#stranger things creature parallels

[aemiron-main]

still forever insane over the parallels between the ST “demogorgon” vs DND Mindflayers

[pinkeoni]

It would fuck so hard if there were some direct homages to It Follows in season 5

[tanoraqui]

obviously the Historical Figure Episode(TM) of Doctor Who that I’d write would of the Noted Author subset endemic to the RTD Era; it’d be called “Spiders in the Trenches” and be set in the middle of World War One ft. one Lt. John Tolkien.

idk if the main aliens are spiders or if they're just using giant robotic spiders as soldier-minions. Either way, Tolkien is a little too defensive when he says he's not afraid of spiders.

The alien invaders want some sort of shiny mcguffin, maybe as a power source for their ship? Or for a mega-weapon? We do not want them to get it, at any rate. Race to find the Shiny Power Jewel-Thing which has been lost somewhere in this like 20-mile radius of the Western Front.

When our heroes narrowly beat the spiders to the SPJT, Tolkien realizes that the spiders only ever attack at night because light hurts them somehow, so he holds the SPJT up as it flares and shouts, "Get back, foul creatures! Back into the shadows from whence you came!"

(They're from the dark side of a tidally locked planet, and made for extremely low-light conditions? The SPJT flares because it's controlled telepathically and it connected to Tolkien's mind when he touched it?)

Ideally Tolkien's first encounter with the Doctor is that he wakes up in the trench one day (after losing some men to a mysterious monster in the darkness a couple nights ago?), and there's 2 random strangers in weird clothes idly singing and playing an instrument which they stole from someone a couple bedrolls down. (This works well with Fifteen & Ruby's established inclination to music!)

We do need an Eowyn Moment, because that's iconic, but I'd split it: for dialogue, at one point the head boss evil alien boasts, "No human can defeat the Tenebrarachnid Empire!" and the Doctor replies, "Good thing they've got me, then."...

[I don't know if this is a Fifteen line yet. I know it's a very Eleven line]

...and there's a soldier in Tolkien's unit who is revealed to be secretly a woman! Who disguised herself as a man in order to enlist for ??? reasons, and who dramatically pulls off her hat to reveal her long hair.

The third notable local character is the sort who inspired Sam Gamgee, "...the English soldier, [like] the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as so far superior to myself.”

^those two can have a romantic subplot if it fits (comrades-in-arms is also extremely good). Tolkien, however, at some point shows Ruby the picture of his wife Edith which he carries at all times, she of the black hair and bright grey eyes, and is obviously ready to monologue about how wonderful she is.

In the same scene(?), Tolkien looks up at the stars and says their brightness shining afar, clear of all the horrors on the ground, is always a source of hope and strength to him.

Maybe also in the same scene? Tolkien is shown to make up stories for fun, or to read them in his little spare time - fairy tales and mythological epics. Maybe he tells them to the men around the fire, maybe he keeps a little notebook, maybe he just admits to daydreaming... When asked why, he paraphrases his quote from later life, " Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?"

At some point (Star-watching scene? when the Doctor inevitably has to explain that aliens exist? when they're all saying goodbye in the end?) there's a line drawing attention to the Doctor's parallels with Eärendil - eternally wandering figure of hope, sailing the stars in a ship with a light on top, not quite mortal...

Tolkien DEFINITELY tries to figure out the alien language, in writing or speech.

Something the aliens are doing is making people sick. Maybe the attacking robo-spiders are venomous, maybe there's a toxic byproduct of the alien ship, maybe it's a deliberate first assault of the planned invasion... By the end of the episode, Tolkien is very ill. The Doctor has figured out an antidote and given it, but Tolkien says goodbye to him and Ruby only to stumble to a medical outpost - from where, the Doctor explains to Ruby, he'll be sent home with this bad case of what's assumed to be trench fever. Between the fever and the brief psychic entanglement, and unentanglement, with the SPJT, he won't even remember most of this, and what he does remember, he'll put down to fever dreams amidst the horrors of war.

But he'll remember some things! He'll remember an eternal wanderer of the stars, unaging and undying and ever-hopeful, heralded by light (and a vworrrp vrorrrp noise).

[fastcardotmp3]

Eddie's little "get her back" speech in the Upside Down is so funny bro just found out there's a parallel hell dimension to his home town where an evil wizard lives with his army of demon creatures and decided "yeah the best way to cope with this is to meddle in this near-stranger's love life maybe if I make these two act messy enough we can all focus on that instead of the whole impending doom thing" and you know what so true bestie create alternate drama to avoid your problems good job good for you

[pee-wee-is-mine]

In my head, Barb had feelings for Nancy.

It would be such a good parallel to Will and Mike and also explain some of Vecna's motives.

I've always thought about exactly why Barb was taken to the upside down. Obviously, the demo creatures are attracted to blood, but she already had been bleeding for a bit before she was taken. This is why I think an emotional factor has to be taken into account. Barb was feeling left out and isolated from Nancy, and if she had feelings for Nance seeing her go with Steve would be an even bigger punch in the gut.

Vecna has always been around, I feel that everyone affected by the upside down has been purposeful.

One of the first things we know about Will's character is that he's a sensitive kid, and people suspect he's gay and bully him because of that.

It's already been confirmed that Will being taken was more than just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a reason, and we won't fully know until s5 comes out but I have a feeling it has to do with his queerness. The Duffers said this is Will's coming-of-age story, the supernatural connects with his struggles and sexuality.

Vecna seeks for the sensitive and different. Nothing is a coincidence. Henry/Vecna was described as a sensitive and quiet kid. He felt isolated which caused him to seek destruction. Is he queer as well?

Anywho! Queerness and forced conformity is a huuuuuge part of Stranger Things whether people like it or not.....

[pinkerthings]

neverending story & stranger things?

Just rewatched the neverending story in the theatre for the 40th anniversary rerelease and……my my my i had forgotten how many parallels there are.

Will vs Bastian & Will the Wise vs Atreyu?

Will being Bastian: a quiet, creative kid with bullies for no other reason than just being himself.

And Will the Wise being Atreyu, the “hero” of the story.

The Mind Flayer/Shadow Monster being the Nothing:

The real world being Hawkins, and Fantasia being the Upside Down, attacked by the Nothing (manifestations of evil thoughts, the loss of hopes and dreams), otherwise known as the Mind Flayer, a manifestation of Will’s imagination.

Gmork, talking to Bastian: “Foolish boy. Don’t you know anything about Fantasia? It’s the world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it, is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundaries.”

aka, the Upside Down is everywhere? Not just in Hawkins?

Atreyu: “But why is Fantasia dying, then?”

Gmork: “Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So the Nothing grows stronger.”

(The Upside Down leaking into the real world.)

The more you give into your despair (Max, Chrissy, Patrick, Fred), the more susceptible you are to Vecna’s (the Nothing’s) antics.

Atreyu: “Fight against the sadness, Artax. Artax, please. You’re letting the sadness of the swamps get to you. You have to try, you have to care.”

Artax died letting the sadness of the swamps get to him. Max escaped Vecna’s grasp in s4 e4 because she DIDN’T let the sadness get to her.

Upside Down vs Fantasia:

Was the Upside Down (Fantasia) a place Will went to hide from his bullies? His abusive father? But when things got too real, when Will started giving up hope, did it turn into the twisted, dark plane of existence we now know as the Upside Down?

Gmork: “Because people who have no hopes are easy to control; and whoever has the control…has the power!”

Will being mind controlled/possessed in s2 because he has given up hope:

Gmork: “I am the servant of the Power behind the Nothing. I was sent to kill the only one who could have stopped the Nothing.”

If the Nothing is the Mind Flayer (being controlled by Vecna), then Gmork is a mere demogorgon—a puppet of the Nothing’s—just as a demogrogon is a puppet/soldier of the Mind Flayer, sent to kill Atreyu (Will the Wise) because he is the only one with the power to stop the Nothing (the Mind Flayer).

D&D campaigns:

We all know the Party’s D&D campaigns (written by mostly Will) foretell the future in Hawkins. So in this case, if Fantasia = Upside Down, then the Neverending Story = the campaigns, a story that Bastian (Will) thinks he has no control over, but actually has complete control over.

Atreyu isn’t the hero of Fantasia, it’s Bastian—the human boy who thought he was useless. Just like how Will the Wise—a fictional manifestation of who Will wants to be—won’t be the hero of this story. It’s Will, the once-bullied, possibly neglected, quiet, creative kid who has the power to decide how his own story ends.

In this parallel, the Nothing is the Mind Flayer, being controlled by Vecna. But in this case (Will taking the reigns of his own story) does this mean that Vecna isn’t in control of the Mind Flayer, but Will is?

Bastian made his wish of getting Fantasia back to normal, including destroying the Nothing. If the Upside Down is a collection of all the dark thoughts/lost hopes and dreams of Will’s, then the Mind Flayer is a manifestation of the complete and utter despair Will feels for himself and everything around him.

The Ending:

This means that Stranger Things (the Neverending Story movie) can only end once Will (Bastian) rewrites his own campaign (the Neverending Story book) and fights that despair, erasing the Mind Flayer (the Nothing) completely so the Upside Down (Fantasia) can get back to what it was before—an escape for Will. A peaceful, imaginary land to escape from the real world—a world of pain, suffering, and sadness.

[cherry-romper]

Loving You Sounds Like a Song

Playlist

+ Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Marco, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Levi, Erwin, Hange, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Porco, Pieck, Zeke

Eren; Radio - Lana Del Rey

Not even they can stop me now

Their heavy words can't bring me down

No one even knows how hard life was

Lick me up and take me like a vitamin, 'Cause my body's sweet like sugar venom

How do you like me now?

Mikasa; All I Wanted - Paramore

Think of me when you're out, when you're out there

I could follow you to the beginning, Just to relive the start

And maybe then we'd remember to slow down, At all out favourite parts

All I wanted was you

Armin; Ocean eye - Billie Eilish

Cant stop staring at those ocean eyes

You really know how to make me cry

I've never fallen from quite this high

I've been walking through a world gone blind

Careful creature made friends with time

Marco; Heart To Heart - Mac DeMarco

To all the days we were together, To all the time we were apart

So, we never saw the start, Of each other's lives

Sentimentally assumed, Walking parallels

Heart to heart

Jean; FOR YOUR LOVE - Maneskin

I wanna be the first man you look at tonight

I wanna be a good man and see you smile

I wanna hold you in my arms tonight

For your love, I'll do whatever you want

I've got so much to give to you

Connie; Nothing Breaks Like a Heart - Mark Ronson, Miley Cyrus

This world can hurt you, It cuts you deep and leaves a scar

And nothing breaks like a heart

We live and die by pretty lies

We got all night to fall in love

nothing gon' save us now

Sasha; BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Billie Eilish

I want you to stay

Nothing left to lose without my baby

Can't change the weather, might not be forever, But if it's forever, it's even better

And I don't know what I'm crying for

I'll love you till the day that I die

Levi; Cinnamon Girl - Lana Del Rey

You try to push me out, But i just find my way back in

There's things I wanna say to you, But i'll just let you love

Like if you hold me without hurting me, You'll be the first that ever did

Hold me, love me, touch me, honey, Be the first who ever did

Hange; i wanna be your girlfriend - girl in red

I don't wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips

I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath

Although my lips are blue and I'm cold

I don't wanna be your friend, I wanna be your bitch

Erwin; Twilight - Boa

It's a necessary evil

You give me an inner sanctity

Your feelings and mine are all lonely

And dawn comes, you're there lying with me

And you reach out to touch me, But I am in the twilight

Reiner; i love you - Billie Eilish

Its not true, Tell me I've been lied to, Crying isn't like you

What the hell did I do?

You didn't mean to say "I love you"

I love you, And I don't want too

I can't escape the way I love you

Bertholdt; Strangers - Ethel Cain

"Don't talk to strangers or you might fall in love"

How funny, I never considered myself tough

I tried to be good, an I no good?

I just wanted to be yours, can I be yours?

Am I making you feel sick?

Annie; We cant be friends (wait for you love) - Ariana Grande

I didn't think you'd understand me

Just wanna let this story die, And I'll be alright

We can't be friends, But id like to just pretend

Wait for you love

Me and my truth, we sit in silence

Porco; Never Let Me Go - Florence + The Machine

Reflections still look the same to me

No need to pray, no need to speak

Found the place to rest my head, Never let me go

And all this devotion was rushing out of me, And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me

But the arms of the ocean delivered me

Pieck; Linger - The Cranberries

I'm sure, I'm not being rude, But its just your attitude

I swore I would be true

Why are you lying all the time? Was it just a game to you?

But I'm in so deep, You know, I'm such a fool for you

You got me wrapped around your finger

Did you have to let it linger?

Zeke; When We Were Young - Adele

Everybody loves the things you do

Everybody here is watching you, 'Cause you feel like home, You're a dream come true

Can I have a moment? Before I go?

Hoping you're someone I used to know

You look like a movie, You sound like a song, My god this reminds me, of when we were young

We were scared of getting old, It made us restless

[myname1sca1]

The Painting & Van Scene | Stranger Things 4 & Heavenly Creatures Parallel

OMG-

[419jhat]

Steddie Addams Family Crossover

- in which Steve is an Addams who can see ghosts and Eddie is a vampire

I never finished this but maybe I should? 👀

It began when Dante Basilio Harrington di Aleramici attended the marriage of his best friend Gomez into the American Addams clan. It was at that wedding where Dante caught the eyes of the oldest Addams daughter, Macabra, and the rest was history. Stephano Addams Harrington di Aleramici was born a perfectly unlucky thirteen years later, on an unfortunately sunny August morning, with light brown hair and hazel eyes that were delightfully abnormal for an Addams child. The Addams loved abnormalities, and Steve was absolutely full of them.

While he was excellent at traditional sports like fencing, knife-throwing, equestrian, and dancing, he’d never enjoyed the arts like communing with the dead or casting curses for his enemies. He was awful at seeing into the future and summoning creatures from the beyond, and other than the usual Addams ability to heal fast, he couldn’t regrow missing parts like his father could. Even stranger, he flourished in public schooling, loved to spend time with other children, and was often invited to spend time in other people’s homes. They’d never worried, though. As far as they were concerned, he was just a little different; a growing boy who needed space.

So, when they bought a beautifully boring vacation home in Hawkins, Indiana, that was what they gave him. But three weeks of strange behavior in suburbia hadn’t been enough. When it was time for the family to return, Stephano decided to stay, and Steve Harrington was born. He enrolled in a school, joined sports that didn’t end with a battle to the death, and hosted parties without any blood sacrifices. They didn’t understand it one bit. But he was happy, so they nodded their heads and offered to send him fancy beers for his keg contest, whatever that was. (He’d refused. Apparently, it had to be cheap beer.) They returned to their mansion in Massachusetts, happy to let Steve live his life. After all, he was just a crystal ball away and he had his ancestors haunting over him. He’d be fine.

Meanwhile, Steve was content in normality. As an Addams or an Aleramici, he was the odd one out. His parents delighted in his abnormalities, insisting it was simply Addams tradition to be strange, but the thing was, Steve wasn’t strange. Not outside of their family. As an Aleramici, he was the guy who didn’t participate in traditions like summoning the dead for love advice with a fantasy creature. As an Addams, he was the guy who didn’t have a collection of human bones in his bedroom or a criminal record. As a Harrington, he was the star of the town. King Steve, they’d called him. He was the guy who people lifted onto their shoulders after the championship game. He was the guy people clapped on the back when they left a party, even if it wasn’t at his house. He was the guy girls talked about when they wanted a date to prom. He was the guy normal people compared their kids to. An example of success.

And then Nancy Wheeler entered his life and he wasn’t that guy anymore.

Steve was, in the end, an Addams. It was inevitable that weird found him even after he’d tried to escape it. His reign as King of Normal ended the second the demogorgon tried to eat his face off. Sure, he’d held on for a little bit. He’d driven Nancy to tears trying to ignore the craziness of Hawkins and savor his time as an ordinary teenage boy. He’d tried to pretend it hadn’t happened, as if the idea of another dimension was a new concept that just broke his brain to think about. The problem there was that normal was new for Steve. Parallel dimensions and flesh-eating monsters were new for Nancy. He’d maybe underestimated the shock it would bring to her. He was still getting a hang of what exactly wasn’t normal for normal people.

After their inevitable breakup, he’d tried to do the normal thing and get back together. That’s what he was supposed to do, right? That’s what guys in his position did in movies. Of course, since Steve’s life was destined to attract the supernatural, this only meant that his reputation fell even further when Billie Hargrove smashed his face in, and he was somehow demoted to the town babysitter. Something about hanging out with nerdy children and dropping his friends for the girl who’d dumped him was not normal at all, and even worse, he found himself spending more time than ever trying to be normal, just like when he was a kid. Except this time, it wasn’t Addams/Aleramici Normal, it was Everyone Else’s Normal, which somehow didn’t come naturally to him anymore.

What was he supposed to do when the person he’d wanted to be turned out to be someone he didn’t want to be at all? When he looked back on his attempts to fit in and could only think about how he’d ignored Nancy for his own gain and called Jonathan a queer because that’s what normal people said to be mean. He could have turned around and ignored it. He could have sold the house and packed up for a different boring town. But he didn’t want to leave his terrified group of weirdos, even if it meant he had to be weird with them. And as it turned out, being weird wasn’t so bad when you had people to be weird with. Suddenly, his family kind of made sense.

Robin had been the beginning of the end. Meeting Robin had been like meeting the other half of his soul. Someone who just got him without needing to ask questions. He was sure his mother would call them soulmates if they talked to her in person. He’d never felt so at ease to be himself around someone before. While he still floundered with normality around everyone else and failed to get any dates in result, he felt completely free with Robin, as if he could just be Steve, nothing more and nothing less. Which is why befriending Robin shook him up so badly. The kids had hobbies that freaked out their parents and Nancy was for some reason seen as too much by a lot of the guys in town, and he could understand all of that. But Robin couldn’t help that liking girls was seen as weird in a bad way.

And that was what got him- weird in a bad way.

Because weird in a bad way had been how he’d felt when he couldn’t summon a demon for his nonna and when he failed to tell apart poisonous mushrooms for his after-school mycology exam. Weird in a bad way made him think about how he’d been embarrassed when his mom came to parent-teacher conferences. How his cousins had made fun of him for being so interested in playing with animals rather than dismembering them for potions. But even with all those feelings and his years pushing to be somewhere he fit in, he’d never realized that some people didn’t have a choice. Some people couldn’t just turn it off like he’d been trying to.

So, after he’d had his face smashed in again and made his best friend in the whole world while fighting a giant spider creature made of dead bodies that his dad would have loved to see, he’d finally started to come around. And when the world broke apart for the fourth time and he babbled to Nancy about the American Dream nonsense he’d been imaging for himself since he was twelve, he realized with a bit of embarrassment that he didn’t even want that anymore. That he was quite literally just talking because he felt like they were having a moment and it seemed like he was supposed to, not because he wanted to.

And then there was Eddie.

---

When Steve looked out at the grey clouds brewing over Hawkins and the strange soot falling from the sky, he knew he that it was time to talk to his grandmother. He hadn’t talked to Belladonna Harrington in a good four months, partially because he’d been so busy pretending it wasn’t a thing he could do. But with the world literally split apart and Max unable to wake up and Eddie dead and half their strange group unreachable in California, it kind of felt ridiculous not to.

So, with Dustin and Lucas tucked away in the guest room and Erica and Nancy in the master bedroom and Robin keeping watch on an unresponsive Max in his room, Steve pulled down the little foldout ladder in the garage that led to the attic and made his way to a little alcove with pictures of relatives. Belladonna had died young, but apparently she loved being dead so nobody in the family was particularly sad about it. She’d been a fashionable woman and her picture showed it well. Seeing that this was one of Steve’s few talents, he didn’t actually need the picture to do this. But he did need the privacy of the attic he didn’t want to freak anyone out.

He sat down on the bare floor and closed his eyes. This didn’t need any preparation, but he hadn’t done it in a while. Something in him was always terrified his few skills would suddenly vanish. He rolled his shoulders and neck and finally, he whispered, “Belladonna.”

There was a pulse of energy- the light in the garage beneath him flickered, and then there she was, in a shiny black dress and a silver fur coat hanging off her shoulders, all sharp angles and long limbs. She held a pipe in her hand, which she took a drag from and then blew the smoke in his face. Yeah, he’d deserved that.

“I haven’t heard from you in two years, Stephano,” she said.

“We spoke during Christmas, Grandmama,” Steve sighed, avoiding her eyes.

“I’ve been dead for only forty years and my family has already forgotten me!”

Death had not eased her love for drama.

“I didn’t forget you, I just-”

“Nobody loves me!” she wailed, clutching a hand to her chest.

“Of course we love you-”

“Three daughters, two sons, seventeen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren and not one calls me unless they need something!”

“That’s not true-”

“Oh, then this was just a social call? Did you wish to tell me about your relationship with the Nancy girl? Did you mess up again?”

Steve didn’t say anything because she was right, he had messed up with Nancy again, and he also was only calling because he needed her insight. She blew more smoke in his face, and he let it go because he was one of the few in the family who she could do it to. She’d told him once that being intangible was the only bad part of haunting the world as a ghost. Apparently it felt like moving through water that wasn’t wet. Steve couldn’t really wrap his mind around that.

“See? I knew it. Well? What is it you need, my love?” she asked, dramatically sinking onto a box of Christmas decorations, and crossing one leg over the other. Steve bit back a smile. This wasn’t a smiling situation.

“One of my friends is horribly injured, another is dead, and this town is merging with the parallel dimension it’s connected to. I was hoping you’d know what to do.”

Belladonna took another drag from her pipe and nodded, probably because she’d been watching the whole time even if he hadn’t summoned her. She already knew most of it.

“Well, your uncle was always good at mending things. He and a few others are still at the house after celebrating the Spring Equinox with your parents. That little girl could probably use their help. And your father’s collection of books may have something about handling parallel dimensions. But as for the last one- are you sure?”

“Am I sure about what?”

She turned to look him straight in the eyes and he could feel the power behind her look, that she wasn’t actually looking at him, but at something beyond him.

“Are you sure he’s dead?” she asked.

And yes, Steve had been sure. He’d held Eddie in his arms as his body went limp and stiff, and a bit of him went with him, sad that he couldn’t explore the feelings that had sprouted during their attempt at saving the world. But when your undead grandmother questioned something, you started to question it too. So, Steve drove out to the trailer park and followed his grandmother’s translucent form through some woods as she led him to “the spot where the energy is,” whatever that meant, which turned out to be a random patch of dirt. A normal person would probably have started asking questions, but Steve knew his grandmother was waiting for something from the way she stared down at the dead leaves beneath their feet, so he waited too. He squatted on his heels, his bat in one hand and the radio in another.

“Whatever happened to your fencing lessons? That weapon is so gauche,” Belladonna said.

Steve didn’t answer. They’d had this argument already. Instead, he dropped the radio and reached his hand out expectantly. She handed him the pipe and he took a drag and then coughed like it was the first time he’d smoked. She took it back with a judgmental look.

“It’s not my fault you smoke literal tar,” he complained around the smoke slipping from his lips.

“I taught you better. It is your fault,” she said, tossing her perfectly curled hair to the side. Steve had missed this. Now that he had it, he didn’t know why he’d ever let it go.

“I missed you, Bella,” he said.

“Hush, it’s happening,” she said.

Steve looked back down at the earth. Nothing seemed different. He didn’t feel anything weird, either. He looked up at Belladonna, who was staring down as if she could. He turned back to the leaves.

BAM!

A pale hand burst through the earth, black fingernails sharp and dangerous, followed by a forearm and then an elbow and then a shoulder, and finally, a head. Eddie Munson was covered in dirt and blood and stared back at Steve with bright red eyes. Somehow, the look was hot.

“Steve!?” Eddie yelped.

“Holy shit,” Steve said.

Belladonna vanished with a laugh.

[princeescaluswords]

Empathy Gap, Part Infinity

So, yesterday, a friend of mine decided to do a Teen Wolf Positivity post, where people said what they liked about Teen Wolf. I appreciate them and what they tried to do. We need more positivity in the fandom, and every time there's a call for positivity I'll be right there, because that's what being a fan of something means.

However ...

There was a reply -- and it was a good reply! -- about how much Derek's behavior was informed by him being a victim of sexual assault by Kate six years before the show began. The post pointed out how Derek (played by Tyler Hoechlin) incorporated this behavior without drawing unnecessary attention to it. They made a great point, one that I can get behind 100%. I think that shows a great deal of perception and it's a valid interpretation.

And then the very next post -- the very next reply! -- is another person talking about what they appreciate about Teen Wolf is how the show had Scott make poor decisions because he was a teenager. Just to make sure we understood that they were being positive about the show, they described those decisions as DUMB -- all caps and everything! You see, to them, it was a wonderful thing that Scott was portrayed as being stupid about wanting things like doing well in school or dating a girl he liked instead of -- well, they didn't actually say what decisions they wanted Scott to make instead, but I think we can all guess that they expected Scott to put someone else's problems ahead of his own life.

And the Empathy Gap in the fandom raises its ugly head once again, like flowers blooming in spring. Derek Hale's behavior -- the distrust, the anger, the poor coping mechanisms -- is well explained by Kate's sexual assault from six years before the show started. Scott's attempt to hold on to his life after a brutal assault in the woods (heavily coded as a sexual assault as well) in the first damn episode and the decisions he makes are motivated by him being a stupid teenager rather than -- as the show parallels repeatedly between Scott and Derek -- being a victim of trauma.

And what's worse, they end their entirely intended to be positive reply with this conceit: "If some stranger in a leather jacket showed up telling you you’re a creature of the night, and even though you now seem to have claws and glowing eyes, you’re gonna nope out and ignore it. Because it can’t be real, but a D- on your report card is and your mom will see it."

This is, of course, completely untrue. Scott denied he was a werewolf from Scene 22 with Stiles in Stiles's Bedroom to Scene 27 when Scott watched claws grow from his fingers and fangs grow in his mouth. That's five scenes out of 31 in the first episode. And even though Derek had interacted with Scott three times before that, Derek had never told Scott he was a werewolf because he was too busy using Scott as bait for the alpha that killed his sister.

But why pay attention to a Character of Color's trauma response when you can oh-so-positively call him a 'stupid teenager.'

You see, Teen Wolf's writers never criticized Scott for wanting to get good grades or date a girl he liked or make first line on the lacrosse team because they understood that even teenagers have their own lives and their own identity, and that it's not DUMB to want to make sure you don't lose those things because a bunch of damaged white men want to make him their proxy in an ancient grudge.

Which is actually something that you can be positive about.

[0aurelion-sol0]

(So before we start with this theory & new post of mine for a long time since my semi-hiatus, I want to repeat that I do not want any new informations about season 5 or anything related to it whether true or not, same for any leaks, set photos whether true not. I ESPECIALLY DO NOT WANT THOSE!!!!! or interviews that are the slightest bit too revealing UNLESS I haven't looked at it myself and even then, easy on any of these. I know something minor about this season & have seen two things about it but that's it, nothing more.

These theories & analyses might be proven wrong or false already or in the future but I don't care, I do this for fun & as a way to explore different possibilities about the story that can be interesting or could have been at least. I hope everyone understands this & will not be a party pooper towards me just to have a "GOTCHA!!!" moment... With that said, let's get into it, shall we ?)

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The Thessalhydra:

Back To The Future &... The Beginning.

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For this first post, I wanted to go back to season 1 as I found it was fitting to explore one of the earliest major fandom theories of Stranger Things since it's final season is on it's way.

"The Thessalhydra as the final threat from the Upside Down."

And while at first everyone at the end of Season 1 thought, obviously, that this creature would be the next threat in it's second season, the Mind Flayer poked it's head and said "not yet!", "I need to experiment with my minions first!" with a Vecna also slowly planning his own armageddon as well. And as much as I don't like him (& his season... 😒), he's here and he proves to be useful from time to time when it comes to theories or analyses because he still part of the show & can help up in terms of parallels, themes & plot.

But now, let's remember the last episode of season 1! The boys playing their new campaign about the Thessalhydra taking a similar turn to the one they did at the beginning of the first season (*wink wink*) & this time Will does a 14 (*wink wink*) & kills the Thessalhydra with a fireball. (*wink wink*)

Now if this wasn't a tv show with multiple seasons, I would tell you that the boys obviously staged the whole thing for Will to win so that he can be happy and because they're all very nice friends & also not repeat the same game at risk of making him vanish again especially if the monster this time is the size of the Empire State Building, (sorry with the luck these characters have, I simply can't believe they can have a happy ending such as this one. WILL HAD UD SLUGS INSIDE HIS BODY, WTF GUYS???!!!) but this is a tv show with multiple seasons. And now, it has definitely become foreshadowing for what's to come.

Especially since in it's fourth season now, we basically have Nancy having an apocalyptic vision of Hawkins with a large creature which is describe by having a "gaping mouth".

And if you look at her face here, she definitely did not find that thing beautiful in the slightest, though she is probably more terrified about the fact that she saw most of her family dead. 🤭

But would you look at that ?! What creature in ST fits that description ? Quite a lot actually but obviously you know which one I'm talking about, yes The Thessalhydra! And oh my god, look at what I've found on the Forgotten Realms Wiki:

"Thessalhydras were hideous and terrifying creatures. They had a large, reptilian body with a long tail, 18 feet (5.5 meters) in length, which ended in a pair of large, sharp pincers. It had no head, instead eight hydra-like heads, each about 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length, surrounded a gaping mouth filled with teeth and acidic saliva."

Well well, after that, it's difficult to argue what else could that large creature be!

End of theory! Bye guys! Thank you for reading!

...

Except I also can do that... 😅 Because I have reason to believe that this future Thessalhydra is a creature we have seen before. One whose campaign mirrors another campaign from the same season.

Yes. I have reasons to believe that the Thessalhydra and The Demogorgon from Season 1 are one and the same.

Do you remember this ?

Of you course you remember this, what a stupid question. It's part of a series of trauma that affected us deeply as a fandom, for different reasons (at least for me) but it proves to be an even more important parallel than we originally thought.

I don't need to tell you about the thematic importance of the parallel or what it means for the characters, we've all already gone through that already, I am more interested in it's significance for the plot.

So El kills The Demogorgon & Henry the same way. By disintegrating them. But that action doesn't seem to end the same way for the both of them & El herself.

What is interesting is that the three of them dissapear in some form, Henry into an Upside Down gate but ends up falling forever through the Hellscape (a different dimension than Dimension X/The Upside Down though likely connected, the same way that Dimension X & The Upside Down probably are the same thing but it's not fully confirmed yet.) before ending into Dimension X/The Upside Down in some way. And we all know what happens from here on out, at least what we know of it since Season 4.

I have a theory for why he ended up there, what is the nature of that place and did not simply disintegrate like The Demogorgon who I also do not think simply disintegrated but we will not go fully through that in this post.

El though ends up in the Upside Down after being taken by the disintegrated part of the Demogorgon or by disintetrating herself (though it didn't really seem that way to me) which I think is probably because the Demogorgon used it's powers on her since he could open gates or send anyone to the UD in season 1. (We will also get into that but not in this post, same for why he was so different in Season 1, both physically and in the way he behaved.)

But the Demogorgon, from what we saw simply disintegrated and we never heard or saw any significant clue of it's existence again. Which again leads me to believe, if we follow the logic of what happened to Henry & to El in some way, it is still alive, somewhere.

And I believe personally that it is in the Hellscape right now, and in the same way that Henry got electrocuted while free falling in that place which marked the start of it's transformation as Vecna, I think the same is happening to The Demogorgon and is slowly being transformed into the Thessalhydra.

I think that El when she disintegrate something, she sends them into the Hellscape which is connected to Dimension X/The Upside Down as some sort of passage for someone who didn't enter via a gate the "original" or "right" way per say. Because being launched into Dimension X/The Upside Down in a state or in a way such as this one could be fatal so it's some sort of transition in a way.

And while Henry technically went through a gate, he was disintegrated before it's opening & that gate couldn't last more than a few seconds which I think is a result of the barrier between the worlds not being thin enough. Plus I think El gave way more strength into Henry than she did the Demogorgon with her powers which in turn also opened a gate behind him.

So as a result, he went into the Hellscape as some sort of "safer" transition between the two dimensions since as we know, and I hope, no gate before that has been opened in Hawkins before.

And as for the Demogorgon, again I think it's a point of it fighting back against El & using it's own powers against her plus again El didn't seem to launch the same type of strength of her power as she did onto Henry since she was standing much closer to the Demogorgon than she did Henry while also using an important memory of hers to defeat him.

Now as to why we haven't seen that Demogorgon or Thessalhydra in ST again, I think it's because the Hellscape was connected to the original version of The Upside Down, Dimension X in a way that it's not anymore with The Upside Down because what happened November 6th, 1983 changed more than just the environment but also the workings of those dimensions since the barriers between the dimensions are now thinner.

So I see 3 possibilities for the Demogorgon, to me it is still free falling through the Hellscape being slowly turned into the Thessalhydra or somehow ended up in Dimension X instead which is still connected to The Upside Down but is seperate it's own plane in some way since The Mind Flayer still come from there or is in a version of The Upside Down that is still Dimension X outside of UD Hawkins.

But still, some things are still up for speculation for how exactly it all works out in the end.

As I said at the beginning of the post, you take Nancy's description and apply to other creatures in ST like the Meat Flayer/Spider Monster (whatever you wanna call it) of Season 3, a gaping mouth with multiple hydra-like heads who in a way also gets defeated by fireballs via Lucas and it's fireworks which we see Will throw with him but the Demogorgon also fits that description with it's own gaping mouth blooming like a flower whose petals could look like different mouths coming from it.

And in a way, it would be ironic for The Demorgorn from season 1 to be The Thessalhydra because if we follow the boys' campaign, the very thing that took Will back then, that he couldn't defeat would also be the same thing he will defeat in it's final season as some sort of karmic consequence for The Demogorgon & The UD as a whole but also as a way to tie it's final season with it's first season in a more concrete way.

It started with Will and it will end with Will.

[alltheweirdkidsinoneplace]

Eddie Munson + potential Iron Maiden references

because I'm hyperfixiating and desperate. Also apparently not everyone was raised on 80s metal, so this might be new to some people and gatekeeping is lame. None of this is confirmed obviously and I'm probably reaching but here we go

let's start with the most obvious one: This is Iron Maiden's mascot. His name is Eddie. He's been on every single album cover, most single covers, merch, posters... He looks a little different every time, but he's always undead.

This is the cover artwork for the 1982 album The Number of the Beast. It features A huge version of Eddie, controlling the strings of a red, devil-like creature, which in turn holds the strings of a tiny version of Eddie. The Devil (Vecna, there I said it) is not shown to be aware of Big Eddie controlling him. It's all very double agent, The Spy parallel. Also if you take just the frame of Big Eddie's hand and the devil, it looks A LOT like Eddie Munson's puppetmaster tattoo. With a little fantasy and even more reaching there's also some vaguely mindflayery shape in the background of the image.

(probably irrelevant but still fun fact: This album was released on March 22nd 1982 - EXACTLY four years before Eddie Munson became the main suspect in Chrissy's death)

This one speaks for itself. We've all seen the Eddie prequel book that's gonna come out later this year with literally the same title as this 1983 song.

Interestingly, Eddie has batwings here, aka KAS THEORY CONFIRMED?

This one, holy shit. This is the artwork for the 1986 (!) album Somewhere in Time, and if the year and title weren't enough, there is so much more.

1. Again starting with the most obvious: There is a graffito on the wall to the very right that literally says EDDIE LIVES.

2. Under the graffito we see a hand reaching up from the ground (grave?). The version of Eddie that we get here is a cyborg, and the hand on the ground looks very cyborg-esque as well. The band members are seen a little towards the left as normal humans, so it's not like everyone's just a cyborg in this world. Ergo the hand belongs to a second Eddie, which is very in line with the whole "there is another timeline with shadow selves"-theory.

3. The red clouds in the background are very vecna-y.

4. The little winged figure from the Flight of Icarus cover is seen left of the big tower in the middle.

5. The neon sign of the movie theatre to the very bottom left contains the words "Live After Death" (illegible here, but it's there!)

6. The lyrics on this album! In particular Wasted Years, featuring the lines "But now it seems I'm just a stranger to myself

And all the things I sometimes do, it isn't me but someone else"

- again, very much in line with shadow selves. And even more Stranger in a Strange Land:

"Was many years ago that I left home and came this way

I was a young man full of hopes and dreams

But now it seems to me that all is lost and nothing gained

Sometimes things ain't what they seem

No brave new world, no brave new world

No brave new world, no brave new world

Night and day I scan horizon, sea and sky

My spirit wanders endlessly

Until the day will dawn and friends from home discover why

Hear me calling, rescue me

Set me free, set me free

Lost in this place and leave no trace

Stranger in a strange land

Land of ice and snow

Trapped inside this prison

Lost and far from home

[...]

They found his body lying where it fell on that day

Preserved in time for all to see

No brave new world, no brave new world

Lost in this place, and leave no trace

What became of the man that started

All are gone and their souls departed

Left me here in this place so all alone"

Does that sound like someone left for dead in the Upside Down or is that just me?

7. idk a fuckload more in the cover probablay because it's wild.

Bonus Metallica fact: Master of Puppets was released on March 3rd 1986. Eeven if he bought the album the day it was released (he would) that would have given him under three weeks to rehearse it so much that he could give the most metal concert ever on March 27th.

Anyway that's just from the top of my head; I might add on to it if/when I think of more. PLEASE spam me with your theories I beg you.

Side note: Contrary to popular belief, if you got into metal because of Eddie: That's awesome! Welcome! Again, gatekeeping sucks; we've all had our minds blown by a Metallica song for the first time at some point, so let's be nice to the newcomers.

[imineffible]

When I saw your face

You made me feel like a stranger in a brand new place

And it felt so good to be understood

But there's so much I wished that I could say

So I

I'll be your armor

I love how these few lines of Vaggie's part in Whatever It Takes speaks volumes

From the first two lines: Vaggie only knew Hell as a place filled with sinful creatures that she had to get rid of, and here Charlie is, the actual princess of Hell, treating her with kindness without even knowing who she is or what she's done. Suddenly Hell is a place that can still have good in it - which isn't the place she was led to believe it was by Heaven.

The third line: Vaggie was trying to do the right thing by letting that cannibal child go, but was punished for it and fell. Charlie goes out to help injured sinners after Exterminations but gets no thanks or is treated badly by them despite her helping. Vaggie found someone else in Hell, of all places, who wants to do the right thing despite what the potential consequences might be.

The fourth line: Vaggie wants to tell Charlie that she used to be an exorcist and everything she's done, but knows that would end up hurting her and instead keeps the secret to protect her feelings. (Which parallels with Carmilla's part when she says: I'll keep you safe and keep this secret)

The last two lines: Since Vaggie is keeping this big secret from Charlie, she thinks the best way to make up for it is to literally be her armor. If anyone wants to hurt Charlie, they'll have to get through her first. Even though Charlie is canonically more powerful, she still puts herself between Charlie and any danger without a thought about her own safety.

Side note: Now that Vaggie's secret is out in the open and Charlie's more aware of her power, I can't wait to watch the dynamic switch from Vaggie being Charlie's armor, to Charlie being Vaggie's, and Vaggie learning she doesn't have to always put her life on the line to be worthy of Charlie's love.

Tl;dr: Vaggie saw Hell in a new light upon seeing Charlie and connects with her desire to do good. She feels bad for hiding her past and decides to always put her life on the line for Charlie. Vaggie loves Charlie very much :)

[rinrinx2]

Gullible

Getou x reader

Summary: Getting help from a stranger is great but it'll leave you vulnerable if you don't use your brain, luckily you don't.

Warnings: Smut, you're getting used without your knowledge, fingering, orgasm, Mature themes, language.

*All characters are of age*

You gripped your school bag a bit tighter to your side as you anxiously looked about the room you stood in. The cold white tiles reflecting the worried look painted onto your features as you waited; your patience running thin as your nerves told you it was best to leave while you still had the chance.

'Maybe it wasn't a good idea to ditch school for this' you thought your mind racing, but as much as it felt like bad idea to be there you were sure how many more nights you could hiding under your blankets in fear.

"Welcome" a voice echoed out, snapping your attention to the man who spoke.

"Follow me" he instructed as he turned his back towards you, walking back into the room he came from.

With the little courage you had been able to summon, you followed him.

The floor of the cold white tiles was quickly replaced with oak wooden floors which seemed much more inviting, paired with the smile of the man who sat patiently on his modest throne.

"So what brings you here?" he asked, his head lazily being held up by his hand propped up on a piece of wood.

"I - I" you struggled to speak as even with the little welcoming attitude that had been presented you still felt anxious.

"Look up when you speak to me"

The command in his voice was enough for you to look up without a hesitation.

You looked at the man infront you watching his stern features stare back at you. Which only caused for your nerves to begin to feel just as it was while you waited in that white tiled room.

But just as your nerves rose you saw the serious look on his face fall into a soft smile. His smile was warm and comforting just like the appearance he held when you walked into the room you currently stood in.

His smile was inviting you to talk and you gladly accepted.

"I hear voices at night and I heard from some girls at my school that you could help me with it"

You watched a the man stood up now coming closer to you, his warm smile still present on his face as he approached you. When he finally stood parallel to you, with a quick moment of his hand you felt a sense of ease.

"There" he said without even sparring you another glance as he turned back to his throne.

"You won't hear the voice anymore" he said as he sat back down.

"And I won't see any stuff anymore?" You questioned further.

"See?" The man asked now with a bit more interest.

"Yes, like those creatures I see at night when I look from under my blanket"

"So, you know how the creatures who speak to you look like?"

"Yes, that's what makes me so scared" you replied looking into his eyes.

"Well you won't see that one anymore" he said with his warm welcoming smile growing bigger by the second.

"But I can't assure you that you won't see other things"

"Other things?" You asked.

"Yes, other things. The is no real way to stop seeing them but I could teach you how to destroy them" he spoke with honey laced words.

"Please teach me" you begged.

"Well then in that case you'll have to come to this temple everyday and I'll teach you"

"Good girl" he cooed, as a silence began to fill the air while you mind span with the praise he gave you.

"Suguru Getou" he said after a moment

"What's that?" You asked.

"My name"

"Where you rushing off to (Y/N)?" Your friends asked as you hurriedly back your school bag.

"I have work" you said with a short sentence trying to reduce any more interactions with them to waste time.

"You have work everyday?"

"Yes" you lied.

There was no job that would employ a student and have them work nearly everyday even during exams, and your friends knew that which only grew their suspicions more to where you would rush off to after school day after day.

But you knew you couldn't tell them, where you were going and what you were doing and more importantly who you were doing it with.

You knew how much Getou despised those who couldn't see curses.

'Monkeys' that's what he'd call them, you didn't like name he had given them but you weren't one to argue with him. You weren't one to go against him at all. Every word he spoke to you felt sacred along with every touch.

After Getou has helped you with the voices you had heard in the night, you held true yo your word and came back to the temple the next day and then the next and the next and before you knew it everyday was filled with him, along with every thought.

"Here you are" Geto said as you entered his personal room.

"I was getting worried you're 10 minutes later than your usual time"

"Sorry about that. The train was delayed and I tried my best rushing over here" you replied taking in deep breathes to calm yourself after you had sprinted nearly the rest of the way to Geto.

"Well we've already wasted 10 minutes, let's not waste any more" Geto said as he walked over to your direction.

Geto watched as you put your school bag down in the corner, watching as you began to undo the shirt that clung to your body.

He was amazed that a girl who was so smart could be so gullible, that you really believed he was going to help you be able to overcome curses. He was a curse user he didn't want to kill cursers he wanted to use them to his benefit.

But he could sense that you whole heartily believed that you would be able to destroy them and he found that cute like a little innocent puppy chasing its tail.

"Shirts off" you said standing infront of Geto.

"Good but remember skirt too"

'His so kind reminding me' you thought as you pulled your skirt down leaving you in just your frilly pink panties.

"You look beautiful just as you did the day before, and the day before that and the day before that" Geto said as he kissed you neck causing you to giggle.

Taking his large hand as he intertwined your fingers with his as he lead you to his modest throne.

Carefully sitting down so that you would easily fit in his lap.

"You all comfortable?" He asked as his hand rested on your thighs.

"Yes" you nodded enthusiastically.

"Great, we'll begin now"

Getou began to move his fingers across your upper thighs, his warms fingertips gently touching your inner thighs as they went upper and upper to the place between your legs.

But just before they could reach your aching core his hands would begin moving up your body. His hand sliding up your waist and onto your breasts, giving them a firm squeeze which always caused you to gasp from pleasure.

"Feels good" he whispered into your ear, as he massaged your breast. His much bigger hands working away at your just pawing them as he would begin to feel your harden nipples from underneath your bra.

You felt the cool air against your chest as Getou pulled down your bra revealing your perched nipples that were begging to be pulled at, which Getou happily did.

Getou knew how wet you would get when he'd begin to pinch your nipples, how in a matter of minutes you would be attempting to hump the air to find some relief.

"Calm down don't get to excited" he chuckled which only caused the slick between your legs to increase.

With one hand still pinching your nipples Getou brought the other down, gliding gently down your body till it reached your soaking cunt.

Without a moment hesitation Getou slipped his hand passed your panties and onto your wet slit. Teasingly gathering slick as he tapped it onto your clit.

"Remember this is the important part of getting a curse away"

Getou smiled at himself as he watched you nod in agreement to his false words.

With a soft sigh he plunged his fingers into your sobbing cunt feeling as your walls greedily sucked him in as if they weren't inside you the day prior.

Getou pushed his fingers back and forth slowly, just savouring your lewd moans that ached for him to speed up.

"Getou-sama" you moaned out, the magic words he had taught you to get him to move his fingers faster.

And that's exactly what happened when that named spilled from your swollen lips.

Getou fingers were no fucking into your brutally with the palm of his hand knocking against your clit bringing you closer and closer.

"Important part now, this is how you stop curses" he whispered as he licked your ear causing more pleasure to ripple along your body.

All your mind could focus on was the deep pleasurable sensation from within as Getou fucked his fingers into you, feeling as your walla grew tighter and tighter.

"You're nearly there" Getou encouraged on.

Until finally it happened, Getou felt you pussy clamp down hard on his fingers as you hands grabbed at his wrists to steady his fingers. Feeling as squirts of clear liquid released from your pussy and onto the oak wooden floor.

"And that's how we deal with curses"

.

.

.

Decided to do write in a new style kind of and I also wanted to write something. Please let me know if yall liked it.

All rights reserved to @rinrinx2

[raayllum]

one of the things i love most about arc 2, i think, is the breaking down of "this action is always bad" from arc 1 into "this action is always circumstantial" in arc 2. not that arc 1 is devoid of morality complexity and ambiguity, but there's definitely more examinations of said things and said unforeseen consequences in arc 2.

in arc 1, Claudia doesn't break away from her father (isn't familial morality good?) and Rayla does (becoming the first real traitor in the series in a lot of ways). In arc 1, Nyx is our primary (bad) thief who steals for self-centred (monetary) reasons, but in S5 we see both Ezran and Rayla engage in thievery with good intentions, even if for Rayla it is also for 'monetary' reasons (ha!) and Callum spares/helps her much the way Rayla spared/helped Nyx, even after being 'tricked' and certainly lied to. Nyx's thievery has the least consequence with Ezran's having the most, but their intentions (to return a baby creature for money / to save baby creatures from a truly terrible fate and existence) is what divvies up the actions accordingly.

Soren and Terry are both crestfallen and wracked with guilt upon killing someone - for Soren, his father, which is extra complicated given that Viren clearly paid quite a steep price to keep his son alive; for Terry, a relative stranger - but both murders affect them in similar ways. For Terry, it was something he'd never been trained to do and wholly in defense of someone he loves; for Soren, it was fulfilling his purpose as a knight and a crownguard for someone he loves, but also reflective of the strength it took to stand up against his father for what was right.

When Callum breaks away from Aaravos in future seasons, he will be retreading Viren's path in 5x09. Claudia and Rayla continue to parallel each other quite strongly, particularly with 6x01 in mind. Callum, like Viren and Claudia, has used dark magic two times now for Good reasons, yet is clearly still worried by what path it may set him on, while Viren is forced to recognize his own agency (much like Callum did in S2).

IDK if this makes sense but I really like the way TDP takes intention, circumstance, and consequence into account, and doesn't let any character off the hook for their choices within those circumstances, but also doesn't demonize any of them for their choices either

[azsazz]

Cupid's Chokehold (Part 4)

Azriel x Reader

Summary: You are a Cupid, a nearly extinct creature of Prythian. When you get caught trying to shoot Elain with your arrow, well, it’s a little hard to explain what you’re trying to do.

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 2,351

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

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For an alleged spymaster of the Night Court, the male surely asked a lot of questions.

He’d shone up early this morning to the training ring with your beloved armor and bow to which you’d excitedly snatched from his grasp and examined your possessions for damage.

There’d been a moment during the interaction that Azriel thought you might leap forward and hug him for bringing your weapons back and he found himself wanting to feel your body pressed up against his like that first time he’d caught you, found himself aching for it.

He’d cleared his throat instead, reveling in your excitement because surely no one had ever looked at him like that before. The eyes you gave him when you were finished inspecting the golden bow, bright and a wide smile on your face that made his heart flutter in his chest so quickly that he’d nearly had to gasp for air.

He understood your love for your weaponry, Truth-Teller had not left his person in centuries, no matter what. There’s a pang in his chest as he thinks about what it would be like to have his weapon taken from him by strangers. It would be like standing naked in front of his captors, and as his eyes trail down your glowing skin in the morning sun, he lets his mind wonder, imagining you with less and less on.

You pull the fitted gold breastplate over your head and it snags his attention, cheeks feeling hot as he averts his gaze from the metal that only accentuates your curves.

Mother, why did he agree to this again?

To distract himself he;d begun asking questions about your line of work, and it surprised even himself as he’d never been a male of many words. A part of him just wanted to hear the sweet lilt of your voice, your accent a mix of the lands across Prythian and beyond.

“For someone in so much armor, you were surprisingly easy to catch,” the shadowsinger quips, trailing through the thick brush behind you. Azriel assesses the golden nature of your coverings; the pristine white cloth you don beneath the shiny fitted metal. It would take nothing for him to rip through the thin fabric, maybe slightly more work to rid the breastplate from your body but he’d manage. He shakes his head, scolding himself for his wandering thoughts, forcing his eyes away from your clothing. Your wings are the same, nearly blinding like the snow, brighter than even the Winter Court’s storms.

“Not everything has to have such a blunt explanation, shadowsinger,” you roll your eyes, ducking around a branch that he wouldn’t have seen coming if he’d kept imagining filthy thoughts. “Just because I wear armor does not mean I am a warrior the same as you. It symbolizes the parallels between warfare and romance. How love can be invincible.”

“How love can be death, you mean.” Twigs and rocks grind underneath his boots.

You furrow your brows, halting in your spot, spinning on your heel to face him, “What?”

He nearly runs into you, stopping so quickly he flares his wings out so he doesn’t go toppling on top of you. He blinks once, twice before answering. “To be in love is to welcome death. To have a mate is to be blinded. One would rather die than to have their other half die, and to suffer alone is a far worse fate.”

“Are you not tired of suffering alone, Azriel?” you question. Your voice is so soft and pointed that something cracks inside of him. He hadn’t meant to upset you but that’s all he seems to be good for where you’re involved. You don’t wait for his response, twisting on your heel and stalking through the brush, leaving him standing frozen in his spot, dumbfounded.

He slinks behind you without another word, kicking himself for always seeming to say the wrong thing in your presence. He can’t help his curious nature and you’re more intimidating than he’d ever admit. A dangerous female with the beauty to strike him silly before you pierce his heart.

You duck behind a thick oak tree and he follows suit, watching intently as you draw an arrow from your quiver, hooking it into the string of your bow.

“There they are,” you whisper, and he can tell just how much you love love by the biting smile on your face and sparkle in your eye as you admire the couple sneaking through the forest.

It’s an effort to look away from your smile, and Azriel’s heart pounds so loudly in his chest he’s afraid he might scare the lovers away.

But it freezes in his chest when he sees your target.

The oldest son of Autumn, gallivanting with his secret lover through the woods this early in the morning? From the information he gathers quickly, his shadows hissing in his ears, he can tell that she’s a low-born and Eris should be nowhere near her.

Had he learned nothing since Lucien’s terrible fate?

“What if you miss?” he murmurs but his eyes stay glued to the couple. Eris has that familiar sly smirk on his face, the same one he uses to get under Azriel’s own skin, but the female puffs out a breathy laugh and hits him lightly on the shoulder.

She tries to keep walking but Eris is grabbing her so suddenly that you and Azriel tense. The Autumn heir spins the beautiful female around and dips down to kiss her in a fluid movement that has your breath hitching in your throat.

You ached for something like this, something like the love you’d seen throughout your lifetime. So much of it to bask in; gentle caresses of hands, a fleeting kiss, cheeks tinting pink, but it had never been you, couldn’t be, with your job.

Fingers twitching on the string of your bow you swallow harshly, responding, “I never miss.”

It’s true, your arrows have a slight magic to them to keep them on the path to your victim. Where the arrow would land was a separate issue, hence having shot a few someones in the ass before.

Azriel’s eyes flick to you as you take a steadying breath, raising the weapon into position to strike. It’s like that first time all over again, when he’d caught you in the garden at Rhys’ house, calm and still and no idea that he was behind you until he pulled that blade on you.

His words though, feel like he’s sliding that beloved metal blade right through your heart.

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” He places a hand on your shoulder, his hesitant breath caressing your ear as you scrunch your face up in distaste. Azriel’s touch sends shivers up your spine and you need to re-steady your bow.

You shrug his hand off of your shoulder, keeping your aim locked on the pair before you. “I’m beginning to think that you don’t want me to do my job at all, shadowsinger.”

He hears the tenderness in your voice, the fleeting glance you give him, and he curses himself again for making him seem like an ass, but you don’t know Eris, don’t know of Lucien’s mate or his father or the strained connection with his court…should any of them find out–

“You don’t know him, what his father will do–”

“It’s not my place to know,” you grit, clearly irked by the male beside you. You’ve had enough of this. At first he seemed almost eager to tag along, asking all of those leading questions…maybe it was only to gather intel for his High Lord.

You’ll be damned if he stops you this time.

“It is only my place to shoot,” you whisper tightly. Taking aim again. If you don’t shoot now you’ll lose your target.

“Please, (Y/N),” he begs and you falter for a moment as your breath goes shaky. He’d never said your name before, only calling you Cupid. You’re sure it would sound like absolute sin rolling off of his tongue if he were pleading you for something else.

“This could ruin everything between the Night Court and the Autumn Court, you can’t.” 

If Eris’ father found out he was rolling around in the bushes with a low-born he’d surely be chased out of the Autumn Court or worse, killed by the hand of the cruel man. 

And if that were to happen there would be no choice for a peaceful treaty between his court and theirs.

“I have to,” you grit, blinking back the tears stinging your eyes. He shouldn’t be stopping you like this, shouldn’t be trying to stop you at all. Gods, you should’ve already taken your shot but you don’t know why the tenderness of his voice has you second-guessing the Mother’s mission.

“There has to be others, we can go on a different mission.” He’s still trying to talk you down, has half a mind to send his shadows skittering off into the woods to make the leaves of the bushes rattle, hopefully it’d be enough to scare the two away.

“No,” you bite harshly. It’s a strain to keep your voice low when all you want to do is scream. “It’s going to be them and it’s going to be now.”

“It’s not,” his jaw ticks, fury blazing in his golden gaze. He acts as you release the arrow aimed straight towards the two, still locked together at the lips, snagging the arrow around its slim body, stopping the trajectory.

“What the fuck are you doing?” you hiss, no longer able to hold yourself back. You push to your feet quickly and he follows but he isn’t prepared for the shove you give him and it sends Azriel stumbling back a half-step. “Do you know how dangerous that is? You could’ve been pricked and–”

He stops listening, your voice going muddled as he bites his lip when he wants to preen, even though you’re angry with him. You care about him in some capacity or you wouldn’t be worried about the possibility of him getting hurt.

“What?” you ask sternly, crossing your arms over your chest when you realize that he’s not really paying attention to anything you’re saying, he’s just looking down at you with those gorgeous honeyed eyes, lip tucked between his teeth.

“Nothing, nothing,” he dismisses coolly, the shadow curling around his ear whispers that the Autumn male and his lover have left. He surrenders the arrow to you.

Knocking the arrow back into your bow is useless, a quick glance proving that you’d missed your chance. Your shoulders droop and you’re shoving the arrow back into your quiver strapped across your back, mood sullied because of this male.

“You’ve ruined my mission,” you huff, tucking your arms across your chest. “You wanted to come with me and now you’re interfering. Why can’t you just let me do what I need to do?”

Azriel feels horrible then, he really does, but you don’t want to hear what he has to say, you just want to return to Velaris and hide away in your room until supper.

“I apologize,” he tries, trailing you like a lost puppy through the woods. His tail would be tucked between his legs if he had one, but instead his wings droop slightly behind him at your gloom. “But you don’t understand what this could mean, if you’d shot them.”

“There are many things that I don’t understand, Azriel.” You don’t turn to face him like he wishes you would and he’s stuck staring at the back of your head as you speak. “And I do not have the time, nor wish to comprehend. Everything happens for a reason. If a couple aren’t meant to be but still share a bond, that is fate. If they are madly in love and something dares happen to one of them, that is fate. If they live happily ever after as mates, that is fate. So please, do not tell me what I do and do not know, because I know what I’ve vowed, and that is the truth.”

“If you’d just let me explain–”

“I don’t want you to explain,” you whirl around, chest heaving so harshly your breastplate moves with each breath. Your eyes are blazing with fury. You’re done with this male and his petulance.

“Well I want to,” he growls, temper flaring in response to yours. His resolve snaps, taking a long stride forward, grasping your arms in his own as he backs you up, pinning you against a tree.

Your temper eddies in that moment. He smells of charcoal and sage, intoxicating your senses with it, mind dizzying from the closeness. Every inch of your body that is touching his is on fire – fitting for the Autumn Court – surely your metal crested breastplate will melt between the two of you.

Maybe if you’re lucky it will fuse the two of you together.

“I don’t even think I can look at you right now,” your voice doesn’t sound as meaningful as you want it to.

All you can think about is his calloused fingers caressing your face, so achingly gentle as he traces patterns into your perfect skin like you’re some porcelain doll teetering on the edge of its shelf. His breath fans across your face and your eyelashes flutter. Good, because you meant it when you said you couldn’t look at him, his awfully striking beauty that had sparked something within you even when he was your captor.

“Then close your eyes, darling,” he whispers just as quietly, just as wavered as your words had been. You’re only a hairsbreadth apart now, his towering figure ever so slowly leaning down into yours. All you’d have to do is inhale and your mouth will be pressed up against his.

“Ah,” a smugly lilted voice startles the both of you. Azriel shoves you behind him and you’re quick to reach for an arrow strapped to the side of your normal ones, smelling of ash and sulfur. 

“I knew I smelled a bastard in my woods.”