#mel flails

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[mslanna]

confused gift noises

thank you anon who gifted me - uh, not sure - no-ad tungly?

i am flailingly failing to understand how it works 👍

might be because i use xkit on top of ublock to block all ads and wouldn't know they exist if people didn't post screenshot of the more unhinged ones now and then 😅

anyways, thank you for thinking of me🥺

[yanphobia]

Athazagoraphobia - Chapter 5

Athazagoraphobia: The fear of forgetting, and being forgotten.

Pairing: Yandere Male Merman OC x Reader

Warnings (for the entire story): Yandere, Horror, Graphic Discriptions of Injury and Death, The Ocean, Body Horror, NonCon Touching, Dubcon, Female Reader, Extreme Dead Dove Do Not Eat

Chapter 4 Index Chapter 6

Author's Note: the plot thiccens @creepysweetie @my2phetaliaheadcanons @smolnuggie911.  @spicylove4ever @acaribeau @mel-vaz

“Come on, [Y/N],” Sammie called gently, her voice as soothing as a soft wave. “You should join us!”

She beckoned you toward her and your new classmates, inviting you into their conversation. On your first day at this new school in a new town, she made you feel welcome and wanted…

 …Yet, looking around at these unfamiliar faces with their dead-eyed stares, you felt so judged. Their fish-like eyes, empty and dull like Lotan’s, conveyed such silent contempt.

“W-what’s wrong?” You whispered to your captor, but he only shushed you.

One mermaid approached you both. She was a formidable sight - large, powerful, and awfully frightening, you weren’t able to meet her gaze.

She emitted a strange sound. It was not unlike the clicking of dolphins, and yet it sounded so much more ancient and ethereal. Lotan responded in the same tongue, which provoked a series of terrible hisses from the surrounding merfolk. Lotan made a similar hissing noise, though noticeably much weaker in strength, and the elder mermaid responded by screeching, bristling her fins, and enlarging herself menacingly. You and Lotan cowered rather pathetically in response. He made a few final weak clicks before dragging the two of you to the edge of the camp. 

“Please,” you begged, “what’s happening?!”

“I-it’s nothing, my love,” he assured you, “they just… need some time to adjust.”

And so you waited. Well, at least, you tried.

You weren’t allowed to approach them. Ever. Lotan was your sole provider - he’d hunt for you, as you were unused to doing so, he’d aid you in swimming, as you were not used to. On occasion, you’d forget how to use your gills - and, of course, he was always there to re-teach you. You were, in a word, helpless - so unequipped to survive out here in the wilderness, with your very human instincts fighting you every time you tried to adapt to your new surroundings.

It was so awful. You hated being so dependent on him… Even though he loved to relish in the attention that you were forced to give him. He thought it adorable how you had to cling to him for survival, where phrases like “Where would you be without me?” and “Don’t worry darling, you can repay me for this someday!” were often said. He meant for them to be playful, but when you remembered that he was the reason you were in your current state, they felt like slaps in the face. Despite his hungry stares and lingering touches, your fear of him began to melt into deep, bitter hatred.

It was one morning, when he had dropped a half dead fish in front of you, that you were brave enough to question it all.

“...Lotan,” you said, as you gingerly picked it up, “Why can’t we join them?” You prodded at it with your nail - talon - nail, it was just a long nail.

“No, no, sweetheart,” he interrupted, “do it the way I taught you to, remember? Like this!”

He grabbed his fish, bit into its soft underbelly, and the poor thing flailed helplessly. You’ve seen him do this before, and he often tried to get you to follow suit, yet it always seemed to catch you off guard. You retched.

“Aww, so adorable, you’re always so gentle with them! Here, let me start it off for you.” He cooed. You couldn’t decide which was worse, the way he patronized you or his apparent inability to realize how uncomfortable he made you.

“...Why can’t we join them? The others?”

“Here you go! Remember, start with the heart before the blood coagulates - ”

“Lotan, why -”

“- then move to the liver, use your tongue to get it out -”

You sighed, zoning out as he finished his lecture. He never really spoke to you—just at you, always pushing his agenda. It was exhausting, and despite spending every moment together, awake or asleep, his presence made you feel terribly lonely.app

So you really had no choice. He used to let you eat by picking out bits of meat with your fingers and bringing them to your mouth, but lately he’s been much firmer on making you do it the “correct” way. You had to do it - as disgusting as it was, it would appease him, and you figured that it would help you get a clear answer.

Anytime you had to do something in this new body, you had to… step outside of yourself, for a bit. Everything was so foreign, and your human mind simply couldn’t grasp the techniques that you needed to survive. And so… you did it. You brought the dying fish to your mouth, tearing into its flesh with your teeth, ignoring the sensation of fresh blood spilling into your mouth to the best of your ability. You tuned out Lotan’s intense stare so well that you didn’t even notice his tentative glances at the curious onlookers behind you. In fact, you were never really aware of when they were watching.

The good thing about being in water, you supposed, was how quickly it washed away blood. You don’t think you could handle the way it would feel dripping down your skin. You had to ask him now, if only to distract yourself from thinking about the act you had just committed.

“Lotan…” you began sweetly, “why can’t we join the others?”

He sighed as he watched the area behind you. When you turned to see what he was looking at, you were only met with an empty rock bed.

“[Y/N], they just don’t understand yet.” He took your hands into his own. “In our society, any contact with humans is strictly forbidden. It reaches back to the old days, you know… when we would kill each other on sight. Humans had a big part in devastating our population. We’ve had to retreat and learn to live in these secluded areas… All of these centuries later, and it's still hard to find other colonies. To them, you’re just a grim reminder of our bloody history.”

You were shocked. Until just a few days ago, you had no idea that these things even existed. But now that everything in your life has been thoroughly turned on its head, now that you’ve thrown into this surreal world, you weren’t sure what to believe in anymore. Was he even being honest with you, or was there another half to the story…?

Noticing your response, he tightened his grip on you in order to shake you from your thoughts.

“But there’s no need to worry! The more we work on your habits, the more they’ll see that you’re one of us - and they’ll welcome us back to the colony in no time!”

His words only caused your chest to seize up. He clearly had no interest in empathizing, in understanding that you did not want to be there. No, no - he was not someone that you could trust.

Your mind raced as you realized this. If you kept placating him, if you kept altering your behavior to act more like a mermaid, then you’d trap yourself in this form forever. You tried to control your breathing as you thought of your next plan. You could only hear blood rushing in your head as your gills stopped working - surely, this was a sign from the universe that you weren’t meant to live underwater?! Your body went on autopilot as it allowed Lotan to pin you down and force his monstrous hand over your nose and mouth, making you breathe through those dreadful things on your torso.

You knew that Lotan would never release you, and you knew that you had to act. But if there was a way to make you like this, there had to be a way to reverse it. The other mermaids didn’t accept you; they still saw you as a human. And the enemy of thy enemy is thy friend, as the old saying goes. You felt yourself calm down, you felt Lotan take you into his disgusting arms and murmur his useless comforting words, as you realized that your future lied in convincing these strange creatures to help you return to your world.

[mxlktxa]

𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛

𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚡 𝚏!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗*, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖𝚜, 𝚖𝚎𝚕 (𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍)

𝚌𝚠; 𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 & 𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎, 18+ 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎(𝚜), 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚛! 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐), 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙-𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚜𝚎 (𝚛! 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐), 𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 (𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐), 𝚙𝚎𝚝 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 (𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕, 𝚎𝚝𝚌), 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐/𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚠𝚌; 1.4𝚔 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 7.7𝚔 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

“She’s totally into Mel. I don’t have a chance and she probably doesn’t even know I’m into her,” I huffed at Ellie as she sat across from me, looking up at me through her lashes.

“Well,” the freckled girl started, “You’re about her not knowing she’s into you. But she does like you. Asks me about you all the time,” Ellie shrugged, “Speaking of which, she just texted me, Ellie laughed, getting comfortable where she sat, “She says… ‘Hey, Els’, with plenty of exclamation points, ‘are you with Abby? Is she busy? I want to know if she’s coming to my party tonight’, heart eyes emoji.”

I perked up at the questions, straightening my back a bit, “Tell her you’re with me and that I’m going.”

“No, because when I tell you’re not here, she calls and spills her heart out and you need to hear that. I also like hearing those little rants,” she began typing out her reply, reading it to me as she did so, “So… ‘I’m not with Abby, getting ready to nap before I come over, but go ahead and call, I don’t mind’,” she set her phone in between us on the table, waiting for the call, “Give it a minute.”

Just as I was ready to roll my eyes and punch her, the phone started ringing, the caller ID reading ‘the child 🐸’ on display, “A Star Wars reference? Seriously?”

“She loves that little guy more than she loves cheese and crackers,” Ellie held up a finger to her lips, answering the phone and putting it on speaker, “Yes, Grogu? Spill your heart out.”

“You wanna know what the first thing I would say to her would be?”

I raised a brow at the question, glancing at Ellie as she chuckled and shook her head, “Why does it always start with this?”

“Do you wanna know or not?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Great answer. I would love to look her dead in the eyes and just say—.”

“Fuck me, Abby!” she whined breathlessly, back arching off the bed as I pumped my fingers in and out of her cunt, smirking all while thinking about the comments she had made earlier, “M’going crazy, I’m sha—,”

“No, no, you can take it, remember? You’re a big girl, you’ve got this,” I shook my head at her as she struggled to lift her own up, “What did you say earlier? ‘I could take two of you at once’? Hm? Can’t even handle just one of me.”

“M’sorry! M-M’sorry, I was just kidding, I didn’t mean it,” her little hands were flailing at my wrists to stop me from sending her over the edge for what was most likely the fourth time now, “I’m so close, Abs, please, please, please,” her chest was rapidly rising and dropping, cries getting more and more needy as she was reaching her climax.

“Yeah? You’re close?” I asked, only getting a small ‘yes, please, yes’ in response. Removing my fingers, the small figure below me gasping while sitting up to look at me with those puppy dog eyes and that sweet, little pout, “I need you to be extra quiet, yeah? We don’t want your friend's downstairs to hear you, now do we?” I reached down to my belt, hovering above her and planting my lips on hers after she nodded in agreement.

She glanced down at my chest, eyes dragging back up to my own as that obvious plead in her eyes grew stronger, “Use your words, princess, don’t be shy.”

“Take your shirt off, too. It’s not fair,” she spoke in such a low whisper. I explored her nude body with my eyes, tilting my head in the slightest as if to take her request into consideration. I so badly wanted to ask her to repeat the statement, but I had been a little rough with her, so I let it slide, “I want to see all of you.”

I agreed, chucking my pants to the side before removing my top and then boxers. Her face lit up with excitement, looking at me through her lashes like she always did. I held the silicone toy in my hand, rubbing the tip against her dripping core to gain some soft, pretty moans from her.

“Such a pretty little thing. So needy for me. How pathetic,” I grunted at her, shivering as one delicate hand was placed on my shoulder and the other searched for my braid.

“Please, Abby,” she begged so softly, whines sliding out while I slowly pushed into her entrance, shushing her as the whimpering grew louder and louder, “M’sorry, sorry, fuck,” now that she was all shaky and whiny, she couldn’t hold on to me as well when I first got her started, “I’ll be quiet, please don’t stop.”

“Oh, pretty girl,” I gathered her wrists in one of my hands, holding them above her head before commencing at a slow pace, “You’re gonna need to learn to keep your voice down,” pace quickening already, hoarse gasps and cries leaving the angel below me, “Should’ve kept my belt to keep those hands to the headboard. Maybe next time, hm?”

I couldn’t help but smile at how her eyes rolled back, her jaw was left open, and her eyebrows furrowed. Carefully, my other hand traveled up to her lips, thumb slipping in to pull her mouth open a bit more to allow my thumb to push down on her tongue. She closed her mouth, sucking on my thumb to muffle her cries, eyes returning to their natural state in order to meet mine.

“Hey gorgeous,” I huffed, silently losing my mind at her pretty expressions and the way she closed her lips to suck on my thumb, losing my rhythm. I silently cursed myself to find the rhythm again, hoping she either was too fucked out to notice or she just didn’t care and was satisfied with the way I was drilling into her.

The little flinches she made in her hands caught my attention, watching as she fought against me to pull her hands free. Chuckling at her feeble attempts, my hand pulled my thumb from her mouth to grip her hips driving myself even deeper in her to see what reaction I could draw out of her this time, and fuck was it satisfying.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Abby!” her voice nearly cracked, tears were forming in her eyes, and I couldn’t help but notice the bulge in her tummy, “Please! I’m so close again! It’s so good, Abby, please!”

As she was crying out about reaching her climax, I had just come to the realization that I was too, strap-grazing my own clit every so often as well. The coil in my stomach wasn’t too far from snapping, starting to get sloppy in my thrusts and now dropping my face closer to hers, those delicious cries getting me closer and closer to the edge.

“C’mon, baby girl, let it out, let it all go,” that familiar white substance began to form around the base of my cock, those moans now just becoming gasps and grunts. Those pretty eyes rolled back again; jaw left wide open so those ravishing wails could leave her body. Even if she had reached that high, I kept going, not just for her sake but so I could also reach my climax, which, thankfully, came just after her own.

I let my body weight drop down on her, barely supporting myself in my elbows so I wasn’t completely on her. The music and partygoers from downstairs seemed to be beyond loud, thankfully covering up our noise. Thank God.

After about a minute or so, those gorgeous eyes met mine, and we just lay there to catch our breaths. I leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips, grinning as I came back up to face her, “You okay?”

“Mmm,” she started off, slightly stretching, “Aside from feeling euphoric, yes, I’m okay.”

I chuckled at the response given to me, pulling out and away to retrieve our clothing. We both got dressed, sparing glances at each other from time to time.

“Abby?” that little voice called out. Turning to her, all I could see was her walking up to me to place kisses on my neck, hands running along my abdomen as she did so, “You’ve been the best part of my life. Even just as a friend.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Mhm… You’re a good person, Abby,” she hid her face in my chest, hugging me so softly as if I’d break if she added any sort of pressure.

“Let’s go get some drinks. We can come back up to your room after the party. But that’s up to you, of course.”

“Oh, please. It’s already on the agenda.”

[bloodyshadow1]

I feel like the arcane fandom is too mean to Jayce. He's no where near perfect, but when the show was airing made the guy out to be the villain. I don't know much about who he is in league, but in Arcane, he's just a guy who is in over his head trying to do the right thing like everyone else. He's all but forced into taking political power that he doesn't want, but is good at dealing with the council.

at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, Jayce just wanted to make people's lives better. He didn't want wealth or fame or political power, that came to him because he revolutionized the world. He keeps trying to do what is right and because the world isn't black and white he ends up failing, but a lot of the time through no fault of his own.

Again he isn't perfect, but he has so many people trying to make him dance to their tune, maliciously or not, and then get upset when he listens to someone else over him. He tries so hard, but the world he's in is just so freaking complicated. In the end, allowing Zaun to secede was the right move, but even that is ruined because of things he couldn't control.

He's not even my favorite character, but holey shit does the fandom, at least on here, hate him for being a person flailing. No, he doesn't try to cut Viktor out of their success. He doesn't rat out Caitlyn, even without knowing the reason she uses his name because he has her back. No, he didn't sell his soul for pussy, even though I know a lot of sapphics on here would do the same for a chance with Mel Medarda.

[comphy-and-cozy]

🦋anddd could i request prompt 45 with tyson jost as a blurb?? can’t wait for these!!

xoxo love you @fallinallincurls

Prompt: #45 "I'm marrying that sweet son of a bitch."

Pairing: Tyson Jost x Reader

Word Count: ~530

Warnings: Alcohol use and chaos

This is inspired entirely by that video of Mel yelling at Gabe for being an idiot before their wedding (if anyone has it pls send me the link bc I looked for it forever but couldn't find it)

It's a perfect July day. The sun is out, with not a cloud in the sky. Music plays through the speakers, some kind of backyard-BBQ-easy-listening playlist on Spotify that keeps the mood light, fun, ready for a party. Well, an even bigger party than the one you’re at—this is like the pre-party to the pre-party.

You’re getting married this weekend, and to accommodate your friends and family who have traveled from far away to be here for you, your fiancé reserved a large (read: huge) Airbnb for everyone to gather. One thing turned into another, and somehow it’s become the pre-game for the welcome dinner, taking place later tonight. Your entire wedding party is here, along with a few scattered members of each of your families, milling about in the pool, playing cornhole, catching up with one another after a summer apart.

But by the looks of it, and judging by the overflowing bin of empty seltzer cans and beer bottles, this gang might not be making it to the welcome dinner tonight. Barzy, Dante, Kacey, and Jesse are engaged in an intense chicken match, sloshing water across Gabe, who’s shouting complaints about messing up his hair. Beside them, JT’s shirt is off, his shoulders fried, and you’re about to yell at him to put on some sunscreen because the best man can't look like a lobster on the wedding day, when you catch sight of a curly head darting around, zooming by on a children’s tricycle—where did that even come from?

“Tyson, I swear to God, if you break your face, I’m going to kill you,” you shout at him, immediately envisioning him falling over, scraping up his handsome face the before the wedding, leaving your poor photographer to frantically photoshop out the inevitably gruesome skid mark on his face.

But he’s not listening, his eyes set on the ramp that Nate is standing proudly beside. “Babe, watch this!”

You watch in horror as he pedals his legs faster, zooming up the ramp and launching off of it before Nate is tossing a beer at him. Tyson catches it in mid-air, pouring only a small stream into his mouth before he’s flying into the water, the splash sending water whooshing over the edge of the pool. He surfaces a few moments later, shaking the water out of his curls amid loud guffaws and cheers from his mates, shouting, “Tyson! Tyson! Tyson!”

Shaking your head, you laugh, amused at his stupidity, and thankful his little stunt didn't end in a disaster. But then, a moment later, you feel a pair of strong arms lifting you up off the ground and you’re shrieking, arms flailing around. The flash of red hair is the last thing you see before they release you and you’re falling, soon crashing into the water yourself, submerged beneath the rippling pool.

When you rise to the surface, it’s your name that everyone’s chanting, and soon enough, Tyson’s swimming toward you to lift you up in his arms and plant a wet, sloppy kiss on your lips.

Pure happiness and mirth fills your soul, smiling so hard your cheeks hurt, and you can’t help it when you exclaim, “I’m marrying this sweet son of a bitch!”

[saberwitch]

Commander Week, Day 4: Elder Dragon

No pic for this one, only warnings.

cw: descriptions of violence, mild gore(?), implied character death.

Captain Elliss was tired. Her back burned, her legs had gone numb, her fingers ached on the triggers of the deck gun. Sweat from the heat and smoke from something burning belowdecks stung her eyes.

She couldn't hear the whine of the gun charging but she could feel it in her bones. There was a sound, a sort of clack-thunk, that meant the gun was ready. It seemed to take a minor eternity for the circuit to complete.

The ship shook and yawed beneath her, and she felt her guts churn. Something struck the side, not close. She felt that in her bones too. Her eyes were locked on the colossal head of the dragon.

No. Not 'the dragon'. Zhaitan. The manifestation of Death itself. It clung to a rocky spire, tattered and gaunt, but it still swatted airships out of the sky like they were nothing more than irritating mosquitos.

Clack-thunk.

She squeezed the triggers, her fingers creaking, and felt the gun throb as it launched a blistering arc of crackling energy at the mass of tentacles coiling out of Zhaitan's mouth. Elliss felt woozy as she realized some of those tongues had heads of their own.

The arc hit, and the dragon flailed, shedding rot like a dirty snowfall. A piece of tentacle spun off, twitching, as it sank into the rancid clouds.

"Right in the kisser," she muttered. The wind shredded her words.

She felt the gun whine, and scanned the deck for the Commander. Found her amid piles of burning ragged flesh, the remains of her minions.

She stood with her legs apart, bared calves flexing and extending with the roll of the ship. Her skirt flapoed behind her; her hair had come loose and waved like a banner. Even from this far away, Elliss could see the taut muscles across her belly sheened with sweat.

Am I...into women? she thought.

"Gods, so not the time, Mel," she said aloud.

Still, the Commander held her gaze. She had both arms thrust out before her, hands curled into claws. Searing gouts of sickly purple-green energy lashed out from her, carving chunks from Zhaitan's hide. She was wreathed in a spectral glow, and Elliss could swear she saw the woman's life force tearing through the clouds to slash Zhaitan apart.

Clack-thunk.

She squeezed the triggers, throwing herself to the left to angle the gun as Zhaitan's horrific maw reared back. The bolt sailed true, right into the center of the writhing tongues. At the same time a dark flare struck the side of its face, and Elliss gave a hoarse cheer as she saw a massive swath of bone and decayed flesh fly free.

Zhaitan screamed with the voice of every dead thing it had ever vomited forth. Elliss broke into a sob as the sound tore into her, wishing she could claw at her own ears, but the Commander had told her to keep shooting, so she was going to keep shooting.

The gun whined.

Elliss stared at the Commander. For just a moment, she saw an outline around her, as of great dark wings, and heard a hoarse cry, like a raven, but a raven the size of Zhaitan. She heard the Commander scream as something ripped out from her, a blast of energy so dark it hurt the eyes.

Clack-thunk.

Elliss fired. The ship shook as though a dozen bodies had struck the deck. The arc from the gun and the dark energy struck Zhaitan at the same time. It screamed again, but this time the sound was somehow...lesser.

Elliss watched Zhaitan's scythe-claws scrape at the rock. It slipped. Ragged wings beat, swirling the clouds and wafting the stench of death over the deck. Where its head had been was now a torn and shattered husk, spewing jets of decay. One baleful milky eye rolled skyward...

And Zhaitan fell.

Its body sank into the clouds, vanishing from sight. Elliss's eyes snapped to the Commander. She saw only her vivid purple gaze, looking right back at her, and could not look away.

Gods, she is beautiful, Elliss thought.

She barely noticed the rotting limbs pulling the shell of the gun to pieces around her, the dead claws scrabbling, yanking her backwards. She didn't feel herself falling. All she could focus on was those eyes. She wanted to drown in them. She was drowning. Gasping, falling, drowning.

And then, darkness.

[goingrampant]

Alright, I should probably talk about the bat mitzvah scene in The Boys 4x02. It's... some manner of cringe, if not literally antisemitic, as, I imagine, is on a lot of people's minds. From my perspective, it's more of an issue of Amazon consumerism and badly written antifascism than straight-up antisemitism.

Okay, let's recap (spoilers): The Boys are examining a far-right wingnut convention (Truthcon, a conspiracy theory con, filled with Stormchasers: in-universe neo-Nazis) hosted by a hotel and investigating Nazi supes but are discovered by their targets, who engage them in a brawl. This brawl spills into a bat mitzvah also hosted by the hotel (great job, organizers, btw 🙄), which is themed like Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, complete with cardboard cutouts of characters. Splinter, a Nazi supe who makes clones of himself, antagonizes the Jews with a militia of naked versions of himself holding guns, and the Jews run away while the Boys fight Splinter. M.M. does so by weaponizing a menorah to bludgeon Nazi clones. At the end, Nazi influencer Firecracker makes an absurd vlog about uncovering a Zionist conspiracy by virtue of stumbling into a bat mitzvah that happens to be hosted at the same site as Nazicon.

On a high level, it is not antisemitic; it is an antifascist show that uses the depiction of antisemitism as an accurate depiction of Nazi antagonism in the service of a narrative about antifascists taking them down. Butcher and M.M. especially come across as antifa types, while main villain Homelander was always meant to come across as fascist. The show has many Jewish creatives behind it; it's not literally antisemitic. *looks pointedly at performative Stormfront haters*

That said, this scene wasn't executed particularly well. The Jews are othered by the weirdness of the theme and made into props for the Boys vs. Stormchasers (gentile antifa vs. neo-Nazis) conflict. They aren't treated particularly empathetically as characters, as is bolstered by the weirdness of the theme, which is a set-up for the joke about Firecracker being absurd. Unfortunately, by creating a payoff where Firecracker looks silly for characterizing a weird party as menacing, the set-up for it makes the party itself silly and ineffectual. None of the Jewish characters, props, or set dressing actually matter that much except as set-up to the joke.

The joke itself doesn't make that much sense. So, Nazis are absurd. So what? Does this add anything? We know they're absurd; they're still dangerous. Yes, a Nazi pointing a camera at a cardboard cutout of Tony Shaloub while rambling about a Zionist conspiracy is silly... but that's not far removed from how they actually act. That's an overall problem with the Nazi jokes in the episode: an inability to exaggerate Nazi absurdity to a significant degree because they're already absurd. Antisemitism itself is absurd; it's a hate group.

It's all just flailing at trying to pull off The Producers humor, which worked there because of the specific comparison of Nazi pageantry to Broadway by someone intimately familiar with both subjects. Jojo Rabbit was similarly effective because it compared Nazi ideology to childishness with a literal indoctrinated child figure repeating propaganda in a way that draws a direct comparison. The Boys just repeating Nazi conspiracy theories but making them silly in different ways falls flat in comparison. Half the time, Nazi ideology is repeated verbatim, and it blends right in with the parodies.

The Producers and Jojo Rabbit also have overtly Jewish characters to anchor the viewers. When Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder make a Nazi play to be offensive, it's specifically in the context of them being Jewish characters. The Nazi absurdity is in relation to them as sympathetic figures. Likewise, Jojo Rabbit has the romantic and witty Jewish girl Elsa as the foil for Nazi villain protagonist Jojo, creating an empathetic anchor point for viewer sympathies in relation to all the Nazi stuff. In contrast, The Boys just has the Jewish party floating in the middle of the existing Boys vs Stormchasers conflict as mostly a joke or the set-up to a joke without any empathetic anchor points past the simplistic not wanting bad guys to hurt innocent bystanders. As a result, they're turned into props and othered for the weird theme, which is a joke that doesn't land well for me.

While Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is popular with Jewish people, in context of The Boys and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel both being Amazon shows, it's fundamentally Amazon promoting itself in a display of brash consumerism. This goes against the general anti-corporatist theme of the show. We're led to hate Vought as the stand-in for every megacorporation in America, and now we're reminded that The Boys is a product of a megacorporation and is being used to promote another property of it. For me, this makes the whole joke fall flat and have a cascade effect of jokes falling flat: the party itself (othered props of Amazon consumerism) , the use of a menorah as a weapon (an othered religious item used as a prop), and Firecracker's vlog (absurd but not that absurd).

So, when Firecracker points her camera at Tony Shaloub's image while ranting about stumbling into a menacing Zionist conspiracy... I really don't like that cardboard cutout. I don't like the cross-promotion. I'm reminded of Amazon casting Tony Shaloub to play Jewish when he's not and the controversy there. It's all just a masturbatory mess of Amazon applauding itself. My disdain for that mingles with Firecracker's commentary, and I'm ultimately feeling like I'm being asked to ignore a bunch of problematic things to keep from being on the same wavelength as the Nazi, which now makes me dislike what they're doing with her as an antagonistic figure, now being used to inversely affect viewer emotions regarding Amazon consumerism.

This scene was a mistake.

Your mileage may vary.

[ticklishraspberries]

witchy life story headcanons!!

devin: this lovely musician is super ticklish, you cannot convince me otherwise. they have a giggly, squeaky laugh and flail like mad. they definitely don’t mind being tickled, but admitting that would fluster them way too much. their ears and neck are their worst spots. they’d be a very shy ler, and would probably only tickle you if you made it clear you didn’t hate it. they giggle along with you and call your laugh their favorite song that they’ve ever composed.

jean: stoic characters who are secretly ticklish is the best trope and jean fits it!! he isn’t super ticklish or anything, but mel is the only person who knows his hidden tickle spots (i.e. his neck, belly, and knees) and also the only person he ever tickles, because behind his grumpy exterior, his wife’s laugh is his favorite sound and makes him indescribably happy.

jonas: muscular himbo who throws his head back and laughs when you grab his sides. grew up having plenty of tickle fights with mel and usually lost. his sides, ribs, and underarms are his worst spots and he thinks tickling is kinda fun as long as its with people he loves and trusts.

mel: too stubborn to be as ticklish as she is, jean tickles her to distract her from work and get to unwind, and it works incredibly well. she actually likes it, because its a nice way to unwind and relax, which she desperately needs. her stomach and feet are her worst spots. she is also a huge tickle monster, goes after her husband and her brother constantly. has a mental filing cabinet of every ticklish spot on their bodies.

niesha: not as ticklish as you’d think!! she’s very good at ignoring distractions and is one of those people that can sort of turn her ticklishness on and off. buuut, if you catch her off guard, she’ll squeal and flail and be unable to fend you off. her thighs and sides are her worst spots. a terrifying ler, all evil grins and wiggly fingers.

[ofhowlingxs]

[ alexa demie | she/her ] Another face is seeking safety in New Orleans. Make sure to welcome GABRIELLA GARCIA to the home of the resilient. Rumor has it that they are an 26 year old WEREWOLF, who is one of the SURVIVORS but we’ll keep that a secret. They are said to be CONVULSIVE, but that’s all a façade to cover up their EMOTIONALLY ABUNDANT nature. We’ve heard that they can be found listening to JAWS by SLEEP TOKEN, which sums them up pretty well. Let’s hope that they can find a way to survive this harsh new world.

Basics .

Name: Gabriella Arelli Garcia

Age: Twenty six

Pronouns: She/her

Species: Werewolf (No pack)

Birthday: October 30th

Zodiac: Scorpio

Hair color: Dark brunette/black

Eye color: Brown

Relationships .

Isabella "Bella" Garcia (Sister)

Marie Garcia (Mother - estranged)

Emillio Garcia (Father- estranged)

Emillio "Mel" Garcia II (Brother - deceased)

Antonio "Toni" Garcia (Uncle - mother's side)

Personality .

Positive traits: compassionate, empathetic, protective, loyal, intuitive, brave.

Negative traits: untrusting, stubborn, impatient, indulgent.

History .

It started from a young age, Gabriella has always seemed to let her emotions get the better of her. Being the youngest of her siblings, they said she'd grow out of it. The truth was, as loved as she was in her childhood, there always seemed to be a sense of strain between the Garcias and their youngest.

The curse wasn't something that was spoken about. Her parents being immigrants from another country, she spent most of her childhood being told they came here for something new, something better than before, not because they were running.

Despite the bleeding heart that Gabriella wore on her sleeve, she was compassionate and kind, and empathetic towards others. And yet, she was always found somehow in the middle of things when they went bad. Destined to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and the center of it all.

** tw: death, drowning. She was only ten when the curse triggered, it was an accident. It all boiled down to one afternoon. She shouldn't have been on the docks, they were old and the water had sunken through the wood over the years- they were told constantly to stay away. And yet, she's leaning over the edge, small arms flailing for the doll that had dropped into the darkened pool. Her brother found her first, before she was able to slip forward, caught by the back of her elbow as she cried for the doll. In her attempts to yank back her elbow, begging her brother- crying that his arms were longer, he could reach! She'll replay the moment time and time again, her smaller frame shoving him away from his grasp, and the moment the dock crumbled.

It happened so fast, she was so young- she barely remembers it other than the smell of mold and splashing water. Her screams got louder, more frantic. Her brother's frame was trapped under the water by the broken planks, holding him beneath it's murky grasp as he tried to grasp for air, or anything to pull him up. Gabriella is running into the water now, by the banks alongside the docks, dress and shoes now soaked in water from the knees up, when she's hurdled backwards, her sister hearing the commotion from inside the house, only to get there too late. She's pulling him out of the water, wading through until she's able to get his body to the shore. In the frantic movements, neither of them had realized the water had gone silent moments before.

Pain like she's never felt before, coursed through her body. And to this day, she doesn't know if it was the sight of her brother's lifeless body being pulled onto the mud as her sister tried her best at reviving him.. or the curse that rippled through her, sealing itself with the flicker of yellow eyes, staring back at them.

** tw ends. From that point on, her life had changed. The curse had been set, and she would barely survive the change being as young as she was. her parents would resent her, in ignorance to the curse they so desperately tried to escape from. It'd been years since anyone in their family had turned, aside her uncle she'd learn later on, was part of the reason her family had fled from Mexico. Her mother blamed her for their brother's death, her father held too much sadness to look at her the same again. And eventually, Isabella was the only family she had. The only one who would lock her up when the moon was full, and the only one to care for her after the accident. Due to this, she spent the entirety of her life in her parent's denial. They refused to send her to schools centered around helping those with supernatural abilities. This of course led Gabriella to fend for herself, remain hidden and keep her abilities in check, despite the arise of her emotions.

She's never had a pack, never felt like she really belonged after that moment. All she knows is from her own accord, still finding herself in the middle of things- one way or another. In the end, part of her wants to belong to something more, while there will always be a side of her afraid to show it all. The good, and the bad in it's abundance.

When she was fifteen, her uncle had reached out. He was not a man of wealth, not a man or morals and if there were any- they were grey at best. he was a drunk. An alcoholic, her mother would snub her nose and scoff at. And he only seemed to care about his niece, when he found out she bore the same curse as he did. Through him, she would learn that pack mentality is real, drawn to him by blood and understanding. She'd then learn that their family had woven the curse into secret, after the great grandfather promised to lock himself away forever. That they would never understand, that even one day, Isabella would may grow tired of being her keeper.

Gabriella would go on to try to live a normal life. She'd try to keep her emotions under boil. She'd try to keep the full moon from hurting anyone she cared about. She'd tried to be a normal, regular, everyday person. And it never seemed to work in her father. She's confined herself to a box, and still it always seems to break, one crack at a time. Recently, she worked as a paramedic for several years, finally getting a source of normalcy. That was, until she was made to go on leave, an outburst caused by the lingering effect of the last moon cycle.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Kubi

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

Kubi is a film of deliciously compelling contradictions. A period drama with little regard for “historical accuracy,” it reimagines the Sengoku Era as only Takeshi Kitano could: drenched in gore and dripping with homoeroticism. It is simultaneously his most cynical work and his funniest, deconstructing the borderline mythological status attributed to various real-world figures by depicting them not as cunning strategists or Machiavellian masterminds, but rather as mentally unstable psychopaths competing for underserved power.

Kitano himself, for example, leans into his comedic roots by playing Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a bumbling, insecure country bumpkin whose political ambitions are constantly thwarted by his utter lack of finesse when it comes to court intrigue and samurai etiquette; his schemes and machinations depend entirely upon the competence of such unwaveringly loyal subordinates as Kanbei Kuroda (Tadanobu Asano in a role that is essentially the antithesis of his sniveling, amoral character in Shogun)—many of whom he impulsively has assassinated as soon as he perceives their intelligence to be a threat. Ryo Kase, meanwhile, delivers an unapologetically theatrical performance as Oda Nobunaga; a far cry from the brilliant tactician of popular folklore, there is no grand design behind this hedonistic tyrant’s plans of conquest and “unification”—he simply revels in bloodshed, wantonly and remorselessly abusing peasants and fellow nobles alike.

The movie’s depiction of violence is equally subversive. The spectacular battle sequences are chaotic and harrowing, evoking Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (and, consequently, the derivative cinematic epics helmed by Ridley Scott and Mel Gibson); there is no honor or glory in war—just men clumsily flailing about in the mud and filth, their suffering serving no greater purpose. On other occasions, however, the carnage delves into outright absurdist humor. In one scene, for instance, Hideyoshi grows increasingly impatient as he waits for a vanquished foe to commit ritual suicide—an excruciatingly prolonged joke that satirizes the pomp, poetry, and idealism traditionally associated with bushido.

[FINAL WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!]

This irreverent attitude towards death culminates in a hilariously brutal, ironic punchline. Following the decidedly gruesome climax, Hideyoshi searches for his chief rival’s corpse amidst a veritable mountain of human remains. Unable to make a successful identification, he lashes out in impotent frustration, inadvertently kicking the correct severed head like a soccer ball—whereupon the screen abruptly and unceremoniously cuts to black. Roll credits.

An appropriately cruel conclusion to such a gleefully grotesque dissection (hell, damn near evisceration) of the typical tropes, clichés, and conventions of the jidaigeki genre.

[a-small-tired-lonely-potato]

Is it bad that after seeing Mel hold down a struggling Tristan so he can regain his sanity...

All I can think of is Younger Tristan accidently turning on his powers for the first time and going feral, so now Mel has to detain him until he exhausts himself all the while Tristan is flailing around in his arms growling and thrashing like Stich?

Mel dragging Baby Demon Tristan away from the pummeled knights who valiantly tried to detain the Baby only to end up getting the shit kicked out of them by a four foot gremlin: Come on buddy, Daddy thinks it's time for a nap.

Tristan: (ANGRY FERAL GREMLIN NOISES)

[standfucker]

The scorpion crew sounds so cool! As does the Storm pirates! Please talk about your OCs as much as you want, it’s so incredible that you’ve come up with so many amazing characters

I know I'm late to answering this ask, and the reason for that is because I was saving it for when I wanted to talk about an OC.

First of all, thank you so much, I'm super flattered that you think they are interesting! ^/////^

So right now I am going to talk about more Storm Pirates.

The Storm Pirates started out as a group of four: Ravi (the captain), Mel, Shen, and Alula (who I've talked about here once). They meet in a town's jail, where they're each detained for a different reason, and start talking to each other.

I'm going to focus on Shen for now.

Shen Haklavim, aka the "Skull Mask Swordsman"

Shen is a swordsman who uses two-sword style. She wears a wolf skull in order to hide her face so that opponents don't make a snap judgement on her based on gender.

She's butch, has a mohawk, and thinks she's short (she's 6 ft) because the rest of her family is all taller than her.

Shen carries six swords (three on each hip), using two at a time, and they are all paired blades meant to be wielded together.

Her swords are:

-Fell and Larka, the Day and Night blades (one's black, one's white) - these are her primary swords. -Benizakura and Musashi, the Land and Sea blades (one's red, one's blue) - old swords that are duller, but she's too attached to get rid of) -Amaroq and Miyax, the Parent and Child blades (one's gold, one's silver) - only busts these out for serious battles against other swordsmen.)

Shen loves weaponry, armor, and especially swords (she and Tashigi could talk for HOURS) as she comes from a blacksmithing family. Is a gigantic tomboy, very masculine, and dresses and acts as such. A bit "pure of heart, dumb of ass" sometimes, as she tends to act on feeling and instinct rather than thinking things through. Extremely loyal, but will put her own needs and wants above those of most people, and only really listens to the captain. Very physical in interacting with others and showing affection.

Shen's dream is to forge the world's strongest swords. Her father is a blacksmith, and she is the youngest of 7 children, with 6 older brothers. Her brothers learned to use weapons, but as the only girl, her father tried to keep her away from such things. But she wanted to be like her cool older brothers, so she went to them behind his back to learn to fight. Having once heard her father say that a great blacksmith must first understand the weapons they craft, and thus know how to use them, she seeks to become a great swordsman in order to truly understand her craft.

All of her brothers are both blacksmiths and warriors that specialize in a different weapon. The brothers in birth order, and the names of their signature weapons: Regel, first son - uses the spear, "Akela" Ein, second son - uses the katana, "Akame" Ozen, third son - uses the kama, "Kurojaki" Tofer, fourth son - uses the claws, "Tsume" Parva, fifth son - uses the axe, "Gabu" Zanav, sixth son - uses the flail, "Balto" (Her father uses the greatsword, "Fenris," and her mother uses the saw, "Moro".)

At the advice of Tofer (her favorite brother, and also the strongest of the brothers) she set out to find a master to instruct her in the ways of the sword. After traveling, Shen met and found her teacher, a swordsman known as "Urva the Mongoose". Urva's training was brutal, and particularly focused on speed, Urva's specialty.

Backstory happened (I can go into it if you're really interested o.o ) and Shen set out to follow her dream, traveling in order to fight strong opponents and become a better swordsman in order to become a better blacksmith.

Shen gets a reputation as a fearsome warrior who will challenge anyone carrying a sword, and gets her epithet before meeting the future Storm Pirates.

Shen gets detained for allegedly stabbing someone. She claims that the person "ran into her sword," but no one believes her--except Ravi, her future captain.

To close, Shen is a love letter to all the canine media I grew up with. Books, shows, movies, everything that shaped me is reflected in her character. All of her moves are named after canine media I loved growing up.

Her signature move is "Silver Fang", a spinning attack with both swords. She does a modified version of it called "White Fang."

Bonus: After meeting and fighting Zoro, they become friends/rivals. Zoro steals her move, Silver Fang, doing a three-sword style version of it he calls "Cerberus." (She, in turn, steals his move, Oni Giri, doing a two-sword style version of it that she calls "Hellhounder".)

[myevilmouse]

i’m so glad i found your post on luke getting electrocuted. I’ve ALWAYS been insanely turned on by that for pretty much the same reasons you said, and I’ve never seen anyone anywhere openly talk about this ever (considering how massive SW is you’d think there’d be at least one out there somewhere). is there anything else you wanted to say about it and how/why you love it? any other weird unorthodox movie moments that turn you on?

not asking to be weird or perverted, i just love to finally have an outlet to express similar but very niche interests

Hey friend! Thanks for this ask! I love asks and yours is a fun one. First of all, if you haven't explored it already, you may enjoy my tag #he suffers so beautifully, which is pretty much all the Luke Skywalker pain in one place. I have another one #bruised battered bleeding where you may also find some yummy Luke...

I actually took a long time to start reblogging Luke in pain images and gifsets (and some I still don't) because they really sort of hurt my heart, no matter how fabulous Mark looks all contorted and wounded. I'm not a huge fan of whump actually, despite those tags ahahah. Don't really read it and you still won't find a lot of "off with his hand" scenes in my archive, for example. But you make an excellent point--some actors are just sexy when they suffer and there ain't nothing wrong with that.

I think one reason some people (yourself included) may find the electrocution scene so much of a turn on is how those muscle spasms, "o" faces, scrunched-up eyes, tousled hair and jerking hips give us a dark/warped mirror to the erotic throes of orgasm. Someone flailing around so elegantly, those long fingers, those tightly-clad legs....yeah.... Sigh.  There’s a reason it’s called la petite mort, you know? 😈

Anyway, definitely don't feel weird or perverted about being into it. I get it. There are whole dissertations about how horror movies, for example, are these psychosexual outlets--examining the penetration of knives as phallic metaphor, etc etc and so forth... Lots of logical connections between agony and ecstasy, in other words.

Also, and I have discussed it here before, the "I am a Jedi" Death Star scenes are really the crowning hotness of all the Luke scenes in the trilogy. Like I don't know how everyone on set kept from creaming their pants that day/those days. Mark looks SO ridiculously sexy both before and after he's zapped, it honestly doesn't surprise me at all that the zapping also is melting everyone's butter.

LOOK AT HIM was grief ever so sexy?!

gif courtesy of @jadedjo

As for other weird movie moments that turn me on, I am a sucker for the blood-spattered hero. I mean, Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves? Mel Gibson in Braveheart?  I’m dating myself but cut me some slack hahaha

These are dudes who take a lickin' and keep on lookin' lickable muwahahah. So Mark in that bacta tank, absolutely. I even commissioned art for that to have him super 美少年.

I think part of the attraction to these moments is they humanize our larger-than-life heroes, and they look so good doing it...It's like the old anime cliche of that single line of blood on the cheek. Our gods bleed, and that makes them attainable. Or something like that. I'm on a tangent now.  But cinema is full of heroes that only get sexier the more they suffer and angst, so it’s a logical and very understandable kink, imo.  Thank you for this ask anon, and I’m so happy I have content that will feed that thirst for suffering Luke.... I hope you enjoy exploring that tag on my feed and thank you for being a tumblr buddy!

[gardenerian]

hi mel ✨ i just want to pop in here to tell you how much i appreciate everything you write. every fic, every answer to an ask, every lil drabble is like a warm hug & steamy cup of hot cocoa, comforting and sweet. you aren't afraid to be real as well and bring nuance & depth to your thoughts about our fave boys. thank you for sharing your words with us love 🖤

michelle 🥺 this is the sweetest message. i had a nice little cry over it and now my heart is so full 🍅

i haven’t posted anything substantial in a while and sometimes it feels like my major fic projects are dead in the water bc of my anxiety but! i so love coming here and sharing little bits and thoughts and ideas. it is the highlight of my days, to come here and chat and flail and freak! out! with you all. i love these characters and their stories and YOU ALL and the ways we connect! it makes me so happy. this really made my day, thank you so much love 💓 thank you for being such a lovely and supportive and creative member of this beautiful community, i am so glad to be here with you ✨

[breath-of-eternity]

The End Of The Beginning

Melusine had not expected that finding Imatar would be the easy part, but there they’d been, sitting on a dusty slope and hugging their knees while they waited.

“Please tell me you have my clothes,” they said.

She’d been ready to yell at them for losing track of their things—again—before she remembered, oh yeah, she did have them. The pants were stuffed into the pouch attached to her belt while the shirt and undergarments were hanging half out of her pockets. They frowned at the crumpled state of the garments, but come on, what did they expect? She wasn’t an attendant who carried their clothes.

“Boots?” they asked.

“Ah. I lost them during the landing.”

“Damn it, Mel. They don’t make them like that anymore. Literally. Have you seen their footwear?”

“Look, it was a rough landing for all of us. I was barely able to keep myself from slamming into the ground.”

“Excuses, excuses. This—” Their words cut off, and their back straightened. They whirled around, fingers hooked into claws. “More are coming.”

Melusine hissed. Glowing dots on the horizon were getting closer, and there was another one in the air.

She pulled them into a run, and it wasn’t long before she spotted the flash of Agni’s power, a blinding light stretching into the sky as if he’d been summoning them. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one who answered the call.

“Where do they keep coming from?” Imatar grumbled.

“Doesn’t matter. Just punch any you see.”

“I mean. Yeah. Obviously.”

The beam of light vanished, and she quickly concluded Agni engaged some of the warriors. She picked up speed, losing Imatar in the darkness, when a sharp report rang out and fire pierced her chest. She hadn’t realized she’d been thrown back until she slammed into the ground, unable to pull air into her lungs. Her chest had shattered. Shadows bled together into a veil of darkness. Gasping, her flailing hands clawed chunks of dirt. Suffocation was never a pleasant death.

Then she was breathing again, and something small and hard rolled off her chest. She got to her feet and Imatar stood over her, their clothes tossed over their shoulder, the wind exploding from their fingertips.

“Assholes,” they said. “At least you didn’t get hit in the head. That sucks.”

“Where are they?” Melusine asked.

More blasts echoed around them. She grabbed Imatar’s arm and pulled them along. No time to fight. They had to find the others.

“They’re still following us!” Imatar yelled between pants. A problem for later.

Grass, hills, stones sticking out of the earth like broken teeth. Agni had to be around here somewhere. And Ereshkigal. A hand closed around her wrist and Melusine whirled, ready to strike before she remembered she wasn’t alone. Luckily Imatar’s reflexes were quick enough to duck out of her grip.

“They’re this way,” they said.

They came upon Agni standing among a pile of bodies, and sure enough, Ereshkigal was there with him, her shaking hand still clutching her Divining Rod. They really should have gone on ahead, but of course they had to wait until Melusine told them to get their asses moving. They always acted like they didn’t need someone directing them, then they stood around like a bunch of morons while a frigging volcano was getting ready to erupt.