#octavia front and center!

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Octavia Is Sidelined So Much In Favor Of Stolitz

Despite being used as an example of how Stolas is really a good person and father, I do notice overtime her importance in the series has dwindled. Seriously, despite how the narrative wants us to think she is the treasured jewel of his life the execution would have you say that her father is more distracted by his boy toy due to how Vivziepoop has overemphasized the Stolitz ship.

Take for example is "Seeing Stars" where he neglects his daughter and breaks his promise to see the event he promised years ago, because he's so wrapped up in his divorce and even goes to insult her mother in front of her (even though he's said in the past he's tried to shield his daughter from the ugly parts of his and Stella's relationship). However, now that he's divorcing he doesn't hesitate to be as ugly with Stella as possible which shows how really good of a father he is. Also when she goes missing despite saying that Blitzo's dick isn't enough to quell Stolas's anger when it's his daughter is involved... well it actually goes like that, because both Blitzo and Stolas can't help but flirt and be flustered around each other this whole episode. Instead of focusing on his daughter, he again is on Blitzo's dick and even worse his daughter has to forgive him for neglecting her.

Most egregious one of the them is at the end of "Western Energy" where we have the emphasis on how this affects Stolas and Blitzo's relationships especially those texts talking about their fall about Ozzie's. However, we never get focus on how Octavia felt after her father fucking almost bit the dust, because in the next episode that Stolas is in he's okay and again you would think he would be injured a bit more to show how serious Striker is. But nope due to Vivziepoop remembering he's a powerful demon, he recovers in a day and we don't see Octavia at least be escorted to the hospital to see him because again Octavia is only there when she's a tool to make him look better and not her own character.

And now we get to the music video of "Just Look My Way" where Octavia's mentions in it are scrubbed in favor of Blitzo which again shows how the narrative is favoring his boy toy over his own fucking daughter who is supposed to be the center of his world and not this person he's given up so much for. Seriously, it's why if Octavia appears again I will not take the narrative seriously because we know that despite all claims that her father will get distracted from being a parent and ogle over Blitzo because he's a selfish pos and yet Octavia will be the one who has to learn to tolerate his bs because he's got the author's favoritism.

I really at the first thought that Stolas relationship with his daughter was sweet, but then I realize like so many else it really lost it's potential once you realize that Octavia is just a prop to artificially make it seem like Stolas is a good father when in actuality he's selfishly putting her needs above hers in a situation he caused. And it's a result of the fact that the writers are just using her as a writing tool and not a full character. She isn't needed until it affects Stolas and even then the Stolitz ship zaps everything around it so that any attention that Octavia is taken away. In a way, Octavia's fears were justified her father would run off and leave her because the writers are.

[oversensitiveandoffputting]

So we know that Stolas has literally no concept of boundaries with Blitz and, to a lesser extent, Octavia. He flirts with Blitz right in front of her, talks about his sex life in front of her, and calls her mother a bitch to her face. We also know that he’s generally a great dad and these are more moments of cracking under a devastating amount of pressure than a serious reflection of his ability to parent.

I think most of us with toxic families wish we had fathers and mothers who could see we were in distress and just remove us from the bad situation (granted Stolas caused, but still) instead of telling us to suck it up and deal with it. And most of us with toxic families wish when we did something stupid, they’d hug us and apologize to us for being self-centered and not be angry, but forgiving and doting.

I think Stolas has few boundaries with Octavia because Paimon was so absent (and we’ve never seen his mother, who knows if she’s even alive) so he’s doing the thing my traumatized father did and a lot of traumatized parents do: he’s swinging violently in the opposite direction. “My father was so cold and unloving, so I’m going to tell my daughter everything on my mind all the time so she knows how much I love her.”

Which, is still bad. But I’d say it’s a lot more forgivable than Stella, who doesn’t seem to care about Octavia one way or another. And I doubt there’s many parenting books in Hell (and I especially doubt that a Goetia would be caught dead reading one).

I think Stolas and Octavia will have a good relationship in the future. Just maybe after some therapy. And books about boundaries.

[tallymonster]

Memories of Us Chapter 11

AO3 link

Masterlist because I'm too lazy to link all 10 chapters

A/N: So this is a bit of a preface to this chapter mostly because I'm a little nervous to post this. This chapter will contain sex. This is the first time I have been confident enough to write smut lol oh yeah and there's other stuff too but the smut is the thing that took me a min. Basically, sorry if it sucks lol.

Thanks to @micropoe10 and @leomonae for the idea of it and some lore/ fact checking.

All inspired by the art of @cheesy-cryptid ❤️ thanks for letting me use the fan art as inspiration

Chapter 11. Gold and Rust.

Now that things had settled down, Octavia could finally try to tackle his Szarr painting mystery. She had stolen some time by herself in the painting archives to take a closer look at the collection. 

It's dark and cold in the isolated storage room in the basement, the necessary environment to take care of a polyptych of 8 paintings depicting Cazador and 7 subjects. The grand artworks were meant to be hung in a giant pyramid formation that took up at least 8 feet by 10 feet. For now, they hang off the floating wall racks that keep them from being damaged.

Octavia flipped through the rack, slowly uncovering each subject, all of them were so similar in composition, with a few small differences separating them. 

They were all connected by the red ribbons that flow from each of the 7 subjects. All gathering at the top connecting to Cazador. His body wrapped around with the blood red ribbons, as if he was pulling the strings on these unwilling puppets. 

 They all have their faces obscured by something either directly in front of their faces or by the shadows cast around them. She continues to flip through, one by one until she stops at one; and as she stares, she can't help but feel like this looks like Astarion but not exactly the same? 

 His right arm was raised slightly above his head, a red ribbon wrapped around his hand. He wore a crown on top of fluffy white curls, attached to it was a white veil, with blood on the edge of it. His face was so close to Astarion’s own, but the jaw and nose weren't right. The eyes on the other hand…

Through canvas and paint, it feels as if they’re burning a hole directly at her. The face looks melancholic yet hauntingly beautiful. Its canvas is damaged towards the center, where the rest of the face would be most visible. The cold feeling starts to creep up her spine, as if their sorrows are being released into her. She can see the pain in all their faces. The only one that appears clearly is the face of the man who did this to them.

How ironic that they have all been banished to the shadows yet again. 

Octavia is so wrapped up in the mystery of it all. Why would someone go through the trouble of saving all these just to let them rot in the dark? She wants to finish solving this, but it seems like she’ll have to do more digging around in the book Astarion gave her. There was only so much time in the day…if only she could convince him to let her take the book home? 

Octavia hears the archive door open and close, but no footsteps follow. She turns and calls out “Hello? Anyone there?” Silence. She calls out again "I'm almost done here.” No answer, just the eerie atmosphere calling back. She ignores the sensation and continues to examine the portraits. The feeling of being watched was already high, and this new factor being added certainly isn't helping. She tries to keep working but the heaviness in the air was becoming too much to bear.

For once, she listens to the little voice in her mind and turns to leave. As she passes an empty display case, she notices a shadow next to her, but the mirror only shows her.. She stares at her reflection, her heart pounding with fear. The cold chill from before settles in her stomach before dissipating. 

“Octavia? What are you doing down here?” From the dimly lit corridor, Astarion appears as if out of thin air. Octavia turns away from the mirror with a surprised yelp, and shakes her head. “Why am I not surprised it's you? Somehow you always sneak up on me. Didn't you hear me call out earlier? Gods, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” She exhales shakily, her heart still beating wildly in her chest. 

 “You didn't answer me, dear…why are you down here? There's nothing here but pictures and clothing of people who I would assume are better off dead? You don't want to waste your day down here in the dungeons do you?” Astarion finished with a smirk, his hand reaching out and caressing her cheek. 

“On second thought….I do have you here all to myself..” he trails off suggestively, one arm wrapping around her waist. Octavia felt the heat quickly rise to her cheeks “You're the worst. First you scare the shit out of me, and then you get all flirty. It's like you're trying to get any type of reaction out of me…anyway I was working, you know because we're at work? ” she gently releases his arm from her waist, holding his hand instead. “Besides, it's not like we don't constantly run into each other, rather convenient, don't you think?” 

Octavia can't help but be amused at the look on Astarion’s face. He has almost the same look he had when he'd been caught sneaking into Octavia’s garden. She smiles and drops his hand. “How about I let you come find me again? Since you're awfully good at that.” 

Octavia walks over to the door leading out to the staircase up to the main office floors. She turns back to Astarion with a coquettish grin, and leaves. 

Suddenly he's alone. Astarion wanders into the room that Octavia was just in. He sees the red tattered logbook on the table in the center, along with the paintings hanging on the wall. As he stares at them he remembers when they came into his possession. The memory floods back into his mind, he smiles and closes his eyes letting the feeling overtake him.

—-------------------------

After feeding on Tav’s blood, Astarion convinces her to come back into Cazador’s manor to pilfer through it before anyone could find the most valuable things. Perhaps a bit of vandalism if the mood struck.They were hand in hand as they walked through the abandoned hallways. 

As they pass a long stretch of rooms, Astarion begins to recognize where they are. “Darling, would you like to help me in a little bit of debauchery?” He looks down at Tav through his dark gray lashes, holding her hand up to his and gives it a kiss. She flashes him a knowing grin, but plays up her response. “Oh my love, whatever could you be playing at?” 

“Hmm…nothing special…just a little dream of mine..” Astarion’s devilish smile turns into a lustful gaze that burns through Tav. Her cheeks suddenly felt hot as did the rest of her body.  “Well then,” the lovestruck smile she wore fading to a playful smirk, “lead the way, my Star.” 

Astarion takes her hand and winds down a hallway, then another door, and two more turns, finally they reach a giant ornate gold colored door. He turns to Tav, pressing his back against the door. 

“The only time I ever laid eyes on this damn entranceway, was when we were luring innocent fools to what was behind it. Each time felt like another stake being driven into me, taken out only to be replaced by the rats he fed us.”

He frowns and holds Tav’s hand, “I'm so sorry for how I've been acting lately. This whole thing..” he waves his hand, motioning around them. “ It's just a lot to process. I think I owe you an explanation..it's just that…” he trails off, and is brought back when Tav kisses the top of his hand. “Star, you don't owe anyone anything, especially not me. You don't have to tell me anything if you aren't ready yet.” She smiled and rubs his cheek with her thumb, “I love you.” 

Astarion smiles knowing that he can't give her everything she wants. He ignores the things he wants to say, he can't let her know how scared he is to lose her some day. He swallows his words instead and leads her into Cazador’s bedroom. 

“Come with me, my moonflower, indulge my depraved-” as Astarion opens the door, his face falls as he's greeted by a gigantic pyramid formation of 8 paintings. “Wow…what the fuck?”, Tav breathes out. 

Astarion immediately frowns, he huffs angrily “Are you fucking-” he walks over to the wall “I remember this whole day! Cazador made us sit for these stupid portraits for days, not feeding us. We had to keep the same poses for hours at a time..and of course he hired amateurs. That doesn't even look like me.” 

Tav wanted to tell him that it actually did look a lot like him, but she didn't want to upset him. As she looked at the paintings she was noticing the details more. 

Cazador was on the top of course, with Violet, Dalyria, and Astarion underneath him. Astarion figures since they not only were the first Cazador turned but some of the most useful, so he has to humiliate them by showing them by ranking it seems. The top three in a way. 

Following underneath that were Petras, Yousen, Leon and Aurelia. The most worthless ones, in his bastard master’s eyes. Not that Astarion didn't exactly disagree, in particular about Petras, the stupid asshole was always trying to compete with Astarion. He even wore some of Astarion’s old clothes on occasion.

Astarion felt the anger rise inside, he remembered sitting for these stupid portraits. The long hours spent stroking Cazador’s ego by indulging another one of his ostentatious ideas. 

“The one thing that pisses me off the most is that he enchanted these to keep track of how many victims we brought. I don't know how to make it appear but I saw it once. When I brought one of the streetwalkers from the Lower City back, the second he was at her throat the frame started to glow and I saw a little tally mark show up. I was to afraid to say anything, but I never forgot.” Astarion was breathing heavily, his chest heaving angrily. 

In his fury he runs up to the wall, practically climbing up it to rip down the framed painting of Cazador.

His hands tear at the canvas and wood. A torment of emotion flooding through him. “Astarion, wait!!” Tav runs towards him as he continues to tear through the fabric of the other paintings. She barely gets him to stop as he grabs the canvas depicting his own face. 

Tav sprints towards Astarion, pulling him off the wall, he's breathing heavily and his eyes are fully glossed over. “Astarion! What's going on, love, what's wrong?” she touches his shoulder and he slowly comes back to her. In his frustration, she sees tears building up in his eyes. She pulls him into a hug and he starts softly crying, holding onto her tightly. 

Tav looks around and sees Cazador’s bed, she pulls at Astarion, “Would you like to sit on the bed? I feel like it would be more comfortable than the floor?” He nods, as she helps him up, guiding him to the enormous bed. 

They sit for a minute, Tav holding him close as he nuzzles into her chest. Neither one says anything. After a few moments Tav breaks the silence. “I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of it. None of you did.” Astarion pulls away from her, he caresses her cheek and pulls her in for a kiss. 

He starts slowly kissing down her chin, moving to her neck. As Tav lets her head fall back she taps on Astarion’s shoulder causing him to pull away. “We don't have to, Star…at least not here. I mean this is his bed…who knows what fucked up things happened…” she trails off and looks at Astarion. 

He shakes his head and plants a kiss above the bite marks on her neck. “My love, I want this. I want to do this for myself. This is why I led you in here in the first place. My choice was taken away so many times before, and I want this with you.” Astarion speaks into her skin as he kisses along the faint wounds. 

“Besides, you did say you were up for some debauchery…” he lets his fangs graze her skin, knowing the sound she would let fall out. 

Tav breathes out a soft moan, Astarion can feel her pulse spiking under his lips, “Aah..are you sure?” she asks, her body already betraying her hesitation. Astarion trails his fingers up her thigh, giving it a firm squeeze when he reaches her hip. He hums into her neck, sucking at the flesh. 

“Would you care to indulge me and make some new memories of this room?” Astarion pulls away guiding Tav to the middle of the bed, he lays her down and gently kisses her. He moves his body on top of hers, leaving a bit of space to move one of his hands down her chest leaving soft trails on the cotton tunic Tav wore. 

She relaxes a bit as he raises one of her legs up over his thigh, angling her waist closer to his. Instinctively, he rolls his hips into hers, earning him another soft gasp from her mouth. Astarion’s hand on her leg moves down cupping the swell of her ass, giving it a squeeze. 

Tav moans into their kiss and playfully nips at his bottom lip. Astarion pulls away and continues his kisses down to her neck again, his hand at her waist, pressing down into it as he rolls his hips deeper against her. “Oh fuck…yes..” she breathes out with a hiss, one of her hands wraps itself in his hair, tugging gently. 

He moves his hands to the waistband of her trousers and starts unlacing them. Tav moves her hips up to help him remove them, as Astarion follows his slow kisses down her chest. Once her legs are free, he spreads them and settles in the space between. Astarion starts to slide his fingers under the tunic, lifting it up and over Tav’s arms. 

She arches her back as his fingers ghost over her breasts, pinching one of her nipples, then sucking it in his mouth. Tav bucks her hips into him, making him groan against her. “Hmmm it's not fair I'm practically naked and you're still fully clothed..i think you may have me at a disadvantage, my darling.” she giggles playfully as he keeps kissing down her chest onto her stomach. 

Astarion looks up at her, not breaking contact with her skin. He smiles and starts to undo the lacing of his own pants. “Fuuuuck…you have to stop teasing me like this..” Tav keens under his touch, tugging at his hair. Astarion chuckles under his breath, amused at the sudden loss of hesitation from her. “Impatient now, aren't you?” he straightens up and begins to take his shirt off.

He slowly starts dragging the fabric over his stomach and his chest. Tav’s eyes are following along with his hands, languorously teasing her knowing how much she loves this. “Do you want to touch me, darling? I am still trapped in these clothes, and I think I may need some help.” Astarion pouts dramatically with a feigned innocence. 

Tav props herself up on her elbows and smirks “Oh no..you look like you're having some problems with that, Astarion. I can't just leave you like that. It’d be quite rude of me not to assist you, when you're always so eager to help me..” She bites her bottom lip, as she slips her hands under the hem of his shirt and starts to slide it up. 

Astarion’s muscles tense under the heat of her fingers. Her already warm hands feel like little bursts of fire on his icy skin. The way her nails scrape against him feel like pin pricks stabbing into his heart, impaling him with her love. He bends slightly to help her get the first garment off, Tav places it to her side. Thankfully, the bed is big enough for everything to land within arms reach. 

He places his body on top of hers again. One of his hands is at the top of her head with his elbow resting on the bed, while the other makes soft circles down Tav’s stomach trailing down.Tav’s hands quickly go to Astarion’s waistline and tugs at his pants clumsily. She was incredibly turned on at this rate and has to get some relief before her mind lost all sense of control. 

Tav pulls the fabric off, looking down at him bared in front of her. He was already so beautiful, but even more so after he had gotten fed and aroused. His skin would turn a pink hue and his cheeks would be flushed even brighter against the contrast of his pale skin.

 As he kicked off his pants, Tav reaches down and lightly strokes him, she can feel his cock getting even harder with her touch. Astarion groans and bucks his hips into her hand, he hears an amused hum from Tav, “Oh you like that? Making me react to your filthy hands? Because two can play this game, sweet girl.” 

Astarion reaches down in between their bodies, pressing his sharp nails on her body. Leaving faint red lines on Tav’s tanned skin. He makes his way to her already soaked cunt, she gasps and trembles as he runs two fingers up and down her slit. “That's it my love, tell me what you want.”

 Tav groans a bit, squeezing her hand around Astarion. While his fingers find their way to her clit, circling it with a feather light touch. Tav melts under his touch, her mind races and she finds it hard to speak. “I want you. All I want is you, Astarion.” 

He slides a finger inside her, she inhales and lets it out with a long exhale. She strokes him a couple of times before letting go and wrapping one of her legs around his waist. Tav grinds her hips into his hand, Astarion slips his hand out of her, pulling her into his hips and grinding harder into her. The slickness that came from her folds coating him, causing him to slip his cock inside easily. 

Tav gasps loudly, both her legs wrap around his waist, as he thrusts deep into her. She keeps the pace with her hips snapping up to meet his. They both become lost in each other, one in bliss and the other rewriting the past. Astarion continues his speed, he can feel her tighten around him, her walls pulling him in, needy and hungry for him. “Star…I- oh gods you feel so good.” 

“Come for me, gorgeous. Lose yourself with me” Astarion grips her hips tighter as he thrusts faster, holding her tilted slightly to meet him. Tav is barely holding on after all the teasing he did beforehand, she won't lost much longer if he keeps it up. She feels his fangs pierce her shoulder, his lips sucking deep as her blood flows into his mouth. 

Immediately her body releases the tension he built up as she comes around him. Tav's blood is so delicious during the height of her orgasm. The most luxurious ambrosia he had ever tasted. Soon after, he releases her shoulder and licks up the trail of blood that comes out of his bite. He fucks into her a few more times when he feels his own peak. His hips spasm as he comes inside her, slumping over her as he catches himself. 

Tav pulls him close, kissing him deeply. Her arms wrap around him, caressing the scars on his back. Usually he wouldn't let her touch them, but she was so gentle with him this time. They laid in the massive bed, in each other's arms for a while. Soon enough, Tav can hear Astarion quietly snoring. When he wakes up, Tav is dressed, and the paintings are gone. 

He sits up and watches as she grabs her brown leather  flap top bag and walks up to him. “I found this log book, I figured it would be important.” Tav hands him a thick book bound in red leather. “We can go through it later. Oh, and I saved the paintings. I rolled them up and put them in the bag. Figured we could burn them later.” she smiles and sits next to him.

 “You should probably get dressed. It's almost dawn and I don't want Gale getting mad at me for being late for breakfast again. You know him with his talk of the flavors being best at serving time.” Tav kisses his cheek. The warmth of her lips lingers on his icy skin.

Astarion meant to burn it that night at camp, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to throw it into the fire. His skin felt unusually cold, even for a vampire. The book felt heavy in his hands, the urge to peel himself out of the skin that held it planted him into the ground where he stood. The little air he had was being ripped from his lungs, and his vision began to fade. 

 He remembers Tav holding his hands as they trembled, gripping the diary. Her soft touch brings him back to the warmth of the camp. They never had to say anything, but somehow she knew when he needed her the most.

Astarion opens his eyes, the empty room feels so much bigger than it usually does. He picks up the tattered book and walks towards the door of the storage room. He turns back and looks at the portrait of himself that's still at the front of the rack. 

It's a good thing you saved it, my love. 

—-----------

As she walks down the hallway, Octavia thinks back on the last few weeks. She was in a completely new world with Astarion. The thought of being with anyone was always far in the back of her mind. While in school, she was consistently studying, never fully enjoying being in college like everyone else. She wasn't the type to stay up late, go to parties, too ingrained in her goals to be bothered. 

In this case however, the daydreams of Astarion were fastly infiltrating her mind. He was so mysterious, arrogant, snarky, pretty much all the things she hated about all the other men in her orbit, but the confidence and affection underneath soothed over any reservations she may have had.

It was risky for them to get found out of course, but Astarion was still nothing short of a hopeless romantic. He would pop up behind her and slip her little love notes. Other times he would corner her in a dark spot away from public eyes and would give her a quick kiss on her wrist, or her hand, maybe her cheeks, but always starting with her lips. 

Astarion's stolen glances were the worst in Octavia’s opinion. It seemed like he loved making her blush with those burning orange red eyes glaring at her from under those round dark lenses. Sometimes he would pull them down and shoot her a flirty wink. Her cheeks would flush immediately and she'd break her gaze, throwing her head down while hiding the smile that formed.

She could feel his laugh, knowing it's won the battle this round. The way his lips turned up and how it reverberated in her mind. Somehow in the solitude of the musem, they would find each other. They would sit in silence, periodically looking up catching the other staring and grinning. It was usually Astarion staring like a lovestruck fool at Octavia. 

This time, her forgetting the logbook he entrusted her with was a perfect excuse for him to seek her out. Astarion finds her in the middle of a row of bookshelves in the reference library. She's looking down at one of the many books found within the endless rows. 

He can't stop staring at her lips most of all. He loved kissing her, even as quick and discreet as they were, the way her pulse flutters each time brings a feeling of newfound renewal to him. He still can't place the familiarity of it, but for now it's an unspoken question that he isn't in a hurry to bring up.

 "You're staring again. Someone might think you like me." Octavia spoke softly, not looking up or wanting to disrupt the peace of the room. She continues to flip through the book, gaze down, laughing quietly.

Astarion lets the dumb grin grow on his face, her sarcasm not lost on him. "Darling, they would be terribly correct." He walks over to her, watching as she rifles through the book’s pages. He reaches inside his leather book bag and hands her the delicate text. “I believe you left this in the painting archives. Figured you could use it to further your work?” 

Octavia gasps excitedly “Oh thank you! I was wondering where I had left it! I've been so scatterbrained lately, I would forget my hand if it wasn't attached to my body” she giggles nervously and takes the book in her hands. 

“Of course, dear. I'm glad I could help you with returning the very important book I trusted you to take care of.” Astarion teases. “Well then, if you need any help figuring anything out with that little book..Just say the word.” 

This is her chance, if she was going to try to get him to let her take that book home, she has to ask now. Octavia looks back up at him, "Actually, I had a little request?” she began, slightly more nervous than earlier.

"Anything, my dear. What is it?" He holds her hand, rubbing the top of her palm with his thumb. Octavia's breath hitches slightly, a faint blush forming across her cheeks and nose. She really loved his touch. 

She clears her throat, "I know you told Gale that he couldn't take the book home because of how delicate it is." The hand in his feels sweaty, her nerves winning out a bit.

 She steels herself and comes out with it, "So do you think if I ask you to maybe come to my flat, and you happen to bring it, and maybe you forget it there, and I don't bring it back for a little so I can take some time with it at my place so I can avoid doing overnights here again…do you think that could be a possibility?" She rambles breathless until she finishes, face fully reddened by her requests.

Astarion laughs, he lifts her hand up to his lips and kisses the top of it. "Sweetness, if you want late night visits, you just need to ask." Octavia huffs, covering her face with the book in her other hand. She peeks out from behind it and smiles. "Stop, I'm being serious. I don't want you getting upset because I slept here for two weeks again. Besides, we can have some proper alone time. I could make you dinner?" She watches as Astarion's lips smile silently.

She pulls her hand off her face and takes his other hand. "I guess you can call it our first date?" She asks hopeful, their eyes meet and he pulls her in for a kiss. Astation lets go of her hand and places it on her cheek, rubbing his thumb on it. 

As they pull away, he kisses the tip of her nose, making her laugh softly. "I'd love to come by your place, if I can take that as an open invitation?" Octavia nods. "Tomorrow night? I mean if it's not too soon?" 

Astarion chuckles, her eagerness not lost on him. "No, not too soon. I can't wait." They kiss again, the electricity of their anticipation in the air. 

Tags: @justporo @satanicspinosaurus @sleepy-timaeus @tragedybunny @davenswitcher @wayward-hel

(if you wanna be added, hit me up 😘)

[whyeverr]

Wellllllll, it might be quitting time, but Tyler's mind is still swirling trying to understand what's went wrong with Cherry. Plans for a quiet afternoon at home shift accordingly. 😅

"—actually I think I might head to the welcome center for a bit, get a jump start on those planter boxes for out front?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, I figure, y'know... maybe I'll run into someone or hear something or—"

Of course that's what this is about. Octavia has known Tyler long enough to understand that when he gets like this™ it's best to just let him ruminate. And if he can keep his hands busy at the same time, all the better. Trying to redirect his energy or reassure him just slows the process.

[collabpartners]

Hazbin Hotel: The Contract of Blood Ep. 11

*Hey guys! We're back with another chapter/episode! This is published on April 3, 2024. If you guys like this episode/chapter, don't be afraid to heart, reblog, and comment! That would be greatly appreciated. Warning: vulgar language and gore. Enjoy!*

Episode Eleven: Broken Halos

Charlie sits in front of the entire group in the center of the campsite in the morning, blanket over her head and hugging her legs.

Blitz is sitting across from her, surrounded by the remaining fugitives. Sighing deeply, he catches his forehead with his small hand.

“Okay, excuse my French, but what the fuck?!” Blitz shouts in shock.

“I know that it’s hard to believe, but Morrigan and Orais manage to drain the powers from Dad, Ozzie, and Bee. They forced me to see it. A-And it’s horrible,” Charlie says, stuttering.

Fizz’s eyes sparkle, tears streaming down on his pale face.

“Oh no,” Rosie responds softly.

“We need to go back down there,” Charlie replies in determination, standing up and throwing the blanket off of her.

“I’m afraid that’s a terrible idea, dear,” Alastor points out.

“He’s right,” Rosie agrees with him. “If what you are saying is true about the powers being sucked out of Ozzie, Lucifer, and Bee, then it’s only a matter a time before they’ll go after other rulers of the seven rings.”

“But we have to,” Fizz responds, standing up. “Ozzie can be in trouble. W-What if he’s dead?”

“Now, now, my little jester imp,” Alastor replies, going over to Fizz and ruffles with his hat. “Can’t go off into those deep dark thoughts, can we?”

“We’re safer here than going back to Hell,” Stolas replies.

“But what if Mom needs help?” Octavia asks Stolas.

Stolas clenches his beak. “Look, your mother may be a B-I-T-C-H, but I can assure you, my owlette, she’s safe somewhere away from this chaos.”

“But we have to try to rescue her,” Octavia determines.

Blitz leans over to Stolas. “Should you tell her?”

“Tell her what, sir?” Moxxie asks with a brow raised.

“Oh, nothing,” Blitz responds with a shrug.

Octavia squints her eyes at both Stolas and Blitz. “What are you guys keeping from me?”

Millie glances at Blitz. “She knows what happened before she got to Bee’s mansion, right?”

Loona groans at her friends and her father. “Ugh, guys, she’s standing right in front of you. You might as well tell her how fucked up her mom is.”

“Hey, guys,” Vaggie claps her hands for the I.M.P crew to pay attention. “We can talk about this later.” They seal their lips, leaving Vaggie to sigh.

“Listen, we need to find some way to defeat them,” Vaggie replies, talking to the group. “We can just stay around here until things get better.”

“She might have an army of her own,” Alastor responds with a stretched grin. “It’s best if we stay away for a while--”

“You mean we just cower away because we can’t face two people with the magical staff?” Millie groans.

“This is Morrigan and Orais, we’re talking about,” Rosie responds. “The most powerful couple in all of Hell next to Lucifer and the rulers of the seven rings.”

“Even more powerful than Alastor?” Angel asks while pointing at the radio demon.

“Afraid so,” Alastor admits. “But don’t worry, I’m sure I can manage.”

Husk listens to the conversation while holding one of Angel’s hands. He shifts his gaze to the side and notices Cherri drawing on the dirt of her and the snake figure that appears to be Sir Pentious. An idea comes to him as he glances back at the group.

“What if we can get Heaven to help us?” Husk asks the group.

Cherri perks her head up.

“What? Are you fucking insane?” Blitz utters.

Charlie gasps excitedly. “Yes! You’re a genius, Husk!”

“That’s...you know, that’s actually not a bad idea,” Alastor responds while rubbing his chin and then looks at Husk. “For once, you have a good idea in that cat brain of yours.”

Rosie loses her smile. “That seems a bit much, ain’t it? Besides, Heaven doesn’t listen to us demons and sinners. They always got better things to do than to listen to us.”

“But what if Morrigan and Orais comes for them too?” Eleanor responds with a question.

“Yeah, and they’ll darken the light like they said they would,” Sebastian adds.

“Darken the light?” Nora questions her parents.

Eleanor and Sebastian are about to tell their daughter until they notice Rosie shaking her head slightly. The parents hold back their tongues.

“We, uh, read that in the book once,” Eleanor stutters.

Angel and Husk exchange glances in suspicion and then back Nora’s parents.

“What book?” Angel asks.

“Oh, we don’t really remember,” Sebastian says, waving it off.

“It’s in a prophecy,” Eleanor adds in.

“The prophecy?” Vaggie questions.

“Their prophecy,” Sebastian answers.

“What is it?” Bella inquires in fear.

Eleanor and Sebastian shift their glances at each other and then they both sigh.

“Long time ago, Morrigan and Orais are part of Heaven,” Eleanor replies. “Legend goes that Lucifer was close friends with them. They create all sorts of things and these wonderful ideas...well, not so wonderful to the angels above. While Lucifer influences the imagination, they influence the destruction of Lucifer's imagination. They develop dark magic and almost manage to Darken the Light once.”

“But they failed,” Stolas responds softly.

“Yes. They did. They were banished from the Heavens, never to resurface. However, some angels can dream visions and see Morrigan’s and Orais’ freedom, saying that those with greed, pride, and lust will set the couple free from their banishment in the darkest pits of Hell. They will use the Twisted Staff and absorb the powers from the Rulers of the Seven Rings, turning Hell into their hands. Then they will reach up to the Heavens and the living realm, unleashing chaos and eternal agony, ending the world permanently,” Eleanor continues to tell the story. “They will finish what they started and darken the Light once and for all.”

“Then we have to tell Heaven about this or warn them about it,” Cherri replies with a gasp in shock.

“We have to find those angels that spoke of this prophecy,” Husk adds.

“That’s not a bad idea at all, Husker,” Alastor responds to Husk and looks at him. “Glad to have kept you around, old chum.”

Husk growls, but he feels Angel’s hand on his to calm him down. Husk smiles and rubs his head against his lover’s shoulder with a small purr.

Charlie rubs her chin. “We need to get to Heaven, asap. But...who’s going to be able to take us up there?”

Cherri perks her head up and smiles. “I think I got someone that might help us get into Heaven.”

~.~

Sir Pentious is having a quiet breakfast with Emily and Sera up in their living quarters in Heaven.

“Ooh, have I taken you to the meadows yet?” Emily asks Sir Pentious.

“Hmm, I don’t believe you have yet,” Sir Pentious answers.

“Eeh! The meadows is one of the beautiful parts of Heaven. There are butterflies of different colors everywhere, tall grass! I can’t believe I haven’t taken you to that part yet.”

Sir Pentious feels a vibration from his pocket and looks to see that his caller ID that says “My Ex-Archnemis”. He blushes and looks up at the angels. “Uh, I got take the call real quick.”

He gets up in a rush and goes into the library room. He presses the green button and places the phone up against his ear.

“Uh, hello?” Sir Pentious answers the call.

“Hey, Pen, how’s it going up there?” Cherri’s voice comes from the other end of the line.

“Oh, uh, hi, Misssss Bomb--”

“Cherri, please. You’re in a relationship with me, remember?”

“Of courssse, uh, what can I do for you?”

“Uh...I know it sounds like a weird request, but can you get us up to Heaven?”

Sir Pentious blinks and smiles brightly. “Well, of courssse, I can have Misssss Sssssera set up a day where you guysss get to come up here--”

“Can you get us up there right now?” Cherri requests politely.

“Really? Now?”

“Yeah,” Cherri answers shyly.

“Who elssse isss coming up here with you?” Sir Pentious asks.

“Oh, it’s going to be me, Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, and Angel,” Cherri responds.

“Oh, uh, isss there a reassson why you want to come back up here?” Sir Pentious asks.

Unbeknownst to them, Emily peeks around the doorway, listening to Sir Pentious’ conversation with Cherri. She can’t hear much on the other end of the line, but Sir Pentious’ facial expressions change from a bright gleam to a pale face in pure horror.

“U-Uh, are you ssssure that Hell isss in trouble--?” Sir Pentious stops himself, listening to Cherri’s explanation more, much to Emily’s confusion. “Holy sssshit, really?”

Sera peeks into the room after hearing Sir Pentious cursing, listening to Sir Pentious’ heavy breathing and pacing back and forth.

“I didn’t know anything about that. I’m sssssure if I talk to Misss Sssera and Missss Emily about thisss, they might lisssten and let you all in,” Sir Pentious responds. Then he nods. “Of courssse, Missss Bomb--I mean, Cherri. Okay. Goodbye.”

As Sir Pentious hangs up and turns around, he notices Sera and Emily peering from the doorway.

“What did I say about watching your language?” Sera questions Sir Pentious.

Sir Pentious laughs nervously. “Forgive me, Missss Ssssera. But you mussst lisssten to me. My friendssss...they’re in trouble. They need your help with these people known as Morrigan and Oraisss.”

Sera blinks in shock. “Morrigan and Orais?”

“Yesss,” he answers. “They need to get up to Heaven to warn you about them. They already have the three rulersss of the three ringsss of Pride, Lust, and Gluttony. We mussst gather the council so that they can hear about what isss going on.”

Sera frowns and looks away. “They’re already banned.”

“What?” he quacks with widened eyes.

“The higher-up angels have decided to banish Charlie and anyone associated with her from Hell to be banished because of what the kids they’ve brought have done.”

“What have they done?” Emily asks in curious.

Sera raises the hologram pictures of the graffiti art.

“That’s only one building--”

“And they shoplifted instruments and clothes,” Sera responds, interrupting Emily.

“Why not give them a second chance? You know, like what Charlie is doing with her hotel--giving sinners a second chance?” Emily questions Sera.

“It’s out of my control, Emily,” Sera responds. “Anything that involves whether people have a right to a second chance isn’t my decision. But I will have a talk with them about this incident.”

“Maybe we can help them,” Emily adds.

“I highly doubt the higher-ups would want to help anyone from Hell,” Sera responds. “Stay here, both of you. I’ll be back later.” She exits the living quarters, leaving Sir Pentious and Emily.

Sir Pentious appears defeated with Emily noticing his look.

“We need to sneak them in,” Emily responds.

Sir Pentious jolts up and looks at Emily. “Wait, what? Wouldn’t that upssset Misss Ssssera?”

“It doesn’t matter. Our friends are in trouble. We need to help them,” Emily determines.

“How can we even get them up in Heaven to help them?” Sir Pentious questions her.

She smirks and raises her hand, revealing the gold light. “I’ve been practicing making portals for those who is going into Heaven.”

He smiles mischievously. “I like the way you think.”

~.~

The portal opens next to Cherri, scaring most of the group in the campsite.

“Holy fuck, there is a God!” Blitz screeches.

Cherri notices it glitching and turns to the others coming with her. “C’mon, it’s now or never.” She hops through the portal.

Charlie kisses the top of Bella’s head. “Okay, stay here with the others. We’ll be right back.”

“And if anything goes wrong, you make sure you stick close with the others, got it?” Vaggie instructs.

“Yes, Mama and Mommy,” Bella answers.

Charlie starts to tear up and walks to her girlfriend. “I’ll never get over that.”

“Okay, babe, c’mon,” Vaggie responds, patting her girlfriend’s back before going through the portal.

Angel is halfway into the portal to see Husk catching up with him. “Let’s go, Husky~!”

Before Husk can catch up with his boyfriend, he becomes frozen when Alastor says, “Have a fun trip, Husker. Remember, don’t fuck things up.”

Husk shakes his head to ignore the cryptic warning from Alastor, earning a creepy smile from him.

Angel takes Husk by the hand. “Ignore him. We got better things to do.”

“Right, right,” Husk responds while going with his boyfriend through the portal.

Alastor smiles sinisterly. “Oh, he’s going to fuck things up, I’m sure.”

~.~

Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, and Cherri approach Heaven's Gate where St. Peter stands on the pedestal by the gates.

“Uh, hello?” Cherri greets.

St. Peter jumps from his stance, noticing them coming towards him. “Oh, hey, it’s you again.”

“Yep, it’s us. I think you got a reservation for us,” Cherri requests.

St. Peter looks through his list. “Uh, what’s your name under?”

“Uh...let’s go with Cherri Bomb,” Cherri responds.

“Hmm, don’t see a Cherri Bomb,” St. Peter replies.

“Charlie Morningstar then,” Charlie responds.

St. Peter scans through his list. “I don’t have you down...oh shit, I have a banned list and your name is on it.”

“Wait, really?” Charlie questions.

“Yep,” St. Peter answers.

“Damn kids,” Vaggie mutters to herself.

“Yep, you’re banned. You shouldn’t be here,” St. Peter responds.

“Pssssst,” a familiar whisper calls.

Cherri looks to see Pentious and Emily peeking out from under the golden gates. She smirks and looks at the others, getting their attention and gesturing towards Pentious and Emily.

“Uh, looks like we gotta go,” Charlie responds, making up an excuse.

“We’ll, uh, catch you never,” Vaggie plays along.

“Great, see you never,” St. Peter responds with sass while looking at his lists.

The others hurry over to Sir Pentious and Emily. They help the group squeeze under the golden gates without St. Peter watching.

“Did Sera create that portal to Heaven?” Cherri asks Sir Pentious.

“No, I did,” Emily responds while handing out hoodies. “Here, put these on so that no one would notice you.”

The gang does put on the hoodies as told as Emily search around to make sure they are not spotted by the angels.

“You need help, right?” Emily asks Charlie.

“Yes, we do. Morrigan--”

“I know, Sir Pentious told me,” Emily responds.

Sir Pentious smiles softly at Cherri.

“We need to get in a meeting with the council of Heaven,” Charlie replies.

“They won’t listen to you,” Emily informs. “You’re banned from Heaven, remember? We need to find other ways we can spread information about this Morrigan and Orais.”

Husk blinks and looks at Vaggie. “Eleanor mentions something about prophesying angels, right?”

“You mean the Foresight Angels?” Emily clarifies. “They’re the ones who can tell the future. However, over the years, they have grown insane and repeats the same prophesy that most angels know that it won’t happen.”

“You never cast them down?” Angel asks in surprise.

Emily shakes her head. “No, they’re in the library in the meadows.”

“Oh, you wanted to ssshow me that today,” Sir Pentious brings up.

“Then, let’s go there,” Vaggie determines.

“Alright, but you need to keep a low profile,” Sir Pentious mentions to his friends.

Emily gestures the others. “Follow me.”

The others, including Sir Pentious, follow after Emily throughout the streets of Heaven, keeping a low profile as instructed.

~.~

Emily, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, and Sir Pentious reach over to the meadows on the other side of the city of Heaven.

“Just across this meadow and we’ll be able to get answers from the Foresight Angels,” Emily replies to the group, going through the grass.

Husk halts to a stop from going into the meadow, watching the others about to walk through the meadow. He blinks and looks around the meadow, as if there’s something familiar about it. As if it’s something he has seen in his dreams.

Angel notices Husk stopping and turns around to him. “You comin’ or not?”

Husk gulps and walks on the tall grass, catching up to Angel.

“What’s going on with you?” Angel asks in a whisper.

Husk looks around to see colorful butterflies around them, just as he dreamed of before. Isn’t this place a fantasy? No, no way it is all real.

“I’ve seen this place before,” Husk mutters, letting Angel hear it.

“Where?” Angel questions with a brow quirked up.

Husk shakes his head with a small groan. “It’s nothing. Let’s keep going.”

Angel doesn’t seem convince by the answer. “Okay. Just know I’m here if you need to talk.”

He smiles at his boyfriend, kissing the hand he’s holding. “I’ll be fine, baby. I’ll be fine. But thank you.”

Angel nods and keeps Husk close to his side.

The travel through the meadow seems long until they reach a building with a dome rooftop and no windows. Only one door.

“This is where the Foresight Angels live,” Emily explains.

“Let’s go,” Charlie urges her group more.

Emily opens the door. Once the group enters the library, they widen their eyes to find that the entry way is only a library. Emily blinks and looks around for any of the Foresight Angels.

“Usually, they’re here,” Emily replies. “That’s what Sera says.”

Sir Pentious notices the silver heavy door ahead of them. “Maybe they’re behind that door.”

The others look at the door in front of them.

“Maybe the library will be bigger behind the door,” Angel responds while strutting to it confidently.

“And we get to read as many books as we wanted, yay,” Vaggie replies unenthusiastically.

Angel opens the door and widens his eyes at the sight in front of him. “Oh, fuck.”

“What?” Cherri questions her friend.

Angel glances at his friends and then back over at them. Then he shifts his attention to Emily. “Uh, are you sure these guys are the Foresight Angels?”

Emily arches a brow and manages to stand next to Angel, gasping in horror to see the Foresight Angels in shackles, malnourished and left in the dark.

“What the hell?” Vaggie replies in horror.

“Heaven will fall into Darkness,” one of the Foresight Angels sobs. “Heaven will fall into the Darkness...why does no one believe me?”

Husk hurries to the Foresight Angel’s side, noticing him hunching forward.

“Husk, be careful,” Charlie cautions Husk.

Husk helps the angel down. “There you go, pal. You okay?”

“Heaven will fall into Darkness. They should’ve killed them when they had the chance,” the angel weeps.

“Hey, man, what’s your name?” Husk asks, watching the angel looking up with the bloodied blindfold covering his gauged out eyes.

“Gabriel,” the Foresight Angel, Gabriel, introduces himself timidly. He starts rubbing his hands up and down Husk’s arms as if he’s trying visualize him through touch. “Kind of a hairy one, aren’t you? You...you are no angel, are you?”

Husk blinks in surprise. “No. I’m just a sinner.”

“Sinners, winners, what’s the difference?” Gabriel utters, his arms trembling.

Husk frowns at the state Gabriel is in. “Who did this to you?”

“The angels higher that created this place,” Gabriel answers, shaking like a leaf.

Angel watches on with shock and horror at the sight of a malnourished blind Gabriel.

“Why would they do this to you?” Husk questions Gabriel.

“The Light gifts us with foresight and prophesy, dear one,” Gabriel responds. “We are held to high esteem at one point...but...once after Lucifer fell, we kept getting visions of world’s destruction, the end of all ends. When we try to tell the Purity Angels over and over, they shunned us when they see that the event isn’t happening. To shut us up, they did this to our eyes.” Gabriel shows his blindfold covering his bloody eyes.

“Shit,” Husk mutters to himself.

Emily is terrified, sobbing and covering her face. “Why would they do this to you? It’s not fair! You did nothing wrong but warning people of potential dangers ahead!”

“Heaven is corrupt, my child,” Gabriel responds. “Without the Light, we are nothing.”

“How do we stop Morrigan and Orais from Darkening the Light?” Husk questions.

“You can’t unless the Light is found within you,” Gabriel answers, pointing at Husk’s chest.

Before Husk can comprehend what Gabriel is doing, he watches Gabriel press his hand flatly against Husk’s chest. Husk feels a sudden tug at his heart harsher than Alastor can ever do by pulling at his chains. Flashes of cracks creeping towards Heaven’s gate with darkness crawling out of it, the seven rulers getting their powers sucked out of them just to fill the staff, and Valentino’s body being covered by the blue flame that he can assume that it came from Ozzie appear in his minds. Husk gasps and falls back, his head throbbing from seeing more visions than he can count. He clenches his teeth, trying to keep himself from screaming in pain.

“HUSK!” Angel’s voice cries out for him as Angel slides beside his boyfriend, then he glares at Gabriel. “What the fuck did you do to him?!”

“He gets to see the truth now,” Gabriel utters, before his body starts to crack. Then his skin turns into different colors, butterflies flying away and leaving nothing but a bloodied blindfold behind.

“What the fuck just happened?!” Charlie shouts in fear.

“Husk, Husk!” Angel cries, shaking Husk to snap him out of it. “What’s happening to you, baby?”

“Please, make this pain go away. It fucking hurts,” Husk sobs, pressing his head against Angel’s fluffy chest.

“It’s okay, baby, I’m here. I’m right here,” Angel reassures him, cradling him with his four arms. He picks up Husk and looks at Emily. “What the hell did he just do to Husk?”

Emily clenches her jaw. “He gives his visions to Husk. The Foresight Angels never gives anyone their visions. They wouldn’t. That goes against all traditions.”

“Missss Emily, thissss isss going against all traditionssss of Heaven!” Sir Pentious points to the malnourished Foresight Angels, revealing blindfolds on them. “You sssaid that thessse angelsss have a gift of foresssight. The higher-upsss cut their damn eyesss out! Why would the higher-upsss imprisssoned the Foresssight Angelsss?!”

“I don’t know!” Emily sobs out loud, hugging herself. “I don’t know.”

“You ssssure don’t know a lot of thingsss, do you?” Sir Pentious responds with a growl.

“Hey, don’t get mad at her, Pentious,” Vaggie replies, standing between Sir Pentious and Emily. “She’s not in the high-ranks. Blame Sera. Not her.”

They hear the door opening, noticing Sera looking at them through the entryway.

“How did you guys get in there?” Sera asks mostly Charlie and her friends.

Emily walks up to Sera with pleading eyes. “Please, tell me you didn’t know!”

“Know what?” Sera asks gently.

“About this!!!” Emily cries, showing the malnourished and blind Foresight Angels.

Sera frowns at the sight and says, “It wasn’t my decision to make.”

“YOU KNEW!” Emily cries, pushing Sera away from her with an unknown strength. She storms passed her with Charlie and her group following the seraphim outside of the library.

“Emily, wait--”

Emily turns to look at Sera. “First, you kept a secret about the exterminations. Then you kept this from me!”

“Emily, I know that this looks bad--”

“Looks bad?! It is bad! Did you do anything to stop this?!”

“I couldn’t, Emily.”

“You can stop the exterminations, but you can’t stop this!”

“I wasn’t part of the seraphims at the time. There’s nothing I could’ve done to save them,” Sera explains to Emily.

Emily starts to tear up, her fists forming little light balls.

Husk groans in Angel’s arms, waking up from his black-out. “What the fuck?”

Angel gasps happily and caresses his fluffy face. “You okay, Husky?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m...fine, I guess,” Husk responds as he’s helped back on his feet by Angel and Cherri.

“You aren’t supposed to be here,” Sera replies to the others, excluding Sir Pentious.

“Who cares?” Emily responds. “They need help to defeat Morrigan and Orais.”

Husk groans. “The Light.”

“What?” the others utter simultaneously.

“Something’s happening. It’s coming soon. We have to get out of here. We have to do something. We-We gotta go,” Husk begs the group.

“G-Go where?” Sir Pentious asks with a stutter.

“I don’t fucking know! I keep seeing pieces of everything and it’s not fitting together!” Husk replies with a panicked tone.

“What are you talking about?” Sera questions Husk.

Husk grabs his head when more visions keep coming at him. “Ugh, fuck!”

“Husk?” Angel calls in fear.

“Put your hands up!”

The group turns to see the angel cops.

Emily jumps and puts her hands up, accidentally launching a light ball at one of the angel cops, tearing into his chest and killing him.

Everyone widens their eyes in shock.

“Shit! I’m sorry!” Emily cries, looking at her hands.

“She just murdered one of us!” the captain responds in fear.

“I didn’t mean to!” Emily sobs.

Sir Pentious steps besides Emily, taking his gun out from his pocket and pointing at the cops. “Get back, you fucking pussssies!”

“What the fuck?!” Vaggie shouts in fear.

Sera steps between the group and the cops. “Everyone, put your weapons down!”

“Why are you defending them?” The captain snarls.

“I’m not! Put down your weapons! That’s an order!” Sera firmly commands.

The cops lower their spears hesitantly. Sera looks back to see Sir Pentious. “That goes for you too, Pentious.”

Cherri steps besides Sir Pentious, who’s glaring at Sera.

Husk groans in pain, grabbing at his head.

One of the cops raises up his spear and shoots the gold electricity at Husk in panic when Husk starts screaming in pain.

“I told you to put down your spear!” Sera barks at the cop.

Before the cop can squeeze out a panicked apology, the black tentacle stabs through him. Sera gasps in fear and whirls around to find Husk’s eyes turning green, tentacles growing around his feet.

Sir Pentious gasps in shock and pulls Sera out of the way of the tentacles to stab more angels.

“Not again,” Angel mutters to himself.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Vaggie shouts in fear.

The tentacles tear through the cops, ripping them to shreds until there’s nothing left of them.

Angel watches Husk not being able to control the tentacles. “HUSK! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! BABY!!!”

Husk doesn’t even know if he’s breathing or not. He no longer feels like he’s in control. His limbs tied to the green strings. He can’t talk. He can’t scream. He’s left alone with the visions of Alastor fighting against Vox until Vox is beating up Alastor this time. Alastor can barely stand up while looking up at the Tv-screen demon in fear.

Then he sees Angel holding an angelic pistol up against Valentino, trembling in fear of pulling the trigger. He’s trapped in the Porn Studios that is on fire with Valentino inside with the other silhouettes.

He sees Charlie facing Morrigan and Orais, all by herself. She appears to be shaking, like she’s under the influence of Morrigan’s control. Morrigan snaps Charlie’s neck and Charlie collapses on the ground at the front of her hotel.

Meanwhile, the tentacles is killing every single cop that comes near the group. The others are frozen with fear except for Angel, who jumps in front of the tentacles.

“Husk, stop!” Angel shouts. However, the tentacle slaps Angel away from the scene, causing him to fly into the tree.

“ANGEL!” Charlie cries for her friend.

The Pure Angels enter the scene, silhouettes of slender figures.

When Husk’s tentacles attacks the Pure Angels, they manage to shred through the tentacles and use their light to knock him back.

Husk flies back and hits the ground with a grunt. The green left his eyes, causing him to gain his breath back as if he’s been suffocated for a while.

Husk sits up, his face sweaty and his body trembling. He finally gets control back.

“Angel!”

Husk whips his head to find Charlie hurrying besides injured Angel. Husk gets up and hurries to Angel.

“Angel!”

Angel lifts his eyelids to see Charlie beside him and Husk running up to him.

Angel is holding his gut, blood seeping through his arms.

Husk freezes up, a gasp in shock escapes his lips. “I-I didn’t do that to you...did I?”

Angel clenches his teeth and throws a small smile. “Nah, you’re okay, baby.”

“Don’t you fucking lie to me,” Husk growls angrily.

“Don’t you touch him!” Charlie cries, turning into her demon form.

Husk gasps and winces. Then he looks to see the group looking up at him in fear. A sudden realization comes into his mind, his arms trembling.

“Fuck,” Husk responds tearfully.

The Pure Angels look at Sera and Emily. “We told you that the princess of Hell is banished here.”

“I know, I didn’t sneak them in,” Sera replies in fear.

“You said that Emily will behave better,” The Pure Angels say, speaking in unison as if they’re one body. “You said that Sir Pentious will behave better. But Emily murders one of the cops and Sir Pentious helps her sneak them in.”

“Please, give them a second chance. Give them all a second chance--”

“No,” The Pure Angels deny. “Not after what happened.”

Husk collapses on his knees, grabbing his head. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I’m so so so sorry.”

Angel moves, gently nudging Charlie away from him so that he can crawl towards Husk.

Husk looks up, moving back from Angel. “Angel, get away from me.”

Angel raises his four arms. “Husky, it’s okay--”

“No, stay away before I hurt you again,” Husk cries, hugging himself and using his wings to keep himself in.

“We, the Pure Angels, have made a decision. We hereby banish Emily and Sir Pentious down with their demon friends in Hell,” The Pure Angels reply.

“No! Don’t do this!” Sera begs the Pure Angels.

“Our decisions are final,” The Pure Angels speak.

With that said, they fire a beam of light, sucking the light out of Emily and Sir Pentious, causing them to scream in pain. Their halos break in half, concerning the group.

“What the--?” Vaggie utters before noticing a hole created beneath them. Everyone starts falling through the hole created under them.

Emily is passed out along with Sir Pentious. Cherri grabs both Sir Pentious and Emily as they are falling towards Hell.

Charlie grabs Angel, who grabs Husk by the waist. Vaggie spreads her wings and grabs her girlfriend, Angel, and Husk. Before they can fall further, a portal to the living world open as they fall right through the portal.

~.~

They crash onto the grass of the campsite.

“Holy shit, are you guys alright?” Blitz is the first to ask.

“What the hell happened?” Millie gasps in shock.

Husk moves away from Angel’s grasp, hugging himself. He hurries into the woods without saying goodbye.

“What the fuck is going on with him?” Blitz utters.

“Husk!” Angel says, stumbling up to his feet and hurries after Husk.

“Angel, wait!” Charlie cries.

“Ah, let him go. Not like Husk is going to fuck him up anymore than he can,” Alastor responds.

Charlie widens her eyes and turns to Alastor. “You knew what happened up in Heaven?”

“Of course, had a little fun playing the puppet master,” Alastor responds.

“What the fuck, Al?!”

“What? I’m bored,” Alastor responds.

“You controlled Husk to hurt Angel!” Charlie shouts at him angrily.

“Yeah, that’s a dick move!” Vaggie joins Charlie in chastising Alastor.

Alastor shrugs. “C’mon, you guys actually needed the help. You’re welcome.”

“Fuck you, Al!” Vaggie growls.

“Hey, uh, who’s the snake and the fucked up angel?” Blitz asks, getting their attention.

Emily flutters her eyes open. “Huh, I didn’t think Hell is beautiful--”

“You’re not in Hell, sweetheart,” Stolas responds.

“Oh, thank God,” Emily sighs in relief. “Wait--”

Emily sits up and realizes she’s in the campsite, next to Pentious.

“Where am I?”

“You’re in the living world,” Cherri responds.

Emily looks at herself, noticing her colors getting darker. “No, no, no, no! I’m a fallen angel!” She starts to sob, crying into her hands.

“Well, shit,” Blitz utters before Sir Pentious sits up.

“Am I not an angel anymore?” Pentious looks at himself and notices his colors darkened. Then he sighs. “Damn it.”

“You don’t sound surprise,” Moxxie brings up to Sir Pentious.

“Oh, I’ve been through this before,” Sir Pentious responds while looking at the new faces. “Wait, who are the new faces?”

“Here, let’s get you introduced, dear,” Millie responds while she helps Pentious up and help him introduce both Pentious and crying Emily to everyone.

Vaggie glares at Alastor. “You owe Husk an apology.”

“No,” Alastor responds like a child.

“You possessed him, have him hurt the one he loves most, and you caused him to slaughter other angels when it doesn’t need to be a bloody battle,” Vaggie growls.

“I don’t owe Husk anything. However, since I have Husk’s soul, he owes me everything,” Alastor growls, walking past Vaggie.

Fizz overhears the conversation and sighs sadly. He looks at the woods and decides to go into it to find Angel and Husk.

~.~

Husk finds himself in a cave deep in the woods, sobbing into his thighs. His red wings covers his body.

“Husk!” Fizz’s voice echoes in the woods.

Fizz almost runs past him before noticing the red wings. “Oh, there you are. Angel is looking for you too. He must have ran the other side of the woods.”

“Leave me alone,” Husk groans, covering his head.

Fizz softens his gaze. “Husk, listen--”

“I said leave me alone!” Husk says, opening his wings to reveal his tears streaming down his cheeks.

Fizz winces and sees claw marks on Husk’s claw marks on his arms as if he’s gripping his arms too tightly.

Husk softens his gaze and scoots further away Fizz. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Just go back with the others. Tell Angel to stop searching for me. Everyone is better off not finding me.”

Fizz frowns at the state Husk is in and sits at a comfortable distance away from Husk. “You know, I was chained to someone once. Emotionally, not physically though. I’ve tried to impress someone who I admired. But I realized that he ain’t worth the shit.”

Husk looks up at Fizz.

“But, the thing is, I can break myself free from it since I’m not chained or contracted to an overlord easily. That’s one of the perks of being hellborn,” Fizz responds before frowning. “But you don’t have that choice. You were controlled to do things you regretted. You couldn’t have stopped it even if you want to.”

Husk blinks in confusion. “I--I don’t know what got over me. First, this Foresight Angel gave me some visions of the future. And then all the sudden, I start blacking out and lashing out, hurting Angel. Now, he’s hurt because of me. Everybody’s afraid of me.”

Fizz smiles softly. “No, they’re not. They’re concern and most likely confused about what happened. Angel is the same way, I guess. But he knows that you couldn’t do anything about it. Alastor is the one who made you do those things up in Heaven.”

“That fucker,” Husk groans.

“Yeah,” Fizz responds.

Husk starts to sob again. “Fuck, now I’m going to be afraid every moment of even staying close to anyone because Al can just fucking do it again.”

“True. But Charlie and Vaggie knows so they’ll, uh, put a leash on him.”

Husk glances up at Fizz.

“Yeah, not a good joke to use,” Fizz acknowledges. “Do you love Angel, Husk?”

“Of course, I do. And I fucking hurt him. I’m no different than Valentino.”

“Whoa, whoa, don’t you compare yourself to that fucker!” Fizz shouts at Husk. “You are nothing like him. Valentino injures Angel on purpose! You?! You are only trying to protect him from that said asshole! Don’t you dare compare yourself to that fucker again!”

Husk starts to calm down, wiping his tears away. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to hurt him again.”

“People get hurt in relationships. That’s part of it. What you need to do now is find Angel and talk to him about this. You need to open yourself up a bit more, pal.”

Husk tenses up when he watches Fizz get up and walk out of the entrance of the cave.

Fizz stops and looks back at Husk. “And Husk?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t let Alastor fuck your head up. Otherwise, you might give in to his control sooner or later,” Fizz replies. “Be stronger than that.”

With that said, Fizz walks away from Husk, letting him think about his words.

Husk groans. “What the fuck am I even doing?” He gets up and exit out of the cave to search for Angel.

~.~

“Husk?” Angel calls to the wilderness, searching for Husk despite bleeding from his stomach. However, Angel has endured worse and notices that he’s not bleeding out.

“Husk, baby?” Angel calls, crossing the small river until he reaches a picnic spot with the wooden tables around.

“Angel!” Husk shouts.

Angel perks his head to the side. “Over here, baby!”

Husk manages to find the picnic spot with Angel standing in the middle of it. He notices how much blood is seeping out of his wound and into his white shirt. “Oh shit.”

“It’s okay, baby.”

“No, it’s not,” Husk insists, examining against the wound.

“Baby, it’s fine. I’ve been through much worse than this,” Angel responds, waving his hand nonchalantly. He realizes he’s receiving a silence for an answer since Husk is studying the wound.

“If those angels hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve killed you, Angel,” Husk utters.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Angel responds.

Husk glances up at him. “How would you know?”

“Because you wouldn��t go through with it,” Angel responds, now in a more serious tone. Not his usual flirtiness.

“Angel--”

“I’m being serious.”

“Are you calling me a coward?”

“No,” Angel says and then smirks lovingly. “You’re just a big teddy bear.”

Husk flicks his ears irritably. “Angel, you’re not taking this seriously. If Alastor takes control of me again, I would’ve ended up killing you and I--I can’t live with that.”

Angel frowns and caresses his lover’s fluffy face. “Alastor took control of you?”

Husk nods his head.

“That bastard,” Angel groans.

“I can’t get out of these chains,” Husk says, starting to cry. “I tried. I really tried. I went to all the rings to break these goddamn chains, just so that I can help you with yours. I have been completely selfless, and yet these chains aren’t breaking because Alastor is chained to Rosie.”

“Oh, fuck, really?” Angel asks.

“Yeah.”

Angel takes a moment to ponder. “Maybe there might be a way to help Alastor break his chains.”

“That’s the fucking problem. We don’t know how,” Husk replies.

Angel sighs. “How about we get some rest? Maybe we’ll think more about this.”

Husk looks into his lover’s eyes. “Do you still love me?”

“Of course, I do, Husky,” Angel responds. “Do you?”

“More than anything,” Husk answers.

“Good.” Angel kisses Husk’s lips, a bit more passionate than the last two kisses. They break away, exchanging lovesick smiles at each other. Husk manages to pick Angel up in a bridal style, flying off back to the campsite. 

To Be Continued...

[ripplestitchskein]

Establishing Shot

Episode 3: Spring Broken

To catch up on the rest of this analysis series or see other essays referred to here please refer to the Master Post.

This analysis may be a little shorter because this episode is less of a story driver and more of a backstory drop. That’s not a criticism of the episode, but the two major things to come out of it (Loona and Blitzo’s relationship and Verosika) are also explored in other episodes so it’s one you could skip technically without losing anything. It’s more of a setup episode to dig into things deeper down the line without them coming from nowhere. This episode does have some really important relationship parallels though and some cute and fun moments I enjoy a lot.

The episode opens with Blitzø loudly and badly singing along with a song on the radio. Millie looks pleased, Moxxie is covering his ears, our first indication he is a music snob but not the last, and Loona is rolling her eyes as per usual.

The song itself really evokes that sense of bad early teens and 20’s relationship decisions, there is a kind of nostalgia with it in the sense that you had fun being fucked up and irresponsible and it reminds you of that, but you wouldn’t want to go back to that place. I think this is intentional with Verosika being a youthful indiscretion, a different time in Blitzo’s life. I don’t think he’s necessarily nostalgic for it, he seems to resent it and view it as a waste of time, but I think the song serves to put the audience in that mindset.

Verosika steals Blitzø’s parking space and we have the episode conflict right up front and center.

We are given A LOT of information in dialogue drops. I found the amount of information dropped in such a contentious, snappy scene to be super fun. I love efficient dialogue and this delivers.

Verosika and Blitzø used to date, Verosika has a drinking problem but she left rehab early due to her fame and obviously hasn’t handled it if the flask in her hand is any indication. She pulls from it immediately and it is a fun little plot device later you aren’t necessarily expecting. I actually didn’t pick up on it until my second rewatch. I liked this detail a lot and appreciated how naturally it was worked in.

Blitzø is revealed to have a sister that is also in rehab and based on his reaction he is upset about that. Blitzø has a lot of resentment about Verosika in general, it carries through in every interaction, and seems misplaced given she reveals he is the one who ran off, leaving her to foot the bill and then maxxed out her credit cards. This could be because of something yet to be revealed, or it could be just a nod to how people act with toxic early relationships.

Their argument uses a lot of gendered insults and sexual aggression, which speaks to why it didn’t work out between them.

To digress for a moment, I think Blitzø’s reaction to women in general is interesting. I’m keeping an eye on it this rewatch but he is always much more verbally aggressive towards female characters, excepting Loona and Millie. In Murder Family he is very misogynistic with the client. In LooLoo Land he yells at the offended mother. In the Hellbie’s clinic he yells at the waiting mom and the secretary and when he goes to visit Barbie in rehab he is super intense with the nurse. He shuts up Octavia in LooLoo Land, and he is kind of nice about it, calling her sweetie, but ultimately dismissive and he also says some really gross things about her on the phone in LooLoo Land.

It may just be my perception but he tends to back off when faced with other males, or is certainly not as intense with them. Vortex in this episode, Asmodeus in others, and he’s almost deferential to Striker and Crimson. He gets a little aggressive in his language with Stolas but he is clearly the dominant one in that relationship.

Back to the episode.

Loona is clearly interested in the Verosika proceedings. She is a fan. It’s a more positive emotion than we’ve seen from her thus far.

Verosika mentions that Vortex is her new bodyguard and he does a better job than Blitzø ever did.

The running theme of people telling Blitzø he is bad at his past jobs is one of my favorite little character details. Each little jab speaks to his insecurity and the entire show being about him finding his place and something he can prove he’s good at. It’s a really subtle way to drive that insecurity home for the audience. This comes up later in his conversations with Striker, Fizz and Crimson, some from a place of building him up as a manipulation tactic and others bringing him down.

The IMP gang are all shocked he dated a famous pop star, and like I mentioned in my Ozzie’s essay he is very dismissive, and annoyed about it. Eyes narrowed, arms crossed, “Yeah we dated, so what?” “Why are you all acting like that’s such a shock.” They are fairly insulting to him about it.

“You are all making it a way bigger deal than it needs to be. I don’t pry into your stupid personal lives.” Which they all rightly point out he absolutely does. And in this episode in fact, not only with a Loona but asking if Millie pegs Moxxie.

Millie asks what sex with Verosika is like showing us Blitzø is not the only one with boundary issues, and Blitzø, the most sexual character on this show save for Stolas, who is equal and limits it to Blitzø only for the most part, asks them to drop it. He does NOT want to talk about this. It is such a departure even this early on you can clock it as significant. There is history there and Blitzø does not like it.

Loona bemoans that she did her makeup shitty on a day when she met such a famous person and Blitzø tells her she looks perfect like always. He is in full on simpering dad mode, which is always cute. Loona FINALLY drops that he is her Dad for the audience, though she takes it back immediately and calls him Blitz, so now we know this is a thing: he is her dad and he is over the top in his affection and she rejects it.

Another digression, apologies, but this is SUPER IMPORTANT.

I find it really telling that Blitzø’s “unwanted” affection for Loona is treated very differently than Stolas’s by the *ahem* more critical fandom. Because they are essentially the same. They just aren’t both sexual. To be extremely clear, I do not in anyway think Stolas’s sexual advances are unwanted, just like I don’t think Blitzø’s parental desperation is. We have two very opinionated characters, who absolutely leave situations they find truly undesirable. In this very episode we have evidence of it. Blitzø left Verosika. Blitzø leaves Loona on the beach after they fight. Loona storms off repeatedly and Vortex even praises her for standing up for herself.

Blitzø is over the top affectionate, he uses a baby voice, he offers her treats, he calls her a silly name she doesn’t seem to like. And she shuts him down, she scoffs, she rolls her eyes, she runs away, she is visibly annoyed. Repeatedly. All things Blitzø does to Stolas. She is JUST AS uncomfortable with it but through her expressions when he’s not looking, her body language cues, and her deflection via dialogue like when she calls him Dad and corrects herself, we can tell she craves that familial love and she even gives into it at times when she can tell Blitzø needs her too even though she fears getting too close, like in Queen Bee.

Blitzø does the EXACT SAME THING with Stolas. Stolas baby talks him, offers him little treats. (Of the more sexual variety), calls him a cutesy name he is annoyed about but when Stolas seems to truly need him to be softer Blitzø gives in even though he fears getting too close, and I firmly believe this parallel is incredibly intentional. These are two very important relationships in Blitzo’s life and they directly mirror each other.

There is more to the Loona & Blitzø vs Stolas/Blitzo relationship parallel for me than even the Fizz and Asmodeus one because it really shows that Blitzø and Stolas come from the exact same place, they are just in different positions in each relationship.

What works the most about it is that BECAUSE Blitzø is on the rejected side of the Loona relationship it actually feeds into his rejection of the Stolas relationship. The one person he should be able to give and receive love freely with, his actual family, even pushes him away. Because he feels unworthy of a romantic relationship, he tries too hard with his familial one and the cycle repeats. There is also a lot to say about their positions of power in these relationships as well.

Blitzø took Loona in. He houses and feeds her and gave her a job. He feels comfortable expressing his affection because he is the “power” holder. He essentially secured Loona’s place in his life by taking her in and giving her a job in his business. I wouldn’t normally put it in those terms for a teenage adoption, but it’s an appropriate way to look at it in this show, especially with what’s said in the episode. Blitzø feels like taking her in and giving her a place should count for something and Loona resents it, she was almost an adult anyway. We even see him more or less “shopping” for her when we flash back in Seeing Stars. He bought her from a pound. Loona feels like she didn’t need him. She does, but she doesn’t want to.

With Stolas it’s the opposite for Blitzø. Stolas secured Blitzø’s place in his life with the grimoire. Stolas is why his business runs right now. Just like Loona, Blitzø needs Stolas, not just for the grimoire, just like Loona doesn’t need Blitzø for just her job and her home, but he doesn’t want to need Stolas for anything either.

(I want to be clear that this is JUST in the context of this cartoon show. I in no way look at actual adoption in real life through this lens, just need to say that for the weirdos.)

We also see that Loona is more alike with her father than she wants to admit, even rejecting affection the exact same way. Their relationship development is on a similar track and pace as well. We get a change with Stolas and Blitzø in Ozzie’s and directly after a change with Loona and Blitzø in Queen Bee. I will…. probably write a whole separate essay on this with all the examples to flesh it out more. It’s that crucial, but I don’t want to spend too much more time on it here. It was just too critical to leave out.

Okay, sorry, back to the episode.

Moxxie offers to ease the tension and talk to Verosika. The succubi crew attack him and then Blitzø gets really pissed. It’s one of those little “he really cares about his employees” moments I adore. We also get the first hint Moxxie is bisexual when he doesn’t reject the male coded incubus for any other reason than he is married.

Blitzø is very clear he is only throwing down the challenge they can kill more people than the succubi can fuck because they went after his employee. I’m interested in the lore of a “demon challenge” but Verosika backs down for an unrelated reason so no clues as to how binding they are.

We also get a good glimpse of Verosika’s tattoo, which is a heart with Blitzø crossed out. She was obviously way more into the relationship than he was, and as I speculated in the Ozzie’s essay I think he fled because of her trying to get too close to him and he was intimated by her increasing fame and the eyes and scrutiny that brought with it. I’m sure there is more to it they’ll explore but that is what we have so far. I find it interesting as well that we don’t get any more info about their relationship than got in Spring Broken in the Ozzie’s episode, she was solely there as a contrast with Stolas just like Fizz.

Like many of the characters from Blitzø ‘s past she continues to pointedly use BlitzO instead of the name he prefers.

I think this is less of a deadnaming thing as some people interpret it, than an “until he reconciles his past with them they won’t let him forget it” thing. Names are a big deal on this show and only the characters that knew him before pointedly use the O. As he makes amends to these people he hurt, intentionally or not, they will accept the new life he’s trying to lead.

It is possible he could revert back to BlitzO as well by the end, that’s a viable direction to go, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the former. They won’t call him Blitz and accept the change he’s trying to make until he makes amends.

Stolas gives Blitzø a new name altogether, one that he doesn’t appear to like either, but for different reasons. I think in that instance instead of the changing his name to escape his past he dislikes the nickname because of his fear of the future and the intimacy and romantic love that it could come with. Blitzø sees cutesy nicknames as a sign of affection, and he uses them frequently with people he loves LoonyToony, MillieBillie, etc to express his love. Having Stolas do the same to him scares him.

Blitzø breaks down the plan on the board with a little cartoon. He maintains that intense aggression about Verosika throughout. Moxxie and Blitzø argue about the plan and drop a cute little art school joke.

Loona asks if she can come this time and Blitzø forbids it with a fourth wall break about people over sexualizing her.

We get some lore about the human disguises, Loona has one but the imps don’t. This is a problem in this universe and is called back to in TruthSeekers and Seeing Stars. This potentially has plot implications later, either with D.H.O.R.K.S or an overarching Hell authority. I have some theories that both IMP and Stolas will be in trouble over this eventually.

Blitzø makes a flyer that hints at his dyslexia, Moxxie is wrong again, and they have the clients they need to kill for the challenge.

We arrive at the beach, which conveniently has all the targets the clients require. Loona sniffs a piece of paper and can somehow find them. I will take no “but the world building consistency!” criticisms about this show, specifically because of this scene that tells us “sometimes you just hand wave shit to get the plot moving, it doesn’t have to make sense, it’s not that deep”.

We get a little murder montage. Blitzø is being cocky and then Verosika starts the episode’s song. Verosika puts up a Fuck You Blitzo sign, which is echoed by a sign hanging off the building over the parking space at the beginning of the episode that says Buck You Flitzo. I do not know why that sign is there in the parking lot but it’s a fun detail.

Verosika can’t get through a song without drinking. I still really like the use of the flask as both a plot device and a character issues nod wrapped up in one so it bears repeating.

Loona seems to be captured by the energy of the song and approaches Vortex. There is an indication about the world building here, that the succubi can compel in some way with the song. Loona seems to almost be in a trance and the humans certainly are. Blitzø seems immune. He notices Loona is gone and yells out “where’s my baby” very dramatically with his very misplaced fatherly concerned about her.

Meanwhile, Verosika chucks her flask into the ocean. Trouble is brewing.

Loona approaches Vortex and she is very different to how we’ve seen her thus far. She’s awkward and strange and reveals she doesn’t have any friends. This is much different than how she interacts with the human men she lured into their deaths. She was very sure and not at all awkward with that. When confronted with someone she likes and is attracted to she falls to pieces a bit. Vortex is genuinely really nice, not playing into her little crush but still being friendly and teasing her a bit. I really like him as a side character.

Blitzø inserts himself into their conversation and says one of my favorite quotable lines “Conversation leads to HPV”.

He uses his authority as a boss first to get her back to work but it’s really coming from a place of parental concern. It’s a good character moment, instead of just telling her why he’s worried he defaults to boss Blitzø first.

This is one of the cruxes of their relationship issue. Blitzø adopted her when she was almost grown, he thinks that should count for something and Loona is rebellious teen yelling “You’re not my real dad”. Neither of them are approaching this from a good place. Blitzø is pushing his authority as both boss and father and Loona is pushing back and remaining guarded even after years of Blitzø being there for her. It takes time to break down those walls for both of them. That conflict starts here in Spring Broken and remains a plot point throughout.

Meanwhile Moxxie and Millie keep killing folks for the business. Moxxie gets mistaken for a possum and thrown into some beer.

Loona attempts to reach out to Blitzø but he rejects her this time and storms off. Vortex comforts Loona and is genuinely just a cool dude all around. Seriously, I like him a lot. I like the direction the show chose, where some shows might have gone the douchey route with such a character and had Loona experience a heartbreak that way, we get a different approach. He is a genuinely nice guy who is with someone else.

Loona appreciates Vortex’s support but still looks troubled. She doesn’t break down and approach Blitzø any further however.

She drops a bit of dialogue that’s meaningful instead: “He’ll get over it, he always does.”

Narrator: He doesn’t.

Millie gets a drunken Moxxie out of the beer cooler and he’s the cutest bean. I loved this scene from a personal level because, like my own partner, when he gets drunk he simps for his wife even harder. It was such a cute moment.

Millie goes feral when he’s in danger as she tends to do. The high five when he’s in the demon fish’s jaws while she is trying to save him makes me laugh out loud every time. It’s great. Like A+ animation choice.

Moxxie and Millie have a couple’s moment and a resentful Blitzø rolls his eyes and crosses his arms and says it’s too wholesome for him. I point this out because of how intentional it is as a character reveal. Moxxie and Millie were already cuddling but they amped it up and had Blitzø comment on it in an episode where his ex shows up and presents a very messed up relationship from his past.

Verosika and crew approach the team. They try to pin the blame on IMP but Millie has the flask. It’s shown again that there are consequences for what they do in the human world. They all seem to genuinely fear whatever those consequences are.

Verosika points out IMP will get in trouble too but Moxxie counters with one of my other favorite lines “A human called me a potthum, I am NOT a potthum.”

They agree to give back the parking space, Verosika is pissed. Blitzø gloats. So many middle fingers in this episode.

Loona and Tex are still talking and he offers to invite her to a party and drops that he has a girlfriend. Loona is incredibly disappointed.

Everyone heads home, I especially liked everyone’s different drops into the portal.

Verosika and crew get arrested and it’s implied they’ll get out of it for sexual favors.

This episode is just a fun one. I don’t think it’s meant to be taken too seriously but it has some fun character tidbits and the Loona and Blitzø relationship setup. We get more insight into Loona versus the apathetic sarcasm of the previous episodes. She is awkward and lonely and seems to be interested in finding a romantic partner. The episode itself frames this around Blitzo’s own youthful indiscretion, and is most likely the source of his concern though it’s a subtle setup. I like to think Blitzø was probably around Loona’s age when it all went wrong with Verosika, and that’s why he’s so overprotective. He knows where relationships in your late teens and early 20’s can go.

Loona is closed off to Blitzø but seems to genuinely want that connection between them, but they are too similar.

I like the placement of this episode story wise. I hinted at this in my previous analysis, and while I don’t know this for sure, the reveal of Blitzø as her adopted father at this point seems very intentional. In the non canon pilot it’s just dropped as a bit of quick dialogue and not even in a creative way, it’s kind of forced actually but I like that when they sat down and developed it further they waited for the right moment. We go two episodes entire episodes without learning it in canon.

I mentioned in the Murder Family analysis that I initially thought Loona was an employee he was sexually harassing not his daughter. I can’t determine if the creators thought everyone watching had seen the Pilot or if they wanted to wait to introduce it on purpose. I lean towards the latter considering how carefully crafted Murder Family was as a true Pilot.

It would have been okay to just dialogue drop it again in Murder Family or made sense to mention it in LooLoo Land given the father/daughter focus of that episode but I think they made the right choice dropping it here. Not only is this a more Loona centric episode but we, the audience, can now directly contrast it with the preceding episode.

In LooLoo Land, Stolas is having a similar issue with Octavia, though the issue there is more of a family breakdown than an issue of independence, but whereas Stolas and Octavia resolve the conflict for the most part in that episode (though it will reappear in Seeing Stars in a slightly different way) Loona and Blitzø do not. They fight, they separate, they do not reconcile. This tells us this is an ongoing plot point, it will come up again and it will not be resolved in a single storyline, it is an ongoing thing they want to develop.

Not to keep being all BUT STOLITZ in an episode Stolas doesn’t even appear in, but I love the back to back contrast between LooLoo Land and Spring Broken and the fact that we are shown that, though Stolas and Blitzø are very different, they have similar issues in their relationships with their daughters. They are both fathers trying their best.

How the issues are handled speak to their flaws in character as well: Stolas fucks up because of his issues trying to force a happy family image and alienates his daughter, but he talks to her about it and she is receptive and forgives him and they reconcile. Octavia is very like her father in a people pleasing way in that she does go along with what Stolas wants (though she protests a lot more) and does this until she explodes and then she is soothed by actually talking it through and being receptive. Stolas has done similar things, he goes along with things to keep the peace and then he explodes, his blow up at Stella for instance. I’m hoping we’ll see more of him blowing up in future. Both Blitzø and Stolas are reflected in their daughters. Stolas even takes this same approach with Blitzø he does with Octavia, he reaches out and tries to talk, but because of Blitzø’s issues he gets rejected. Loona would do the same.

Blitzø and Loona’s conflict is both with his exerting his authority and being overbearing and overly affectionate which Loona doesn’t trust. Loona, because she is like Blitzø, rejects him for both, but because both of them default to ignoring the problem, neither talk about it and it goes unresolved.

I just really like this contrast. I also like how you can see how tied together all these characters are, they have thier own unique issues but they still parallel and mirror each other throughout.

I don’t like to refer to episodes as filler episodes, because no episode is truly just filler unless it’s a flashback episode and even then sometimes they matter, but this episode could be classified as such as it only gives us backstory hints and no real resolutions. As I said before if you skipped it you wouldn’t be missing any necessary context for the show as everything in it gets brought up again. It does introduce Verosika and setup Loona and Blitzø’s relationship conflict however. These are both important but we explore them elsewhere too so this is more of an establishing shot of those things rather than a typical setup and resolution. These are pins to be knocked down later.

We the audience know there is more to explore with both of them, whereas with LooLoo Land I don’t think they intended for Octavia to necessarily be a long term conflict for Stolas, they set it up and resolve it in one shot. Seeing Stars came later and was kind of a rehash of LooLoo Land but this time bringing both Loona and Blitzø into it and calling back to the issues of Spring Broken. Seeing Stars is what ties the issues of LooLoo Land and Spring Broken together, but that’s an essay for another day.

[princestolasofthearsgoetia]

📌🌆Helluva Office Job🌆📌

A Starter for @arrapante-angelo and @ultio-angelus

Stolas was shocked to hear that Loona was the one who'd been using his grimoire all that time.

It came up late one evening after he and Blitz had been out to a very nice dinner, and came home, tipsy and happy. They were still working on the parameters of this whole "dating" thing after their rocky start and plenty of misunderstandings but that was what mattered. They were both trying, and lately, it seemed, they were succeeding.

When they stumbled in the door, they found their daughters, standing in the center of the foyer, surrounded by candles, around half of which were lit. Octavia was standing with Loona in the middle of it all, seemingly correcting the way Loona pointing at one of the candles. They were rapt in concentration on one of the nearest candles....an unlit one.

"Good evening, Ladies." He intoned. Both girls nearly jumped three feet in the air in surprise. "Anyone care to tell me why there's half a bonfire in the entry hall?"

"Shit sorry..." Loona began, but Octavia barreled right past her, throwing her arms around her dad in excitement.

"Dad Dad dad!" She hooted with glee. "Loona's got magic! Loona's got MAGIC, dad!!! Like us!! Look! Show them, Loon!!"

The owlet was practically vibrating with excitement and she ran back to Loona's side and pointed at the unlit candle. Loona looked back and forth between the two men nervously, then to Via, who nodded her encouragement. Then she focused on the candle. She squinted, seemingly struggling, then, a few moments later a sort of black shimmer appeared around it....and it lit itself! Via cheered. Stolas clapped his hands with glee. Loona looked shyly pleased with the praise.

The girls explained how Loona had been talking about how she was always the one to open portals for IMP cause she was just good at it...and Octavia decided to test her for magic power and...lol and behold....they'd been having little magic lessons for hours.

"Dad.... we've got to get her enrolled in a magic academy." Via insisted. "She's really really talented."

Stolas turned to the hellhound. Loona looked nervous. "I don't know..." She said. "I'd be the oldest one there I bet. And probably the only hellhound and people wouldn't take kindly to it. Besides I have work and....and those kinds of schools are really expensive...." Her eyes flicked to Blitz briefly. "I don't know if we could even afford that. And...."

Stolas lifted a claw and cut her off.

"But do you want to go?" He asked. After a second, she nodded. And that was that. There was nothing either of the fathers wouldn't do to make their girls happy.

She was enrolled at Via's school, so she'd have the protection of being with a princess. No one would harass her there. Stolas, without a second thought but with much hemming and hawing from Blitz, put up the money for her tuition. That only left her job.

"I can't just leave them with no one manning the phones and schedules!" She insisted a few weeks later, just before the semester began when Via and Stolas had swung by to drop off lunch at the IMP offices.

"So I'll do it."

Everyone looked at Stolas, bug eyed. "He only had eyes for Blitz. "I once said you'd make a great boss. I said I'd be honored to work for you. So....if you'll have me, I can cover the hours Loona is away at school during the semester. I'm sure it will be fun!"

And that's how Stolas came to be the temporary secretary.

The first day of his employment he showed up early, ever eager, and got the whole place looking nice. He made everyone coffee and had it sitting on their table waiting, and when the imps finally arrived they found him sitting at the front desk waiting for them cross legged in a very tight blouse and very small shorts, a tiny little cropped sweater vest and glasses that served no purpose whatsoever. It seemed his only reference for office wear had been pornography. He winked at Blitz over his useless glasses. Moxxie's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Welcome to IMP, how can I serve you today, Boss?"

[practically-an-x-man]

For reasons unknown, an immortal beast has been dropping off random trinkets at your ancestral home for generations. They're all kept in storage; nobody dares throw them away. Today instead of a trinket, the beast leaves a note with instructions on it.

Tweak this one as you see fit. Maybe Octavia? Dunno. Do what sparks your imagination!

Taken from here if the link works...

Ooooh I've actually got a neat idea for this one....

Thank you!!

____ Years Ahead

Word Count: 2.7k Content Warnings: none? mentions major character death but not in a violent way

____

The boy peered at the doorstep. He didn't spot the trinket for a long time. He was looking for something bright, something shiny, like so many of the other trinkets were shiny, and this... wasn't.

Finally he spotted it, a folded piece of old paper half-tucked under one of the flowerpots on the front stoop. Carefully, he tilted the pot enough to snag the paper underneath, and gingerly unfolded it.

It was a photo: in color, glossy, but faded with time. It looked like the photos the boy had seen on the walls of his grandmother's house - they still stuck to paper, instead of the screens and projections he had in his own house.

The photo showed a cluster of figures, dirty and bloodied but grinning at the camera. Some of the figures were... odd, not quite human, and it made the boy wonder where this picture had come from.

He folded it back up and took it inside. His mother had warned him, repeatedly, not to get too involved with the trinkets. Nobody in his family knew who sent them, only that they'd been arriving on the doorstep almost daily for close to a century. There was a heavy oak trunk in the attic, big enough that the boy and his father could both curl up inside and take a nap, full to the brim of these little trinkets.

The boy tossed the photo onto the pile with the rest, looking at the odd assortment of trinkets in the box. It didn't make sense: Roman coins next to animal-bone jewelry, rolls of camera film stacked on top of shark teeth and bullet casings. It was like their mystery gift-giver had raided a museum. Half the items looked like trash to him, useless, but his mother forbade him from throwing anything out.

"Did you check the stoop?" his mother called out, from somewhere below him.

"Yeah!" the boy shouted back, "It was a photo! I put it with the rest!"

He thundered back down the stairs and raced to catch the bus, and that was the end of that.

____

The next day, there was a shiny silver medal on the stoop. The boy picked it up and carried it upstairs, like all the rest, but something made him curious. He snagged the previous day's photo and turned over, poring over the figures in the shot.

There. The tall man in the center of the picture- he had the same medal clipped to his chest. And a gun slung over his shoulder. Military. The boy didn't know what it meant, but it felt like some sort of clue.

He spent the rest of the day rooting through the chest of trinkets, separating any items that caught his eye. He didn't find any more clues there, though he nearly cut himself on a small, slender blade at the bottom of the trunk. He nearly gave up there. It was a fluke, these two items in a row, or their mystery gift-giver just happened to steal from this military man and give out what they found there. The boy had wondered repeatedly if they were a thief. It was the only way to explain how they got all the trinkets.

His mother called him down to supper. He was nearly to the stairs when he remembered the stack of photos.

"Just a minute!" he shouted back down to his mother, rifling through the photos as quickly as he could.

Sure enough, the same man popped up in almost all of them. A few of the others did too, here and there, but none with as much frequency.

Well, almost none.

The man had his arm around them in almost every single one of the photos. Smaller, shorter, sharp-eyed but smiling, and always with a weapon in their hand. And as the boy flipped through the pictures, one right after another, he noticed something else.

They didn't age.

The man next to them did, little by little. His hair, already on the pale side, went thin and gray. Lines appeared on his forehead and cheeks, crinkled around his eyes when he smiled. The boy had no idea the scope of the photos, how many years were represented, but he could see that quite a lot of time must have passed between them.

And the person standing next to him did not change. If the boy looked closely, he could see a few new scars on their skin, or shifts in their expression over time, but they didn't age like the man next to them.

Immortal. Or close to it.

He knew who was leaving the trinkets.

The boy ran downstairs and tried to explain this all to his family, but they didn't believe him. No, not quite - they might have believed him, but they insisted he not push this any further. He didn't need to know who was leaving the trinkets, they said, and trying to investigate might just make them angry. If this really was some sort of god, the last thing they wanted was to displease it.

He said he understood. He said he wouldn't search for any more clues. He said he would let the immortal leave their gifts, and he would put them in the trunk upstairs, and that would be it.

He lied.

____

That night, once his parents had gone to bed, he snuck out of his room and crept down to the front stoop. He intended to stay there all night, armed with a two-liter of caffeinated soda he'd stolen from the kitchen and his fluffiest blanket wrapped around himself to ward off the nighttime chill. He was determined to stay awake, and catch this mystery gift-giver in the act. He held the photo and medal clutched tight in his hands.

Hours stretched on, and even the soda couldn't help him hold off his tiredness. It just made him have to pee. He was glad his mother didn't catch him doing it in the bushes. She'd be furious.

There was no sign of the gift-giver, nor anyone else. The night was dark and silent around him.

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he noticed was sunlight spearing into his eyes. His head hurt, probably from all the soda and lack of good sleep. And he hadn't even caught a glimpse of the person he was looking for.

But his blanket had been tucked around him a little more soundly, and in his hands, alongside the medal and photo, was a note.

Stop looking for me.

There was no signature. The words were written in dark ink, simple and blocky handwriting. He was half-convinced his parents had written it for him, the same way they'd masqueraded as Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy for so much of his life.

The boy had to hustle back inside before his parents could realize he'd spent the night on the stoop. He got dressed, brushed his teeth, ran off to catch the school bus like it was any other morning. The note burned a hole in his pocket the whole way.

He didn't show the note to his parents. When they asked about the morning's trinket, he grabbed a random object from the trunk upstairs and presented it to them. They couldn't tell the difference.

That night, he tucked a few of the photos - all showing the military man in the center of the shot - under the flowerpot, alongside a note of his own.

Who is he?

The boy didn't expect a response. But the next morning, he found another old medal from the US Army on the front stoop, alongside a small scrap of paper.

You remind me of him. Stubborn. Stop looking for me.

That was the only explanation he got. It confirmed something in his mind, though - the immortal from the picture, the one the soldier always held close to his side, was the same one who'd been leaving his family these little trinkets for decades.

He left them another note.

Why do you leave my family these things?

That one was accompanied by a handful of items from the trunk upstairs. He picked them at random. In the morning, they were gone.

Would you rather I take them back? Stop asking questions.

He thought about that one for a long time. On the one hand, he didn't want them to take back what they'd given - mostly because it sounded like a threat, and he didn't want his family or their home to get hurt because of it. Maybe he was getting too curious for his own good.

But on the other hand, they'd responded to every note he left. They could have been silent, kept leaving wordless trinkets or no trinkets at all, let him think they didn't understand English or didn't care or weren't human at all. But they responded. So maybe they did care. Just a little.

That night, he decided to voice his thoughts.

Why would I stop asking questions when you keep answering them?

Answering was more than a little generous. He still didn't know anything new. If anything, he had more questions than he started with. But why would they respond at all if they didn't want him to ask more questions? He had the strangest feeling that, whoever this person was, they liked the back-and-forth of it.

But maybe he'd pushed things a little too far with that last note. They were silent for a whole week after that. No more notes, no more trinkets. Even his parents started to get suspicious.

Just as he was ready to give up, when he debating not checking the stoop at all after so much silence, there was another note under the flowerpot.

You built a fort in the woods when you were ten. Meet me there. Next Sunday at midnight.

He'd definitely pushed things too far. This was how kids got abducted. He was a smart boy, but even a stupid boy would know not to walk into the forest at midnight and meet somebody they'd never met. He didn't even know this person's name, or if they were who they said they were. The only proof that they were the immortal in the pictures was that they'd been leaving trinkets for a hundred years, and no normal human would be able to do that.

But he wanted his questions answered. He wanted to see who it was.

He thought about telling his parents. This was starting to get scary. But if he told them now, they'd shut this whole thing down. And if this was the immortal person in the pictures, if they did know who that military man was, this might be his only chance to find out.

He didn't tell them just yet. He just left another note.

How do I know I can trust you?

The response was on the front stoop the morning after, alongside a carved statuette the size of his thumb. It looked like a lion, carved of some rough off-white material that might have been bone.

You don't. I'm a very dangerous person. Your family has always known this. There's nothing I can say that would reassure you otherwise.

But if you want to see me face to face, that is where I'll be.

He debated it for days. Logic told him not to go. Instinct told him he would be fine. He wasn't sure which one he trusted more.

____

The next Sunday, the boy found himself walking through the woods. He still remembered the path to his fort, though the darkness made every tree look alike. Once or twice, he thought he saw the gleam of animal eyes reflected in the light of his flashlight. Every so often, a stick cracked from somewhere off to his left. He felt like he was being followed.

He wasn't unarmed. He had a knife clutched in his hand, the same small blade he'd found in the trunk weeks before. In his pockets were a collection of firecrackers he'd found in the garage - hopefully they would prove some distraction if this really did turn out to be dangerous. He'd clipped the medals to the front of his shirt, just because. They made him feel a little braver.

He approached the fort, silhouetted in the darkness. His eyes strained for light, looking for any figure or flash of movement. So far, he saw nobody.

"You have my knife."

The voice came from his left, and he chucked the blade as hard as he could in the direction of the voice.

It struck their shoulder, hard enough to make them stagger back a step. Calmly, as if they were in no pain at all, they pulled the blade from their shoulder and turned it over in their hands. The wound sealed over in moments, leaving behind only a rip in their shirt and a wash of blood down their arm.

"Not bad, kid."

"You're the one from the picture." he blurted, the first thing that popped into his head. Because they were - the same sharp eyes, the same freckled-spotted skin, the same dark curly hair. Now they had no weapon, and most of their scars were covered by their long-sleeved shirt, but their face was familiar. He'd been looking at it for weeks.

The boy rustled in his pockets, pulling out the picture they'd left before - the group photo, where they all looked young and healthy, with the soldier and the immortal and the human shark and all the rest. Now it was obvious they were the same. They hadn't changed at all, though he wondered what had happened to the others in the photo.

"This one." he said, holding it out to them. The person took a step forward, and the boy unconsciously matched it with a shuffle back. He didn't want them close enough to grab him. He still had that much sense. The other person stopped where they stood, tilting their head at him.

"Yes." they said, "That one."

"You're... you're a god?" he guessed, his other hand fiddling with the firecrackers in his pocket. He had a feeling they would do very little, if this person wanted a fight. Maybe it was a bad idea to come here. Maybe he shouldn't have investigated.

"Not exactly." they responded, "I've just lived a very long time. You've heard of my kind before. Metahumans. Amazons."

"Like Wonder Woman."

That made them grimace, just a little. If he hadn't been watching them so intently, looking for any flicker of motion, he would have missed it.

"Yes." they decided, "Like Wonder Woman."

"Why do you keep leaving things on the doorstep? My grandpa says you've been doing it since before he was born." the boy asked. Little by little, he could feel his fear starting to trickle away. He still was wary, he still didn't let himself relax, but he was becoming convinced that this person wasn't here to hurt him. They still hadn't moved from their spot, and their hands hung loose at their sides. One still held that little knife, but it was a casual grip, like they'd forgotten it was there.

They were silent for a long time. The boy shifted on his feet.

"I made a promise, a very long time ago," they finally answered, dark eyes still frozen on the photo in his hand. They looked sad. They looked like they'd been sad for a long time. "I promised that I would protect your family for as long as I could. I promised that I would keep you safe. The trinkets are a sign that I'm still here to watch over you."

"Did he make you promise?" he asked, pointing to the man in the center of the photo. Another low wash of grief passed over the person's face.

"Yes," they said, voice choked, "Yes, he did."

"Who are you?" the boy couldn't help but continue, glancing between them and the photo in his hand, "Who is he?"

"My name is Eris." the person responded, looking at the picture with dark, sad eyes, "The man you see is your great-great-grandfather. He was... he was the only man I ever loved."

[madefate]

Blitz waits until Loona is out, the same way he has for the past five years, to open the cabinet under the television and pull the worn journal from the very back. There's always a little bit of dust clinging to the leather cover from only being used once a year, but he's always careful to make sure nothing mars the pages.

The soft glow of the streetlights outside and one lamp is all he needs - Blitz settles on the floor, back pressed against the front of the couch, his phone and a well-used dictionary by him - just like she taught him.

Hi Mom,

You won't believe how good Loonie is doing these days. She's gone out into the feild with us a few times this year and she's so strong it's amazing to sea. Sometimes she's still scared, but she even made some fre friends! She went out to a party, even met Queen Beel Beal - Bee. Don't worry tho, I'm keeping an eye on that shadee character she was making eyes at. He'll have to go thru through me. I'll keep her safe. But she has Bee and Ok Octavia too, I think, and I'm so happy for her.

You'll love her so, so much.

She got sick with the fle flu this winter, but I made that resipe that you used to, the soup with the carrots and potatoes and the little pasta, and she loved it. Maybee I'll make that the next time we try to get her Hellbies shot - she's still so scared of needles. Sometimes I want to destroy that so-called adopshun center for waht they did. But she loved the soup. Thanks for helping me, Mom.

I saw Fizzy again! Twice, and the second time we got to talk. He said he doesn't hate me, and I don't get it. He thaught I did set started did it on purpose. I promise I didn't, I told you, and when I told Fizzy that, he belee believed me. I even got to see him at his last consert with Mammon - guess what! He finally told Mammon to f that he was gonna quit. I'm sure Mammon's gonna bi try to do something about it, but I always told him that he was talented enuff to do this on his own. And he is - you'll be so proud of him. He got his dream, even fell in love with a good guy (a Sin!). I know he loves you, too.

I need to apologize. I saw Barbie. She's outta rehab, and I think she's kind of clean, but she was still dealing in the human world. I thought if we maybee talked, I could help her, but she doesn't it didn't work too well. But don't you worry, okay? I'm still not giving up, and I even got out some full sentenses this time! I'll keep watching out for her, I promise. She'll be okay. Maybee next year, she'll have her own part in this letter.

Do you remember when I was kid and Ca Dad s set up that playdate with the Goetia kid? I met up with him again last year. Befor you ask, I don't know what's going on with him and me. I included a drawing for referense for what he looks like now. (Also a drawing of Loonie!) He also gave me one of the flowers from his gre garden, so I pressed that in here for you. Sometimes he reminds me of you. He sings too. And he's kind talented soft.

You've been with me a lot this year, Mom. With Loonie, with Stolas. I want to be good like you - I'm trying. I'm really trying, now. I'm not going to let you down again. This is the year I get Barbie back, and I'll try to be honest with Stolas, so don't worry, okay? You deserve to relax and just be at peace.

I love you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Blitzo

[djemsostylist]

Rome, Part 2a: A History Desecrated

Okay, so the title is a little dramatic, but honestly, not that inaccurate. Rome is accurate the way Kingdome of Heaven is accurate--the major events happen, though not in the same way or for the same reasons or even always with the same people as they did historically.

Rome assumes, to it's detriment, that the reader has read about the Roman Empire, and knows what the hell is going on. It also assumes that building any sort of relationship between any of the characters--all of whom had, rather famously, deep, abiding connections that stretched back 30+ years before the events of Rome, is utterly unnecessary. These people had large, extended families, multiple children, relationships with each other and with other, smaller players, who were nevertheless important.

We'll start with the characters I think, to keep things simple. The show focuses on the historical characters of Caesar, Marc Antony, Pompey, Cicero, Brutus, Cato, Cassius (a more minor character), as well as Servilia, Atia, Octavian, and Octavia.

The characters, by and large, bear little to no resemblance to their historical counterparts. Though of course there is always room for interpretation (and bearing in mind that I am hardly an expert in the field), the characters feel less like actual people who once lived and more like clichés. Caesar here is mostly exceedingly British--stiff upper lip, inscrutable, devoid of the charisma and charm that made him so successful. The Caesar of the HBO is not a man who could shame an army into leaving off a rebellion merely by giving them what they wanted. In fact, this Caesar is so unremarkable, that I don't even really have much more to say about him. He exists. He is accompanied mostly by Mark Antony, who here, save Pompey, is probably the closest to his historical counterpart, save for being significantly stupider. This Antony gets no real moments to shine, as most of his savvy moves are preempted by bullying from Atia (who here plays his mistress--his first wife and children do not exist). They even take away his speech at Caesar's funeral--he is entirely portrayed as oafish, boorish, and horny.

Pompey is probably the most accurate, although it's honestly not hard to portray a sad old man at the end of his story, spurred on mostly by the Senate, which is pretty much how he is portrayed here. Cicero is played as a mostly sputtering sad sack (who, like Antony, has no family), and he borders on whiny and weenyish in a way that feels both cliched and grating. Brutus is fine, I suppose, if uninspiring--he exists mostly to be used, much like Antony--his only real convictions occur when someone makes his tummy hurt. Which, while perhaps not wholly inaccurate, just reads like he is a petulant child, driven by the whims of others. The other two anti-caesarians here are Cassius, who is much like Brutus--fine, if uninspiring, and Cato, who here is Cato the Elder, who plays the same character the actor played in the movie Hot Fuzz, so I feel like that says everything really.

If the men are mostly boring clichés with a single, overexaggerated trait, the women are SO. MUCH. WORSE. Atia, here a main character is vain, selfish, cruel, manipulative and self-serving. While the historical Atia is mostly a background player, here, Atia is front and center as she seems to be multiple historical ladies rolled into one (bc Rome seems allergic to having both large families and multiple female characters of the same generation). Servilia, a major secondary character in the show, is vain, selfish, cruel, manipulative, and self-serving. (Are we sensing a theme?) Caesar's third wife exists in approximately 3.5 scenes, but in the moments we see her she is vain, selfish, cruel, manipulative, and, you guessed it, self-serving. Octavia then, is a breath of fresh air! In her role she is portrayed as shallow, drippy, whiny, spineless, and useless, which is a honestly a refreshing change. This Octavia is incredibly stupid, easily manipulated (she has an affair with Servilia who convinces her to sleep with Octavian to pry info out of him, I'm not making this up), and prone to fits of crying and teenagerish whining. Cleopatra then, almost doesn't bear mentioning, but the drugged out, baby voiced, sex pest version somehow makes the other women almost seem to be treated respectfully by comparison. The women of this show, far from caring anything about the republic, society, or the men they should love and support, instead are absorbed in a constant series of catfights and backstabbing, and the plots resemble nothing so much as a Real Housewives of Rome show. The women who are treated the best are the two lowerclass women, the wives of our "heroes", both of whom are only married to their husbands through fear and coercion, and who live in fear of violence and the threat of death, which somehow feels grosser to me than if they were given the same treatment as the other women.

Octavian and his merry band are headscratchers--we spend the entirety of the first season with Octavian, whose only real friend is Titus Pullo (a man hired by his mother) and perhaps the sister he inexplicably sleeps with, only for the second season to start and the narrative to helpfully inform us that he actually has TWO super close friends who we have never heard of before, and oh here they are. The question of when he had time to make and meet these friends is bizarre, but both Agrippa and Maecenas here suffer from the same cliché disease the rest of the men suffer from, which leaves Agrippa some sort of overly saccharine cinnamon roll and Maecenas a bored trust fund baby with slightly strange inclinations. Octavian, after spending three months becoming an entirely different person, remains "smart" in the way writers think smart people work, meaning he knows things he shouldn't, is kind of a freak, and never smiles.

But perhaps the most egregious bit about the historical characters of Rome is the fact that none of them have any sort of relationship at all to each other, let alone their families. The only married couple with children we see on the show is Pompey and his post-Julia wife--literally NO ONE else is married or has kids. At all. Cicero dies alone with only his slave, Servilia dies alone with only her slave, Brutus and Cassius die alone with only their slaves, Atia doesn't die and I guess she does have children, but neither of her children have children (incredibly strange considering Octavia was mother to like, 10 children, biologically, foster, step--you name it), and Antony dies with only two children (his twins with Cleopatra, as here he does not have any children prior, since he was never married to his first wife and Octavia's ONLY CHILD (a girl, named Antonia) is actually Agrippa's.) Half of the Julio-Claudian dynasty just doesn't exist in this Rome.

And neither do any prior relationships. Caesar and Brutus have like, exactly two scenes together, and Caesar and Cicero's scenes are mostly Caesar being a dick and Cicero blubbering. There is no indication that any of these people were friends, had worked together, had love, respect or ANYTHING. The Civil War has basically no feeling to it, because why should it? These people mean nothing to each other, so who cares who lives or who dies?

While I'm generally annoyed at modern interpretations of historical characters, here it feels almost as if the writers had some personal vendetta against them, particularly the women. The way in which the characters are written feels pointed, although I'm hard pressed to figure out what exactly they want us to see. But Rome feels smaller, somehow, and less grand, and more like a story we've seen before, a thousand times, and less the start of one of the most famous empires the world has ever known.

[just-being-leonest]

Okayyy live blog of sorts for the season 2 episode 2 let’s look at the train wreck

“So yes it’s intended for mature audiences” then write for mature audiences.

Why is Stolas narrating.

What the fuck is this timeline??? Is Stella divorcing him, moving out... what????

Well Octavia got her mother’s anger

I asked my brother why she looked so weird and he replied that they did a 3/4ths view on her muzzle and mouth while a front facing view of her forehead. Also the hair looks like play-doh

Also her eye on top of her hair is bugging me

Whyyyy is Moxxie giving Blitz a pep talk??? This is more in character for Millie!

Still with the fat jokes...? Seriously? It doesn’t even make sense considering Viv is allergic to making fat characters. Or any characters that don’t look like sticks :/

Hello bland as fuck human disguises. Do they have the same color palette? Seriously?

Okay why is Moxxie acting like a whiny bitch??? Like this is overdramatic

.......They seriously made a Brandon Rogers joke? That’s... shockingly unfunny

That producer's voice is shit. Same with the disguise for Blitz

Does no one notice the tail or horns?

Unrealistic situations go brrrrr

I don’t need horny stoliz I’m more invested in Octavia

Wait

Why did Loona just outright post about being on Earth.

what are the rules of Hell??

Why is a hellhound running a hellhound adoption center what are the fucking rules here Viv

ya know the adoption center being like a shitty kennel seems a little uncouth imo. Idk maybe it’s just me

Okay why is her hair now covering her eyes. What.

The fuck is this hair?

Honestly... too much Stoliz and not enough Loona and Octavia. Jesus Christ

Gonna be honest, skipped through all the M&M scenes and a good chunk of the Blitz scenes :/

It was.. eh. I feel like the animation is really dropping in quality.

[roseangel19]

⚠️Spoilers for “Unhappy Campers”!⚠️

When Moxxie and Millie had their argument, I couldn’t help but think “Don’t tell me that some of Blitz’s toxic traits rubbed off on them”. Particularly Millie’s feelings of not being someone to be proud of, of not feeling important enough (‘cause that came COMPLETELY out of nowhere, unless I wasn’t paying attention to older episodes 🤷🏼‍♀️).

[Random Question Time]

Where did they get their outfits from? It would’ve made them look less suspicious if they stole some camper clothes from somewhere on the site.

So we know how the client died, but why did he/they end up in Hell? We weren’t shown what type of person they were when they were alive unlike with Miss Mayberry in “Murder Family”.

{A YouTuber by the name of Forced Positivity brought this up so credit goes to him for thinking of this}. How were the M&Ms able to make a portal to earth without the Grimoire? Octavia has it, so unless she gave it back to the I. M. P team offscreen, this doesn’t add up.

The whole scene where Blitz and the nurse with the taser were talking about Barbie Wire confused me. So, she calls him a deadbeat (which to me implied that he never came to visit his sister in the rehab center) but then tells him to not screw up Barb’s life by looking for her??? Idk, maybe we’ll get answers in a future episode (that is if the writers still remember that BW exists now).

What happened to Millie’s accent when she sang her solo? It just disappeared (I know the meta reason, they cast someone to be the singing voice but I’m talking about the in universe reason).

Why couldn’t Moxxie just have the personas he had for himself and Millie to be boyfriend and girlfriend instead of siblings? That would have made their moment of passion on the stage in front of all those people less incestuous.

[thewholecrew]

@headstrongblake said: “Stop undressing me with your eyes and start using your teeth.” / o & grant

it had been hard to keep his hands to himself the entire time they had been out. even with the quickie they managed it had only sated him for a while before it made his desire just that much worse. she looked stunning in her prom dress and it was hard for him not to stare when she would go off with her friends to take pictures, the way she would pose it was as if she was tempting him, teasing him and grant could have swore she knew what she was doing when their eyes would meet and he'd see the devilish glint.

stuffing his hands in his pockets so people didn't question why he had them balled in fists at his side, he behaved the rest of the night. his hands touching her though whenever he got the chance. her waist, her hair, her cheek. his hand would slide down her arm to take her hand a moment when she'd then slip away from him again. he wanted to sigh.

finally, once prom and the afterparty was over, grant finally took her home. his desire for her never wained and had only coiled tighter and tighter as the night went on. she took every opportunity to tease him, to brush against him, to sit in his lap, to brush her lips innocently against his cheek or ear when she'd speak to him. he knew what she was doing yet he didn't stop her, it was probably the main reason he didn't find this whole event a bit boring. he was glad she had fun, that her and her friends had this night to remember forever.

he would just simply remember it for something else. he lingered a moment at her door before she tugged him inside by his tie. his heart skipped a beat in his chest and when she let go to step towards the bedroom he couldn't help the way his eyes were nearly black with desire. stop undressing me with your eyes, she told him as she raised a finger to motion him closer. and start using your teeth.

"fuck," he whispered under his breath as she dropped her dress in front of him, the lacy set she wore underneath had him gulping. slipping out of his jacket and discarding it on the floor, followed by loosening his tie, he went to her where she settled on the bed and did just that. finally not having to hold back. he kneeled at the foot of the bed, hands sliding up her legs before spreading them and pulling her down the bed to meet him at the edge. he pressed soft kisses to start along her inner thighs before marking her skin on the way up to her hips. he kissed along her stomach before his teeth caught the strap of her panties.

dark eyes looked up her body as her hand fisted in his hair and he groaned, tugging the fabric down off her. hands lifted her legs a bit to press them together, making it easier for him to tug her panties off before dropping them on the floor with their other discaded clothing. he swallowed thickly before he settled between her legs once again, kissing over the bruising marks he had left moments ago, teeth lightly grazing over them as he kissed his way inching closer to her center.

hands tightened on her thighs to an almost bruising degree as he rested her legs over his shoulders, a soft moan escaping as octavia tugged at his hair and arched up against his mouth that finally closed around her wet heat. eyes fell closed as he went to work eagerly, her moans only encouraging him forward. she tasted like heaven and after the torture of the day he could think of nothing better.

[jennrypan]

Sorry for not making it clear but what i meant is that this show didn't develop their female character properly by the writing. Your point sometime female character doesn't need to be revelant to the plot i agree sometime yes but there's also sometime where the female character need to shine

millie we never got any episode center around her character and her personality also character being moxxie wife. Millie she's voiced by a black woman

stella not only that she's inconsistent but her potrayal as abuser is really problematic. I believe they have no intention to make her character interesting. Also just because stella and stolas don't love each other doesn't mean stolas cheating is justified. Woman in the relationship always get the blame when their male partner cheated

verosika her design wasn't too bad and let me tell you this marinette VA voice this character. Verosika it's shpwn us that blitzo is a shitty boyfriend toward verosika so why not shown us that how their relationship was and validated her anger toward blitzo

Loona i will be honest she's not a great character at all Kat elliot from wendell and wild is her but with more better writing and character arc

Octavia poor kid have to deal with unhealthy marriage between stolas and stella. I get it stolas trying he's best but it's the bare minimum beside stolas really need to control he's hornyness around octavia she doesn't need to see that. Octavia she's actually can be a great character but the show doesn't put enough screentime for her

Oh no you phrased it well!! My point wasn't exactly to your statement, I was just saying it lol--

(Also ye I know Millies voiced by a black woman and Marinettes VA is Verosika! I love it so much--)

And you do make great points but the way I see it, I like the way Millie is, she's chaotic and always willing to give a helping hand, she's a secondary character, and with Stella, I like that she's a bitch and she's snooty, should Stolas have cheated? No, he could've gone about it differently but they're demons, demons don't exactly have morals so they do fucked up shit so of courses he gonna swing to the far left and make everything worse, they are a terrible couple and they should've never had this dispute in front of their younger daughter

Verosika has every right to hate Blitzo and I LOVE THAT, clearly she loved him (she has his name tattooed on her like) and he clearly fucked up!! I really like the fact that she genuinely seemed to love him, but then he screwed it up by being himself. I would love to see a flashback to them dating though, I wanna see what he did and see her reaction (I really like character expressions so I wanna see her like. Angry/sad??) Also..I wanna see more Verosika in general

And with Loona she's kinda okay for me?? Cuz I don't really dig too deep in what she says, cuz I'm very..okay with this Show 😭 Like I know she's not everyone's favorite but I like her tbh, (I like all the characters cuz they're all literally pieces of shit, like all of them cept for Octavia obvi) she's just there for me

Also OCTAVIA DESERVES TO BE IN A BETTER ENVIRONMENT!! Stolas is trying but he's still fucking it up!! Him publicly fighting Stella and being stuck on Blitzo in front of his daughter isn't great! He does clearly love her but still, its not healthy for kids to see how much their parents hate each other, also! I wanna see Stella's relationship with her daughter, I wanna see how they speak to each other, how Stella feels about her?? Like we can speculate and I've seen fanart that either make Stella a terrible mother or she tries to be good for Octavia (personally love that one better cuz it gives Stella nauce and heart. Like she's a bitch but she does love her daughter above all else)

Like. These characters could be expended on more but I'm more so interested in Stella and Octavias whole thing?? I LOVE Millie sm but those situations interest me more-

[90363462]

How Jessica Chastain Found Calm At Oscars After Will Smith Slap

Amy LamareAugust 2, 2022

The 2022 Academy Awards will go down in history as one of the more bizarre events of the Academy’s 94 years of hosting the annual awards ceremony. The 94th Oscars even top the 2014 ceremony when John Travoltainfamously mangled Idina Menzel’s name. While Chris Rock was presenting the award for best documentary feature, he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, comparing it to the buzz cut Demi Moore had in the 1997 film G.I. Jane. 

RELATED: Will Smith’s New Apology Video and What Chris Rock Teaches Us About NOT Being a Victim

The next thing Rock saw was Will Smith’shand. The actor rushed the stage and slapped Chris Rock in front of their industry peers in the audience and the many millions of people viewing the broadcast. After he was slapped, Rock said, “Will Smith just smacked the s— out of me.” Smith replied vehemently, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f— mouth!” Rock still stunned said, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.” Smith once again said, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f— mouth.”

This interaction immediately changed the vibe in the room. This was unfortunate for Jessica Chastain who won Best Actress for her performance in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. In her own words, “I walked into a very charged energy in that room, and I was trying to figure out how to just breathe and create a calmness,” she said in an interview with Net-A-Porter.

Jessica Chastain Reclaimed and Reset the Energy in the Room

Needless to say, after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, the energy on the stage and at the Dolby Theatre was tense.  Jessica Chastain was nominated for Best Actress, the category immediately following the slap. Chastain said the night was a “weird night” overall and she was just trying to remain calm and restore order to the ceremony. 

Her acceptance speech touched on discrimination, intolerance, and an exploration of what her purpose as an actress is. She didn’t have a fully prepared speech when she won Best Actress, and after the slapping incident, her emotions threatened to get the best of her. But she knew she had a global audience watching her and she had things she wanted to get across. She said, in part, “We’re faced with discriminatory and bigoted legislation that is sweeping our country, with the only goal of further dividing us.”

RELATED: How Jessica Chastain Helped Fellow Actress Octavia Spencer Earn 5 Times Her Salary

Chastain further channeled calmness in talking about Tammy Faye Baker’s “radical acts of love” and how inspired she is by her, saying, “we want to be accepted for who we are, accepted for who we love, and to live a life without the fear of violence or terror.”

Chastain admits she was “genuinely surprised” at her win. Not long after accepting her award, Will Smith won for Best Actor and gave a tearful acceptance speech with no trace of the animosity he displayed toward Rock just minutes earlier. 

Other Celebrities Who Turned Oscar Mistakes Into Endearing Moments

Photo Credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com

Jessica Chastain’s poise and grace in the wake of the slap is inspiring and shows us that we don’t have to be part of the chaos. Take a deep breath to center yourself and move on from the moment with confidence. She isn’t the only person to have a weird moment at the Oscars, albeit she is the only one who had to deal with an issue that had nothing to do with her. 

In 2013, Jennifer Lawrence won the Best Actress award for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook. As she stepped onto the stairs leading to the stage she tripped and nearly landed on her face. She recovered quickly and laughed it all off. When she got to the stage, the audience gave her a standing ovation. She said, “You’re only standing up because I fell on the stairs. I feel so embarrassed.”

RELATED: Jennifer Lawrence: Why Does Everybody Hate me?

Years later, she recalled the incident saying,  “They call my name and I’m elated and in shock. You kind of blackout…I can look back at it now that I’m a little bit older fondly…”

In 2014, John Travolta was on stage to present Tony-winner Idina Menzel’s performance of Frozen’s “Let It Go,” one of the Best Original Song nominees. But instead of saying her name, he introduced her as Adele Dazeem, and everyone was confused and worried for him. Two days after the incident, Travolta was making fun of his mistake, saying, I’ve been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … What would Idina Menzel say? She’d say, ‘Let it go, let it go…” For the record, Idina Menzel has no hard feelings over the mix-up.

In 2017, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced the Best Picture winner. They read La La Land as the winner. Only that wasn’t the winning film, Moonlight was. Somehow, the accountants that hold the envelopes with the winning names inside gave the presenters the wrong envelope. While the producers of La La Land were on stage accepting their award, the accountants were rushing on stage to correct the mistake. 

What We Can Learn From These Celebs’ Difficult Moments

Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, and John Travolta show us that even if you’re on the biggest stage in the world, mishaps and mistakes can happen. You can choose to fall apart or roll with the punches. Being able to easily assess a situation and adapt to the moment can save you from a lot of stress and angst. 

RELATED: Watch 10 of the Most Inspiring Oscars Speeches of All Time

After all, we are all human and we all make mistakes, trip and fall, and occasionally have to present a calm face in a moment of chaos. If Chastain, Lawrence, and Travolta can do this on the Oscar stage in front of millions of people and not just survive but thrive, so can you. 

Every single person can benefit from going a little easier on themselves. 

KEEP READING: 

Relationship Goals: Jessica Chastain and Gian Luca Treasure Their Private Romance

[rinwellisathing]

Paint The Lines, Cut The Flesh: Part 16

In the confusion of the sudden fight, Sentry, Jaina, Kroger, and Octavia entered the portal in pursuit of the voice that seemed to be begging them for help. The rest of the party remained back at camp fighting off the invaders. The four found themselves in the piece of the astral plane they had each visited in dreams. Kroger and Octavia paused a moment to take in the beauty of their home plane, but only just a moment as the voice urged them onward through yet more of the Githyanki monks. Finally, the party found themselves inside the massive skull that dominated the landscape and confronted with a Mindflayer in ornate robes. Sentry's eyes widened in disbelief. Jaina blew out her lips and rolled her eyes. Kroger buried his face in his hands, and Octavia? Well, she didn't seem particularly surprised. “Impersonating my mum!? Really, whoever you are!? Really!?” Sentry snapped indignantly. “FUCK I knew something was off....That last meeting....” He punched a nearby wall of stone. “I don't know what I'm surprised in all honesty...” Jaina sighed, shaking her head. “I've been letting myself be led by a Ghaik...First I'm cast out by Vlaakith and now this...” Kroger groaned. “I had a feeling you weren't what you seemed...”Octavia shrugged. “The deception was necessary in order to guide you, if you knew what I was, you would never have let me help you...” The creature's voice echoed through each of their minds. “But help you I did and now I need your help in return.” “I wouldn't have judged you for being a mindflayer.” Sentry shot back. “But I'm sure as hell upset you played with my emotions!” He winced just a bit and then sighed. “But we can worry about that later...you're right, you did help us, so we do owe you this.”

“I am glad you're able to see reason, Sentry Ojeda. I hope the rest of you do as well...” The mindflayer inclined his head. “Believe it or not, I've got more reason to trust you in this form than the one you chose, I've got your back.” Jaina nodded her head. Octavia beamed with excitement at the thought of all she could learn from a non-hostile illithid. The things he could tell her! The things no other Githyanki would know, her book would be a magnum opus! Kroger, however, frowned uncertainly as he noticed what the others had been to distracted to. The imprisoned Githyanki man bound and hovering within an orb of magic energy. That was a troubling development.

--- When the dust had settled, the four stood before the illithid, none of them entirely sure what to make of him as his deep amethyst eyes regarded them uncertainly. Sentry finally sighed and spoke up first. “Look, things being what they are, thank you for protecting us...” He began. “But....did it have to be her? I wouldn't have attacked you if you just showed up looking like this and explained yourself....But fuck...taking the form of my mom...” Sentry lowered his head, forcing back the tears that threatened to flow. “I apologize, I felt that form was necessary to gain your trust. I will be more up front with you in the future.” The Illithid replied matter of factly. “I suspect you all have questions...” “I do...” Kroger frowned, green eyes piercing as he gazed into the Illithid's eyes. “Who is he?” He pointed to the now dormant Githyanki bound and chained in the center of the skull. “Prince Orpheus, the true heir of Gith.” Octavia gasped, Kroger's eyes widened. Sentry and Jaina looked at eachother in confusion. “He inherited his mother's ability to withstand Illithid domination, a gift I have used to keep you all safe.” The Illithid continued, disregarding their responses. “Trust me, it is better he remain like this, if he were to break free, he would undoubtedly try to kill you, he would see you as Illithids yourselves, having already been infected...” “But he could free our people from Vlaakith's tyranny! Surely you have to see that you can't keep him imprisoned like this!” Kroger cried out. “That is immaterial right now, as I said, our primary concern is The Elder Brain, we can do nothing to stop it if we lose Orpheus' powers.” The Illithid's expression remained the same, but there was a hint of a frown to its voice.

“Alright, I suppose I have a question...” Jaina shifted a bit, hands in the pockets of her robes. “Who are you? I mean, I'm not an expert on mindflayers, but you're the second one we've met who's got a personality, following its own goals...Is this common?” “More common than you think.” The Illithid responded. “You may call me 'The Emperor'. And I was once an adventurer just like you. I lived in Baldur's Gate, but I yearned for adventure and so I left, my travels led me to Moonrise tower where I found myself infected with an Illithid tadpole.” The images of the creature's life flashed in their minds, a cloaked young man bound in the mindflayer colony, a newly born mindflayer living on the streets of Baldur's Gate, slowly rising through the ranks of the city's undergound, rising to power and privilege with the help of a human companion. “I had a life, a purpose...Until I was discovered...Enver Gortash captured me and forced me to aid in his plans...” “Enver Gortash...” Sentry murmured. “And....was anyone perhaps with him when he captured you? Helping him out?” The Illithid gave Sentry a stern look as if to ask if he really wanted that information revealed in front of the others. The Tiefling lowered his head. “I escaped again when Gortash sent me to find the Githyanki artifact, it was there I found Orpheus and there I formulated my plan to gain the aid of adventurers...To stop this.” The Illithid explained. Jaina nodded. “I see...Well, of course we'll see this through to the end, you've helped us so far, a little white lie for fear of judgment isn't any reason, at least as far as I'm concerned, to distrust you.” “I suppose I can forgive the Commander Mum situation....I guess I see why you did it...” Sentry frowned. “Besides, I feel like I owe you a little...” “I had an inkling you were something else all along, I look forward to working together! We can learn a lot from eachother, I think.” Octavia beamed eagerly. The scholar that interviewed a friendly Ghaik, this was going to open so many doors. “I still have a problem with all this...” Kroger frowned. “First of all, this creature is Ghaik...we know how manipulative a creature who can control minds can be....And second, he has the entire key to our freedom from Vlaakith locked away with no promise of ever being released! Octavia, you can't have forgotten what Kithrak Voss said. He clearly meant for us to free Orpheus! We made him a promise!” The Ghustil looked to each of his companions, desperately hoping at least one of them might see reason.

The others looked away from Kroger. Octavia shifted uncomfortably. Sentry scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Jaina folded her arms across her chest and sighed. Kroger simply shook his head and exhaled. “Fine. We have an allegiance for now, Ghaik.” “I thank you for your trust, for your assistance...” The Emperor replied. “For now, you must return to your home plane. There is still much to accomplish.” He gestured towards a portal shimmering beneath Orpheus' prison.

---- Sentry took time to himself after the encounter. He had known deep down it wasn't her, some part of him had always known, he realized, but that didn't make it hurt any less. He returned to his post atop the crumbling structure and stared out over the city. He could vaguely make out the outline of Rivington before the city proper by now, The Open Hand Temple where he had spent a part of his childhood. He remembered Father Lorgan would likely still be there, perhaps he would have some words of wisdom. Sentry remembered him as a kind man who had always been fatherly towards him and had been a good friend of Commander Mum. He would know what to say. Sentry sighed and made it a point to remind himself to visit when they arrived. Jaina shook her head and smiled to herself with a hollow little laugh as she sat on her bedroll. The Illithid really could have chosen a better disguise, Geryn had made it very clear where their relationship stood before Jaina's abduction. Of course, she supposed that it hadn't hurt for the creature to use such a handsome, familiar face, even if Jaina knew it wasn't him and that he didn't love her. She found herself roused from those thoughts as a lean muscled body pressed to hers' gently, the fabric of Wyll's clothes tickling the skin of her arm gently as he leaned gently against her. She slipped an arm around him and held him close, glad to feel the touch of someone who DID love her, who did value her. She kissed him softly on the cheek and nuzzled against him, her horns knocking against his affectionately. Kroger, meanwhile, had called Lae'zel and Octavia into a family meeting of sorts. The three Githyanki sat inside the ruined structure, Octavia perched atop a wooden crate, kicking her legs absently, Lae'zel standing with her arms folded across her chest, and Kroger pacing nervously. “A ghaik...our 'guardian' has been a ghaik this whole time! And what's more, he has Prince Orpheus captive.” Kroger exlclaimed, fingers digging anxiously into his scalp. “Now, if Voss spoke true, which I'm believing he did more and more as more of this comes to light, then that means we've got to free him from this creature...and now we must also worry about whether or not our companions will agree!”

Octavia cocked her head to one side. “I believe The Emperor will see reason when the time comes, and right now we have no means to free Orpheus anyway, so perhaps it's best we let this line of thinking go for now.” She suggested gently. “Kroger is right, Octavia. We cannot trust this 'Emperor'. He has lied to us already and the path he is leading us down....” She frowned, eyes narrowing. “I believe it ends with us enduring ceremorphosis. I do not know about the rest of you, but I refuse to become ghaik!” Kroger and Octavia both nodded solemnly. “But with that being said, while he IS a bit pushy, he hasn't really FORCED us at all...” Octavia spoke up, earning a glare from Lae'zel and an impatient look from Kroger. “Alright, I'm only saying so because there is a lot we could learn from him! When has one of our kind ever encountered a friendly ghaik? This is an entirely untapped field of knowledge.” The scholar exclaimed.

--- The following morning, Sentry, Astarion, Halsin, Wyll, and Jaina made their way into Rivington. Sentry breathed deeply and smiled. “Ah, Rivington...It's a shithole but it's the shithole where I grew up...Feels good to be home.” He grinned. “Oh! Looks like we have some company.” Jaina nodded her head towards a little girl who had approached the group, an orange cat cowering awkwardly behind her. “Hello, friend. What's your name?” The tiefling crouched down at eyelevel with the girl. “Um...hi...my name is Yenna...have you seen my mum?” The little girl asked matter of factly. “No, I haven't...But we did only just arrive. I'll keep an eye out. Is her hair red like yours?” Jaina asked with a warm smile. The girl nodded. “I see, that's good. It's very pretty and it really stands out. Now, do you remember when you last saw her?” “Well...she went to the woods to gather some herbs for medicine...” Yenna replied quietly. “She was...sick.” Sentry frowned a bit on hearing that. As far as he could imagine, this kid's mother was dead in the woods somewhere, looking to end her life away from her child. That felt cowardly to him, abandoning her to wonder. “Hey...while we look for your mum, get yourself some food, okay, kid?” Sentry reached into his pouch and handed the child ten gold pieces. “Thank you, sir!” Yenna smiled, and she and her cat hurried off to find something to eat.

“Now, if I remember correctly, the church of Ilmater should be....” Sentry frowned and thought a moment as he looked around and finally pointed to the building in the distance. “There we go...” The party made their way into the town, and soon the scent of fried dough and sugar filled the air, the sounds of lively music and carnival barkers as well as the laughter of children and adults alike. The entire party found themselves turning their heads towards the source of the noise, a lively circus not far from the temple. “Oh wow! The Circus of Last Days...I haven't been since they came to our island when I was a child.” Jaina exclaimed.

“I've never been at all, is it fun?” Sentry asked, pausing to regard the colorful scene. “Yes! It's amazing! Oh, we should go! I know we're busy and all, but we've been through so much! And it'll only be a tiny detour.” Jaina pleaded. “Ugh...I suppose there will be clowns involved?” Astarion rolled his eyes, a look of disgust crossing his face. “Well, if you don't want to go, why don't you head back to camp and let the others know about the circus? I'm sure they'd like a little break too.” Wyll suggested as he gently took Jaina's hand and walked up to the gate, giving her a doting smile. “Yes, I think I'll do just that.” Astarion replied, slipping away from the group, even as Sentry reached towards him. “Uh...Okay...guess I haven't got a date then...” Sentry frowned as Astarion disappeared into the crowded thoroughfare. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder and Halsin gave him a small smile. “I suppose I could fill in for Astarion, that is, if you'd like me to.” The druid offered gently. Sentry smiled up at him and nodded. “How could I say no to such a majestic bear?” The two joined hands and followed Wyll and Jaina. ----- Back at camp, Octavia looked up from the writing she'd been doing in her journal as Astarion returned. “You're back so suddenly! Is something wrong?” She asked, cocking her head to one side.

“No, there's some tacky little circus going on and the others insisted on having a look...” The vampire rolled his eyes, returning to his tent and reclining on some of the bedding Sentry had left there the previous evening. “A circus? I have heard of those before! A place of joy and pleasure for Istik. I'd love to see it!” Octavia gasped. “Well, we could certainly go, nothing's stopping us.” Gale offered. “I'd be more than happy to accompany you and answer any of your questions I can.” Octavia nodded and took Gale's hand, hurrying after him. Karlach set down the logs she'd been carrying. “Aww, a circus? I wanna go! Hey Lae'zel, Shadowheart! C'mon, a circus will do you both a world of good! No more moping about about gods and religion and all that! Just some good old fashioned games and ice cold ale!” The tiefling grinned, rousing the other two women to their feet.

“Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt...” Shadowheart replied. “Hmm...Perhaps we may find resources to aid in our battle to come at this...cir-cus....” Lae'zel frowned, inclining her head in thought. Kroger heaved a sigh and rose to his feet. “I suppose I should go too, in case of any injuries...Istik attractions can be quite poorly managed...” Astarion snorted and shook his head. “Well, you all have fun. I'm staying here far away from the screaming of overindulged children and the cacophony of that ghastly music. Maybe I'll catch up on some mending, Sentry's shirts have certainly seen better days...” He reached for the pile of cloth near Sentry's bag. And that was when he realized he was alone. Isobel and Aylin seemed to have made their way somewhere to enjoy their time together and Jaheira had gone off as well, whether to meet with her Harper agents or to drink somewhere in private, who knew? But Astarion sighed and gave a small pout. “Well, this is boring....Ah! Hey! Wait up, all of you!” He scrambled to his feet and hurried after the others. ---- The ghoul assessing patrons reacted strangely to Sentry, and the party nearly found themselves turned away, but the sad expression on Jaina's face and a moment of pleading and batting her long, dark eyelashes proved enough to allow them entrance.

The sights and sounds were all encompassing, overwhelming. Barkers hawked their wares while bards played raucous melodies. Children laughed and played while couples danced and capered about. Food, incense, liquor, and the distinct scent of animals filled the air and the eclectic assortment of color alone was enough to confound the senses. As Sentry looked around, he caught the eye of a beautiful woman in a sort of makeshift grove, her green lips curling into coy smile as she beckoned him over with a hand wrapped in vines and sprouting leaves. The party stopped at her stall. “Your eyes, Stira, there is pain, endless and deep...” The woman pointed directly at Sentry, who shifted a bit uncomfortably. “But also devotion, blazing like the sun...You're in love, are you not?” “Uh....well...I mean...” Sentry shuffled awkwardly and chuckled. “Gods I hate how these game barkers call you out, huh?” He blushed a bit, realizing how many eyes were on him at this point. “But...um...yeah...yeah I suppose I am...But...like...it's complicated, okay??” “You are wise to admit it.” The dryad replied. “When it comes to love, vulnerability is armor, truth, a sword, and trust, a shield. I pray you wield all three, stira” Her eyes seemed to bore into Sentry as her gaze never left his. “Bring the one you love to me, and I will see if your love is eternal, or doomed eternally.” “A bit creepy...but ah....I guess carnival games are a must at the circus...” Sentry scratched the back of his neck. “Um...Halsin, want to try it?” “Gladly, although are you certain you wouldn't prefer to face this challenge with Astarion?” The druid asked, resting a hand gently on Sentry's shoulder. The tiefling shrugged. “I mean, it's only a game, and anyway, a person can have feelings for more than one partner...even if they haven't acted on them.” He gave a playful little smile. The druid seemed a bit surprised, but slowly nodded. The dryad's words guided the two, their eyes closed as the hustle and bustle of the circus faded away around them and they found themselves in an idyllic clearing, standing on opposite ends of a fallen tree bridging a babbling brook fed by a majestic waterfall. “Halsin, nature's gentle steward and furious defender...” The dryad's voice pierced the silence. “Listen, think, when is he most comfortable?” Sentry thought a moment, looking at Halsin. He thought of the serene expression of calm Halsin wore when in his ursine form outside of combat, of the times around the campfire he hand gently ruffled that soft fur to the pleasant reply of contented grunts and snorts. “When he's in his bear form, enjoying nature to its fullest.” Then another thought came to his mind. Sentry looked into Halsin's eyes and he saw even now a sense of longing, loneliness even here with him. “But....in all honesty, I don't think comfort comes easily for him...” Halsin's expression became one of surprise as he listened to Sentry. “He's restless...roaming...” It was a feeling Sentry knew well, at least since he'd stumbled out of that pod on the nautiloid. He recognized it in Halsin and something in him longed to fulfill the desire for somewhere to belong. “True, I long for the wildnerness. Comfort is for the farm animal, snug in its pen.” Halsin replied with a nod. The two of them took a step towards eachother.

The Dryad continued, gesturing dramatically. “We strive to do our utmost- to prove ourselves worthy, tell me, of what is Halsin most proud?” Sentry gave a smile and a little chuckle. “Oh that one's easy! We lifted the shadowcurse and brought life back to Reithwin and the forest around it, AND Thaniel is safe and sound, all thanks to Halsin's leadership.” Sentry folded his arms across his chest, beaming with pride at the answer having come so easily. Halsin nodded. “I don't think anything else will ever surpass that moment, when nature itself awoke from the nightmare.” The two took another step forward.

The Dryad almost seemed to smirk, did Sentry detect a wickedness to those bright eyes? No...It had to be a trick of the light... “Life is full of victories and loss. You cannot have one without the other....What is Halsin's greatest failure?” Sentry frowned, he wouldn't agree that the curse was entirely Halsin's fault and he hardly wanted to place blame, but he knew the answer Halsin would say. “Allowing the Shadowcurse to blight the land for a hundred years.” Halsin's expression was grim and serious in that moment, head lowered. “It is true, nature suffered while I dawdled and allowed myself to be distracted...” He shook his head. “The curse is no more, true, but imagine if I had been faster, bolder, better...Lives would have been saved, more than I care to count...” He looked up at Sentry. “But I must move on, nature demands I do.” The two closed the gap and Sentry found himself taking Halsin's hands in his, gently and comfortingly stroking the rough, calloused skin. “ I had high expectations, I admit, but even still, I am impressed...It seems you may know me better than I know myself.” He gave Sentry a gentle smile, but the hint of something more shimmered beneath it. “I'm really good at reading people, I admit...it's a gift...it's what makes my art unique, alive...” Sentry admitted, leaning in close. “But you're a compelling person, Halsin. You take so much in stride, but underneath it all, you feel so lonely...I don't want you to feel that way...” Sentry was vaguely aware this was one of the very rare times in his life he had to reach up to be close to someone. “Your love is strong, stira...But it is not true. A love can never be true for one who can't even remember who he is...” Sentry and Halsin both paused a moment, glancing back at the woman. “For there is another who haunts your mind....” Oh shit...right...Gortash...Sentry recalled the feelings that still stirred his heart when he had seen him at last, heard his voice. But the dryad continued on, that twisted smirk crossing her face as she bent her neck with a sickening crack and a crunch again and again. There, before the party, back in the cacophony of the circus grounds, stood the pale woman from the Illithid colony, smirking through painted lips. “My wayward slaughter-kin returns, crawling home from its humiliation.” She circled Sentry, eyes dancing over him, taking in every wound and scar. “Did it think it would simply slither-slink its way back into the city and reclaim its role as chosen? So naive....” A pang of recognition shook Sentry as he saw this woman up close now. The little girl in his memories, the one he had painted with...

“Did it return hoping to crawl back to that poxy-faced Lord Gorebag?” She sneered. “Or has it replaced him so quickly...” She clicked her tongue. “Oh no no no, he will not be happy about that...” She grinned wickedly. “Look sharp, slaughter-kin....I am everywhere in this city....we will meet again soon...” And with that, she disappeared. “Orin...” The name tasted familiar in Sentry's mouth. Did he remember it from the Illithid colony or had it just come to his mind? Either way, the name fit the woman like the right piece of a puzzle after hours of searching. “My little sister...” He murmured under his breath, but it seemed the party didn't hear the last bit. By now, the others had arrived. Octavia gasping with excitement at the facepaint seller and dragging her siblings over to look. Astarion returned to Sentry's side, looking him and Halsin up and down. “Well, you two look like you've seen a ghost. I thought we'd had enough of that back in Reithwin.” He wrinkled his nose. “Just....just a weird moment, that's all..” Sentry replied quietly. Halsin raised a brow at the way the tiefling downplayed what they had just encountered, but said nothing. “Oh Wyll! Look!” Jaina's voice broke the uneasy mood as she pointed towards a tent where a mephit fluttered about in the front while a massive creature of earth and stone sculpted behind the tent. “Oh we should see what they're selling, they remind me of the figure heads on the boats back home...Do you think they could make a shark?” She practically squealed with delight, grabbing Wyll by the hand and eagerly leading him over. Sentry followed the couple reluctantly, only to be immediately pulled forward by Jaina. “Sentry, they do custom work! You cut an impressive figure, especially in your armor, we should have one done of you for the camp!” Sentry snorted and shook his head. “Wouldn't we have to carry it around then?” “My good sir, our pieces are quite easy to transport. Our extra planar circus has all the amenities magic can offer.” The Mephit assured him, clasping his hands together and bowing his head, the picture of a perfect salesman. Sentry thought a moment. The sculptures were wonderful, unlike the works he made of flesh and bone, these were solid stone and yet so lifelike, so perfectly representative of the creatures they embodied. He had to admit when he recognized fine work and so he nodded, leaning in. “Alright, Um...I know it'll be a lot, but I've been holding onto most of the money we've found...One of each of my companions, please...and I guess of me too.” “Oh wonderful! Stoney, dear! I believe our getaway has been fully funded.” He called to the large creature. “We will have those delivered to your camp post haste!” The group reunited, Karlach, Kroger, Octavia, and Lae'zel all now sporting colorful facepaint, Kroger and Lae'zel seeming rather less than thrilled, while Octavia and Karlach were beaming with unbridled joy. Gale rejoined as well, placing some potions in his pack. “Well, it seems you're all having a good time.” Wyll smiled. “But we've yet to see the best part!” “Oh? Which?” Jaina asked, holding to Wyll's arm and stepping close. “Wait until you see.” He grinned, leading her towards a large stage.

Sentry paused a moment at the cages and cocked his head to one side. “Oh...hey there....Are you well?” He said softly, pressing a hand to the bars of the cage of a large red lizard. It snapped and growled, but the tiefling didn't withdraw. “Ah...yeah...I know that feeling, friend.” Sentry nodded his head, stepping back and searching around in his pack. “I get cranky when I'm hungry too. Do you eat pork?” He asked, unwrapping some cured meat and holding it out. The creature snapped it up and gobbled it down, a grateful look in his surprisingly intelligent eyes. Sentry was too focused on the creature, which seemed contented now, visibly calming, to notice the approving look Halsin gave him, the druid seemed almost impressed with how Sentry treated the animal and how easily he'd connected with it. Sentry was a difficult man to read, he had violent urges, made truly unsettling remarks quite often, and fought without mercy, but in moments like these, he seemed almost innocent, kind-hearted. A strange duality, indeed. Soon, the party had all meandered to the crowd near the stage, looking up at the brightly colored figure performing pratfalls and making puns, dancing around like quite the fool, in fact. “Buddy the dog is my very best friend.” The clown announced, crouching and gesturing broadly to the very unsettling looking canine creature standing by his side. “Because with him, anything is....PAWSIBLE! WAHAY!” The clown cried out with a wide grin and a high kick. “There we are!” Wyll laughed, his face bright with joy. “Oh, between you and me, I love a good clown, and Dribbles is simply the best!” Jaina nodded softly, managing an awkward smile. She liked seeing Wyll so genuinely happy, the joy on his face was so beautiful that she kept her mouth shut about what she and her friends had always thought of the clown shows when the circus had come to the island. She simply clapped and smiled, focusing on Wyll's face to keep her joy genuine. “Oh good, puns...because clowns aren't horrifying enough already...” Astarion rolled his eyes. “Ugh...I hate clowns...hate them so much...” Sentry gave a convulsive shudder. After all he had been through in his young life and all he had done, it might have seemed strange that something he'd never encountered outside of a carnival stage would bother him so much, but there was something insidious about those brightly colored clothes and that exaggerated makeup. “This is what Istik find amusing?” Octavia asked curiously, looking to Gale. “And his colors, are they a warning that he is venomous?” “Well...no...though perhaps a warning in a manner of speaking...” Gale winced awkwardly, trying to decide just how to explain the alleged appeal of clowns to the scholar. “T'ck...can we not find a more pleasant amusement? Gouging our own eyeballs for instance?” Lae'zel scoffed. Kroger nodded his agreement. “I knew Istik customs were strange, but this, this is torment.” The ghustil shook his head.

Shadowheart wrinkled her nose, shuddering right along with Sentry. “Gods, I hate clowns...I'm not even sure clowns like clowns...” “Ooof....Yeah, no...sorry Dribbles, that was just awful.” Karlach looked away from the stage, openly cringing at the bad puns being thrown about. The clown's eyes scanned the crowd, almost as if searching for something. Sentry shuffled behind Halsin as fast as he could in his heavy armor but the clown pointed directly towards him. “Ah ah! Don't hide, my special helper! Come and join me on stage, won't you?” He shouted with exaggerated excitement, eyes locked on where Sentry stood. “Oh...ah...clearly, he means you, Halsin...” Sentry gave his companion a playful shove. “I'm afraid not, Sentry. His eyes are on you.” Halsin replied. “Go on, I've met many a paladin and you're probably the most charming of them. These people will adore you.” “I'd rather not...Astarion???” Sentry looked to the vampire for help. “Oh perish the thought, darling...I'm not going up there. Up you go, now.” He replied, pretending to examine his nails. “Fuck, alright...FINE. Bunch of assholes...” Sentry muttered, trudging up towards the stage as though it were the gallows themselves. “There we are! Now we all have something that makes us special!” The clown began, addressing the crowd and then gesturing towards Sentry. “My friend, what is it that makes YOU special?” Sentry shifted uncomfortably a moment, chewing on his lip nervously. “Um....I'm a pretty good artist?” “Oh please, artists are a dime a dozen!” The clown laughed, shaking his head. “No, what makes you special, is that I have a message just for you!” He turned to face Sentry, was his grin wider than it should have been or was that just Sentry's inherent and completely rational, he might add, dislike of clowns? “Praise the Absolute....” “Oh fuck me running....” Sentry grumbled, drawing his weapon as the clown drew a large mallet and the dog beside him snarled, lunging.