#like he would not fucking say that! even if Shadow actually says that next season‚ Sonic is not accepting that he can't save Nine or anyone

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

No one:

Some random person, every week since July: Has anyone done this yet? *posts meme redraw of Shadow breaking it to Sonic that they’re gonna have to kill Nine and Sonic going "Damn😔"*

[caffeinewitchcraft]

Ghost Eater

Summary: You don't like exorcists. They don't much like you either.

-----

You’d always thought big restaurants like the Brownie Industry only did well in small, midwestern towns like the one you came from. A year working in LA has taught you that, no matter where you go, people will always love garlic bread and sugar.

It’s your day off which means you’re pulling a double shift. You haven’t had time to wash your hair for the past two weeks so it’s frizzing out of your claw clip and flying wild around your face. The lighting is so dim that you’ve tripped over two black purses already, luckily not while you’re running food. The big dining room sounds like an apiary with the tittering laughter of the later adult crowd that’s filtered in from the theater across the four lane road. The main difference between the Brownie Industry here and the one back home is size. The ceiling soars overhead, supported by a series of concrete pillars separating the dining area into three sections.

Normally it would be three servers per section. Today, it’s just you in yours.

One more hour. That’s what the manager promised you. It might even be true if the host stand quits seating you after the table you’re approaching.

There are three people at the table. A woman whose hair might be light blonde or gray in the light of day, her eyes light and piercing. Her face is soft from age, emphasized by the tight, lace collar of her off-season sweater. She reminds you strongly of your mom’s nemesis on the HOA board. The man couldn’t be more out of place next to her despite their equivalent age. He’s wearing a leather jacket – again, it’s not cold here – and a Norwegian metal shirt underneath. His hair is definitely white, so white it almost glows. He’s frowning at the teenager across the table as if she’s touched his motorcycle without permission.

The teenager might be the first you’ve seen all night who doesn’t have their phone out. She’s decked out in what you consider grandma florals – a t-shirt scattered with daisy chains, a bucket hat made out of nana’s carpet bag, and a hand-crocheted scarf in pastel.  You can’t really see her face under the shadow of her hat and there’s an odd, blurred quality to the way she fiddles with her napkin. You let your eyes skip past her and back to the two adults. Teenagers don’t pay the bill.

“Welcome to Brownie Industry!” you chirp. You’re sweaty and red but the faded yellow light hides that. You’re a service industry pro so none of your exhaustion shows on your face when you ask, “Is this your first-time dining with us?”

If you weren’t so burned out, you’d have noticed before you introduced yourself.

“Are you Grady?” the woman asks. Her voice is more posh than you expected even with her lace collar. “Grady Pace?”

Fuck. There’s a noticeable temperature differential now that you’re close to them. The restaurant is warm from the number of bodies, maybe even warmer than the summer air outside, but stepping up next to their table feels like walking into an ice rink.

“I’m your waitress,” you say. You don’t have time for this conversation. You’ve got five minutes in your cycle to take their order and then you’ve got food to run. “If you need any other services from me, I have a website.”

“We messaged you,” the man says. His lips thin to the point his thick mustache covers them entirely. “You never responded.”

Because you’ve been making more money at the Brownie Industry than your other job. “I’ll take a look at it tonight.”

“Wait,” the teenager says, sitting upright. She looks from you to the adults and back again. When she smiles, there’s no humor in it. “This is why we drove eight hours to have dinner at the Brownie Industry? For her?”

“Katie, be polite—”

“I’m sorry,” Katie says, “It’s just—I found a priest, you know? An actual exorcist priest and you guys want to trust a waitress over him?”

“Ugh exorcists,” you say. The memory of sour cabbage is so heavy on your tongue that you stick your tongue out in disgust. When you see Katie’s look, you backtrack. “Effective! Definitely effective.”

“Your mistakes have cost us too much already,” the man says, shaking a finger at her. “We are not converting just for an exorcism.”

“I normally don’t agree with your father,” the woman tells Katie, “but in this case I would like to leave conversion as a last resort.”

“We wouldn’t actually convert,” Katie says, rolling her eyes.

“Pretty sure exorcists can tell when you lie,” you tell Katie. When her scowl deepens, you clear your throat. “Did you all need another minute to think about the menu?”

“We need you to help us,” the dad says. He scrubs a hand over his face. “Look, I know you’re at work and I’m sorry we’re bothering you.”

“We’re desperate,” the mom says. She reaches for her purse. “We’ll pay you. Triple the rate on your website or even quadruple. We need that thing gone by tonight.”

Katie covers her face. “Mom. You’re embarrassing me. Terry isn’t that bad.”

“Oh, he’s bad, young lady,” the dad says sternly. “A bad influence.”

“We caught her trying to perform another séance yesterday,” the mom confesses to you. She leans forward with a pinched expression. “So Terry’s friend Larry could visit too.”

“Interesting,” you say. The food bell rings, but you think you can ignore it for another minute. You study Katie’s blush. “Why did you do that?”

If she was being compelled, she won’t have an answer to your question. You’ve dealt with a lot of ghosts in your time, but so few are sentient enough – or powerful enough – for compulsion.

“Go on,” the dad says, gesturing at you. “Tell her.”

“Leroy, she’s embarrassed enough,” the mom says.

“No, she’s not, Sarah.” The dad – Leroy – gestures to you again. “Tell her.”

Katie huffs, clearly resistant. But when her dad huffs back, she caves. “So,” she says, “I have this YouTube channel—”

“I’m off in an hour,” you interrupt. You don’t care that you’re being rude. Your patience ran out as soon as she said YouTube. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot.” You turn to go.

“A moment!” Sarah shakes out her menu. “How’s the nicoise salad?”

Of course they’re going to order. They’d better tip too if they want you to help them with their ghost problem.

----.

“You said an hour,” mom Sarah says when you leave out the employee entrance. She’s shivering next to her daughter. Leroy is off smoking behind his motorcycle, parked next to the Tesla Katie is leaning on, but he stubs out his cigarette on the asphalt when you walk up. “It’s been two.”

“I had side work,” you say instead of it would have been one if not for you. You rub your bare arms when the familiar ghost chill washes over you. You want nothing more than to go home and wash the scent of garlic and brownie batter out of your hair. “Was there something wrong with my service?”

“No?”

You try to make your voice light. “I see.”

Sarah frowns at your tone anyway. “Why?”

“You tipped five dollars.”

Katie jolts like a scalded cat. “Mom!”

Leroy scrubs a hand over his face. “Sarah…”

“What?” Sarah throws up her hands. The parking lot lights catch on her Swarovski charm bracelet. “I tipped!”

“Like ten percent,” Katie says. She pulls her bucket hat over her eyes for a beat and then peeks at you from under it. “I’m so sorry. It’s not you, she’s always like this.”

“It was actually a six percent tip,” you say. You’re getting a clearer picture of this little family now. It’s becoming more and more understandable why Katie might have started summoning ghosts. “If you want to be precise.”

Leroy reaches for his back pocket. “Let me.”

Sarah swats at his hand. “We’re about to pay her a lot more than that!”

“For a completely separate job,” Leroy says. He pulls a twenty from his wallet and hands it to you with a grimace. “Sorry, Grady, I should’ve checked.”

“You should’ve paid if you cared so much,” Sarah retorts. She folds her arms over her chest. She taps her cheek and widens her eyes. “Oh wait… you never pay.”

“Sure,” Leroy says. This time it’s his turn to throw his hands in the air. “Sure, Sarah. I don’t pay for anything to do with our daughter’s private school or her dance classes or her health insurance—”

“If the court hadn’t mandated—”

“You make twice as much as me—"

“Guys!” Katie says loudly. Her mouth is a thin line of upset when she says, “Argue about what an expensive burden I am later when we don’t have an audience, okay?”

Her parents speak at the same time.

“You’re twisting my words,” Sarah says. “I never said—"

“Sweetie, you’re not a burden—”

“Can you just get this ghost out of me?” Katie asks you. She goes for nonchalance and falls short. “My parents haven’t been in the same room for the last five years for a reason.” She fakes whispering. “They don’t play nicely with others.”

Sarah bristles. “Katie.”

“God, I know how that is,” you say. The whole interaction is giving you the worst case of sympathy for Katie. Before her parents can say anything else, you change the subject. “How long have you been haunted?”

“Six months,” Katie says. She fiddles with her bucket hat so that you can see her eyes for the first time. They’re brown, like her dad’s, and have heavy bruises underneath. She shrugs. “They only noticed a month ago though.”

“I noticed your behavior had changed,” Sarah defends. Like her daughter, she fidgets. She plays with her bracelet and clears her throat. “I thought it was a teenage thing.”

“What signs did you notice first?” you ask the parents. They glance at each other and then away.

“Let’s just say we noticed different things,” Leroy says dryly. He pulls out his phone.

“Moodiness,” Sarah says. She ticks them off on her fingers. “Laziness. Disrespect. Over-sleeping.”

“Those are just teenager things,” Katie says with an astounding level of self awareness. She shrugs. “I’m a senior now. They’re lucky it didn’t start sooner.”

“I,” Leroy says, “noticed this.” He turns his phone towards you.

“Ah,” Sarah says, “Yes. That.”

You examine the picture. It’s of Katie on a small dirt bike. She’s wearing a helmet in the picture, but you recognize the fashion sense in the floral boots she’s wearing. The scene behind her is of the hills, low scrub brush recognizable to someone who’s lived in LA for the past five years. On the bike behind her is a smudge. It could be a cloud of dirt blown into frame or maybe a camera glitch. It could be if it weren’t for the leering face emerging from the cloud right behind her head.

“I just want to say I did not agree to getting her a motorcycle,” Sarah says.

“Mom, not the point,” Katie says.

“Look how close that creep is to my daughter,” Leroy says. He jabs a finger at Katie’s waist in the photo where you can see a ghostly hand. “I want him gone.”

“Dad, he didn’t mean anything by it!” Katie turns to you earnestly. “Terry never rode a bike before and I thought, like, what if he moved on after he got a chance to? It was a philanthropic effort!”

“Plant a tree if you want to be a philanthropist,” Leroy growls. “I want this guy away from my daughter.”

“He doesn’t mean any harm really,” Katie says. “He would move on if he could! He says he’s stuck to me because of how I summoned him. He’s like, really sorry. He even spelled out Sorry in the bathroom mirror once.”

“What,” Sarah says in a dangerous voice, “was Terry doing in the bathroom with you, Katie?”

Katie splutters. “Mom, don’t be gross!”

The family descends into bickering. You have heard about ghosts being stuck to a person before, but usually that’s when the person has some sort of psychic powers. Katie’s wearing crystal in her ears, but they aren’t charged. She might develop some talent later in life, but right now she’s a normal girl.

The parking lost is nearly empty now. You recognize a few employee cars, but very few customers. The kitchen will be cleaning for another half hour before they’re ready to go home.  The reality is that, if Terry is stuck, you might not be the best way to handle the situation. If he’s not…

Well.

It’s time to talk to Terry.

Opening your ghost sense is hard to describe. Some psychics liken it to a third eye, right in the middle of their forehead. You’ve always thought that sounded really cool like maybe the world gets cast in a blue hue when they do it and the dead appear like they do in movies. You’ve met other psychics who say it’s like a sixth sense. They know where the ghost is and it’s like they download all that information until their minds can just sort of conjure their image.

For you, it’s like letting your body remember it has a second mouth. Cats have an extra sensory organ on the roof of their mouth that lets them detect scents better. Your second mouth is a bit like that. You can still smell brownies and garlic and the city air of LA, but you can also smell/taste something else.

Something like…pepper?

Your eyes water and you sneeze so viciously that your eyes close. When you open them again, four people are staring at you in surprise.

“Gesundheit,” Leroy says.

“You sneeze like Dad does,” Katie says.

“Did no one ever teach you to cover your mouth?” Sarah asks in disgust.

“I wish you would’ve sneezed on her,” Terry says, nodding to Sarah. “She’s such a bitch.”

“Thank you for the commentary, everyone,” you say. You wipe your nose with the collar of your shirt as you consider Terry. It’s dirty anyway. “Terry. Interesting name for a ghost.”

Terry hasn’t noticed that you can see him yet. He’s floating behind Katie, one arm casually flung over her shoulder. It’s hard to place when he died based on his appearance alone. His hair is chin length, emphasizing the width of his jaw. Squire cuts have been popular for several decades and the bowling shirt he’s wearing could either be a modern fashion statement or a dated uniform. He looks to be in his mid-twenties, sun-kissed and with the air of someone who tells a lot of jokes at the expense of others. His arm around Katie strikes you as possessive, the glare he gives her parents venomous.

“I didn’t name him,” Katie says. “He said it’s short of Torrance.”

You blink. “Wouldn’t he be Torri then?”

“That’s a girl’s name,” Katie and Terry say at the same time. Their cadence is so close that it actually sounds like Terry’s baritone comes out of Katie’s mouth. For a moment, his arm flickers, clipping into her shoulder like a bad animation. When it does, Terry’s form grows brighter, more solid. Then Katie shivers and he’s forced out of her.

You and Terry click your tongues at the same time.

You remember how Katie’s hands seemed to blur at the dinner table. Terry’s not just haunting Katie. He’s trying to possess her. You wonder if that’s why Katie looked up an exorcist rather than a simple spiritual cleansing. Did she know how much danger she was in?

“Okay,” you say. You tear your attention away from Katie and Terry for a moment. Business first. “Sarah. Leroy. Who was it that found my site?”

“I did,” Sarah says. She raises her chin when you can’t hide your surprise. “When Katie was looking up exorcists—”

“She didn’t mean it,” Terry says. He pats Katie’s hat. “Right?”

“—I looked up alternative solutions,” Sarah says, not having heard Terry. Her confidence falters for a moment and she rubs her arm. “I have had some… negative experiences with exorcisms. I don’t want my daughter to go through that.”

Katie’s head whips towards her mother. “What? I didn’t know that.”

“It was a long time ago,” Leroy says. For the first time, he reaches out and hugs Sarah with one arm. You don’t know what surprises you more; Leroy hugging Sarah or Sarah leaning into his side. “When Sarah told me, we decided to put our differences aside. I vetted you through some of my contacts and they all agreed you’d be a safe bet.”

“I am,” you say. You’re not bragging either. You’re probably the safest bet in half the western states besides your older sister. “There are some…peculiarities in my method.”

“Charlatan,” Terry whispers in Katie’s ear. He’s grinning now. “Only charlatans are that confident. Look! She can’t even see me!”

Katie looks doubtful.

Usually, you’d try to talk to Terry at this point. Sometimes spirits can be negotiated with. They can be encouraged to move on or to take on a less aggressive form of haunting. Those that are truly stuck can be helped with the right sort of ritual work. But the way Terry’s affecting Katie’s mood and that fucking arm around her shoulders…

You don’t really want to talk to Terry.

“We can ask Terry to move on,” you tell the family.

“Nooooooo,” Terry says and flips you off. “Pass!”

“Sometimes spirits don’t realize how deeply they’re affecting their hosts,” you say.

“You don’t even know how deep I’m about to be,” Terry jeers at you.

“Many ghosts are confused when they’re called to interact with the living,” you say. “It can blur their understanding of death and, as a result, they cling to life. If they stick around long enough, their presence will affect the living like what’s happening to Katie. It’s not always malicious. It can be a symptom of that confusion.”

“Katie, tell her to piss off,” Terry hisses in the teen’s ear. “I’m not confused, I’m bored.” His voice deepens. “Tell her we don’t need her help. Tell her we’re going home.”

Katie opens her mouth robotically. “That’s…” Her brow creases as she tries to figure out what she was going to say. “It seems like we don’t need help then. Terry will move on when he’s ready, like I thought.”

“We aren’t paying you for a ghost therapy session,” Sarah snaps. It’s only because you’re really focusing that you can see the unease under her anger. She’s noticed something wrong with Katie. “Katie, Terry is going away today.”

“Fuck you,” Terry says.

“Fuck you,” Katie says.

Leroy’s head rears back. “Katie, you don’t use that language with your mother!”

“Fuck you too,” Katie and Terry say. The parking lot lights flicker.

“No, fuck you, Terry,” you say, stepping between Katie and her parents. Leroy starts like he’s going to pull you out of the way, but he doesn’t.

“Terry?” Leroy asks. He looks scared. “Terry said that? Is Terry possessing my daughter?”

“Not yet.” You eye Terry’s arm and the way his fingers are sinking into Katie’s arm.

“Oh fuck,” Terry says. He doesn’t look scared. Not yet. Instead, he grins. “You can see me.”

“Not every ghost is malicious,” you tell the parents without taking your eyes off Terry. “But some are.”

“I’m not malicious.” Terry runs a hand through his hair, still grinning. The parking lot lights flicker overhead again. “I care about Katie a lot.”

“Terry’s never hurt me,” Katie says.

You ignore her. She’s not even shaking Terry off now. Her gaze is dull on your face when you say, “I don’t mean to sound like I’m some sort of ghost therapist. However, it’s important to differentiate between malicious and non-malicious hauntings in my practice. My methods are unconventional and, if used indiscriminately, I can get in a lot of trouble.”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Leroy says. He steps into your periphery. His gaze flicks from you to the spot you’re staring at over Katie’s shoulder. “We want Terry gone.”

“Not a soul,” Sarah promises. She comes up on your other side. “Please help our daughter.”

“Terry,” you say. Your second mouth is yawning wide somewhere in the back of your brain. The taste of pepper isn’t as overwhelming now. “Last chance. Renounce your claim on Katie’s soul and slither back into whatever hole you came out of.”

“We’re soulmates,” Terry says. He bares his teeth at you. “Go on, Charlatan. Call on your God to banish me. I’ve been around for decades and no exorcist has ever been able to put a scratch on me. And when they manage to push me out?” He laughs and the temperature drops another ten degrees. An unholy light flickers in his eyes. “I just come right back.”

“Then I guess I won’t feel guilty,” you say.

“Guilty?” Katie asks.

You walk forward two steps and grab Terry’s face. Terry’s skin is soft and jelly-like. His facial bones undulate like rubber under your grip. “Hi, Terry.”

Now Terry’s afraid. “What the fuck, you can touch—?”

“Bye, Terry.” You drag him towards you. His fingers pop out of Katie’s arm with a wet sucking sound, and he claws at your wrist.

“Wait! Waitwaitwaitwait--”

You eat Terry.

People come from all around to eat at the Brownie Industry. They love the density of the desserts and the heaps of garlic spread over home-baked (shipped frozen) rolls. It’s a treat to know you’re always going to enjoy the meal even if you’re far from home or eating at the same location a hundred times. It’s consistency, sugar and butter. An easy addiction to have.

Eating ghosts is like that for you. They fizz in your second mouth like champagne and melt like fudge. It’s hard to describe and the ephemeral quality of it sends shivers down your spine. Somewhere Terry is screaming in anguish, maybe crying. You think that the family you’re helping is screaming something too, but the sensation of eating is so consuming you can’t hear the words.

Terry is younger than other ghosts you’ve eaten. He doesn’t have the depth of flavor you’d once been addicted to back in Illinois. The best ghost you’ve ever eaten had been like a six-course meal with all the centuries she’d been carrying. In comparison, Terry is like a bag of pepper chips. Interesting, but gone in a moment. Still, he hits the spot.

When you’re done, you burp a purple cloud of ectoplasm into the still night air.

Leroy is the first to speak. His eyes are so wide you can see the whites all around them. “Pay her, Sarah,” he says breathlessly. His hands shake as he reaches for Katie, steadying her on her feet. “Now.”

You smack your lips and graciously accept the wad of cash Sarah hands you. You raise your eyebrows. “This is more than three times my rate.”

“Consider it a tip,” Sarah says. She’s more composed than Leroy, but still pale. She studies you. “That was…revolting.”

“You didn’t have to watch,” you say. You put your money away and then perk up at a sudden thought. “Hey, if you can, can you leave me a review on my site?”

“I thought you didn’t want us to tell anyone?”

You wave your hand. “Secrets are bad for business. Besides, Terry deserved it. I’m sure they’ll understand if you write that in your review.”

“They…?”

You smile and don’t answer.

The family don’t ask many more questions after that. The parents promise to leave a review and Katie just stares at you as if concussed. You assure the parents that she’ll be back to normal as soon as the soul-shock wears off. 

“And if it doesn’t?” Sarah asks.

“Message me,” you say.

“You don’t check your messages,” Leroy says.

“Oh,” you say, patting your stomach, “I’ll be checking them a lot more often now.”

You’re hungry again.

---

(Patreon)

[merakiui]

Azul who enchants a pussy pocket since it's mating season and he's too shy and nervous to ask reader. So he stuffs the reader with his eggs using the pussy pocket.

I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense, had a bit of trouble organizing my thoughts lol

This is the ideal solution to so many of Azul’s problems. He doesn’t have to show you his mer form, nor does he have to look biologically and emotionally vulnerable in front of you when he’s caught up in mating season heats. And he can also pump you full of eggs without having to actually look at you. He’s much more confident when he’s alone. One day he’ll gain the courage to show you his true form and one day another mating season will roll around in which he’ll finally take you into his arms and fuck you without the distance separating you or the help from the magical pussy pocket.

But for now, baby steps. He’ll make progress with you one day, but for now he’ll do it from the shadows.

Maybe you’re sleeping or maybe you’re in public or maybe you’re even working your shift at the lounge. No matter where you are and what you’re doing, the moment you feel fingers thrust up inside your pussy to stretch it in preparation for something, you nearly double over, curl into yourself, crumple… it’s a sensation that takes you by surprise, leaving you gasping and grasping for something to squeeze or hold so you can properly brace yourself and figure out what’s going on.

Maybe you try to ignore it, assuming it’s just a passing feeling. But then it persists and you’re quickly falling apart, sweating so much, chewing your lip bloody to keep any salacious sounds from slipping out. If you thought the fingers were unbearable, it’s when they’re removed and the tapered tip of something pokes at your hole that you begin to realize this is far from any fleeting feeling.

Azul’s so desperate in his pool, far past the point of keeping his composure, and he’s impatient to release his clutch. So he’s a little rough when he thrusts his hectocotylus so deeply, not entirely thinking of whether or not you can truly take so much of it. But he does imagine your expression, how you’d sound, what you might say, and even the little tummy bulge as it presses up against areas a normal human cock could never hope to reach. And it’s so tight and warm and wet inside you; he’s a mess, his pace hasty and determined. He doesn’t have the foresight to pretend like he isn’t affected; he’s a moaning mess under the water as he ruts into you, the tentacle thrust so far that it kisses your cervix. <3

There’s no time beneath the water. Not that it’s important at this moment. Not truly. Azul’s so focused on base desires, brought down to such a primal level by his own biological imperative, and so maybe it’s been hours of fucking or maybe it’s only been minutes. But eventually, finally, he’s filled you with enough slick to keep the eggs safe and sound. He’s flustered about the idea, about seeing you so round and full of him the next time he crosses paths with you. Maybe you’ve already guessed he’s responsible. Or maybe you have no idea, too confused and pleasured to think that far ahead.

He doesn’t count the eggs as they’re deposited in the depths of your womb. Rather, he just fucks, mindless and instinctual, until every last one has made its home inside you. It’s not an absurd amount—although by human standards it would surely be—but it’s just enough for now. In the future, he’ll turn you into a mer, keep you in the Coral Sea, and give you a larger clutch when he knows your body can handle it.

Azul could have painted you a dozen ways in his brilliant mind, but no amount of fantasy could prepare him for just how pretty you look when the twins guide you into his VIP room and you’ve just managed to squeeze yourself into a uniform, so round already. He has bad news for you; you’ll only get bigger as the eggs grow and the fry within mature. Hungrier, too. And moodier. And more hormonal. Mers fuck a lot when they’re pregnant. And when it comes time to lay, necessary preparations will need to be made… there’s so much to look forward to. So much planning. But he’s immensely happy, and he tries not to let it show while you, flustered and teary-eyed, try to explain your predicament while the twins leer.

Maybe you don’t need to know yet. For now, he’s just pleased to have overcome this mating season. And he has a family to look forward to, hoping most of them survive hatching, that is. But for now he’s happy. And you will be, too. Eventually.

[andiftheycare]

Stsg au where overworked salary man Suguru doesn’t need more problems in his life, but alas there’s someone — or maybe multiple someones, who knows — who keeps stealing his umbrella every time he goes to buy his lunch/after work drinks at the konbini next to his office.

Which at first is, well, annoying.

It’s typhoon season and he might miss the last train because his umbrella is gone, and he has to ask the cashier if they have more umbrellas in stock because of course they’re all sold out when he looks for one in the aisle. It’s end of day — okay, it’s past 11pm — and it’s pouring outside.

So they manage to find a new umbrella for him, Suguru pays the cashier those 500 yen (internally cursing the thief) and goes on with his life.

Except that it happens again. And again. And again.

Suguru starts to keep a stash of coins in his drawer in the office because the occurrence it’s now a routine, and because there aren’t other konbini in the area that are as conveniently located nor that serve his favourite bento box.

Changing location isn’t an option.

Except that of course Suguru is not always lucky. Sometimes umbrellas actually sold out. Day after day, the pained part-time worker gets more and more confused on why this is happening only to Suguru. No other customer is affected.

“You could keep your own umbrella with you instead of leaving it in the rack?”

“It’d mess up the shop floor.” Suguru says, tired, and the part timer nods slightly, scratching his pink haired head. “Besides, I don’t see why I shouldn’t put it there. I’m not the one at fault here.”

“I’d offer to let you look at the security tapes but the umbrella rack is in a blind spot.” He sounds apologetic. “My manager would kill me if I were to move it.”

Suguru had met his manager, a guy called Sukuna that seemed more fit to run a local Yakuza gang than a couple of connivence stores, so yeah, he wouldn’t want to put the part timer in any tricky situation. It’s just an umbrella.

It doesn’t matter that he ends up walking drenched into his meetings, or covering under the konbini’s canopy until the rain calms down in the evenings, or living with a perennial running nose.

He wonders if there is some karma involved. Did he do something to be targeted by all the umbrella thieves in the prefecture? It’s a punishment for a past life where he mass murdered a village?

Whatever. He doesn’t believe in those things anyway.

Until. He’s smoking in front of the store, air wet and fresh, and he shouldn’t lit anything there, really, it’s way out of the store smoking area, but Suguru’s so tired he feels it in his bones, in the lines of his muscles. It’s all encompassing, at times, that type of tiredness, to the point it’s a struggle wake up in the morning, to process thoughts and emotion outside of business calculations.

Mostly, thought, it transforms him into a crueler version of himself. One that, deep down, only craves a long night of sleep.

“Geez, you look awful.”

Suguru blinks slowly. He stops playing with his lighter - which flame is struggling to re-lit the cigarette, Suguru’s hand covering it in an attempt to keep it alive - and looks towards the voice.

There’s another man.

He’s wearing a suit in a way that would send any HR rappresentative into a coma. His style is unfazed by company regulations, crinkled and complemented by a lopsided tie. His hair are white which, itself, it’s at least breaking four of his company contractual clauses on bleaching your hair.

Under the white background of the konbini’s neon lights, his eyes are a shadowed blue.

Those, Suguru thinks, can’t be real.

“And, well, clearly you can’t talk? But it’s not a first, I’d let you—“

“Who the fuck are you?”

The man purses his lips. They’re pretty, like the rest of him, but Suguru hasn’t felt like kissing anyone in a long time, so the thought is passing and feeble.

“Mate, I was trying to cheer you up. You look like you need it.”

Why is he speaking so informally to him? Is this man insane? Suguru patience wears thin when he works over hour. “You have a weird sense of humor.”

“I’m Satoru,” he said, and Suguru frowns at him.

“I’m not calling you by your first name.”

The man pouts at him. He’s tall — taller than him, taller than Nanami, — and build in a way that weirdly makes Suguru wonder if he could take him in a fight. This is how he knows he’s losing it.

“So formal.”

“So informal” he spits back, letting go of any hope of getting nicotine in his body.

The man - Satoru, although thinking of a stranger in those terms is too intimate for his liking - tilts his head and cracks a smile “it’s part of my charm.”

Fucking no.

“If you’re hoping to—“

The automatic doors of the shop slide open, the familiar welcome song of the konbini chain announcing an extremely self satisfied part timer. He waves an umbrella at Suguru “Geto-San, I found one!”

The white haired man raises his eyebrows, and repeats “Geto-San?”

Suguru doesn’t dignify that with more than a scornful stare.

“It’s an old one, Kugisaki found it in the back of our changing room. It’s been there forever so I think can keep it.”

“Eh? Nobara has never been so precious about me getting wet.”

The boy directs his attention to the man, and it’s suddenly clear they know each other. “I don’t think she likes Gojo-sensei as much.”

There’s an audible gasp, a quick change in demeanour that makes him look comical and reminds Suguru of those animes Nanako and Mimiko watch on the weekend while having breakfast.

Suguru doesn’t listen to whatever conversation passes between Gojo and Itadori, staring vaguely at his new umbrella, dread sinking into him as he thinks of his long train home, of how maybe he’d manage to sleep four hours if he’s lucky. Of how he’s waisting his precious time there.

“Well,” Satoru says, eyes glistening with mirth as he lays them on Suguru. “I guess we’re not sharing an umbrella to the station then.”

It lands as a joke but Suguru isn’t sure this man is joking.

“Yuk,” Itadori says. “That’s very romantic of you, sensei”

“Whatever,” Suguru says, and opens the umbrella. He’s not gifting this man more of his presence.

“Next time,” Gojo says, but this time he’s weary of Itadori, and leans in Suguru’s personal space as he steps on the rain. Water falls on Gojo’s shoulders, staining his shirt, and his voice’s low, his tone promising nothing good, “Maybe I can help you loosen up a little?”

Gojo’s grinning and Suguru hasn’t been hit on so hard in a long time. He’s flirted at often, and he likes to flirt back, see the power his words have on people, how easy it is to have things his way if he plays along. He knows the rules of that game, where not to cross the line.

Yet. This man just has.

He regards him with a brief stare. There’s a vague picture forming in his brain of what this Gojo would look like on his knees, pretty lips around his cock, and Suguru recoils.

It’s wrong. It’s so vivid you’d think he’d actually seen Gojo sucking a dick before. And he hasn’t and doesn’t want to. Suguru’s better than that, more centred, so his stomach doesn’t churn at the idea.

Maybe it has been way too long. Maybe he needs a fuck, although he rarely — if not never — feels in the mood.

He waves at Itadori. Then, whispering, he parts from Gojo with a “Fuck off.”

Suguru doesn’t think about him as he drags himself home, checks on the girls, and lies down in his suit, sleep taking him in seconds, alarm ripping him away from the quiet peace of his night in what seem like few minutes.

He wakes while it’s still dark outside, still raining.

At lunch, Suguru does what every sane person in his predicament would do. Umbrella in hand, he marches to the konbini’s printer, tapping away on the stickers design options.

He prints a curse.

Surely, he could’ve been more creative with it. And if he was to listen to his inner voice, he would’ve been more violent. Instead, he prints out:

Stealing will turn you into a frog

Childish. Appropriate for a childish thief.

He sticks it on his umbrella’s handle, and leaves it in the rack. Wonders if he’d end up with a frog on his hands.

End of… part 1???? Sorry I just wanted to write a stupid au hc and this happened???

So this is now also on Twitter here because I thought it fitted as a threadfic?? We’ll see.

PART: 2, 2.2, 3

[maripr]

Ozcarnation merge musings from my twitter

I wrote these months ago and finally sharing them on tumblr.

Why I differentiate between Ozma and Ozpin, a 🧵

I disagree with the general interpretation of where the merge subplot is actually heading in canon: most people think it will actualize, I think it will be reversed, either stopping the merge for good or reversing it after it comes very briefly into reality.

Oscar's arc, paralleling Ruby (mainly, but other characters share the trait as well) has been about him trying to find his own place and his own story, but the shadow of supposed ego death is always looming on him and terrifying him.

Everytime he takes a step forward, he's reminded again of the expected fate for him, something that some characters actively want (like Ironwood).

Examples:

volume 6, after being treated as a stand-in for Ozpin, currently MIA, Oscar takes his own decision to forgive the team and be prepared for battle alongside them. While reconciling with tem, with his new combat gear, he still can't help but be haunted of "how much time he has left".

Volume 7 places him in a conundrum the entire volume: he's developing as a fighter, growing up as an adolescent and forging stronger relationship with his newfound friends. Jaune clearly comes to see him as a little brother and there's something interesting going on with Ruby that may or may not result in a romantic relationship down the line. The team actually worries about his opinion on stuff as well, and Ruby clearly values him as Oscar Pine. Meanwhile, the very person who's helping in his growth is James Ironwood, who cannot shut up about wishing Ozpin was there everytime they meet, and telling Oscar he will basically cease to exist to his face with a big shiny smile. It's unclear at this point if James knows or not about how terrified Oscar is of the merge, as the boy never voices this fear. I think he just wants not to think of it. So even at the end, where James finally says "fuck it, Oscar or Ozpin, i don't need either" and shoots him, Oscar starts coming onto his power, in a scene that's both powerful and bittersweet, paralleling Penny.

Both of them, for their qualities, were chosen by a magical destiny, one capable of beautiful and powerful magic, that they don't want, never wanted and will struggle with with the next volume. Penny's arc is a direct parallel and commentary to Oscar and the way it ends might comment on Oscar's arc. Not in death but that Penny could finally show everyone she was her own person who could choose for herself.

Coming back to volume 8, Oscar has his worst time yet, finally voices his fear of merging with Oz, and comes back from it scarred but stronger, having helped Ozpin trust himself and others and gaining a new ally in Emerald.

But, see where I'm getting at? This is no resolution.

Oscar has briefly shown his fear but at the end of the volume, much like Ruby has done for several seasons, swallows the literal torture he endured for half of it and the fear of imminent ego death due to reawakened magic, and chooses to focus on the positives.

Boy, if he had fallen into the ever after maybe he would have healed too. Or maybe we would have no plot at all bc Oscar and Ruby would have noticed each other's pain, which would have been nice as well, but sometimes therapy has to be brutal.

And also Oscar can't conclude his arc in the ever after because his own is complimentary to Ruby's but also a contrast to it. Ruby wants to emulate her mother and ideal of what a hero is and must learn that she is enough as she is already. Oscar does NOT want to emulate or be his father figure, whose og incarnation was basically THE ideal hero of fairytales. He wants to be enough but doesn't know who he is yet, since everyone keeps telling him to his face that Oscar Pine isn't enough.

SO anyway. If both Penny (a commentary on Oscar) and Ruby (a direct parallel)'s arcs end with them realizing their own individuality, I 100% believe Oscar's arc will end like this as well.

And when i say end i mean end is just a new beginning.

Before moving to my final argument, let me also briefly comment on how Jaune and Weiss' arcs are similar but different to Oscar and Ruby's. It's interesting because, by main character status, Jaune as the leader of team JNPR, is a lancer and a foil to RWBY and Ruby inside of team RWBY's dynamic, Weiss, as Ruby's partner, is the lancer and foil to Ruby and inside new JNPR/ORNJ, Oscar, as Jaune's new partner, is his lancer and foil.

And both Jaune and Weiss deal with identity but more in a role they want to play as expected to what their family might want, initially, and later as the knights they idealized in fairytales. This is way too long for this post, but again, fascinating. And also Whiteknight slays.

So, my final thesis:

Oscar's arc will end with him affirming his own individuality over the merge.

So why can't Ozpin also do the same?

The god of light's intention in bestowing Ozma with this method of reincarnation was the positive idea of him never being alone.

And this works, more or less, in different lifetimes. Even in the very first, the farmer who we initially assumed was completely eradicated, still voiced his opinion and reminded Ozma of the good path.

In later lives, the spirit and the host lived more comfortably, having estabilished an equal partnership.

But... They still end up as one person? They're literally so like-minded that their enormous guilt complex makes one believe he's responsible for everything the others did?

I feel like this is what the story is trying to say, much like what many characters say of Oscar, and it's framed as a bad thing.

And incorrect. Oscar is always "punished" for what his predecessors did because he will be Ozma eventually.

The voice still going by the name of Ozpin feels responsible for everything that happened since Ozma was brought back to life and literally agrees with his own torturer that yep, he deserves all the punishment and pain for it.

Every incarnation eventually reaches a point where they start to identify with their predecessors in such a way that contradicts what the god of light's intention was (then again, we have been shown time and time again that the god of light is not very good at his job).

Instead of a partnership where each soul helps the other moving forward and never los hope, we have a continuous cycle of guilt and self-abuse accumulating. Oscar is gnawing at it the entire time. Who's to say Ozpin, as the professor, also didn't?

And Oscar is going to break the cycle.

As he does that, I want Ozpin to also realize his own individuality.

This is why I want an happy ending for all the incarnates, not just Ozma. Merged they may be for now, in the physical realm, why should only Ozma move on to a peaceful afterlife? All the people who ended up clogs in the ever ticking clock and had no say in it were all people with their own lives, their own friends and families, their own name. And they deserve peace too.

[fanby-fckry]

Purely Platonic, Non-Contractually Obligated Sins

Chapter 1: A Fucking Day Off

Day 6 of Ace Alastor Week: International Asexuality Day (Free Space)

Word Count: 1,791 (and counting)

Chapters: 1/2 ( || Next -> )

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon)

Rating: Mature

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Additional Warnings: Religious Content, Angel Dust-Typical Sexual Content (Hazbin Hotel), (hence the rating), Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism

Relationships: Alastor & Angel Dust

Characters: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Minor Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Mentioned Valentino (Hazbin Hotel), Mentioned Lucifer Magne | Morningstar

Additional Tags: Not Canon Compliant, Post-Season/Series 01, Fluff and Humor, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Humor, Attempt at Humor, Light Angst, Friendship, Platonic Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Open to Interpretation, Established Relationship, Platonic Date, Platonic Romance, (I hope I’m using that tag right), Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Aromantic Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor Has a Heart (Hazbin Hotel), Sex Worker Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust Being Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Soft Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust Needs a Hug (Hazbin Hotel), (and Alastor is going to give him one), Banter, Dinner, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

Series: Part 6 of Fanby’s Ace Alastor Week 2024

( <- Prev || Next -> )

Summary:

“Now what?” Angel asked. “You gonna actually take me out on a date?”

“That’s entirely up to you, my dear!” Alastor folded his hands behind his back, feeling quite pleased with himself. “I’m perfectly content knowing I’ve done my part to help the hotel’s one and only resident out of his contractually obligated path of sin for the night so that he can fail redemption of his own free will!”

*

Alastor thought Angel could use a day off, so he got him one! Of course, what Angel does with his time off is his to choose, but Alastor did offer him a date.

Better on AO3

Author’s Notes:

Originally this was day 4 – and still is on AO3 – but the OneWayStatic date prompt is turning out to be darker than previously expected, and I’d rather sandwich it between two fluff and humor fics than one fluff fic and one smut fic, so this one’s getting moved.

Also, I was hoping to finish the OneWayBroadcast today, but I don’t think that’s in the cards.

Alastor surveyed the lobby of the newly rebuilt Hazbin Hotel from the shadows. Husker was asleep at the bar – which, ordinarily, Alastor would attribute to laziness or alcoholism, but he supposed the reconstruction had taken a toll on them all – while Angel Dust was milling about, clearly restless.

Angel hadn’t bothered to wake Husk – which, in itself, was a sign of the spider’s distress – and was pacing, fidgeting, and constantly checking his hellphone device.

Well, this just won’t do! Alastor thought.

Alastor zipped through the shadows, rematerializing by Angel’s side. “Good evening!”

Angel cursed under his breath and almost dropped his hellphone. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna get used to you doin’ that, ya know,” he said.

“Hardly anyone does!” Alastor said, cheerfully. He was particularly proud of his ability to strike fear into the hearts of men using nothing but low-level magic, timing, and his signature smile. “I even get Rosie from time to time!”

“You sound real proud of yourself, smiles,” Angel said, halfheartedly.

Alastor grinned. “And you sound absolutely miserable!”

Angel sighed. “That obvious, huh?”

“Afraid so, my dear.” Alastor leaned on his microphone – ah, it was good to have that back! “What’s got you so out of sorts?”

“What else?” Angel asked, rhetorically. “Work. My boss is the kinda freak that makes freaks like you look like upstanding citizens.”

“My fuckin’ skin itches,” Angel said, scratching as if saying the words out loud had pushed the itch to the forefront of his attention. “And it ain’t even withdrawals this time. I’m just… I’m not ok.”

“Ah.” Alastor wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to Angel’s honesty.

When Alastor first arrived at the hotel, he’d met an Angel Dust that buried his emotions under the mask of a performer putting on a show for anyone and everyone in sight, including himself. It was something the two of them had in common! But, as time went on, and they grew more comfortable in each others’ presence, they both began to lift their masks – Angel considerably more so than Alastor.

Angel’s newfound vulnerability was something that Alastor both envied and feared, although he would never say either out loud.

“Perhaps you should take the rest of the day off!” Alastor suggested.

Angel forced out a laugh. “No can do, smiles,” he said. “As much as I’d love a fuckin’ day off, Val’s got me booked for the night. Some bigshot who wants to” – Angel used his upper set of hands to create air quotes – “‘remain anonymous,’ but has no problem pickin’ me up at the hotel in front of Lucifer and everyone!”

“Haven’t talked to him personally, but he sounds like a pompous piece of shit,” Angel complained.

Alastor tilted his head at a forty-five degree angle, just barely covering his amusement. “Is that so?”

“Mhmm.” Angel pulled out his phone. “I’ve got receipts.”

Angel held the device up to Alastor’s face. Between the angle of the screen and the brightness, Alastor couldn’t really see what was on the damned thing, but he didn’t need to.

“Oh right,” Angel said, putting his phone away. “I forgot you’ve got the whole ‘deer in the headlights’ light sensitivity shit.”

That wasn’t exactly how Alastor would describe it – but he had developed some difficulty seeing under bright lighting since taking on this cursed, cervine form.

“Just take my word for it,” Angel insisted. “Guy talks like he thinks he’s better than everyone.”

“He’s supposed to show up here around seven – which is way too fuckin’ early by the way,” Angel said. “Johns never know what to do with me when they book me out for too long, and I wind up sittin’ around, twiddlin’ my dick because they can’t get it up again, but they can’t get a refund, neither.”

Alastor checked the time. 6:57 pm.

“I know next to nothin’ about him. No name, no pics,” Angel listed, counting them off on his fingers. “Just that he’ll be wearin’ red. I’m s’posed to recognize him from that and this dumb passcode he came up with…”

Alastor queued up an instrumental and sang a slightly modified version of the matching lyrics.

“Got a date with an Angel

Got to meet him at seven

Got a date with an Angel

And I'm on my way to Heaven”

Angel stared at him, slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

“Tsk tsk,” Alastor tutted. “I know you’re a spider, but surely there are better ways to catch flies!”

Angel laughed – a real laugh this time. The honest, uncontrolled kind that left one’s sides aching and compelled everyone else in the room to laugh along.

“Alastor,” Angel said, once he caught his breath. “Ya gotta stop buyin’ my time.”

Alastor was grinning from ear to ear. “Well, if your poor excuse for an Overlord would give you a ‘fucking day off’ as you put it, I wouldn’t have to!”

It had admittedly become a bit of a habit. Not a bad habit, but a habit all the same.

Angel would start to become restless or overworked, causing Alastor to notice his distress and find some way or another to discreetly buy him some time off. Sometimes they spent the allotted time together, though more often than not, Alastor left Angel to do whatever he pleased with his newly found free time.

“How’d you even do it this time?” Angel asked. “Val had the whole conversation over Vitter and said the guy paid with Voxmo. I’ve never seen you on a hellphone or a computer or anything with internet access for that matter.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, my effeminate friend!” Alastor wrapped an arm around Angel and reeled him in closer. “I’ve had access to the ‘internet’ for as long as the Vees have been mooching off of my domain, rebranding radio waves as this so-called ‘wi-fi!’”

“Holy shit, I never thought of it like that,” Angel whispered.

“Wait a second…” The spider aimed an incredulous look at Alastor. “Are you tellin’ me you’ve been playin’ dumb about modern tech and culture this whole time?”

“Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag!” Alastor played the sound of a cat yowling – which caused Husk to flick his ear and stir in his sleep.

Angel Dust wiggled out of Alastor’s grip. “Can’t believe the Radio Demon has a secret Vitter account,” he said, shaking his head.

“Actually, I created that account specifically for this occasion,” Alastor corrected. “Just because I have internet access doesn’t mean I’m ‘chronically online,’ as the youth say.”

Angel smirked, as if a truly wicked idea had entered his mind. “Hey, Al,” he said with faux innocence. “Look up ‘Radio Demon rule 34.’”

“Angel Dust,” Alastor replied, voice dripping with saccharine sweetness. “In the kindest way possible, go touch grass.”

Angel laughed again. “Ok, so you know enough not to search rule 34 and to tell me to get a life/go fuck myself.”

“Precisely!”

“Alright, internet literacy test passed,” Angel said. “Now what?” he asked. “You gonna actually take me out on a date?”

“That’s entirely up to you, my dear!” Alastor folded his hands behind his back, feeling quite pleased with himself. “I’m perfectly content knowing I’ve done my part to help the hotel’s one and only resident out of his contractually obligated path of sin for the night so that he can fail redemption of his own free will!”

“Wow, thanks, asshole.” Angel rolled his eyes and flipped Alastor off with three different hands. “Finally startin’ to see the nun parallels now, Sister Alastor. The holier-than-thou attitude and constant guilt take me right back to my days as a Catholic schoolboy.”

“You should keep a ruler on ya,” Angel added. “Just in case I start writin’ with my left hands.”

Without thinking, Alastor rubbed his thumb over the knuckles of his own left hand – which was thankfully still behind his back, and therefore hidden from view.

“Hm.” Alastor pretended to consider Angel’s sardonic suggestion. “No, I think you might enjoy corporal punishment a bit too much for it to have anything but the opposite effect.”

Angel shrugged. “You’re not wrong,” he said. “But, now that I know you’re in it to watch me struggle or whatever-”

“Technically,” Alastor interjected. “That was my reason for involving myself with this hotel and the nonsensical notion of ‘redemption’ to begin with.”

“Yeah, yeah, reality is the best entertainment and you get your kicks outta watchin’ us lesser demons struggle.” Angel Dust waved his upper hands dismissively and folded his lower arms against his chest. “But I’m a petty bitch.”

“And you tipped your hand.” Angel took one index finger and pointed it directly at Alastor’s chest – sufficiently accusatory, without physically touching him. “So I’ve decided I’m your problem for tonight.”

“Fair enough,” Alastor said. “I suppose I’ll make good on my offer for a date.”

“It don’t gotta be nothin’ fancy,” Angel said with a shrug. “We can just hang out at the hotel and order MacMammon’s or somethin’.”

A record scratch played in response to the word, ‘MacMammon’s.’

Alastor cleared his throat. “Regardless of the circumstances, I will not be eating or serving any ‘fast-food.’”

Alastor said the term, ‘fast-food,’ like it was a curse. Because as far as he was concerned it was one.

Angel snorted. “The cannibal is a foodie,” he said. “Figures.”

“I have standards!” Alastor said. “And if I expect my date to raise his above Lucifer’s kneecaps, if only for tonight.”

Alastor queued up some lively background music. “The night is young!” he said, taking Angel by the hand. “Come with me and I’ll cook you some real food!”

“Hold it, smiles.” Angel dug his heels into the carpet, refusing to move an inch. Alastor could have pulled him along using Eldritch-enhanced strength, but…

“Time out,” Angel said, sounding a bit hesitant. “I just wanna clarify some shit before this goes any further.”

Alastor waited patiently as Angel collected his thoughts.

“This is still, uh… platonic, right?” Angel asked. “Just two friends sharin’ a meal? No happy endings or nothin’?”

“Completely platonic,” Alastor confirmed. “No strings attached. I may have purchased your time for the evening, but adding a sexual element to our relationship is decidedly not something I’m interested in.”

Angel breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

“What’s He got to do with it?” Alastor asked, prompting another wave of giggles from Angel Dust.

“Thank you, Alastor,” Angel said, instead.

“Well, now you’re just feeding my god complex!” Alastor said, accompanied by his own laugh track. “And Heaven knows Gluttony is my sin!”

“Pride, too,” Angel noted.

“Yes, Pride, too,” Alastor agreed.

The two friends walked arm and arm out of the lobby, headed towards Alastor’s room for a night of purely platonic, non-contractually obligated sins.

[the-sprog]

Listen I love DCxDP crossovers as much as the next person, but every time I see people write John Constantine offer as a solution summoning something I cringe internally a little bit. John is all up for self-sacrificing and doing things you shouldn't but he does not fuck with other creatures he knows shit-all about.

On the other end, do you know who does fuck with creatures they know shit all about?? And keep summoning things and making deals with things they shouldn't be summoning or making deals with? And also doing this most of the times with the express intentions of dealing with the dead?

The Winchester Brothers.

Where are my season 15 fix-it fics where Dean does not give up, he does not say "oh well Castiel died after confessing his love for me I guess that's it" or where Sam does not say "well my brother died during a run of the mill vampire Hunt -not even because of the vampires but because of a rusty nail. Let me just abandon him forever after everything we've gone through and finally actually listen to him and get myself a family with my blurry wife and random son"

And instead they do again summon something that is completely separate from everything else they've dealt with before and they actually managed to contact Danny who somehow is the king of the Ghost Zone or whatever fucking shit you want. Maybe you can make the empty nocturne! That would be really fucking cool :O so Danny somehow gets convinced to bring back Castiel or Dean or both.

Ok now I'm actually thinking about it.

You can even make it adult Danny by simply following the Supernatural timeline. Danny gets his powers in 2004, when he's 14, the Winchesters start looking for their dad in 2005, and they're... 20 something. Castiel joins the brigade in 2009 (I thought he showed up in season 5 lmao it's been a while since I've watched it), Chuck starts writing the books- fuck I don't know. 2012? Was it season 7? **Looks it up** fuck nope he starts writing when they start, that's my mistake. I meant when does he show up. And that's together with Castiel. Wow. Give me Danny who is an in universe Supernatural fan. He's the prime target audience! Starts reading after he gets his powers because we'll they're ghost hunters but the ghosts are actually evil. So it's fine. And they're fictional anyway so no big deal.

But then Chuck stops writing (end of season 5) and Danny is extremely disappointed.

He doesn't learn the truth until 2018 (season 13) when Jack wakes up The Shadow and consequently shakes the Infinite Realms. Nocturne has to be somehow connected. Maybe they're not The Shadow themself, but a subordinate? Like Frostbite is the leader while the yetis are his citizens. And The Empty is the realm they live in.

Now Danny is slightly terrified because it means all the things that go bump in the night are real. Which is a scary as fuck thought. And also wonders why they've never had hunters in Amity, or why he and the other ghosts are different from the ones in the books.

But he can't really do anything. To help.

Hunters definitely have checked out the town. There's no way they'd fly under the radar. But either there are already hunters INSIDE Amity And they've staked their claim on the town, no outside hunters allowed. Or there's something wrong w the entire place that makes it so that people don't really realize anything is wrong with it. I til they're inside it. But when outside nothing :/ all normal.

I feel like it wouldn't be Dean who summons him though. As much as I love him, they are aware that pretty much only God could pull out Cas and Jack wasn't going to do it any time soon.

But Dean dying like that? No Sam is not going to let his story end like that. But they've pretty much exhausted all options. What's he gonna do? Make another deal w a demon that's going to ultimately make more of a mess? Who's gonna make a deal w a Winchester anyway?

I don't know how Sam would find a way to contact Danny. The Fentons were the first to make contact with the Zone, so the bunker's unlikely to have any resources. Bobby's gone, so that's a bust. He'd have to find something new. Something no other hunter has interacted with, ever.

Again.

Because let's be real. The Winchesters already did that plenty.

Maybe he stumbles upon Amity by accident and sees it as an opportunity, idk.

Sam's kinda more willing to give monsters the benefit of the doubt. They know angels are not all bad, they had werewolf friends, and so on and so forth.

So sure he might start off listening to the Fentons at first, but if he were to interact with Danny (as Phantom ofc) one on one he'd probably see that they're wrong.

Danny would freak out of course. On one hand, fuck man. He's a fan. That's so cool.

On the other, he knows nothing will stop the Winchesters. He's deader than dead if Sam was there to hunt him.

But alas, he'd do anything to help him get his brother (and Cas, as a treat) back. Who's gonna stop him? God? Jack? Idk man I feel like he'd let them have this one lmao. Or still Danny could definitely argue that he's the king of all afterlives, so what he does to his subjects is none of his business (since God (or at least Chuck couldn't) can't interfere w The Empty, only the afterlives he controls. So heaven and hell. Not even purgatory iirc)

[crystal-crax]

A RANT:

THE NEON LEON

(I) A rise to leadership

Pun intended bc Leo would love it

Has this been done yet? Of course, but i love ranting about my favorite characters and boy, rise tmnt has so much to rant about (well, the whole tmnt franchise has enough material to speak for HOURS buttt rise lives forever in my heart so yeah i'm biased). Might talk about mutant mayhem in the future idk.

Leonardo Hamato/Splinterson has always been the leader, the one that carries the weight of carrying the team and following splinter's steps as the next "head" of the family (as said by splinter in the 2012 tmnt). And yeah in much of the versions of the turtles, this is a very important aspect of his personality, it's his literal purpose; it's the catalyst for a lot of the narratives and storylines seen across the tmnt universe: His fights with Raph, his anxiety, his inferiority complex, his constant wish to be better, how he sometimes neglects (or simply goes against?)his brother's feelings in order to keep them and the team itself safe.

Being the leader is both the weight and medal that comes with being Leonardo, that sisyphean task that we will always see try to accomplish over and over again.

So if we want to explore why he is a great leader... shouldn't we take that weight off his shoulders?

And that my people, it's what rise does perfectly. The best way to prove that Leo is a great leader? To show us how he can handle the team from the shadows, let us see how well he knows his team's strengths and shortcomings.

But don't just make him want to be the leader, no no, show us why we should all trust him to.

First of all: Leo panicking at the face of danger, might be useful sometimes.

Honest to god: i think the rise writers and animators are amazing. They're so GOOD at showing us important pieces of the characters even without directly saying it.

First of all, he doesn't have a fight or flight response because he straight up waves his ōdachi directly at anything that attacks him and his brothers (bro has kill om sight sense, he literally sliced warren one time, remember?). He will always have the advantage, even when surprised. Also the way he lightens up the situation with his witty banter and one liners when stress is too much? Extra points for keeping team morale up👍

Or in a different case, leo's panic when the mad dogs get in trouble upon a stronger rival. Why is it great? Because even though he's losing his absolute shit, he's able to act and take the next conscious step; even when it's used for laughs: He calls for his father when his family is in danger. It may sometimes be a funny gag ; like in "Flushed but never forgotten" or soul fucking wrenching like when they're attacked by shredder and RAPH IS PROTECTING DONNIE AND LEO SCREAMS AND I- *ehem*. But he knows splinter it's capable of defending them, he trained them after all (this may be arguable when talking about season 1 splint but well, he still recognizes his father as a ninja and his master).

And thus, the next marvel of Leo:

B) He's completely aware of the team's abilities

He's a middle child, he has seen everything, and the most perfect example of it: Many unhappy returns.

BOY IF THAT'S NOT THE MOST AMAZING DEMONSTRATION OF LEO'S LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY IDK WHAT ELSE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

He trusts his siblings completely, sure he looks out for them and supports them when needed (while being sarcastic about it), but he knows they're amazing at the hero thing.

I wouldn't doubt it if Splinter; being with Leo most of the episode saw just how in control he was of the situation and went: "dude...why are you not the one leading the team? You're...actually so smart wtf????"

C)He knows how to dial down his brother's enthusiasm and calls out his father's faults (and sometimes hypocrisy)

Remember the paper thieves episode?

That's peak leader Leo

The whole team was full on trying to get killed for the lols, and what does he do? Pulls them to the side and explains why they should start with something more simple and gives a speech on why focusing on the "easier task" it's still a good hero job (look out for the small/weaker ones, right?)

Not only that, but he's the one that constantly calls out his dad's mess ups, remaining by his brother's side and defending them (THIS IS NOT A SPLINTER SLANDER, I'M SAD DAD SUPPORTER AND I WILL TALK ABOUT IT LATER) seen as one of the YouTube shorts or when splints nags then about keeping secrets from him: he stands for his team, "you are not supposed to do that/you do the same thing you yell at us for"

He both inspires and defends his team, and hey; a leader is not the one that orders, but the one that motivates and supports you.

D) He's their personal hype man

Cue back to point B, he is amazed by his siblings abilities, even if he dies hide it sometimes. Remember when mikey wanted to go on a solo mission? He's fully on board and never doubts mikey is in control of the situation (sure he does go to "save him" with the others later on but come on, you all heard the call and saw Raph panicking. He trusts him but he's still his little brother y'know?)

He knows Donnie is an absolutely genious and is completely aware of Raph's dedication to the hero gig and responsability.

April and Splints? He knows they're completely capable of holding their own and willingly helps them when the situation calls for it.

And this is it please be free to add anything you might like and tell me if i'm making sense??? Idk i just love him a lot😞

HECK EVEN CASEY, A LITERAL BOY HE JUST MET. He is aware of casey's passion and abilities; i mean, if his own future self trusts him as the only one capable to fix everything, why shouldn't he?

Conclusion: Leo quite literally grew to deserve the role of the leader.

[the-au-collector]

Found this as I was going through my drafts. Figured I'd post it since there's no way this is getting edited anymore so... *throws it toward the void*:

Okay so a LU Supernatural AU just instantly spawned in my head when I read the word “Winchester” (someone save me from the brain worms please). I haven’t even finished the series (I got to season 4 and just… stopped. As I do for many things) but uh. Random braindump time. No this AU is not very serious lol. I probably won’t be coming back to it but ~the worms~ deem me to write some dump about it so uh here

LU x Supernatural

Hylia is God. Is God good or bad in spn? Idk but she is God

First is probably John. He’s not as much of an asshole tho

Ganondorf is the devil. Obviously. Actually maybe Demise is. Idk, one of these two is the Devil

The other various Legend of Zelda enemies are supernatural creatures (so Bokoblins, Lizalfos, Lynels, etc. Lynels are probably among the most dangerous, next to all the boss type monsters)

The other various Legend of Zelda bad guys are higher demons and stuff. So Girahim, Yuga, Aghanim, etc. are all demons. Every single one of them.

Bobby is Time.

Time is retired and lives on Lon Lon Ranch. He's forced out of retirement, though.

Twi is their kid. He briefly teamed up with a vampire named Midna to take down Zhant (who is also a vampire) but Time didn’t really like that very much. They didn’t agree about that for a while

Midna and Zhant are both vampires. Twi was is in love with Midna, but Midna insisted they couldn't be together. He hasn’t seen her since.

Wild is Twi's hunter partner and is his protegee. Wild was hurt somehow in a freak accident that involved hunting, and got taken in by Time and Malon.

Legend and Hyrule are the closest stand-ins to the Winchesters I would say... meaning First is their dad. They have a strained relationship but obviously First dies and they carry on his legacy and stuff and hunt things.

Fuck I'm getting a plot abort abort

Uhhh Wind is… idk that kid Sam and Dean adopt in the later seasons

Wars is Castell

That just came to me

Legend definitely gives more Dean vibes but I’m giving him Sam because of the Koholint Trauma

Legend cannot escape the Koholint Trauma in any AU

Malon is a badass like always

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Fuck I’m forgetting someone

SKY! Idk, he, Sun, and Groose can be a badass hunting group

Fuck I also also forgot Four

Uh Four’s cursed or haunted by 4 ghosts (the Colors) and/or a demon (Shadow). I for some reason can see Four and Shadow having some sort of forbidden romance or something

Can you tell I never finished Supernatural?

[somuchbetterthanthat]

Not to randomly write about bbc merlin abruptly at the tail end of 2023 or anything, but i had a sort of dream and now i need to write something or it'll turn into my head all day

but like, wouldn't it have made SO MUCH MORE SENSE if, in season 2, Merlin had not listened to the dragon and told Morgana that he had magic? Because 1. they're friends, and at this point why would Merlin suspect Morgana to ever turn evil? 2. it allows them, for a few episodes, to be genuine allies about this -- Morgana trust Merlin enough to come back to Camelot because she believes that together they can change things in the inside, and you can even had wacky hijinks where Arthur is persuaded that Merlin and Morgana ARE fooling around and he's like "good lord man do you WANT to be beheaded"

but then of course Morgana starts to get frustrated with Merlin's way of doing things; Morgana meets Morgause, and Morgana wants Merlin to approve of her and Merlin is like "no" and Morgana gets annoyed because does merlin WANT to help sorcerers, or is he happy being Arthur's shadow and will push everyone else under the bus for him? and then you can have the actual events that happened and that i don't quite remember because it's been like, what, ten years since i watched this show. Anyway. Point is, Merlin ends up poisoning Morgana and Morgana disappears, then reappears a year later determined to bring Merlin down, or, at least, knowing now in her mind that Merlin has been corrupted by his love for Arthur and will never shake the status quo, and hating him for that.

And so THEN it would make so much sense that next time the dragon is like "oh this one will be evil" about Mordred, Merlin BELIEVES IT; because he didn't for Morgana and look how that turned out! I mean i guess you could also do the reverse (Merlin trust the dragon the first time, Morgana turns evil but he considers it a self fulfilling prophecy and his fault so when the dragon says mordred is evil he goes "fuck off" and befriend him and Mordred still brings doom at the end, but i feel it work better the other way around ngl)

ALSO ALSO ALSO ALSO, instead of 1. the horrible s4 plot with Gwen and the fake magic love triangle nobody helps her with, and 2. Merlin's magic being revealed on the last episode,............. You could give the s4 plot to Merlin, sort of. Everything is going well, and then Arthur discovers Merlin has magic, but because of Morgana shenanigans he believes Merlin is /scheming/ with her/evil sorcerers, and the thing is, he /can't bring himself to trial Merlin for magic/, which would mean direct execution, so he goes for betrayal and exile him, and Gwen comes to tell him goodbye and promise they'll fix it and she legit doesn't care about the magic and Merlin smiles sadly but he thinks he's ruined it; maybe he even thinks Morgana was a bit right -- although they're a stubborn voice that says /he didn't trial me for magic/ and then, adventures, stuff, magic, reunion, big moment of friendship and devotion and declaration of love, and then we can enter s5 for a "new age" where arthur and Merlin work together to bring magic back to Camelot properly.

[stargazer-sims]

The Art of Redemption

(part 9)

previous // next // story index

—————

"You would've made a great parent," Stan says.

Stan and Beth-Anne are sitting at a table by the window in their favourite waterfront café. From their spot, they can see the wide wooden boardwalk and the grey expanse of the mist-veiled harbour beyond it.

The pewter coloured sky is promising more snow, but Beth-Anne doesn't mind. Winter is her favourite season. She loves how soft and harmless everything looks when covered by a fresh snowfall. The snow creates a dreamlike image with no deep shadows or sharp edges, and nothing that hints at the harshness of the real world.

At this time of year, the boardwalk is quiet and mostly deserted, and that's how Beth-Anne likes it best. She prefers an uninterrupted view of the sea, and it's much easier to gather her thoughts when there isn't a crowd. Even from behind a window, the sight of the empty boardwalk and the slowly undulating ocean water helps to settle her.

She's not entirely calm, but she reflects that she's certainly felt worse.

She has just finished pouring her heart out to Stan about the metaphorical roller coaster she's been on. She told him all about the confrontation between Brett and Nikolai, her chat with Brett afterwards and her misgivings about the stability of his home life, and her persistent worry that Nikolai isn't showing much progress in recovering from the incident, even after several days.

To add to her troubles, Eden's parents seem to have developed a sudden and deep-seated fear that their child will get seriously hurt at the rink, and informed her this morning that they want to pull him out of both group classes and individual training.

Although they didn't come out and say it directly, Beth-Anne suspects this has to do with Nikolai and his injury. The Seong family doesn't know Nikolai. He and Eden are definitely aware of each other, but they've never met. Still, if Evie and George Seong are even half as tuned-in to the skating world as their son, she doesn't doubt they know all about what happened at the Four Continents.

Predictably, Eden didn't take his parents' expression of their concerns very well. The skating-obsessed little boy had reacted by creating the most dramatic scene possible; refusing to take his skates off, throwing himself to the ice and howling for all he was worth when his mother and father came to pick him up.

Beth-Anne sighs. All she needs now is for something to happen to make Mariah cry, and her students will have completed a streak.

"I'd be a shit parent," she says to Stan. "I can barely cope with the six kids I've got, and they're not even mine. Well, five I guess, since Nikolai is hardly a kid. Four, if I lose little Eden."

"You're not going to lose him," Stan predicts. "Kid with that much talent? Christ, from what I've seen, some day he might even be better than Nikolai. His parents would be out of their minds to make him quit."

"Tell that to them."

"I won't have to. If he can't make it clear to them himself, what's gonna happen if they pull him off the ice will do the job. I've watched him skate, and I swear to God... that child's entire body language shouts pure joy when he's out there. What do you think would happen if they took that away from him?"

"I don't want to think about that," she says. "I can't think about another one of my boys fading away." Her throat hurts, and the half-eaten slice of raspberry cheesecake on the plate in front of her no longer looks appetizing. Her stomach clenches as if she might be sick. "Everything's so fucked up right now, and I don't know what to do."

"Beth, look at me." Stan reaches across the small table and covers her hand with his. "Take a deep breath, and then tell me how much of the shit that's going on right now is actually something you can control."

She tries to meet his gaze, but her eyes start to sting and she lowers her head so he won't have a full view of her if she starts crying. "I... I don't know."

"Yes, you do." Stan's tone is firm, but not unkind. "You have no control over other people's choices. You have no control over how they act or what they feel. The only person you have control over is you, and when shit gets bad, the only feelings and actions you're responsible for are yours."

"Yeah, but—"

"No 'buts'. You know I'm right."

"I guess."

"No 'guess', either."

"Sorry."

"Tell me something," Stan says. "Are you being kind and fair? Are you really listening to your kids and doing your best to understand what they need?"

"Yeah."

"And are you helping them get what they need?"

"Of course," she says. "As best as I'm able to."

"Then, you're doing fine." Stan squeezes her hand lightly. "Those three boys and Mariah, Katie and Ruby, they love you. Anyone can see that, and anyone can see how much you love them. You don't need to be able to fix everything. You just need to be present for them, and it sounds like you are, so how about you stop beating yourself up, yeah?"

"I want them to be happy. I hate it when they're hurting."

"I know." Stan still hasn't let go of her hand. He grips it a little tighter and adds softly. "Just like I hate it when you're hurting. You think I don't wish I could wave a magic wand and take all the pain away from you? If I could do that, I would, but I can't."

She turns her hand so she can finally grasp his fingers in return. "This is enough," she says. "You being here with me. Being my friend and listening to all my problems."

"It's enough for your students too," he tells her. "Most people aren't looking for miracles."

"Is it going to get better?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

"Yeah, but... can you just tell me, please? I need to hear somebody say it."

"It'll get better. It always does." He smiles. "Your boys will be fine. Little Eden will get to keep skating, and Brett will grow out of needing to be constantly reassured, and Nikolai won't grieve forever."

"And what about me?" she asks.

Stan's gaze on her is steady. "There's more on your mind than all the stuff with your boys."

It's not a question. He knows her well enough that he doesn't need confirmation. What he's really doing is offering her an easy entry into talking about it. Stan is good at that, getting people to open up to him.

She closes her eyes and concentrates on the warmth of his hand. Stan isn't a physically affectionate person, but he knows when she needs grounding and he knows how to do it.

He'd sat with her and held her hand for hours when she'd been recovering in the hospital after her accident. He'd read books to her, some in English and some in his native Czech, so that she could hear his voice without having to say anything in reply. He'd dried her tears like no one else in her life had ever done. Stan has never been repulsed by her scars, never been afraid of her past.

Stan Kovac loves her like her parents should have. There's never been any question in her mind about that. He's not her real father, but he's the father she needs.

"It's the nightmares," she practically whispers. "The nightmares are back. Flashbacks too."

"How long?" Stan asks.

"I've been having nightmares since Four Continents. The flashbacks... they started up again a few days ago."

"And the drinking?" he probes gently. "That too?"

She shakes her head. "No. I promised you I wouldn't, and I meant it. I almost slipped up, but I got scared. Of what would happen, I mean. What I might do."

"You should've called me."

"I was scared."

Her voice is barely audible, but Stan still catches her words. "I wouldn't have judged you, little bee. You know that," he says. "Milena and I would've taken care of you. You and your Nikolai both."

"I'm sorry."

"No," he murmurs. "No, miláčku. You have nothing to apologize for. You're doing your best, and I know you've been trying very hard to manage everything. No one should expect more from you than that."

She tries to keep it together, but hearing him use the same term of endearment for her that he uses for Alžběta, his own daughter, causes something inside her to break. She's been holding so much in, fighting so damn hard to be strong for everyone, when all she really wants is to let go. She longs for somebody to take over the fight for her, just for a little while, so she can rest and not have to worry or be afraid. She wants someone to protect her like a parent protects their small child, to shield her from all the monsters waiting in dark closets, hungry to destroy her.

Without warning, an involuntary whimper escapes her. She pulls her hand away from Stan's and presses it over her trembling lips instead. Her eyes are streaming tears, blurring the world around her so that her surroundings no longer have meaning.

Stan doesn't say anything. He stands up, pulls some cash from his pocket and places it on the table between their two unfinished dessert plates. Then, he’s standing next to her chair, taking the hand that's not covering her mouth. He leads her toward the door, and then outside into the chilly February air.

Out on the boardwalk, Stanislav Kovac who rarely hugs anybody, pulls her into his arms and holds her tight. The last vestiges of her self-control disappear. She buries her face in the scratchy, vaguely peppermint-scented warmth of his old wool coat and lets out all her frustration, self-doubt, exhaustion, pain and fear in sobs that threaten to take her breath away.

She has no idea how long they stand there, but eventually her tears run out. She feels drained, and she doesn't want to move. In the back of her mind, she even wonders if she can. It would be nice to stay in the safety of Stan's embrace forever, as impossible as she knows it is.

"Let's go home, little bee," Stan says.

She tries to reply, but the only sound her aching throat produces is a tiny, pitiful squeak. She wants to tell him she likes hearing him call her 'little bee'. The pet name he gave her years ago is hers alone, and it speaks volumes to her desperate heart.

"We'll stop by your house first," he continues. "You'll need some things if Milena and I are going to keep you for the night."

"Wh-what... what about Nikolai?" she somehow manages to ask.

"We'll bring him as well, if he wants to come," says Stan. "There's plenty of room for both of you. He can have the downstairs guest room, and you can have Alžběta's old room. We've redecorated it. I think you'll like it."

She moves her head against his shoulder in her best version of a nod. "Okay."

"You can have a nice meal and a hot bath and a good long sleep. If you're feeling better in the morning, then we'll talk. Okay? And if you think you need a professional, I'll help you get in touch with somebody."

She sniffles. "No. I had my fill of shrinks a long time ago. I just... I need to tell somebody everything. And I need someone to tell me I'm going to be okay, that I'm not too fucked up to be normal. That I'm not broken."

Stan strokes the back of her head, just once, smoothing down her windblown hair. "We're all broken, Beth. Every one of us in our own way, and that's all right. It's okay to be broken. The important thing is not to let yourself believe you can never be mended."

[itsdappleagain]

Arguably one of the strongest character building episodes in the entire series, The Daisho Caper is fantastically unique in its motivations, gorgeous scenery and animation, and subversion of expectations. I’m so ready for this unique and spectacular episode. LET’S GET IT GOING!!!!

(and yes. im mega late. working on it. notes under the cut as always!)

I love this infodump section so much. It’s really beautiful and super unique in that it starts the episode and also happens in a flashback (almost everything about this episode is unique?? From singing to a rejected redemption arc there are lots of things in this episode that never happen again

LIL BABY CARMEN

AWWW WAIT CARMEN ASKS IF HE CAN TAKE HER TO JAPAN AND YEARS LATER HE GETS TO. DAD MOMENT

And you can see how shadow-san distances himself from her as she gets older

Sleepy carmen <333

Sleepy EVERYONE

SHADOWLOLADLOWLEHEE HOO

That ironic little “heh” carmen does is so. Yeah i dont know i love it

Man hideo got SUMMONED she put one finger on the glass and he teleported

HOW ABOUT SORRY, CARMEN

Hideo is honestly so perceptive he would kill it in miraculous ladybug /j okay but seriously he’s already noticed what she knows and he even recognizes her when. Literally not even the law enforcement agency dedicated to catching her could at one point

“Dark forces” checks out, seeing as shadow-san basically means mr. shadow

I love when they get bitchy with each other

Also HI the animation is SOO PRETTY THIS EPISODE

More than a feeling by boston. Its by boston you guys do you get it its by boston

Also this karaoke scene SLAPS

Not zack pulling down shadowsan’s clothing. Yas bitch show a little slutty shoulder

THEYRE HAVING SO MUCH FUN <333

Zack and ivy: thank you thank you!!!!

Carmen and Shadowsan: okay well now that theyve shut the fuck up we can continue talking i guess

MAN HE SAID SPIES AND ASSASSINS AND HE’S REMEMBERING DEXTER…SPYING AND ASSASSINATION WAS WHAT HE WAS THERE FOR AND HE HAS TO CONFRONT IT NOW

HE CAN’T REALLY BECOME A SAMURAI IN THE EYES OF HIMSELF AND HIS BROTHER UNTIL HE CONFRONTS THAT PIECE OF HIS PAST AND LEARNS TO GROW FROM IT WITH CARMEN. MAN THIS EPISODE

PAPER STAR <333

Wait dokuso says “i called you here” do senior operatives have some caper perms? Can dokuso contact the faculty and be like HEY can i borrow paper star

Not quite sure what the little maneuver in the air was supposed to help avoid because it did. Nothing

HNNG okay i’ve dumped on jo’s DMs about this shot but its SO pretty

Follows the rule of thirds line, the gorgeous lighting, paper star framed in the moon, the perspective and use of space, the petals blowing in the wind, glowing in the light. ACTUAL LITERAL ART

Rip deleted scene where paper star says “sheep dont fly” the first time ig 

Season two and those slide-under-projectile shots

Carmen and chucking painful building materials at evil gay women this season

Carmen loves that little flip over the shoulder move

Also I LOVE that you can just watch Carmen figure out who Suhara is immediately its cool

whats up with the dirt on his face

SO BEGINS THE VILE FACULTY SAGA honestly such a fun plot point from this season they'll literally try out anyone

GOD the bridge and the cherry blossoms and the water have I mentioned how gorgeous this episode is

there's always more to the story with shadowsan

also mmm i love. i love that carmen isnt quite certain, so she says "suhara" very quietly. she's testing it out, and the look on shadowsan's face is all she needs to figure out that she's right

just another little tiny clue that shadowsan knows more than he lets on about her past. why would he be guilty about simply not knowing where she came from? if his cover story was true, he would if anything be carmen's savior from a terrible death or being picked up by some random people or something. just. god really good.

SHADOWSAN IS SO TALL NEXT TO HER SJDGDHS

god that transition with the cherry blossoms was good

i feel so bad for hideo he didn't deserve shadowsangst

btw i want to see a spinoff with the faculty/shadow-san's school and early crime days

man the confrontation scene is so raw. hideo is shaking, holding that sword, but he is fucking ready to fight his brother about keeping the sword. man its good

appreciate the scenery

that reveal of the shot being a puddle is also so good this episode is literally art

i love rewatching this episode for the little details- the camera always stopping before ivy's face, the swords discreetly disappearing as the cart goes by. you don't even notice the first time

i know they kill people and stuff but the hoodlums are kinda sweet. yess kings sing that karaoke

i wonder if the elvis song was a nod to the elvis episode they wanted to do with shadowsan (duane said they had to scrap it and im SOOO MAD)

ivy and zack must just have full charisma stats bc i dont know how they keep getting away with blending in literally everywhere. maam thats a white bitch in a wig

i love the three of them immediately sweating their balls off when shadowsan grabs the sword

EVEN THE IMPACT FRAMES ARE COOL

btw the tattoos in this episode are cool i wish more non yakuza members had them

that app on carmen's phone is a gaydar

how long was paper star just sitting in the packaging just going "ooghhh yeah im like a fucking jack in the box im gonna scare her so bad ooogh"

i love the kitty fans

not sure what carmen was going to do with the fans anyway seeing as she doesnt know how to use them as a weapons but whatever

oh nevermind she. i guess does

i love howw carmen just like. rides paper star

girlie has to stop strapping shit to her back it does not work

another one of my favorite shots in the show the lighting is sooo beautiful

i also like how carmen is looking down, not trying to shake her off, reaching a hand down- she doesn't want paper star to fall to her death, obviously

i was like damn how did that little fall knock both of them out cold but paper star LANDED ON HER NECK

PARTIES OVER ELVIS IS GONE

i love the very minimal music when dokuso and shadowsan are fighting its cool

get poisoned

i think they reused the shadowsan poisoned groaning sound twice in a row

anyway also a nice shot here

it seriously looks like paper star was just lying there and as soon as she heard carmen get up she was like oh chill nap time is over

that climbing the ladder animation was so slick

so wait. they predicted? that paper star would not only be hidden in the sword room but latch onto carmen's ankle and follow her all the way up to that roof. so they could glue her

kill kill kill

the anime glasses on dokuso are awesome

out of context it looks like carmen just murdered shadowsan in a swordfight

god the empty room. and then you pan down and shadowsan is kneeling. good shit

MAN what a fantastic scene. he does exactly what shadowsan asks him to- does not forgive him, because he does not yet see a reason to. but he allows him to correct that mistake. what . god what a good rejection of a redemption shadowsan HASN'T redeemed himself (fully) yet it just makes sense

mmm when he appears from behind her and her spidey senses go off. its good shit

just that emotion on her face. she's sympathetic that his brother didn't accept him back, but happy that he'll still go with them on their journey.

now, this is the only time we get a voiceover from carmen (other than when she's talking to crackle in the pilot) and its such a stark choice. like the only time we ever really get an inner monologue from carmen that lets us know how she feels about it

everything about this episode is just so fantastic and different! cs thrives when it dives into character motivations...but it just doesn't do that very much. there are so many unique choices in the episode- from the untraditional infodump scene to the music to the gorgeous animation/lighting to the voiceover to the rejected redemption scene to the hints at shadowsan's true past with carmen...i could keep going on and on about it forever, but I won't. you've seen the episode. its just. argh. its so good

okay that's all from me. hopefully I can get the rest of my cs weeklies out sooner rather than later- im almost done with finals!!

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Why Izzy fandom and Izzy 'eh' people write this fucker so differently. A slight rant written at 1am by a person in the middle of writing her 10th Izzy fic 😆

OFMD is about looking at a person, then diving in, and understanding and sympathizing with why they are like that. To some extent, most romantic comedies are. So let's look at who my brain has latches onto:

Stede Bonnet: introduced as a pompous outsider whose wealth blinds him from seeing how hard piracy is. Throughout season 1 we see him grow and gain confidence in his abilities. He finds self confidence, acceptance and even a found family because he is, to his center, himself. He is flawed but we see him trying to follow his own code for what makes a good captain.

Edward Teach: distant experienced pirate who has totally checked out from what it means to be a pirate. He doesn't care about casualities and keeps secrets about life-saving plans from the people xlose to him. But he's not a prick. He wants something in life he doesn't think he can achieve: a peaceful life. He thinks it's a rich persons game he can never afford to win. He's not the kind of person who hets a happy ending. He learns over the series to let himself want that for better and for worse. He can be cruel and seemingly selfish, but he learns to love life again after meeting stede.

Izzy Hands: a character built in Ed's shadow, representing the bits of Ed's life he hates in s1. Most of his screen time is spent either agreeing with or denying Ed's plans. I've noticed in the AU I write, I still tend to write him as a bitchy ex, because what do we know about him outside of how he interacts with Ed? A man who he sees as his 'boss'?

On screen, he is seen with or acting on the behalf of: ED. In s2, it's a bit better. Sure. But he's projecting his issues with Ed onto the crew ('he's still got legs'/'next time he'll do his fucking job' of s2ep4). So even the scenes hes not physicially in frame with the man, Ed is still haunting him. Or Izzy's alone and sad. A character sitting alone CAN progress their character. But what do we learn? That Izzy sees himself as Izzys shadow, too.

The two scenes I can say give direct characterization for him are the Ricky speech of s2-Ep 8, and the drag discussion between him and Wee John. Izzy cares about his crew and is a person wishes he let himself open up in life.

[but even then. We as the audience know this more from a con interview than the actual show. I had a friend say Izzy finally turned gay at that moment, so interpertations of that scene vary]

So. Yes. Izzy cares about rules and trying not to die. Yes. He loves Ed. But who is he? If we took Izzy Hands and dropped him in a new world with new characters and a new plot. Who would he be?

The bitchy 'micromanaging' ex. The mother friend. The nag.

I fucking love Izzy, but I can admit that like most characterization of a side character, I am projecting and stretching apart the crumbs we are given, to have a TON of fun while making him suffer.

I write Izzy the way I do because in my head my favorite character is a mix of 10 hours of tv and the past 2 years of reading stories about a man who is *trying* to live.

I know many fans outside of this sphere struggle to get our facination with the guy, but in the end, Izzy Hands really is ours. And that's kind of beautiful.

[gryffindorkalicious]

My review on S&B season 2

So I binged watch Shadow and Bone in on sitting and OMGGGGGGG.

OMGGGGGGGGG

WOWWW

THAT WAS A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE AND I HAVE A FEW THOUGHTS

PLOT

The plot was rushed like it was there is no denying it, but it was also fun in the best way possible. IMO The writers really aced it for TV. You can tell they actually respect the source material and understand it well. I know that a lot of controversy is surrounding season 2 but I would like to point out that I think the writers and actors did BRILLIANT with what time they had. Like I am pretty sure I saw a tweet that said that the writers weren’t sure that they would get the green light for season 3 and with that in mind they were exceptional. They did remove quite a few scenes from R&R and S&S, I really missed alina’s white hair and MAL’s  “I am become Blade tattoo”. And as someone who has read the books I missed the character development that was done but at the same time, I have come to realise that adaptations are different from source materials and it’s best to seperate them both. That way you enjoy it more. And my friend (Who hasn’t read the books) loved it even more then me.

Nikolai hiring the crows was absolutely genius, it was a really good introduction

The Crows having to steal the sword plotline was so good was so goodd

The transition for Kaz’s flashback was so good ( Can I just say that I loved the VFX for this season)

KANEJ AND HELNIK ANGST ALMOST KILLED ME 

WESPER BEING SO IN LOVE IS AAAHHHHHHHHHH IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE

THE ENDING THOUGH OKAY IK UNPOPULAR OPINION BUT I LOVED THE ENDING BECAUSE ALINA IS SUCH A SLAY IN THIS SEASON AND HER USING THE CUT AND I WAS SO HAPPY THAT SHE DIDN’T LOSE HER POWERS LIKE IK THAT THE THEME WAS POWER CORRUPTS BUT IDFC, LIKE LET IT CORRUPT. INFACT I WANT IT TO CORRUPT. I CANT WAIT FOR NEXT SEASON IF ITS HAPPENING 

Zoya having the bee fly near her (...............)

The fight scenes were really impressive like it was done so innovatively.

The plot was like 7.5/10 for me because ik that its a TV show but I still love the books too much, However, my friend gave it a 9.5/10 (She wanted more of the crows)

2 major complaints I do have is that WHY THE FUCK IS DAVID DEAD??????

LIKKKE WHY SHOWWRITERS??

hUHHH??

WHAT WAS THE REASON??

 and my 2nd complaint is please give me zoyalai crumbs, I wanted some banter but I was disappointed.

ACTING

the acting done by each and every charcater was phenomenal. Ben Barnes was amazing as usual, Jessie mei lei added her beautiful depth to Alina’s character, Archie renaux make Mal’s character so much more three dimensional, NIKOLAI, TOLYA,TAMAR AND WYLAN. OMGGG. When I tell you they were fucking perfect like their expressions, their dialogue, their attitude. Jaw droppingly amazing. Daisy was so good as Genya this season like her raw emotion could literally be felt throught the screen. Her acting literally made me hate the Darkling so much. Amita was amazing as Inej, she as born for this role and danielle and Callahan have such amzing chemistry I can cry.  Kit young is amazing, I love him so much. I wanted Sujaya to have more screen time because she is amazing but i know she had conflicting schedules but still :(

Freddy carter though,

WHAT THE FUCK

IT WAS LIKE SOMEONE PLUCKED OUT KAZ FROM THE BOOKS AND WAS LIKE HERE YOU GO AND HAVE THE MOST HEART WRENCHING STORY BE DONE IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. LIKE HE KILLED. HE ABSOLUTELY SLAYED WITH THE ACTING. I WAS FLABBERGASTED. OMFGGGG. WHAT WAS THAT. LIKE FREDDY CARTER IS KAZ BREKKER. PERIOD.

OVERALL THE ACTING WAS A 10/10. I could not imagine a more perfect cast.

Conclusion

I Liked the show, had fun with it. The best way to enjoy it is as Leigh said,” Think of it as a fanfiction.” Sepereating the show from the book is the best thing to do for adaptation guys. I understand why people may not like it but still fucking watch it. IDNC that you didnt like it. WATCH IT. I need my Ice heist spin off. <3

Overall it was 8.5/10 ( ik the average is mathematically wrong but idc this is the rating i felt right with)

[deanstudies101]

4x02, Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester

Critical theory: Guilt and responsibility. Faith vs. proof.

Discussion point/question(s): The fact is the bickering and sexual tension is already there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Key quotes: Sam, "... this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof." ... Dean, "Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

Further reading:

Dean's voice in 4x01 vs. 4x02 (@sunglassesmish)

Discussion:

At the end of the day, there were only three people that appeared that they didn’t save (most likely scheduling/budget reasons, but still). Sumner says the reason behind Bobby’s witnesses was weak. [But they all are! Sam and Dean aren’t actually really to blame for Victor or Ronald. Maybe Meg more so? But like. They tried! I think that’s the point.] 

Sumner, do you think the ghosts are telling the truth? (ie. Victor being tortured, Meg’s sister killing herself). Were they lying? It was them, but they could lie. [I feel like it is them, but that the anger is… almost manufactured? Amplified? By being forced to rise. Bobby called them ‘rabid’, so...] 

We love Bobby. The panic room slaps. Bobby built a safe space [go with it] for him and the boys. John was all attack, Bobby is defensive. [They have a space to retreat and read and figure out their next move.] Bobby amasses information. 

We’re starting to see all these hunters who had houses to go back to… why didn’t John? He had two young sons, and he chose to be homeless. [We know that John left the boys with people, ie. Bobby or Pastor Jim, but he just… ends up fighting with them. He had no friends left. We’ll learn a bit more about this later.] The first few seasons convince you that hunters have to live like rats, can’t have a house, but now… they all have houses. Some of them live to old age. What the fuck was John’s problem? [John to Sam in 1x21 “I want you to go to school, and I want Dean to have a home.”... bro, do you?] He could’ve left them home alone and been a shitty parent in the same way that a lot of people are shitty parents, but he didn’t. At a certain point, Dean was useful. Tool in his father’s hand etc etc. 

[Daniel Elkins was so hated by the remainder of an entire species that he almost masacred that he had to drop off the map and he still had a fucking cabin.] Other hunters have a caravan. Could they not have had a caravan? Sumner, that’s why they’re so normal about the car. 

[The post about Dean and the car—I’ll find this later—it is precious to him, but he is not precious with it. They sit on the hood and stargaze. Sam puts his feet up in the back to sleep etc. It is their home.]

All these hunters had protections/precautions, did John do any of this in the motel rooms? Kai, yeah, he gave Dean a gun. No protection but a ten year old with a gun. 

Bickering + sexual tension. Dean looked at his mouth. He did this with Victor too. Dean had some realisations. He has the fanfiction oh moment. His physicality changes. Even aside from destiel, Cas is menacing. The backlighting. The shadows. Iga expected him to be goofy, but he’s a bit cosmic horror. It looks like Dean is struggling to look him dead on. Cas is the most powerful thing they’ve encountered, he burned people’s eyes out. He brought Dean out of hell, and Dean is permanently physically altered by that. Dean always has the wittiest comebacks, but he’s scared of Cas. In 4x01 they were all ~Cas is the new thing that we have to fight, but if he was, they’d be fucked. When Dean is waking up and Cas is in the background, it’s romantic framing. [And it was in a dream. Cas was inside Dean’s head. The power but the romance.]

God isn’t real, but if he is, why would he care about me? Because who does care about him? His father certainly doesn’t. King of low self-esteem. 

[In this episode we learnt that God is real, Lucifer is real, the apocalypse is coming. And we’re talking about John. Love this.] 

It’s season 4 and they’re already bringing in god and the apocalypse. Where the fuck do they do from here? [ha]

Are Lilith and Lucifer going to be a thing, or is she more like a devoted follower? Is Lucifer too up himself? 

Iga, I think Lucifer is going to be a nice guy (/gen). Kai, a man of the people, and not up himself (/hj). 

Sumner, when angels die do they come back? Do they respawn? They think angels regenerate, or respawn, or god brings them back… until they don’t want to any more? [no comment]. 

Re further reading. Kai, the in-character reading of this is that there was something questioning Dean’s masculinity, and he had to emphasise it a bit more. [He feels threatened, in more than one way.]  

Notes: Visiting student Sumner. 

[another-sonic-blog]

The Fanfictioner Ch.4: Script

Thank you @redsunlight again for the beautiful cover!

For better quality of reading:

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23815324/chapters/57221092

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/229947691-the-fanfictioner

THANK YOU FOR READING!

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"This has to be a fucking joke," Sonic slams the script against the table and looks up to his friends. "I am not doing this, I am not getting paid enough."

Today is 'reading script day' Sonic Boom cast is given two weeks to memorize their script before starting to film. At this meeting, the main actors gather in a big room to read the script and get pointers on what the director wants.

"I am so excited!" Knuckles did a small twirl as he sits on his chair and happily starts reading the script again. "This is a dream come true!"

"I am not acting on this fanfic thing!" Sonic says and then looks over at Tails. "Tails, what are my possibilities for getting out of this one?"

"You are on contract Sonic, you can't afford a lawsuit."

"I would be against this but this is the best writing I've seen from this show," Sticks also takes her to sit with a cup of tea in her hand. "It's like the writers actually put effort."

"I have to agree with Sticks, it's cheesy and a bit cringy but it's kinda interesting."

Amy is not speaking. This is probably the first time in which she would have so much screen on an episode. She is barely on half of the script and all of it is bonkers. It read like fanfiction with the usual SonAmyShad tropes. The script starts with Amy running in the forest after she sees Sonic kissing some random girl. Then she bumps into Shadow and then blah blah boring stuff.

Suddenly the conference room slams open, revealing no other than Shadow the Hedgehog himself. Wearing shades and a black leather jacket. Amy wonders how many of those he must have. She still needs to return the one he lent her.

"I am not doing this shit," Shadow says as she sits on his chair and crosses his legs. Slamming the script against the table and almost breaking it in half.

"Great," defeated Sonic sits next to Amy who is still not speaking her mind. "The script is shit and now I am agreeing with Shadow too."

"Do not misunderstand me, I am fine acting on anything as long as the writing is good."

The pink hedgehog is between the two and her mind brings her memories of Shadow acting in 'Forest of Dreams' which is still one of her favorite movies. Amy knows for a fact Shadow can act in a romance film. After all, he is known to be a 'dreamy' actor and even likes a 'prince' ... At least that's what his fangirls say about him.

"But look at this! If they want a good ShadAmy story then they should just read First Im-"

Shadow stops and by this time Amy is looking at him. She could swear she saw a little bit of red on Shadow's cheeks but she concludes that it must be her mind playing tricks since she slept really late yesterday.

"First what?" Amy asks as Shadow thanks Chaos she could not see through his shades because otherwise, she would see the panic in his eyes.

"First, just first," Shadow quickly corrects himself. "They should learn how to read first!"

"What if all say no?" Sonic speaks up, trying to get Amy's attention since she looks to be too busy looking at Shadow. "Hey can't force us to do this if we all say no?"

"But I do want to do this!"

"Knuckles!"

Before everyone could get angrier at Knuckles, Mr. Johnson the Rabbit, the director walks into the meeting room. Following from behind are the show writers and Mia the Hedgehog, Shadow's tiny manager.

The air could be cut with a knife. Shadow is already throwing daggers at everyone with his eyes. They all quietly take their seats and after a few seconds of deadly staring, the director finally speaks up.

"Alright, how much for your to participate in this?"

"No amount of money is gonna make me act on that," Shadow crosses his arms in front of his chest, looking directly at Mr. Johnson. "Besides my contract ends every season ... I won't renew my contract unless you change the horrendous writing."

Everyone wanted to interrupt. Why did everyone's contract be valid until the entire series ends but Shadow's contract was per season? Still, they just let the actor speak his mind.

"Look, ShadAmy is the most popular ship of the moment. If we do this right, do you know what it means?" Mr. Johnson makes a pause. "Your first Ammy award. You have never been nominated for this award, right?"

Shadow rolls his eyes, the thought alone is stupid to him.

"Do you really think I can get nominated? Not with that shitty story."

"It's what the people like! Full of drama!"

"They kiss on the first episode!"

"And we will have a pregnancy trope too!"

Shadow facepalms so hard that he leaves a red mark on his forehead. He doesn't say anything else. He did not want to be disrespectful and he is at the point in which if he continues, he will definitely end up cursing at the old man.

Seeing his frustration, Mia, Shadow's manager, decided to speak for him.

"My client won't accept this role unless the writing changes."

"We have four writers on this, isn't it enough?" Mr. Johnson points at the writers who just waived awkwardly at Mia and Shadow who were bashing their writing.

"No offense to your writers but even Knuckles can write a better love story," Mia says and everyone turns to look at Knuckles who crosses his arms in front of his chest and just shrugs.

"I can, actually."

"I think our biggest problem is the radical change in genre. We are an adventure show, not a romance one," Tails, as always, tries to be the middle man. Looking at both perspectives, it wouldn't be bad to add romance to the show since it will bring more reception but the writers can barely write decent action scenes. He knew that writing romance ... good romance at that, will end in failure.

"I think it's better if we keep the adventure and just throw romantic elements from time to time."

"Shut up Tails, I actually want to see them kiss," Sticks has a devil smile on her face as she looks at Amy from the other side of the room. "Besides, you love dramas as much as I do."

Sticks did have a point. Besides this could help him get Sonic and Amy together if he plays his cards right.

"Mmm, I do love dramas."

"We still haven't heard Amy's opinion," Sonic interrupts and looks at the pink one. He just knew that Amy would be against it, but still wants to hear her opinion. "Amy ... Do you want to kiss Shadow?"

Was that even a question? Amy looks at Shadow who has his stoic, usual face. Although he did not look disgusted at hearing that, Amy just knew that he is thinking the same thing she is.

"Absolutely not. I hate it. I hate ShadAmy and all of it. It's so stressful and I won't act on this unless the writing gets better," Amy feels a heavy weight being lifted off her shoulders. She is not a picky actress, but she would also appreciate not being forced to do scenes she does not want to do. "Just get a better writer, please."

Now it is all up to the director, Mr. Johnson. Of course, it's not like he had much of an option after hearing everyone's opinion.

"Fine," he sighs heavily, taking off his glasses and lying back on his chair. "There goes our deadline."

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"They ain't going to meet their deadline. Can they even find a good writer in just two weeks?"

"Whether they do or not, it's not our problem anymore. If they don't, we can just go back to the normal adventure stuff," Sonic says. "Besides we have two extra weeks to relax and chill."

Their meeting ended quickly and the group headed to Meh Burger. Except for Shadow who left in another direction as soon as everyone else exited the building. No one really cared where he went and left him be as always.

It was dead silence, and no one is in the mood to discuss the show further. Whatever would be, it will be.

"Anyways, Tails, how's Shadow's robot friend? Are you done repairing him?" Sonic asks as he takes a sip of his soda. He just wants to move on from the situation and stop hearing 'ShadAmy' this and 'ShadAmy' that. It got annoying.

"It's coming along. Shadow and Amy were able to find the piece I was looking for here. And Shadow went to Star Island to find the other metal I was looking for," Tails makes a short pause and this caught everyone's attention as Tails face began to express concern.

"It's going well but ..."

"But?"

Tails feels everyone's eyes on him. He did not feel sure about telling them the information he knows but the peer pressure started to kick in.

"While working on Omega, I find out some interesting insight about Shadow."

"Which is?" Sticks asks this time. She could care less about Shadow but Tails' nervousness made her believe that the secret Tails is keeping must be worth knowing.

Feeling like he had no other option and that at the end of the day, Shadow was doing nothing wrong, Tails decides to speak up.

"Well, turns out, Shadow actually likes to-"

"Fox hunt."

Tails did not even feel the goosebumps, he knows he is dead. The mere fact that he is still breathing is a miracle. That miracle was that if Shadow wanted to murder him, he would have to do it in front of witnesses.

"Especially foxes who can't keep their mouths shut."

"I- Um-" The fox wanted to apologize but no words would come out of his mouth. Would his friends step in to help him? Why are they so quiet?

"I need to talk to you ... In private," Shadow says, his voice has softened now and is no longer having a threatening aura. However, Tails knew that all of his mannerisms were to lure him into a trap.

"If Tails does not feel comfortable, he does not have to go with you Shadow," Amy interrupts the moment and at the sound of her voice, Shadow rolls his eyes.

"I need to talk to him about Omega and I don't want to do it here because, after those stupid rumors of us dating, I don't want any more paparazzi to take pictures of us interacting."

Tails take a few seconds to relax. He has to think clearly before a fight breaks out. For a fact, Shadow won't hurt him. He knows that would clearly affect his career and second, he has the upper hand. After all, Shadow had ... an interesting hobby. And Tails could blackmail him with that if anything.

"It's alright," Tails says as he stands up from his seat, his burger left untouched. "I'll go talk to Shadow."

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"You tell anyone about my search history and I'll tear off one of your tails."

This came out better than Tails had expected. He thought that Shadow might have killed him off by now but instead, he invited him over to his home and gave him a cup of tea. Yes, Shadow is being awfully extreme with his words but he did it in such a manner that Tails did not feel threatened... that much anyways.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Tails says."I promise I won't ever tell anyone that you are crazy about fanfiction."

Tails see Shadow get bashful at the word 'Fanfiction' and if he was being honest, he is not all innocent. He has had his fair share of reading fanfiction. Nonetheless, he is not as obsessed as Shadow is.

There were still many questions. Why did Omega have information on Shadow's web history? But he assumed that Omega, being the curious robot that he is, was just interested in Shadow's pastime and hacked into the wifi's server. Omega might be a smart robot but he is still not capable to understand 'privacy' May be he should do a few upgrades on the robot once he goes back to his lab.

"I am not crazy about fanfiction, I just-" Shadow makes a pause and thinks for a second. Yes, there is no saving on this one. "Well, maybe just a little."

"There is nothing wrong with that. I am just surprised. You seem to be the type to well ... Make fun of people who read fanfics, like Knuckles."

It's strange to be inside the home of his idol. Well, not really an idol, more like someone he deeply admires. Shadow has been acting since a young age but the reason why he started acting is still a mystery. However, one thing was clear. The reason why he chose to be in 'Sonic Boom' is simply that he is a fan of the show. At least, that's what Tails concluded.

"It's not just that I like fanfics ... Is that ... Well, they help me cope with some stuff and -"

"Hey, you don't have to tell me things that you are not ready to say," seeing his evident discomfort, Tails makes him stop. If Shadow did not want to talk about his past, then he shouldn't be forced to.

 "I am not shaming you for reading fanfics, I am just curious."

"Curios? About what?"

Now Tails is getting to the juicy stuff. He just hopes Shadow did not take offense to his question.

"Since when do you like Amy?"

Shadow immediately shows disgust as he hears 'like' and 'Amy' in the same sentence. That alone told Tails two things. Either he is genuinely disgusted and hates Amy. Or he hates the fact that he likes her and he is lying to himself.

"I don't like the pink hedgehog. I like Amy from the show. Your Amy is annoying," Shadow quickly responds, almost spilling the dark coffee he is drinking.

"You even requested ShadAmy fanfiction."

"And? I think Boom Shadow and Amy have potential. Imagine all the scenarios."

Tails did not see it. But then again, he is not the most romantic-sensitive fox there is. Maybe Shadow, like Knuckles, can see love where he can't. Maybe it's not about the facts ... it's about the potential.

"Anyways, why are you so scared of people finding out that you like to read fanfics?" Tails move on to his next question. "I thought you were the type not to care."

On the other hand, Shadow is about to take a leap of faith. He just hopes it's the right one. He could have thought of anything. Some stupid excuse or dumb lie. But the fox boy is not stupid, he could see right through him. And all Shadow could do is pray to Chaos - Even if he does not believe in it- that Tails is a trustworthy fox, unlike that blue rat he has as his best friend.

"Well ... To be honest ... There is someone ..."

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Tails keeps working on Omega. Finally, he is giving him the final touches and by that, he means an update on his lie detector. He is a fascinating robot but his hard drive definitely needed an update. Tails wondered just for how long Omega went around malfunctioning.

"How do you feel Omega? It's been a few long weeks since reparations started," Tails puts his goggles on top of his head as he looks for the wrench in his tool bag. "You must be feeling exhausted."

"I am a robot, I am unable to feel exhaustion."

"Well, then I am sure you are tired of being in my lab all day."

"On the contrary, I feel like I am in a robot spa."

Tails appreciated Omega's nice sense of humor. In a sense, he reminds me of Orbot and Cubot but is more advanced and can actually kill you. He is more of a war robot than an assistant and Tails could tell due to all the weapons and artillery in his inventory.

"Anyways, Omega ... So tell me a bit more about Shadow," Tails says as he uses the wrench to tighten Omega's loose screws. "Unless of course, you don't want to share anything-"

"He eats coffee beans and likes to read funny stories on the web. He something looks up pictures of-"

Knock Knock

"Anyone home?" Amy peaks her head onto Tail's lab. Although Tails' strength is mechanics, he also plays around with chemicals from time to time. Especially after Amy started to bring him precious and rare stones that helped him create better equipment for the team.

"Sally Acorn."

"Oh?"

Tails knew that he had told Amy to come by his lab to give insight on the metal rocks used on Omega, but for her to enter this exact moment ... She is going to start jumping to conclusions.

At first, Amy did not think too much about it. But then she saw all the signs. Tails starts to move his tails, his small ears are twitching. Omega is obnoxious as if he talking about an everyday thing. Thanks to her writing abilities and her way of shipping everything she sees, she can conclude that Tails likes the famous actress, Sally Acorn. It wouldn't be strange, however ... it's his nervousness that makes it strange. Tails wouldn't be so nervous, even more, when it's just a celebrity crush.

It had to be a celebrity crush because from what Amy knows, Tails still likes Zoe.

Now analyzing Omega. Why would Omega say the name Sally Acorn? What were they talking about that correlated to her?

"Think Amy ... Think. What do Tails and Omega have in common that made them say Sally's name? ... Things in common ... Mechanics? No, doesn't make sense Omega would say Sally's name .... Shadow? They must be talking about Shadow. What else would they be talking about? After all, it's Shadow who asked Tails to help him out ... Wait-

"What were you both talking about?" Amy asks as she walks closer to them.

"NOTHING!" Tails screams.

"Shadow likes to look at pictures of Sally Acorn."

After Omega said that so nonchalantly, Tails just looks at him and then back at Amy and her expression let Tails know that he better be preparing for his funeral.

It's going to take a few seconds before Amy could process the information and make conclusions about-

"SHADOW LIKES SALLY ACORN?!!!" Amy screams and Tails prays to Chaos no one else is around to hear her. "THE SALLY ACORN?"

"Shhh, I promised I wouldn't say anything!" The fox quickly runs and hits a button on the wall that makes his lab to completely shut down all the doors. He did not want to take any risks.

"Sorry, I got excited. Sally is a princess!

Amy makes a small twirl as there are hearts in her eyes. So many possibilities ... So many fanfics ideas.

"Poor guy, maybe that's why he is angry all the time."

Tails sees this, Amy's glowing eyes. Full of good intentions that will probably run it Shadow's chance to actually talk to Sally.

"Amy ... don't even think about it."

But it was too late.

"If I help Shadow get with Sally, this can be an excuse to spend more time with him and I can see him how he is in a romantic setting! I can learn so much for my fanfic!"

"Amy!"

Tails' voice interrupted Amy's thoughts, reminding her that she has to act normal.

"Sorry, what?"

"You can't say a word," Tails pleads to her and Amy lightly feels bad for making Tails feel in distress but sometimes she can't help it.

"Please. Only Omega and I know."

"It's fine," she sighs, taking control of her feelings for a second. "I promise I won't say anything. It's just that I am surprised Shadow is capable of ... feelings."

Now the two look at Omega who is the only one who could have answers about the mysterious actor, Shadow the hedgehog. Even the robot finds it a bit amusing that these two were too interested in Shadow's personal life.

"Shadow usually has one-time encounters or dates with other actresses on a secret ... But he has never had romantic feelings for anyone but Sally Acorn."

As Omega says that Amy's mind went completely crazy. This is good for her fanfic. A bad boy who has to try to love other people but fails only for him to fall in love with the person he can't have.

"AAAA THIS IS SO GOOD FOR MY FANFIC! AH! I NEED TO GO HOME AND WRITE!!!!!" Amy's thoughts were going crazy even when she was keeping a 'normal' face.

"Omega," Tails points at Omega, raising his voice a little. "You need to be more secretive about Shadow's life. Shadow trusts you not to say private things about him to others."

There are few beeping sounds, Omega is processing the information. After a few seconds, he speaks.

"My apologies. I do not talk to other beings often. When I do get ... overwhelmed with excitement and happiness."

Both Tails and Amy look at each other and then back at Omega. Not knowing how to feel, they just smile at the robot.

"It's ok buddy, you can come to talk to us whenever you want!"

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Sonic swore to never read fanfiction again. Not after he read a smut fanfiction of him that included Tails and Knuckles. There were no tags and no content warning. And it just took a few sentences for him to run to the restroom and throw up in the toilet what he had for lunch and the day before too.

Not wanting to go throw the same pain again, he distanced himself from the fanfic world and his fandom overall. He would just post pictures of himself and food on his social media even though when would want to repost some fanart of him from time to time.

But ever since that fanfic weirdo posted "First Impressions" and now everyone is talking about it. And if he is being honest he is ... a bit curious about it.

Everyone is talking about it. From what he has heard from Knuckles, the story has currently 4 million views. It may not be big numbers but their Island does not even reach the 1 million population. Meaning that everyone on the Island has read First Impressions. Not only that but also other nearby or far away islands.

It's tempting. It really is. Especially after all the 'ShadAmy' merchandise that started to pop out. Unofficial of course. It is no wonder that everyone at the production of Sonic Boom wanted to push the ShadAmy agenda. After all, they could be making bank if they started to sell ShadAmy merch as well.

"I just don't get it," Sonic mutters to himself. "ShadAmy is so bad compared to SonAmy."

It has been a long day and he wants nothing but to sleep. It's been a busy week. He should be resting, next week the shooting of Sonic Boom will start and he is not ready. Physically that is because all this week he has been saving and helping some folks around the island. Sonic is not one to complain, this is his job as a hero but sometimes he just wishes he could sleep for an entire month. He was free time and suddenly Eggman starts to attack. Strangely enough, he never attacks during shooting time, maybe he is low-key a fan of the show himself. Even when a random dude in a costume is playing his part on the show.

Now all of this ShadAmy stuff ... he really needs a break.

When he finally arrives home, he goes to his mailbox to see if anything has arrived. He has recently participated in a casting for a movie and hopes to receive an answer soon.

The blue blur quickly opens his mailbox just to find fan letters and some bills. As he looks at them one by one, he walks inside his hut, closing the door behind him. He is going to throw all of the letters on his table so he could read them in the morning once he wakes up but he noticed a letter that caught his attention.

A black envelope, golden letters, and a wax stamp with a symbol of a crown with an emerald on the center. The symbol of the Acorn family.

To: The hero of the Seven Islands, Sonic the Hedgehog.

From: Sally Acorn, Princess of Acorn Island.

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Amy did not know what to do with such juicy information. All she wants to do is go to Shadow and ask him all about it. When did he get feelings? When did he realize he had fallen in love? Does he personally know Princess Acorn?

Type Type Type

The keys on her laptop were used up. Almost impossible to see the letters. It does not matter too much since she has memorized all the keys.

She is almost done with her new chapter of "First Impressions" she just hopes it's good. This chapter did not have much romance. However, this chapter will work as a stepping stone to what's to come. She writes about Shadow and about how he is in love with a faraway princess and Amy, still has feelings for the blue bur.

The pink hedgehog stops for a minute. Was this too personal? Would people suspect? Nah. It should not be a problem. People tend to ship SonAmy and the only one who knows that Shadow likes Sally is her, Tails, and Omega and they don't read fanfiction.

Besides everything can be a coincidence. Right?

Right?

Amy falls into her sofa and puts her laptop on her face out of frustration. This is a good chapter. One that she is proud of but tragically, she feels like she is giving away too much information. Was this right? Trying to be kind to Shadow just to see what kind of information she can use for her fanfic?

She did not know what to do but she knew someone who could help.

Putting the laptop on the table and picking up her phone, she opens the app Xiscord and looks through her contacts. It's not like she has many friends. Mostly she is in SonAmy and now ShadAmy groups, although she doesn't talk much. She just enjoys reading other people's fics and fanarts. There she finds him.

ARoseWithoutThorns#0923: Hey, are u awake?"

Not even a minute passed and he answers immediately.

TheFanfictioner#: "Yeah just watching Breaking Evil and you?"

ARoseWithoutThorns: "I need help with something, like advice."

TheFanfictioner#0619: "Oh, well, I think I can help. What's up?"

With a big sigh, Amy starts typing on her laptop. She hopes that The Fanfictioner can give her some good advice. He may be a little bit dumb but he always knows what to say ... most of the time.

ARoseWithoutThorns#0619: "You see, I have a co-worker and I kinda dislike him. A LOT. But I am trying to get close to him because he reminds me of Shadow and I get inspired to write. I learned something personal and well ... I kinda want to use that for my fic."

After a few seconds, Amy sees that The Fanfictioner was taking a while a reply. The Xiscord only says "Typing" and that made her anxious for some reason.

TheFanfictioner#0619: "So, you are using the guy to write your fic?

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913: "Well ... yes. Is it wrong?"

More time passes between answers. Amy now knew for a fact that The Fanfictioner is most likely saying how she is a bad person and that she shouldn't be taking advantage of people like that. There is a small 'ring' sound on her laptop and she quickly changes tabs to see the message from The Fanfictioner.

TheFanfictioner#0619: "I don't think so? It's not like you doing anything wrong to him. You need personal experiences to write. I think that's something normal writers do. Besides it's not like he is going to know you are using him as an inspiration for Shadow."

Now it's a big relief. Besides its not like she is pretending to be Shadow's friend to get more information. Amy is sure that she has told Shadow multiple times that she hates him. If she is clear with him then there should not be a problem.

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913: "Yeah, you are right. I just overthink everything. Thank you."

TheFanfictioner#0619: "No problem Rose."

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913:"Rose?"

TheFanfictioner#0619: "You are ARoseWithoutThorns, right? I don't want to type all of that everything I refer to you. So Rose for short is better."

Amy did not mind nicknames. Actually, she is fond of them, like when Sonic calls her 'Ames' it is cute but someone using her last name as a nickname is not that appealing to her. Nonetheless, she does not mind as long as The Fanfictioner says it.

Before logging into her fanxfiction.com account to read the new comments on her new chapter, she replied to her online friend.

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913: "You are the one who is "The Fanfictioner", what I am supposed to call you? Fanfic? That's dumb."

TheFanfictioner#0619: "Come on, "The Fanfictioner" sounds cool af."

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913: "Yeah, for an edgy teen. I thought you were 23."

It has been weeks since they started chatting and they got to know a few things about each other. The Fanfictioner is a year older than her, he enjoys writing but mostly reading and reviewing fanfics. His job, where he lives, and all of those things were still unknown. And Amy did not care. Their friendship was based on pure admiration of one another and sharing the same interests. She wouldn't change it for anything.

TheFanfictioner#0619: "DON'T. YOU. DARE. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT."

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913: "From now on I'll call you ... Mr. Edge Lord"

TheFanfictioner#0619: "I regret meeting you. Goodbye."

ARoseWithoutThorns#0913: "DRAMA KING!!!"

After a few giggles and a little more talk, Amy is finally ready to post her new chapter. She just hopes she won't disappoint her readers. And before going to sleep, Amy logins into her writing account and clicks 'Publish' on fanxfiction.com.

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Finally, the day to meet with the writers has arrived. Amy's phone is bombarded with notifications but she keeps it on silent. Everyone is in the meeting room. Tails, Knuckles, Sticks, Shadow, Mr. Jonhson, and the three writers. The only one missing is Sonic.

"It's not like Sonic to be late."

Actually, it is very like him to get late. At least for a few seconds. Due to his speed, he always tends to do things last minute because 'he can get anywhere in a few seconds.'

"We can't waste any time. We need to start recording right away," Mr. Johnson, the director, cues his writers and they start passing out the scripts for this new upcoming episode.

"Fine, but first let's see the script," Shadow says as Amy notices that his manager is not there with him. How strange. He is wearing sunglasses inside the room, very usual of him. However, Amy did not know if Shadow wears them because he sleeps late and he does not want anyone to see the dark circles under his eyes ... or just because he thinks he looks cool with them.

Probably the second option.

"Here it is."

All scripts were given to the actors and after a few minutes of reading, there started to be some concerns looks and questioning. They start to look at each other, trying to see if they were reading the same thing or if this is a prank.

" ... This is ..." Sticks is the first one to say something but before she could finish her sentence, Knuckles interrupts her.

"THIS IS FIRST IMPRESSIONS! THIS IS A FANFIC!"

If Amy could jump off a window right this moment she would. But they were on the first floor and there are no windows in this room. Maybe she is dreaming. Having a terrible, terrible nightmare.

"Yes!" Mr. Jonhson exclaims, smiling from ear to ear. "You said to get a better writer and we are! There is no better ShadAmy writer than the one who started the ShadAmy lore!"

"You got ARoseWithoutThorns to be a writer for Sonic Boom?" Tails asks.

Amy did not know how to feel. Should she feel happy that Tails knows about her fanfic? Or maybe vomit on the ground and pretend to die so they would cancel Sonic Boom forever.

"No, but we are!"

"Wait, wait ... You did not get the writer yet?" Shadow takes off his shades and puts them on the table. There is a different aura around him. Threatening, confident and demanding. "How do you plan to record this fanfic without the writer's permission?"

"That is the best part we don't have to!" the director stands up from his seat and starts to walk around the room. Almost twirling in circles as he explains his plan.

"Look, it's simple. We own all characters, stories and concepts of Sonic Boom. Technically, all fanarts and fanfictions are illegal ... If we wanted we could sue this person for writing with characters that they don't own."

"But they don't profit from their writing," Tails gives his five cents of knowledge about copyright claims. Is not his field of interest, but definitely knew that if the Sonic Boom show wanted, they could totally sue.

"But the website where they post does! So ... if we really wanted we could sue. Even if we don't win that is ok. Do you really think some fanfic writer could afford a lawsuit?"

Amy's mind starts to go crazy. It's probably melting right now and no one is realizing it because they are more concerned about acting for a fanfic story. Fanfic that she wrote. Some fanfic that she had no idea would become 'popular'. Now she is facing the consequences.

"I am surprised Sonic Boom can afford one."

"What are you trying to get with this?" Sticks speaks up as she looks at Knuckles who is already absorbed in the script, reading it in silence.

"Well, the writer has two options. Either they come to write for the Sonic Boom show or ... They can see us at court."

Shadow slams his fists onto the table. The sound makes everyone look at him, even Knuckles. He removes his sunglasses, revealing the dark circle under his eyes. Vermillion's eyes are terrifying and mesmerizing to look at.

"That is fucking evil," Shadow says as he points at the director and the writers who were looking pathetically afraid of the dark hedgehog.

"Look, I don't think you understand. The reason why this story is popular is that someone is writing this out of passion itself with no profit. The moment you start doing something because of money then all that passion goes away. It's not a hobby you do out of love but instead, it's a job you are forced to do."

Amy's heart begins to beat a little bit faster. He looks so confident and strong. He sounds genuine, it's not just something that offends him. It is something he ... Shadow is passionate about. Something he is willing to fight for.

"Also, I fucking hate it when big companies try to profit from individuals that are not harming anyone with the content they create," seeing how scared everyone is of him, he falls back into his chair. He should not be too concerned as long as he is clear that he won't act on this farse.

"I won't act on it unless I know for sure that the writer is ok with writing on the Sonic Boom show."

"Shadow..." Amy could only think of him now. Surprised to see this different ... and very kind side of him. It made her admire him just a tiny little bit more. Maybe he is not so bad after all.

There is a loud BAM coming from the entrance of the room. It is no other than the blue bur. Giving everyone a smile and entering like he owns the place. He has a thing for perfect timing and Amy feels like she is saved again by her hero.

"Well, that's going to have to wait," Sonic says as he walks around the large table. Shadow rolls his eyes in annoyance, to him Sonic has bad timing.

"Pack up everyone we are going on a trip!" He stands behind Amy and places his hands on her shoulders, gaining a small blush from the pink hedgehog. Shadow just huffs in silence without anyone noticing.

"You can't! We have to start recording!" The director screams at Sonic who quickly runs and stands in front of him.

"Section 4, page 26 of our contract says 'All Sonic Boom actors are renowned heroes and therefore, their hero duties come first. All show productivity will come to a pause whenever the heroes are called for duty."

The blue bur reaches behind his quills and pulls a black envelope. Tails want to question his actions but he thought that would be better for another time.

"And yesterday I received a letter from the one and only princess Sally Acorn," he places the letter on the table. From afar, Shadow immediately recognizes Sally's signature. It is her handwriting. For a moment he stops breathing.

"She wants us to escort and serve as bodyguards for an important diplomatic event."

"Does that mean-" Sticks could not even finish her sentence as she is happy at the possibility of exploring a new island.

"Yes," Sonic says. "We are all going to Acorn Island!"

There is another loud sound. This time is coming from Knuckles who slammed his heavy script against the table. His phone is in his hand, and he seems to be extremely worried about what is on it.

"Would everyone shut up? I am trying to read First Impressions' new chapter!

For now, Amy does not have to worry about becoming a writer for the Sonic Boom show.

But she takes a quick look at Shadow. He is good at hiding them. His feelings that is. But he is nervous. He silently taps the floor with his right foot. His arms are crossed and his nose wrinkles every few seconds.

"He is totally in love," Amy thought. "He is in love ... and I can totally use this for my fanfic!"

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A/N: No. I do not care for grammar and spelling mistakes I do not have time to fix the issues :D anyways I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Is just twist after twist right? We shall see what happens in the next chapter? See you soon!!!

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