#my favorite god is a rotting skeleton

[hellonoblesky]

The key to the genshin fandom is to be invested in things that will never get screentime and no one else cares about

[inafieldofdaisies]

WIP Friday | Tagged by @euryalex <3 | Tagging @thesingularityseries @socially-awkward-skeleton @direwombat @adelaidedrubman @strafethesesinners @strangefable @nightbloodbix @aceghosts @madparadoxum @g0dspeeed @trench-rot @josephseedismyfather @josephslittledeputy @theelderhazelnut @detectivelokis @purplehairsecretlair @jinfromyarikawa @shegetsburned @clicheantagonist @locustandwildhoney @fourlittleseedlings @poisonedtruth @vampireninjabunnies-blog @cassietrn @wrathfulrook @jacobsneed @voidika @harmonyowl @henbased @schoute and anyone with something to share <3

Another snippet from Leslie and Calahan's chapter. Probably my favorite bit from it actually, I just can picture the whole thing so clearly and the Zorro scenes make me laugh so much. I love writing Les-Cal banter, ngl. A little Jerome cameo in this one, too.

After making introductions to various Resistance recruits so they know by Calahan's words "who they shouldn't shoot on sight", Hartley led Leslie to the church that stood at the end of Fall's End. "You're taking me to church next, Deputy? Granted, I do have things to confess.", he raised an eyebrow as they approached the entrance of the white chapel. "Nuh-uh, don't let John hear that.", Calahan choked out, "There's one more person to meet before we head out on a small errand, I've been putting it off for too long now.", he added without looking back, his strides hurried. He opened the door to the church and held onto it, waiting for Leslie to enter first, then followed behind him as he called out, "Pastor Jerome." A dark skinned gentleman wearing a bulletproof vest emerged from a side room as they walked past the empty pews up to the front of the church. "Rookie, what brings you here?" "We've got a new recruit, thought you should meet him. Just try to not get too shocked." Hartley turned to Leslie, muttering quietly, "You can remove the hat now, chief." Leslie complied, smoothing his hair on habit the second the cap was off his head. Jerome's eyes shifted between the two with a strange expression on his face before he said, "God works in mysterious ways, indeed." Calahan laughed at the comment, gesturing to Leslie, "Not John Seed." "I figured as much, Rookie.", the Pastor gave him an amused look, "I doubt he'd enter my church peacefully."

Hartley shrugged, "Just making sure. People have been jumping the poor guy the second he walks in the door. Me included." Leslie cleared his throat, reaching out his hand to Jerome, "Detective Leslie Parish, uh- father. Came on a vacation, stayed for the fight." He said the word "father" with uncertaintly, his whole life he wasn't one to turn to religion, let alone go to church regularly. "Jerome Jeffries. You can simply call me Jerome.", the man smiled at him as they shook hands. Hartley slapped Leslie on the back, "This one here is friends with Sabrina. Can you believe that, Pastor?" "I told you, Rookie, God is on our side, no matter what Joseph claims. He has sent us another helping hand." "Well, thank God, then.", he muttered. "Come, sit, both of you.", Jerome pointed to one of the pews, "I sense you have things to tell me." The second they sat down, he turned to Hartley, his blue eyes running over the Deputy's face as if searching for answers, before he asked, "Any news on Sabrina, Rookie?" "Nothing you would like hearing, Jerome." His expression remained serene, urging Calahan to continue, "I need you to keep this a secret, I've told enough people already." Jerome nodded, "You can talk to me anytime, you know that. The church's doors are always open.", his gaze shifted over Calahan's shoulder to Leslie, "To you as well, Detective." "Thank you." "What did you find out, Rookie? I haven't heard anything about her from any of the people that have managed to get away after their Cleansings…" Calahan squared his shoulders, a frown taking over his features as he said, "John has her. Her sister, too. I'm not sure about the logistics. Yet." "In his bunker?" "I don't know, Pastor. But they were spotted today. Together." Jerome gave him a knowing look, "And that bothers you." "Of course it fucking bothers me.", Hartley winced, "Sorry." The pastor waved his apology off, "You shouldn't be worried. Sabrina is a good one.", he smiled, "You know, on her first week here, she went out of her way to bake me muffins and bring them to me. Even asked what flavor I liked first. Anyone I reached out to for updates had only good things to say about her. They're all worried." His words made Leslie's heart squeeze painfully, "Rina's always been like this." "God always takes care of his children. He'd watch over her and her sister." Hartley had his lighter in his hand by then, the noise of it opening and closing echoed around the church, Leslie had noticed him doing it at the bar too and guessed it helped calm his nerves, shift his focus, "And John? How would God stop him if he decides to hurt them?" Jerome's face grew serious, "John is lost, misguided, just like all the people from my flock that followed Joseph. They don't see what we see. They believe he knows best, but he's misunderstanding God. As for Sabrina, I'm sure she would do whatever she can to protect her sister." "Pastor sounds just like Sabrina, Leslie.", Calahan's lips twisted into a small smile as he gestured to Jerome, ""Don't start fights with them, kid, it's hard to realize you've been swooped into a con. They will come around.", always told me this when Whitehorse would send me out on a Peggie assignment." "Compassion, Rookie. It's a precious thing to have." "And dangerous too, Jerome."

Hartley led Leslie out of the church, turning to him once they were outside, "Now onto our first official mission. We're staring small, chief." "Whatever you need, Calahan." Calahan bounced down the stairs as he let out a laugh, "Right now, I need clothes. Fuckers have been loitering around my house since the Reaping started. Have been sleeping on Mary May's couch and in the woods. Now, with you here, I figured it's time we take care of that Peggie issue." "You can always ask Abeline for a room, you know. She's been letting me stay there as thank-you for helping her keep the Peggies at bay…" Hartley waved him off as they neared the bar, "Nah. Fall's End should under no circumstances end back into the Project's hands, was a pain to get it back the first time. And I'd rather be close by, in case Mary May needs me." His words made Leslie smirk, "You like her." "That obvious, huh?" He held out his hand, "A little." "Doesn't matter. She's immune to my charms, her and Sabrina are in that club." "Didn't seem like it to me, Cal. She was quick to stop you from killing me, just saying.", he patted his shoulder, and as they reached the Spread Eagle, he asked, "We're taking my jeep or your ride, I assume you have one?" Calahan nodded towards a Peggie truck Leslie had eyed with curiosity upon his arrival earlier, before he was almost choked to death. He wanted to laugh at the irony, how the man that was so close to killing him was now his ally. "That's mine. I'd suggest we take it, keep low profile, and well, would hate to see bullet holes in this beauty. Shootouts tend to be a regular thing with me.", he sent a look of appreciation at Leslie's jeep. "Fine by me.", Parish replied as he walked over to the passenger's side of the truck and climbed in.

The sky was darkening as they set out on the road, the traffic lighter than during the day, with fewer Peggies roaming around. Calahan turned on the radio, a cult song coming on. ♫"Oh, John, keep us safe-"♫ "Fuck off.", he exclaimed loudly as he changed the station. "Haven't heard that one yet.", Leslie laughed, making Hartley look at him briefly before his eyes focused ahead again. "Please, John is so vain that the bastard has a song written and performed by a choir about him. I will see how bold and brave he is when my fists meet his ugly face.", he turned to Parish, "Fuck. No offense, chief." "None taken. I really don't see the resemblance." "Shit. You need glasses or something, Leslie? Not to be like all of my guys, but are you sure you don't have a long lost family of criminals out there by the name of Seed?" Leslie's gaze shifted out of his window, taking in the dark landscape as he muttered, "Is this where you totally lose your cool when I tell you I'm actually adopted…" "Fucking hell, Leslie. Is this a joke?" "No. But so are so many kids out there, Calahan. Are they all part of Joseph's family?", he laughed, his last words were full of sarcasm, when he added, "You really think I'm related to John because I "look like him"?" Calahan rolled his eyes, "Sure, I'm an idiot. What's new. But you, my friend, indeed need glasses." "Would it stop people from confusing us?" "Doubtful. How do you feel about shaving your head or that beard of yours?" "Hell no.", Leslie frowned at the idea. "Can't help you then.", Calahan winked as he stopped the truck at the side of the road, "My cabin is up this road, figured we'd surprise them on foot. But if you have any other ideas…" "Sounds right up my alley." They climbed out, pullng out their weapons as they headed towards Hartley's cabin, the whole time sticking to the cover of the trees. "I was meaning to ask... Isn't Sabrina's place close by too?" "Yep. Used to stop by for breakfast, was told she doesn't mind the company. Savannah is always so fun to be around, too. Tiny made me this.", he reached out his hand, showing off a colorful beaded bracelet. "Thank you, Calahan." "What for, chief?" "For being there for her, for them, when I wasn't…"

Before Calahan could respond, they spotted two Peggies standing on the road ahead and he gave a signal to Leslie. Reading you loud and clear. Hartley quickly ran over to the other side, ducking out of view. Their approach was silent, methodical as they neared their targets. Leslie grabbed one of the cultists, snapping his neck in seconds, at the same time Calahan snuck behind the other, the blade in his hand reflecting the moonlight as he plunged it into the man's neck. "Go meet your God, tell Him I will send Joseph soon, too." Hartley's smirk was a dark one as the Peggie dropped at his feet. "Check them for anything of use, chief.", he muttered as he cleaned his knife. His words made Parish snap out of his stupor and he let go of the limp man in his arms. He was taken aback by the different sides of Calahan, how in a couple of minutes he had gone from joking around in his truck to stalking his prey out in the open, seemingly enjoying the kill. If someone is to take care of The Project. It would be him. After emptying the pockets of the deadmen and not finding anything of significance, the duo grabbed their rifles and continued on their way to the house in silence. Around the small log cabin three more Peggies were waiting for them, making Calahan and Leslie duck behind one of the Eden's Gate trucks parked in his driveaway. "Fucking assholes, making themselves at home in my favorite chairs.", Hartley grunted, eyes full of disdain at the two cultists that were sitting on his porch, chatting away. He dropped the body of the unlucky bastard that had passed by their hiding spot and volunteered to be taken out first. "They won't be for long.", Leslie whispered back, making him smile. "I like the sound of that." Just then, one of the men got up, his words carrying over in the quiet night, "I will be right back, brother." "Psst. I bet he's going to take a leak. Are you taking him, or should I?", Calahan questioned. "Your choice." "Fuck it. Should teach him about the buddy system.", was all he said before he headed off after the man. At the same time Leslie grabbed a stone, hurling it at the opposite side of the cabin. It succeeded in getting the Peggie's attention, making him get up from the chair while he nursed one of his hands that was wrapped in a bandage and hurried down the steps to check on the noise. Too fucking easy. He smiled at the thought that John really needed better trained men as he stalked his target, grabbing him before he had the chance to turn around. He took no enjoyment in the kill, muttered no parting words as Hartley had, but as the neck of the Peggie snapped beneath his hands, he couldn't help but think he was a step closer to getting Sabrina out. He swore he'd do anything necessary to help her and anyone she cared about. Leslie felt hope that now he had met Hartley, maybe taking on the Project wouldn't be so impossible after all.

"All clear, chief. You?", Calahan's voice came over the walkie he had given him earlier. "Clear." Leslie waited for him at the cabin's steps, his eyes taking in the black spray paint that marred the exterior of the house, the crudely written "Sinner" illuminated by the porch light. Hartley let out more curse words as he spotted the damage, pushing open the busted front door. Parish noted the small dog flap that was installed in it. "Oh, the shit I will do to the bastard's sign as payback." "You have a dog?", he asked. "No." Inside, the house looked even worse, with things thrown around, chairs turned over, Leslie's gaze took in the blood drips on the floor, footprints that had smudged it and carried it all over the living room. "This looks like a crime scene, Calahan." "Fuck.", Calahan muttered, reeking a hand through his hair, before shouting "Buddy, where are you? Zorro!" Before Leslie had the chance to ask who he was looking for, Hartley took off, following the blood into the kitchen. Parish was hot on his tail, but something on the ground made him stop. "Is that a-", he blinked at the sight, remembering the bandaged hand of the last Peggie he had taken out, "Hell, that's a finger." "Fucking bastards. Zorro, where are you?", Calahan called out, frantically opening and closing cupboards when Parish entered the kitchen, "I know you're in here somewhere." He kneeled next to the sink, peeking his head inside the cabinet under it and breathed a sigh of relief, "There you are, buddy. Come out, it's safe." Leslie's mind went over all kinds of scenarios, wondering who he was addressing like he was talking to a human. Calahan retreated, reaching his hands out, and to Parish's shock, a raccoon jumped out, grabbing onto his shoulders. "He's friendly, Zorro.", Hartley muttered as he rose up, holding the raccoon like a child, stroking its fur, before he dropped it down on the floor. Its dark eyes immediately zeroed in on Leslie.

"Jesus.", Parish exclaimed as he took a step back, then another, remembering the finger and all the blood around the house. "He's not going to hurt you." "Doubtful. Did you not see the severed finger?" Calahan shrugged, "Zorro hates Peggies. How else would he respond to them breaking into our house…" "Zorro?" "Suits him, doesn't it. My little bandit." "I have so many questions.", Leslie uttered out just as "Zorro" approached him, making him retreat more. "Have no fear, chief. You just took out so many Peggies, and you're scared of a tiny racoon?", Calahan laughed, adding, "Reach out your hand." "Fuck off." "Do it." Zorro had stopped a few steps away from him, head shifting between his owner and Leslie. "No way in hell." "Do it, chicken.", Calahan dared him, pairing it with clucking noises. Am I about to lose my hand? Leslie sent him an angry glare before reaching out his left hand to the raccoon and to his surprise Zorro grabbed it with one of his paws. A handshake. Fuck me. "Neat, right? I've been teaching him tricks.", Calahan beamed like a proud father. Zorro dropped his hand and hurried back to his owner, circling his leg with both paws. "Now he's giving me a hug.", he looked down, "I missed you too, buddy." He picked up the raccoon and headed back to the living room, dropping Zorro on the couch.

"Sit. I will be right back.", then he turned to Leslie, smirking as he asked, "Wanna help me pack my shit or are you going to keep Zorro company?"

"You're enjoying this way too much, Calahan." "What can I say? Hilarious to see that face full of fear at the sight of a raccoon. Made my day, can't lie, chief." "At least one time I'm not attacked upon entry." "Shit, yeah. Guess I will need to show Zorro pictures of John more often. My boy's forgotten his ugly mug.", he said to himself as he strode in the direction of another half-closed door. The bedroom was in absolute contrast to the living room and kitchen. Small bed, dresser, wardrobe, bookshelf full of books and comics. All seemed in order, more organized than he would have expected from Calahan. "At least they didn't trash your whole house…" "Oh, no, I imagine the damage out there is from Zorro and whoever decided to near him." "Does he bite people's fingers off on the regular?" Calahan chuckled, "That's a first. My boy's a fighter, what can I say." "How did John even know where you live?" "Nancy. Remember how I said she works for Joseph… She was one of us, handled all documentation, who knows what information she fed to the Seeds." "Just brilliant." "Yeah.", he said while pulling out a bag from his closet and started putting clothes into it. Leslie came over, "I can fold them." "Thanks."

"And Zorro? What's the story there?" Calahan laughed, "Sneaky little bastard kept breaking into the house, lost count how many times I threw him out. One day, I had enough, put him in my car and drove him miles away. I was sure the relocation had worked, then a few days later, I came home from work and found him scratching at my front door. I looked at him and he was staring at me with these sad little eyes. Ah, man. I just caved and let him in. Has been living with me ever since, I got him a little collar and everything." "Installed dog door, too?" "Yeah, can't have him feel trapped and unable to go outside while I'm away." They packed in silence before Leslie spoke up again, "You know, Sabrina's house looked untouched. No spraypaint, nothing." Calahan frowned, "Are you starting to think like Mary May? That she's on John's side?" "Hell no. I've known Rina for years." "Glad to hear I'm not alone. I just feel there has to be more to the story." Leslie tried to ignore his regrets at the thought of Sabrina's whereabouts. His brain chose to focus on another thing he had learned to avoid in the last couple of months: her hang-ups, why she had refused to give him a chance. He shook off the thought of the mystery man he had detested for years without having even met him. He hated thinking of that day she finally had cracked and told him how she felt once and for all, it was the same day she had left for Hope County, ironically taking any hope he had ever harbored for them with her.

"I would never love you the way you deserve. You will live in the shadow of a man whose real name I don't even know. That's not fair to either of us, Les. One day, you're going to meet someone, and they would love you with every fiber of their being." Sabrina had smiled after that, hugged him tight, and promised she'd call when her and Savannah arrived. And now both were gone, leaving him to wonder if things would have been different had he managed to convince her to move away together. Even as friends. He had no problem with a new beginning.

"You okay, chief?", Calahan's voice pulled him out of the bitter-sweet memory. "Yeah." "You kinda don't look like it." Leslie shook his head, replying with the one phrase Sabrina loved to say, "I'm fine." Calahan patted him on the back, "Liar. If you need to talk, I'm here." He grabbed the three bags they had packed, exiting the bedroom before Leslie could respond. In the living room, Zorro was waiting in the exact same spot they had left him, winning a praise from Hartley. "See, he's well behaved, isn't he?" There was so much pride in his voice that Leslie couldn't help but say, "You've taught him well." "Can you grab two of the bags, and I'm gonna carry Zorro?" "Sure." Calahan smirked his way, "You two will become friends in no time." "Doubt it." With that, they left the cabin.

Stolen rifles hanging from their backs, bags full of clothes in their hands, one man holding a raccoon like a child. Quite the sight.

They trekked back to where they had left the truck, putting away the baggage, and Calahan opened the passenger side door, dropping Zorro in the seat. "Hope you don't mind sitting in the back. Zorro loves riding shotgun." "Are you joking?", Leslie wouldn't have put it past him. "Nope. Only the best seat for my boy." "Fine." Hartley lit a cigarette as they climbed in, putting the truck into drive. He kept one hand on the wheel while the other rested on the rolled down window, allowing the smoke to waft outside. To Leslie's shock, Zorro remained calm as they set on a drive back to Fall's End. "I'm buying you a drink, chief. Gotta celebrate our first mission in style.", Calahan said, looking at Leslie in the rearview mirror just as another Eden's Gate truck went past them. It made Parish turn in his seat as curiosity took over, his eyes following the vehicle until it drove up a bent behind them and disappeared out of sight. "Hey, uh-, isn't Sabrina's house somewhere around here?" Calahan nodded, taking a pull from his cigarette before responding, "We just passed her turn, why?" The fuck. I suspected as much. "Just thought the landscape looked familiar. That's all." Yet his thoughts were filled with one question: why an Eden's Gate truck would be driving over to Sabrina's cabin in the middle of the night.

[hnwd]

Dream dragon sheet !

More detail ⬇️

Âme :

Appearance :

The appearance of a pre-adolescent child has a truly fragile and innocent appearance. The corruption form of the skeleton form drips through the eye sockets, nose, mouth and neck, the corruption can in rare cases cover the majority of its body but never completely.

Her outfit was made by the Nightmare, he made her the butterfly cape with great care and magic, realizing that Âme loved butterflies which did not exist in her original world nor in the Abyss

The dragon appearance remains at the same age for its species, its beginnings are hidden by its fur. The one-headed dragon inspired by foxes and its movement behavior at times. The scar is very large in its dragon form hidden by its mane, but simply lift it to reveal the areas of missing flesh. In case of corruption the body of the dragon rots more or less partially until the corruption flows from the rot and its mouth, it becomes close to black in case of corruption.

Funfact: Originally before his death, Soul was born as a white dragon, he became golden after absorbing the energy of a god.

History :

Once born in the body of the new white dragon, he was destined to watch over half the kingdoms of the earth with his brother the black dragon. But the latter, hating to have only infertile and sick kingdoms, decided to steal the kingdoms of his younger brother. The white dragon never fought towards his brother, he was passive and he was just a child who wanted his big brother's attention. But the black dragon was plagued by paranoia, and one day he killed his younger brother by ripping his throat, thinking that he had taken an army with him, but in reality it was only their favorite object, a ribbon. double bell which fell to the ground.

Be careful not to be fooled by the age of his body, Âme is both older and at the same time a child which is confusing.

Indeed Âme died as a child and refused death, corrupted by hatred he was locked up by the gods of death in the void of non-life. But Âme's hatred of his unjust death only increased his power and drew other lost souls to him, creating the world of "L'Abime". Âme managed to kill one of the gods coming to force him to detach himself from his old life, he transformed his energy into a mask which created the strange rule that death in this spirit world permanently destroyed the soul in a power mask which will be at the service of the owner.

[...] As this character comes from one of my stories I won't describe everything but if you are curious take a look at the story "l'Abime" on my Wattpad account :D[... ]

When he left the Abume, time resumed for the dragon, but he was in a child's body having spent an eternity in a kingdom of the dead, he could no longer have this adult body but he was happy to contrasted that it was always linked to The Abime and its rules of magic.

Character :

He is someone who is positively fatalistic, and yet he exaggerates about certain things like a child who has never been able to grow up.

Fairly Bipolar

genius manipulator

Loves to say bad words to shock people

try not to cry

Love Butterflies.

Magic Abilities:

Âme has affliction and invocation magic, in itself he has no defensive and offensive magic.

Justice and Injustice: Âme swings in both style of his soul's characteristic, justice and injustice highly depends on the world and the adversary. Injustice is more easily exploited, but justice is much more powerful.

Pearls: The bad luck pearl gives curse and misfortune while the lucky pearl gives prosperity and happiness. Pearls are a natural ability for Âme, but he rarely creates them, usually only black ones that he pretends are positive.

Masks: Âme can still summon the millions of masks he has scavenged from the abyss, devouring their powers for battle or conversely using them to manipulate his opponents and sometimes summon the mask's body directly.

The Abyss: Being able to create a portal and go out and enter as he wants from this purgatory, he uses it from time to time to send people who launch a fight against him. In the abyss the levels go back to 1 as long as you stay inside "alive" magic is also almost impossible without a large source of energy.

Pact: Ability he warped, Âme can make pacts with a person by a simple touch, a simple wish whisper in your mind and he can impose it on you and control you like a doll. These are pacts of injustice, pacts of justice are pure work and healing, they must be announced orally and accepted by both parties and are terribly effective.

Time: By his determination not to die, Âme acquired a skill influencing the timeline, he can block time and prevent the use of saves and Resets. However, he must be aware of this ability to use it.

Levitation: Soul does not possess the magic of souls, however it can itself be levitated whatever its form, it is not against not levitating others

Bonus:

Since he's the first soul in his world to refuse death, and came back to life "illegally" He's still on death's list, and pursued by them, But thanks to Nightmare's cloak, he is hidden from the gaze of death if he did not find himself in front of the reaper.

If Âme attempts to have an adult body, he will pay for every minute of an adult body in a year of childhood which frustrates him greatly, since he is already aging extremely slowly.

Âme's real name is Amae, but the Nightmare ended up calling him Âme by accident and came to believe it was his name. Ultimately the Dream kept that name.

[doodle-do-wop]

KOTLC AND PJO

@valentinerose529 passed on the brain rot so now I'm dragging y'all down with me

Please buckle up your non-existent seatbelts and keep all hands, wings, feet, tails, and horns inside the vehicle. This is gonna be a long post

So

As I've previously stated else where I firmly stick my foot in the hill that the Aphrodite Cabin (10) has so much more under the surface of pink and glitter (not that there's anything wrong with pink and glitter)

Aphrodite is quite literally the Goddess of Love if you're a PJO fan and don't know Greek mythology or you're a fan but completely forgot.

She has an ever changing form to each individual as well as an ever changing personality (in the PJO universe) due to beauty standards and the culture of the place she's in.

Love is complicated and messy, it's not the same for everyone or every situation.

Thus why I put Keefe in good old 10. What a better place for an empath than the Aphrodite Cabin?

Now moving onto the ever messy Vackers

I love Fitz and Biana. I do............but I got an entire skeleton of bones to pick with Alden Vacker and of he can meet me outside the Denny's parking lot please-

While not actually smart Alden did manage to become emissary in KOTLC and Athena seems to like mildly smart guys who end up being very mid dad's. Girls got a type and I can only say hopes and prayers she gets better.

Athena is a strategist and occasionally thinks only in the form of a game (I will be using chess). Athena knows when it's time to get sharp and wet the blade and move people to where they have to go. She may be immortal but time is still against her so chop chop guys, we've got a magical meguiffin to snatch and bring back.

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, war strategy, handicraft.

What better godly parent to leave an ever lasting shadow on the eldest son Alvar. And the bitterness that stems from being out shined by perfect child Fitz who developed a far more impressive power than his older brother.

"but Biana feels so Aphrodite coded!" You cry and I hear you but Biana is a fighter at heart. She likes winning Quest Hunt and tackling the shit out of people in Tackle Bramble (she would love rugby). She's competitive and clever though it's not clear where on earth that gene came from, clearly not Alden.

And let's not forget it was Biana's idea to turn shirt ruffles into weapon hiding spots. Girls got strategy and style. Athena would be proud.

(plus the absolute sandal that would be blowing up the Camp's gossip train of Biana potentially being Aphrodite's daughter dispite having two Athena brothers would be scalding hot)

Onto everyone's favorite technopath

"oh Hephaestus, we all know" well you're wrong bucko

Worm, germs, plotted plant I named Timmy. What has Dex Dizznee built so far? Bombs, multiple bracelets for punching, many devices used just to heck the government's most top secret files, a panic button/tracker, more devices that hack into the government's files, a circuit that shall not be discussed.

These are all pretty crazy cool shit and Hephaestus would be damn proud to have Dex as his son.

But Dex isn't his son.

Dex's dad is the father of thieves, travelers, and roads. Hermes

"WHAT?" Yeah I know I know. But think about it. Dex is smart, he's so damn smart but he's tricky too. He knows the chemicals needed to dye an imp pink with glittery nails to match, he can whip up a batch up balding blam to get revenge, he can also be easily lost in the background of things.

So what a major disappointment it must be, to be waiting any day now for the sign of the hammer in a blazing forge and get a stupid winged sandal instead.

The Song Twins

Tam and Linh really gave me a run for my money because they're twins but Linh is an obvious Poseidon kid while Tam isn't and however powerful and weird the gods may be, two gods can't have kids with the same woman at the same time. It just ain't possible.

Linh's water powers are important to her character but so are Tam's. But Tam can still have spooky powers just not in the same flavor. Linh is the pretty side of Poseidon's rule over the seas. The water that heals and the funny animal shapes she makes. But the deeper into the ocean you get the darker it becomes. Tam's powers are the less pleasant things in life.

Now for everyone's second favorite arsonist (not Sophie)

Marella Redek has Pyrokenisis and you're saying "oh this one's eazy, Leo, come pick up your sibling" but you're wrong yet again my friend.

While Marella would probably be super frustrated with getting the tinker cabin over something that could help her mom (y'all remember how helping her mom was her main motivation?) at least with the STEM geeks she could hammer out some kind of magic mood ring to help her mom or make a bracelet with charmed gemstones capable of alerting her mom or herself when danger is near or just something

But no

Instead Marella is stuck in the only cabin that couldn't have been a worst match up for her. Hecate. (I know I previously said Ares but I changed my mind)

Marella, instead of having a knack for magic like almost every other child of Hecate instead got the flaming torch part of the deal. Literally. Marella can also see strings of magic and she doesn't like it one bit.

And finally Sophie (because this is getting too long)

Sophie was a tricky one since she has all these powers and it was nearly impossible to put her in a cabin that really fit with her

What finally got me to decide was actually her teleporting powers and inflicting. They have a sort of lightning and thunder styled description so who better than lord thunderbutt himself, Zeus.

[astriiformes]

ask for bad brains: convince me specifically to watch owl house. not your normal "sell people on watching TOH" script but me. why should i watch owl house.

Hmmmmm okay, I will give this my best shot

One thing I like about it that I know you also enjoy in a series is that it feels like there are a lot of threads to pull at as a fan. Some of this is because they laid very good groundwork for certain reveals -- it's absolutely a show that feels different on a rewatch because of worldbuilding and character details that come into play later -- but some of it is also because it is an all-ages show on the Disney channel that the creator originally wanted to pitch as a darker, more horror-focused adult series, and it shows, and it's very possible to reach inside those inner working and pull something interesting out. Like, the aesthetics of the show are explicitly inspired by Hieronymus Bosch paintings (there are in fact multiple characters named after him), from what I understand the original pitch involved literal, actual Hell and had to be softened to "the Demon Realm," the primary villain is a huge dig at Christian extremism even though they can't quite say it out loud...... in some ways the fact that they had to dial down certain elements has made it extra fascinating to be a fan of, because it feels like getting handed the baton to go wild with the things the creators couldn't quite take all the way given network restrictions but are still in the DNA of the show.

--Also it is really, really funny to see them try to write a villain who is a Puritan whose motivation is a result of being a Puritan without being allowed to outright say anything too negative about Christianity.

The other thing is that one reason all that shows is because they still crammed a lot of it into the show anyways. The primary antagonist's evil plan is... genocide. There's a whole horrific subplot about one of the main characters turning out to be the latest in a line of murdered clones and at one point you see a fucked-up clone graveyard full of the skeletons of dozens of other dead clones. The main setting is the dead, mostly-rotted body of a giant god-like being that has since turned into a chain of islands. So for people interested in the darker and more mature side of the storyline, there's plenty to work with.

And all of that is a backdrop to a very solid cast of characters and character relationships, because you know, an interesting setting and premise alone does not a compelling piece of media make. It takes a little while for some of the darker and more complex elements of the plot to emerge but by the time it does you have reasons to care about it, which is of course the kind of thing that makes higher stakes really work. It's genuinely a very funny series and I think the sense of humor would gel with you, and I like that it actually explores the impact certain things would actually have on the characters -- not the least of which is that it handles its portal fantasy premise in a way that feels like a direct answer for everyone who was very dissatisfied with the Chronicles of Narnia, with a protagonist who is constantly struggling with the whole "Well, I ran off to a cool fantasy world and have developed close and loving relationships there and really grown as a person, but I do have another life I don't think I can run away from forever" question. (And I really like how they've been handling it!)

--And okay, I know that you, like me, are not one to be sold on rep and rep alone but it feels like a travesty not to at least mention that there is a (very cool, would have been one of my favorites regardless of gender) nonbinary character who is like, a real, grown adult even though a lot of the cast are teens, and it's just so refreshing to see a like, fairly major, late 40s nb character handled well and heavily involved in the main plot and the life of one of the main characters. (Although they don't show up until S2).

Obviously like any show it's not perfect, and it's especially frustrating that the plot and writing had to take some visible hits as a result of S3 getting mostly axed (turned into three double-length episodes instead of a full season; we hate to see network meddling), but I do think you'd enjoy parts of it a lot!

Also they poke fun at Harry Potter sometimes (due also being a series involving a magic school) in ways that are very satisfying, and I need more people at the intersection of the TOH and TLT fandoms to understand why me comparing the Emperors in both series is funny. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[theunboundwriter]

Musical Asks Challenge

Thanks for the tag @itsbrittbeyotch I had a hell of a time.

A fun little game to see the diversity of your music taste.

Rules: Do NOT repeat songs and ONLY use songs that you have listened to in the last 6 months

1. Songs you like with a color in the title

Blu - Jon Bellion

2. Songs you like with a number in the title

1980s Horror Film II - Wallows

3. Songs that reminds you of summertime

Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

I've Been Dead All Day - Bayside

Why Do You Feel So Down - Declan McKenna

4. Songs that reminds you of someone you would rather forget

Anna Sun - Walk The Moon

Bullshit - Dune Rats

5. Songs that needs to be played LOUD

Rob A Bank - Confetti

Feed The Machine - Dead Mans Poison

Blonde Hair, Black Lungs - Sorority Noise

6. Songs that makes you want to dance

I'm The One - DJ Khaled (feat. Justin Beiber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne)

Hollaback Girl (Metal Version) - Leo

7. Songs you must SCREAM

The Drug In Me Is You - Falling In Reverse

My Heart Needs To Breathe - The Faim

8. Songs to drive to

Sex Sells - Lovejoy

Rot - DBMK

Ma Chérie (feat. Kellin Quinn) - Palaye Royale

Especially You - Wallows

Sober - FIDLAR

9. Songs that makes you happy

Projector - Set It Off

Another Song About Tequila - Tequila Mockingbird, Bohnes, Hudson Thames

Bella Ciao - Manu Pilas

10. Songs that makes you sad

Dirty Paws - Of Monsters and Men

Mother - Small Pools

Puff The Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary (Don't Judge Me)

Cancer - My Chemical Romance

11. Songs that you never get tired of

Shit Show - Peter McPoland

Straight Jacket - Theory of a Deadman

Life - Mother Mother

12. Songs that make you feel a certain way

All Time Low - Jon Bellion

Viva La Vida - Coldplay

Heathens - Twenty One Pilots

Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC) - Fall Out Boy

13. Songs that made your childhood

Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men

Hey Soul Sister - Train

Some Nights - fun.

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye, Kimora

14. Songs you would love to be played at your wedding

Just My Soul Responding - Amber Run

15. Songs that are covered by another artist

I Got You - Train

Hot Girl Bummer - ANSON

Teenage Dirtbag - Cavetown, chloe moriondo

Evermore - Tethra

16. Songs that are not in your native language

ZITTI E BUONI- Måneskin

Amour Plastique - Videoclub

17. Songs from the year you were born

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

18. Songs you would sing duet with on karaoke

Men Are Trash - Scotty Sire (@itsbrittbeyotch Taco Bell drive thru flashbacks)

E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE! - CORPSE, Savage Ga$p (@lexilouu yeah u know)

Carnivore - Bear Attack! (@bing1314 this has been stuck in my head for the past 8 years)

19. Songs that makes you think about life

Weak - AJR

Guns For Hands - Twenty One Pilots

20. Songs that have many meanings to you

I'm Gonna Win - Rob Cantor

Next Up Forever - AJR

Think About Things - Daði Freyr

21. Favorite songs with a person's name in the title

Achilles Come Down- Gang Of Youths

Nancy Mulligan - Ed Sheeran

Ramona - Jukebox The Ghost

Judy You Hung The Moon - HARBOUR

22. Songs that move you forward

Fuck You World - Rare Americans

Riot - Hollywood Undead (this song makes me feel like I could fight God)

23. Songs you think everybody should listen to

King of the Clouds - Panic! At The Disco

Misery - blink-182

Spiderhead - Cage the Elephant

Summer Is A Curse - The Faim

24. Songs by a band you wish were still together

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Remastered 2009 - The Beatles

25. Songs by an artist no longer living

Wake Me Up - Avicii

26. Songs that make you want to fall in love

Someone To You - BANNERS

27. Songs that break your heart

This Isn't The End - Owl City

28. Songs by an artist with a voice you love

Gasoline - Halsey

House of Memories - Panic! At The Disco

29. Songs people would be surprised you listen to

To The Hellfire - Lorna Shore (the last few seconds of this song y'all)

Brutus - The Buttress (this song lowkey scared me the first time I listened to it)

30. Songs that remind you of yourself

Ghosting - Mother Mother

parents - YUNGBLUD

Bugbear - chloe moriondo

Sad Forever - Anthony Amorim

I invite anyone who sees this to join in! I had lot's of fun, but it literally took me about 3 hours

[rainbowxocs]

TW: Mentions of religious trauma and child abuse.

Notes by the greatest guy ever~ Me of course.

Name: Michael Elizabeth Ansley.

My parents thought I was going to be a girl- So they had to change my name at the last minute.

Alt Name: Michael Morningstar. Barf-

Special Titles: Crown Prince of Hell, Michael Morningstar. Also Barf. Dr. Michael Ansley.

Old Titles: “M”, “God”, “Lord of Darkness”. ALSO Barf-

Nicknames: Mikey, “Emo Boy”, Hero.

Age: 27.

Pronouns: He/They/Rot.

Sexuality: Gay.

Gender: Nonbinary, Gendervoid, Dollipuppic, Prettycorpse, Unholything. I would describe my gender as a rotting corpse to be honest-

Species: Hybrid (Antichrist.)

Disorders: Panic Disorder, CPTSD, Autism, Insomnia, Bipolar 2, ASPD, Anorexia, Checking OCD.

Physical Disabilities: Blind, Chronic Pain.

Recovering Addictions: LSD, Alcohol, Mushrooms, Self Harm, Nicotine (Vape).

Religion: Atheist. Religions are scams, which I of all people should know-

Job: None, At the moment. ……

Current Major: Pediatrics.

Degrees: Psychology Degree.

Lives in: WV, America, 2034. Country roads.. take me home..

Languages: English.

Height: 4’9” >:(

Race: White.

Ethnicity: Demonic.

Accent: Soft, Southern.

Monster Form: Sharp Claws, Sharp Teeth, Boney Elongated Form, Big Horns, Animalistic.

I don’t like this form..

Powers: Time Travel, Teleporting, Telekinesis, Fire Manipulation, Flight, Summoning, Sucking Life Force/Souls, Hypnosis, Possession, Strings, Necromancy, Omens, Shapeshifting, Mass Destruction.

If I wasn’t lazy I could probably take over the world.

Weapons: Knives.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.

Text Color: Pink, Red when Upset.

Main Animal: Dog.

Main Hobbies: Sewing, Video Games, Fashion/Dressing Up, Crafting, Knitting, Needlefelting.

I like doing things hands on.. It gives me something to do.

Diet: Carnivorous, Raw Diet.

Whether I eat meat or raw meat is a different story- Strawberries are really tasty.

Favorite Drink: Strawberry Shortcake Coffee, Strawberry Chocolate Tea, Hwache, Strawberry Boba, Strawberry Monster Energy.

Favorite Fruit: Watermelon.

Favorite Meal: Pork Brains, Steak Tartar, Gumbo, Sushi, Spaghetti, Katsudon, Dinosaur Nuggets and Fries, Pancakes, Fruit Sandwiches, Sago Soup.

Favorite Candy: White Chocolate, Gummy Worms, Salt Water Taffy, Konpieto.

Favorite Dessert: Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, Strawberry Icecream, Dirt Cake.

Favorite Flower: Forget Me Nots.

Scent: Rose Cologne, Barbie Detangler.

Why do you need to know this about me-

Birthday: December 25th 2007 (Capricorn)

My birthday is… kind of ironic…

Theme:

Playlist:

Fun Facts: Wrote his very own Bible for his religion, has a stuffed animal collection, Has a magical girl collection.

Special Interests: Stardew, Minecraft, Slime Rancher, Animal Crossing, The Sims, Pokémon, Coraline, My Little Pony, Moomin Valley, Strawberry Shortcake, Fairy Princess Minky Momo, Sanrio. :)

Stims: Handflapping, Mouse Cheese, Sensory Cube, Pink Tangle, Pop it Game.

Stimboard: LINK

Moodboard: LINK

Fashionboard: LINK

Comfort Objects: Cat Plush, Cow Pillow Pets, Pink Slime Plush, Pokémon plushies, Killer (Teddy Bear).

My Pokémon Team!:

Extra Pokemon: Zoroark.

Family:

Lucifer Morningstar, Elijah Morningstar. (Fathers.) ……

Lilith Morningstar. (Stepmother)

Raven Ansley. (Mother.) :)

Ezequiel Ansley. (Stepfather)

Melanie Ansley (Aunt) …….

Lucy Ferr, Sin Morningstar. (Half Siblings.)

Alexander Leverett. (Adoptive Brother) (Strained.) …..

Immanuel Ansley. (Adoptive Sibling.)

Sam Coleman. (Adoptive Uncle.)

Micah Coleman. (Adoptive Uncle.)

Friends: None. ……..

Romance: None. …….

Pets:

Danger (Tarantula)

Princess (Skeleton Cat)

Brief Personality: Mikey acts tough. For his entire life he has had to manipulate in order to survive. He can usually get what he wants with little effort. But he is, deeply troubled.. Usually he is incredibly chatty but lately he’s just been.. quiet.. He no longer seems to care about much, he’d rather just sit in the silence.

Brief Backstory:

Michael was born out of a prophecy. He was destined to destroy heaven and the earth. However for the time being he was born to his mother and “Father”..

Mikey had a pretty normal childhood for the most part. He was a good kid, he went to church, he played with his toys and didn’t make much of a fuss. However, as he grew older weird occurrences would happen around Michael.

His mother didn’t seem worried. But everyone else noticed the birds dying around him, the water becoming blood, bad omens seemed to follow the child. And it culminated in Michael’s house burning down with his mother and “Father” inside. He was the only survivor.

His aunt was given custody of him.. He didn’t know it at the time but he was not responsible for the fire. However everyone believed he was. He was forced to repent over and over and over and over to get rid of his “sins”, to get rid of the demons inside of him.

Michael felt hollow.. He felt the judging eyes of everyone on him. No matter how good of a kid he was he felt destined to be evil. It felt like the omens were getting worse and worse as he got older and older.

The church held an intervention for Michael. They told him that he wasn’t good enough, that God was disappointed in him. The demons were still inside him because he let them stay inside. He began to cry and say that wasn’t true and that he wanted to pure he wanted to be good.

The church members took him into the baptistery and forced him under the water, waterboarding him over and over again to try and get him to “repent for his sins” and that the holy water will cleanse him of his omens.

Over and over again he was forced underneath the water, he kept screaming but the water kept filling his lungs, when he finally was able to get some air. He felt this righteous anger fill his entire body, and he attacked the people who had forced him underneath the water.

He attacked the church leaders and in the struggle they gauged out his eyes. And stabbed him. Pushing him deep into the baptism water, as his blood filled the pool it turned a dark black color. And he ascended from the baptism a monster.

Michael killed everyone. The people in the church, his aunt, everyone. Everyone who had hurt him. Everyone who had forced him into bowing before a god who would never forgive him. This “awakened” something inside of him, a power he never knew he had. And he began to crave meat.

He became the monster the church thought he was. And he ran away. And he decided that he would become a god, if a god who watched him get tortured by the heads of his religion then he could easily become one.

He created a cult, Ascensionism. He being the god, and his subjects being his eyes. He saw through them, and when it was finally time they would ascend and become his food. Becoming one with their god.

After many years in the cult however he eventually feels.. empty inside.. He begins to question what the hell he is doing and disbands the cult. He goes on a long journey of soul searching, trying to figure out who he is, what he is, etc. and one could argue he is still on that journey now even tho he is much healthier than he was back then.

[thunderheadfred]

🤚Shigaraki HC's🤚

Part 1 of my Shigaraki Thesis HCs. The Second Worst: 1 - 2

This was rough because even though Shigaraki is one of my favorite characters of all time, I have nothing sexy to say about him canonically.

that's a lie, i'm lying. i had to break this post into parts, that's how much of a liar liar pants on fire i am

Warnings for quite possibly everything. Minors do not interact.

- - - - -

Okay first of all:

You know it. I know it. We all know it. This man is not boyfriend material. He disintegrates boyfriend material for fun.

You don’t want to date this man.

Frankly, you can’t date this man.

Seriously. Run.

If you’re a villain, you’re his underling. Maybe, if you squint, you’re kind of like his... um... least-hated workplace associate. What do you want, a trophy?

If you’re a hero, good luck not dying horribly. Maybe you’d make a cute hostage. Hope you can escape cuz he is NOT letting you out alive.

If you’re a civilian, perhaps that’s the best case scenario. He stalks you a little before he becomes infamous. You go on the worst date of your life but luckily you don't tell him where you live. Later you see him on the news standing in a pile of rubble and you just think, “ohhhhhhh.”

If he somehow, impossibly, against all odds, manages to develop a single affectionate feeling toward you, AFO is going to hunt you down for sport. You are NOT getting in the way of world domination. Again, good luck with that.

If somehow you managed to clear all those hurdles and kiss Shigaraki Tomura square on the lips, I can see one of two things happening.

1) You’re his body pillow now. Goodbye sunlight. You live in his room. He doesn’t have to chain you to the bed, because you know escape is pointless. Congratulations, the end is nigh.

2) Total mind break. At the first sign of genuine human affection, his trauma vault is instantly unlocked. Memories come rushing in, his quirk goes nuts. There’s like a 99.9% chance he’ll accidentally kill you and it will destroy his soul forever. But let’s say you’re the lucky 0.01% - then it’s time to fuck off together to a foreign country. He’s terrified, traumatized, and possibly broken beyond repair, but I guess he’s not a villain anymore? Have fun nursing him back to... semi-sanity.

Moral of the story: you’re better off getting hit with a quirk that takes you to an alternate universe where the worst thing Shimura Tenko ever did was throw a Playstation controller at his sister’s head. He’s an aspiring video game journalist with zero charisma and severe self-image issues. He has no earthly idea how hot he is. Please, for the love of God, fall for that guy instead.

haha just kidding

join me in hell, fellow Shigaraki fuckers:

- - - - -

Scenario the first:

so apparently you enjoy living in a cage?

Listen. He does not smell right. He doesn’t need to bathe much because his skin is constantly annihilating itself. So he’s not exactly dirty, but every instinct in your body is screaming in confusion, unsure if he’s alive or dead.

Breath of the damned. Sweet as moldy lemons. Whatever he eats just... rots. He doesn't produce enough spit.

He will kiss you very deeply. Until you choke. Forget the cold, chapped lips because they're the least of your problems. He's got those skeleton hands caging your face and you're trapped against a wall and his gigantic biting teeth are prying you open. He licks inside your mouth like he's trying to steal your soul. He'll probably succeed.

His hair is exactly as soft as it looks. Too bad you'll never get to touch it.

He’s either got no sexual impulses at all and will laugh at you for trying, or he’s a full-on incel. I don’t know which one. I don’t want to find out. Apparently you do, and I salute your resolve.

You will be lucky if Shigaraki treats you like a pet. He loves his Nintendo DS more than you.

Consent is not applicable. You showed interest in him once, now you're his plaything forever. There's a power imbalance between you so wide you could chuck a planet in there.

Safewords? lol

Doesn't want to break you, because what would be the point? He's already broken enough things. He wants to keep you around for a good long while. He'll take good, good care of you.

Unless you disobey.

Obsessed with making you cum whether you want to or not. Yes, this IS a high score thing. It's just so flattering. Say hello, orgasm torture. Was that another one? Aww. You barely moved. Oh, what's that? You're begging him to stop? Haha. He won't.

Don't cry. He'll drink your tears.

He'll touch you everywhere with bare fingers. Slow, feather-light strokes, like some kind of demented ASMR artist. This is not a trust exercise. He knows exactly how much it terrifies you.

Oh yeah. You're getting finger FUCKED. Do you fantasize about having a loaded gun shoved inside you? Same difference.

Will eat you out like nothing else, but not in bed. That's the kind of shit he does on a boardroom table where anybody could walk in and see you writhing. Spreads you WIDE open and sucks on you. Makes out with your asshole. The whole nine yards. It's wet and loud and nasty.

Only time you're out of his sight (and not locked in your room) is when he shoves a remote control vibrator where the sun doesn't shine. Operates it through an app while he calls you and jerks off. Wants to make your knees fail on a crowded train.

Come here. You get to sit on his lap like a dog. Four fingers on your throat, dick hard under your ass. He'll dry hump you in front of God, the Devil, and everyone else.

If he's playing video games, you're cock-warming. He does not care which hole. He won't even look at you.

He might get hard but he does not get naked. You do not know Shigaraki Tomura on a personal level. You have only the vaguest idea what his dick looks like. It feels long and thin, almost sharp. Maybe he's actually been fucking you with an ice pick this whole time. His hip bones dig into you and bruise. He likes to kiss and bite the marks he leaves.

He mocks you for being so fucking pathetic. Have you always been a such a needy slut or is he really that special? What is wrong with you? Even he thinks you're crazy.

Shigaraki won't kill you, but All For One will.

- - - - -

The Second Worst Scenario:

The half-mad ghost of Shimura Tenko is in love with you, and your life is about to become a tragic wreck.

(this half of the post went completely off the rails and turned into like... a whole-ass Victorian Novel)

[transsexualhamlet]

there's a song! I forgot

AND I'D ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE UR ANALYTIC THINGY

this is a great opportunity to compliment your analytic capabilities as well! I have read some and they all happened to be top-notch!

sorry that i'm being like this

JSJSJS NO DONT APOLOGIZE I LOVE ATTENTION also I'd be very interested in that song, who's the artist?

I don't have every song done yet but here's just the one for skeleton appreciation day and then I'll rb with the shorter ones i have for the others

(this is under a cut cause boy howdy it is long and the corpse fic is Not For Everybody)

Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Bones)-

This is the only one I'm gonna actually do a lyric breakdown of, the others will just be short paragraphs but this one's full because Ah God Will Wood Moment. The whole song really does capture the feeling I was going for with the corpse fic. Especially the tone of this song, which feels almost as though the singer is so lightheaded and about to faint, barely standing, tottering around searching for something he cannot see.

To cut down on my silhouette, my favorite foods are smoke and hearts

My leftover frets forget stiletto-self vendettas,

While my cracking backbone lacks but backs up my false starts

All nightmares start as dreams and I hear my subconscious screaming

They say that beauty's just skin deep

So naturally, please show me your bones, bones, bones

Let me see your bones

Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home

Bones, bones, bones

Hell, we're all alone

If I come home, baby, will you show your bones?

For the way he must kill Fyodor, for the way they love. He is starving himself of Fyodor by killing him. Nikolai sees that attraction in his body as something he could somehow pry out and purify even though he knows it will make him so sick and weak, as if peeling open the insides of his lover could somehow reveal the truth of why they love like this. To kill him means to be free of him, but it's really only halfway, the way he keeps him around to begin with, cause he thinks he might be able to wean himself off Fyodor after a little, just a little bit more, when well, of course he cant. He thinks this might get him answers- Why are they so self contradictory, why is it so difficult for him, why is this the only way they manage to exist is this terrifying codependent state? He searches for this so hard but he fears actually getting an answer, to the bones, so much that he kills the only one who might provide it for him.

Lumps in throats and petticoats, your baby teeth would pray for you

At the beginning of the third chapter when Nikolai is trying his hardest to talk to Fyodor, and how every bit of advice he gets back is only an echo from deep in the past. He holds the past so dearly, nothing he's doing feels real, through all the makeup he applies and the pretty dresses he puts that rotting fucking corpse in, though he's nearly to tears, and the dynamic and the dysfunctionality of how they existed together reveals itself.

A selfish book is always open

And some of the best liars only want the truth

Nikolai is the "selfish book". Nikolai weaves this extensive web of intentions and metaphors into his existence in this way that he's so sure he's hoodwinked himself and the world about his true feelings and thoughts, but especially to Fyodor and honestly to anyone who gets a look at him to an extent, it is painfully obvious the direction he is going and how viscerally clear his emotions are. Fyodor has seen this from the beginning, he always knew how doomed and contradictory that train of thought was.

And Fyodor is the "best liar". Though he is so closely guarded himself, someone who Nikolai never entirely managed to unravel even after his death, he truly only ever had the sweetest intentions with Nikolai. Yes, he's hurt him, lied to and manipulated him expertly, let him do this all to himself, but in the end he was only ever giving Nikolai what he wanted. Nikolai is a sinful ability user himself, and he knows that Nikolai is a paradox who will only ever suffer surviving. This is his mercy, and he feels that deeply. The truth of their love and the world is right there for Nikolai, left posthumously for when he finally decides to accept it.

All love starts as a scheme, so wake me up, I'm tired of sleeping

They say that beauty's just skin deep

So I feel asleep, please show me your bones, bones, bones

Let me see your bones

Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home

Bones, bones, bones

Hell, we're all alone

If I come home, baby, will you show your bones?

Nikolai has found it difficult to parse apart his own delusions and rose-colored view of Fyodor from reality, and it breaks here where he seeks this consul from Fyodor. Fyodor is so vague and far away it feels like a dream, even though all Nikolai's been doing in this whole endeavor was trying to wake up. This love of his was the "scheme" he was trying to break free of, and killing Fyodor was supposed to "wake him up" from that brainwashing. But it hasn't, it won't, that feeling doesn't go away. He wants that truth, he is begging for Fyodor to reveal it, what else must he do to receive it? But Fyodor has told him time and time again, is he really prepared to hear it?

All nightmares start as dreams, all love starts as a scheme

Give me all your LSD so I can feel my mind unweave again

This dream of Nikolai's, this ideal to reach this ascendant state of humanity where he basically ignores every scream of his own flesh and blood just for that idea of free will has become an utter nightmare all around him. The consequences are glaring and he is witnessing the world burn down and he is the one burning it. (i am he forest and i am the fire and) Everything is falling apart and he does not know how to survive without the world utterly scrambled around him. Without Fyodor, an acid trip seems necessary just to stay sane, or in his case, to keep away from that terrible clarity as much as possible and to stay living that dream without seeing the nightmare underneath…

They say that beauty's just skin deep

So Ana stands and rends the rancid meat from her bones, bones, bones

…Yet under that influence, the nightmare grows even worse, as he tears himself apart through this idea, throwing away anything he finds offensive to the delusion. I'm assuming here that Ana was meant to be a personification of anorexia, that the singer's own disorder has grown so prominent she is a whole being who acts as him, they are one and the same person. For Nikolai this certainly applies, to someone who feels at this point to be a hollowed out corpse piloted by pure delusion. And he acts out to purify his vision, to keep that idea of Fyodor and himself intact, he wounds and tricks and pushes Sigma away. In his vision Sigma has turned against him like rancid meat, yet in reality he is ripping away the very thing keeping him alive.

Let me see your bones

Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home

Bones, bones, bones, hell, we're all alone

If I come home, baby, will you show your bones, bones, bones?

I can see my bones

Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home

Bones, bones, bones, hell, we're all alone

If I come home, baby, will you show your bones?

My bones, your bones

Tell me you can see my bones

My bones, your bones

Tell me you can see them

This whole ending bit is that hard descent, the repetition, the spiral at the end, the way he's conceding to Fyodor, where his aversion to the truth and his seeking the truth meets. And that feeling does follow home, he's going to follow that feeling home and there is no one left to stop him. There is nothing left in that world but Nikolai and the dripping thing he's personified, at this point he's wrecked his own health so badly that he recognizes himself in the corpse more than in that old polaroid. And he's giving in with that plea: if he comes home, please tell him, would they be together again? He's begging with all his life that Fyodor somehow is watching him and everything he's become, that he might somehow embrace and understand him. In utter doom, might he at least have companionship in the grave?

[tbhwhocaresanymore]

Nancy Drew 2x2

Me in my naïveté: surely, the Nancy Drew writers, the best writers the CW has on staff, have run out of ways to bring back past moments and episodes that seemed unimportant at the time.

ND writers: Bitch you thought?

Y’ALL

When I say tonight’s episode made me absolutely lose my actual goddamn mind that is not in any way an exaggeration. My brain physically pried itself out of my skull and ran away down the street.

Jesus Jedediah Christ the way they brought back those five people/ghosts who at the time seemed absolutely unimportant and sent me so entirely off my rocker if I even attempt to think about it for more than two seconds I’ll spontaneously combust so we’re going to have to work around it.

First off, no surprise: HANNAH GRUEN. My bae. My wife. Love of my life. You were only there for two minutes but they were exquisite.

Second I fucking KNEW that dude from the Marvin funeral episode was important. If you’ll recall from my review my theory at the time was that maybe HE killed Owen, but you know what this was so much better.

Okay, to business. At the beginning when Nancy is seeing all of the scratches on Douglas Marvin’s grave and then we zoom out to kind of see the Aglaeca in the side of the frame, and then zoom out more and it turns around and LOOKS at us doing that creepy little swaying thing? POETIC CINEMA. Riverdale wants what Nancy Drew has.

That “unfortunate first meeting” George had with Nick’s mom and her subsequent attempts to prove herself, culminating in Millie giving her the dumpling recipe? Adorable. Speaking of the mom, I do indeed hope we see more of her. Her and Nick’s moment at the end of the episode where he talked about seeing her cry in the courtroom absolutely broke my heart. I can’t handle the thought of him not at the very least having the occasional phone call with her from this point onwards.

To be entirely honest almost every scene with the mom broke my heart. When she was talking about how she and her husband raised Nick to always do everything right and lost him anyway? Hhhhhhhhhhhhh it hurts. The writers said they would be keeping BLM in mind while writing this season, like how they kept Me Too in mind for the first one, and I was a little worried it would be hamfisted. But if they continue as they did tonight it will be nothing but beautiful.

Guys. Guys. I know I said I had no idea how to talk about it but I have to talk about it. That scene in the orphanage. When they find the photo. And Nancy realizes she has seen all of those ghosts before.

GUYS.

EPISODE 3.

SINCE EPISODE THREE THE WRITERS HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS.

GODDAMN DO WE LOVE CONTINUITY AND FOLLOWING THROUGH ON PLOT LINES AND WRITERS WHO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY’RE DOING. I WANT TO FIND THE SHOWRUNNER AND KISS THEM ON THE MOUTH.

Ahem.

Anyway.

I thought Carson and Ace had some really nice moments this episode. i.e. “The guy at the store said it was a one man job.” “I think the guy at the store lied to you.” I am, however, curious if Nancy is going to ever bring her father in on the fact that supernatural beings exist and that she deals with them on the reg. Like I know he helped them out with the coma ritual with McGinnis (McGinnis come back 😭😭😭) but they never really brought it up with him again, and he’s been like kept out of the loop on it all ever since. I’m just wondering if he in fact actually knows and is just remarkably calm all the time, or if he’s in denial, or what. But tbh I do have a very strong amount of sympathy for Carson, and I really want him and Nancy to get back on good terms. At the end of the episode when she brought him the coffee and stuff I teared up a little. I’m an adult, I can admit it. Maybe it’s just because I’m such a massive fan of the books, where she and her dad were so close, but having them at odds especially after they started out that way, is painful.

Speaking of the books.

Fernwood orphanage. Hhhhhh writers I see what you did there. But for those of you who don’t know, in Nancy Drew #9 The Sign of the Twisted Candle, Nancy Bess and George stop at a roadside inn/bed and breakfast type place. At the inn is a 100 year old man named Ada Sydney who Nancy befriends, along with a young orphan waitress named Carol Wipple whom Ada has a soft spot for. The next day he dies, and turns out Carson is his lawyer and Nancy goes with him for the will reading. Long story short, Carol is apparently his granddaughter and he leaves her like EVERYTHING, but when she was young she grew up at, drumroll please!

FERNWOOD ORPHANAGE. I AM DECEASED.

And the Stratemeyer woods? For the same people, Stratemeyer Syndicate was the place that published all the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift books, etc. You will not be able to find them today however, as they were bought by Simon and Schuster in like 1987.

Back to the show.

When Detective Tamura (aka The Inferior McGinnis Who Can Rot In Hell) said the skeleton was Buddy and NOT KJ (AJ? I’m deaf) I got suspicious. And then as soon as they played the record and only five ghosts showed up, I was all ‘HOLY SHIT HE IS ALIVE’ and then he WAS. At the end of the episode, when they saw the flowers on the graves? You guys I was LOSING. MY MIND. And then the note saying “forgive me -kitsune” aaaaaaah. I am in fact afraid that he wants forgiveness because he sacrificed the others to save himself, but I am praying the writers do not do that to me.

I’m interested in finding out, assuming we meet KJ/AJ next episode, WHY the 1975 group reached out to the Aglaeca in the first place. Nancy and Crew did it because they needed Lucy Sable’s bones from 20 years ago to get Carson off the hook for murder, I am assuming these guys had at least as good a reason. And the Aglaeca herself. Dear god you guys. Odette Marvin. I’ve been saying and we’ve all known for a while, that she was wronged by the Marvin family. But Lordy that’s extreme. Listening to the overlaying recording? They low key abducted her, stole her fortune, her chaperone and the captain betrayed her, she was presumably bound hand and foot had her head shaved and got thrown into the ocean. I think I might be a little murderous too ngl. Although it begs the question, why exactly did Douglas Marvin have her painted into the hall of tragedies? I don’t think it was to gloat. Maybe Odette haunted him after the fact and added herself into the painting? But my favorite theory is that Odette as the Aglaeca started killing all the people who were in on it, her chaperone, the captain, etc., (I assume there were six) and Douglas saw the others dying and painted her into the portrait as a way to warn future generations of Marvins, rather than fess up to what he had done. I also want to know the deal with the first women to summon her, and the mirror? There is potential there I KNOW IT.

If you’re not a Drewson shipper feel free to skim this paragraph but guys Nick and Nancy are soulmates it’s confirmed. I’m not even kidding guys I was in no way shape or form prepared for the amount of Nick x Nancy content I got tonight. When Nick is at her house and they mention how they skipped friendship the first time around? “We skipped a lot of things the first time around.” DEAD. And then later at the Claw, when Nancy and not George came to comfort him post fight with the mother? And then he saw that look Nancy gets where her eyes flit around cause her mind is working overtime? *chef’s kiss* My prediction is they will spend this season building up a strong, solid, foundational Nancy x Nick friendship and then when they give the romance a second go they will be so. much. stronger. I’m guessing season 3 will be spent in a bit of a complicated love triangle with Nick and Nancy (re)developing feelings for each other while still having them for George and Ace, making the eventual payoff all the more delightful.

I close this review - which was admittedly less of a review and more of me shrieking incoherently - off with a plea to the writers.

*eyes turn black*

WHERE IS DEAD LUCY

WRITERS

WHERE IS SHE

IT HAS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR. FOR TEN MONTHS NOW I HAVE GONE WITHOUT HER. SHE HAS BEEN GONE SINCE EPISODE 16. NO SCREAMING. NO CREEPY CRAWLING. NOTHING. WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER. BRING HER TO ME.

*shakes self* Glad to get that out of my system. See you all next week for 2x3, The Secret of the Solitary Scribe.

[thanatosbanshee]

I was tagged by @rituals-of-rot to do an A-Z song list, so here we gooooo! I love love love learning about new music and getting music recommendations, so let me know what your favorite songs and artists are. Also I cheated a little and if I couldn't decide I put two songs. 🐼

A: Addicted - Tetrarch

B: Burn The Witch - Shawn James

C: Chelsea - Dragged Under

D: Daywalker - MGK ft. CORPSE

Deathwish - Stand Atlantic

E: Everything At Once - Mothica

F: Feeding The Dark - Evanescence

Funeral For Yesterday - Kittie

G: The Ghost Of You - My Chemical Romance

The urge to fill this list with MCR was barely containable lmao.

H: Head Like A Hole - Nine Inch Nails, Carnifex both are good.

I: In Her Tomb By The Sounding Sea - Alesana

J: Jonathan - Ice Nine Kills

K: Kiss It All Better - He Is We

L: The Lines - Beartooth

M: Megitsune - BABYMETAL

N: Miss Nothing - The Pretty Reckless (I cheated on this one too RIP)

O: Open Letter - The Amity Affliction

P: Popular Monster - Falling In Reverse

Q: Queen Of Hearts - The Birthday Massacre

R: Rebel Yell - Billy Idol

S: Slept So Long - Jay Gordon

T: Temporary Bliss - The Cab

U: Unashamed - Memphis May Fire

V: Voodoo - Get Scared

Voodoo - Ghost Town

W: Wasp - Motionless In White

X: Xanax - Zoume

Excuse Me - Fire From The Gods (close enough lmao)

Y: Year Zero - Ghost

Z: Zombie Dance - Escape The Fate

Zombie Hop - Zombina And The Skeletones

I'm gonna tag @you-mass-effect-my-dragon-age , @angelicichor , @alostlittlehedgewitch , @dollxprincess , @ilana-the-lasagna , @tentori21 , @euryynome , @prxttypeony and if anyone sees this and wants to do it tag me so I can read your list!

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 19 Airheads (Part 1)

Now, we’re back. Until the Shanghai Special next week.

“You must learn to empower the staff itself”

“Focus, imbue it with your will” “What does that have to do with the Gronk-Nuks Hitter?” “Gronk-Nuks- It’s not a Gronk-Nuks Hitter! Those things don’t even exist!” “Rule number 3!”

“AAAAHHHH!!! My gronk-nuks! Not again!”

“Yeah, if we need to teleport an olive or a baby mouse”

“Opps!”

“What did you just say?”

“I said you have an awesome staff and you totally deserve it”

“Even though you lost the Killstone”

“Excuse me, Mr. God King”

“You were in charge of getting the stone”

“And you blew it!”

“Uh”

“Should we stop them?”

“Uh... nah”

“This is the Forge. Let them spar” Translation: “Killing each other is legal here”

“And if Jim were here-” “But Jim’s not here. You know where he is?”

“Jim’s getting chewed out right now by Mulan’s ghost family”

“The council was right”

“What did my father say?”

“We were once concerned your devotion would get your team killed”

“We now fear it is your team that will get you killed”

“He said that”

“we need to step it up”

“And that’s not just coming from him. That’s coming from me, too” Liar.

“I have a package i need delivered to my sister, Sagdwella!”

“She lives under a trailer park in Oo-tah” Is there a place called Oo-tah, or is she talking about the state Utah?

“Wait a minute. You want me to mail something?”

“Your post office is more efficient than our carrier mice trolls. I hear USPS is the best one”

“Whatever you do”

“Do not open it!”

“I’ve got my eye on you” Wrong person to keep your eye on.

“Hey, Jim, look at me!”

“I got it! I got it!”

“I don’t got it!

“I don’t got it!”

“I don’t got it, i don’t got it, i-”

“AAAAHHHH!!! My gronk-nuks! 2 times today!”

“So, what’s in the box?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re gonna open it”

“Yeah, Claire, it doesn’t matter”

“But aren’t you curious, though?”

“There could be, like, a tiny creature in there that can’t breathe, Jimbo!”

“Or an itty-bitty troll king whose little kingdom needs saving”

“Oh!”

“Or my soulmate!” “Does he even know if there’s a girl behind the mask?” “Like i told Blinky, i don’t think it matters” “This is just like my second favorite side of the love square: Ladrien. Adrienette is my favorite side” “My favorite side is Ladynoir” “Mine is Marichat”

“Just remember, don’t open the box”

“Don’t worry, dude”

“Postmaster Toby”

“And his assistant”

”Claire”

“Will handle with care”

“Oops!” And we all know where this is gonna go.

“King and queen nominees approach the truck. Place your hands on the vehicle”

“Should you cease contact with it at any time, you will be eliminated” Yeah, i seen shows with this as a challenge and it’s really a boring one.

“Hoo-hoo!’

“I just downed 10 energy drinks and i can go all night”

“Aren’t you worried you’ll have to use the bathroom?”

“Let’s just say, i’ve got it covered”

“Ooh! Are you wearing a diaper?”

“Hahaha!”

“Who’s the loser now, loser?”

No word.

“The Touch-A-Truck-athon”

“Begins!”

So, how’s it going?

“He gave us the easiest mission and we already screwed it up?”

And he opened it.

*Insert X-Files theme here*

“When do we get a pee break?”

“That’s the point, Miss. Wang. There are none” Another reason these sucks.

“Mr. Lake, i’ve been meaning to speak with you”

“I received word from a mutual acquaintance”

“Mr. Rot”

“He said you had lost something rather valuable the other day”

“I’ll get it back. Besides, Mr. Rot lost something valuable the other day, too. Miss. Nunez has it” “Tell Miss. Nunez, that Mr. Rot had also said fuck you” “And tell Mr. Rot, that Miss. Nunez said fuck you too” “Are they talking about Claire, her mom, her aunt, her grandma, her great grandma?”

“Oh, and i’m on my way to another lunch date with your mother”

“It’s a shame you won’t be able to join us”

“You don’t happen to have a breath mint on you, do you?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Yeah!”

“I have a breath mint”

They really got me.

“Adios, Shannon”

“Darci wins for the girls”

Being nice gets you eliminated.

“Ha! He’s dating your mom?”

“Whoa! Why didn’t i think of that?” Think of what? Date his mom? You wanna be Kakyoin?

“Mr. Domzalski, is there a problem?”

“No, just loving triangles”

“Then perhaps you can come up to the board and solve this one”

“I respectfully decline”

“Toby openly claims he is sexually declined to the whole class and Miss Janeth clearly did not approve it” Thank you TVTropes.

“The human skeleton completely regenerates every 7 years”

“Whoa, is that true? That’s crazy!” Gym coach learns something new every day.

And no else saw that.

“Coach Lawrence, um, i need the hall pass”

“Girl problems” Girl problems tell me about it. Such a pain.

“Toby! What are you doing up there?”

“I’ve never loved my school so much!”

“Still not giving up”

“And your breath smells worse than your diaper”

And they didn’t see Toby or Claire.

To be continued

Part 2

[miss-tc-nova]

Priorities - Hermod x Reader

Hey! I finally finished it! I’m kinda iffy but it was fun. I chose Hermod because I’ve had this concept in my head for a while and I didn’t think Bragi, Eraqus, or Xehanort fit the story. 

As for the Christmas zine, It’ll probably be posted well after Christmas and after the Christmas zine when the mods give the green light. But I will probably post a different Christmas related one beforehand. 

Anyway, enjoy a little Halloween mayhem with out sweet boy. 

~~~~~

              The grip around my shoulders tightens and his body goes rigid. Slate eyes closely follow the shambler but tension lets up only the slightest when they pass.

              “Hey, you okay?”

              Feeble is the attempted cover-up. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

              Halloween is fast approaching and the citizens of Scala Ad Caelum do what they always do: celebrate. Jack-o-lanterns line the streets, fake spiders and ghosts hang from all heights, and there’s a skeleton on every block. As for the more extreme, there’s a group of people who rent the town hall every year to put on a haunted house. Seeing as this is my favorite time of the year, this annual attraction is always a must-see for me. But this year, I’ve been invited by the keyblade warriors-in-training to tag along with them. There was one person who didn’t seem quite as thrilled though—he’s my boyfriend and he’s not exactly excited to be here.

               “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” I tell him, trying to reaffirm my words by drawing gentle circles against his hip. “We can go home if you want; I don’t mind.” I actually do but forcing him into something that makes him this anxious is borderline bullying.

              There’s a little more sincerity in this smile. “No, it’s alright. Besides, you’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”

              The corner of my lips pulls back. Oh what this boy wouldn’t do for me.

              This is where Smarmy Fluffcoat makes his entrance. “What are you lovebirds talkin’ about?”

              “Just talking about how amazing that kettle corn smells,” I answer. It’s actually my friendship with the redhead that led me to meeting the rest of the key kids, so I know full well that he’ll never shut up about it if he learns about Hermod’s unease.

              “Uh, right,” Hermod agrees. A peck lands on my temple. “I’ll go get some.”

              “Thank you, sweetheart.” I watch him amble towards the stall with kettle corn, giving a wide berth to the walking dead doing their thing.

              My boy re-joins the line, treat in hand, and the group screws around waiting for our chance to experience the fright. My brain keeps careful track of his behavior while also diverting the attention of our friends away from said behavior. But then the time comes: we’re next to enter the haunted house. At the front waits a woman who greets the visitors and runs through her spiel.

              “And just remember, don’t touch the actors; they won’t touch you.

              “I’m sorry, what?” A trace of fear belies Hermod’s feelings. “There are people in there?”

              I tug on his arm. “It’s okay. They’re not allowed to touch us,” I murmur. “Last chance to back out,” I whisper.

              There’s a nervous gulp but no answer. Pulling back the curtain, the woman coos, “Have fun guys.”

              Without waiting for any of the guys, Urd and Vor charge ahead. Bragi follows with a shrug and I take one last look at Hermod before leading him in, leaving Xehanort and Eraqus to bring up the rear. Only a few steps into the darkness, we hear Urd stumble.

              “Watch your step guys,” she calls back.

              Bragi follows with, “What is this?”

              My foot suddenly sinks, causing me to teeter. Hermod immediately pulls me back, putting a steadying arm around my waist. “Are you okay?!”

              “Yeah,” I laugh. “It’s a mattress.” Hermod wobbles but follows me across.

              Just as he steps off the obstacle, a light flashes on beside us, revealing a rotting face. The zombie screams and my boyfriend leaps back, stumbling into Xehanort who trips back onto the mattress. Eraqus helps his buddy back onto his feet and I manage to pull Hermod away from the terror.

              As we go through halls of dim light, spooky props, and loud noises, actors continue to vex us. Shocks and surprises earn shouts from everyone but most of us laugh it off. Unfortunately, Hermod’s obvious anxiety earns him quite a bit of heckling and it takes stepping between him and the actor or dragging him into the next room to de-escalate the situation. Nevertheless, his stress levels are visibly climbing—each encounter becomes more and more dramatic and I’m not exactly sure what he’s going to do when he hits his breaking point.

              “What’s the hold up?” Bragi asks, addressing our pause.

              “There’s a wall here,” Urd answers.

              Vor adds, “It’s squishy.”

              “Squishy?” Eraqus wonders out loud.

              “Yeah, it—woah!” Suspenseful silence overtakes us while we wait for Vor to explain her exclamation. “Hey, there’s a hole in this wall.”

              “Oh, it’s probably one of those squishy walls you have to push through,” I explain.

              “Oh yeah,” hums Bragi.

              One by one, we squeeze our way through, but the other side isn’t very welcoming to nervous visitors. When I finally escape the squishing trap, I find a very dim light at the far end of the hall. As we go, I can’t help thinking that this hall is suspiciously dark and even more suspiciously empty.

              Hermod’s hand disappears from my grasp and I’m jerked back sharply. Blinding light fills the room along with half a dozen screams but I recognize the back facing me. Worried these fight-or-flight instincts will end badly, I dart around him, throwing my arms around his waist. The erratic movements in his chest cease but I can still feel the chaos in his heart.

              “Keep moving!” Xehanort urges.

              Both his clammy hands remain clasped in mine while we move forward.

              There are only a couple rooms after that yet Hermod keeps his tension under control. Finally, we make it out of the haunted house with little more than a slightly dusty Xehanort and an abashed Hermod.

              The group wanders out of the path of the attraction exit, but I sneak my sweetheart off to the side.

              “Hey, are you okay?”

              Again, with the forced smile. “Yeah. Thank gods it’s over though.” A hand starts in my hair, sliding down to my cheek. Remnant trembling mars his fingers. “Did you have fun?”

              “I did.” Wrapping him in another hug, I nuzzle against his chest. “Thank you.”

              Suddenly, Bragi bursts out in a fit of laughter.

              “What in the world?” I murmur.

              “Not good if Bragi’s laughing,” grumbles Hermod.

              A little stall is stationed, with strings webbed along the top, perfectly displaying newly developed photos. These are images of that suspicious hallway and it clicks: the bright flash was a camera. That’s when I notice the picture all my friends are laughing at. Yes, Urd and Vor are surprised and Bragi is nearly choking Vor while Eraqus and Xehanort at the back look like deer in headlights, but it’s Hermod front and center. He looks ready to fight while I’m barely visible behind his arm.

              “Dude, what the hell were you doing?!” Bragi cackles, pointing at battle-ready Hermod.

              “Looks like he was ready to kick some ass,” snickers Xehanort.

              Glancing to my boyfriend, I see him wear an uncomfortable shade of red across his cheeks.

              Vor turns on him. “You’re a keyblade wielder-in-training. Why are you freaking out?”

              His shame is getting the better of him. “Th-That’s different; these are ghosts and zombies and demons and I’m not allowed to do anything about it!”

              His friends pick and poke at him, only agitating his ego.

              Loudly cutting in, I announce, “Well I’m flattered.” Various eyes watch as I pull the picture from the line and give the vendor a handful of munny.

              Smarmy retorts, “I’m sorry, did you happen to notice your boyfriend is a scaredy cat?”

              “Did you happen to notice, so are you?” I say, pointing at his murder attempt on Vor. “Besides, he acted on instinct to protect me.” Meeting Hermod’s gaze, I can’t help but smile. “That makes me feel pretty special.” His surprise turns to a sheepish smile. The photo whaps Fluffcoat. “At any rate, I’d hate to be your date to a haunted house. I’m surprised Vor’s still breathing to be honest.”

              Urd takes the photo from me and suddenly, everyone is ganging up on the redhead. I take this opportunity to slip away, Hermod in tow. A beautiful autumn tree hides us from bystanders.

              “Did you really mean that?” the boy whispers.

              “Yeah. Did you see the death grip he had on her?”

              He frowns. “No, the part about me…”

              My touch proves much softer and smoother against his calloused fingers. “Of course I did. It’s nice to know that you’re looking out for me.”

              Now that is a real smile. “You’re too important for me to let something happen to you.” Foreheads bump together. “You’ll always be my top priority—even if the others tease me.”

              Around his neck slink my arms. “Even if I do?”

              It’s a sigh, but also a smile. “Even if you do.”

              “My hero.”

              His lips, like his hands, are a bit rougher than mine but Hermod’s kisses are always gentle and sweet. My stomach squirms, leaving me with a happy high.

              Before he kisses me a second time, I tack on, “And I’m not teasing.”

[yandere-wishes]

All Hallow’s Queen //Yandere! Samhain x reader//

Happy Halloween beloveds, hope you enjoy!!

All hallow’s night was your most beloved holiday. A celebration taken through countless alterations to wind up as the spectacular festival it was today. It was quite effortless for him to notice just how truly passionate you were about the modern adaptation of his holiday. And yet there was certain evidence that you knew more about the fete than you let on. 

Contrary to other houses around this city, yours was surrounded in dozens upon dozens of jack o lanterns. All with horrific designs carved into them and large burning candles were their guts were once stored. Some had mysterious symbols carved into them, while others had the faces of ghastly creators with spiky horns and slit eyes. From their positions, one might be under the impression that they where royal knights defending a fortress from unspeakable danger. Thought he knew what their true purpose and frankly he was rather hurt that'd you'd go to such extremes just to avoid a run-in with his kind. 

Maybe the second inkling has in your mannerisms, how you'd make sure never to cross the threshold of your house when giving sweet treats to the young naive children. Or maybe from the hex bag dangling from your neck, one that had everyone fooled as just an accessory to your lavish costume. Or maybe it was the full mask, shielding away your exquisite face from his weary yellow eyes. One so morbid it would make a few of his minions cower. 

Samhain had to admit that in the past hundred years or so he'd seen very few individuals who still believed in the old tales of Halloween. He'd never particularly questioned it, being old enough to know that fear and absolute power -even if only for one night- was never permanent. Still some Halloweens nights he'd ponder on what had changed all so many years ago. When had the world forgotten his existence? When had the humans forgotten to fear the beasts of the night? Was he simply reduced to sitting on a park bench giving treats and blades to young children? One's who looked at his face and cowered in fear whilst the passing adolescents complimented his "costume". It was pathetic in his opinion, he used to rule the world this one night. king of everything now king of simply nothing. He was fading away to the modern era, fading fast to live out the rest of his meaningless days in a pit in hell. 

And yet through an unexpected coincidence, you'd grabbed his eyes one night three days passed. Seeing you so desperate to remain safe that supernatural night, had sparked a sense of purpose back into him. No longer did he wish to sit on a bench as humans passed him by. No longer would he leave his minions to rot away in their own depression. No no no! This night he would be king again! Rule the night as he was once meant to. I'd be perfect, the most ideal night brought on by human ignorance and self-pride. His subjects could feast on so many unsuspecting victims, howl at the bright moon, posses any vessel they desired, pry on whoever, they wished. 

The streets would be flooded with human blood.

Carnage, pure carnage. 

Just as it should be!

And he the king would sit on his throne of skulls and pumpkins. Watching the elegant massacre take place. Come, the strike of 8:00 pm he'd being the attack. But first! There was one delicate matter to be taken care of fist. 

You were rather joyous this particular Halloween. Your normal count of trick or treaters had augmented by what you suspected to be sixty-six kids in counting. You hadn't exactly perceived such a turnout and yet were overjoyed. Simply praying that your candy stash would sustain until the end of the night. 

Shutting the door and lifting your mask to the top of your head. You began to make your way to the garage where you had one extra box of cany stored. Passing by the spirit masks,  engravements, and harvest baskets on your way. As you pulled out the box and carried it to the front door, you began to feel a sudden chill in the air. The houses seemed to have gotten darker the air stiffer, thicker even. Gulping you set the box down and grabbed hold of your necklace, chanting an ancient prayer whilst you shut your eyes tight hoping the evil spirit would pass by you. releasing your breath you slowly cracked your eyes open. The room certainly had gotten brighter. It wasn't until you full released the hex bag and opened your eyes that you noticed what exactly the light was. 

There stood a...man in front of you. Although his appearance matched no humans so to speak. His shaggy orange hair hung like cave stalactites on his skeleton white face. His bright yellow eyes seemed to radiate more light than any candle you had ever seen. Small black slits made up his entire pupils. An orange black glow emitted from his persona, reflecting as it caught on his Sharpe knife life nails. You let out a scream earsplitting and blaring, your eyes burned with tears as you cowered away in fear. Too overwhelmed to fully process any though other than fear. 

Seeing this the mysterious creature gave you an opened mouth smirk, displeasing his bat-like teeth. Another scream as you tried to run. Where you didn't know, only away, far away. And yet you couldn't move you where immobilized. Left on display for this thing to examine. Blood tricked down your nose and emitted an obnoxious noise as it hit the ground. 

"Why hello my dear, how are you on such a pleasant night?"

Your mouth moved to form words yet no sound ever leaving your vocal cords. 

"Do speak up now" 

You finally crooked a low 'please' as you began to sob. 

"Come now I surely can't be such an awful sight love! I do find my self rather ravishing compared to those anthropoids that have taken rule of this world."

Your eyes dared to look up, to meet his, they bore into your soul-filling your every sense numbing you and making your brain go fuzzy. 

"I must admit I'm rather impressed by the amount of effort you've put into avoiding any unpleasant encounters tonight of all nights! Lucky for you it's simply me you as come for you, love"

"Who the hell are you" Somehow you'd managed to swallow enough bravery to scream out an obvious question. Maybe you weren't as informed as he'd originally thought still....

"Why my dear! I'm the one and only Samhain! The dame origin of halloween, the master of all monsters, the ruler of fear itself."

Good god, this was bad! racking your brain trying to find a spell you may have chanted wrong or a sigil you had forgotten. "Please" you began to beg timidly again. "Please release me I am of no use as a sacrifice.."

He raised a sharp thin eyebrow pushing his lips to one side. "Whoever said anything about a sacrifice, no no, I've come here to personally thank you! My, youve open the eyes of this rotting soul. Shown me I can still take back my throne!"

It didn't make sense, the room span as you lost more blood from your nose. Small droplets began to fall from your lips. You'd done everything to keep these creatures away, how had it not worked. Worst you had someone attracted their king! 

Blood and tears ran down your face, again you looked up at his bright face. "I only tried to remain safe" you paused a thought floating into your head. "Your grace". 

"no need for formalities dear, especially I'm bestowing the honor of my queen onto you" 

Eyes wide you screamed "No! No! Please no, leave me alone please!" Why oh why? No answers where given. 

"Dearly you don't seem to understand, you have no choice in this. I AM RULER I CHOICE YOUR FATE. If you didn't want this to occur you might have wanted to try and be as oblivious as all the other measly humans on this rock." he spat. 

You where being punished for being too aware. Caught the eye of Halloween it's self by trying to ward off evil. Irony was rather bittersweet your favorite holiday had deemed you it's queen and yet the very thing you rid to repel had come with it. Samhain's queen what a tragic fate indeed. 

Happy Halloween~ 

[ilovethetalkingclock]

A Not-Sew-Magical Sequel (LALALOOPSY CREEPYPASTA)

(WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS CONTENT LIKE LANGUAGE, GORE, DEATH, PARASITES, DROWNING AND DARK COMEDY. IF YOU GET SCARED BY THIS, DON'T YELL AT ME FOR IT. YOU CHOSE TO READ IT.) 

(story under the cut, based on a dream I had)

(don’t worry, it’s not a screamer, i’d never do that.)

No matter how many years passed and will pass, I liked and will still like Lalaloopsy. All the characters and concepts were and still are very interesting (though Jewel was always my least favorite) and the couple episodes I saw of both the original show and the reboot of Netflix were cute and in the case of the reboot actually very emotional. I also watched all the movies and while a majority of them were slightly flawed one way or another, that didn’t stop them from being good. Hearing the toys being discontinued and the Netflix show canceled indeed made my heart sink.

But that’s not all what I wanted to talk about. Onto Lala-Oopsies.

If you don’t recall, Lala-Oopsies was a spinoff line. As the name suggested, the characters were in mixed rainbow colors and body proportions that deviated from the usual Lalaloopsy dolls, looking like, in my own words, mutants. They came as princess/ballerina hybrids and mermaids, with the ‘Littles’ (which in the original Lalaloopsy line, were the younger sisters) as fairies. They had one movie, “Lala-Oopsies: A Sew Magical Tale”. It was like all the others, cute, a bit funny, and a simple Lalaloopsy adventure with the Lala-Oopsies.

What I never knew was that they were apparently planning on a sequel.

I was at a garage sale of sorts (i know, very cliche) when I found a blank DVD case. Here’s what it read:

“LALA-OOPSIES-SEQUEL(UNFINISHED)”

“Is this a joke?”

“Oh, that!” The owner of the sale noticed me and casually went on “I worked at MGA Entertainment… they were making a sequel to the Lala-Oopsies movie… some guy decided to make that, apparently as a joke, and he was fired as it had quite a bit of… crazy stuff. We decided to cancel it altogether as we didn’t have any other ideas... We were handed copies of it from the guy who made it before he was fired. The footage is all there. There’s a lot more stuff that happened after that, but I don’t really wanna go into full detail. If you wanna know completely, it’s worth only a dollar. Not somethin’ I’d wanna watch again.”

Out of morbid curiosity, I agreed to buy the thing.

So I went home, made sure to get my DVD player on, and opened the case. There were two discs. One that read “MOVIE” and another that just had random scribbles on it. I tried to make out if the second one actually said anything, but I couldn’t read it for shit. I got out the one that read “MOVIE”, making sure it was the film itself, and placed it in.

Hoo boy, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

There was no menu or trailers, though that was kinda expected considering it was unfinished. It just went straight to the movie.

It all looked official one way or another. Some scenes were fully animated, others were simple animatics, others were in between. But I’ll just say before we get on that it was not at all the usual Lalaloopsy fare. There was no sign of anyone’s pets at all throughout the whole movie.  There wasn’t any music, like, at all, and that just made it a bit more unsettling.

Well, most of it wasn’t. It started off like your usual Lalaloopsy movie. Bea was walking down a path and singing a song about math to herself. A rather bad one, if you ask me. So bad, I have easily forgot about it. While walking, she finds the door that leads to Lala-Oopsies Land.

As the first movie took place in mostly a story that Bea was reading, she is surprised that apparently Lala-Oopsies are true. She leaves to find her friends, the rest of the Original 8 to be exact, and tell her all about it. This exchange from the conversation is what mainly caught me off guard.

Jewel: “So you just managed to find something from a story you read once in reality? I don’t believe it one bit.”

Spot: “Jewel. This is felting BEA SPELLS-A-LOT we’re talking about. The brains? The genius? The nerd? The know-it-all? She doesn’t seem to be making it up.”

Was felt their way of saying fuck? That was not in the other Lalaloopsy stuff I knew, as it was aimed at young children. I figured that was at least one of the reasons it was never finished. I decided to keep watching to find more reasons.

The Lalaloopsies were at the door to Lala-Oopsies Land, and as she didn’t believe it before as shown by the previous exchange I wrote about, Jewel was understandably dumbfounded. “Felt me, there really is a Lala-Oopsies Land…”

So of course they all opened the door and entered. Only as it turned out Lala-Oopsies land… wasn’t exactly as the story told.

The skies were orange like the original, but were more of a sickly shade of it. The ground was grey, rotted, and corpse-like. The mushroom ‘trees’ looked much more like actual fungi, and the strawberry-milk rivers and seas looked spoiled and curdled, and I could even make out a skeleton (presumably of a drowned Oopsie) in them. Bea probably put it best.

“Well… it seems the book apparently romanticized a couple details…”

The group decided to venture in and explore anyway. I couldn’t help but bring up the fact that a couple of them coughed quite a bit when they went in. Okay, scratch that, they were coughing violently, like they just inhaled smoke.

Pillow: “Felting seamstress, this place is polluted.”

As they were walking through, some sort of large insectoid jumped right on Peanut’s face Alien-style. Now I could really see why this movie didn’t make it. Obviously, everyone was panicking at the sight and trying to get the bug off. It wasn’t until like half a minute that Bea managed to find a stick on the ground and strongly swatted the insect away from Peanut’s face, though it seemed she also hit the face from this dialogue...

Peanut: “TRY AVOIDING THE FACE YOU IDIOTIC FELTING STITCH.”

...and stabbed the insect multiple times, pink-ish blood spraying from the body, gore getting everywhere. The other seven were so disgusted that Crumbs vomited right on-screen from the sight. Organs were coming out of the creature as Bea stabbed, and as I looked close enough the organs seemed rather human-like. That was pretty weird as the insect didn’t look human at all. 

Well at least I found another reason for this movie’s rejection.

Before Bea turned the monster into an unrecognizable bloodied mush, I could make the colors of the insect to be that of the Lala-Oopsies fairy Lilac, hot pink and sky blue. Nah, I’m pretty sure it was just a coincidence. And yet…

Oh, that reminds me of another scene that happened later on.

The eight were venturing on into the islands riding on some sort of old rusted boat they found, and then suddenly some sort of sea serpent or something like that i dunno with the same color scheme as the mermaid Water Lily rose from the rotted strawberry milk oceans. Bea tried to row the boat away, but the monster attacked and even picked Jewel up and devoured her. There wasn’t any doll stuffing or anything cute like that. Jewel’s remains actually spurted crimson blood and human entrails as she was being chomped down on and eventually swallowed. Screaming as if the actress herself was getting violently disemboweled.

I can still hear her agonized screams as I write this, so that’s pretty annoying. 

Pillow’s reaction perfectly described mine.

“HOLY FELTING SILK.”

My god... how the heck was a doll said to be sewn from a dress able to have human blood and guts?! Then again, it was a cartoon… a rather gory one if ya ask me.

In all honesty though, Jewel’s death was horrific yet satisfying for me. I never liked her the slightest.

During the attack, Mittens and Spot fell into the strawberry milk ocean as the boat was destroyed. It didn’t show the rest of what happened to them so I can safely assume they were either eaten or drowned. Or both.

So the ones left were Crumbs, Peanut, Dot, Pillow, and Bea.

They latched onto the boat’s remains as they headed to a large island.

The island’s inhabitants were all the princess ballerinas, both in the first movie and toy-exclusive, mutated to grotesque proportions, their hair all mussy and in tangles. Most of the princess’s faces were obscured by their hair, but the ones I was able to see were distorted in such a way I can’t really describe that well, though I’ll admit they looked pretty damn cool. Oh, their clothes were also a wreck too so yeah.

Crumbs became an idiot and decided to go up close to one (can’t remember which, i think it was Saffron?) to try and approach it friendly enough.

Saffron, like a wild animal, lunged at Crumbs and proceeded to violently rip her to shreds, and sure enough it was just as gruesome as Jewel’s death.

I remember just thinking to myself, “what the hell was this person on when making this?”

And yes, the remaining girls were horrified by that too and ran from the princesses as fast as they could.

Remember the scene I mentioned earlier with Peanut apparently getting attacked by that bug? Welp, they didn’t forget about that. Peanut immediately fell over, having a rather violent fit as she struggled for breath, her skin deteriorating as multi-colored insect larva ate their way out of her everywhere, some even lunging out like the chestbursters in Alien. (yes I know I already made that comparison before but still) They then proceeded to lunge at Pillow and devour her alive as she could only scream and the final two, Bea and Dot, could only watch.

As Pillow was honestly one of my most favorite Lalaloopsy, I just felt awful watching that.

Another princess, Anise, which I recognized full and clear with her pink and blue coloring, approached what remained of Pillow and grabbed some of the larvae, putting it in her mouth and devouring it, as her mouth was coated in a rainbow goo like that one My Little Pony episode with the zombies. 

I would say it was disgusting, but a mutant doll eating a worm was the least of my worries. 

She managed to speak words, which was strange because the princesses here were, again, mostly animalistic. Her voice was rather gravely, only vaguely sounding like the original.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING COMING TO A PLACE LIKE THIS?”

Okay, they weren’t even trying with that line.

Anise proceeded to grab Bea and beat her, but thankfully Bea was able to kick Anise right in the face, knocking her out before the grotesquely mutated princess could finish the job. Dot swiftly took Bea’s hand. Struggling to get up at first, the badly bruised Bea managed to get on her feet and run as Anise came to.

As they ran, Bea and Dot finally found the door where they came in. It tugged my heartstrings seeing the two tearfully look back, apparently reminiscing their friends, before leaving Lala-Oopsies Land for good.

It then cut to Bea in bed, very ill. She was apparently covered in radiation tumors and her hair was almost gone. Apparently the island was highly radioactive. Dot was next to her bed in tears, as Bea weakly said her final words.

“I’m sorry, Dot… sorry… for everything...”

Violently coughing blood, Bea finally kicked the bucket as Dot sobbed hysterically. The movie cut to black and ended there with, surprise-surprise, no credits whatsoever.

All I thought of was “How the hell did Bea get sick from radiation poisoning but Dot didn’t?”

So anyway I took the movie disc out and put in the one with all the scribbles.

It was a compilation of recorded clips, all of them surprisingly in the MGA Entertainment headquarters itself I presume.

One clip I remember was a Lala-Oopsies Princess Anise doll flying, chasing a random employee as said employee was in a panic. Yea it was a weird one.

Another consisted of another employee testing out a Princess Juniper doll. As they were squishing the head, (the Lala-Oopsies dolls had squishy foam heads) the doll suddenly started to bleed violently. Not gonna lie, I laughed at what the employee said.

“GOD DAMN IT GARY WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT MAKING THE DOLLS BLEED.”

Last one I remember was two employees talking to each other. One of them asked the other,

“What exactly was your motivation in making this weird-ass movie?”

The other employee just responded in a weird reverse demonic gibberish I didn’t have time to translate. The first employee’s only response was a flat “what”. Exactly my reaction too. I decided that was enough and took out that disc and put it away.

Where’s the case now?

In one of my shelves. I’m keeping it. I just think it’s pretty unique in a way.

Not like it’s cursed or anything.

The End

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, REY! You’ve been accepted for the role of LAMPRIUS. Admin Julie: when I was writing Lucien there was a part of me desperate to see how his desire to revenge could culminate in a greater way, and Rey, you nailed it to a T. Reading this application word-for-word, piece-by-piece, really showed me just how much you understand Lucien and who he is in the ways that matter. From his profession, to his general attitude towards life, to how he uses his own name as a mask and the lengths he’ll go to ensure that mask stays in place? Ugh, just, like, kill me now. It was a wonderful read, and with the plots you’ve provided, I cannot wait for you to absolutely wreak havoc with him on the dashboard. Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER IN CHARACTER

Alias | Rey

Age | 25+

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | I am able to log in at least once a day! On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say 7. 

Timezone | PST

How did you find the rp?  | Current player referral! 

Current/Past RP Accounts | https://revoluticn.tumblr.com/

IN CHARACTER

Character | Lamprius - or Lucien. 

These days, you have your husband’s last name, Ivarsson but it’s hard to remember what your family name was before that. Or more like, you have willfully forgotten it. You aren’t of a bloodline or a people, but of a city - and that is Verona. Your pain created you, the streets molded you, and the Witches defined you. This city is as much you as you are it. When you think of yourself, you first think not of the name your mother gave you (Lucien) but the name you were given and have subsequently chosen: Lamprius. Everyday when you wake up , you have the opportunity to mold yourself into whatever this city needs you to be in order to keep the balance; you have the opportunity to rename yourself and recreate yourself, and every day you wake up and you choose Lamprius. The soothsayer. There’s power in the truth and you know it’s what this city needs more than anything else. 

What drew you to this character? | 

Revenge, a dish best served cold, also happens to be my favorite meal. Time and time again I find myself drawn to characters that are driven or motivated by revenge. Over the course of his skeleton, Lamprius’s personal journey with his revenge goes through its own metamorphosis and I’ve fallen in love with that journey. 

After the unjust death of his father, it is Lamprius’ drive for revenge that causes the Witches to notice him and deem him worthy enough to recruit. But Lamprius stands out from your average vendetta-boi because he is a character that must quell the impulse to act on his personal vendettas for the sake of the greater good (which, in this case, means for the sake of the city.) Unlike other literary characters that have similar motivators, ones who will eventually transcend their need for revenge or be consumed by it, Lamprius learns to live with the dissatisfaction that he’ll never really get what he really wants… and he must learn to be okay with that. The Witches have instilled in him a greater sense of purpose, they’ve given him the resources and the tools to keep Verona in line. After the passing of his mother, the three of them even give him a family. For the longest time, Lamprius is a character who attempts to rise above their own personal need for vengeance and is instead trying to focus on giving Verona what it needs: balance. He finds acceptance in that. 

And then the Witches die. 

Suddenly, that taste for vegengence he’s held at arm's length for so long becomes the very way he is going to protect the Witches' legacy.  Suddenly, Lamprius feels justified in his want to burn the Montagues and the Capulets from the inside out. Now, in Lamprius’ eyes, purging the city of the Montagues and Capulets is the best way to bring back that balance to the city. I think of him like Adrian Veidt from Watchmen, willing to go to absurd extremes for the sake of humanity. 

Lamprius’ history with the Witches has really piqued my interest as well. His connection to them reminds me so much of Arya Stark’s “a girl has no name” arc from Game of Thrones (the tv show. I’ll admit, I could never get past GRRM’s writing to finish the books.) In many ways it doesn’t matter who Lamprius was before he was with the Witches, because a big part of his story is the erasure of his old self and the ascension into something new thanks to their tutelage. Who are the Witches then? An enigma, even in their death (perhaps more so in their death.) Lamprius’ connection to this clandestine trio feels like it is fraught with opportunity to create some really interesting lore that draws from other secret societies or underground networks of spies that have a code of morals or a higher goal. 

Even in his day to day interactions, Lamprius feels like such a fun character to write. He’s cunning and quiet and he becomes a pillar of Verona’s community maybe because of his perceived kindness - or maybe because he is a very good puppeteer. His quiet and kind persona is a wonderful mask for something far more layered underneath. As seen with his connection to Loretta, he has the ability to get people to trust him, hence his unending list of contacts. It’s too easy to call Lamprius ‘good’ because of his quiet nature, peel back his skin and you will see he is one of the rare characters that is a true neutral. He has a greater loyalty to the city as a whole than any specific group of people. Lamprius has the ability to be as dark as he is light, as viscous as he is soft. I imagine him a chameleon, not necessarily one with malicious intent, simply one who can weaponize their empathy. Over the years, the Witches have taught him plenty, including how to see through the eyes of many. Lamprius is the soothsayer who doesn’t shy away from deceit; he understands one’s lies can reveal greater truths about themselves. Rarely does one get to play characters that are truly this fluid. 

I’m really excited to explore where Lamprius goes from here and I’ve outlined some of my thoughts on it below: 

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? | 

I. “SOME RISE BY SIN, AND SOME BY VIRTUE FALL.” 

You are a Witch and, like all the Witches that came before you, Verona is your city to watch over. For years Hecate, Circe, and Medea placated your need for revenge by reaffirming a higher call. They gave you family when you needed it most. They not only gave you the tools for a better city, but they gave you purpose and hope as well. Verona is a city torn up by war, your life has been altered by it first hand, and in you they saw a chance to take that pain and shape it into a force for good. 

And then the Witches, in all their goodness, were strung up by the very city they were trying to save. 

It has set you on a single-minded path of revenge. Your teachers are dead and you are a student who, for the first time, must decide on their own. And your decision is this: the gangs of this city will rot Verona from the inside out if you don’t do something. You are a Witch and Verona is your city to watch over. For the first time, there is no one to stop you from stepping onto this single-minded path. 

[ Revenge. Lamprius is actively looking to bring about the end of the Capulets and the Montagues. He plans on doing this through  finding and aligning himself with people who have also been wronged by this war. It takes one to know one, and Lamprius can tell when someone has the same steady heart for vengeance as him. He intends to harness other’s need for revenge to fuel this movement. He’s already shown Harley a card from his hand and he thinks Loretta has what it takes to be a player. Armand, however, might be a mistake….but only time will tell. While his skeleton particularly calls out how he sees this in Harley, Loretta, and Armand, I imagine this could be a broader plot too as he interacts with as many citizens of Verona as he can. At the end of the day, anyone who thinks the way he thinks, who believes what he believes, is welcome to help… though Lamprius is not foolish enough to think that all alliances come without price. Not only would I love to see Lamprius rack up alliances, I would love to see him rack up promises and debts associated with those alliances.] 

II. “GOD HAS GIVEN YOU ONE FACE, AND YOU MAKE YOURSELF ANOTHER.” 

You were always skilled at slipping into people’s lives without putting on too much of a show. They’d blink and suddenly you’d be there, as certain and unwavering as the truth, as integral to their livelihood as the foundation of any home. You can physically only be in one place at one time, but the Witches taught you how to transcend your limitations by using the eyes and ears of others. 

Trust is earned and you earn it through careful orchestration. You play coincidence like a symphony. A broken in-apartment, and you are the one there to help the scared tenant. An ailing mother, and you are the visitor whose own mother is dying in the hospital room next door. “I know where you’re coming from, believe me,” are words that have left your mouth so many times, they may as well be the air that fills your lungs. 

You are a therapist as your day job; respected as a doctor, trusted as a friend. People burden you with their innermost truths and you play whatever part they need you to be in order to make them feel like you’ve fixed them. There’s never a dry eye on your office couch by the end of a session and all of these people, some who have only known you for a grand total of one hour, think of you as their closest confidante. As well as they know, they are the same to you. A small suggestion here, a gentle prod there, and suddenly they are set off on a new path of your own devices. You’re both a ghost and a shadow, simultaneously ever present and constantly shifting. Your empathy is fluid, just like the rest of you.

You find yourself setting up a chessboard, as you seek out allies in all these people that you meet. You know the importance of a long game -your patience is unparalleled- but you are not afraid to knock a piece off the board if you must. You are the Soothsayer who gets to the truth of things through lies. 

[ One of my favorite implications of the skeleton is that Lamprius is a puppeteer. He creates these Rube Goldbergian schemes that utilize the natural way of the city to bring about an allyship with someone. He is the butterfly that flaps its wings and creates a tornado, and nothing is ever a coincidence. I really want to lean into this with his plots. As mentioned, his friendship with Loretta Delluci shows that he’s not beneath orchestrating an introduction. But, as also seen in the case of Loretta, it’s clear that if Lamprius sees this whole thing as a game of chess, there are some people that are pieces while there are others that are players. He’s too good to let this perspective slip past his lips uncensored, but even if it did, his job as a therapist is an easy explanation for his tendency to psychoanalyze. Are there moments when he borderline feels like Hannibal Lector from the show Hannibal? Absolutely. I’d love him to actually be the therapist for some of the other characters and I would like every new person he “meets'' to never be a coincidence. Or, when a true coincidence occurs, I want it to genuinely surprise him. One of Lamprius’ traits is that he has a lot of resources and while a lot of those are inherited from the Witches, he’s obtained plenty from the connections he forms as well.

Also: Ya boi’s a therapist. Verona really needs therapy. ]

III. “BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES” 

You’ve seen what it’s like to be a God to men who don’t even believe in higher powers. There are men in Verona who refuse to pray at a pew, but still think twice before speaking ill of a Witch. This is the way things should be - but it doesn't take long for men to see themselves as God-Killers. 

How do they not see how they’ve damned their city! The Witches, in all their mystery, were not esoteric about their love for Verona. Yes, your time with them has instilled a great need to avenge them, but it has similarly inspired a need to see them reborn stronger than ever. 

Verona needs a new set of Witches. It’s a truth that you, Lamprius the Soothsayer, cannot deny. 

[ Time to form a new coven! As Lamprius goes about enacting his revenge, I also want him to seek out other truly neutral characters in the hopes of creating a new set of Witches to watch over Verona. I would love to set it up like a secret society - Verona’s very own Illuminati. A clandestine organization that has the same intentions of Watchman's Ozymandias. Lamprius would be just as vigorous as Hecate, Circe, and Medea to make sure he chose right. I am also eager to see what changes to the Witches’ creed comes with this new version.] 

IV. “VENGEANCE IS IN MY HEART, DEATH IN MY HAND, BLOOD AND REVENGE ARE HAMMERING IN MY HEAD.”

Everyday you try to become something a little more than human. There’s a merciless level of selflessness that comes with avenging the Witches and each day you work hard to climb up to that pedestal. 

But then there’s Ronan - he doesn’t know the name Lamprius. He calls you Lucien and when he does, you almost want it to be your only name. He grounds you with his gravity and makes you feel a warmth in your cheeks. You have been living with your pain for years, so long that you have stopped noticing it. In fact, you’ve stopped noticing your heart existed in your chest at all. Instead, you’ve learned how to empty yourself out. You invent emotion, you choose how to feel. Your heart has become a machine, through which you feed a very precise and particular code. But then he calls you Lucien and your heart gives a single, mighty beat, and it’s all flesh and blood again. 

[ Reestablishing the Witches? Destroying the Montagues and the Capulets? These are lofty goals that may require nothing short of a God to accomplish - and as much as he likes to pretend otherwise, Lamprius is just a man. I don’t want his path to his goals to be easy, and for a man who loves to carefully orchestrate everything, I’m always looking for wrenches to throw in his plans. Give me people like Ronan who inspire doubt in himself, or give me people who catch on to what he’s doing and are outright trying to stop him. ] 

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Yes!

IN DEPTH

What is your favorite place in Verona? | 

(An acquaintance.) 

He knows his answer, but like most things he tries to see if he can find the answer she most wants to hear. It can feel like a game at times, and for Lamprius it can be just as fun. But there’s a method to this madness. He gives her a warm look over the edge of his champagne glass and manages to elegantly swipe another for her from a passing tray. Around them, the crowd of the gala mills about like smoke. 

She’s religious if he remembers overhearing her other conversation correctly. Catholic, but lapsed. Yes, that’s it. Even at this Christmas party, she’s mentioned it two too many times to be something she isn’t agonizing over and he can see the guilt of it in her eyes. His true answer is far from the one he gives her: 

“The Cathedral. My mother and I used to walk through it together every Christmas morning. Before sunrise, before the crowds got there. We could hear our steps echo through the chamber. When the sunrise hit the paintings on the ceiling, I thought it was magic.”

There it is, he sees her eyes widen with recognition of herself in his story. 

“I used to go there every year with my mother too.” 

His warm grin widens. I know, he thinks, but he raises his glass in an informal toast. “Well how about that?” 

What does your typical day look like?  | 

(A friend.) 

Lucien is in the midst of rolling up the sleeves to his sweater, when he gets asked what his typical day looks like. He raises an eyebrow at the question posed by his friend. Maybe it’s a trick of the light, but it almost looks as if the corners of his lips are quirked up in the slightest smile. 

“Don’t tell me our conversation has gotten so boring that you’re now asking about my day to day. I know I’m quiet, but I thought I was doing better than that.”

His words tease. Besides, they don’t even know what they’re asking. His day to days are simply veneer. Wake up, go to work, show face at an event. All of it clockwork. It’s his nights that show the true him, that’s when he descends into the shadows of the city and plays its people like a harp. 

“Is this your way of avoiding my question about how your day went? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” 

What has been your biggest mistake thus far? | 

(A patient.) 

He sits in his office, full attention on the young man in the seat across from him. It’s his last appointment for the day, or rather, his last appointment was two hours ago, but Lamprius is holding himself  to the decision that this will be the last one. He’s in his element here, and the air settles calm around him. Outside evening blankets the city. “Would you like some tea?” He asks. 

To which his patient blurts out “What has been your biggest mistake thus far?” unofficially starting the session. Lamprius examines the other down the length of his nose and realizes that they’re still having the conversation they had during the last time they met. 

Lamprius doesn’t think Asher would very much understand his biggest mistake thus far. Inaction. He closes his eyes and imagines the swinging bodies of those that meant so much to him; he feels the weight of that loss for the city as a whole, it sits in his chest and in his throat and on his shoulders. His body betrays him in the slightest as he pushes his pen down into the notepad. An ink bleed spreads from where he’s stabbed it with such force. 

But Lamprius opens his eyes immediately, the pause is as quick as a blink, and the therapist knows what he has to say to his patient. 

“I didn’t say goodbye to my mother when I had the chance.” 

He didn’t, but that’s another kind of hurt entirely, from a different lifetime. Lamprius taps his pen and then leans back into his seat; allowing his eyes to wander up to the ceiling in a show of vulnerability before saying: 

“All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us.” 

He offers up a small smile, like a faintest ray of sunlight filtering through a window. His gaze turns back on his patient. 

“Thanks, Gandalf, “ Asher mutters, but Lamprius clocks the way he relaxes his shoulders, the way he settles into his seat and allows himself to seem small and fragile in it. He sees this and knows he’s doing his job. Lamprius gives him a moment before softly clearing his throat. 

“How about we begin with you telling me about your day, Asher. Did you visit the hospital?” 

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?  | 

(His husband.) 

He’s by the kitchen table that Saturday morning when the question is asked of him. His neck is crooked at a certain angle, as his left hand props open the pages to the Epic of Gilgamesh. His right hand is equally occupied preparing a piece of toast - though right now he’s paused mid-motion, butter knife hovering over the butter. Lamprius unintentionally does this a few times - gets close enough to butter his toast, and then stops to flip the page. His husband’s question cracks the stillness of the air; the suddenness of it spilling like yolk. It almost makes Lamprius grip the butter knife like a proper knife. He is oh so rarely met with genuine surprise but his husband’s question holds a level of intimacy the two haven’t shared in years. For a second Lamprius’ mask almost slips and it’s good he has the words of Gilgamesh to hide behind. 

 He feels a tug that he was almost certain was forgotten. For a moment he is truly Lucien.

Finally, like an alligator emerging from the water, he peeks up over the top of his book so only his eyes show. He contemplates his words. Measures and cuts them so that they are a perfect fit. He doesn’t ask why Ronan is asking him such things on this halcyon Saturday morning, he simply answers. 

“Knowing there wasn’t anything I could do for my mother, “ His biological one, but also the three that came to raise him, “but watch the clock run out of time.” 

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?  | 

(A stranger.) 

They must be the only two people in the city that still read a physical print newspaper. Lamprius likes the feel of the pages; likes how easily it can become a barrier between him and the rest of the world. He visits this stand often, it’s the perfect distance between where he parks his car and the front door of his office. 

The man next to him, the one in the long dark coat, is a familiar face. It’s a judge, from the local courthouse. This makes sense seeing as they’re only a few blocks away from the building. Lamprius wouldn’t call him a regular of this newspaper stand. On this morning, the stranger points to the latest headline. Another fight has broken out in the city and Lamprius feels immediate abhorrence - but what he despises even more is how this judge has the audacity to ask ‘What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?’ The question sets off a blizzard in Lamprius, though he doesn’t show it. His lips threaten to curl back into a snarl. ‘How do you, a man of the law, know their names and still not know where you stand on the matter?’ Lamprius thinks coldly. 

He looks at this man and decides he doesn’t deserve the conversation. Some will always be willfully blind. If he’s a judge in this city and he still doesn’t know how he feels about this war, it isn’t Lamprius’ job to impart that caring onto him. He folds his newly purchased newspaper into a neat rectangle and tucks it under his arm before looking at the man, nothing but the perfect imitation of curiosity and confusion shining in his eye:

“What war?”

Extras: 

“In nature’s infinite book of secrecy, a little I can read.” - Lamprius, the Soothsayer 

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