#well silly art of human version of these two only I am not with much creativity

[o3days]

I love you

I have my doubts. . .

[afreakingdork]

Weak Spot - Chapter 54

RotTMNT Donatello x Reader

I just think they're neat: chapter art by @garbagemilkshake

Warnings: Aged-up Turtles, Romance, Meet Cute, Villain Donatello, Cussing, Crushes, Xenophobia, Fear, Intimidation, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Love, AFAB Reader, Vaginal Sex, Sex Rough, Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Creampie, Teasing, Scent Kink, Sexual Tension, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasms, Cunnilingus, Fellatio, Marathon Sex, Somnophilia, Bondage, Feral Behavior, Feral Donatello, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Public Sex, Dom Donnie, Human/Turtle Relationships, Turtle Noises, Roleplay, Sexual Roleplay

Synopsis:  A love story of villainous proportions! Though it hadn’t come easily, as these things rarely do, you found yourself in a whirlwind romance with a handsome and mysterious mutant. His idiosyncrasies had been easy to ignore as attraction grew into something more. However, will love endure when the unknowns about him end up being far darker than you ever considered?

I am here again to shout out @mothmans-left-nipple with whom I joked about this chapter's concept, here it is in all its silly glory!

Also available on Ao3

First 💜 Previous

Tucked in at the man’s side, you covered your mouth to stifle your excitement if only for the other diner’s sakes. They too had gone through the upscale absurdity of checkpoint after checkpoint of posh. It was the tax to pay from having your coats taken to your reservation being scrutinized. You were evaluated from the moment you stepped foot inside the building to when you were being led down an intimate hall. It was only then that you were granted true access and left alone in an exclusive dining space. A very specific sort of humiliation you weren’t sure you were ever going to get used to, you did at least enjoy the decor. There had to be something about the lights, angled just so, that illuminated each table in an ornate woven tapestry.

From white tablecloths to cherry wood accents, the silver on the table glittered around place settings crafted especially for you. Your chair had been pulled out once, a nod to your passing, and you took a careful seat. If you perched on the edge it almost felt like you were meant to be here. All a charade, you knew, but you played your part as your companion took the seat next to you and continued to titter.

“When he sings La Vie en Rose!?” Hypno gushed.

“It has to be in French! They have the English version on the soundtrack!”

“The soundtrack!!” You could almost see a heart appear in the magician’s throat.

For anyone around, they probably imagined the two of you were on a date.

A waiter came around to take drink orders and, in passing yours off, you saw your actual boyfriend.

Looking very much like he and Warren were the unwilling participants here as a guise for you and Hypno to go out, that wasn’t so far from the truth. Donnie currently appeared to be trying his best to dissociate while Warren made kissy faces at his reflection in a soup spoon.

“We get it. You both like the show. You’ve been talking about it for hours now.” Warren winked at his visage before dropping the spoon like a weapon in hand.

“Well maybe if someone would watch it with me…” Hypno turned his snout up from across the table.

“I sat with you while you watched it!” Warren swung his body and the utensil to lean on it as if it were a post.

“While you scrolled on your phone leaving hate comments.” Hypno looked, unenthused.

“You love when I destroy the confidence of pompous media influencers. They don’t even have journalism degrees and I’m supposed to listen to some half-baked baby who can’t afford a proper lav blabber about the news?!” Warren put on what you imagined he thought was a debonair face.

Hypno was equally nonplused. “There comes a certain point-”

Curling his wiggly body around the spoon’s handle, Warren crawled up it before seating himself in the bowl. With an alarming amount of skill, he then bent it back and aimed his makeshift trebuchet at Donnie.

“Uh…!” You piped up as your boyfriend didn’t so much as blink in the worm’s direction.

Warren took aim but as soon as he launched himself a ring appeared like something from a dog obstacle course. As soon as his pink body entered it, it jerked upward to scoop him out of the air.

“We said no magic at dinner!” Warren hung a furious limp above the table.

“We also agreed ‘no harassing our guests!’” Hypno’s eye twitched.

“Harassing!? I was trying to wake him up! What kind of etiquette is it to ignore such an esteemed dining companion?!” Warren bounced upright and placed a proud hand to his chest.

“And who would that be?” Donnie reluctantly emerged from wherever he was and flicked a bored gaze up at the worm.

Warren alit with fury and threw himself down toward Donnie.

Only Donnie's aura read smirk as he watched Hypno manifest a bunch of spinning rings in an attempt to catch his husband. With years of clear practice, Warren wormed his way through the onslaught, dodging nearly all of them save the last which clipped the tail end of his body. It caused him to spin wildly where Donnie only prepared at the last moment by picking up a napkin. He then used it to catch the worm as if he couldn’t stand the thought of touching him with his bare hands.

“I believe this belongs to you.” Donnie wadded the cloth and tossed it to Hypno.

“It unfortunately does.” Hypno sighed as Warren fought from within his sack before turning toward you. “Excuse us a moment?”

“Sure…” You bobbed an assuring nod.

Hypno gave you half a thankful smile for it and carried the Warren bundle away to have a stern talk.

“We can leave now.” Donnie didn’t bother watching them go.

“Try to be nice!” You hissed.

He waved down his body in demonstration.

“You agreed.” You quieted as the waiter came around delivering drinks.

You both waited for the man to leave before starting back up.

“Hypno is one thing. He is a contact and supplier. This? I did not agree to this.” Donnie gave the first bubbling simmer of a glower. “Not dinner with him.”

“Warren is…” You started out, but didn’t have a single defense.

Getting here had been a bit of a whirlwind. 

Unlike Mikey who easily steered conversation to and fro, talking to Hypno was more your speed. Branching off from how easily the two of you interacted in public, you also quickly found you had things in common that weren’t related to mixed company. Chatting with him was like catching up with an old friend. Using a bit of his flare, you imagined him folding in like a card into your hand as if he was always meant to be in the deck. 

It also didn’t help that you couldn’t shake your lonely read on the magician. Even as of late, with the addition of his villain’s group, he still seemed broken apart from any sort of support system and didn’t particularly fit anywhere. He was a simple man, who happened to be a mutant, with a craving for the stage, and a deep love for his husband. He had his pride, he had his work, and he said the man he’d married was the one who understood him best. From the way he described their meeting, it very much seemed like the two had found each other at some sort of low point. First rooming together out of financial hardship to eventually growing intimately attached, you’d been a little startled when Hypno had shared a wedding photo.

Warren Stone had, up until that point, been described as nothing short of a larger than life personality so when you were presented with a photo of a worm mutant, it was not something you had been particularly ready for.

You’d bitten your lip on asking about a size kink and was sure they made whatever they did work, on account of how smitten Hypno was. It was past that where you had difficulty keeping your mouth shut. You only knew what you had heard, but it seemed like more than enough. There had been mentions at the gala of Warren’s hard headedness which had been further cemented by the few comments you’d heard at group.

You didn’t like the way Warren treated Hypno.

You had first started out as sly as you could. You made attempts to look past first perceptions and Hypno was happy to talk about his spouse with the slightest prompting. It was only that, with each detail you gathered, your perception was souring fast. It all came to a head when Hypno had mentioned he’d been wanting to try a restaurant with a watercress salad that looked scrummy, but Warren found the plant to be repulsive. Immediately vetoing the entire option even though there was a whole entire menu for Warren to choose from that didn’t include said dish, Warren instead took Hypno out to some place they’d apparently been to a hundred times instead.

Hypno took it in stride. 

You took it as a personal attack. 

You would happily fight a worm for Hypno. 

You didn’t even know if he had powers, but you didn’t care.

The hang out as of yet had been nothing short of a confirmation with no exact planning, but you’d invited Hypno out to the restaurant he wanted on the spot.

The surge of responses had been an avalanche of care, but somewhere along the way, the goal had shifted. Hypno felt indebted to you and asked if the lunch could be pushed in favor of an elegant dinner instead. Something where there was no pretense for mind control, he wished to redo your gala experience without the judgment of others. Finding zero fault in that, you’d agreed only for Hypno to say how splendid it was and say how he’d get Warren on board.

You’d stared helplessly at your phone.

How did you explain you hadn’t wanted the derelict to come?

You hadn’t known each other long enough for you to openly dunk on the man’s husband.

They’d been married for almost two decades.

You did not have enough information.

Hypno, unaware that you hadn’t replied since confirming dinner, told you that Donnie and Warren didn’t have the best relationship and to keep that in mind. He’d gone on to explain seating options before tossing the whole thing out and saying as long as he got to catch up with you then the night would be a success.

You’d approached Donnie without pretense and gravely told him the situation.

The look of disgust that sat on your partner’s face was one that lasted for hours.

There was nothing to be done to get Donnie to agree in that state. 

You’d only waited earnestly until he had calmed down enough for a discussion and then approached him with how you felt their relationship was unjust. Your partner respected you enough to listen, but again, took several more hours until he could muster up a response.

It had been a bitter acceptance if only to see the two break up in real time.

That being another can of worms, you soured knowing the saying was forever tainted by the thought of having to deal with more than one blond headed plague. 

In the span of a day, you were suddenly drowning in plans. There was yours, which had lasted all of five seconds as you immediately realized, for the second time, that their marriage was none of your business. You knew far too little to pass judgment which was doubly reinforced as you had a shuddering thought of having almost acted like the other turtles. You would be hands off in the matter. Your lips would be sealed and you’d act as a bystander at best. You were also Hypno’s friend. If you were to say, treat him like the gilded man he was, then it was out of your hands if it starkly contrasted with how his partner dealt with him.

The thought made you feel a little like you’d been tainted by Donnie.

It brought you to your boyfriend and his participation in the matter. You’d brokered what you’d realized and brought it to Donnie already knowing how he’d react. He had years of being treated like less than from whispers that were too loud to pretend to be anything else. His filth was shouted openly and though for a long time he’d relished and wore it like a badge of honor, that didn’t mean bitterness hadn’t crept its way into his heart.

He had his own plan in regards to the matter and only because you were going regardless of his attendance. He spoke of concerns of safety and there was something honest about his stark attitude that surpassed what seemed like paranoia. He reminded you that his walls would be up, this was a work adjacent activity, which meant that by proxy he’d be on a certain sort of stoic behavior. He’d only cleanly said he would curtail obvious cruelties, but his image was one you knew needed to be preserved. Details of the location were required as he made mention of insurance which was made all the more haunting as he chuckled to himself about a pattern. 

You hadn’t bothered asking and only thanking him for cooperating the best he could. 

He hadn’t accepted and instead urged you to specify who was in attendance if you chose to hang out with Hypno again after this outing. 

You already figured as much, but hadn’t put together that Donnie was trying, in a roundabout way,  to explain to you just how bad the worm was.

Donnie had hatred in his heart. 

A simple fact, you never blamed him for it. 

You just imagined yourself more easy going than him. 

That was maybe why you missed the many seeds being spread as you joined the final plans which were ironing out details with Hypno. The magician had his own Donnie-like hook-ups that he’d joked about acquiring via mind control. Something you long knew possible of the man, you turned a blind eye to his not so sly comments and unfortunately skirted over more. There was Warren’s meddling with the date where there always seemed to be some excuse with whatever everyone else came up with. Once one was finally selected, you heard tale of the worm’s protests from service to chef, all while coming from a man who had supposedly never been to this restaurant before. Through Hypno’s funnel, the comments seemed more casual, spoken as if Warren had refined tastes and not in the tone of voice you would come to know from the worm. 

Meeting the pair at the entrance, Warren had greeted Donnie with a single ‘you’ and introduced himself to you with an outstretched hand you’d tried to shake. In a flick, he dodged to instead place an ancient business card in your palm and told you that autographs were a set price. You’d only stared in a sort of revolted awe before Hypno had stepped in laughing awkwardly.

Things rapidly began to make a lot more sense after that. 

In a silent fury, you had immediately gone to hug Hypno, which surprised the larger man, and couldn’t help but throw a glare at Warren.

The worm seemed not to notice as he asked to get this show on the road.

Speaking to his level of clout, he then proceeded to treat staff like dirt and paid little mind to the rest of his party as he took the first seat at the table.

You had gone from disliking the man to despising him which was only offset by Hypno asking you about the show you’d just watched. A man adept at diversion, you’d gotten swept up and distracted in your excitement to chat about it. Unlike Warren, Donnie had watched with you, but he wasn’t the type to analyze a show. His were bare bones notes on cinematography and spoke less about character’s actions outside of the obvious. 

You loved him, but he wasn’t all that great for theories.

Hypno, on the other hand, was and that was the point of having a multitude of people in your life.

No one was so one dimensional.

Everyone was made uniquely with a full spectrum of experiences.

“… he sucks.” You decided, returning from the rehashing of events that got you here and shrank into your seat.

Donnie took on the faintest air of understanding and you could sense he disliked how you were sitting across from one another.

Already slouched, you made an obvious show of kicking out your legs under the table.

Donnie barely had to move for his shoe to touch yours.

“I’m good.” You gave a little sigh. “Want me to say you told me so?”

Donnie shook his head a single time.

“You’re quiet.”

Donnie quirked his brow a bare centimeter.

You stared for a long moment and saw he was insinuating more. “Hypno has really good hearing doesn’t he?”

“Hippos have multiple auditory channels.”

You lowered your head and resisted setting it on the table. “So he most definitely heard me just…?”

Donnie’s silence said he nodded.

“The one thing I was trying to keep to myself!” You bemoaned and grabbed your glass for an angry chug.

“It’s quite alright.” Hypno spoke from behind you and you choked into your drink.

“Yeah, yeah. We’re back.” Warren huffed, clearly unaware of the double meaning and jumped down onto the table. Inching back to his table edge that he was using as a seat, he tipped his head haughty and addressed Donnie. “Truce for our partner’s sakes?”

Donnie’s eyes didn’t widen, but his brows rose the tiniest increment in the old way that showed astute surprise. “Warren Stone.”

Warren perked up and openly let his jaw drop as he didn’t have any of the same inhibitions. “Did… did you… just say my name?”

Donnie only returned the gaze.

Warren balked and sank down in front of his plate.

Donnie flicked a gaze toward you that said his part was done.

You gave him a nod before turning up to Hypno who hadn’t sat down yet. “I’m sorry… I didn’t…”

“It’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last…” Hypno didn’t look at you, but tipped his head in a knowing way. “I had a hunch.”

“I just…” You felt the weight of what you had to say. “You have only ever been kind to me. I want that for you.”

It pulled the magician’s eye with a faint glint and he finally grabbed his chair. “You’re a sweet one. I’ve sung your praises repeatedly now so you know. Seems I can add ‘protective’ to the list too, it seems.”

You nodded sheepishly.

He tapped the seat before finally rounding into it. “If I were to…” He looked across the table and thought better. “Nevermind, I can’t say I necessarily understand, but I do know why.”

“I…. wish I could say the same…” You admitted just as another waiter walked up.

It awakened the otherwise incapacitated Stone who seemed especially intent on figuring out exactly what ingredients were in what dish.

With orders placed in spite of his nagging, the waiter parted.

“Still on this picky kick.” Hypno eyed his partner.

“I like what I like.” Warren scoffed. “Didn’t you ask me not to do this? Why are you badgering me?”

“I’m not.” Hypno’s hands rose up. “Making observations. Moves the conversation along!”

“Backhanded.” Warren spoke out of the corner of his mouth to no one in particular.

“Honestly!” Hypno grunted loudly and with enough force that you felt the air bounce from the table to you.

Warren made a little mocking face, but said nothing more.

“Oh…”

Your small sound pulled the entire table's attention.

Did they know?

They had to.

It seemed so obvious now.

The corner of Donnie’s lip turned up a centimeter in what you read as another cover for his smirk.

They didn’t.

Was this interfering?

You weren’t sure.

You also weren’t about to sit there for the whole meal and listen to them bicker.

You looked between the pair and Donnie who happened to be caught in between. “Hypno’s ready for a change of pace and you’re too set in your ways Warren.”

“That can’t possibly be-!”

“So, what else is new?!”

Where Warren threw you lazy disinterest, Hypno stared with parted lips at his husband.

Your heart sank.

“Warren…?” Hypno mouthed slowly.

“What?” The worm turned. “Oh, don’t give me those watering hole eyes! This isn’t breaking news!”

“I don’t…” Hypno fiddled with his napkin.

“So we’ve gone stale! It happens to the best of them!” Warren inched up onto his place mat. “Look at these two.” He held up a hand for you and Donnie. “I bet they go at it day and night. Am I right?”

You felt your eyes roll back.

Donnie looked down his beak at the worm as if he could eviscerate the insect with this gaze alone.

“I’m right.” Warren gloated.

“The other tables-!” Hypno rose with indignity.

“Table schmables! Hey, toots! Yeah, you with the wig.” Warren threw his attention to a neighboring older couple. “You two together?”

The woman in question startled. “Y-yes…?”

“How long?” Warren scooted towards her until he ran out of table.

“Ten years?” She looked at her partner who whispered harshly back about not acknowledging them.

“Ten…” Warren gave what was almost a sagely nod. “Got you beat by six.”

“Con… gratulations?” She leaned away from her partner, obviously curious where this was headed.

If it wasn’t for his size, you bet Warren could command a room.

Hadn’t his business card said he was a primetime news anchor?

That made his ridiculous phrasing make more sense.

If Hypno and Warren had anything in common, they were all about branding. 

“Tell me truthfully.” Smashing a tiny fist to a utensil, Warren kicked up a spoon and held it out like a mic. “Do you wake up every morning and see the light of your life lying next to you or do you wake up and think: here I go, up to do this again?”

You heard Hypno’s shoulders drop.

The woman puffed up. “You can’t just ask-!”

Warren arched a waiting brow. “What was that?”

The beat of silence as the other diner’s listened in was deafening.

“T-that…! W-well…!” The woman looked frantically around her meal.

“Just say no.”

You watched horror spread on the woman’s face as she slowly turned to her partner.

“You… can’t, can you…?”

You watched a litany of emotions pass over the woman’s face before she tried to turn rage at Warren.

Warren was waiting with an expression that asked for it.

Her partner threw her napkin down and stormed off.

“Charlotte, w-wait!” The woman scrambled after her.

“A randomly polled New Yorker, everybody.” Warren bowed with his spoon and turned to the table.

Donnie’s face didn’t betray it, but you could hear his voice in your mind complain about sample size.

“That’s… how you see me?” Hypno spoke, a hollowed out man.

“You know I care, but the spark is gone! Need I remind you, that happens. It’s the way of love. You know what matters? I stay. I’m here. Every day!” Warren rolled his head and you realized the band around his neck wasn’t a segment of his body, but instead a wedding ring.

Hypno’s haunted face said this was all news to him.

“Look at it this way.” Warren created a box with his hands. “You know what’s good? Pastrami! The first time you have it? They made a scene in a movie about it! And you know what happens next? It’s still good!”

You abandoned Warren’s explanation to plead silently with Hypno.

You didn’t know for what, but he didn’t deserve this. 

Your gaze didn’t reach him.

“And it continues to be good, but it’s not the same! You also don’t see me ordering anything else though, now do you? Because I love pastrami! Not some two-bit vegetable masquerading as parsley’s answer to wasabi! No! I get the same sandwich that I know is good!!” Warren shoved the centerpiece out of the way.

“So that’s that, then?” Hypno found a small breath.

“Obviously!” Warren reached his husband’s plate.

“Fall back on the old tried and true? Never wanting more?”

“More?” Warren crawled onto porcelain. “What more!? This is it, babe! Plain and simple! As good as it gets!”

Hypno’s lids lowered and you could feel the dark energy coming off of him.

Warren through all his neglect felt it too and his airs dampened ever so slightly even though he immediately tried to boost them back up. “W-what…?”

“Our food is here.” Donnie’s even voice sliced through the space.

You snapped to glare at him. 

For everyone else, his face was the picture of neutrality, but you saw every single withheld cue that signaled he was having the time of his life. 

This was exactly what he had hoped for of the evening and, in any other world, he would probably be openly cackling and taking souvenir videos. 

Hypno turned his head away and it pulled your eye. 

Warren looked horrified as he slowly rotated and scooted back to his place setting with his metaphorical tail between his legs.

The waiters appeared as soon as he got in place and, in a coordinated rotation, doled out your meals.

Out of the corner of your eye you also saw them clear the table of the couple that Warren had scared away.

Staring down at a dish you no longer wanted, you felt Donnie pick up his utensils to heartily dig in.

Hypno moved to eat next. “I suppose a beurre blanc would be too adventurous for you.”

“Sounds French and like I don’t care.” Warren responded bitterly.

“We bonded once.” Hypno opened his mouth and swallowed a bunch of asparagus stalks whole. “Over our love of commanding a stage. The awe in a crowd’s eye as you do the unexpected.”

“No, you bonded over that. I told you I stared at a crew and camera.” Warren fought against his knife and a steak that was larger than his entire body.

“But we both chased a high! You with your new stories and me with magic! We had audiences!”

“I had a fan club. You had a failing career.” Warren gave up and sank down his spindly body.

Hypno’s fists came down on the table so hard everything bounced.

Donnie was the only one who remained unscathed as he hoisted his plate and drink up before it occurred.

“So, that’s it then? You want to have it out now? When I’ve been asking you to therapy for weeks! You’d like to have a go while we’re at dinner! In public! With friends and colleagues!”

“Yeah, no because it would have been so much better at that loser’s club you insist on going to every week.”

“Lose-!” Hypno stood and his chair flew back with a force that took out the table behind him.

The people there were unharmed, but they screamed and scrambled as if they needed to run.

It created a chain reaction of diners fleeing for their perceived lives.

You watched a few of them go before catching on how your partner was almost done with his dish.

He was acting like this was an exciting show always meant to be served with dinner. 

“Take. It. Back.” Hypno loomed, his face dark.

“Not a chance, big guy.” Warren wafted a hand dismissively. “In fact, I’ll say it again since you don’t seem to be catching the important headline. I think you’re wasting your time with those losers!” 

“Speak about me how you wish, but you will not insult my friends!” Hypno threw his hand up and a dozen rings appeared in a threatening hover.

“Open your ears would’ya?!” Warren reared in sudden fear.

“Find yours!” Hypno roared and threw his hand.

Donnie stood with an easy swivel out of his chair as the ring sliced straight through the table.

Warren soared out of sight where you quickly lost his small body in the ornate room. Rings continued to fly and since the worm was their obvious target, you could imagine where he was heading. Scaling the room and up a wall, Hypno shored some curtains. Warren grunted with some random effort, but seemed to be faring well considering.

“Babe, come on!!”

“Don’t babe me!!!”

Donnie appeared by your side.

“S-should… I… get up…?” You wondered aloud to him.

Donnie glanced at where Hypno had taken a hard stance beside you. “You’re not the target.”

“This is my fault…” You whispered.

Donnie’s face softened the faintest amount.

In several clinks, Hypno’s rings fell out of the sky before he turned to you with teary eyes. “No, no! That’s not true! You’re…!”

You stared up at the magician.

He knelt beside you. “You’re the reason I’ve been able to break out of my funk! I hadn’t realized the lull I’d fallen into it! You have no idea what you’ve done!”

“You’re the cause!”

Before anyone could seemingly react, you heard Warren’s voice rushing wrath in your direction.

“I should have guessed! Since you appeared, everything’s been changing. It’s you who’s upset my daily lineup-!”

Donnie’s fist shot out just above your head and Warren appeared in his clutches. “I tried not to interfere.”

In a sickly snap, he ripped the worm in two.

He dropped the pieces onto your dinner and you scrambled backwards in your seat.

“Not at all…” Hypno sneered. “Good catch, mate.”

“D-Donnie?!” You spun around in your chair. “What-!?”

“He’s a worm.” Donnie sent a normal sized glare down at you that caused your nerves to flare.

Outside façade.

Outside façade.

You mentally slapped your cheeks and turned back to watch in horror as one half of Warren animated like a zombie.

“How dare you!?”

You screamed.

“Now, now…” Hypno caught your hand. “He’s alright.” He threw a glance at his husband. “For now.”

“So, I’m the bad guy!?” Warren gestured down his body. “He ripped my tux! Do you know what I have to do to get a tailor!?”

Donnie oozed outright malice that said he would happily do worse.

Warren clicked his tongue.

“I loved how stubborn you were once.” Hypno patted your hand, but was clearly addressing the worm. “You fought for us.”

“I still do!” Warren threw out a tiny fist.

“You fight for what’s familiar!” Hypno turned to shout. “You fight for obvious comfort! You… Have you even seen how much I’ve flourished?!”

Warren grappled with several jockeying emotions before he bitterly looked away. “Your…” His voice dropped until it was nearly a whisper. “Your coat… has been more shiny.”

“I’ve been happier than I’ve been in years, Warren!” Hypno shook and you felt little droplets of tears fly off him. “I’ve…!”

“And what am I supposed to do with that!?” Warren rose up the length of his body. “You just up and left me behind one day while I-!”

Hypno stilled as the words hit him. “Warren…”

“Nothing! Shut up! It’s fine!” Warren had to use his arms, but he got himself turned around and clawed a few inches away. “Stupid body!”

“Warren…” Hypno released you in favor of curling his fingers over the edge of the table as if peeking over it. “Did… did you think I’d moved on?”

“No!” Warren grouched, nearing a midway point and stopping to pant. “This is dumb!”

Hypno put pressure on the table and it tipped.

“No! Hey! Knock it off!!” Warren scrambled to catch the table cloth, but slid openly with everything else.

You watched your dinner fall among a clatter of broken dishes.

You weren’t going to eat it anyway with the worm parts and all. 

Donnie touched your back for a comforting weight.

Warren hit Hypno’s snout and glowered at his husband. “Fine… Just…! Pick me up at least!”

Hypno plucked the worm and held him high in the palm of his hand.

It clearly made Warren feel a little safer. “You… you… woke up every morning, same as me until… you didn’t. You survived another run in with those miserable turtles and tittered about some brain washed buffoon from the gala and then suddenly it’s like the sun’s shining for the first time? What was I supposed to think!?”

“What did you?” Hypno’s snout was still under the table.

“I don’t know!” Warren turned away. “So I followed you! I tried to catch the scoop, but you weren’t cheating! You were-!”

You leaned back against Donnie’s hand.

“You were… smiling all stupid and beautiful by yourself… Like you… smiled at me… I don’t know!” Warren shrank down out of sight. “I can compete with some floozy, but how can I compete with you?!”

Hypno lowered his palm down to the table where his eye level was.

Warren refused to look, but you could see him pouting with all of his lower lip.

“You could have said yes.”

“To what?” Warren flicked some debris off what was left of his jacket.

“Sure, I was fine to go at it alone, but I wanted to do it with you. That’s why I kept asking you to come.”

Warren blinked up a little. “You… you didn’t say it like that!” He rounded on his husband. “You would say things like ‘come eat this gross salad with me!’”

“And you could have said yes.” Hypno’s lids lowered in wait.

“I could have-!” Warren cut himself off and did a frustrated waddle in place. “But I don’t like watercress…!”

“And I still don’t like pimento cheese.” Hypno bounced his palm so Warren could get adjusted. “Some things don’t change; like my love for you.”

Warren stared at his partner.

“Others do and it’s up to you to decide if you’re going to fight that or work with it.”

Warren scratched the back of his head. “Life keeps going, huh?”

“It’s why the news updates on the daily.” Hypno’s snout lifted to show his smile.

“I’m… sorry I called your hokey hippie’s losers.”

“It’s a start.” Hypno gushed and gave his husband a smooch so large he looked as though he’d swallow him up.

“The hair!” Warren swatted, a blush on his cheeks.

With a swirl of his finger, Hypno fixed Warren’s coif.

Warren stewed before giving a lazy glance around. “This place stinks. I’m leaving a one star review.”

“I have…” Donnie approached the conversation and surprised every one of you. “… a secondary location prepared.”

“Ugh.” Warren gagged openly. “Overachiever much?”  

Donnie stood completely stone faced. 

Warren threw a glance at you. “Always thinks he’s the best with all his contingencies. This guy, amirite?”  

You simply stared in response. 

“Or-!” Hypno chirped, rising up to his full height and dispelling the awkwardness. “We can have a proper meal. For real this time?”

Warren stuck a finger into the side of his head as if he was picking gunk out of his ear. “What’s the sitch, Berry Bad guy?”

Donnie’s beak scrunched a near indeterminable amount. “Something less elegant.” He glanced down at you.

You looked back up openly and smiled.

“Tacos.” Donnie told you and set his hand on your shoulder.

“They’re adorable, aren’t they?” Hypno cooed.

“Just like us when we were young and dumb.” Warren wrapped an arm around Hypno’s thumb as if to steer him. “They better have good barbacoa!”

“Their reviews are adequate.” Donnie held out a hand and led you out of your seat.

“Shame about this place.” Hypno glanced back where he was already walking away. “How many’s that make it, love?”

Warren hummed loudly. “Twenty something?”

“Twenty three.” Donnie followed without letting go of your hand. “In the past year.”

“That… what?” You checked in with Donnie.

“Place’s Warren and I’ve… reviewed.” Hypno chuckled from the front.

You shot a look at Donnie.

He passed you the barest turn of his head. “I phoned ahead days ago.” 

“And they still let people… eat here tonight?” 

Donnie gave a knowing micro-tip of his head. “They opted to update their insurance and go for a payout.” 

You stared back at him with a frown. 

“Easily thwarted.” He lowered his lids the smallest amount as if his offer to stop insurance fraud was a grand romantic gesture. 

You bumped him and shook your head with a smile. 

“Look alive!” Warren clapped where he and his husband were waiting at the elevator. “You’re buying as thanks! We put on quite the show! This is your future right here! Take notes and get used to it!” You didn’t have to send Donnie your worries because you could feel them through his grip.

NEXT

La-la-love and thanks to my betas @tmntxthings and @thepinkpanther83

[yenah-on-top]

Ok hello friends, at the request of multiple people, I am going to make a little reblog guide for Tumblr !!!

This is all in good spirits ok ? I know lots of the Twitter population are unsure of the workings of this website, and to be fair I had a time when I used to not understand it at all. Please don't take this to heart, if you know this all then it's probably not for you.

Ok so first I'll start with mobile (the version I use almost exclusively)

So you have a post !!! Wow this post is interesting, I agree with this post, I like what this post brings to the table ! For whatever reason, you like this post, and you want to share it !!! Well the best way to do that is to click the reblog button !!!

You see that little button there, it's used for this function on most social media !!! Looks like the recycling button !!! I couldn't get a good screencap of it, but on mobile you can press and hold that button, and you get the option to swipe it onto any blog you want !!! (Depending on how many you have. It only shows up to 3 as an option on mobile so if you have more than 3 it might get wonky) but that is a way to get a one click reblog !!!! No fuss, no mess, no hassle, just on your blog in less than a second !!!

This is very handy if you don't intend to add tags !!! And if you want a quick version with tags, that's something you can do on desktop ! But we'll get to that.

If you want to do something other than a no tag quick reblog on mobile you just click the button and this shows up !!!

So you're here !!! You have alllll these options to add onto the post before you reblog it !!! The most important usually is the tags, you can add whatever tags you want, but be mindful !!! On Tumblr people tend to read the tags people put on their posts, and now these tags are automatically sent into the notes of both the person you reblog from, And the the original poster !!! So it's best to think first about your tags before tacking on something rude or inappropriate !!! You aren't alone on this website !!!

See the dots in the top right corner ? There are lots of options there !!!

So here you have more control !!! You have the default here, post now. That's what quick reblog does as well, and honestly if you don't add tags I recommend fast reblogs over this, it's just less tedious.

Next is queue !!!! The queue function is. Honestly elusive to me. But if I am to believe that it is to be trusted, then you can set a timeframe, and an amount of posts between 1 and 50 that will leave your queue automatically at the set time, spread out evenly. You can add as many posts to your queue as you want !!!

You can also schedule posts !!!!! For the memes !!!! Is there a silly post that has a specific date that makes it funnier ? Schedule it for the next time it happens !!! I see ops use this for series they have often, but I've never personally used this feature.

Drafts are for when you want to edit something ? I honestly keep things that people put info on in there, never to escape. Like references for art or videos I want access to.

Now we move on to desktop !!!

Same post right ? If you want a fast reblog option you can download xkit !!! It has many features, most of which I don't actually know bc I very rarely use desktop.

With xkit, once you turn on fast reblog, you can hover over the reblog button, and...

This shows up !!! It gives you the same reblog, queue, and draft options. It also lets you add tags !!! It's even more convenient to you than it is on mobile !!! Gives you options !!!

If you want to do a two click reblog though, it looks something like this !!!

There's not much here for if you don't want to add onto the main post, at least looking at what fast reblog can do. If you want more options click on the little arrow next to the reblog button

And still at this point there's just post privately and schedule here. You also have a preview button. But yeah I feel like if you install xkit there's not much use in the multi click reblog. But I am a mobile user first and human second so take that as you will !!!

That's the tutorial from your resident stayblr pr person !!! I'm doing this because I have the work experience needed (read: I have used my entire post limit of 250 posts on like. 5 of my friends posts in a day before)

Tl;dr:

Ultimately this is a place where reblogs spread posts. Likes have no use whatsoever, but I'm not really here to yell at you to reblog more instead of liking.

Reposting is significantly more work than it is to reblog. Just don't do it. It gives engagement to the creators you enjoy the work of if you reblog, and it fosters an environment that we want on this website.

Reblog from creators !!! It makes them want to stay and keep creating !!! And fandom would be sad without them !!!

[ruethos]

I figured I'd ask cause I've been following you for a while and you post transformers every so often, and I'm finally caving and want to check it out. So I'm curious what you might recommend to start at? (Cartoon-specifc)

Oh boy, okay SO this really depends on what exactly you're looking for in a show, so I'm gonna give you a variety to choose from.

The Transformers/G1: It's silly!! A fun Saturday morning cartoon that doesn't take itself too seriously. The Autobots and Decepticons, caught in their millions year long civil war, crash land on Earth and continue their battles. This is just a vehicle for Shenanigans to happen. You WILL get whiplash from how quickly the first episode changes scenes. 3 full seasons total, season 2 is the best one imo. You can watch it for free on Tubi.

Transformers Animated: not AS silly but still light-hearted. A fun cast with some of the best human characters in the franchise and a great overarching plot. Basically throws out the "in disguise" part and makes the bots heroes in futuristic Detroit. Some of my FAVORITE versions of these characters. 3 seasons and SHOULD'VE had a fourth but Hasbro killed it (something of a running theme in the franchise as a whole). You can watch it for free on Tubi.

Transformers Prime: a more serious take on the franchise that still manages to keep some levity. Small teams of Autobots and Decepticons (lead by Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively) continue their civil war in secret on Earth, vying for control of the energy rich planet. Absolutely STELLAR 3D animation and good character designs. A take on Cybertronian culture that has influenced so much of what has come after it. Middle of the pack human characters, /I/ think they're fine but a lot of people don't. 3 seasons and a TV movie, also got cut short. Season 1 is available on Netflix and the rest is for free on Tubi.

Transformers Cyberverse: I love Cyberverse to bits. Poppy art style that’s pleasing to the eye with a good mix of the 3D animation and 2D effects. I was gonna describe the plot until I realized that uh, it changes? Autobots vs Decepticons, except when it isn’t. Really has fun with the setting of Cybertron (once they get there), and is one of the few series that actually go PAST the war. 3 seasons and season 4 was two tv movie specials. Killed too soon. The only down side is that the episodes 15 minutes or so. I love this show so much. You can watch it for free on YouTube.

Transformers Rescue Bots: actually one of the best shows in the franchise and I am being 100% serious. A team of first responder bots have to team up with a family of first responders and keep the island of Griffin Rock safe while posing as highly advanced non-sentient robots. It's the baby show. Completely new cast of characters with some guest appearances from the heavy hitters (Optimus Prime and Bumblebee). The BEST human main and side characters. There's a musical episode. I honestly love this show so so so much please don't let the art style fool you it's SO GOOD. The only series to get 4 seasons and they are WELL. DESERVED. Also it takes place at the same time and in the same continuity as Prime, which will never not be funny to me. Season 1 is on Netflix, seasons 3 and 4 are available for free on The Roku Channel, but I can’t find anywhere to watch season 2. But, well, there are ways around that.

Transformers Beast Wars: listen. LISTEN. This is the best show in the franchise. Bar none. Look past the goofy late 90′s cg animation. Yes its fun to make fun of but eventually you stop paying attention to that because the show is just THAT. GOOD. Two ships, one full of Maximals and the other full of Predacons (the descendants of Autobots and Decepticons, respectively) are sent back in time and crash land on prehistoric Earth. GREAT characters, wonderful story, introduces SO many things that are still used in the series to this day. I love Beast Wars with literally all of my heart. It’s available for free on Tubi.

Honorable Mention: Transformers Earthspark. This is only an honorable mention because season 1 isn’t even finished yet but what we have of it so far is VERY good. Great characters, wonderful animation, great music, and a lot of promise going forward. I’m so excited to see where this is gonna go.

EDIT: I actually forgot to mention, you can watch most of these for free on the Transformers Official youtube!!

EDIT #2: Added proper summaries for all of the shows.

[whilewewereyetsinners]

I posted 1,878 times in 2022

That's 767 more posts than 2021!

42 posts created (2%)

1,836 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@i-istherefore-iam

@northerlygale

@luna-drinker

@officialyourdailyinspiration

@talesofsorrowandofruin

I tagged 1,309 of my posts in 2022

Only 30% of my posts had no tags

#christianity - 135 posts

#lol - 82 posts

#signal boost - 58 posts

#history - 51 posts

#christian living - 50 posts

#art - 49 posts

#prayer request - 49 posts

#jane austen - 47 posts

#lotr - 45 posts

#abortion - 39 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#there’s so much wrong with the world and so many people experiencing legit problems and this mauling of etymology is what’s most important?

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

18 notes - Posted April 16, 2022

#4

Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals — not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: “Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart nature’s ancestral heartbeat.”

In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing.

“Why the interest in a company like Colossal, which was founded with a mission to “de-extinct” the wooly mammoth and other species?” reads an In-Q-Tel blog post published on September 22. “Strategically, it’s less about the mammoths and more about the capability.”

“Biotechnology and the broader bioeconomy are critical for humanity to further develop. It is important for all facets of our government to develop them and have an understanding of what is possible,” Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm wrote in an email to The Intercept. (A spokesperson for Lamm stressed that while Thiel provided Church with $100,000 in funding to launch the woolly mammoth project that became Colossal, he is not a stakeholder like Robbins, Hilton, Winklevoss Capital, and In-Q-Tel.)

Colossal uses CRISPR gene editing, a method of genetic engineering based on a naturally occurring type of DNA sequence. […] The eponymous gene editing technique was developed to function the same way, allowing users to snip unwanted genes and program a more ideal version of the genetic code.

The embrace of this technology, according to In-Q-Tel’s blog post, will help allow U.S. government agencies to read, write, and edit genetic material, and, importantly, to steer global biological phenomena that impact “nation-to-nation competition” while enabling the United States “to help set the ethical, as well as the technological, standards” for its use.

Okay, am I the only one that finds the idea of US government agencies having the authority to use this technology completely terrifying?

I remember when CRISPR technology was first developed bioethicists were like yeah, you shouldn’t do that, and everyone else was like shut up and think of the children! We can eradicate birth defects with this!! And have they eradicated birth defects with this? Don’t be silly, of course not! No, we’re going to build supersoldiers or morally-vacant human robots or something, that’s way more important!

20 notes - Posted September 30, 2022

#3

So if you love Jane Austen and think it would be fun to have veins throbbing in your temples, here’s something for you to read:

The film’s first trailer wasn’t roundly greeted with excitement, as many watchers (presumably hardcore Austen fans who have never once enjoyed the pleasures of something perfect like “Clueless”) took it to task for being too modern, too silly, too “Bridget Jones does Regency cosplay.” How very lucky we are then that one trailer, just mere minutes of a film, is not an entire feature.

I mean, the author refers to P&P 1995’s Fitzwilliam Darcy as Mark Darcy so it’s not as though she actually knows what she’s talking about, but I really just love it when reviewers insult people who love whatever book is being adapted. Especially when your review is a litany of all the ways the character is grossly changed from the original, but she’s really heartbroken and sad, yo, so that means it’s a good adaptation.

26 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

#2

Sample A: “There could have never been two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement.

Sample B: “A heartbeat ago, there were no two people more in rhythm than Wentworth and I. Now we’re strangers. Worse than strangers — we’re exes.”

Sample A: “My being the mother is the very reason why my feelings should not be tried. I am not at all equal to it. You saw how hysterical I was yesterday.”

Sample B: “The thing about me is, I am an empath.”

To clarify the obvious — something the movie under review today has no problem doing — the “A” excerpts are from Jane Austen’s magnificent novel “Persuasion.” The “B” excerpts are from the movie, which I suppose you could also call “Persuasion,” insofar as it appears to have lifted sentences from the novel and fed them through some kind of Instagram-filtering, catchphrase-generating, text-summarizing idiot bot.

Finally, a review written by someone who actually knows his Austen.

280 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Sewing patterns provide a uniquely detailed look at the lives of working-class people throughout history that clothing collections held at museums or universities seldom offer. These patterns — flimsy packets of paper covered in shapes, numbers, and symbols — guide sewists through the process of making everything from sweatpants to wedding dresses. And through most of the 20th century, before manufacturers moved production to capitalize on cheap labor abroad, sewing at home was a way to have high-quality clothing for less money.

But scholarship around patterns and home sewing is still relatively underappreciated, often dismissed as women’s work or insignificant to fashion and art. The common pattern’s ubiquitousness only adds to its disposability — patterns were cheap to purchase and finicky to preserve and were never meant to last.

For the community of vintage sewing enthusiasts, an unassuming website maintained by the University of Rhode Island is a priceless and irreplaceable treasure. The Commercial Pattern Archive is one of the few projects in the world that safeguards these documents that are fragile, easily forgotten, and born to die. A labor of love and insistence on the part of a small team of historians, costume designers, archivists, and hobbyists, the archive began in the 1990s and includes a physical stash and digital database of English-language patterns unparalleled in its scope and depth. CoPA is home to around 56,000 physical patterns going back to the 1800s, along with books, pamphlets, journals, and other related material.

1,264 notes - Posted June 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[demon-girl-2004]

DANCING

Gender not specified

((i can see every version of wukong dancing but some are different from others))

Dota2 sun wukong

PLATONIC

•Wukong is not a dancer at least not when he’s sober, while he enjoys the art of dancing he's not gonna do it himself.

•He’d rather watch someone else dance than him or better yet watch bar fights

•But if you get a few stiff drinks in him? All you gotta do is play some music and you’ll have an absolute blast

•You’ll have an ever better time if you just sit back relax and watch the show unfold

ROMANTIC

•Just because he doesn’t want to doesn’t mean he can’t dance

•He's actually pretty good at slow dancing like REALLY GOOD(( or at least in my head he is))

•I mean he’s been in a few relationships so I’d like to think he’s pretty romantic

• and no he doesn’t really care if anyone is watching the two of you, honestly he could care less

•But if he’s completely honest he rather sit down have a drink and watch you dance and have fun

Smite sun wukong

PLATONIC

•Yes and no

•Remember wukong is a fun guy! But he’s also a king and smite wukong does have that mentality of a king and less of a trickster ((in my opinion at least))

•However he is not above having some fun and joining in for a dance or two

•Just don’t expect something over the top

ROMANTIC

•Once again yes and no

•Just because he’s immortale and old as shit doesn’t mean he has expericance in THIS kind of thing

•Basically what i am tryig to say is He's never slow danced

•He’d totally be down to learn! after a little bit of convincing

•But he's gonna be low-key emmbarssed so just take your time with him

•Just help him that's all you really need to do

League of legends sun wukong

PLATONIC

•HELL YES!!!

•The two of you would have so much fun just dance around and being silly

•He’s gonna spin you around until you get dizzy and

•He may even pull a little prank my spinning you until you feel like your gonna throw up

•All in all the two of you are just gonna have some fun

ROMANTIC

•No

•No he’s just gonna try and get you to do something else with him because he’s too embarrassed to dance with you

•But if you push it a little bit he’ll cave in and dance with you

•He’s not gonna look at you tho because he’s too embarrassed or worried of stepping on your feet

Lego sun wukong

PLATONIC

•He’s gonna look at you in confusion for a few moments before joining in with you!

•But once he does join you it’s gonna be a hell of a time I promise!

•He’s an AWSOME dancer

•I mean he’s got a lot of energy and free time might as well put it all into something fun right??

ROMANTIC

•Yes he’s a lovely dancer

•Despite what he may say he’s a lovely and very caring dancer

•He’s gonna look away at some point because the romantic tension is gonna get to him

•But all you need to do is call his name and all eyes are on you sweetie

Macaque

PLATONIC

•Okay,He's down for it, like hella down for it

•I dare to say He’s actually a better dancer than wukong ((only because hes around humans for often tho))

•He’ll even try to teach you a few moves, notice the key word try

ROMANTIC

•By the gods yes

•All you have to do is ask and he's down for a little slow dancing action

•He’s a really good dancer and the two of you will feel like your floating on a cloud

•Dude is really good at romance

Masterlist

[mk-wizard]

Hellboy Films: Why animated did better than live action

Hello, friends

Many of you may not know this, but out of all the superhero comics, Hellboy is my favourite. What can I say? As a little girl, I was a misfit, so a misfit hero like Hellboy was right up my alley and the concept of someone being born to be bad to turn out so good because he had a loving father to show him the way is beautiful. My introduction to Hellboy was the first live action film in the 2000s and at the time, I liked it, but then I started reading the comics. Once I got to know the real Hellboy and series, the more I fell in love with the comics yet at the same time, the more I go to not like the live action films and not just because I found the sequel and reboot in 2019 bad. There are many problems with the three live action Hellboy films which rub me the wrong way and not simply because they are live action. Most superheroes started off as cartoon drawings, but were well done in live action, but Hellboy missed all the notes. Now as a mature adult woman who is experienced at storytelling as well as analyzing, I rewatched some of the live action and I took time to watch the animated films. The difference in quality is night and day (no pun intended and I will give links to the animated films because they are stunning). I will now tell you all where the animated films went right and how live action went all wrong.

1- Hellboy’s design was better in the animated films. - I am more than willing to be forgiving when it comes to taking artistic liberties. Sometimes, the results can be beautiful, but in the case live action Hellboy, it was all wrong and I have to blunt, we can do so much better with graphic design now than just simply taking a tall buff man, putting make up and props on him. I hate sounding mean, but both versions just look like a guy wearing a cosplaying as Hellboy. It would have been much better if Hellboy was completely and entirely CGI or perhaps even an elaborate puppet costume like the ones used in the Jim Henson films. It may sound like enough to give the hero red skin, a stone hand, horns, a tail, cloven feet (which are covered), amber eyes, pointed ears and be very tall. He STILL looks too human compared to the comic and compared to what movie makers can do, it’s lackluster.

Now, we turn to the animated version which did more than just the obvious. Hellboy isn’t inhuman looking just because of the said traits before. He is inhuman because of his proportions and shape especially his face. It is a confirmed fact that he is not just not human. He is ugly and animalistic looking. His features are the combination of a satyr and gorilla especially when you look at how thin his legs, jaw, shoulders, posture and so on.  Also, his eyes aren’t just amber. He has no pupils, no schlera (the white part) and no irises. The entire eye is nothing, but amber which makes them disturbing to look at. He cannot simply cover his face, tail and hand, then simply blend in. He cannot even wear most human clothes hence why Hellboy is always shirtless and his hooves are exposed. In other words, animated Hellboy looks like Hellboy.

2- The animated plot was clean, to the point with no filler. - While I admit the first live action film kept it pretty simple, I find that it still had a lot of filler and too much subplot. If you ever read a Hellboy comic, you will know right off the bat that Mike Mignola is a master at the art of pacing without fluff. Yes, he respect that character development and buildup takes time, but he doesn’t drag things. Ever. And he does not make everything so angsty either. Yes, he hints that the characters have issues, trauma, emotional pain and at times, depression, but he did so without making them into whiners. For the most part, the cast and hero would pick themselves up and do what they had to like adults. If anything, they were also each other’s emotional support and they don’t hate people. The animated version captured that completely and even showed us that the cast did not consist of malcontents who played the “poor me” card to death. In the beginning of Blood and Iron, Abe, Liz and Hellboy were happily talking about a bakery they had found once which reminds us that with all their hardships they do seek and accept joy in life even from something as simple as good pastries.

Moreover, the plot of the film was to the point with some amount of subplots, but without getting complicated and without the subplots contradicting each other. Everything had a way of coming together neatly and even though we did sometimes get surprises, they didn’t feel like filler. They felt like things that were always there, but now, we are aware of them. Most importantly, there was no cheap or silly selling point tactics like relationship drama or the stereotypical father-son bickering (more on this later). Hellboy is not that kind of story.

3- The subtle messages and morals in the animated films were deeper and better. - Being the mature adult I am now, I can say that the first Hellboy really was just Beauty and the Beast while using the Hellboy cast instead and it presented in the message in all of the outdated and bad ways. Don’t get me wrong, I find the idea of Hellboy falling in love romantic and I admit that underneath all of the darkness and action, everything about Hellboy comes back to love. However, it is not romantic love where the end all be all is to be accepted by humanity by getting into a relationship with a human, then turning into a handsome prince even if only metaphorically. The deeper and more important kind of love Hellboy tries to teach is self love how you are regardless how strange people deem you. If you have done something with your life and made something of yourself, then it is ok to be you and are already more loved than you realize. The other kind of love that has always been important to the series is family unity. You see, Hellboy, Liz and Abe are like siblings to each other and Prof. Bruttenholm is an incredibly loving father figure to all of them namely Hellboy who he raised since he was a baby.

He made the big red guy into the man he is today. In fact, even as an adult, Hellboy and Bruttenholm are a very sweet and kind father and son duo. They are not at each other’s throats, they don’t snark at each other or are incapable of agreeing on anything. There is no spite, there is no anger, there is no resentment and there is no ingratitude. There is only love and honestly, THIS is the love that ought to be showcased more in the films.

With that all said and done, the animated films also had their subtle deep messages which we not only understand clearly, but we also appreciate more. In the first movie Sword of Storms, it was all about finding a balance between persevering and knowing when to let go. In other words, keep doing what you must if it is still relevant and making a difference, but if it isn’t and is the reason you’re stuck, by all means quit. There are many roads to closure. In the second one Blood and Iron, it was clear from the beginning that the message was to not underestimate the elderly. They may not be as strong as they once were, but their experience and wisdom gets them and you out of tough spots. They have been through everything before and know what to do. By all means, aid them and help them, but don’t treat them like helpless babies. I also have to say that when I look at the messages the two animated films were telling us, they are not only clearer, but pretty underrated ones too. In the case of the live action films, the messages were muddled if not done before.

In short, I look at the animated films and I’m impressed. If another live action Hellboy does come along, I hope that this time, it will be done right and I really don’t want to see relationship, gore fests, snark or family drama again. Of course, this all my opinion and I would love to hear all of yours.

Thank you for reading and stay safe.

EDIT: Wouldn’t you know it? I forgot the link to all things Hellboy Animated. Here it is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_Animated

[holylulusworld]

SPN Quote Bingo masterlist

A/N: Written for @spnquotebingo​

* story contains smut

Square 1: Hit it of king of hell style Demon!Dean x fem!Reader, former Dean x fem!Reader, Crowley x fem!Reader (platonic) - Quote: (“Son of a bitch!” - SPN)

Square 2: A wild ride (2) (Biker!Dean Winchester x fem!Reader; Biker!Sam Winchester x fem!Reader; Biker!John Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: ("’Kind, sober and fully dressed.’ Good news, everyone. We found the name of (Y/N)'s sex tape!” - B99) *

Square 3. Smirk of the devil (Clubowner!Dean x fem!Reader) - Quote: (“Believe me, I’ve been asking myself the same question for two years.”– SPN) *

Square 4: Love finds its way (2) - Found (Dean Winchester x Reader x Sam Winchester) - Quote: (“It’s okay to love them both.”- TVD) 

Square 5: Sineater (MoC!Dean x Sineater!Reader) - Quote: (“I’m a sin eater.” – Blacklist)

Square 6: Bring it on (Dean x fem!Reader): - Quote: (“Impressive. You’re like Sherlock Holmes with brain damage.” - The Originals)

Square 7: My Boys (1) – Sexy Version (Dean Winchester x fem!Reader, Sam Winchester x fem!Reader, John Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: (“Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration, and 2% attention to detail.” – MF)

Square 8: Not so lost in the woods (Mobster!Dean Winchester x fem!Reader ) - Quote: (“There’s a land called passive agressiva, and you’re their queen.” - GA)

Square 9: Under Construction (Construction Worker!Dean Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: (“Well, boo hoo! I ’m sorry your feelings are hurt, princess.” – SPN)

Square 10: Invisible Touch (Ghost?Dean Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: ( “I could tell the police what happened. That it was an accident.” “You stabbed your wife in the neck with a screwdriver. Tried to bring her back from the dead, and then buried her body. That ain’t an accident, (name). That sounds like a crazy person who killed his wife.” - DATT)

Square 11: Under construction - A different world (Winchesters x Brat!Reader) - Quote: (“What the hell is wrong with you? You don’t just go around shooting people like that!” – SPN)

Square 12: Work of art (1) (Mobster!Dean x Ballerina!Reader) - Quote: (“This is stoopid, with two o’s.” - KO)

Square 13: Young Hearts (Dean Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: (Free Space - “Dad's on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days.” - SPN)

Square 14: Let’s shoot it... (Dean Winchester x WomanofLetters!Reader) - Quote: (“Back off man, I'm a scientist.” – Ghostbusters)

Square 15: Play Pretend (Sam Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: ("I wake up in the morning and I feel like I'm missing something. I know that there's something not right, and it takes me a while to remember what it is... then I remember. My best friend is gone. My only friend. It was silly of me to rely so much on one person." - Love, Rosie)

Square 16: Next to me (Clubowner!Dean x fem!Reader) - Quote: (“Just 'cause you fall on your ass doesn't mean you have to stay there.” - The Boys)

Square 17: More tentacles (3) (Alien!Dean Winchester x human!Reader) - Quote: ("We came here to lose ourselves and find adventure." - Emily in Paris)

Square 18: The end, too soon (Dean Winchester x Reader) - Quote: (“But what is grief, if not love persevering?” - WV)

Square 19: Daddy doesn’t need to know (Bodyguard!Dean x SpoiledBrat!Reader) - Quote: (“I’m gonna make you suffer in ways your spoiled, little mind cannot possibly imagine.” - The Originals) *

Square 20: Hostile takeover (Alpha!(Endverse) Dean Winchester x Alpha!(fem) Reader) - Quote: (“If I have to choose between one evil and another, t hen I prefer not to choose at all.” - The Witcher)

Square 21: Secret Love (Mobster!Dean Winchester x fem!Reader) - Quote: (“You’re in a relationship with me. Everything will never be okay.” – Marvel)

Square 22: Truth to be told (1) (Dean Winchester x Reader) - Quote: (“We’ve got to do this more often.” - Knives Out) *

Square 23: In the times of war (Boyking!Sam x Professor!Reader; Demon!Dean x Professor!Reader) - Quote: (“You’re an asshole.” “I know I am.” - Dazed and Confused) *

Square 24: Never mess with my wife (Vampire!Mobster Dean x Vampire! Reader ) - Quote: (“I’m just well fed.” - SPN)

Square 25: Fire & Ice (Mobster!Dean Winchester x Mobster!Reader) - Quote: (“Whatever you lack in talent, you make up for in confidence.” - The Witcher)

Divider by @firefly-graphics​​

Find all other Bingos and Special Events here: Special Events

[introvertguide]

Influential Directors of the Silent Film Era

Upon hearing that I am a fan of silent era film, people will ask if I have a favorite actor or movie from the time period. However, when I am asked about my favorites from other fans of silent film, it tends to involve my favorite director. This is because silent film actors had to over gesticulate and performed in an unrealistic way and could not use their tone or words to convey emotion. The directors also did not have a way to review as they shot and would have to use editing skills and strategic cover shots to make sure that everything was done properly and come out the way they imagined it. It was up to the director to be creative and they were forced to be innovative and create ways to convey their vision. Luckily for many average or poor directors of the time, audiences were easily impressed. However, today's more demanding and sophisticated audiences can look back at some of the genius behind the films of silent era Hollywood.

Alice Guy-Blache: Matrimony's Speed Limit (1913) and The Fairy of the Cabbages (1896)

Art director of the film studio The Solax Company, the largest pre-Hollywood movie studio, and camera operator for the France based Gaumont Studio headed up by Louis Lemiere, this woman was a director before any kind of gender expectations were even established. She was a pioneer of the use of audio recordings in conjunction with images and the first filmmaker to systematically develop narrative filming. Guy-Blanche didn't just record an image but used editing and juxtaposition to reveal a story behind the moving pictures. In 1914, when Hollywood studios hired almost exclusively upper class white men as directors, she famously said that there was nothing involved in the staging of a movie that a woman could not do just as easily as a man.

Charlie Chaplin: The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1923), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940)

It is unfortunate that many people today think of Chaplin as silly or for screwball comedy when, in fact, he was a great satirist of the time. He created his comedy through the eyes of the lower economic class that suffered indignities over which they had no control. He traversed the world as his "Tramp" character who found his fortune by being amiable and lucky. The idea that a good attitude and a turn of luck could result in happiness was all that many Americans had during the World Wars and the Great Depression. He played the part of the sad clown and he was eventually kicked out of the country for poking fun at American society. Today he is beloved for his work, but he was more infamous than famous during a large part of his life.

Buster Keaton: Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), and The Cameraman (1928).

That man that performed the most dangerous of stunts with a deadpan expression, Buster Keaton was a great actor, athlete, stuntman, writer, producer, and director. It is amazing that you could get so much emotion out of a silent actor who does not emote, but Keaton managed to do it. He was also never afraid to go big, often putting his own well being at risk to capture a good shot. Not as well known for his cinematography or editing as many of the other directors of the time, he instead captured performances that were amazing no matter how they were filmed. Famous stunts include the side of a house falling down around him, standing on the front of a moving train, sitting on the side rail of a moving train, and grabbing on to a speeding car with one hand to hitch a ride. If you like films by Jackie Chan, know that he models his films after the work of Buster Keaton: high action and high comedy.

Cecil B. Demille: The Cheat (1915), Male and Female (1919), and The Ten Commandments (1923)

Known as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Demille was the first director to make a real box office hit. He is likely best known for making The Ten Commandments in 1923 and then remaking it again in 1956. If not that, he was also known for his scandalous dramas that depicted women in the nude. This was pre-Code silent film so the rules about what could be shown had not been established. Demille made 30 large production successful films in the silent era and was the most famous director of the time which gave him a lot of freedom. His trademarks were Roman orgies, battles with large wild animals, and large bath scenes. His films are not what most modern film watchers think of when they are considering silent films. That famous quote from the movie Sunset Boulevard in 1950 in which the fading silent actress says "All right, Mr. Demille. I'm ready for my close-up," is referring to this director.

D.W. Griffith: Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916)

Griffith started making films in 1908 and put out just about everything that he recorded. He made 482 films between 1908 and 1914, although most of these were shorts. His most famous film today is absolutely Birth of a Nation and it is one of the most outlandishly racist films of the time. The depiction of black Americans as evil and the Klu Klux Klan as heroes who are protecting the nation didn't even really go over well at that time. Some believe that his follow up the next year called Intolerance was an apology, but the film actually addresses religious and class intolerance and avoids the topic of racism. At the time, Griffith films were known for the massive sets and casts of thousands of extras, but today he is known for his racist social commentary.

Sergei Eisenstein: Battleship Potemkin (1925)

This eccentric Russian director was a pioneer of film theory and the use of montage to show the passage of time. His reputation at the time would probably be similar to Tim Burton or maybe David Lynch. He had a very specific strange style that made his films different from any others. The film Battleship Potemkin is considered to be one of the best movies of all time as rated by Sight and Sound, and generally considered as a great experimental film that found fame in Hollywood as well as Russia.

F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu (1922), Faust (1926), and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

I think that most people would know the bald-headed long-nailed vampire Nosferatu that was a silent era phenomena. It was so iconic that the German film studio that produced the movie was sued by the estate of Bram Stoker and had to close. Faust was his last big budget German film and has an iconic shot of the demon Mephisto raining plague down on a town that was the inspiration for the Demon Mountain in Fantasia (1940). Also, Sunrise is considered one of the best movies of all time by the AFI and by Sight and Sound as well as my favorite silent film. Fun facts: 1) more of Murnau's films have been lost then are still watchable and 2) he died in a car wreck at only 40 when he hired a car to drive up the California coast and the driver was only 14.

Erich von Stroheim: Greed (1924)

Maker of very strange German Expressionist films, Stroheim films are often listed as Horror or Mystery even though he considered himself a dramatic film maker. His most famous movie Greed was supposed to be amazing with an 8 hour run time but it was cut drastically to the point that it makes no sense and was both critically and publicly panned when an extremely abridged version was released in the U.S. Over half the film was lost and a complete version no longer exists. Besides this film, Stroheim was even better known for being the butler in the film Sunset Boulevard as a former director who retired to be with an aging silent film star. He also made a movie called Between Two Women (1937) that told the story of a female burn victim that was inspired by the story of his wife being burned in an explosion in a shop on the actual Sunset Boulevard.

Victor Fleming: The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone With the Wind (1939)

Although not known for his silent films, Fleming did get his start during the silent era. He was a cinematographer for D.W. Griffith and then Fleming directed his first film in 1919. Most of his silent films were swashbuckling action movies with Douglas Fairbanks or formulaic westerns. He is the only director to have two films on the AFI top 10 and they happened to have come out the same year.

Hal Roach: Lonesome Luke films starring Harold Lloyd, Our Gang shorts, Laurel and Hardy shorts, and Of Mice and Men (1939)

It is not really fair to put Hal Roach in the silent era directors because he was influential at the time but he had a 75 year career. He was a producer and film studio head and even had a studio named after himself. His biggest contribution to the silent era was his production of Harold Lloyd short comedies and he continued to produce films in the early talkies including Laurel and Hardy shorts, Our Gang shorts, and Wil Rogers films. Roach was the inspiration for the film Sullivan's Travels, in which a famous director who only did frivolous comedies goes out into the world to find inspiration to find a serious drama. Roach did direct a single serious drama, Of Mice and Men, but it came out in 1939 and was buried underneath the works of Victor Fleming. The wealthy cigar smoking studio head that many people think of when they picture a film studio suit is based on this guy. The man would not quit and stayed in the business into his 90s and lived to the ripe old age of 100.

[shreddedleopard]

Twelve-million more reasons Historia and Levi are part of the Endgame. With Pictures.

You can read the first post I made on this here:

10 reasons it would make narrative sense for Levi and Historia’s character arcs to end together.

(This is the mega-evolved version.)

Okay, I’m going to put this out there now, and before you judge me, please just read the posts. You don’t have to agree. This is just an idea. But it makes a stupid amount of sense, at least to me. So here's your fair warning (and now I'm being bold): If you don’t want to potentially be spoiled, Do Not Read On.

Here’s the Theory:

Historia Reiss will give birth to a half-Ackerman child, and together with Levi, from the ashes and ruins of the world Eren destroyed, they will welcome the dawn of a new age for humanity, where Ymir’s curse and the power of the Titans is extinct.

I know. I sound like some crazy, Rivahisu nut. Granted, I am, but I’m not mad enough to make a claim like this without a shit-ton of evidence, because it’s such a damn twist it feels like it can’t be true. But just humour me.

Here’s the theory, then we’ll look at why it makes sense and how it might have been foreshadowed. Please note: I have less clue how this will tie in to Eremika endgame, so I haven’t mentioned this as much, but obviously that will be the other very important side of this coin.

10 months ago (In Japan, full term pregnancy is counted as 10 months), at the banquet celebrating completion of the new railroad, Levi and Historia, having had 3 and a bit years to bond over their shared experiences and become close, may have gotten carried away together and shared one night of being a bit more than friends. She’s well into her 18th year at this point, just to clear that up. This resulted in Historia getting pregnant. Okay just stay with me; I know. I know. I sound crazy. But hear me out. So this pregnancy, contrary to the belief of the MPs and rest of the damn world, was the complete opposite of planned. Historia tells Levi, and Levi immediately panics. Because, to steal Kenny’s famous line, Levi thinks to himself ‘I can’t be some kid’s dad.’

 Levi does what he always does best, and shuts down into business mode, telling Historia she will need to cover it up somehow. Historia does as he asks, probably reluctantly, because she really has developed very deep feelings for him during the timeskip, and finds some farm hand to take the blame, likely saying she made a silly mistake with some random and the father doesn’t want anything to do with the child, and so she needs a father for the child not to be illegitimate. Which is her worst nightmare, because of course, that’s what she was. Levi watches the exchange hidden in that famous hood, feeling very conflicted, because although he cares about her, he thinks it best if no one knows that it was him that got the Queen pregnant, and of course, he’s duty bound, with a vow to fulfil, so he has no time to be worrying about a family. (Silly Levi!) 

How ironic this conversation would be if this theory were true. Remember, Historia was completely willing to eat Zeke if needed. Instead, she got pregnant, unplanned, nothing to do with any plot or selfish wishes, just the result of a spontaneous act of love by two people who’ve grown to care for one another a lot. ANYWAY.

Because we know Levi actually has a good heart, he feels immensely guilty for all of this; he's just a product of his upbringing and thinks he doesn’t know the first thing about families, so it's better for all involved if he not be. See where this is going? The old cursed history repeating? Making the same mistakes as our parents? Plus, Levi is bound by his duty. He is incredibly important to the military still, and he cannot just abandon this for any of his own selfish wishes. He’s supposed to be the one to vanquish the beast titan. 

Cue ten months of Historia looking hella depressed and hopeless, and Levi being even more of an asshole than usual to everyone, and not really wanting to say too much at all, as well as making some terrible workplace decisions (lol) poor boy be distracted.

Look at his face 😭

Yes Levi. A month. Which means Historia is now due and you’re still stuck with beardy, without a solution and pretty soon no reason for the MPs not to turn the mother of your child into a Titan.

That’s what that face is. I thought he looked a bit weird first time I read these panels 🤔 He didn’t know about the wine. We see that later. Anyway, I keep getting distracted, stop. I’ll come back to this.

But fear not; Levi will have a choice to make. 

So this is where it gets a bit more iffy for me, because I'm not sure how it would work, so this could be a way off, BUT. I believe it will come to light that the combination of Royal and Ackerman genes will somehow cancel out a person’s ability to turn into a titan and connection through paths, thus making them truly ‘free.’

The founding titan has the ability to change Eldian physiology, according to what Zeke learned from professor Xavier. 

EDIT: Okay so here’s where I’ve had to tweak this a bit in light of there latest chapter. So we just had Zeke in PATHS. With none other than our second resident genius, and as proclaimed by Eren, the saviour of humanity: Armin. What do our boys have a conversation about? Reproduction and the importance of the small moments in life - it’s these little moments which matter, regardless of the desire or need to recreate. Interesting how both the leaf and baseball link back to what their ideas of ‘family’ became. If Historia and Levi were to be in the same scenario in PATHS, what would their items be? What truly means family to them both? 

Perhaps Armin and Zeke realise what is needed to lift the curse of the titans - maybe a blueprint for genes which can cancel out the connection to PATHS and the founder? If only they had a child with a new type of Royal-Ackerman DNA which might fit the bill ... 

Here’s Levi’s moment. He, with Historia, has created such a child - completely by accident, because of one of those ‘moments’ that both Armin and Zeke mention - moments that are simply just about enjoying what you have with no sense of how it might relate to anything bigger - a real rarity for both of them, considering their roles and constantly being asked to think about the good of humanity as a whole. What a beautiful irony, that in the moment they chose to be selfish and, to use freckled Ymir’s own words, really live for themselves, they set a chain reaction in motion that would ultimately save humanity. 

Where does this leave Eren and Mikasa? Good question. I believe Eren will die once the curse is removed, because tragically he is the character that has been forced to choose humanity over his own personal relationships. As Isayama has said before, Eren is a victim of the story. Mikasa will be the last thing he sees, hence the original dream at the start of the manga, where he wakes up crying. Something like this. But probably a lot better. Yeah.

Out of the ashes of the old world, a new one will be built, but through Historia’s kindness and love, and Levi’s guilt and understanding of what was sacrificed in the past, society will not repeat the same mistakes. The final panel could be Jean holding his child, perhaps with Mikasa, if she ever manages to get over losing Eren. That would be vague enough so that Isayama was able to show it to us already without spoiling much. Or maybe Jean’s dead and it’s not him at all. I don’t know. 😭

Right. Okay. So now you’re going, sweet story, but uh, there’s no way Levi could be the father. He’s so much older. Isayama wouldn't write a moment of romance like that. Not with him and Historia. YOU’RE JUST CRAZY.

Well this is where it get’s interesting. LET ME SHOW YOU. It’s foreshadowed literally everywhere. Right under our noses.

There is so much symbolism.

Dedicate your heart to what? has been Levi’s question recently. What are they all fighting for? What is he fighting for? How will he give meaning to his dead comrades sacrifices? Is killing Zeke really the extent of it? Is vengeance the true meaning of their sacrifices? Or is it something a lot more hopeful?

The answer is shown to us in the opening credits. And the ending credits. Several times. 

Levi says so himself - he keeps messing fulfilling the vow up - why? Why is he so worried about killing Zeke? 

Eren has the same questions to consider. Which PATH is the right one to take - revenge and violence with the rumbling, or love ... with Mikasa. We are literally shown what their choices will be in two virtually identically designed panels, which I’ll show you. Tragically, Eren’s choice is taken from him. He is a victim to the story - he must chose the path that saves humanity. Levi and Eren have been bound together through the theme of choices, and taking the ones which leave you with the least regrets, throughout this entire manga.

The upcoming anime episodes literally plot out the timeline of Levi and Historia’s changing attitude to one another, and then Historia’s pregnancy, it’s just so cleverly subtle. Isayama even tells us when/ during what event her child was probably conceived by just dropping dates in from other, seemingly unrelated plot lines.

Zeke gives pointed comments to Levi constantly - every other line of his is either a different jab at Levi about Historia’s pregnancy, a veiled question, or a reminder that he’s under the pressure of a 10 month time limit to do something about him, or Historia will have to eat him once she’s given birth. We start to see Levi unravel because of this, and make mistakes over and over.

It’s in official art. It’s in the soundtrack. Its in music videos. There’s interviews from Isayama that, when read in light of these ideas, suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

Isayama even trolls us. He’s laughing in our faces, the madman. Like, gotchu 🤣 suckers. While we’re all on Reddit and Twitter like, ‘Levi’s character has become so stagnated! He’s making such poor choices or not giving anything to the plot at all. All that’s left for him now is to give up and die! Be at peace, your story is over.’ OOF. Or, ‘Historia has just been forgotten! She’s become such a pointless character. Isayama just got bored with her and sidelined her.’

I’m going to try and write stuff up in the rough categories below, but these might change. I’ll link them when I’m done, and then pin this post. I’m a bit of a rambler so heads up - this may take a while 😅

There’s also a ton of people I have to mention who have contributed to this - I didn’t spot it by myself. I’ll tag them in the finished post too.

Historia and Levi’s Miscalculation: A manga tale featuring the Jaeger Bros., Pt. 1

Historia and Levi’s Miscalculation: A manga tale featuring the Jaeger Bros., Pt. 2

Historia and Levi’s Miscalculation: A manga tale featuring the Jaeger Bros., Pt. 3

Ackerman-Royal Bloodline and Levi’s Choice Pt. 1

Levi’s Choice Pt. 2

Suns, Moons and Songs

Akatsuki No Requiem - Right theory, Wrong guy

The Farmer and The Cattle Farming Goddess, or WHAT’S IN A NAME.

Mistakes of our parents and breaking the cycle

Memories from the future & Levi’s Guilt

Watch this space. And hold on to your pants. If I’m right, I’m getting very drunk.

[numberonephantompizza1]

Poppy Fanfic: “Ask Her”

For context: This is a fanfic I wrote in order to join the Poppy Milk dev team and show off my writing skills. Since the callout at the time said we’d need to write a lot of sidequests, I wanted to ask the question of what a Poppy-centered side-quest would be like. I got the idea that it would be from an Asker’s perspective, and everything sort of came naturally after that. Even though I’m on the dev team right now, it’s not canon to Omega Timeline: Poppy’s Story and even has some inaccuracies that contradict canon. With that said, please feel free to read the story below the cut.

---

You noticed something very different inside your room when you woke up. The lights were off and the sun hadn’t yet risen, but there was a certain… aura, coming from your door. You were filled with a certain trepidation, but… you approached it. It was hard to see in the light, but it looked… grey. 

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you stepped through...

...and found about the last person you would’ve expected. The spitting image of Frisk - CORE!Frisk, that was, looking up at you, in the middle of a white void.

“Wh- You’re real?!” you asked, dumbfounded.

“Of course I’m real. Have you been taking all this multiverse stuff for granted? Everything is real somewhere,” Core answered, simply. 

“I… I don’t… and you, me…” you panted, starting to feel a small panic attack coming on.

“Focus,” Core snapped their fingers, grounding you back in reality. Okay, this was happening now.

“Let’s get down to business. Simply: you don’t like me. And I don’t like you. But we BOTH like Poppy. Poppy, my dear, sweet angel… has unfortunately recently come to the realization that Askers ALSO exist in the multiverse. And now she wants to do a ‘meet n’ greet’ with one of her fans. Trust me, I TRIED to talk her out of it, but she can be darn persuasive when she wants to be. And as you’re now realizing, that’s where you come in. 

“I wanna make you a deal. You play along with whatever Poppy wants until she gets bored of this. If you’re on your best behavior - and that means, don’t give her anything bad, don’t tell her anything you KNOW she shouldn’t know, don’t use any magic, and be a general good influence - if you play nice, in exchange, I will allow you to hang out with ANY resident of the Omega Timeline. 

“Want to spend a day full of wacky hijinks with a Papyrus, or even an Underswap Sans? Consider it done. Want to know how Deltarune Chapter 2 plays out ahead of time? I know a Susie with your name on it. Whatever you want, so long as you play by the rules, and don’t ask for anyone obviously ridiculous. So… do we have ourselves a deal?”

You contemplated that offer, and everything that was happening, trying to suppress your inner urge to geek out for just a few moments. The Omega Timeline, Poppy, and all the AU’s you could think of and more were real. And you just got an invitation to visit them.

“Yeah, of course!” you nodded excitedly, though your enthusiasm only seemed to make Core more anxious.

“Don’t make me regret this…” Core sighed, as the whiteness seemed to melt away into a cozy-looking house with wooden floors and lime walls, where you were standing directly outside of a white door. Core seemed to have disappeared.

Technically, there was nothing stopping you from exploring. So you did just that. You walked up to a shelf with some family photos. One was a photo of Poppy, Core, Dusted and Rust all together, in some meadow, looking happy. At least, you assumed Dusted and Rust were happy, they didn’t show up well on camera. There was another photo of Poppy alone, looking somewhat younger than she did on the blog, seated on a chair in a photo that looked far more staged. She held an actual poppy flower in her hand and smiled brightly.

You opened the cabinet doors, curious of what knick-knacks you might find in there. Some crayons, a few random glass cups, some art by 3-year-old Poppy that was so poorly done its meaning was hard to decipher, and a locked box. You reached for the box--

“Getting a bit sidetracked, aren’t we?”

You jolted up, and faced Core behind you. Even though they were child-sized, they crossed their arms with the poise and authority of a stern parent. You laughed anxiously. “Ahahaha… ahaha… ha……..”

“...Strike one.” Core said, and vanished. The meaning of that was all-too clear. Deciding not to dilly dally any longer, you went to the room you suspected to be Poppy’s, and knocked. 

“Just a sec!” Poppy said, and opened the door. She looked up at you, and gasped. “Wow, Granpa really did come through…!” She twirled excitedly. “You must be my adoring fan, aren’t you?” she asked.

You stared down at the girl in stunned silence.

“To be honest, I kinda figured you’d be some gray guy with sunglasses, but that’s kinda silly in hindsight. How you doin’?” She asked that last line in a mock accent as you continued to stare.

“Baby,” you said.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you quickly tried to change the subject. “Yeah, it’s… y’know, it’s great to be here…” You clasped your hands together, biting your lip. You were in an Undertale AU, faced with the AU granddaughter of another AU character. You still weren’t entirely over that. Was this fever dream? Fandom heaven, or fandom hell?

“I know! Once I heard you guys weren’t from the Omega Timeline, I realized I hadn’t met even ONE of my fans… even if you guys are super annoying some of the time.” 

“Uhhh, yeah…” you wondered if you should apologize on behalf of the askers who put Poppy in the hospital that one time. Then again, it seemed kind of awkward, and it might have been best not to bring that up while Core was watching, which was always. Looking down at the cutesy girl, it was almost tempting to pull her into a hug, but you managed to keep your composure. 

“I wanted to do something a little more special than just some sorta interview, though, because you ask me questions all the time anyways,” Poppy said. “Granpa said you’ve never been to the Omega Timeline before, so I wanna give you the big tour!” Poppy went to the door. “I’m gonna be outside when you’re ready!” She left the room.

Seeing the empty room in front of you, you were tempted to snoop again, but you’d learned your lesson after last time. You headed straight out after Poppy.

You couldn’t help but gasp in awe of the serenity of the great outdoors as you were beckoned to it. You’d been outside before, obviously, but everything just looked so… nice. The blue sky, the grassy grounds, the ornate buildings… you’ve seen this place in pixel art and a couple drawings before, but seeing it with your own eyes was another story. And the next thing for you to nearly faint at was seeing the Undertale characters running around, Sanses, Undynes, Frisks, even goat moms. 

Poppy smiled. “...It’s nice, isn’t it? I KNEW taking you on a tour was a good idea.” She smirked. “Now remember, just because this is a meet-up doesn’t mean it’s free, and there WILL be a fee at the end of our ride.”

“...Uh… I left my wallet at home,” you said, patting your pockets, “And I don’t have any, uh... ‘G,’ I think. Unless the G stands for ‘Gratitude,’ amiright?” you did finger guns.

“G stands for Gold,” Poppy corrected you bluntly, unamused. She returned to her chipper attitude just as quickly, though. “Now, let me show you around!” She led you down the street. 

Walking with her, seeing so many versions of your favorite characters in the flesh, walking around… well, the temptation to talk to SOME of them was irresistible, Core be damned. You did resolve not to go too far off-track, but you shared some words with the folks you passed by, Poppy thankfully stopping each time you did. You met two Frisks - one boy, one ambiguous - an Underswap Undyne, a human version of Toriel, and surprisingly, a version of Princess Peach.

You and Poppy approached an elegant fountain, stood upon proudly by a statue of a mustachio’d CORE!Frisk. “This is the Timeline Plaza! It’s sort of the local park, where people meet up to do... stuff. Just hang out. Make a picnic. Play ball. All that good park-y stuff, y’know? And there’s stores in all directions, so it’s pretty good.” She proudly showed off her home to you, with a smile.

You talked to more on the way to the next place. An Inverted Fate Papyrus. A weird Ralsei who said his name was “Noyno.” An Asgore wearing a hoodie, who you assumed was swapped with Sans. (Poppy did scold you a little bit for this, telling you that just because someone has a hoodie you shouldn’t assume they’re swapped. You apologized.)

“This is Grillby’s! One of them, anyways. The nearest one to my house. It’s pretty good if you want an OK burger. Sanses love the place, though. It’s… kind of unhealthy. And a little gross.” Poppy said. “Especially when they just drink… raw… ketchup.”

“Can’t handle a little ketchup?” you smiled mischievously. “We drink it by the gallon back in my universe,” you lied.

“...I really hope you’re joking,” Poppy said, alarmed.

“Am I?” you smiled brighter.

“...W-well, we’re not going in there, so you can FORGET about drinking that much ketchup!” Poppy said, afraid of the sheer power of your ketchup-drinking.

You and Poppy moved onto the next spot. You met an Underswap Alphys who seemed to be trapped in a red-and-gold palette. You met a robot dressed as a circus ringmaster, who claimed to be a Chara. You met a Dummy dressed in a Frisk shirt. (You didn’t assume it was swapped with Frisk this time, which turned out to be a mistake, because it was.) Poppy stared at you awkwardly now, wondering why you were talking to all these random strangers. Finally, you and Poppy reached your next destination.

“The theater! Where we show off all the greatest hits! Including MY movie, which, not to brag, but it’s--”

Except, you’d been distracted by a hyperdeath Asriel, and were ignoring Poppy for the moment.

“...” Poppy spoke up. “That’s what I don’t get about you.”

“Huh?” that seemed to wake you up, and you looked at her. 

“Everytime it’s always, ‘have you met Underswap Sans,’ or ‘have you met JangoTale Frisk,’ or some other weird thing. You always ask that. But… they’re just people. Why do you always assume I know some random Sans or Frisk or someone?”

“I…” you were a bit taken aback. “...I don’t… we don’t assume you know them, they’re just… they’re just important.” 

“Important?” She asked. “...I-I mean, yeah, EVERYONE’s important, but, I don’t really get what you mean…”

“They’re all--” You paused, trying to collect your thoughts, think of everything you knew from the blog, and tried to actually talk to her. “...They’re like friends to me. Kinda.”

“...You guys are friends with them? I thought you were stuck in your world…” she frowned.

“No, it’s like-- I’m not ‘friends’ with Underswap Frisk, or-- or Storyshift Frisk, or Shifty or whatever, I’m just friends with… Frisk.”

...Poppy stared at you like you just said the ground was turning to jelly, or something equally bafflingly inane. “...I… think you’re confused. Look, sometimes newcomers struggle with this. Your Frisk isn’t the only Frisk--”

“I know! It’s… You don’t get it. This world, these worlds are so special and creative, and they mean a lot to me. I know we can be really edgy, and I know we ask weird questions about Dusted and Rust, but that’s all because… because...” you paused.

Poppy looked, seeming upset about hearing her siblings mentioned in the context of ‘edgy’ questions, not seeing what you were seeing. Core, standing behind her, holding up a hand signal.

The number two.

You were getting carried away. You overstepped.

“...Um… I’m sorry.” You pulled her into a hug as Core vanished. “There’s really no reason for us to ask those questions. We can just be dumb sometimes.”

“...” She hugged back. “Yeah, it’s okay. I knew you guys were super weird and dumb before I convinced Granpa to let you in here, so I guess I should’ve seen this coming,” Poppy smiled, regaining her confidence as you did your best to not be offended at being called weird and dumb.

“Okay! I think I have just one last stop in mind to cap this tour off on a high note! Literally, hehehe…” She giggled mischievously. This time, you didn’t stop to talk to others, following her directly as you approached a peak overlooking the town. For yet another time, and probably the last, you couldn’t help but ogle at the town’s beauty. “Pretty good, right?” She sat down.

“Ha… with all the climbing, I was worried we’d fall down a mountain,” you joked. Poppy seemed to roll her eyes, as you sat beside her. “...I guess I get how you can call this place home. I mean, once I stop nerding out, anyways. You don’t see stuff like this in my… reality.”

“Just gallons and gallons of ketchup, huh?” she commented. You couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Yeah.”

And you two just stared into the distance for a while. ...She wasn’t just a character. She was a human being.

...Or, technically just a ‘being,’ scratch the human part. Still, you felt a bit desensitized to all this. And so did she. You related in that way.

“I can’t say you exactly passed with flying colors, but you fulfilled your end of the agreement well enough.”

Without any warning, you were back in a white void with CORE!Frisk, just like before. You almost forgot about the deal you made, what with all the time you spent with Poppy. You stood.

“Uh… yeah. So, my reward…” you drifted off, remembering the offer Core gave you. The chance to meet just about any AU character of your imagining… or at least, any that would be peaceful enough to be in the Omega Timeline. Which still left a WIDE variety of options…

Who did you want to see? What mattered most to you?

...

Thinking deeply… you told Core their name.

“...Oh. Really? Well, I guess it makes sense for you that you’d want to see them,” Core remarked. “I can’t guarantee they’ll give you what you’re looking for, but a deal’s a deal. Let’s head off.”

You and Core went somewhere else.

---

And that’s all she wrote! If you read this far, thank you. Working on the game since then has been fun, and I think you’ll like what we have in store. Until then, ciao.

[discotreque]

LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGG​TGGGTGQER;​LBHAOIBVNV;​OAPBIJNVagr;h;​oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

[linssikeittomies]

The Place Between Here And There - Chapter 10: ...And Happiness In Private Life(cont'd)

Masterpost AO3 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7  Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 9(cont'd)

I've finally updated the status of the fic to ABANDONED, I was going to do that way earlier but I didn't want to admit defeat, and then I just kind of forgot... Time really starts flying by as you get older, it totally doesn't feel like 2 years passed by^^' I'm still writing scenes for later on in the fic, and I've had the general outline of the story planned for a long time, but I haven't been able to write complete chapters for any of my projects for over a year now, it's very annoying. Anyway, this is the rest of chapter 9, not my best work but at least I like the part with Toris. He's noticed Ivan's small efforts of being nicer and wants to encourage them. Thanks for everyone who read this story and sorry for not being able to bring it to conclusion for all of you who were invested!

-

Ivan sent Fredya home until Wednesday – claiming it was so he could concentrate on work, but he was sure Fredya could tell he was just fretting about the upcoming meeting. Ivan was terrified Katyushka would get carried away, and that was closer to certainty rather than possibility, and then Fredya would walk out of his life. He had known from the start that the time would come sooner or later, but he had much hoped it would fall on the later end of the spectrum. This was a wholly different case from that of his first girlfriend - the one he had been with all of three days before Katyusha started talking about weddings. She had left him the next day, not surprisingly, and he hadn’t really cared one way or the other - she had been far too practical to occupy his thoughts when she wasn’t in sight. But if Fredya left as suddenly, and he was certainly impulsive enough to do so on the spot, then... Obviously it still wouldn’t be the end of the world,of course it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, losing a home for example would be far worse than losing a companion, it really wasn’t that big of an issue when you thought about it – there was no reason to lose what little will to live Ivan had left over something that insignificant. No reason.

So Ivan would not worry about it – he slammed the door on the thought, and worked hard to put all his concentration on his notes. He had not yet studied Rogers enough, his files on the computer had sat abandoned for too long. Opening his folder, going over the routes again, verifying time codes, Ivan fell to a comfortable, familiar routine, cup of tea beside him growing cold. Rogers didn’t have much of a routine, which made observing him a challenge and data collecting a thrill. At least this was an activity that Ivan could still lose himself in despite whatever non-turmoil was boiling in his gut. Comparing coordinates, discovering overlaps, identifying patterns, data was something Ivan was good at. Data had no emotions, so it was easy to handle. Data didn’t mind his extracurriculars, didn’t judge him for his jealousy, didn’t snoop into his past. Though it also didn’t text him at 3 am to tell him about a silly dream it had. Even less it cared about whether he was coming home for the night or not. It not wanting to watch brainless, cliched superhero should have been a positive, but in the dark, the brain gets sentimental. Ivan suddenly wished he had a file on Fredya. Ivan certainly had enough data on him, though so far it was all in his brain and a few lines in his notebooks. One photo on his phone, a selfie Fredya had sent some weeks ago. It was taken with one of those filter things, Ivan wasn’t familiar with the apps so he couldn’t tell if it was instagram or snappychat or whatever others there were. Fredya had cartoon glasses on his nose, on top of his real-life glasses. He was doing a victory sign, and there was a badly drawn pink heart floating in the lower left corner, not anchored into anything. The composition of the photo was bad. A large dead space occupied the top left, a pile of dirty clothes was poking into the frame from the bottom right. The lighting was scarcely better, the only diffuser was the dust inside the light fixture. Fredya’s artistic ability was nil, though he did make for an attractive subject, harsh shadows and all. It would be nice to have proper photo of him, before he got out of reach. With a reference to guide him, it might be possible. Ivan quickly scanned his bedroom for inspiration.

Perhaps it was too much effort for 2 a.m., but Ivan rather liked the end result. The handful of stars drawn on the wall to form a suggestion of a halo – however wrong it looked on Ivan – and hands posed to form a heart on the chest, and some minor lighting adjustments on photoshop, he thought it near perfectly captured how Ivan saw Fredya. Bright, innocent, center of the universe, unashamed of his affections. Fredya wouldn’t put as much effort in to it, even if he did take his own version of the photo as Ivan had requested, but that was also good. It wasn’t in Fredya’s nature to try too hard at something he didn’t feel like understanding - such as art other than of the moving pictures variety. Together, the photos formed a piece – the fantasy and the reality. It was a commentary on expectations. Fredya may or may not look at the photo when he inevitably got up to go the bathroom sometime soon, but he wouldn’t take his own until afternoon if ever, so Ivan finally went to bed. He only had a few hours before his shift started.

-_-_-_-_-

Fredya had sent an emoji Ivan didn’t understand the meaning as response to the photo, followed by hearts and something that seemed to be an abbreviation, Ivan didn’t research the meaning. It likely wasn’t important. Ivan got coffees for everyone again, and Amanda gave him a incredulous look. It was getting suspicious, Ivan acting nice. He should dial down on the social interactions for the next few days. It would be good practice for when Fredya left him, anyway. “Oh, thank you for going through the trouble”, Toris commented smiling. Ivan studied the smile, trying to map out proportions and gauge timings, but again he failed to replicate the gesture. It kept coming out as sarcastic. He would prefer if both would just shut up and their coffees without scrutinizing his intentions. Let a man act civil to fellow humans beings in peace. “If everyone is done sitting around, we need someone to go interview Fowler’s parishioners.” Predictably, Amanda volunteered for the task. That left Ivan and Toris at the office, reading through statements, comparing alibis and viewing security footage, the same draining and pointless sinkhole of never-ending choppy black-and-white footage that glared a print of the screen in your soul, so that in the end when you lost everything else to dementia and cataracts, you would still see that stinging bright rectangle staring you in the eye, smirking gleefully, taking pleasure in removing everything one used to take joy in, and replacing itself in place of loved ones. That metaphor ran a little wild at the end, there. In all fairness, it could be intriguing work when results could reasonably be expected, but everyone and their mother knew the only thing learned from these particular ones would be just how much time were wasting on them. Even Toris, being his professional self, couldn’t resist glancing at the clock every few minutes. He would of course try to make it inconspicuous, just letting his eyes dart to his wrist and back again, but it was noticeable enough when one was more concentrated on the coworker than the work. It came to Ivan’s mind that perhaps this was another aspect of Toris he should try to simulate, rather than keep studying, his work ethic was excellent. Surely that was something most people would approve of. And Fredya did often complain Ivan was rather lackadaisical about his work, he would appreciate the effort. “How do stay so focused?” he asked sincerely. It was admirable, really, how Toris could throw himself at something so tedious. Toris blinked at him in confusion, probably surprised to see his colleague who was supposed to working beside him blatantly ignoring said work. “I’ve practiced it for years, there’s really no easy trick for it.” “Ah. Shame.” “I find that meditating regularly helps. And a good diet.” Well, that was already two things Ivan would not be trying out. “I could send you some articles  if you’d like.” “You should spend your free time on yourself. You work too much.” Ivan went idly back to his files, not really feeling like working, but deciding to at least give it a shot, but feeling Toris’ curious eyes still fixed on him was too much of a distraction. After several seconds of silence he couldn’t take it anymore. “Yes?” “Thank you. That was considerate of you.” Ivan didn’t know how to answer that. It had been such a banal thing to say. Not warranting any response, really. Just a stock phrase, however true of some people and situations - such as this particular specimen. Toris must have heard the exact same statement hundreds of times in his life, knowing that he had an actual social circle who cared for him. Ivan was outside that circle, and people rarely care for the things outsiders say in matters like these - surely Toris should feel nothing particular about anything Ivan said. There was no need for him to smile like that, it was just embarrassing for a grown man to get so giddy about faint praise. Ivan scoffed and went back to his work.

-_-_-_-_-

U maek a habot of drawning on walls huh Outside of his brief childhood, Ivan had only ever drawn on walls three times - once in a drunk, misguided bout of creative frenzy, once to write his number on an intriguing man’s wall to annoy him, and once in an attempt to save a relic of happier times for the future. Mostly when you are involved, it seems. Perhaps you are my muse for wall-related artistry It had been a while since Ivan had drawn a portrait, but now might be the time to dust off that skill set. Ivan considered himself more of a photographer, but there was also something appealing about creating from scratch. Although... he would need to keep the portrait hidden, it would raise questions and pity later on. Ivan wished he was better at abstraction, that way it wouldn’t look like Fredya to anyone else, but his mind seemed to be too observational for it. It could only make sense of things that connected together in realistic ways, it couldn’t create anything out of feelings alone. Perhaps he simply didn’t have enough of them for that kind of art. The dinner with Fredya and his sisters was a few hours away, but Ivan was already nervously ironing his clothes. He once again pleaded Katyusha to control her romantic impulses, and of course she promised, but Ivan knew that meant little. She had very bad self-control. Tasha’s picking me up, we’ll meet you there Natasha was coming? Nataliya was coming?! Fuck - what was she - this was bad news - why hadn’t she said - oh god, forget about Katyusha ruining everything if Nataliya Grigorova was coming! She never mentioned wanting to come along That sneaky little girl, she told me you said it was okay, haha He would not survive this night sober. He wanted to make a good impression. He did not want to be drunk when the only three people who mattered to him were all in the same room. He wanted to be fully conscious, to enjoy an outing with his family while being fully genuine, not just sedated into calmness. But lord knew he would not survive the night sober.

-_-_-_-_-

Remembering the fit Fredya had thrown the last time Ivan had driven not-strictly-drunk-but-also-not-sober, he was glad that they had arranged beforehand for Fredya to pick him up. Because he was observant in the most inconvenient ways, Ivan had been sure Fredya would notice something was off, maybe a smell or the slow movements to counteract the unsteady hand-to-eye-coordination, but fortunately he was too stoked about meeting Ivan’s sisters again, officially, to notice Ivan’s oddly calm demeanor. He babbled excitedly the whole way there, and was halfway across the street before Ivan had even fully exited the car. “Come on you snail! They’re gonna think we ditched them!” “It’s only a few minutes away, you can afford to slow down”, Ivan chuckled. Fredya was so adorably excited, he resembled a puppy on a walk. “Being overeager is as bad as being late.” “Beg to disagree! Pick up the pace slowpoke!” Fredya sped up ahead, Ivan kept his leisurely pace. He missed the re-introductions, but it seemed like he hadn’t been needed for those at all - Fredya and Katyushka already looked like old friends, while Tasha regarded him with a haughty look, but nary a nasty word. She raised an eyebrow at Ivan, as if saying really, you chose this clown over me?, and he simply smiled pleasantly at her. As they waited for their food to arrive, Fredya and Katyushka were unsurprisingly the only ones to hold up conversation. They had found a common ground in Star Trek - in that Katyusha had heard a lot about it, but had never watched an episode and was interested, and Fredya was an expert in all the series and films and liked talking about them. They went through the pacifistic ideas on the original series and how it sometimes contradicted itself on it, analyzing the casting choices for the remakes, some more things that Ivan had no interest in.  When their plates were brought, the were in the midst of trying to speak klingon - the attempts of both of them were saddeningly hilarious. Or perhaps they were both surprisingly accurate. Ivan had no way of knowing, the franchise being something he had never taken an interest in. Of course he liked space, but he was more fact-oriented than a fan of fanciful fiction. “You seem so young, it’s almost like you’re still in college”, Katyusha giggled, and Ivan could not agree more. The youthful energy Fredya exuded was refreshing, at least most of the time. “Never went to college, I went straight to work from high school”, Fredya explained, crumbs flying. That was the one habit that Ivan never found charming in Fredya, it was just plain disgusting. Tasha made a small chortle of contempt that passed Fredya by. “Our brother is a very intelligent man”, Tasha commented sharply, and Ivan knew exactly what she was going for – he had come to the same conclusion, himself. And truthfully, neither of them had been wrong - Fredya really was stupid. “Oh, tell me about it”, the insulted man chuckled, not understanding what was being implied. Ivan would have liked being able to defend Fredya, but the thing was that Fredya was not intelligent – intellectually or socially, and attempting to claim otherwise would have been pointless. He might have been considered smart in some useless areas, such as entertainment trivia, but faint praise is just as damning as admitting faults. Trivia! There was the opening Fredya needed to impress Tasha! “He has a master’s degree in movie trivia and celebrity gossip, if nothing else. Just give an actor’s name and he will tell you every movie they have ever been in.” “And not just that! I can also tell which year each movie came out!” Fredya exclaimed proudly. Ivan started with an easy one - Tom Cruise. Tasha did look reluctantly impressed as the titles and dates kept on coming, but refused to admit defeat. She tried her favorite actor, someone much more obscure. “Ken Foree?” “Hmm… The midnight man, 2017… Rift, dark side of the moon 2016, Cut slash pri- no wait, I think he was in Divine tragedies, 2015, Cut slash print 2012 –“ However, since

Tasha’s obsession with her brother refused to give way to respect for her perceived enemy, she realized that to claim victory she could simply ask about any non-American film star. “Anastasia Zavorotnyuk.” “Anastasia who?” Of course he pronounced the name the American way, but Ivan was still mildly impressed he could tell Анастасия and Anastasia were the same name. “Zavorotnyuk.” Tasha allowed herself a malevolent smirk as Fredya racked his brain for the name in vain. “A true expert wouldn’t limit himself only to Hollywood”, Tasha hmphed in triumphant malice, believing to have proved her superiority over him once and for all, despite not showing an ability to counter his. It seemed the point had only been to prove Fredya was not omniscient. In Ivan’s eyes, it was enough to be merely well-versed. “He does hate subtitles to the point where I thought he might be illiterate”, Ivan joked. “Hey, at least I speak the language of the country I live in!” “Verily, my darling, thou speakest with the most biting of tongues. Shakespeare himself would envy your prowess.” “The guy lived like hundreds of years ago, who gives a shit? Ivan Drago was famous in the 80’s.” “Ivan can sound almost native when he tries”, Katyusha said, trying to diffuse the argument, not knowing the workings of their relationship well enough to tell it was all said in jest. “I haven’t tried in years, I doubt I could anymore”, Ivan thought. He had tried training his accent away in high school, so he would sound less foreign in job interviews. Having a foreign name was bad enough in an application. He had never achieved a smooth, natural accent, he had to concentrate very hard which caused the words to come out very slowly and robotically, and still there was always a hint of foreign phonemes. Combined with his attempts to deepen his voice – an incredibly embarrassing failure on its own – had made him cringe, even back then. Tasha had encouraged him, of course, because in her mind anything and everything her dear brother did was the right decision. Excluding taking romantic interest in someone other than her, of course.

The rest of the evening went by in much the same fashion. Fredya and Katyusha got along swimmingly, Tasha made snide remarks about Fredya, Ivan defended him in mean ways, Fredya played along. It was all very pleasant. Finally the staff started dropping hints that it was time to vacate the table, so they got up and parted ways. Katyusya was enchanted enough to not wait long enough to be out of earshot before starting to gush about her baby brother’s relationship, which made for a perfect opening for eavesdropping. “Don’t you think Vanechka looks so much happier than usual?” Katyusya said, nearly clapping her hands in excitement. “Idiocy might be contagious”, Tashenka grumbled in response. “I never imagined he’d go for that type, but I guess it goes to show opposites really do attract!” Katyushka squeed. “It’s only for the moment. That American moron will start getting on Vanya’s nerves soon”, Tashenka claimed, not sounding too confident herself. Ivan had expected that to happen as well, in the beginning. “I hope he won’t, I think Alfred is good for Vanechka. He’s come out of his shell.” What did she mean by that? As far as Ivan was aware, he had never been shy around his sisters. Or other people, for that matter. “What’re you frowning about?” Fredya asked. “I’m eavesdropping. Katyusha likes you, and Natasha doesn’t despise you.” “Well that’s good news isn’t it?” Fredya smiled, and tried to hear the women. “Man, you got great hearing. I can’t hear them at all.” Yes, it did take some practice to achieve Ivan’s level of spying on other people’s conversations. And by then they had gotten far enough that Ivan couldn’t hear then anymore either, actually. “Your eardrums must be damaged from the all screeching you do.” “You’re walking home, asshole.”

-

Tasha + Katyushka = affectionate nicknames for Nataliya and Yekaterina. Tashenka + Katyusya = one level more intimate. Ivan is being drunk and sentimental so at the end of the evening, the way he feels about his sisters is something like most people do when seeing tiny kittens. Thanks again for reading! Maybe in like 10 years so I'll add a final "chapter" describing the rest of the plot, but I know myself and won't make any promises. I have some more snippets on the masterpost if anyone wants to frustrate themselves with a story that will never be finished.

[krenbotvt]

What The Fans Of (Almost) Every Scarecrow Design Are Like Just by Surveying Rogue Tumblr for Approx: 5 Months. (Not in any particular order. Also this is a meme.)

Year One: You probably needed a childhood to relate to/needed a justifiable reason to stan one of Gotham’s biggest criminals. (but if your childhood involves being half-eaten by crows i am VERY concerned)  BTAS: The gateway drug Scarecrow. You’re probably a gremlin, and also really like the Dork Squad(tm)  TNBA: He’s under-appreciated, and you know this very well, but you’re also thankful that you get some of the coolest artwork of your favorite spooky boy. (Also the voice. 11/10 you want him to read sleepy hollow to you.) TAOB: You are one of the only 3 living fans of Adventures Of Batman Scarecrow, but you give absolutely no shit. You love that uncanny valley, near on clown-like scarecrow, and i feel bad for you, because you’ll probably never get art of them. Super Friends: I...Wow. Y’all really do exist... Galactic Guardians: YOU GUYS ACTUALLY EXIST TOO??? BATB: JAZZY. You like his hat, and his voice. You also probably enjoy a lot of older scarecrow designs as well. You get sad because you wish there were more content.  The Batman (TV series): PFFT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (But seriously though, you poor, poor things...There, There...) Assault On Arkham: AA Scarecrow in an otherwise good movie. Basically, you’re sad he didn’t get more screen-time. At this point, just stan: Arkham Asylum: ABSOLUTE GOBLIN OF A HUMAN. One of the gateway drug Scarecrows that lead you to The Rogues fanbase in the first place. You either love the serious artwork of him, love him drawn/written as a gremlin, or are STILL offended by his lack of footwear. Either way, you adore him and will remind everyone of it. Arkham Knight: OH FUCKING BOY. This can go one of two ways. 1.You love his writing (or don’t, but still stan), his poetic dialogue and his voice, and you also love how much he hams up the fear factor. You probably adore every artwork of him you see, and you REALLY love reading any fan-written material of him. You have many headcanons, and probably have googled A LOT of stuff to make them more genuine.  Or 2. You are very, VERY horny... (But as a good friend once said, “these are not mutually exclusive.”) Nightwing And Robin: Aw, y’all are so cute! Here, have some tea with the SF AND GG Fans, I think they have Earl Grey over in the CORNER OF IRRELEVANCY. (But I feel bad for y’all too.) Unlimited: BEEF BOY. You’re either in the group of people that love Scarecrow designs that use scythes, or you like how strange, yet fun his appearance is. Most art of him is super colorful too. There aren’t very many of you, but the amount of you that I’ve seen seem like super cool people. You all probably also enjoy the next one: Batman/TMNT: You knew the movie was a wild ride from start to finish, but you love it. You probably also like birds (I know, really obvious.) There aren’t many of you, but you like the idea of a corvid-like Scarecrow, and you wish for more. Or...You may be a furry that also likes DC stuff, and that’s ok too! We too also oddly love that weird ass cobra joker anyways.  Salecrow: You love his rhyming (which is arguably the best thing about him), but are also annoyed by the fact that most content of him use the same 3 images every time. You’re probably in the same boat as all the other scarecrow fans that genuinely want a proper medieval themed version of him. If you write/draw him, you’ve googled endless nursery rhymes. Its like Dr.Seuss up in this bitch. Also, them hands. Blackest Night: Chances are you’re still amazed that your favorite bag-headed master of fear even HAS that thing. You REALLY want him to wear that damn ring again, and will probably pay an arm and a leg to see it happen in a form of animated media. You also have very interesting artwork/writings of him. And your head canons are outlandish, but in the most fun way. (Seriously though, Hatter with a ring, huh...) Injustice: You either love the concept of The ScareBeast, or you’re here for the fact that hes voice by FREAKING ROBERT ENGLUND. Admittedly, you probably aren’t all too good at fighting games, but you still insta-lock him despite that.  The Dark Knight: Cillian Murphy portrays the character rather well, but you either are unnerved by his strangely dreamboyish face, or would wish for a slightly older actor. But!!! Despite all that!!! You love him, and probably still quote “WaNnA sEe My MaSK???” (Although I see some of you get absolutely tired of that lol) I don’t see any loyal fans of him, but everyone seems to agree that he’s not too shabby (heheh... shabby...) Gotham (Tv Series): ...Hello? Where are you guys? I KNOW you exist! Show yourselves! Jokes aside, you either love him or hate him. Live action scarecrows seem to be a hit or miss for some.  Harley Quinn (Tv Series): Softies. You adore everything about him. His dialogue, his humor, his very surprising accent, and his, albeit a stretch, questionable sexuality implications. Most art of him is very wholesome and good, probably because you’re STILL not over...Well... Maybe its better if I not mention it (all fans of him are the “If I see anything happen to them I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself” meme.). Detective Comics: Hroo Hraa, my friends. Hroo Hraa. Whether it’s his “Queer grasshopper leaps” or his strange laughter onomatopoeia, you can’t get enough of his antics. Nothing beats a classic, and the fact that there are still many of you that are fans of him makes me smile. New 52/Prime Earth: One of the few scarecrows that greatly changes his childhood, but you welcome the idea of it. He’s a very unsettling looking guy, but you’ll remind everyone that his writing makes up for it. He’s mostly treated like a semi-C tier villain in the continuity, but every time you see him you’re like “!!!!!!!”.You most likely have a list of every issue he appears in so you don’t have to suffer, and your heart still breaks when you read the scene with him and that one girl. (He said he was sorry, guys.) Batman:Hush: 2 and a half sweet and savory minutes of this guy, only for him to get kicked in the face? Nay, Nay, you say! A crime, you holler! You go to your keyboard to tell your friend about how good his character design is, and how well animated he was, but alas they say “that’s nice, bud.” Blast it all... The Lego Batman Movie/Lego in general: Our boy at his most gremlin. Sure, you know this is a 99% children’s medium, but that doesn’t stop you from smiling like a dummy every time you see him. He’s funny, he’s delightful, and he has... a weird obsession with planes? What is it with them and putting him in planes? Maybe he got a pilot’s license before he attended university? What a smart little block person!  Obviously, I left out quite a few here, but these seem to be the most popular. There are SO many comic renditions of him, so It’d take my forever. (My poor fingies already hurt!) But please enjoy this silly little thing :’] 

[blackmissfrizzle]

Once Upon A Time

Summary: The reader has a cleaning tradition that she’s embarrassed for the boys to find out about.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x black!reader

Warnings: Violence and mention of smut

A/N: 2 Dean fics in one week? Who do I think I am???

Ever since you were a child obsessed with fairy tales. Not the Grimm brother versions, but Disney’s family-friendly versions. You had your mother to thank for that. She painted her love story with your father as her own fairy tale.

Your mom came from a family of evil witches, but she didn’t share the same values and wanted to help people instead of harm them. As she told it, she didn’t see a way out until she met her own knight in shining armor, your father. He was a hunter and fell in love with your mom while he hunted her family. She helped him defeat them and they ran off to live their own version of happily ever after.

They both hunted until your mom became pregnant with you, their little princess. Even though, they retired from the hunter lifestyle they taught you all about hunting; they always knew there was a possibility for their past to haunt them. While your dad stuck to teaching you about hunting in particular, your mother taught you the art of witchcraft. “There’s a beauty in magic.” She always said.

Unfortunately, your parents happily ever after didn’t last forever. They were right to worry about their past coming back to haunt them. You came back from a sleepover excited to dress up in your princess ‘rags’, sing Disney songs, and clean up the house with your mom. Instead you found their mauled bodies. The remaining werewolves from a pack they killed came back with a revenge. They even tried to kill you when you discovered the bodies, but due to your extensive training you killed them before they got the chance.

Years later you found yourself and your familiar, Aladdin, hunting and living with the Winchesters. To keep the memory alive of your parents, you kept up your mom’s cleaning tradition. Only thing was you always waited for Sam and Dean to go hunting on their own. You may be a little extra with this tradition, so extra Aladdin refused to participate. Sometimes you’ll cast a spell on some birds and sing with them as if you were Cinderella or Snow White. So, if the boys ever caught you, you would never hear the end of it and be deeply embarrassed.

Currently, you were singing your heart out to Part of Your World and washing the dishes when you heard the clearing of someone’s throat. Turning around you saw a set of hazel and emerald eyes filled with mirth and a pair of poorly hidden smirks. “I thought you two wouldn’t be back til tomorrow?” You asked, fidgeting with the hem of your dress and then remembering the bandana a la Cinderella you had on and quickly removing it.

Barely containing his laughter Sam answered you. “You know Dean. Speed limit laws don’t apply to him.” Just as Dean was about to say something, his eyes went wide and zoomed on your shoulder. Raising a hand, he pointed in your direction, “Is that a crab on your shoulder?”

Looking down in fact you saw an annoyed crab glaring at you. In the midst of getting caught, you forgot you turned a reluctant Aladdin into a crab for your Little Mermaid set. “Oops, I’m sorry, Al.” With a wave of your hand you returned your familiar back into his canine form. “Looks like the mutt wasn’t happy being turned into seafood,” Dean muttered as Aladdin stalked off. Your familiar had excellent hearing and growled at the eldest Winchester before returning back to your room.

“Your highness,” Dean bowed before you. Snatching the towel from the sink you balled it up and threw it at Dean’s head.

He caught it instead of letting it hit his face. “Hey, that’s not princess-like,” he reprimanded you. Just to tease him some more you gave Dean the middle finger and he clutched his imaginary pearls.

“What’s up with the Disney routine anyway?” Sam asked, trying to stop you two before y’all got too childish. While you explained the backstory of your cleaning tradition, Sam stood back and mentally shook his head at Dean, who looked at you like a doofus. Sam tried multiple times to get his big brother to admit his feelings for you, but he refused.

Done with your story, you noticed Dean looking at you with that funny face you sometimes catch him with when he thinks you’re not paying attention. “What’s with that stupid look,” you asked him.

Caught off guard, Dean had to quickly come up with an excuse. “Um, I’m just confused about how someone so badass is still obsessed with princesses who always need saving.”

“First of all, me being a badass and loving princesses are not mutually exclusive. Second of all, you must be talking about them older white princesses, because my girls with color didn’t come to play. Tiana, a true boss bitch, Mulan saved a whole country, Pocahontas looked out for her people, and Moana got a whole god together. And third of all, I don’t know why you’re trashing them when you have so much in common with them.”

Dean crossed his arms in disbelief. “Please explain to me how me and a Disney princess are alike.” Chuckling to yourself, you proceeded to explain to Dean. “On the somber note, you have the requirement of at least one dead parent growing up. Sam’s your sidekick, Castiel’s your fairy godmother, Rowena is sorta the wicked witch, just depending on the day, and I’m your knight in shining armor.” Dean couldn’t believe his ears and was about to counter your claim when you interrupted him. “Oh, and you have Rapunzel’s eyes.”

Pointing between him and Sam, Dean responded. “Listen, we don’t need saving that often.” Without saying a word, you cocked and eyebrow and a hip, silently challenging Dean’s claim.

“Ok, you win. I’m a stupid princess, but I’m gonna be Snow White!”

Looking to Sam he had his bitch face while you were confused. He must’ve known why he choose Snow White. You looked to him to ask why and he mouthed ‘You wouldn’t want to know.’ Going against his advisement, you asked Dean why he choose her.

“Because the version I watched, the wicked stepmother was wicked.” His smile suggested it wasn’t the G-rated version you’ve seen before.

With a sway of your hips you walked up to Dean and stared up at him devilishly. “Well, you gotta show me that version. I need to spice up my porn playlist.” Instantly, Dean’s face turned red and Sam off to the side muttered, “You two are perfect for each other.”

You walked off to your room, beginning to sing Kiss the Girl, while leaving the boys in the kitchen dumbfounded. Halfway to your room, you remembered your surprise for Dean. Sticking your head in the kitchen doorway, “Oh, there’s pecan, sweet potato, and apple pie in the oven.” Both boys stared at each other and ran to the oven to get to the treat. Even Sam couldn’t resist your baking.

--

Back in your room, you found Aladdin in his human form laying in your bed and watching tv. He rolled his eyes as he listened to you sing another Disney song. It wasn’t your voice that he was annoyed by, because you had the voice of an angel, but it was who the song was directed to. Al didn’t understand your attraction to Dean, but he supported you, nonetheless.

“Jordan text you. She needs help with a coven of witches in New Orleans. And she said leave the Winchesters at home if you come,” Al informed you in the middle of your song.

“That would’ve been nice to know earlier. Why didn’t you come get me?”

“I was giving you some time with your precious Winchester.”

Deciding not to address that statement you asked Aladdin if he wanted to go with.  “Nope. I got a crazy ass ex down there and I’m having a Smart Guy marathon.”

“Hey! You were supposed to wait for me.” You pouted.

“That was before you turned me into a crustacean.” Knowing that it was fair, you told him bye and went on to tell the boys you were leaving.

“You sure you don’t want us to come?” Sam asked clearly concerned. They didn’t know your friend and were overprotective of you hunting without them. Standing on your toes, you gave each boy a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be fine boys, promise.”

Just as you opened your car door, Dean tugged on your wrist. “Be safe and call us if anything’s fishy.”

Snatching your hand back, you laughed at your friend. “Ok, mom.” Crowding your space, Dean looked at you hungrily. “I preferred to be called daddy.” Cheeks heating up quickly, you turned around and rushed into your car, waving bye to the boys while you heard Dean’s deep chuckle as you drove away.

--

It was setup. Jordan wasn’t just your friend, but your cousin from your mom’s side of your family. The little traitor knew who you were when you ran into her in Atlanta when you were working a job. She continued to earn your trust until she could find the right moment to kidnap you.

Turns out your mom and dad didn’t get rid of the whole family and your grandma somehow survived. The old woman had been plotting against you, since Jordan told her of your existence.

Struggling against the cuffs, you were looking for an escape. “Its useless, my dear. Those cuffs are spelled to imprison supernatural beings.”

Great, the one time being a witch was a bad thing. “Well, can you just kill me now?”

Your grandma turned away from the potion she was concocting and caressed your face. Her amber eyes that reminded you of your mother’s softened. “Don’t be silly, girl. You’re family, even if that didn’t mean anything to your momma. Our coven is growing weak, but you’re the strongest witch ever in our bloodline. With you joining us and the Book of the Damned we’ll return to our former glory.”

All this trouble for that damn book. Even though it saved Dean, that book has been causing so much trouble ever since it came into you and the boys’ possession. “So, this is why you want me. For the Book of the Damned. Well, newsflash no matter what you do to me the boys won’t give it up.”

Stepping away from her potion once more, she knelt down in front of you. “It’s a shame, really. All your power gone to waste. When Jordan informed me of your existence, I thought I would just kill you, but then you got involved with those Winchesters and we were still too weak to deal with them and you. But then I heard Rowena took you under her wing and I felt hope again. I thought Rowena would surely teach you the dark arts, but once again I was wrong. Those damn Winchesters sure do know how to suck out all the fun.”

“If you know I’m so good, then it’s a waste to try to get me to join the coven.” Levitating the mortar, she used to make the potion, your grandma had it in her hands. “Chile, I know I can’t make you do things on your own free will. That’s why I got this little potion for my spell. It’ll make you more malleable to my will. Now open up, girl.”

Refusing to be anyone’s puppet you shut your mouth close. Your grandma was frustrated with your antics and didn’t have any time to play with you. The cuffs dampened your own magic, which allowed your grandma to use hers and get your mouth open. The vile taste of the potion slithered its way down your throat and you knew when you woke up you would be a different person. Hopefully, Sam and Dean would be able to fix you.

--

Once you returned to the bunker, the boys instantly knew something was off about despite you saying nothing went wrong with the hunt. “Man, something’s up with Y/N.” Dean whispered to Sam while you were in the library.

“I know. Something had to have gone with that hunt.” Their whispers died down when they heard you walking towards them.

Holding the Book of the Damned, you made a beeline to the stairs, but Sam stopped you. “Y/N/N, what are you doing with the Book of the Damned?”

Annoyed but also prepared for this moment you threw the boys against the wall. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

With a flick of your wrist the door opened up, letting in your grandma and Jordan.

“What a cute little place! We’ll have to set up base here, Y/N. That’s after we kill the Winchesters of course,” your grandmother informed you while inspecting the bunker.

“Yes, grandmother. Would you like me to dispose of them now?”

The elder Winchester scrunched up his face in anger. “Grandma??? Y/N/N this isn’t you. Break out of it!” He pleaded with you, but his words had no effect on you.

“You evil bitch! What did you do to Y/N?” Dean asked your grandma.

She stood in front of Dean and traced a finger across his face. “Hmmm, I can see why my granddaughter is in love with you. Such masculine features, so handsome that you’re almost pretty. And the passion that radiates off of you, hmph, you must be an excellent lover.”

Dean turned his head away to escape her touch. “Get your filthy hands off my brother! And what did you do to our friend,” Sam reminded her of the more pressing issue.

“Oh, I just made her more pliable to my will. The girl is headstrong like her mother. Too bad I didn’t discover the potion I used on Y/N when I had those wolves kill her mother.” Your grandmother revealed which stirred a little something in you, but you must complete the mission for her. “Y/N, be a dear and kill these oafs. We have important work to do,” she ordered you.

Imagining liquefying their insides, the hunters started to cough up their blood, but as you saw them struggling you started to feel bad. Something didn’t feel right, but you had to press on.

“Y/N, you’re in there I know it. I know you heard her. That wicked bitch killed your parents! Come out and fight, damn it!” Dean was screaming at you, it seemed that the emotional torture was more painful than the physical torture you were dishing out.

Seeing that Dean wasn’t getting through to you, Sam joined in at trying to break through to you.  With each passing second, they were chipping away through your grandmother’s defenses. It worked well enough for your hold to weaken and the boys fell to the ground. The boys easily incapacitated Jordan, leaving your grandma with no backup.

“Y/N, what are you doing? Kill them!” Your grandmother ordered, terrified of what a free Sam and Dean Winchester could do.

You paid her no mind and pinned her to a wall instead. Dean approached you carefully, as if you were a scared animal backed into a corner. “Sweetheart, I know you’re in there.”

Your eyes darted between your grandmother and the Winchester. You didn’t know who to believe with both of them talking to you simultaneously.

Sensing he was losing you, Dean got desperate. “God, I hope this works,” you heard him murmured before he grabbed your face and mashed his lips to yours. At first, your lips you were stiff, resistant to the kiss, but soon it started feeling right, like home, like your lips and his were meant for each other. Your hands snaked up to the back of his head and you pulled Dean closer.

The screaming of your grandma alerted you and made you and Dean break the kiss. Caressing your face, Dean whispered against your lips, “You back?” He asked, his hopeful searching yours.

“Yeah,” you whispered back blinking through tears.

“I should’ve known. You’re weak, just like your mother!” Your grandma somehow pulled herself halfway off the wall, but you pushed her back.

Taking out your gun from the back of your jeans, you pointed it at an unconscious Jordan and shot it right in the center of her forehead, feeling no emotions for so-called friend.

Next, your sights turned onto your grandma. “What?! You can’t grant me the decency of killing me like a witch? You’re gonna kill me like some filthy hunter?” She screamed with her grey locs falling in her face, spit foaming at the mouth, truly looking like a wild woman.

Raising your gun, you only said a few words to her before granting her the same death as your cousin. “Its more than you granted my parents.”

For awhile you stood above your dead grandmother’s body, grieving the life you could’ve have. Standing there reflecting on her need for power it finally hit you, she was the cause of your parents’ deaths. The emotions overtook you and you cried until Dean carried you away and let him fall asleep in his arms.

Waking up hours later you found Dean gone, but the smell of his famous burgers told you exactly where he was. Making your way to the kitchen, you were granted to the scene of Dean cooking, singing along to an old rock song, swinging his hips.

“Wow, you’ve been holding out on me. Who knew you had such killer dance moves?” Placing your hand over your heart, you acted as if you were offended at this great tragedy.

Rolling his eyes at you, Dean lowered his music and started to make you a plate. “I can do that.” You attempted to grab the plate, but Dean moved it out of your reach.

“I got it. Go sit down, pretty girl,” Dean ordered you before he leaned down and gave you a kiss. You guessed that the kiss from earlier wasn’t a one-off and discreetly smiled to yourself, wondering what this means for you and Dean.

Taking your seat, Sam entered the kitchen and began making a plate of his own. “Hey, Y/N, how you feeling?”

“Mmmm, better now. It still hurts, but I know that my mom wouldn’t want me to dwell on it too long. She lived the life that she wanted, even if it was cut short.”

“Between Samuel and your grandma, we had some crazy ass grandparents,” Dean referenced to his grandfather that would’ve let them die in exchange to have Mary back. Little did he know if he could’ve waited a couple of more years, he would’ve had her back.

Setting down his plate and yours, the three of you began eating dinner. Talk varied from when y’all would take the next case, when you should visit Jody and the girls again, when would Cas and Jack get back, and even a little argument about how turkey burgers taste the same as regular burgers.

At that moment you were trying to convince Dean to watch The Little Mermaid with you, but he refused, saying he was too grown to be watching fairy tales. Deciding that he wasn’t too grown, Sam poked fun at Dean. “So, Dean, how did you know how to break the spell put on Y/N?” Sam knew the answer, Dean confided it in him earlier, but he wanted Dean to say it in front of Y/N.  

Looking at his baby brother as if he could strangle him, Dean dropped his burger. “Lucky guess.” He grunted before picking it back up and biting into it.

Your eyes switched back and forth between the brothers. Obviously, Dean was holding something back by the way he was giving Sam bitch face.

“That’s not what you said earlier,” Sam retorted, hiding his smirk by taking a bite of his own burger.

“Oh, Dean, c’mon tell me.” You pleaded, giving him your best puppy dog eyes that he couldn’t resist.

“Truelove’skiss.” He mumbled quickly.

Hiding a giggle, you asked him to repeat himself, “Excuse me, what was that?” You knew exactly what he said, you just wanted him to be louder.

“True love’s kiss, ok! Now can we drop it?” He snapped, embarrassed he knew this little fact and that he was basically announcing his feelings to you this way.

Abandoning your seat, you jumped into Dean’s lap and kissed him all around his face. Sam silently left to give you two privacy and also, he didn’t want to see anything if you two decided to get explicit.

“I love you, Dean Winchester,” you whispered into his ear.

Dean’s eyes lit up as if you told him he had an unlimited amount of pie. He knew that for a true love’s kiss to work, both parties had to love each other, but hearing you say it confirmed it for him. “I love you, too.”

Wrapping your arms around his neck, you snuggled into Dean deeper. “So, does this mean you’ll watch The Little Mermaid with me?”

“I guess,” Dean accepted defeat as you squealed in his lap. “But only if you sing along. I can’t get enough of that voice of yours.”

“Of course, my knight in shining armor.” Dean put an arm behind your back and the other under your knees to carry you bridal style to his cave.

“And at the end of the night can I kiss the girl?” Dean asked with a mischievous grin on his face, glad that he made at least one reference.

Making your voice a bit softer to sound like a princess, you replied, “Oh my dear sir, you can do whatever you like to the princess. She’s forever in your gratitude.”

“Well, princess, be prepared not to finish that movie, because I got other things in mind.”

Soon, Ariel and her pals became a distant memory with the opportunity of a better time spent with Dean. “If that’s the case, then how about you show me how wicked that stepmother was in Snow White?” You offered, suggestively raising your perfectly arched eyebrows.

With that suggestion, Dean changed his course and headed for his bedroom. “Anything for the lady.” Passing a conversating Sam and Al in the hallway, you conjured up earplugs in their hands. Of course, you could’ve soundproofed the room, but you wanted to gross them out instead.

“Dudes, disgusting!” Sam groaned, but you could barely hear him over yours and Deans’ laughs. This is what happily ever looked like and you wouldn’t trade it for a thing in the world.

Tags: @titty-teetee​ @nervouspetsonanime​ @thefaithfulwriter​ @nerd-lovely​

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

AAAAAhhhhh! After 10,000 years, I’m free! Time to watch more Ranma 1/2! We’re getting ready for the middle part of what I guess you could call the Kodachi introduction arc, and like I intimated last time, she’s not exactly my favorite character. That said, I am interested to see how this can play out over the course of two episodes, so next paragraph I’ll have watched the episode.

Uh, so, I don’t think an episode has surprised me by being this much better than I was expecting so far in this rewatch. Like I said before, low expectations, but I really enjoyed this one. The episode starts with Akane and Ranma heading to school on the day before the marital arts match, only for Kodachi to show up and attack Akane.

This has nothing to do with the match, though. She literally just came by to see Ranma, who she has fallen completely in love with, but decided to attack Akane on-sight because why not. After Akane literally throws her at Ranma, he is suddenly confronted by our old friend Tatewaki Kuno, who is surprised to hear of Kodachi’s affection for this rapscallion. After a few seconds of thought, he makes it clear Ranma has his permission to date her, but when Ranma snaps about now being asked about this, Kodachi gets sad, feeling like maybe Ranma hates her.

Trying to avoid her wrath, Ranma runs and hides behind Akane, pointing out that he is her fiance, which would put a hamper on dating. When Akane confirms this, new stakes are given to their upcoming fight: if Kodachi wins, she gets Ranma. Kuno is totally down with that, since with Ranma out of the way, he sees himself easily winning Akane’s (and Ranma’s) affection.

It’s as Kodachi runs off, laughing, that Kuno finally reveals why he jumped into this conversation in the first place: Kodachi is his little sister. He’s aware that she has quite a few terrible qualities, and so warns Akane that she is likely to cheat quite a bit before and during their fight. As he walks away, Ranma and Akane reel from this family revelation, and Ranma notes that he can actually see the resemblance now.

From there, we cut to Akane practicing that night in the dojo with Ranma. She’s clearly gotten a lot better, though makes it clear the new stakes have nothing to do with why she wants to win so badly. Just as Akane notes that she hasn’t had Ryoga’s assistance in training for the last few days, or seen P-chan, the piglet runs into the room, carrying evidence that he’d been in Hiroshima and Kyoto. (Fun fact: my best friend went to Hiroshima while she was studying abroad there!)

There’s some banter over Ryoga’s reappearance, but then Akane trips on a tool, injuring her ankle in the process. It’s bad enough that Kasumi makes clear there’s no way she can play in the match, which means they need a substitute to avoid giving up. They consider that they’d need to find someone with great marital arts skills, who is really acrobatic, and looks like a girl. All eyes go to Ranma just as Ryoga enters the room, having once again used Soun Tendo’s hot bath to change back to human, and throws cold water on Ranma.

He offers to train Ranma through the night, though it’s clear quickly that Ranma’s general skills do transfer pretty well. The only big hurdle is that in Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts, the fighters aren’t allowed to deal direct blows, only use their themed weapons to fight. Akane observes at first, but they both tell her to go and get some sleep, which she ends up agreeing to. Once she’s gone, Ryoga gets serious in fighting, and reveals why he’s really doing this: he wants Ranma to lose. If he does, Ranma has to date Kodachi, which leaves Akane open to date him. He’s not trying to spar with Ranma, he’s trying to injure him bad enough that he can’t fight.

Akane wakes up the next morning and quickly hears the fight is still going on, heading into the dojo to find they’re going at it, though they’re both clearly exhausted. Oh, and the dojo is wrecked. Ranma is delirious from lack of sleep, and almost falls for a thumb tack in the hand trap from Kodachi when they go to the match at her school. Meanwhile, Ryoga is amazed to find that he’s managed to get from Akane’s house to the school without getting lost, and chalks the miracle up to the power of love. There’s another trick from Kodachi in the dressing room, and Ryoga is hit by random cold water while trying to get to the gymnasium, leading to Kodachi kidnapping him for some scheme.

Soon, it’s time for the match to begin, and Kuno is watching in the stands, ready to root for his sister for what he admits is the first time ever. Kodachi descends from the ceiling in a wedding dress while having rockets fired at her new opponent, all very on-brand for her. Ranma is asked what his name is, and he just gives them his real name, to Akane’s confusion. The Kuno’s both just take this as Ranma somehow having the exact same name as, well, Ranma, and some of their classmates in the crowd notice that they do look alike, pondering on how they’re connected.

The fight goes to start, but Kodachi begins by dazing Ranma with a twirly ribbon and an onslaught of black roses, then uses that opening to attach a chain to Ranma’s wrist. On the other end of that chain is P-chan, which Kodachi thinks will ensure she ends the match. But we don’t get to see that yet, because that’s for next episode!

So, a lot of thoughts, actually. First things first, I feel like this is the first episode of the series so far that’s really gone whole-hog into what a lot of people think of as the series’ main premise. For this whole set-up, Kodachi loves uncursed Ranma but hates Akane and cursed Ranma, Kuno loves cursed Ranma and Akane but hates uncursed Ranma, and Ryoga loves Akane and hates Ranma whether he’s cursed or not. This creates a network of alliances that all work against Ranma and Akane’s wishes. He doesn’t want to date Kodachi and Akane wants to get a victory for her school after Kodachi unfairly beat up the actual gymnastics team.

It all feels very farcical, in a good way. Throughout this rewatch, there have been times when the humor doesn’t really land for me, usually because it just gets too silly for me, if that makes any sense. But this worked perfectly, it was all very character driven while also being deeply ridiculous. Things like Kuno having the sense of mind to see that his sister is a weird one while not being cognizant of his own strangeness kind of brought it to earth in a way, and it was all just a good time.

I also quite enjoyed a lot of the animation, the changes to character designs, and the general dynamics on display. There was something weirdly smooth to how Ryoga entered Akane’s room and put his arm around Ranma’s shoulder that just felt cool to watch. The facial expressions in that scene, and throughout, were also in top form. The way he goes from clearly coming in with an ulterior motive, to revealing what he’s really up to, it all felt a little more devious than we get from Ryoga, but in a good way.

I’m not usually a big fan of leotards, but, uh, Ranma and Akane can both really rock them. (I’d also love to see uncursed Ranma in one, I’m sure his butt would look just as good.) Akane showed up to the match dressed like a ringside coach, and it just radiates powerful butch lesbian energy. The referee to the match is also dressed in a pretty masculine way, and similarly gives off wonderful vibes. Just a really aesthetically pleasing episode for me.

The pacing was also really tight. A lot of stuff got packed into the episode’s runtime, and I’d love to compare it to this section of the manga to see if that’s because it’s a particularly dense storyline or because they made the decision to just stuff the episode with as much manga as they could. We’ll get to my rating after the Character Spotlight, but this is just a treat of an episode, and one I have to say again that I wasn’t anticipating in the slightest. Major kudos to everyone who worked on this episode.

Okay, so, now let’s do a Spotlight on Kodachi. The big reason I held off on doing one last week is that her last name hadn’t been revealed, and her Kuno-ness is kind of a big part of who she is, I didn’t want to wait for the next time I decided to give her a Spotlight to cover that part of her.

Alright, so, as usual, let’s start with voice actors. In English, she actually had three different VA’s over the course of the series run. I’ve actually decided that, going forward, with cases like these I’m just going to focus on who the current voice actors are, and talk about the new ones when they appear. Her first actress in my native tongue is Teryl Rothery, who is actually more well known for her live-action work. She appears to play a main character in Stargate SG-1, which I have never seen, and has filled the role of Jean Loring in Arrow. (Which I have seen, but never noticed that Ray Palmer’s ex-wife was in the show in the seasons I saw of it.) In Japanese, she’s portrayed by Saeko Shimazu, who has actually played a role in every Rumiko Takahasi anime adaptation from that era, so that’s neat.

They definitely play the character a little differently. Shimazu is genuinely fantastic at playing Kodachi as the well known anime archetype of the Ojou. The way she does Kodachi’s laugh might be the best Ojou laugh I’ve ever heard, and she’s generally good playing the character oddly seriously. Like, if you didn’t know Kodachi was a dangerously violent person, her voice acting would just make you think she’s a soft spoken, very feminine girl. It fits her whole aesthetic really well, honestly. Rothery went in a very different direction. I feel like it’s hard to think of Kodachi as anything other than a villain in her voice, she’s more clearly malevolent, like a Sailor Moon villainess. Her version of the laugh is a lot more unhinged sounding, for lack of a more appropriate word.

That kind of leads into one thing I was kind of surprised to notice. It feels as though the Dub and Sub versions of this character differ quite a bit. In the English Dub, they frequently use words like ‘crazy’, ‘unstable’, and ‘mad’ to describe Kodachi, and in a way it kind of dominates her characterization. I’ll talk more about that in a minute, but I’ll say for now I had to sigh at those bits. But imagine my surprise to see the Sub instead talk about her being ill-mannered, stubborn, tenacious. As far as I can recall, they didn’t use any mental health-related words, instead just focusing on the idea that she will do anything to get what she wants.

This creates two fairly radically different versions of the character, at least for me. And I actually greatly prefer what I’m finding in the Sub. Kodachi there is played much more as a dark mirror to her brother. Ranma might say they’re the same, but they clearly aren’t. Kuno is a jerk, and doesn’t seem to take the objects of his affection’s input. But he also, at the very least, sees himself as honorable, a man of culture, and doesn’t seem like the type to cheat in a competition.

Kodachi has no such scruples. She is utterly ruthless, while also sadistically delighting in causing pain to other people. She is, in a way, defined by the fact that she is constantly trying to cheat, to get any victory she can, even while acting as though there’s nothing wrong with what she does, that’s she’s just a beautiful girl doing what she has to. The way they each fall in love with a different form of Ranma, while hating the other, is also a nice touch.

That was all a lot of nice stuff I said, but sadly it’s alls I gots for ya. Going back to the whole ‘crazy’ thing, that’s definitely the thing that, at least growing up, dominates her character. As far as I can recall, the fandom generally thinks of her as the ‘craziest’ of all the main cast, and that’s...not very good? I feel like, at least among some sectors of culture, we’re trying to be more aware of other people and trying to take in feedback, and ableism feels like one of the last big areas where a lot of people, even those who are otherwise far left, struggle to get past their prejudices. I’m including myself in there, I screw up all the time. But yeah, I think we need to kind of think a lot more about the ‘crazy’ tropes in media, especially the ones that associate with violence and evil characters. So far at least, I don’t really have a lot to dig into with Kodachi especially, but it’s something I’ll have in mind going forward.

The other area I feel like I have to rain on this Spotlight a little is just what Kodachi brings to the dynamic of the show. Which is mostly...not a lot. Of all the main characters who are a part of the primary love dodecahedron, she is the one who feels like could generally just not exist without impacting anything. She basically just does what Kuno does, but in the opposite direction. Ranma is going to end up with a lot of suitors, and someone else generally fills the role of ‘violent and amoral’ much better than Kodachi, plus she’ll be appearing pretty soon from where we are now. At least as of now, Kodachi is a character I find doesn’t hurt the show at all, but also doesn’t particularly make it better.

If it wasn’t clear from all the gushing before, I really liked this episode. But how much? Where does it fall among the ranks of all the episodes I’ve seen thus far? After some careful consideration, I think I’m actually going to put this at the number two spot. It really was that good, I have very little bad to say. The only reason it didn’t take the top spot is that I just love episode 7 too much. That makes the current standings:

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

This has been a really fun one! Next time, we’ll be covering lucky episode number 13, “A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!”, which will also be the ending to this little arc. I’m excited to join you then, and see if that episode fulfilled the promise in this episode’s set-up! See you all then!