceeds his own, especially in the past and with experience.” Eobard growled lowly, “Less thinking about him, more focus on kissing me.”

A cheery noise left your lips when he leaned once more for another kiss. This time hungrier with a hint of possessiveness. You knew how to push his buttons. Wrapping your arms around him, you pulled the speedster closer to you which allowed him to slot between your open legs. He smirked against your lips, feeling himself press against you. You played with the little hairs at the back of his neck as he began to nip at your lips. A little gasp left you which allowed his tongue to enter, exploring your mouth as you made a little satisfactory noise. His lips devoured your own. Your body moved on its own, pressing closer to him, his hands roughly wrapped your legs around his waist. The air felt hot and sticky, his speedster body warming up significantly at your every touch. Your hood fell off your head from the passionate kiss, loose strands of hair falling out from your messy bun. It felt exhilarating! Pulling away with one slow and sensual kiss, Eobard rested his forehead against yours as a heavy breath left him. His half-lidded eyes glossed over yourself- cheeks tinted red, breathing raggedly from the intensity of the kiss, and lips wonderfully swollen.

You both shared a small breath, feeling the world spin and spin, but the moment was just intoxicating. Neither of you wanted the moment to end. Letting out a yawn, you covered your mouth and Eo just chuckled lowly. Your hands now rested against his chest, feeling the pounding of his pulse underneath your palm. Eobard licked his lips at you, kissing your neck and nibbling lightly on your collarbone. You sucked in a breath, one hand running through his dark locks. His ears perked at the sound of his name leaving your pouty lips. Kneeling down for a moment, Eobard kissed the inside of your thigh before glancing up at you. You had your bottom lip between your teeth, gently gnawing at it as you observed him. The speedster only winked at you, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively before giving you a few more kisses and nibbles. He stood up once more to tower over you, kissing your temple as another yawn fell from you.

You’re too cute, my precious queen.

Eobard sped you to the bedroom with fiery red eyes and a coy smirk on his face, plopping you on the plush king-sized bed. A bed you had to continually badgered him to get with the promise that ‘rolling around in it’ would be much more fun than just with a queen-sized bed. He had already propped you up against the large pillows and under the comfort of the blankets. Eobard took the spot beside you, carding a hand through his now wild tresses. The speedster noticed your pained expression when you reached for your forehead, his insides churned at the sight. He reached out a cool hand to gently massage your temples. A little hum of relief escaped your lips, shutting your eyes at his cold fingers. The scientist assumed your alcohol consumption tonight was to lessen any pain from your head.

“That feels nice,” You mused to your boyfriend, curling up beside him. He curled his arms around you, your head resting on his sturdy chest. “The Barry that traveled with his daughter, I saw a few things when they talked.”

“I figured, have… you seen anything else?”

You shook your head ‘no’. “Only Savitar and Cicada, just the general foresight of their appearance,” you fiddled with the necklace he had given you, looking away. Eobard’s eyes caught the shift in your mood.

“What’s wrong, kitten?”

“Hm, nothing.”

“You only ever play with your necklace when something’s bothering you.” Eobard ran his teeth of his lower lip before taking one of your hands in his. “I swore to you that I would tell you whatever’s on my mind, especially when prompted by you. We both promised to be honest with each other, especially when it’s about our feelings.” His thumb rubbed soothing circles on your skin. The dark-haired man’s other hand hooked a finger under your chin, tilting your head to look at his softened gaze. He waited patiently for you.

You pulled away from him, “I just-I don’t know which Barry to trust. You… what if your plan to go home still fails? Even after they’d assured you’d go home when you help them? Both versions!” Your headache started to form once more, but not from your psychic powers. There was something else you weren’t entirely sure of either…

“…” Eobard exhaled through his nose soundlessly. He hadn’t wanted you to pick up on those clues… It broke him that you did. “I can only do what I can to go back. Failure isn’t an option. Not anymore, especially with how far I’ve gone.” The murdering, lying, stealing, scheming, and masquerading. All of it. “Do you trust me?”

“Always.”

“Then trust my plan… I’m doing everything I can with the least amount of collateral damage being caused in this time period.” You just nodded at his words, but that didn’t alleviate the certain weight you now secretly carried in your heart. Sighing to yourself, you decided to push it aside for the night.

“I hate how you can read me like an open book.”

“I hate that that beautiful mind of yours doubts yourself.” Eobard ran a hand over his face. I like that I can read you because then I can understand you. Especially if it’s when I can be doing better when it comes to us. I’m harder to read because… I’ve never really had someone quite like you in my life. Someone I can trust with no doubt in mind that you’re using me or going to backstab me. I’ll do better, I promise. For you, I’ll be good.

Pressing your lips into a thin line, you shift away from him on the bed to sit up with a serious look in your eyes. “I-I need you to be honest with me.”

“Always.”

“No lies. No shading the truth. None of that.”

The dark-haired speedster nods, returning your seriousness by adjusting himself. He wouldn’t dream of lying to you, ever. When he came clean to you and swore to you, Eobard intended to keep his word. You were the one thing that… that he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life with. Someone as precious as you that had grown so close to his crooked heart. His love that he could confide in all his fears and doubts and thoughts. You’re his special person.

“Eobard,” you started, “What do you think of me? Like, when you look at me?”

He remained quiet for a moment, looking past you before refocusing his eyes onto your locked gaze. A smile twitched at the corners of his lips. “I think of a cheeky and persistent person that can be a real pain in my ass sometimes.” You raised an eyebrow at him and crossed your arms as he continued. “But a spectacle, nonetheless, put together with strong willpower and fierce determination to achieve whatever she puts her mind to. I think of that kind heart of yours and… how it accepted a flawed and corrupt man as myself. I see a queen that keeps me grounded, a person that encourages me to grow and achieve my goals. I think of home.” You had unfurled your arms, your gaze softening as your heart ached at his words. “A home that I can return to at the end of the day with no shame. I can just be a man with none of my baggage or sins. I-I can love you with no guilt or shame or doubt. All your imperfections and quirks, they’re mine to cherish.” The scientist had traced the side of your face as his piercing gaze held you down, hypnotizing you.

“Eo,” you trailed off as he took a hold of your hand, softly kissing each knuckle. Leaning forward, you place a chaste kiss on his forehead before reaching for his lips. The kiss was soft, heartwarming, pure. All the things that the Reverse Flash was not because of his atrocious deeds in this time period and hunger for revenge against Barry Allen in whatever way possible, yet… Another thought flickered through your mind as your lips parted his. “Is Gideon able to tell you what happens to your future?”

Eobard simply shook his head, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “It only reveals the article about Barry, my supposed final battle with The Flash before he disappears.” After a Crisis, but which one would come first?

“But then what happens to you?”

“I don’t know.”

You sucked a breath in before opening your mouth once more, “I don’t want to be without you.” Is that selfish?

Eobard’s eyes widened a fraction, his stomach fluttering.He licked his lips slowly, eyeing your desperate gaze. “If I wasn’t a selfish man, I would have stayed away. But I am selfish and just the way you look, even then, it fuels my desire to be by your side. At every moment. Until death do us part.”

Your breath hitched; you should have been scared- terrified- repulsed- by his words. Red flags that would have gone off in any person’s mind, but- “I’m selfish too,” you whispered the words that came from the heart. Eobard watched you with electric blue eyes, a feral flash of red flickered behind his irises. You trailed a hand over his chest and over his heart. “Your mind, your heart,” You glanced at him under your eyelashes, “are mine. I don’t want them to belong to anyone else.”

“I’m not a good man. I can’t be what you want me to be.” I will never be good for you.

“…” You pressed your lips into a thin line. “You’re not good man, Eobard, but you’re more than enough for me.”

“You should have run the first time you found out.”

“I should have, but I don’t regret choosing you… I don’t want anyone else but you, Eo.”

“I am yours, and you are mine.” The speedster was truly smitten by you, gingerly he cupped your face with a firm hand as his azure eyes met yours. “I would do everything in my power to come back home to you.” He craned his head down to reconnect your lips together. There were no limits to how far Eobard Tiberias Thawne would go for him to remain by your side.

Even if it meant killing another person.

***

Barry and Nora ran through the speed-force, memories and events weaving past them as the sped through to return to their present time. “Back in Time,” by Huey Lewis still played in the background right as the touched the concrete ground of the Cortex.

“Did you even go?” Ralph asked with a terrified-ish look on his face.

Caitlin and Cisco just chuckled at their friend. Cisco shut of the music, “Told you time travel was weird.”

You had stopped in the corridor, overhearing the team in the hallway. Frozen in place as things started to set in your mind. A headache washed over you, but you had gotten used to them by now. You had to after Flashpoint. But you knew things had gone south, and by south, they had to take a detour. You were digesting the immediate revelations, all of it integrating together as things in the past now made sense. Both versions of Barry Allen knew the outcome. Yet Nora and her father revealed more than they should have to Eobard. After all, your psychic abilities allowed you to see what happens if the timeline that you’re involved in. Especially when it had to do with one handsomely intelligent and driven speedster by the name of Eobard Tiberias Thawne.

But did things really change? I’m still here. And Eobard…

You ran a hand over your face, pinching the bridge of your nose. Your feet carried you to the Time Vault while the others prepared for tonight. Pressing a hand to the wall, you unlocked the futuristic door into the neutral-colored room. A chill ran down your spine as you approached the plinth. Waving a hand over the circular center, you activated Gideon. The AI appeared in all its holographic form.

“Yes, Ms. (Y/N)?”

“Gideon,” your fingers ran over the chain of your necklace, “I need your help with something.”

“I am at your service.”

“I need you to…” you ran your tongue over your lips. Heart pounding in your chest as you chose your next words carefully. “I need you to tell me where Eobard is?”

“I’m sorry Ms. (Y/N), but I am unable to process your request right now.”

“Why?” Your voice rose, red was now seeping into your vision.

“It is not within my programming capabilities.”

“Is Eobard alive?”

“I’m sorry, but that is also out of my-”

“Then what good are you for?” You yelled in pure frustration, a fist slamming harshly onto the white column. A tear had left your eyes. Your body trembled as your voice shook when you spoke up again, “Gideon please, anything. Any news about Eobard is all I need. Any sign that he is alive. I can’t-”

Until death do us part.

“…” The AI was silent for a moment while you collected yourself miserably. “There is a hidden message for you that Dr. Wells wished for you to receive. Would you like to read the message?”

“A-a message, what-” You ran both hand through your locks, glassy eyes searching the placid look on the AI. The stone of doubt was slowly eroding away from your heart. “I-I, yes! Please!” The AI pulled up a screen, three simple words were configured in medium-sized black lettering. Your heart stopped for a moment as your hands tingled. Blinking a few times, you reread the words over and over and over- as it stared back at you.

Wait for me.

[emma-nation]

Ticker Than Water - Bloodbound AU (Chapter 4)

Summary: When Amy changes the course of the events at the Opera House, she could never imagine the consequences she would have to face. After being by Rheya’s side for five years, she’s finally ready to be reunited with her friends and find a manner to defeat her. But when the time comes, what will prevail? Her love for Kamilah Sayeed and her friends or her family ties with the First Vampire?

Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance

Tag List: @slytherinthoughts7, @lightning-fury, @spacecarrousel, @gavryllo​, @kamilah-the-bloodqueen, @whoinvitedalx, @sheyah, @imnotdonewiththeelementalists, @belvoiresqueenbee, @morvengarde​, @tephy24​, @iam-the-fuckin-queen, @scorpichoices, @leavemeandmyshipsalone, @jen825, @andreear17, @justejuste727, @evexofxtime, @zoe6111, @shanuuh, @ilovekamilahsayeed, @kenna-and-val-are-my-queens, @fal-carrington, @spookyjellyfishlove, @samgtt700​, @just-thinking-loudly, @martachm, @masterofbluff, @rice-wifee, @lifeisadance96, @serafinedupontownsme, @hellyeah90sbaby

4 years ago - Japan

The first signs of Winter started showing on the city outside. Kamilah wondered what she'd be doing if she was still living in New York. Working, perhaps. And also planning the next Dark Solstice.

The necklace. She didn't have time to retrieve it from the secret drawer in her office when they ran away. It would be her only memory from something that didn't exist anymore - her relationship with Amy.

"I did it," the penthouse door opened in a slam, making Lily completely lose focus on her video game or Jax stop sharpening his katana. Adrian seemed to be in ecstasy. "I... I managed to grow a seedling from the sample we obtained from the Tree Of Death. This could stop Rheya for good."

"How great," Jax replied with some sarcasm. The last few months turned him into a version of his late master, Takeshi. "And what about the others? Also, how long is it going to take?"

The others. Kamilah's stomach flipped. Amy was one of them, along with Rheya's husband and daughter. And she was so strong as the First Vampire herself.

"It's a start, Jax," Lily added. "It'll be easier to take her down once she becomes a Feral."

"Fine, but I'd like to do the honors."

"Kamilah?" Adrian approached, touching her shoulder briefly. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes," Kamilah told. She was too invested in her own thoughts, reflecting about the part where she'd have to face Amy again. What if they had to kill her? Would she be able to do that? "We will wait. When the time comes, we'll fight again."

Lily suggested a celebration, Jax agreed and so did Adrian. Since their arrival, they barely left that penthouse. Except for the occasions where they attended Kano's training sessions. The psychic vampire taught them how to guard their minds from Rheya. And also Amy.

"You can go. I'll stay here."

"Come on, Kamilah," Lily started dragging her to the door. "You never say no to booze."

"I'm saying this time."

"Lily is right," Adrian said. "You are coming with us. It'll be a good distraction."

"Yeah," Jax agreed. "We must stick together. Remember?"

This manner, the three younger vampires managed to make Kamilah to go out for the first time in months. Still a little insecure about their safety, they decided to visit The Five's nightclub. In the end, it was not terrible. Jax and Akeyo engaged in a singing competition, while Lily attempted to copy The Evolved's robotic dance moves. The female vampire let out a small laugh.

"Finally," Aiko slowly approached her. "Acceptance is the last stage of grief."

"I guess so," Kamilah replied in a dry tone.

"She's not coming back. She made a choice."

"I know."

The reminder of that fact hit Kamilah's heart like applying salt in an open wound. One year had passed. Amy was still doing atrocities together with Rheya. She showed no signs of regret or mercy. Not even a trace of the old Amy still existed in her eyes. The powers had changed her completely.

"I need another shot," she ordered to the bartender. Then she looked at Aiko, who observed her with the same old and seductive smirk. "Two shots actually."

----------

A blow from one of the mythological creatures that surrounded Amy in the mindscape forest threw her hard against a tree. Though the fight was happening inside her mind, the pain felt extremely real, as if her skull had been fractured.

"Ouch..." she moaned in pain. "Can't... back... down..."

A fire blast started to form in the center of her palm. If she could maintain the focus, it should be enough to stop the creature that was about to strike again.

"Ha!" Amy released the fire ball, that disappeared mid-air. "Fuck!" She screamed, punching the floor repeatedly. Noticing her frustration, Kano pulled her back to reality.

"There's something wrong," he spoke in all his wisdom of a 500 years old man, in a 5 years old body.

"Not even when I'm mad - and trust me, I'm really mad - I can make this work."

"You won't be able to do this moved only by anger. You need focus and discipline."

"Kano," Amy squeezed the water bottle she held, "we've been training for hours. I can't conjure one decent blast. I'm focused, I'm doing all the meditation exercises you taught me... I just can't. Maybe she drained my powers while I slept."

"It's not that," Kano handed her another water bottle, that she drank all in one sip. "There's something blocking you from reaching your potential."

"What could it be?"

He forced her to face all the nastiest skeletons in her closet for a second time that day. Starting by the childhood trauma caused by her mother's behavior. Though Amy knew the reason behind her rage outbursts, the marks would always be there.

The child version of herself was drawing in the kitchen when her mother entered, completely disturbed.

"Mommy!" She called. "Look what I've made for you."

"Nice," the woman barely looked. She was too busy inspecting the cabinets for her painkillers. "Where are them?"

She swallowed a couple of pills and little Amy's heart filled with hope that her mother would finally be able to give her some attention and love.

"Can we play teacups now? I missed you. You spend the whole day in the bedroom."

"Can't you see it, Amy?" The woman yelled at the child. "I am sick! Why can you just respect me? Why can you just be quiet, huh?!"

As she slammed the bedroom door, the little sat down on the floor breaking into tears.

"What did I do wrong?" She asked herself.

"Nothing," adult Amy sighed at the scene. "You did nothing wrong."

Then they moved to the Opera House. What else could be there to be seen? Amy did both of her crucial decisions - the one where she decided to tempt the fate and avoid the death of one of her friends, becoming a monster in consequence. And the one where she took the dagger. That was the most painful to watch. She had already seen Lily dying in her arms, as Kamilah plunged a stake in her heart to prevent her from becoming a Feral. She also saw Jax, sacrificing himself to die as the warrior he was, not as a disgusting rotting creature.

This time though, it was Adrian who took the fall to save her life...

"Not her! Never her!"

"Adrian!" The past version of herself screamed, kneeling down on the floor near the male vampire. "W-Why did you do this? Y-You didn't have to..."

"Amy..." he clutched the injury in his abdomen. His skin was already acquiring a grey coloration. "I had to. I was the one to bring you to this world in first place. I swore to protect you."

"But..."

"Shhhh, it's okay. I've had a long and accomplished life. I made a lot of mistakes too and somehow I think this how I must pay for them. I... I'm ready to be reunited with Eleanor and Charles."

She glanced at the rest of the group. Lily was sobbing uncontrollably. Jax punched the wall in anger and denial. Kamilah was also kneeled by Adrian's side. She was trying hard to prevent the tears from falling.

"And Amy?" Adrian said, before handing her a stake. "Take care of Kamilah. She needs you."

"No!" Both versions of herself screamed at the same time, as Adrian forced her hand to stake his heart. She collapsed to the floor before they moved to the next memory.

She and Rheya were terrorizing some citizens in New York City. Those who still refused to bend to their orders and obey their every command.

"I condemn you to be my prisoners," Rheya smiled deviously, staring at the small group of people restrained inside a TV station. They secretly planned to leak information about the Apostolous family to other states, including their ability of controlling and manipulating minds. "You can be my servants after all. You could entertain me, feed me... or even fight for me."

Amy emerged from a door in the back. Her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes. She was in a terrible mood, what lead her to slowly approach and start to snap the neck of each one of the victims. One by one.

"Foolish creature! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rheya asked, visibly annoyed. "I wasn't going to kill them yet, they could be useful to my purposes."

"Getting things done faster," Amy told. "I'm starving, I'm tired. I can't wait to get home and feed."

"Of course, you spent the whole night out with Serafine, going to clubs and using your psychic powers for recreational purposes. I told you I needed you in shape this morning. You disappoint me."

"I'm sorry, Rheya. You were going to kill them anyways. They're all useless insects, isn't it what you always say?"

"You're right," the First Vampire approached and touched her chest using her indicator finger. "But I give the orders here. We may have the same blood, the same powers powers but I'm in charge. Do you understand?"

Amy was back to the same mindscape as earlier, surrounded by creatures in a forest. She felt angry at herself, yet she accepted it. She embraced the fact she was weak to resist the darkness inside her. It was part of who she had became. And now she wanted to change and make things right.

"I can do this," she closed her eyes, focusing on conjuring a psychic wave strong enough to push the horde of monsters away from her. When she opened them, ready to hit them... nothing happened.

"What?!" She yelled, back at Kano's office. "This time I did it. I faced the Opera memory and how things should have went. I embraced the fact I did horrible things too."

"There must be something else. Something you're refusing to face and let go."

Amy had no idea what it could be. At Kano's suggestion, they ended the training session for the day and she went back to the hotel to rest and reflect on what could be blocking her powers. After a long bath, she stared at the bed. The same bed she and Kamilah shared an intimate moment in the previous night, before she told her about her engagement with Aiko.

She finally turned on her phone. Iola had been trying to reach her all day.

"You need to return home, immediately. She has lost her mind."

"What is it this time?" Amy asked, getting dressed to meet Lily at the penthouse she lived with the rest of the group.

"She wants to-"

"Amy?!" Rheya seemed to have taken the phone from her daughter's hands. "I wanted to speak to you, darling. Are you finished with The Five yet? I need you to come home."

"Why?"

"I've signed a contract with a TV channel. Next week they'll begin to film our own reality show: 'The Apostolous'. Isn't it wonderful?"

No. It wasn't. Together with her insane ancestor and her family, Amy would be locked in the mansion with Priya, Serafine and Dracula, while every detail their daily routine was registered by the cameras and shown on television to the whole world.

"Rheya..." Amy sighed, thinking of some excuse. "Why don't you wait a few more days? I mean, a party with your new allies would be a great start for the reality show. Wouldn't it?"

"You're right," the First Vampire answered after a pause. "I don't know when you've gotten so smart, but you're having some good ideas lately. Anyways, I must start planning our party then. Talk to you later, darling."

Only a lot of alcohol could make Amy relax with all the latest news. When she arrived, Lily was still the only one in the penthouse. Jax, Adrian and Kamilah were doing some personal businesses.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Amy asked, taking a sip directly from the bottle of sake before aiming her next shot at the pool game.

"I was going to," Lily told, observing as she sank three balls in a row. "I couldn't imagine Kamilah would go straight to your bed in the very first night."

As Lily finished her own turn, Amy noticed she was about to win the game. However, she would never be able to make the right move with that one question bothering her mind.

"Does she love her? Aiko?"

"Do you want the honest truth? No, she doesn't. She only got in that sudden relationship with her to forget you. And if you ask me, I bet Aiko is forcing her to get married."

A hint of a smile appeared on the corners of Amy's mouth. She still had a chance. With the right shot, she could win Kamilah's heart back.

"I win," she grinned as she cued the last ball into the pocket.

"Best of three?" Lily asked, after taking a sip of the sake. "So, now tell me about Rheya going all Kardashian."

Amy rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was about to start talking about Rheya's reality show when the penthouse's door opened, making her heart speed up inside her chest.

"Oh," for her disappointment, it wasn't Kamilah. "Hey, Jax."

"Hello, Lily and..." he glared in her direction, clearly uncomfortable with her presence. "You."

"Jax, come here," Lily called, assuming some alcohol and games would be able to seal the peace between them. "Amy was about to tell me about Rheya's latest bullshit."

"Later, Lil. I gotta... I gotta take a shower. I was training with Akeyo all day."

As soon as he left to the bedroom, Amy sighed:

"He'll never forgive me."

Kamilah arrived right after she finished her sentence. She didn't say a word, she walked directly to the bar, serving herself some expensive whiskey.

"We're not allowed to bring visitors," she scolded Lily. "After five years you should know that."

"I asked Adrian first," Amy told in her defense. "He said I could..."

"Oh, Amy. Congratulations on your new show. It's all over the internet. You must be loving the attention, aren't you?"

"Thank you. By the way, for someone who doesn't care care you're way too updated about my life."

There was a heavy tension between them. Years of unresolved feelings and unsaid words were affecting the whole environment surrounding them, like an earthquake.

"I-I..." Noticing that, Lily started walking away too. "You two must have a lot to talk about. I'll be in my bedroom."

Amy still tried to prevent Lily from leaving, but it was useless. She was alone and under Kamilah's hard cold gaze.

"You shouldn't be here," the female vampire said once again.

"Why?" Amy decided to confront her. "My presence is bothering you?"

"Not really, but it put us at risk. She could come here any second searching for her spawn."

"She won't. Besides, I can fight her."

"Oh really? How's the training going by the way?"

"Good," Amy lied. "I'm... I'm finding myself. Finding a balance between my powers and the darkness they can bring."

As if she still could read her, Kamilah raised an eyebrow and opened a small sadistic smile. Was it so obvious she was failing miserably? Did Kano tell the others how poorly the training session had gone? She swallowed dry.

"About yesterday..." Amy opened her mouth to speak, changing the subject. She had to know how Kamilah felt about the other night.

"Nothing happened yesterday," Kamilah nodded.

Before she could speak again, Adrian emerged from the elevator.

"Amy, good to see you here," he wanted to show her something in a secret Raines Corporation HQ he had built. "Come with me."

She gave Kamilah one last look. It wasn't over. She wasn't going to give up and pretend nothing happened between them. She wasn't going to act like the feelings weren't still there, alive and strong as ever.

"What?" Adrian asked with a smile during their way to the building.

"Nothing," Amy smiled back. She had never been so happy to see him. That vision had struck her really hard. "I'm just glad you still trust me."

The building was highly secured. Adrian guided her to the laboratory in the basement. Some scientists were still working late night, on many different projects.

"Only a few people know about our secret weapon," Adrian told while he typed a password on a keypad, opening a heavy metal door. "Only us and The Five. After all, anyone else could have their minds accessed by Rheya."

After walking through a long corridor, they stopped in front of a glass. Behind it, Amy spotted a small growing tree.

"Is it..."

"The Tree Of Death. I managed to obtain a sample and grow a seedling from it. It's still small and young, its sap is not so poisonous. It won't cause much harm yet."

After Demetrius was brought back to life, the Tree Of Death and the island ceased to exist. With that, there was nothing that could stop Rheya. Until now.

"Adrian..." Amy remembered testing her powers, or when Rheya used to grow different plants and flowers in the backyard, according to the occasions. "I can make it grow faster with my powers."

[tigerseye46]

tell us about ur new oc!

Thanks for giving me an excuse to talk about her! I have a lot.

I’ve actually mentioned her before but before I figured everything out. I rp her in a server with my friends.

Her name is Huáng Xiàróng (煌 夏荣 Brilliant Summer Glory)! Her name used to be Yuán but I changed it. I’ve created one design for her, I don’t draw often so it’s not the best but I tried. I’ll post her demon form and picrew of her human form at the end.

Originally she was supposed to be a motherly figure. That… uhh did not exactly go as planned. I kinda made her feral instead- also she used to be a straight up villain.

She’s a rabbit/bunny demon. Specifically a Manchurian hare. She has a mix of black, brown and gray fur with three spots on the side of her face which are replaced by freckles in human form. She has a notch on her ear and some spots there too. She has slight wavy hair with braids in the back.

Her hair is black with green strands, kinda like Mei which was completely unintentional and I only realized that now. Her eyes are green but they change to red when angered and brown when annoyed. She has a frilly dress. She has a tattoo on her back, 戰士 meaning warrior. Her height is 6 feet and 2 inches. She’s around 3000, maybe a bit younger and physically looks 35 - 40.

Small tw here, she has scars from years of fighting.

Abilities:

She can shapeshift to various things including a normal bunny form and a bigger, more terrifying version of herself.

Like most rabbits, she’s extremely fast (super speed).

She has the ability to control and manipulate fire.

She can jump high.

Super strength

And friend suggested the ability to possibly summon and ride a cloud.

Backstory: (I’m just going to copy and paste her backstory that I used for smth)

Xiàróng was born in the Qin Dynasty to two rabbit demons. Her parents were fierce demon lords that loved to mess with humans with their army. Her parents trained her in the hopes that she would follow in their footsteps and she did. She became a fierce warrior with a strong love of fighting and battling.

She led her armies into villages, messing with humans and demanding offerings. She loved the absolute terror that popped up on their faces as her army swept in. She enjoyed the amusement she felt every time they thought they could defeat her along with the absolute adrenaline that came with fighting.

Her parents were extremely proud of her and at times, fought with her but they mostly stayed regulated to their hideout. One day, they passed away in the field of battle, she rose and took their place. Xiàróng became better known as a fierce rabbit demon lord and grew her armies, even allying at points with some other demons.

She became renowned as her parents always hoped she would be. She loved her army and always made sure their efforts were rewarded. She treated them as a second family to her and they shared a deep bond.

One of Xiàróng’s generals told her about a monk journeying west to get scriptures and if she eats him, she can become immortal. While initially excited at this prospect, she declined when she found out that the person guarding him was the Great Sage. She then made sure her army never crossed paths with Sun Wukong and the rest of the pilgrims.

She continued onward and she thought the whole thing could last forever.

But obviously, nothing lasts forever. Humans started advancing and her demon army started falling, either passing away in battle, getting tired of fighting or deciding that they wanted to move on and pass off as humans to live normal lives, sometimes a mixture of the last two.

Xiàróng never stopped fighting and refused to quit until she faced a fierce opponent in battle that caused her spirits to wane. She eventually realized that with humanity’s advancements she longer had the edge that she used to. She decided to sadly give up fighting about 500-1000 years prior to modern day. In her current identity, she works at a boring office job to survive all while longing for the good old days. 

The group finds her when they need her to face an opponent she had previously faced, possibly the same one that caused her spirits to wane.

(She also had might or might not have had a kid at one point when she was still a warrior. Mildly debating on the kid thing but I’m probably going with it.)

Likes and Dislikes:

She absolutely loves fighting, she loves the thrill that comes with it. She values hard workers as she had to work hard to get to where is. She loves to reminisce about the good old days when she was feared and respected. She likes the summer season. Her favorite colors are red and green. She likes drinking tea. She adores the outdoors. She likes (also dislikes) being alone. She likes people who value their family. She is a big fan of action movies. She likes exercising. She likes organization and plans. She loves her motorcycle and weapons. She loves being the leader of projects as it gives her a sense of power. She loves fire and is often entranced by it. She likes using her jumping abilities. She likes exploring nature.

She dislikes the modern advancements humans have made as she believes it puts her as a disadvantage and is part of the reason she is no longer feared. She dislikes mundane office work as she believes it to be below her skill level but does it to survive. She dislikes people who desert others as some of her army left because they were tired of fighting and wanted to move on. She hates being called cute. She hates slackers. She hates people who underestimate her. She dislikes interacting unless she has to.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths:

Xiàróng is extremely proud of her abilities. She is extremely brave and will gladly take action when need be. She is rather confident. She is observant because of her years as a demon lord. She is a strategic individual since she spent so much time with her generals planning out attacks. She is also rather smart from her years of teaching from her parents about different subjects. She will give her honest opinion if someone asks her. She is hard working. She is tidy and always makes sure to keep both her workspace and house clean. She actually has a motherly side to her and is rather gentle when interacting with children and is capable of being gentle when others are having a bad day, although this depends on who they are. She is agile.

Weaknesses:

Her belief in her abilities cause her to have excessive pride in them. Her bravery leads her to take reckless actions. Her longing to reclaim the past and become once again known as a fierce demon blinds her to the possibilities that come with the future. She holds on too much to the past and practically clings to it. She has a short temper and can snap easily. Her honesty leads to bluntness and people not liking her because of her opinion. She can also be rather dishonest sometimes. She acts as if she knows better than others since she’s been alive a long time and has a wide array of knowledge.

General Personality:

Xiàróng is not a sociable person, although she used to be back in the old days when she had her demon army. She can be quite dramatic especially when she’s explaining her past to people. She has a loud personality that appears when she’s explaining her history. This is a subtle and desperate attempt to reclaim what she used to have. Although, other than that, she is rather quiet and prefers not to interact unless absolutely necessary. 

She prefers to keep to herself a lot of the time despite rabbits being social creatures. She feels out of place and longs for a world where she can go back to fighting and a time where her army was all together, laughing and smiling. Fighting is all she’s known for the longest time and believes that’s what she’s mostly good at. 

Since some of her army has either passed away or left to find better lives, she is not a big fan of letting people close especially in a world of humans since these were people she once used to attack and mess with. She does rarely encounter some of the demons that used to be her army. She’s short tempered and aggressive. She appears cold due to her isolation and circumstances. Under her cold personality, there is a loud, bright and caring personality waiting to get out if she lets someone get close, maybe if she did, she could go back to the way she used to be.

She doesn’t care about the group at first until they keep dragging her along. She is terrified of Sun Wukong because of his reputation and is kinda wary of his successor but helps him out. She purposefully annoys Pigsy and has debates with Tang. Also I kinda ship her with Sandy but we’ll see how that goes-

Trivia:

Talents: Foraging, cooking, singing, Can expertly play pipa (Chinese lute) and piano, gardening, great medical knowledge, wrestling, sword fighting and spear fighting, stealth, hand to hand combat, whittling, excellent leadership skills, making strategies.

She has a motorcycle that she takes good care of.-Romance movies are a guilty pleasure of hers.

She is ambidextrous.

She’s bi.

She has a tattoo with the characters 戰士 meaning warrior on her back.

She has a small house in the woods near a mountain range outside the city.

She was around when the Journey to the West was happening but avoided the pilgrims since she didn’t want to risk angering Sun Wukong if she tried something.

Hobbies: poetry, training with her qiang and jian, exercising, running, singing, gardening, cooking, playing the pipa and piano, foraging, whittling/wood carving, origami, watching television

Her surname Huáng meaning brilliant refers to the family’s cleverness along with wanting to shine. Xià means summer, summer represents something in China such as the direction south, the color red, the sound of laughter, the heart, fire and a creature called the red phoenix. Red, in turn, symbolizes happiness, vitality, good luck, good fortune, energy and passion. Róng meaning glory is because her parents were hoping she’d be renowned by people all over.

Picture:

Link to the picrew I used for human form: https://picrew.me/image_maker/332600

Human form:

[carriagelamp]

Book Review - Summer Summary 2020

I didn’t get around to doing an individual post for the books I read in June/July/August, so I decided to choose a dozen that I read over the summer... I’d separate the wheat from the chaff for you so to speak. Though like you’re about to find out, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were all good by any means...

Crave

My girlfriend got this for me to “tide me over until Midnight Sun”. Between you and me, I think she was taking the piss. Anyway, Crave is very... standard fare paranormal YA school romance with the added flare of being written by an adult erotica writer, meaning the rhythm and tone of this novel is fucking bonkers. If you want to read the novel without reading the novel, just take Twilight and the entire Vampire Academy series, shove them in a blend, and force down the sludge you get from that. Normal Average Girl Goes To Secret School In Alaska For Vampire, Werewolves and Dragons. That’s this book. It is so big and so so so bad. I finished it out of spite, please don’t do that to yourself. Unless you are really craving (hurr hurr) some top tier trashy paranormal romance, in which case... no judgment.

The Last Firehawk

The Last Firehawk is a Scholastic “Branches” series, written for beginning readers (grade 1-3ish, depending on the child’s reading level). It has short stories, big text, and awesome pictures on every page. Guys. I unironically am adoring this series. It’s simple and is introducing children to a number of classic elements in the fantasy quest genre, but it is so charming. Friends Tag and Skyla discover a firehawk egg, and species that is supposed to have disappeared long ago. When Blaze hatches from it, the three are tasked with going out and finding the magical ember stone which was hidden long ago by the firehawks and which could be used to defeat the evil vulture Thorn and his dark magic... I read the first two books to second graders who ate it up and read the next four books because I personally wanted to continue the series. If you have young readers in your life (or just want a fun kid adventure) then please try these they’re the literary equivalent of nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie.

Lupin III: World’s Most Wanted #3

All the kind people that still follow my tumblr and haven’t tried to murder me because of my Lupin obsession are not going to be surprised by this one. I finally read one of the manga for this series and honestly I’m delighted. Somehow even hornier than the show, but hilariously funny. I felt like I was reading a more adult version of Spy Vs Spy. It’s a bunch of short, individual bits/adventures with lots of visual gags and an artstyle that is really different and delightful.

River of Teeth / Taste of Marrow (American Hippo series)

I’ve talked about River of Teeth before, but I finally finished the American Hippo duology and need to sing its praise. This is an alternate history series composed of two novellas that explore the question What would have happened if the States had decided to import hippos as livestock...? Anyways, my pitch for you: queer hippo cowboys. That’s all it took for me to read it. You have a gay gunslinger who loves his hippo to death, a nonbinary explosives-expert / poisoner who is the main love interest, a fat con artist who spoils her hippo and is the only voice of reason in this entire series, and a latina mother-to-be who is the scariest assassin in the entire series and is obviously scheming. The four of them are brought together on a job to deal with the Mississippi’s feral hippo problem.

IT’S A QUEER HIPPO COWBOY HEIST NOVEL GUYS I DON’T KNOW WHY I’M STILL TALKING AND YOU HAVEN’T JUST GONE TO READ THIS YET.

Petals to the Metal (The Adventure Zone series)

The graphic novel adaptation to the McElroy family’s DND podcast The Adventure Zone. Most of you are probably aware of this? It’s a great adaptation, it hits all the important beats, shows off the characters really well, and still gets lots of good gags in even while condensing entire arcs into single book stories. This one is probably my favourite so far just because Petals to the Metal was one of my favourite arcs in the show... but you can also see how the art has improved and the chaos of the race is fun to see drawn out.

If you like The Adventure Zone but haven’t tried the graphic novels yet -- would recommend! If you’ve always wanted to listen to The Adventure Zone but don’t have time for such a long series or struggle to focus on podcasts then pick up the first book of this series (Here There Be Gerblins) and try reading it! It really is an enjoyable adaptation.

Pony to the Rescue (Pony Pals series)

I continued my April/May theme of reading old-school chapter book series to combat Covid Brain Fry, so I picked up a few Pony Pals books. I read these as a kid and always enjoy them -- there’s just something so appealing to a child about having a horse. It gives your child characters a level of independence and ability to explore that you wouldn’t get otherwise. These books definitely read young, but they were nostalgic to revisit.

Small Spaces

A really cool middle grade horror novel I picked up. Maybe it’s because I live around a lot of corn fields, but farm/scarecrow themed horror absolutely does it for me. One evening, after seeing a woman try to destroy a strange, old book, eleven year old Ollie doesn’t stop to think, instead stealing the book and running. That’s how she becomes wrapped up in the strange, sinister story of a cursed family and creature called the Smiling Man that seems to live out in the foggy fields. While unsettling, Ollie tries to remind herself that it’s just a story... but this becomes more challenging when her school bus breaks down one day out their own set of fields, and a fog is rolling in...

“Avoid large spaces. Stick to small.”

Snot Girl #1 - #2

A Canadian graphic novel series by the creator of the Scott Pilgrim series! I love his work so I decided to give Snotgirl a try, even though it’s not generally my genre. I’m glad I did! First book took a while for me to get into, but by the time I hit the second I was really wrapped up in the mystery and character development. Snotgirl is about Lottie, a self-consumed fashion blogger whose biggest struggles are dealing with her allergies, frustration with her fellow-blogger friends, and how entirely her self-esteem is tied to her “beauty” and how people view her. But everything shifts in strange and horrifying ways when Lottie starts taking a new allergy medication, meets a new friend... and then witnesses that girl’s death. Or does she?

Seriously, or does she? I have no idea, I need to read the third book. This book is full of intrigue, complicated relationships, murder (or not?), and a healthy dose of magical realism to keep you guessing. If you like slice-of-life, crime, and abstract reality then this series is world a try. Plus the art is gorgeous.

Summer Wars #1 - #2

I recently rewatched Summer Wars (still one of my favourite movies) and decided to read the two-book manga adaptation. It was a really neat little adaptation. The creator of the movie gave the writer free range to tweak things to fit better in a manga format, which means some movie elements were allowed to fade into the background, whereas other aspects were fulled into the forefront and fleshed out to a greater degree. It was very cool, it kept the same story but gave you new things to think about which I wasn’t expecting. Reading this as a stand alone works just fine, but honestly if you’ve never watched the movie Summer Wars you should give it a try! It’s a great mix of slice-of-life, sprawling family dynamics that I relate to a little too well, cyber adventures, and fantasy. Super feel good.

This One Summer

Okay, last graphic novel, I swear. This One Summer was... weird and intense. It’s a coming-of-age Canadian graphic novel that follows a pair of pre-teens who meet up like they do every year at their family’s summer cottages. You see them both in the awkward phases between childhood and growing up to become teenagers, as they’re confronted with things like maturity, friendship, self-esteem, family problems, and sexuality. A beautiful read, but probably the heaviest out of all the books on my list.

Wild Thornberrys Novelization

I rewatched The Wild Thornberrys movie with my girlfriend earlier this year, and decided I wanted to hunt down the chapter book novelization because I’m kind of a sucker for novelizations. Honestly, this was about what you would expect from the era. 90s/00s novelizations, especially young novelizations, are generally just a transcript of the movie without much thought or effort put into them to make them anything but. That’s what this was. It was fine, and it really let me revisualize the entire movie, but honestly you’re probably better off just rewatching the movie unless you also really deeply love The Wild Thornberrys.

The Willoughbys

I saw that Netflix had done a funky looking adaptation of The Willoughbys and I decided I needed to read the book first before watching the movie. This was a little bizarre, I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Over all, I think it was a net-positive experience. It’s an obvious satire on classic children’s novels, especially the likes of Mary Poppins (real Mary Poppins, not the Disney version) and while a little heavy-handed, it does a Series of Unfortunate Events vibe that redeems it. The story is about a group of horrible children (The Ruthless Willoughbys) who decide they are sick of their parents and would rather become Worth Orphans... and to do that, they’re going to have to dispose of their inconvenient parents, obviously. Conveniently their parents are also sick of having children and decide to do away with them as well. The Willoughbys sets up three (or four?) different subplots that are gradually woven together through a series of schemes and exploits. It’s definitely more ruthless (hurr hurr) than the Netflix version, which tried to make the children more sympathetic, and in some ways I think that’s a definite point in the novel’s favour. I’m not sure I would go out of my way to recommend it, but it was a fun romp if you want something short and off the wall (and a lot more fleshed out than the Netflix version).

[seven-oomen]

Hi, Ben!  Hope you had a good day, and are finally getting some rest!  So, did you know there are sites that let you design your own ugly Christmas sweaters?  May I present the one that Peter’s husbands get him for a party?  Except then the jokes on them because he won’t stop wearing it EVERYWHERE (at least I hope the image shows?  It saved in a different format on the site I used for this.)  Also, if you were ever to actually make a shirt of it, I would suggest an image from the reaction GIF you used for the alignment/meta anon.  Because, my god, that smirk.  XD  (Also, they are totally right.  And it is hilarious to me that the two officers of the law are firmly [and accurately] on the neutral side of that axis.  XD )

And I’m still screaming over that latest preview.  He just wants cuddles and ear scritches, Noah!  The saliva will dry, he’s just showing his appreciation for your support.  XD  And oh, yeah I knew he would eventually get better, it was more me trying to decide how quickly I was hoping for it to happen.  My “I want it asap because I hate seeing them in pain” side was warring with my “but nightmare creature cuddles would be adorbs, tho?” side (and they are).  :D  Also, terrible thought brought on by working at my job too long: since I don’t think that form has a tail like a wolf (I don’t really remember noticing one, at least?), do you think that since he can’t wag, he starts doing the wiggle-butt thing like boxers and pits tend to do?  (sorry, the thought occurred to me and I couldn’t make it stop.  XD )

Also, how dare you put the image of Noah and Chris cuddling in the window seat watching the snow fall while the listen to Peter singing ‘Hallelujah’ as he finishes the dishes, in my head?  Or them sitting at the table having coffee and joining him for the choruses?  Or Chris singing along with Tony Bennett or Harry Connick Jr on the local Christmas station?  Or Noah singing along with Chris Cornell’s version of Ave Maria (or doing a damn good impression at least [song is available on Spotify, btw, if you’ve not heard it])?  My body was not meant to hold this level of feral screaming, dude.  XD

For the undecided alignment (that don’t involve spoilers), I would vote LN for Danny and CG for John.  No specific reasons, that’s just what feels right at the moment.  And I’m curious if Noah and the kids have been in the vault at all, because Malia would be able to access it.

And, yes, I am all for mutual body positivity support among the boys.  I remember watching some BTS thing a few years back, and Linden said something about how everyone was “running around without their shirts on, and I just feel kinda old and jiggly”, and my very first thought was “Oh, please.  You may not be I’ve-had-nothing-but-chicken-for-a-week-and-haven’t-had-liquids-in-three-days ripped like the other guys, but in no way will you ever convince me you are actually out of shape in the slightest."  Also, I’m just picturing a scene where Noah accidentally(/on purpose…?) looms over Chris, who just has this moment of "oh, yeah, that’s right, you’re tall now” immediately followed by “well, I am learning a number of new things about myself right now"  XD  On a related note, how do you think he feels about dip kisses after realizing this?  Although, I do hope Noah does not sweep Chris off his feet in quite the same way Chris keeps doing to him.  XD

On an unrelated note, that post about Artoo and Luke about killed me dead.  XD  Artoo’s propensity for shenanigans and Luke’s pervading issues with impulse control is just a complete recipe for hilarious disaster and total ride-or-die besties.  It also reminded me of the post about how Rogue One leads into New Hope and Leia straight up lying right to her dad’s face.  Which, while hysterical, also makes me think about how many posts I see about how Leia is very much her father’s daughter, but almost never see any that point out how much Luke is his mother’s son.  I just have a LOT OF FEELINGS about this, okay?  But I will contain that rant.  XD  (Star Wars has been an on-again-off-again love for me since I was 9.  It’s pretty much a guaranteed way to get an emotional response out of me.  XD )

And I’m glad Mo doesn’t bother the tree or anything, though the box thing is pretty funny.  But he does seem to have that very cat-like tendency to want to completely block you from accessing the keyboard or pin you in place because he’s laying on you and you don’t want to disturb him, so I think he’s catting just fine.  XD  I mean, I have some friends who one of their cats is immune to scruffing (the downside of this is that he’s also almost completely feral still [he was a stray that stayed], and at one point he got a UTI and needed antibiotics.  I’m pretty sure my friend had to get like a falconing glove or something to get his pills in him.  XD )

That America being huge vs Europe being old thing also made me laugh because there was the section about the "long bus ride” that was like two hours, and all I could think about was how often we drove four hours both ways to visit my grandparents, and how in high school we took a trip to Canada, and I don’t remember the exact length of the bus ride up, but I know it was between twenty-three and twenty-eight hours.

And I hope you’re enjoying the Spiderman game, or will when you get to it!  As best I recall, everyone I know who has played it has had nothing but good things to say about it.  And wow, I’m rambling again.  Oh well.  Anyway, hope you’re doing well, and sending lots of good energy for finishing the chapter to your satisfaction (I know the readers certainly don’t mind the longer chapters.  :D )  Take care!  *Hugs!*

Oh my god I am absolutely in love with that sweater. Why is this not a thing XD 

And yeah, they definitely gift Peter a sweater like that, lbr. No other way about it. It definitely backfires when Peter wears it every single year and to everywhere. Including PT meetings and the parent/school board meetings? I forgot the American word for it, in Dutch we call it ouderraad. I know we talked about them before where Peter starts a war with the ‘Karen’ and completely wrecks her. And how all the other moms fall in love with the three DILFS.

But yeah, wears it everywhere and every year XD. 

Noah’s deputies, including Jordan, have definitely snapped pictures and post them on every computer desktop in the station. Including pictures of Noah’s reaction faces of that sweater.

Because you cannot convince me, that a bunch of cops, would not be dicks about this.

Chris is infinitely grateful that he does not have coworkers like that.

And god that is rather good smirk to go with that line XD. And yeah I guess it is funny. But it’s also true and that’s wow... XD 

I did a character alignment test for Peter and came out on CN so that is what I’m going to stick with in any itteration for him. 

As for the wiggle butt thing, he does not have a tail and I already had a very lengthy inner discussion with myself before getting this ask and I can tell you, he does wiggle butt like a boxer in this form. Imagine a fucking beast like that just wiggle butting with happiness. The image is so bizarre that I had to include it in the full moon chapter.

Chris is definitely learning a number of things about himself when he figures out Noah can now loom over him and press him against walls. Also Chris has a thing for being bound or pressed against objects and when Noah figures that one out, well, let’s say Peter certainly doesn’t mind watching those moments.

There’s also a revelation when Chris says; I can easily get out of these handcuffs and Noah translates it too; Good, that means that as long as you don’t try to, you’re consenting to whatever I’m doing to you. Deal? To which Chris, enthusiastically agrees. It’s a very fun game. Peter disagrees because they tend to lock him out during the games with some ash, although he is invited back in after they’re done and then the attention of two Omegas is fully on him. So I suppose he doesn’t mind too much.

Something that is both funny and sweet though is that through Ben, Noah discovers how much he misses having little kids running around. And he has a few moments of; oh god I want another kid realizations in this chapter.

Of course, considering their situation this isn’t the time and Noah more than realizes that. But it gets conversations about the future going for all three of them.

Oh and to answer your question, Malia has not been to the vault, but she and her siblings will get to see it. If that’s with dad or with Derek I haven’t decided yet. But they will end up at the vault in this story. Gotta get Peter’s necklace back.

So far I’ve had a bit of a rough day but by answering this and focusing on headcanons, and that freaking sweater!!!!, I feel a bit better. So thank you my friend, this helped me a lot <3. 

And I agree, Leia is just like her father but Luke is all Padme and people don’t talk about that enough. <3

Lots of Love from me and Mo!

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 171

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 23 - “Crisis! Invitation to a Nightmare!” Date watched: 10 January 2020 Original air date: 15 July 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/nZFAArO Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

This is the first part of the two-part mid-season climax and while that makes it high stakes by necessity, this one stands out even among the shows we’ve seen so far. Nozomi causes an accident that drives a wedge between all the other girls, just as Kawarino makes his move. We have to plunge our girls into the depths of despair so they can discover their true strengths and come out more powerful than ever. Let’s dig in!

The Plot

The girls are making an elaborate butterfly bead decoration for Natts House, but when Nozomi and Milk start to fight, the fearless leader accidentally knocks it over, destroying days of hard work. Instantly, Rin and Karen start yelling at her, while Komachi and Urara are also upset but try to placate the others. This only results in more infighting, until Nuts puts his hand down and demands that they clean up the mess.

Over in Nightmare HQ, Bunbee presents Girinma with two choices: termination, or a mysterious black paper, with the heavy implication that whatever it is is life-threatening. At the same time, Kawarino speaks to Despariah about his own plan to separate the Cures from each other, isolating them and taking away the advantage of their teamwork. It’s very sinister.

At school the next day, Nozomi sits alone during lunch, because everyone else had excuses for not being there. Coco comes over and explains that he believes her strong spirit will be able to bring everyone back together, as she is the glue that unites them all. He also hands her a keychain made of the beads she was working with, symbolizing the bond of the five girls and three fairies.

After school, Karen and Komachi make their way home with a sizable distance between them. They try to make conversation but it’s very stiff and awkward. They are interrupted by the arrival of Girinma, who dons a black Kowaina mask and transforms into a monstrous, feral version of his mantis-man form. As Cure Mint and Aqua, they try to fight him but he throws them around like nothing. Kawarino then catches them in a dark energy ball that negates their movements and causes them to recede into their own nightmares.

Inside Aqua’s mind, she awakens facing the student council, who are all wearing Kowaina masks, and their leader reports that Karen’s intellect causes her to feel isolated from her classmates and she has no one she can truly call a friend; she’s all alone. Aqua demands to know how they would know this, and the leader removes her mask to reveal that she is Karen herself. We see her reflected in Aqua’s eye, sinisterly...

Meanwhile, Cure Mint finds herself surrounded by a horde of tiny Komachi dolls, representing a character she drew for a picture book when she was younger. She says she has to help her friends but the dolls insist that it’s pointless, she tried to placate the argument and they just attacked her as well and called her indecisive. They say that everything can be the way she wants it to be in this world, and she gets sucked under the pile of dolls.

Shortly afterwards, Rin is seen walking home when Urara catches up and asks about Nozomi. Rin is very curt with her and snarkily asks if Urara has any other friends, which causes the young actress to start angrily crying. Before they can continue their disagreement, a pinky appears, and they both follow it. The Monster Girinma suddenly attacks them from behind, while the pinky flees and transforms back into Kawarino. The two transform into Cure Rouge and Lemonade but like their teammates before, they’re no match for the monster. Rouge is almost instantly caught in Kawarino’s trap, while Lemonade keeps jumping around.

Rouge’s nightmare sets her on the street where Nozomi got hurt as a child (from episode 2), but this time she’s the one who’s hurting. A small child, revealed to be Rin’s child self, approaches her, lamenting that they’re always trying to protect Nozomi and getting hurt for it. The young Rin suggests to Rouge that their life would be better off without Nozomi in it.

Back in the real world, Lemonade finds that her attacks aren’t affecting Girinma, and soon she gets captured as well. Inside her nightmare we see Lemonade sitting in a chair in a dressing room, looking at her reflection, but her reflection is of Urara with longer twintails. The reflection begins talking to her, convincing her that she should quit being a Precure to pursue acting full time like she promised she would. Lemonade doesn’t want to leave Nozomi behind, but Urara reminds her that it’s a highly competitive field and she’ll be hurting herself if she divides her time. The reflection then comes through the mirror to Lemonade’s side and stares her down, encouraging her to forget her friends and go all-in on acting.

Finally, we come back to Nozomi. She returns to Natts House, hoping to make amends with everyone, but only Nuts, Coco, and Milk are there, saying the others haven’t returned and warning her of an extremely powerful evil presence. At that moment, Kawarino appears in the shop and introduces himself. He informs them all that he has the other four Precures in custody, and will trade them for the Dream Collet. Instead Nozomi takes it and threatens to break it, with Coco and Nuts backing her up. She demands to see her friends before she’ll hand over the Collet, and the villain acquiesces, bringing her to Nightmare HQ (which we finally learn is in another dimension, not just downtown). Coco and Nuts join, and Milk sneaks along as well against orders.

Kawarino brings Nozomi and the fairies into the board room, startling Bunbee, but before any explanations can be given out, Despariah appears on the monitor. Nozomi and the fairies are all taken aback, but Nozomi qickly recovers herself and demands to know where her friends are. After feigning ignorance, Kawarino presents Cures Rouge, Lemonade, Mint, and Aqua, all wearing Kowaina masks.

The episode then closes on a haunting shot of the Nightmare Cures all reflected in Nozomi’s eyes. (the header image)

The Analysis

This is a chilling episode. While we’ve had rifts within the team before, such as Rin and Karen’s little feud in episode 8, this is the first time the whole team has broken up like this. And it’s sort of understandable: the girls had been working on that decoration for several days, so when all that work went down the drain in an instant, tempers flared. Karen and Rin said some mean things and snapped at Komachi and Urara when they tried to mediate, and then everyone (including Milk) felt bad and had some unresolved feelings the next day. It’s a great setup because all you want is for them all to talk things through and make up, but before they can, the villains sneak in and overpower them. In-universe it’s completely coincidental that Kawarino happens to strike while the team isn’t united, but he certainly seizes the opportunity. I’m sure he would have found a way to divide them anyway, like he did the duos, but it helps him that they aren’t all walking home at once.

Thus far in the season it has felt like Nightmare has been a lot of talk when it comes to their employees. Sure, Bunbee and Kawarino have threatened Girinma and Arachnea, but this time we finally see some real consequences. Girinma puts everything on the line for Nightmare, even giving up his own sapience, and being reduced to a mindless creature. It’s an incredibly desperate move and the first sign that this episode is going to be serious.

One thing I really love is how the girls all act the day after the fallout. Karen and Komachi apologize to each other, but are still walking quite far apart and their conversation is stilted.

For some further context, during the big argument, Urara was defending Nozomi from Rin’s scolding and asked Komachi if she agreed with her. Komachi responded, timidly, that she could see Urara’s point but also Rin and Karen’s side, which resulted in Karen calling her indecisive and naive, which hurt Komachi a lot. So now, even though they’ve ostensibly apologized, there’s still some emotional distance between the old friends, and they have visualized this by literally distancing them from each other. They’re together, but they’re not close.

Conversely, Rin acts incredibly dismissive of Urara when approached, and seems to have no time for either her or Nozomi. Rin has taken the destruction of the ornament very personally and believes that scolding is the only way Nozomi will learn from her mistakes, and she isn’t very interested in hanging out with Urara. These two are physically close in space but emotionally distant. It’s less of a strain on their friendship as a reduction in how much of a friend Rin considers Urara to even be. I think Rin is very used to being able to bounce back from arguments with Nozomi. She gets mad, they don’t talk for a few days, they make up. But Urara isn’t used to this or willing to put up with Rin’s passive aggressive bullshit.

Within their nightmare worlds, each girl is presented with a version of herself that preys on their insecurities in order to mentally isolate them from the others. It’s very clever, albeit dark. The way Karen is manipulated into thinking she’s too smart and no one likes her, Komachi is told that her “friends” just walk over her, Rin is fed the notion that Nozomi doesn’t care about being protected, and Urara is reminded that she decided to forego friends for her career. Each of them is manipulated into isolation and convinced that they have no use for friends. This allows Nightmare to actually get inside their heads and bring them together at the very end of the episode for the Nightmare Cures reflected in Nozomi’s eyes.

Speaking of which, as you may have noticed, seeing eerie reflections in each girl’s eyes was a fantastic visual theme throughout the episode. Forcing them to reflect on themselves, watching as they slowly succumb, it’s haunting and amazing. I want to point out that the reflections show the true extent of how disturbing each manifestation is, compared to how they present themselves. We see Karen without her Kowaina mask, the Komachi doll has a creepy smile, young Rin has that haunting expression, and Urara has a faux-innocent grin that masks her less than admirable intentions.

With all her friends captured and turned into Nightmare’s lackeys, Nozomi is at an all-time low, but only she can find a way out of this. Next time on Precure Daily, the epic conclusion to the mid-series climax as Nozomi has to rescue her friends from the clutches of evil and escape Nightmare. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei

EDIT: quick comment on something I forgot, I just wanted to point out that Nightmare Urara’s hair is significantly longer than the real deal, and it’s the biggest deviation of the four. Karen’s doppelganger is just Karen, Komachi’s are characters she made up as a child, and Rin’s is her younger self. It’s not clear why Urara’s is that way. Maybe it’s how she sees herself or wants to be.

[clownao]

Sticky Situation

A Kimura + Okano fic, for Day 5 Adventure/ Travel of Assassination Classroom Rarepair 2019 hosted by @handy-dandy-headcanons

[FFN] [AO3]

Summary: Kimura and Okano get stuck in a net while adventuring. And they can't get out.

I’ve always been interested in their dynamic :D They’re like opposite and chaotic versions of ChibaHaya. And Okano and Kimura are pretty similar in personality and skill set as well.

Full fic under read more!

-

"Yoo! Race you to that mountain!"

Kimura groaned as Okano shot off. "Oy! You got a head start!" he complained.

Okano seemed to consider for a bit, slowed her footsteps then turned around. Her purple hair whipped in the wind, and her face practically glowed in the fading evening light. She was visibly excited at the prospect of exploring a new place.

"You two! Don't go running about!" Kataoka, the vice leader of their group, scolded. "We're here on a mission. We're supposed to learn how to survive in the wild, not enter unknown and potentially dangerous places!"

"You're kind of being a spoilsport," Maehara, who was setting up a tent, commented. "What's the fun in being out here without an adventure?"

"You're right, but we also shouldn't take unnecessary risks." Isogai crouched, snapped his fingers, and a spark appeared in a pile of leaves and twigs. Flames started to lick the pile, sending a thin ribbon of smoke twisting in the air. "Great, the fire's going."

"Isogai, be careful that the fire doesn't burn your uncovered half!" Maehara teased, making reference to how Isogai's fancy-looking armour only covered his front half.

As Kimura watched the rest of the group set up camp for the night, he felt a nudge in his ribs. He spun to see Okano, a wide grin on her face. "You still up for that race? It's not like they," she gestured to the group, "can't manage without us."

Logically, Kimura knew it was nearing nighttime, and it would be foolish to separate from the main group. But they'd travelled the entire day, seeing nothing but endless plains and boring grass and a few low-level slimes. The mountain was the first interesting thing they'd seen, and besides, when did Kimura think logically? The thirst for adventure was running in his veins. The mountain was calling out to him, begging to be explored. Kimura's limbs twitched in anticipation. He and Okano were fast. They could probably outrun any monsters (if there were any).

"Let's gooooo!" Kimura cheered and broke into a run, Okano hot on his heels.

The duo sprinted up the slope and nimbly leaped past boulders and roots. Okano grabbed a vine and used it to swing Tarzan-style. Kimura tried to follow her, but ended up almost smashing into a tree trunk.

"Aww, that was bad luck!" Okano teased, a few paces ahead of him.

"Oh, shut up!" Kimura snapped, but it all honesty he wasn't mad. He grinned and dashed in front of her. Okano's scowl brought him great satisfaction.

The duo encountered some slimes but easily defeated them. According to what Okano vaguely remembered from Kataoka's lecture, there were some higher level monsters around the mountain, but neither of them recalled which type of monster.

"If we don't remember, it's probably not important," Kimura said carelessly. He looked back at where their camp was, the fire now a bright tiny dot against the dark murky canvas.

Okano was a few steps ahead of him. She tapped her feet on the ground and said, "Yeah, I agree- AAAAAA!"

Kimura turned his neck so quickly he nearly gave himself backlash. "Okano?"

Then he saw the white net.

A large net made out of sticky white lines was dangling from a tree, presumably some trap set by a monster. And Okano was twisted in the net, her body upside down. Kimura's heart leapt in his throat.

"I'm coming!" he bellowed and leapt towards her-

Which was a stupid move, as he just ended up caught in the trap too.

Something soft and slimy wound itself around his ankle and hoisted him up. The dark world spun before Kimura's eyes and he screamed. Before Kimura could even cast a spell, he was tossed into the net and he crashed against Okano.

Okano yelped sharply and Kimura assumed he had squished her, so he tried to move but realized he couldn't. The net didn't allow any movement and Kimura was sure he was partly upside down.

They both struggled to no avail. Apparently the net was also enchanted and restrained their magic. They couldn't just burn the net or cut it using magic. Okano tried to hit the net but ended up accidentally kicking Kimura. When he tried to defend himself, he grabbed Okano's leg, which resulted in a swift whack to his face.

"I'm not molesting you!" Kimura exclaimed, exasperated. "Who do you think I am, Okajima?"

"You try having your leg all felt up," Okano retorted grumpily.

They continued to writhe like dying fish until Kimura felt like he'd exhausted every single cell in his body. Defeated, he flopped and Okano, who was pressed against him, did the same.

It was impossible to escape without outside help.

"This is stupid," Okano crabbed. "You shouldn't have charged over here."

"Huh, aren't you just the same?" Kimura argued. "Besides, you should've warned me."

"Maybe this gigantic-ass net is a warning enough!"

Kimura's limbs were uncomfortably entangled with Okano's. Kimura genuinely tried to avoid most body contact but it was inevitable in some cases. He was feeling as awkward and mortified as she was. Okano leaned back and her hair somehow brushed against his… leg. Kimura cringed. Thankfully Okano didn't have long hair or the situation would get even more ticklish.

Kimura sighed. "We should stop squabbing. It's not going to help."

Okano was silent. "What can we do to help?"

Kimura noted the setting sun and the gradual darkness surrounding them. Soon, they wouldn't be able to see anything. Kimura's chest clenched with unease.

"Do you think the others are searching for us?" Okano asked quietly.

"At the very least, I'm sure they've realized we've disappeared for too long. Should we yell to attract attention?"

"No, all the monsters are just going to find us." Okano tried to fiddle with the net again. "What if the creature who made this net comes across us…"

A cold shiver ran down Kimura's spine. "We'll just make a run for it, I mean, we're fast." His words sounded hollow even to him.

"I feel if we stay like this for a few more minutes, we'll be attacked by cramp," Okano complained.

Kimura stayed silent and he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see better in the dark. Now that Kimura had time to think properly, it was probably a very bad idea to have him and Okano out alone, as they were too similar in terms of skills and personality. They needed some common sense to balance out their impulsiveness.

"We're dangling from a branch, right?" Kimura asked as he tried to look up.

There was a pause. "You want to break it?" Okano asked skeptically. "It's not exactly a thin branch."

Kimura let out a sigh. "Well then, do you have any other ideas?"

After some awkward knee bumping and elbow jabbing, the duo managed to cause the net to swing from side to side in hopes of loosening it. Unfortunately, they were both either too light or too weak, as the net didn't really shift its position.

Within minutes, every bit of remaining energy had drained out of the duo. They ended up leaning against each other for support, panting. Kimura was feeling nauseous from all the spinning, and he really hoped he wouldn't vomit all over himself and Okano.

"It's getting really dark now," Okano peeped.

Kimura's stomach twisted. "Umm, I'm sure they'll find us," he laughed in a feeble attempt to reduce the tension. They were both such lost causes. They really should find someone to accompany them on their next excursion.

"Yo! Did anyone call us?"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Kimura visibly relaxed, his shoulders sagging.

"Maehara!" Okano exclaimed, sounding a lot more delighted by the boy's presence than usual.

Two boys came into Kimura's upside down view, wielding torches. Isogai and Maehara's familiar faces were illuminated by the flickering flames. They both immediately started to cut the ropes of the net.

"Yay! We're saved!" Kimura whooped, feeling immensely grateful for his classmates.

As Isogai tried to serve the ropes using magic, he coughed. "Well actually… we've been here for some time… we were trying to see if you guys can get out on your own…"

Kimura's jaw dropped. Any ounce of gratefulness he had vanished in a blink of an eye. "WHAT?" he bellowed, while wriggling himself as if he could somehow strangle Isogai that way.

"It was my idea," Maehara interjected sheepishly. "Of course, we made sure you were safe. We kind of wanted to teach you a lesson, that sometimes no one can come and save you. That's why you have to watch out for yourself."

Next to Kimura, Okano let out a feral growl. Kimura could clearly picture bloodlust brimming in her dimmed violet eyes. "Maehara Hiroto… I'm going to kill you…" she seethed.

The net broke apart and the duo tumbled down. Due to their agility, they managed to get up on their feet pretty quickly. Okano immediately kicked Maehara in the groin. Maehara automatically doubled over and grunted in agony. Kimura and Isogai winced, feeling the second hand pain.

"You should've saved us from the get go!" Okano hollered in Maehara's ear.

"But then you two won't learn your lesson!" Maehara howled in return.

Kimura deadpanned, "Oh great, they're bickering. Again."

Isogai shrugged his shoulders casually. "But we really should be going back. Kataoka's going to slaughter us otherwise."

When the party returned to their camp, Kataoka was predictably angry yet concerned for Kimura and Okano. With a stern frown on her face, she rapped their heads sharply.

"DON'T do anything like that again, you knuckleheads!"

"None of this would've happened if we weren't so bored," Kimura muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately for Kimura, Kataoka heard him. "Better be safe than sorry," she chided.

"Yeah, whatever," Kimura huffed.

-

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Tales Of Arrival Prologue + Chapter 1

This fic is rated Teen for blood, mild gore, adults doing adult things like drinking and swearing, and some dirty jokes and such.

About time I had another B fic huh? (Greenhorn Prometheus doesn't count, it was a three-parter that was written out ahead of time, shhhhhhhh)

So, this is a fic that took me some come convincing to write, (I was never really that fond of the actual PMD games, though I generally like the fics better) but in the end I got attached to an idea and was like "hell, let's go."

I will be up front in saying this is a Tales Of Symphonia/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon crossover, and that you should note three things about that:

1.There will be some massive fucking spoilers for Tales Of Symphonia, especially around the character Kratos Aurion, so if you're particularly concerned about that then I recommend playing the game or watching an LP before reading this fic.

A. That said... If you have not played Tales Of Symphonia, do not care about spoilers relating to it, and are just here because you saw "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon" in the title, you should be fine - this fic is like at least 70% PMD, albeit a celebration of what I like about the genre and a satire of what I don't.

%. This is set in a PMD version of the Yangverse. It's fundamentally the same world, just with no humans and a lot of PMD elements added to compensate.

But anyway I should go ahead and get into this. But before I do big thanks to @masaeanela​ and her Tales of Symphonia LP, without which this fic wouldn't have been possible. Here we go:

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Tales Of Arrival

(Banner by Shinywolf!)

Prologue: New Life

Kratos could see the vast darkness of space staring out before him.

Derris-Kharlan had been drifting for a long while. It'd be a while before it'd establish itself as a proper living planet. His communications with Yuan had ceased just the other day. He had already scattered Cruxis' Exspheres into space. He could barely see where he left in the sky anymore.

Normally he'd pretend it didn't hurt. But leaving everything behind-

No. He had to.

He looked in the direction in the sky Derris-Kharlan had drifted from. Lloyd. He was back there. Kratos wondered, hoped, that he and his gaggle of friends were doing alright.

He looked to where Derris-Kharlan was drifting in the cold void of space. This was the only place for him. He realized now the blood on his hands. The countless people Cruxis had killed he was complicit with.

He didn't deserve to stay home. He didn't deserve redemption. He didn't deserve a happy life with his son, the only family he had left.

As he thought this, however, he noticed a strange light in the dark, starry sky. Looking at it, he thought at first it was a comet or meteor shooting through the sky.

But then he realized it was heading through Derris-Kharlan's atmosphere at incredible speed.

Heading straight toward him.

He tried to get out of the way. But it was too late. The light consumed him.

-----------------

Kratos woke up in a colorful, pulsating, void. He couldn't feel his body. Almost like he was part of the void.

Then he heard a voice.

"Hello? Hello? Kratos, you there?"

"How do you know my name?" said Kratos.

"Oh, goody, it is you!" said the voice. "Listen, I know this is kind of sudden, but something's coming to my world and I need your help with it."

"...Why me?"

"You're... uniquely qualified. For multiple reasons. But before I bring you over I need to ask you some questions."

"I-"

"First question! Do you like groan-inducing puns?"

"...Spare me."

"You're lucky I can't think of one. Second question! Do you get bothered by noise and ruckus around you?"

"I try not to let it get to me."

"Hmmmm... Third question! Your friend is crying right in front of you! What made that happen?"

Kratos thought back to Mithos. To Yuan. To Lloyd.

"...It's probably my fault."

"Ouch. Not much of the self-esteem type. Question four! Do you occasionally consider yourself to be dull and overly cautious?"

"Of course not."

"Sure you aren't. Anyway, final question! Have you ever wanted to communicate with aliens from another planet?"

"I'm assuming you're one?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny."

"Hmmm... Some beings from my world came from the stars, but other than you, Derris-Kharlan hasn't encountered any aliens yet... so yes, I suppose."

"Okay! Hmmm, let's see, yes, yes... I think I have a form cooked up for you!"

"...Form?"

"Anyway, remember that question about the aliens and how you said you'd like to meet them?"

"Yes? I'm guessing wish granted."

"Yep! Wish granted."

The void turned a blinding white before Kratos lost consciousness again.

Chapter 1: Welcome To The World

Kratos stirred, groaned, and finally opened his eyes. What he saw was blue sky, much more blue than on Derris-Kharlan. He tilted his head a bit, saw trees, grass, and -

"Hey you! You're finally awake!"

What Kratos saw next to him was a small, black-and-red fox wearing a teal robe, with inquisitive blue eyes staring right at him.

"I was just about to get help... Are you OK?"

"Yes... I am alright," said Kratos. "Let me just..."

He sat up. And then realized he wasn't himself. His body was now much, much smaller in proportion to his head, and fuzzy. And his arms were... wings. Not like his old angel wings, like bat or dragon wings, with claws at the end instead of hands.

"How... How did this happen?"

"Someone must have knocked you out!" said the fox.

Kratos gave the fox a look.

"It must have been a feral Pokemon... Do you remember anything about it?"

"No... and I mean... What am I?"

The fox gasped. "Oh no! You must have amnesia! Uh, you're a Noibat! Though, not like any Noibat I've ever seen. Your colors are all different..."

"So I'm a creature known as a Noibat, then."

"Yeah! And I'm a Zorua! My name's Edbark. Do you remember yours?"

"...Yes. It's Kratos."

"Kratos? Huh. Sounds foreign. Well nice to meet you Kratos! I'll be sure to help get your memories back!"

"I don't need-"

"Come on! I'll take you to a doctor in the city."

"...Fine."

Edbark started to trot off. Kratos sighed and started to try and follow, only to stumble over. Edbark turned back and gasped.

"Oh no! You've forgotten how to walk!"

"I'm fine," said Kratos. "I just need to get used to this new body..."

"Come on," said Edbark. "I'll help you."

Edbark propped Kratos up with his back, then they walked away together.

------------

Eventually, the duo reached the outskirts of what seemed to be a city. There were many houses both small and large and dirt roads, as well as towering buildings which Kratos could only fathom a guess at the purpose of.

Having figured out how to walk by himself, Kratos went closer and saw the city was populated not by humans or elves or half-elves or dwarves or even angels, but by a staggering array of different animals, plants, and even inanimate objects, all moving around as if they were people.

"What... is this place?" said Kratos. "And what are these creatures?"

"This is Rainbow Wing City!" said Edbark. "And man, that amnesia really got to you... These are Pokemon! You're a Pokemon, I'm a Pokemon..."

"I thought you said I was a Noibat and you were a Zorua."

"Noibat and Zorua are both kinds of Pokemon silly!"

"...I see."

The two continued further on into Rainbow Wing City, passing various buildings and a great variety of Pokemon. Kratos marveled at the bazaars and shops and facilities run by colorful creatures he couldn't even count. Eventually the two reached what seemed to be a castle - Kratos noticed one of two in the city, along with a cathedral.

"And this place is..." said Kratos.

"The Adventurer's Guild!" said Edbark."They can help you out!"

Edbark dragged Kratos inside. Kratos noticed more facilities and corridors and dormitories inside, as well as what seemed to be an... Inn? With a bar?

Eventually Edbark dragged Kratos into a central room. Seated at the end of the room was a strange, cream-and-green mustelid-like creature wearing a red vest, flanked by two floating grayish blue automaton-like beings.

"Guildmaster, it's Edbark!" said one.

"And... some Noibat?" said another.

"I see, I see," said the mustelid. He approached the duo. "Edbark my boy! Who do you have here?"

"Guildmaster Stoakes!" said Edbark. "This is Kratos! Poor guy has amnesia! All he can remember is his own name... You gotta help him!"

Kratos was about to object that no, he did not have amnesia, he remembers the last four thousand years or so up until this point fine, but then he realized they probably weren't going to listen and decided to just roll with it.

"Hmm, amnesia, huh?" said Stoakes, scratching his chin. "He'll need some rest and recovery... But the Adventurer's Guild never turns down a person in need. He can stay here, we'll have Nurse Betania take a look at him."

"Yay! Thank you, Guildmaster Stoakes!" said Edbark. He turned to Kratos. "These guys have got you covered. I'll be back!"

He scampered off, and the two automatons escorted Kratos to another room as Stoakes followed.

---------------

A large pink oval with white tufts on her body and an egg nestled in a pouch on her belly now looked Kratos over. She looked him up, down, and sideways as she prodded and investigated his head and body. Kratos begrudgingly obliged as Stoakes watched.

"Well," said the pink oval, who was apparently Nurse Betania, "This is odd. He doesn't seem to have head trauma or other trauma or any injuries at all! How the hell does he have amnesia?"

"Well I wouldn't know." said Kratos.

Stoakes thought to himself a bit. "There's one possibility... Some nefarious Pokemon, somehow, wiped his memories."

"Well that gives us fuck-all evidence as to who!" said Betania, huffing.

"It seems it can't be helped." said Stoakes. He sighed, then turned to Kratos. "My offer for you to stay here still stands. Though... what do you remember?"

Kratos paused to think of a convincing reply. "...My name, Kratos Aurion. And apparently your language, basic functions of living, certain basic concepts... I remember nothing of this world or its people."

"Hm. Awfully specific memory wipe," said Stoakes. "Whoever did this to you must have had a very strange goal in mind... Nevertheless, you're safe with the Adventurer's Guild."

"Thank you."

"Hmph. Adopting another one, I see, Stoakes," said Betania.

"It can't be helped! Rule Number 1 of the Adventurer's Guild! Always help those in need, no matter who they are!"

Kratos was suddenly reminded of his son Lloyd's fondness for the Dwarven Vows. "I appreciate it."

"Besides," said Stoakes. "You came to Rainbow Wing City at a good time! The Seeking is soon! There will be a big festival and everything!"

"The Seeking?"

"I'll let Edbark explain that one, he gets excited about old myths and legends and stuff like that. Anyway, we should probably find you a room..."

He led Kratos out of the infirmary and down the stony hall to a set of rooms.

"Here's an empty dormitory. Since we're hosting you, you get to stay free of charge here instead of at the inn."

"Thank you for your generosity."

"No problem, Kratos! Come to us for anything you need!"

He headed off. Kratos paused, then sat on the bed of his new room and stared off into space.

What the hell was going on?

--------------

And there you have it, the beginning of this crossover adventure! This will update in rough alternation with Heroes After All until one of them finishes in like 3000 years. Stay tuned!

[critical-ramblings]

Mind’s Eye (7/n)

Previous chapters start here (also on AO3!)

They were in a field. No, Yasha looked around behind them and saw a lurking behemoth of a house, a broad dirt path leading up to the double-wide front doors. And the grass here was kept trimmed, the trees cut into graceful shapes that looked more like arcane runes than trees. She instantly disliked the place, though she couldn’t have said why.

“Where are we?” Fjord asked, after a minute or so when nothing tried to kill them. No little Caleb came running out to intercept them, though Yasha could hear a rooster crowing around the back of the huge house. Windows gleamed back at her in the early morning sunlight, their arched tops watching the party of motley adventurers gathered outside.

“I don’t know. Didn’t Caleb mention something about being taken out of school?” Beau looked over at Nott, who narrowed her eyes as she looked up at the house and took a drink.

“Are we in his dreams or his memories?” Caduceus asked, crouching down to crumble some of the dirt in his large hand. “Nott, what’d he say about it?”

The little goblin scowled up at the house even as she answered, like she might win a staring contest with the windows. “He said Icky-dick fed him some potion, that whenever he ‘failed’ he woke up in the smoke room. I don’t know. He’s definitely asleep, right? Are we asleep?” she turned to look at Jester. “That’s what your spell does, right?”

“Yeah, totally,” Jester nodded, then narrowed her eyes and looked around. “Although none of my dreams are this boring...” For a moment, the grass and carefully shaped trees shimmered, slid into brightly painted versions of themselves where Jester was looking. The ocean spilled towards their feet, blues and whites and purples in thick brush-strokes that nevertheless smelled of salt.

Yasha caught a glimpse of a horse-fish looking creature not far away, before a door slammed open up at the house. A human girl stood in the doorway, one hand raised to shade her eyes from the sun. With the painted surf still washing over their feet, all of the Nein turned to watch her.

“Astrid,” Jester whispered, hands folded tightly in front of her. Without her attention, the little ocean she’d conjured began to shrink, and within a few moments had vanished with a small ploop.

“Are you here for Master Ikithon?” the girl called out, with a heavy Zemnian accent.

Yasha looked at Fjord, who was looking at Beau, who was still waiting for Nott to take the lead. Nott let out a wordless hiss when she realized that everyone’s attention was on her.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, clutching very tightly at her flask. “He hasn’t told me any more than he told the rest of you!”

Beau gave a disbelieving snort, but she did step out and wave towards the house. “Hey! Yeah, sure, we’re actually looking for...Bren?”

The girl hesitated, might have said something under her breath. Eventually she waved them forward. If this was one of Caleb’s hunt-party, she would know enough magic to be dangerous. And there was no separation between having that thought and holding the Magician’s Judge in her hands. Yasha paused to look at the greatsword, because a moment ago she could have sworn she was unarmed. And she certainly hadn’t drawn the thing.

“Yasha!” Fjord made a frantic shushing gesture with both hands. “Let’s not antagonize the dream-wizards, right?”

“Right.” Yasha sheathed the greatsword without hesitation, but she continued to think as the Nein followed Astrid through an opulent hallway and into a room walled entirely with glass. And as strange as the walls were, they were nothing compared to the plants within them. Yasha was drawn immediately to the flowers; elaborate confections with frills of white and pink and yellow, some of them as wide as her hand. And others, with long orange necks and yellow tips, or bursts of red deeper than blood. The greenery itself was lush and well tended, but it reminded her too much of blades, of the ten-foot tall razor grass of her homeland. Thorns were hidden here, she was sure of it.

There was no sign of Caleb, but a familiar sallow old man stood in the courtyard just beyond the glass room. Astrid went out to him, glancing back when the group hesitated at the doorway.

“Is anyone else getting trap vibes from this?” Beau asked out of the corner of her mouth.

“No, yeah, definitely,” Jester and Fjord and Caduceus were quick to agree. Yasha stayed quiet, and she saw that Nott did too. The goblin was busy scanning the plants and vases around them, more focused on finding Caleb than dealing with his ‘dream-wizards,’ as Fjord had said.

Trap or not, they went out. Yasha brought up the rear, realizing only later that she’d somehow lost sight of Nott.

Ikithon looked exactly the same as the day she’d met him in Zadash. He nodded and smiled at them the same way he had in real life, a half-sneer like he was too good to be talking to such peasants. Yasha had grown very familiar with that look during her time with the circus.

“Welcome to my home,” Ikithon said, his smile vanishing once it’d done its work. “I assume you know why you are here?”

“Uh, no, actually,” Beau straightened her shoulders, puffed out her chest and set her jaw. “Where’s Bren?”

Ikithon only raised an eyebrow and didn’t answer. Instead, he folded his arms and said, as if Beau hadn’t spoken, “Your kind of fickle sellsword is tolerated because of your occasional usefulness to the Empire. You trespass on the goodwill of common folk fearing for their lives from some monster, you carouse and drink at every available opportunity. Bands like yours cause more damage than good, but still, you are tolerated.”

“Hold on just a--” Ikithon spoke louder, drowning out Beau’s protests. Yasha leaned over to Caduceus, whose frown was the most seriously upset she’d ever seen him. “Seems a little harsh,” she muttered, and the cleric shot her a glance.

“He’s not really saying it to us,” Caduceus answered quietly.

But before Yasha could ask what he meant, Ikithon snapped his fingers and said, “Kill them,” and everything happened very quickly.

Ikithon vanished in a cloud of blue-green mist, and a familiar bead of red energy sped towards them from somewhere out on the grounds. It detonated before any of them could react, and everything was a wash of red and roaring flames. Yasha felt them curl around her, sharper than they should be. Hotter than the flames Caleb had conjured before. Was this some trick of his past, something he used to know in the waking world? Or some other facet of the dream?

There was no doubt that it was Caleb. As the smoke cleared, it was Jester who screamed out his name, reaching towards a slight figure in red robes, far away across the lawn. Even as Yasha turned he ducked back behind a tree and disappeared.

From across the way, in a grove of smaller trees, there was a flash of movement and another streak of light. The thunder hit her a moment after the lighting, barely missing Yasha but slamming into Jester, then Fjord. Beau moved faster than the light, ducking out of its spidery path as it spent itself against the brick of the house behind them.

“Fuck!” Fjord said, coughing as his hands spasmed in the aftermath of electricity.

That was when the poisonous cloud rolled over them, obscuring both of the far-away wizards and stinking of tar. The fumes burned her nose and throat, and Yasha lost a few moments trying to hack the acid feeling from her lungs. Jester ran out past her, then Fjord, and then a small darting shape that might have been Nott.

There was a desperate cry of pain nearby, and the cloud began to dissipate. Yasha was able to straighten up, and this time she did mean to draw the Magician’s Judge and bare her teeth. The familiar weight of her rage bubbled up within her; how dare these wizards hurt her friends? And Caleb, who they were only trying to help...she wouldn’t blame him, later. After all, this wasn’t the first time they’d taken damage from him. But she could be angry now.

Yasha looked around the lawn, wrecked now, with fires flickering in the corners of the paved courtyard and black stains from the tar-cloud. Beau was all the way over by the oak tree where Caleb had hidden, the others spread out to where another fireball wouldn’t devastate them so completely. Yasha and Caduceus were the only ones left in the courtyard, actually. Just past them to the right, backed up against the wall of the house, Astrid was clutching the feathered end of crossbow bolt embedded in her chest.

Even as Yasha glanced in the little mage’s direction, Jester’s sparkling energy bolt streaked pasts and lit her up from the inside. For a half-second the bones of her face were visible, outlined in pink, and then she collapsed back against the brick.

“Astrid!” Caleb’s voice was still boyishly high, though it cracked in the middle of her name. Beau had backed him into the open, and even from a hundred feet away Yasha could see him swaying. He had never been the hardiest of them.

In her rage, Yasha’s only thought was to eliminate the threats; their weakness was her gain. The feral part of her trusted Beau to finish what she’d started, so Yasha turned her attention to the other grove. Her boots crunched on burned grass as she ran, failing to drown out Ikithon’s magically enhanced voice as it boomed across the garden. “Kill them first! There will be time for healing later.”

The boy in the grove couldn’t have been more than fifteen. He saw Yasha coming and scrambled back, his face still round with baby fat. And then splattered with blood as her greatsword carved into him, the familiar jolt of breaking bones running up her arms. He was still standing, after, but barely. A very small part of her, under seething rage and satisfaction, wondered what his name was.

“This isn’t how it happened,” the boy whispered, and a screaming wind tore through the trees. It was no spell Yasha had ever heard of, no magic she had ever seen. One moment she was standing over the child with her sword dripping, and the next her skin was burning, her sword was gone, and the wizard another fifty feet away. The expression on his face was hard to read, but Yasha could see the cruel expectation on it when he looked up for Ikithon. The blood in her eyes and hands was her own, now. Something hot and acid twisted in her gut, and Yasha knew just how close to death she was.

But it wasn’t until Jester yelled, “Hey, that’s cheating!” that she realized what must have happened. If they could change the dream, so could Caleb. Caleb, who was trying to kill them.

“Wake up, man!” Beau said, from not-very-far-away. Yasha pushed her way back through the trees, which had grown thicker and tighter together in a moment. Against her back, she felt the itch of an oncoming spell, but managed to shrug it off. She needed to find her party, make sure they were...

The wreckage of the lawn hadn’t changed much in the wind. But Jester was crouched next to Caduceus, unconscious on the stone. Nott was huddled in the shadow of a garden statue, both hands clutched to her chest to hold her ribs together. Astrid was awake, though still bloody, a wickedly curved dagger in one hand. Fjord was using his falchion to stand up from where he’d been blasted onto his knees. Even as Yasha watched he turned to spit blood onto the ground.

Beau was also breathing heavily, clutching her staff in a way that meant she couldn’t stand without it. Caleb stood next to her, both hands pressed to his head looking...almost exactly like the younger version of him had, before the fire came.

Warily, Yasha looked around, tried stepping on one of the flickering remnants of the fireball. It was still there when she lifted her foot, a little more singed than before.

“You’re damn right this isn’t how it happened,” Beau transferred her grip to the front of Caleb’s robes, letting her staff fall to the ground. Yasha, keeping one eye on the fire, thought she saw it flicker a little higher. But the whole scene was slowed, thick with some struggle she could feel in the very air. “Wake up, Caleb,” Beau said again, more gently.

The boy just looked at her. His mouth opened and closed a few times, until finally he said, “If this isn’t...how it goes?”

But it was Astrid who finished the sentence, sliding up behind Jester and slitting her throat. “Then it can go however you want,” the Zemnian girl said viciously. Jester choked, and black smoke poured out with her blood. Beau screamed, shoving Caleb back as she ran to her friend.

Yasha couldn’t beat her there, despite being closer, because this time the tickle of a spell at the back of her neck didn’t dissipate, but grabbed and held her whole. She could hear her joints crack as they froze, the impulse to run still pounding through her. The fires burned no brighter, Caleb in the distance still standing slack as Astrid’s dagger swept dismissively through Caduceus’ chest and darted towards Fjord. Smoke stinking of charred meat and plaster poured in around them, obscuring almost everything--but not before the short sword emerged from her chest, cold as winter, stopping her from breathing.

***

“This isn’t...how it goes?” He turned to Astrid, who wrapped a hand around his upper arm. Behind him, his mother screamed; it was the sound of ice cracking in his mind.

“You can make it better, Bren,” Astrid said, and he could feel Eodwulf’s hand on his shoulder, holding him up. Holding him back. “You can make it right this time.”

He was breathing too fast, he knew. Black dots closed in around his vision, or was that smoke? He could smell his parents burning. Bren buried his face in Astrid’s shoulder and the ice...stopped cracking. He was a spiderweb of fault lines, but he was not broken. He focused on Astrid’s hand in his hair, and began to let go of the truth--that this was not how it happened.

And then someone called his name. “Caleb!” she said, but that was not his name, his name was--

“Caleb! Where the fuck is he?”

And someone else he loved said, “I don’t know, but I’m going to kick his smoky ass for that shit, just wait.”

And Jester sounded worried when she said, “Do you think our Caleb goes somewhere else than we do?” 

Caleb looked back, to where the voices were coming from, and saw the wreck of his home...and the ice broke. He fell, and fell, and he would never stop falling, he would never deserve to stop falling because he killed them, and only then did the smoke swallow him.

[vuulpecula]

18. A DISNEY AU WHERE KHAN IS A DISNEY PRINCESS AND FOX IS THE PRINCE THAT SAVES HIM

various drabble aus | always accepting cuz i’m trash | @paramounticebound 

DISNEY AU. 

      He was within the pages of her favorite story, a legend, a myth, of a prince LOCKED away high above the world in a crooked tower. Some versions had a dragon, others a troll, and all a deadly curse that claimed the life of ever knight and prince and king who tried to save him. As legend went, no man could save him from his lonely, isolated fate. The tower itself had only one door, locked by powerful magic. A great and terrible wizard had cast the spell and trapped the boy within the curving stone walls ( in some retellings, the boy had been his SON ), claiming the magic he held was too GOOD for the world. Every WAR in the kingdom could cease to be and the FAMINE that stretched across the southern part of the continent would end. The wizard only wanted more bloodshed and death, it gave him more opportunities to use his dark arts. He had sworn to her while in the cells beneath the castle that the boy, now a man, was the only one with enough power to kill him and that he would never, ever again set foot on the ground beneath the tower. NO MAN CAN SAVE HIM, he had reiterated over and over again with his yellowed, cracked teeth clacking. He laughed and laughed, thinking himself immune to death while the boy remained locked away. For one of the most powerful dark creatures in their world, he was a fool. The feral northern PRINCESS beheaded him herself and turned up her nose at the head that rolled into the dried leaves and sticks littering the courtyard. 

      “He was a man poisoned by dark magic,” the KING explained after. “There is no boy or man trapped within a tower.” He did not wish to fill his daughters head with fantasies when he knew her inclinations for fairytales. “We are on the brink of another war with the western kingdom, I need you here, not chasing after a folk tale. Believe in what you see, Fox, believe in the faeries and the men that shed their skin to become wolves. Do not believe in prince’s in towers and false prophecies.” The fearless creature he raised continued tightening her horse’s saddle. Her will was stone and iron. 

      “You heard the warlock, he said himself that the stories were true. Our kingdom and every other kingdom’s last hope is in peace. If a PRINCE in a tower is said to have the power to bring upon us that peace and unite the kingdoms, I must try and find him.” As heir to the northern throne, she knew the fear in her father’s eyes was genuine. He worried too much for a brutal creature born and bred in war. 

      “It matters not if he is real or not. No man can save him.” The KING repeated, helping the PRINCESS into her saddle. Fox tested the reins and cast a wolfish grin her father’s way. 

      “I am no man.” The air around them seemed to lighten, as if those words alone lifted some part of the curse that bogged down the rest of them. Off she rode into the fog that was slowly lifting. For seven days and seven nights, she pressed forward to the center of the continent. The supposed location of the tower. Nestled deep within a WICKED wood, one filled with all sorts of beasts and the residue of dark magic. The old wizard’s hut was somewhere between the moss covered trees and deep bogs. Fox followed the flapping of crows, keeping her eye every fixed on the line just above the trees. On the eighth day, she saw it. A lonely spire reaching for the sky. The tower itself was more HORRIFIC in person than it had ever been in any storybook. So dangerously narrow that it seemed to sway in the wind, and jutting out in sections like bones protruding through flesh. The air around it was foul, filled with the scents of bog water and rotting flesh. Her trusty stead was left within the woods where it seemed safer compared to this cursed place. 

      Fox was careful as she threaded through the treeline, searching for enemies. The curse itself had leeched color from the earth around the tower, nothing lived, it was only dirt and bones. How could anyone survive being in this place for more than a day? Not even an hour and her head was spinning. Pressure built up the closer she crept, searching for stones that would allow her to climb. It would be an awfully long way to fall if she slipped. Out of caution, she tried the tower’s solitary door anyway. No handle had been welded on and as hard as her toned muscles allowed her to push, it would not budge. Climbing it was. 

      Ensuring both her bow and her sword were secured on her back, Fox began her ascent. It was hard to grasp the stones so near to the cursed door. Her gaze could not focus on any one spot, still, she pressed on. The further she climbed, the lighter her head began to feel. It gave her hope that this was, in fact, the tower from the stories and that inside it she would find the answer to all the world’s problems. A CRUEL breeze blew from the south, nearly knocking her to fall a kilometer to the ground. Looking down, seeing how far she had already come, there was no going back. Her knuckles split, her fingernails cracked, her skin scrapped and still, the PRINCESS climbed. Crows flapped around the tower, constant circles that were always just out of reach. Another kilometer later and she was mere inches away from the singular tower window. No man could fit through it, but she was no man. She was a woman raised on whatever the farmers were able to grow in the rocky soil. Hunger was an old friend. Only the truly wealthy, those who dealt in flesh or jewels, held fat on their bones. Fortunate as they were, they never would’ve been able to fit through the glassless gap. Fox pulled herself up and over with ease. Collapsing on the dust covered floor beneath it with her heart pounding. A crow flew inside after her and perched on the edge of a massive four-poster bed. From the outside the tower was too thin to house anything so grand, but inside... It was magic. GOOD MAGIC. Only beneath the window, where the curse could still leak in from the outside, was there dust. Everywhere else was polished and warm and glistening. Confused, the princess drew her sword. Could what she had assumed was good magic, be another trick of the curse? Where were all the bodies of the fallen? Where were the torture devices? Where was the prince? Tentatively, she crept further, letting out a low whistle to alert any nearby to her entry. A dozen mice flooded in from beneath the bed. Soft, brown creatures that peered up at her with interest. The crow cawed. One brave rodent ran for her boot, shooting up it to pull with its little paws at the hem of her pants. Was it...feeling the fabric? With slight disgust, she shook it off gently and tripped back. Pressing into the firm, warm body of something that had not been there before. 

      Sword hand tightening, the princess rounded on the creature. Teeth bared. His appearance almost made her snap her snarling mouth shut. Tall. Handsome. Radiating with a strange, pale light. Not a boy. Not a man. Not a prince, but a KING. 

      “They have never seen a woman in pants,” he spoke with such softness her skin tingled. “Are you here to kill me?” She was of the feral kingdom and yet, he held more mannerisms of the crows and mice around him. More animal than man even if he was dressed in fine, tailored clothes. Another trick of magic, she supposed. 

      “I am here to save you,” she still had not yet lowered the sword. “If you are truly are the prince, that is. Are you?” He could lie easily and she would know not. Yet, she felt as though she could trust what he said, as if she had known him long before he was locked away within the tower. The prince nodded his head once before shaking it.

      “You cannot save me. No man can save me. Many have tried and many have been eaten alive by the dark magic.” Suddenly he lunged for her sword arm, grabbing hold of her wrists. “You must not venture to the door. I cannot loose another. I cannot watch what it does to the mortal mind.” His eyes were desperate, but she made no reaction as she huffed a heavy sigh. 

      “I am no man,” she repeated the same words she had said to her father. Having complete faith in them, for as foolish as the warlock had been, he was clever too. Hiding the answer in plain sight, likely believing that no WOMAN would ever venture to the tower, nor scale its rocky surface. He knew not of wild princesses who fought mountains with teeth and nails, who danced naked in the most violent of storms with laughter in their throats, and who loved and killed and cried as mother nature had created them too. “And I WILL save you from this fate.” Wrenching her body from his, she returned the sword to her belt and headed for the stairs. Down, down, down it a deep yawning mouth of darkness. His pleas for her to stop fell on deaf ears. She would not become another prisoner of this tower. No. She would get them out or she would die trying. The fate of the continent depended on it. 

      The prince and his mice followed. The crawled up his robes and sat upon his shoulders and cradled into the nook of his arms and his open hands. Where her climb had taken a few hours, the descent seemed to take double. Down they went until she was sure they were deep into the earth by the time her head began ringing. DARK MAGIC. It was like stepping into deep water. Suddenly she was submerged. Even in the dim light, she could see now what remained of the others. Dark imprints on the walls, the silhouettes of bodies gone missing. The magic truly had eaten them alive. Fox dug deep into herself, seeking out the ancient will that sat within her. Strong and unyielding. Gritting her teeth, she pressed ever on. The prince a warm beacon of light behind her, his mice hid within his robes now. Fearful of whatever they could sense in the darkness. It was getting hard to breathe in the pit of the place. Each step took ages to achieve as the magic continued to drain. Was it eating her alive already? Just as she began to lose hope of ever finding the door, it appeared before them. A sliver of outside light cut through the stones near the bottom. Again there was no doorknob and no way of pulling it open. Pushing it was. Although her muscles felt too heavy to move and her energy was nearly spent, she pressed herself against the old wood. It budged, she swore it budged. Another push, another budge. Again and again and again until it was just about open enough to stick a hand through. From the steps, the prince watched in shock and awe. His mice poking their sweet faces out to observe what was happening. The bravest of them, the one from before, jumped down and ran for her. Using his tiny paws to press with the human woman against the wood. Following suit the others joined. Together they cracked the door open enough for a shaft of sunlight to fall upon the prince’s royal head. Suddenly the whole door swung open and the tower gave a TERRIBLE SHAKE. The curse had broken! All the mice ran out into the field beyond the tower, heading for the trees, but the prince remained. Too afraid, she figured, to leave behind all he had known even if at had crumbled. 

      “Is this real,” she heard him whisper as he stared at her and the light beyond. There was no time to let him figure that out as the tower threatened to collapse upon them. Her hand grabbed for his and instantly his magic flowed through to her. Strengthening the muscles that had previously gone stiff and weak. The princess pulled him from the darkness and into the light. A wild yelp of laughter bursting forth from her throat. She had done it! She had SAVED THE PRINCE. They kept running for the treeline, straight for where her horse remained tied to one of the ancient oaks. The mice, it seemed, had already scurried up his legs and hid among her saddlebags while the prince’s crow flew above. Cawing out warning after warning as the tower behind them let out a DEAFENING crack. She gave him no time to rest as she swung herself up onto her saddle and reached again for his hand. Helping him up and instructing him to hold tightly to her waist as she rode them far from the falling stones and rising dust. Another call of triumph on her lips. 

      Another seven days and seven nights and they would be home and the world would be safe once more. Well, so she thought. The dark magic, it seemed, was not as willing to let go as the prince was to leave. But that is a story for another time. 

[thetygre]

30 Day Monster Challenge 2 - Day 11: Favorite Giant/Ogre/Troll

1.      Jotnar (Trollhunter)

The trolls in Trollhunter are the perfect giants to me; drawn straight from folklore, with all the weaknesses and traits from legend. They can range in size from a few feet tall to titans. Their design has a lot of charm to it, where they’re kind of cute from a certain angle, but they’re also raw and dangerous, with weathered skin and matted fur. There’s variety to their designs; I’m especially fond of the troll with the multiple heads. You get the feeling that the trolls are really ancient, elemental things that are part of the land. That blend of fairy tale magic and dark fantasy grit just perfectly encapsulates what I love to see out of giants.

2.      Cyclops (Ray Harryhausen)

The cyclops is arguably one of Ray Harryhausen’s most iconic creations. Harryhausen changed how the cyclops is depicted in fantasy media from its creation on. I remember in an interview that Harryhausen said his thought process was like the same for Medusa; classical depictions of the cyclops were always just a man with the single eye, and he wanted to do something unique and monstrous. Years later, his cyclops is still my favorite; totally fantastic, with the kind of eager energy that all Ray Harryhausen’s creations had.

3.      Ogre (Dragon’s Dogma)

It was a tough call between the Dragon’s Dogma cyclops and ogre. The cyclops is pretty fantastic, built around the idea that the cyclops was inspired by old mammoth fossils. But you know what the cyclops doesn’t have? SICK DROP KICKS, that’s what. Dragon’s Dogma’s ogre has a face like a gargoyle and a body like a chimpanzee. When it gets mad, its ass starts glowing and it throws a temper tantrum. And that’s a lot more intimidating when it sounds, especially when it comes barreling out of the pitch blackness right at you, picks you up, and the last blessed thing you see on this earth is your face going into its mouth. And it only gets worse when they get into groups…

4.      Trolls (Discworld)

The Disc doesn’t have orcs; it has trolls, and they rock. I’m not sorry for that pun, because Pratchett plays pretty hard into the fact that his trolls are basically elementals. Their teeth are made of diamonds, they drink molten metal, and they actually get smarter the colder they get. But there’s just a raw, dumb lovable quality to the trolls. When they pull through, either for themselves or for other characters, they show what a head full of rocks is worth.

5.      Trolls (Berserk)

It’s a shame these little guys are horrible rape monsters, because they’re adorable. Seriously, I can’t get enough of the trolls’ design. They look like teddy bears mixed with star-nosed moles. I just want to pick one up and cuddle it while it tries to kick free. Even the way they move in a horde is kind of endearing. They’re like frenzying sharks, just stuffing everything they can grab into their mouths, crawling in and out of everything. They’re the vilest, most adorable little horrors to ever crawl out from between dimensional planes.

6.      Hawkeye Gough (Dark Souls)

Another tough call. I love you, Giant Blacksmith, I really do, but once again, sick-ass martial arts takes the advantage. You hear about Hawkeye Gough at first in legend, and there’s nothing to indicate that he’s a giant, or so incredibly chill. When you finally meet him, you meet a veteran of wars long past, withdrawn from the world. He occupies his time whittling talking carvings, but its clear he pines for the old days of warring with the Everlasting Dragons. Asking him to help with Kalameet is the best thing to happen to him in years. Also, his boss fight is kind of awesome. I mean, it’s horrible that you betray him and break his old giant heart and kill one of the last good things in the world, but it’s a sweet fight. There are elbow drops involved. That’s all I’m gonna’ say.

7.      Hill Giants (Jack the Giant Slayer)

This was such a cheesy fantasy B-movie. I kind of have to appreciate its earnestness now, just going for a high fantasy fairy tale movie without being ‘dark and edgy’ or ‘the real version’. Part of that fairy tale charm was the giants. I call them hill giants because that’s what they remind me most of. These guys are hard fairy tale creatures. They’ve got a nice sense of scale to them, they’re buffoonish, but also cruel. They can turn from ‘stupid’ to ‘scary’ really fast when they need to. I like the caricature look to them, the exaggerated noses and eyes. It reminds me of cavemen, or the pictures of giants from an old picture book I have.

8.      Tundra Giants (Skyrim)

Skyrim’s giants don’t talk a lot, so they’re kind of lacking in the personality department. They don’t really need to talk, because they only need to know two things: 1.) They love cheese and 2.) You are too close to their mammoths. The giants don’t care how many dragons or draugr you’ve killed; you so much as look at their mammoths for a second too long and they’ll launch you into the stratosphere. I really do appreciate how the giants have their own hidden culture, though. They clearly live based around herding megafauna, and they have designated spaces and their own written language. The giants are beyond the affairs of people; their only concern is with the land.

9.      Stone Giants (The Hobbit)

Confession time; I didn’t 100% hate the stone giants in The Hobbit. Were they a massive diversion that ate into the time and were completely unnecessary? Absolutely. But I still liked them. These are some good rock elementals, and the concept that they play by just clobbering each other on stormy nights is a fun concept. How do elemental beings even have fun? Do they even have a concept of it, or is it the same as fighting? More importantly, giants in Middle Earth have been an interesting mystery for me since middle school. Tolkien mentions that trolls were made from giants, but its never stated exactly what giants are. The running theory was ents, but now I think that’s kind of up in the air. Giants being giant rock monsters could even explain why trolls turn to stone. So you see, the rock giants weren’t completely pointless after all. To me. And this one specific bit of Tolkien trivia.

10.   Graug (Shadow of War)

It’s a rancor. Remember the rancor from Star Wars? Well here it is, but it’s a troll now. Graugs are the alpha predators of Mordor, and it’s not clear whether they’re what trolls were made from or what feral trolls degenerated into. What is clear is that they’ll eat anything they can get their claws on, including orcs, caragors, and smaller trolls. I love the simplicity of the graug, both as a creature and a design. It’s going for more than your standard troll, but it knows what it is and doesn’t try to reach beyond it. Its place in Mordor’s ecosystem makes it feel like a dinosaur, and you really get a sense that it’s a living animal in its habitat. That, and your uruks can NOT hunt them without Mom watching them and cheering them on from the sidelines.