#yes I already posted the top two separately fuck off.

[babygirlmickey]

[cissyenthusiast010155]

Wanted to ask for two separate requests. One Morticia and one Larissa (two separate posts), but they’re both bottoms. Like really bratty bottoms. Thank you for taking the time to read this. You don’t have to do both you could just do one or the other or none. Sorry if that doesn’t make sense. But thank you I love your stuff!!

Caught Red Handed ~Bratty!Bottom!Morticia Addams xFem Reader

Summary— Morticia won’t stop bratting, and she’s not very happy with your answer… Anon Response— Hi there, anon! Thank you for the requests! The Larissa request is posted, here’s your Morticia one. Enjoy! ♥️

Mommy… Master List

Requests & Prompt-List

Warnings: NSFW, 18+!!!, smut, strap-on use, overstimulation, strap-on riding, bratting, orgasm denial, etc.

Enjoy (;

“Fuck fuck fuck Tish—!!”

You’re crying out desperately as Morticia fucked up into you as you ride her strap. She’s made you cum three times already in this position, and she’s not relenting.

“Morticia I swear to god, slow down….!” You hiss, as she hits a particularly spongey and stimulating part inside you.

“But I wanna make you feel goood Mommy—!” Morticia whines in a mischievous and playful undertone.

She then places her hand even more firmly on your hips and uses them to push you down even further and harder on her dick.

“Morticia—!! I—”

You choked on your own threat as you came for the fourth tim from riding the strap. Morticia was intent on continuing to fuck up into you, but you firmly smacked her hands away.

“No. Listen to Mommy. Enough!” You growled.

Morticia whimpered and smirked in response, bucking her hips up into you once more. You firmly planted your hands on her hips and stopped her administrations.

While Morticia fucked you, she had her own vibrating toy inside her, making her squirm and all needy. She hadn’t cum once yet.

“Do you want mommy to let you cum?”

“Yes mommy…!” She yelped in excitement.

“Then be a good girl and help mommy off.”

Morticia grumbled, while finally helping you off the strap. She stuck her tongue out at you as she got up and removed the harness, eventually tossing it aside. But she kept the toy in.

“Don’t start. You already bratted all week…” you warily breathed out.

As soon as Morticia was back on the bed, you were back on top, straddling her. The woman looked at you with need and anticipation.

“Wore that tight black thing yesterday… I could see your nipples, everyone could…” you growled.

Morticia’s eyes darkened and she squirmed beneath you. She licked her lips, her hands shooting to your hips and staring to grind you down onto her. You swiftly smacked her hands away.

“Nuh uh… no touching without my say so…” you reminded her warily, shaking your head.

Morticia groaned dramatically.

“You’re no fun…!!”

You chuckled lightly.

“Let me cum…” she whimpered, her tone quickly shifting to one of desperation.

Her hips began to buck up and her eyes began to water.

“Toy’s finally getting to you, huh…?” You teased lightly.

“I—Mhmm fuck yes mommy—!” Morticia groaned, fisting her hands into nothing desperately.

You chuckled, bringin two fingers down to her core, teasing her entrance.

“Don’t cum, baby… You haven��t earned it…” you cooed.

Morticia arched her back and groaned out sinfully loud.

“PLEASE mommy Ughhhhhhh—!!” Morticia cried out.

Suddenly, you removed the toy, right before Morticia was about to crash over the edge. She grabbed you roughly in response, whining and yelping loudly in protest. But that didn’t stop you.

“Nuh uh uh…” you shook your head, holding the toy.

“Nooooooo…!” Morticia gasped.

The woman immediately and desperately bucked her hips up into you. You chuckled at the woman’s desperation below you.

You then simply got off from Morticia, standing up and heading to the bathroom. You came back to pick up and clean the strap that was left of the floor, and Morticia was sitting there on the bed, staring at you in shock.

“I—mommy…?” She whimpered, “nothing..??”

You chuckled with a nod.

“Not until you’re a good girl…” you waved her to come over, “Come shower, Baby…” you cooed. Morticia pouted, but still listened to you, coming to join you in the bathroom.

~~~

Morticia Addams Masterlist

[yutasbellybuttonpiercing]

Could you maybe do RIIZE with choking? Like would they be into it and how they’d do it? Also maybe could you do RIIZE and marking as well? Idk if you’d do a separate post but if you have time could you try? Thank you love your posts!

thank you so much!! 😸 and yes, i will do a second post for marking once i get to it! i hope this is enjoyable for the the time being, i went all out!

smut warning!! mdni!! also dni if this makes you uncomfortable!! this is just for funsies!! also, choke safely, everyone!

shotaro:

he is more the type to be really active, fast and fun, so choking isn't really on his mind. therefore he wouldn't come up with it himself, but is not opposed to it.

"choke me, please," you whine as shotaro enthusiastically thrusts deeply into you. briefly, his eyes widen, then a smirk appears before he complies and wraps his hand around your neck, skillful as if he's done this a thousand times.

eunseok:

yes. just yes.

eunseok loves leaning against the headboard and having you on top of him. although it seems you're getting a bit too cocky about it, forgetting who's in charge here. "you love my cock, don't you?" he mutters deeply before wrapping a hand around your throat, successfully catching you off guard and stilling your motions to be able to fuck into you from below, using the leverage to thrust you down on his cock.

sungchan:

it's more of a 'look how big my hand looks wrapped around your throat like that' than anything else, but you'll get your thrill out of it.

"look at you, baby," sungchan chuckles from behind you, making you watch the way his hand sneaks to your neck to wrap around it in the mirror in front of you. his thrusts are hard, but his hand on your throat keeps you in place as he reminds you of how much bigger and stronger he is compared to you.

wonbin:

YES!!!!! i'm already planning a short fic which will include this, so stay tuned 💪🏻 here, have a little peek:

"you love this, don't you, noona?" he teases, as if he's not feeling the way you clench around him, as if he's not able to see how your wetness starts dripping down your thighs.

"d-don't talk," you bring out, and he lets go of your hair, the wave of relief after the stinging pain fueling the knot forming inside you. you can't give him the satisfaction of cumming this early again, so you try moving away from the pleasure, put he is quick to wrap a hand around your throat.

"ohhh no, you're going to take it like the good girl you are," he says, amusement evident in his voice.

seunghan:

he does nothing else. well, he does, but you get what i mean. he's all about it. he's going to introduce the idea 100%.

"i said look at me," seunghan commands, as your lids flutter closed again, and to remind you that you are to listen to him, his fingers meet your throat and wrap around it, applying pressure and successfully making you comply. his eyes are dark as you finally manage to gaze into them. "see? wasn't so hard now, was it? now keep your eyes on me and i might let you cum."

sohee:

he will do it, but he also likes when you do it.

"shh, you're being too loud," sohee remarks, dick buried inside you as he has your back pressed against the wall. "then make me shut up," you grin, and he grins back before wrapping his fingers around your neck and squeezing tightly. without missing a beat, you mirror his action, satisfyed as you watch his eyes roll back and feel his thrusts get erratic.

anton:

here i sit with a big question mark floating around my head. anton is pretty soft, but i can still envision it??? he's possibly going to be hesitant at first (he doesn't want to hurt you!!!!!!!) but he grows to love it.

"i won't break, you can go harder," you encourage him, placing your hand atop his to mimic the pressure you like. "tell me if i'm hurting you," anton replies softly before pressing down just as you showed him. your eyes roll back as his unoccupied hand rubs circles on your clit before pushing in two thick, long fingers.

[punkascas]

okay, so i don't want to, like, Start Something or whatever so we're doing a barely-tagged, separate post. i also realise this is mostly pointless because others have already said what i'm going to say, and did it better, with far more grace, and sound less like an asshole than i do.

but jesus louise helen christ, the weird fucked up ideas people have around abuse and personal responsibility and the effect of trauma. like as an abuse and csa survivor, it genuinely alarms me to read posts that use arguments i remember my dad making. like, i'm assuming most of this rhetoric comes from gen z — maybe that's inaccurate; maybe that's unfair. but right now i'm very much Having A Moment Here that the kids aren't alright.

no 22-year-old should be repeating the same awful, manipulative, logically and morally bankrupt justifications for violence and torture my dad says. like literally what's in the first two episodes of ofmd s2 is torture.

i love ed; he's an amazing character. taika is hella wowza top marks acting him. but like.

like.

torture, my dude. physical and psychological. trauma. harassment. that we see the lasting effects of through s2.

just. i. what??

so here we go, okay. have too many, zealously highlighted screenshots so i can dig into details.

cut to save your dashes. content warning for discussions of abuse and trauma (if that wasn't obvious), as well as spoilers for ofmd s2.

re: ed knew what he was doing was wrong and felt guilty about it at the time:

we have no on-screen, textual examples of this. not in the dialogue; not in the acting; not in the blocking; not in the cinematography or music. nothing.

knowing the crew are overworked and kind of traumatised by all the violence, ed bribes them with cake. because, as we know, cake like tea fixes everything. only ed wasn't even with them to share in the eating of the cake. he made izzy responsible for that. he doesn't give the crew a break; he doesn't choose less ethically-fraught prizes to hunt. there is not one scene of ed talking directly to the crew — until he points a gun at each of them.

we see ed crying (and drinking, and rhino horn-ing [way to help further extinction, man]) but it's always paired with shots or flashbacks that reference stede. ed is still all up in his feelings about stede, and ed confirms this when he tells frenchie the myth about albatrosses never needing to return to land. ed cannot go back, does not want to go back, because he was rejected. (like, stede is literally landed gentry, come on!) all he wants to do instead is stay at sea committing to this unhinged version of unstable, sadistic piracy.

but okay, okay. say we ignore all of that. let's say ed does feel sorry and guilty and ashamed of his actions. he knows what he's doing is wrong and unfair and cruel. that it's harming others. that it's particularly harming the dude that ed has, for better or worse, basically spent his life with (izzy; i mean izzy). ed… still continues to do the things! how far off are we at this point from the definition of malicious? you know action x hurts person b and then you do it anyway. is that honestly a better, happier, more ethically defensible reading of the character?

re: the crew didn't mutiny because they love ed despite his violent, sadistic actions.

mutinies were a thing, yes. but both historically and in the world rules established by the show, mutiny is disincentivised through threats, distraction via extra work, and corporeal punishment. we see both ed and izzy use all three of these to try to prevent the crew from disobeying orders. they didn't wait until the storm and izzy shooting ed to mutiny because they understood or sympathised with ed; they took the chance to kill him then because that was the first real opportunity they'd had. the reward finally out-weighed the risk given that ed was going to kill them all that night anyway.

again, we have no scenes, no dialogue, no visual or audio cues to tell us that the crew understands or loves ed — excluding izzy, obviously. fang could also be on that list, if you take into account his personality and his behaviour both in s1 and later in s2 in the fishing boat scene. but in the first two episodes, we only see the crew show trauma responses around ed. they talk about him but almost never to him. and when they do have a direct conversation with ed, it is either confrontation or head down, submissive, "of course, blackbeard; anything you say" placating. i'm so baffled where the show points to any sign of love from the crew towards ed before his "death".

re: ed can't be held responsible because he was suicidal.

uhm. no. hard no. a harder no than stede's brazilian cherry wood mast. fucked up people do fucked up things but part of being an adult is owning your fucked-upped-ness and not fucking up others while you work on unfucking yourself. children, children are not fully responsible for the impact of their actions on others when they're deep in their feelings, especially if they're feeling their feelings as a trauma response. this is because literally their brain cannot do that kind of control. it doesn't have that software pack installed yet. ed does have all the adult updates installed, even if he isn't running them at that moment. he has no right to take out his feelings on other people: to maim them, to psychologically torture them, to abuse them, to work them to exhaustion. to kill them. he does not get a free pass to do suicide by abused employees. (like suicide by cop but more indirect and passive and harmful.) talk about passive aggressive.

secondly, ed is not just passively suicidal and happy to find new risks that might end his life. he is very purposefully taking izzy with him (see: literally removing the bits of izzy that would help let him walk away from ed; the fact that ed becomes actively suicidal only once he thinks izzy is dead; the whole keeping izzy's corpse in front of his and stede's beach shack i mean inn — the codependence, she runs deep). ed is also putting the crew through the same risks, the same isolation, the same danger. both stede and izzy agreed that ed had gone full scorched earth policy. you don't get forgiven for the murder part of a murder-suicide pact just because of the suicide part. not to mention that no one (once again, you could potentially argue izzy as an exception) was good on a murder-suicide pact with blackbeard.

and then to say the crew felt guilty? i assume i'm misreading that. the crew. felt guilty. for ed's actions. that is, if not victim blaming and if not darvo, a very close inbred cousin of them. like hapsburg jaw inbred close.

re: ed healing and his view of himself as a monster.

to heal means, in part, to accept responsibility for the harm you've caused, whether it was intentional or not. it means making amends. it means building or rebuilding relationships where possible. it means putting the other person or persons' feelings and boundaries and need for safety above your desire for absolution or forgiveness. it means working through your own guilt and shame and anger (or whatever drove you to act the way you did) in a separate space, not with the people you hurt, but someone who can be a step removed, more impersonal and objective to help you reflect and face hard truths as needed. i say this as both someone involved in activism and community reparations and as an abuse survivor who has done nearly 30 years of therapy learning this in order to not hurt people. it's not ed's fault he's fucked up just like it isn't my fault i am. but it is on me, like it is on anyone, to make sure i limited as much as possible the harm i can cause to others because i learned some awful but very effective tricks at a young age to survive.

ed does not really do any of the above. he doesn't say "sorry". he speaks in generalised language. he complains about the cat bell (which he seems to wear only for one day, given the implied timeline with lucius and pete's engagement). i have a model ship on a stand that says "this is a safe space ship" as a joke because i work for the government and have written press releases that sound just like ed's "apology". where you take no responsibility and encourage "the culture" to move on.

so, really, my question becomes: ed sees himself as a monster. in s1, we had enough balance between ed's current actions and his referenced past actions to see this belief as likely untrue. in s2 though — i mean, is it? is that an unfair or inaccurate belief? i can understand how carrying that belief can get in the way of ed's growth and eventual healing but like. from an outside perspective of ed-the-fictional-character. he's not a "good" person. he's capable of and has done and continued to do horrible, cruel things. ethically, can you argue with that statement about him?

re: ed trying to destroy relationships because of his self-worth issues and instead the consequences of his actions proving that he's loved.

this is the point that made me go: right, no, i need to respond. i need to say my piece about this. izzy and the crew suffering ed's violent tyranny and then sticking around on the revenge anyway afterwards is not a sign of love. it is not showing love to bear pain for someone. it not showing love to let someone mistreat you, threaten you, hurt you, maim you. their actions are selfish and done to give them feelings of power and control over you. lying back and thinking of england to get through it is not love. it is absolutely a survival technique. but it is not love when you do it at the expense of yourself or others.

i also disagree that ed was trying to push people away or break his relationships with others. we know from s1 that ed is fairly blasé about whether crew members die. again, we don't see any friendly or intimate exchanges between ed and any of the crew to imply any kind of relationship there beyond "tools who accomplish ed's goals". the one exception, as always, is izzy. and as previously stated, ed seems bound and determined, in a very conscious way, to bring izzy into death with him. ed does everything in his power to make izzy want to kill ed, or at least agree that it's best if ed dies, and to want to kill himself so ed doesn't have to die alone. that isn't ed breaking that relationship; it's making it permanent in a really fucked up shakespearian way. the only relationship we see ed waffle between wanting to keep and wanting to push away is stede. after his corporate "apology" and the fishing trip with fang, all of ed's dialogue is with stede and a little bit with zheng until izzy's death scene. the crew loving ed just isn't a thing, at least not one we're shown. not from either side. ed's relationships are with stede and kind of, sort of with izzy (because he does manage to, if not fully break, do some major damage to that).

love did not save ed. ed wanting to live, because stede came back, because he didn't want to jump off hornigold's cliff in the first place, saved ed. izzy saved everyone else.

so yeah: that's it; that's the post. the rhetoric that abuse is love or that abuse can be "cured" with love or that trauma isn't lasting and serious and has impacts on people's daily lives is just. wild. wild.

and terrifying.

my dad was born in the 40s. why is anyone born in the 80s or later still defending this mindset? it honestly, truly freaks me out.

guess it's good i have a fucking therapy appointment on monday.

[greenhappyseed]

Is Toya really going to die? I feel like his upcoming death is left ambiguous on purpose.

While poetic and tragic, it fits with his character as a person who wanted to be seen he will forever be Endeavor's legacy in the world. In the end it feels good Dabi the villain, not Toya the young boy, won.

Toya is human, so yes, he’s going to die at some point. It’s an inevitable part of life. But I think what you’re asking is if Toya will die soon, and I agree with you that the answer is purposefully vague. Neither we, nor Toya or Enji, know when to expect the end. They’re stuck waiting. It’s their purgatory. It’s their hell.

As for whether Toya or Dabi “won,” I don’t think there’s a difference, and I don’t think it’s a clean “win”. I know it’s popular in fandom to consider characters with hero/villain names as two separate identities, but the final act of MHA goes out of its way to point out that these differing identities reside within the same human. Toshinori Yagi IS All Might, with or without OFA. Tenko Shimura IS Tomura Shigaraki; the only exception is when he’s puppeted by AFO. Keigo Takami IS Hawks, even without his quirk. (His hero uniform is underneath his business suit!)

The difference between Toya as a boy and Dabi as a young man is hope. Toya kept thinking he could do something to make Enji change (read: he thought he could make Enji love him and treat him like Enji’s rightful eldest son). Dabi gave up on that hope, decided it was too late, and planned a dramatic murder-suicide, but even then it wasn’t what he really, truly wanted. See this post here on Toya’s honne/tatemae and true desires — I wrote then how Dabi still wanted his family’s love and attention, it’s just buried under his “villain” posturing and his anger over being denied. I mean, ugh, even in 426 he still can’t bring himself to SAY he missed his family and he wants to talk to them. But Toya shivers and his heart rate goes up as they promise to keep talking to him, so we know the fire is going out. It takes a lot out of Toya, but I do think he’s getting closer to telling his family what’s in his heart.

Because Shoto saved them all, Toya now gets a chance to do what he TRULY wanted. In a way, that’s a win for him, but the tradeoff is that he’s locked in that machine and he’s known as a villain. Toya will never get his “rightful” status as eldest son and successor to his father due to the choices Dabi made. Then again, “Endeavor” is forever “stained” by Dabi too. That’s obviously Enji’s punishment, but in a way it is for Toya as well. Toya doesn’t get the attention of Endeavor the top hero; he gets retired, disabled, cancelled old Enji.

At this point I feel compelled to point out that, although Enji is mostly punished, he DOES get a “win” in a monkey paw way. Toya proved his flames were greater than Enji’s, and that he COULD have been the perfect child successor Enji was trying to engineer. (I mean, 16yo Toya told AFO to fuck off and burned down one of his baby factories!) But even if Enji’s eugenics experiment actually worked on the first try, Enji didn’t notice Toya’s power until after Toya was already a villain and a threat.

That’s why Enji and Toya, together, waiting in the purgatory they made, is simultaneously a win and a loss for both. It’s everything they wanted and yet not, for the rest of their lives, however long they may be.

[bachiras-toaster]

kinktober day 31: phone sex : ̗̀➛

ODASAKU SAKUNOSUKE x afab!reader

contents. smut. f!masturbation, use of dildo, dubcon, use of pet names- i post track of time and forgot about this. this was almost a drabble

wc. 1.3k

sypnosis. you’ve been missing oda so much while hes been away that you cant help but get off to his voice while on the phone to him

"It's so lonely without you here, Oda." You whined into the phone, hearing him sigh at your despair in the other line.

"It's lonely without you too, but I need to complete this mission. We'll be together soon." He leaned back in his chair, his cell pressed up right against his ear using one hand while his other was being used to sieve through a mountain of documents to read.

This was so humiliating. Was this taboo? Oda had been away for this mission for so long and you were longing for his touch so badly; your disappointment really settled in when it had dawned on you that there were still so many nights that you would have to suffer through alone. You knew that he missed you just as well as you missed him, but you understood that the ways that you two were missing each other were likely very different. Because while Oda's solution to his long-distance heartache was to call you late at night to help him get through the pile of papers he had to sort through, yours was to... Get off to hearing his voice.

Don't blame yourself, okay? Like you said, you had been separated for so long that it was almost agonising. You couldn't help but have your phone sat on your nightstand with it on speaker so you didn't have to hold onto it as your rode one of your pillows, your palms gripping tightly onto the headboard for support. Your panties and shorts had already been fully discarded of and tossed to the side of your bedroom, all that was left was to try and get through the night.

God, this was so perverted. Would Oda hang up if he knew what you were doing? Would he feel creeped out? These were the kinds of questions that flooded through your mind but you were opting to ignore out of pure desperation. Maybe he would, but at least you would've had the memory of his voice to go off on- and that was at least enough.

You were already in the process of leaning over towards the drawer in your nightstand to see if you could locate a toy that could help you out. To your luck, you were able to find your hands around a long box, which you were well aware of what was inside. You excitedly pulled it out of the night stand  and pulled it out of the box, swiftly discarding of the material and lubing it up ready as you licked your lips. 

"So— You're not getting ready for bed yet?" You questioned frantically, needing to hear his voice again after the agonising silence as you laid your back against your sheets.

"Absolutely not, I haven't even changed out of my suit yet. There's no way I could prepare for bed with this much work to do." He sounded disappointed and just continued to skim over the documents, signing shortly. 

"You haven't..?" You breathed out slowly as you felt the toy first enter your cunt, penetrating your folds so easily thanks to the lube and how wet you already were. But it took some time to adjust to the feeling, especially since you haven't had something, or somebody, inside you for so long.

"No. I've loosened my tie up a bit and took my blazer off, but I'm still basically in uniform."

Fucking hell this was so perverted.

You could imagine it well: Him leaned back in his chair with his legs parted just slightly out of fatigue. Yes, his blazer would be discarded, but his sleeves would also be rolled up to his forearms and you could see the muscle peek out from the fabric. Hearing him describe his loosened tie couldn't make you help but fantasise about just crawling on top of him and grabbing him by the cravat while you stuck your tongue down his throat.

"Couldn't you—" You felt the sudden need to gasp for air as the dildo hit your g-spot. "—Take your tie off completely?" You asked, trying desperately to bite back your soft moans as to not alert Oda of what was happening. "—I just think that since you're working so hard, the tie could get really irritating. If you get stressed, you're gonna have trouble breathing—Y'know..?"

"I guess you're right..." Oda hummed in approval and put down the paper he was holding to instead hook his finger back onto his tie to pull it off completely. "It's really heartwarming to hear that you care about me, darling." He smiled softly as his tie came off.

God damn it. That sweet and kind voice only fuelled your desire- But it really didn't help that Oda believed you had told him to do so out of the kindness of your heart when you were just really desperate to imagine him without his tie, his top buttons all undone.

"Of course... I care about you so much—" You had to whine that last part into your pillow so he wouldn't pick up on the filthy noises you were making.

However, Oda felt that something was was off and turned his attention towards his phone, donning a concerned expression.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" He queried, his voice laced with worry. "You sound like you're in pain."

"I'm not in pain..." You whined out, desperate to reach your high while his voice was still pressed firmly into your mind. "I'm actually— Doing fine right now..."

Oda just narrowed his eyes towards his phone, but decided to take your word for it.

"Okay... Well, if you're doing okay. I'm gonna go back to my work now, since I feel as if I'm getting a little sidetracked. Call me back if you need anything—"

"—Wait, no!" You cried out, feeling your entire face flush as a warmth spread across your cheeks. You swiftly stumbled over towards your phone at your nightstand to grab it, practically screaming down the microphone. "Oda, please stay on call. Please..." You begged pathetically, your legs trembling from the lack of satisfaction you were getting.

"So there is something wrong. What is it?"

Oh god, he sounded so worried. He was such a kind man, but how pathetic would it be to explain your situation right now? How much of a whiny crybaby would you need to be to tell him how desperate you were for his touch? You wanted to keep it to yourself, but the sound of his voice was just too enticing. It made it way too easy for you to let slip what was going on.

"We've just been away for so long... I feel so untouched." You let out in soft whimpers. "I need you so badly, Odasaku, but you're so far away. Your voice is the only thing that can help me."

"...Help you...?" His breath fell short.

"Help me pleasure myself." You let out softly.

Oda's eyes suddenly widened and his face blushed a light shade of pink. His skin got warmer and the crotch of his pants immediately felt extremely tight. The way you sounded so helpless, a trait you thought would end the call for sure, just enticed Oda. It made it sound like you were in a situation only he could help in— Which, of course, was the case, but it gave him so much authority. A sense of responsibility, if you will.

Slowly, Oda unzipped the fly of his pants to lift his cock from his underwear, his breathing extremely steady as he went through with the task. His length was already pulsating a little with desire, and he flicked his thumb over his tip, causing him to shudder a little.

The long silence on your end made you wince— You had no idea what was happening. All you heard was the blank nothingness, and it made you sure that he was about to hang up at any time now. However, instead of doing so, Oda brought his phone up to his ear once more, his other hand softly gripping at his cock.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll help you. As long as you promise to help me too.”

[fandomnsfw]

Baddest Bitch PT 2 - Derek Hale x Reader

Pairing: Derek Hale x Reader

Prompt: Because I finally decided to stop torturing people and make a part two after like however long its been since I posted the first one! It was only ever supposed to be a one shot but as I re-read it the other day I was inspired.

Warning: Smut, fluff, everything okay!? We’ve got some Peter Hale snark some Stiles Stilinski curiosity and a whole lot of the sexy and soft Derek Hale so please read ahead if you like all of the above.

A huge thank you to my original beta @lets-imagine-fanfics for editing not only the first part a few years ago, but for editing this part. Her help is honestly a god sent.

ENJOY!!

***********

Previously on Baddest Bitch...

“But yes I would love to go on a date though I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty smitten with you don’t you think? I don’t exactly let anyone knock me up.” You chuckled before reaching over your shoulder and placing a kiss on his cheek.  

“Yes well ditto.” Derek grumbled shyly before you both finally let sleep take you.  

You slipped out of bed with a smile as you looked over at Derek who was still passed out after your brunch sexy time. You thought you would’ve been doubting yourself for allowing Derek to knot you, let alone even screw you without a condom, it was reckless and so irresponsible but instead you felt content like everything made sense.

You weren’t sure whether it was Derek or the fact that you might’ve made a child but you felt lighter than you had in years. However, you were still sticky so a shower was definitely on the cards. You began walking through the open space but you suddenly overheard the pack enter downstairs and you realised it was 7pm on Friday which meant pack night.

Shit.

You ran back to Dereks bed and slapped him against the bare chest shocking him so much he actually growled at you until he realised it was you. You pulled on your earlobe telling him to listen and his eyes widened immediately, shooting out of bed as he began routing through his draws to grabs jeans and a henley before slipping into them.

You shook your head at his lack of underwear as you ran over to your separate room taking Derek’s sheet with you as you went. You grabbed a paired of black high waist leggings, a red crop top and a pair of thongs. You grabbed your feminine wipes and started wiping any dried cum off of you so it wouldn’t be as noticeable to the other wolves.

You put on the clothes and took a deep breathe, readying yourself incase there was questions. You were usually so confident but for some reason you were worried what the pack would think. God how were you going tell the pack if you did get pregnant? You shook your head and started down the stairs, knowing Derek had gone down already.

You spot the whole pack rumbling through take away containers and realised they must’ve picked food up on the way so you put on a big smile and grabbed a plate. Liam noticed you first and gave you a big smile in return, suddenly he started sniffing the air and you tried not to look guilty because there’s no way a puppy wouldn’t be able to figure out where the smell was coming from with the whole pack in the house, right?

“Why do you smell like sex?” Liam asked stopping the whole pack in their spots as every wolf sniffed of air their eyes widening, while Derek suddenly looked a little too proud and Scott started laughing.

“I told her and Derek to fuck it out… ‘guess they took my advice.” Scott smirked like he’d won a medal.

You shot him a glare before serving yourself food and walking to the dining table without a word. Lydia sat next to you with Stiles following, who sat on the other side and you almost ran then and there. The brainy couple…you were doomed and you knew it.

“So... Derek?” Lydia started and Stiles hummed in thought, thinking about the question he wanted to ask but there were so many he had on his mind he decided to leave the questioning to his girlfriend.

“Interesting development, if you ask me.” Stiles added casually instead, causing you to look at Derek for help but he just looked amused.

“Oh you think this is funny, sweetheart?” You asked Derek, your tone sickly sweet, wiping the smirk from his face.

“You know what I think, Derek here would be to happy answer all your questions. Right, Der?” You asked, feigned innocence dripping from your words.

“I’m taking her out tomorrow that’s all you guy need to know.” Derek grumbled before everyone exploded as you shot him a smirk that let him know you’d won.

The pack continued their questioning throughout dinner - even the sheriff had asked one, which had made you laugh because he had asked ‘where will Derek be taking you?’ and Derek went redder than tomato as he clearly hadn’t thought of that yet. You saved him from the unexpected question by saying you wouldn’t mind trying the new Italian place downtown and he sent you an affectionate smile that somehow made everyone stop questioning the pair of you.

You poured yourself and Melissa a glass of red wine before you made your way to the living room. You were about to sit down with you glass when it was taken straight out your hand by Derek who shot you a raised brow and you scoffed at him making Melissa laugh.

“You’re brave going between her and wine.” Chris snorted as Melissa nodded against his shoulder trying to contain her laugh.

Derek raised both brow daring you to argue with him but you just stared him down like the enemy. You looked at the glass weighing your chances at getting your hands on it and not spilling at least half, but you just sighed angrily.

“Get me a juice.” You snapped viciously and Derek nodded before walking back to the kitchen.

“What the fuck just happened…” Stiles muttered in confusion.

“Language, but yeah what my idiot son said.” The sheriff scolded but looked at you confused, with a raised brow.

“I think it’s best we come some aspects of our relationship a secret.” You answered respectfully making the sheriff nod in acceptance, but Stiles just gaped at you, his mind racing a mile a minute.

“Is it a kinky thing?” Stiles gasped, as if the revelation of Derek doing anything kinky was the most hilarious concept to him and you almost keeled over laughing.

“No, but that made my day.” You wheezed as you tried to calm your breathing through the laughter.

“Excuse you.” Derek growled as he came into the room with your juice.

“Shut up, wine stealer.” You snarled as you took your juice resentfully.

Derek rolled his eyes but sat down next to you, wrapping his arm around your shoulders before pressing a gentle kiss to your temple making you instantly relaxed against him. Despite the pout on your face, you cuddled into him causing Lydia to chuckle at the sight from across the room.

******

You eventually drifted into your own thoughts as everyone chatted the night away. You must’ve fallen asleep at some point because the next thing knew you woke up to Derek carrying you upstairs. You stared up at him with a sleepy smile on your face and he looked down at you returning it with the brightest smile you’d seen all night.

He laid you on his bed and you raised a brow at him but didn’t move to get up as he stripped his top and jean leaving him naked but as he started to slide on a pair of boxers you let your pout show. He looked up innocently, like he didn’t know the effect he had on you, only to see your pout making him smirk.

“You can’t still want more, baby?” He chuckled as he remembered the second and third time you went after the first time.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.” You purred as you ripped your top off over your head letting him take in your lack of bra. You crooked your index finger in a come hither way and he was on you, his fingers finding the waistband of your leggings before pulling them down off your body leaving you in your dusky pink thong.

“You’re so beautiful.” Derek whispered against your lips and your eyes widened in shock. You had only ever really done one-night stands so you were never used to being called beautiful. Drunken men weren’t exactly there for the intimacy they were here for one thing only, your body.

“Did I say something wrong?” Derek asked softly and you looked up at him with a frown wondering why he was asking, but then you realised he must’ve sensed your change in mood.

“No. Not at all…no one’s ever called me beautiful in the bedroom just shocked me, Der, that’s all.” You answered softly and his frown was back as he pressed a kiss to your forehead before kissing down your temple to your cheek lovingly.

“Well you are…so beautiful.” Derek whispered into your ear sending a shiver straight down your spine as you clutched the bedding.

His lips left little kisses over every inch of skin from your cheek to your nipples, taking the left one in his mouth, sucking softly making you gently bite your lower lip as you watched him switch to your other nipple to pay it the same attention.

“Don’t get comfortable, baby. I’m about to show you how beautiful you are.” Derek whispered darkly; his voice full of filthy promises.

He wrapped your legs around his waist before picking you up using your ass to support you. He walked to the bathroom across the loft and you gave him a sceptic look but he just shot you a dirty smirk that made your heart race in anticipation.

He stopped in front of the bathroom mirror, signalling for you to get down so you jumped down and looked around the room with a shrug. He spun you around, pulling your bare back against his just as bare chest, one hand on you hip as the other grabbed your cheeks forcing you took look at him through the mirror.

“Watch close.” Derek whispered in your ear his wolf eyes flashing in dimly lit bathroom. You flushed under his gaze feeling a little embarrassed but you nodded gently letting him know you heard him.

Every nerve in your body felt like it was buzzing in anticipation, waiting for his next move but when his hand slowly slid from you cheeks to your throat your eyes flashed as you leaned into his touch. The hand on your hip suddenly tore your underwear straight off your body making you gasp in shock as Derek just gave you a sadistic smirk in return.

His hand slid between your legs, his finger immediately delving into your wet folds making you whimper against him, shamelessly grinding into his fingers. You felt Derek’s chest rumble in satisfaction against your back as teased you massaging your clit at an agonisingly slow pace.

“Look.” Derek growled as his eyes flashed in warning and you finally looked at yourself in the mirror.

Your face was flushed, glowing under the low lighting, your hair was half sticking to your face but the thing you noticed the most, was your expression. You looked so…beautiful…in pure trust and ecstasy in this moment with this man and you smiled at him.

“I only look like this because its you…because I trust you…even enough to take control of me in my most vulnerable position.” You whispered into the quiet room and his expression changed to something you’d never seen on him but you decided it was your favourite look.

“Make love to me.” You knew it wasn’t a question and that didn’t seem to bother Derek because he picked you up like a princess and took you back to his bed.

He laid you down on the bed carefully, pushing his lips onto yours passionately, as he brushed your hair out of your face affectionately while he took himself out of his boxer briefs. You slipped your tongue into his mouth, exploring every inch of him as you went; He tasted like the whiskey he drank earlier, making you smile into the kiss.

He brushed his tip through your wet folds, making you moan against his lips as you clutched onto his biceps in a plea that you needed him, and he clearly heard it because he slowly pushed into you, earning one drawn-out desperate moan as you clung to him like a koala bear. Everything felt more intense, and maybe it was because you were sure this was the first person to ever make love to you, or perhaps it was just Derek. Still, you looked into his eyes as he took one of your hands, intertwining it with his while he started thrusting into you slowly but deeply.

He looked at you with the same look from earlier and you cupped the back of his neck as he nudged against your special spot with every deep thrust and you felt yourself building faster than normal but he nodded letting you know he was close too. Your eyes were blurred with pure pleasure as his hand came down to massage your clit.

“Ahh…Der, m’close.” You moaned softly as you hid your head in his neck, and he pulled back to look into your eyes once more.

His thrusts got a little harder as he got closer to his end, his fingers never stopped moving gently and you couldn’t hold it anymore, the coil in your stomach unravelling as you looked into Derek’s blue wolf eyes through your hooded lids. Your legs wouldn’t stop shaking as Derek came with you, emptying himself inside of you once again.

“F-Fuck…” You whispered as you went lifeless against the bed, Derek resting on top of you but not putting his full weight on you, which you found endearing.

“Maybe I should get that diamond ring after all.” Derek chuckled and you let out a breathless laugh pulling him down for a kiss.

********

It had been about a month or so since you and Derek had started dating while making a baby… A weird concept, you were both aware, which is why no one from the pack is any the wiser. Obviously, you were well aware that you’d have to tell them soon, but for right now you guys didn’t want to deal with judgmental looks from your pack.

You were currently a week late but you couldn’t be sure if that was the stress of wanting to know or if it was, in fact, pregnancy so you bought tests… A lot of them. Derek looked at you like you were crazy when you dumped all 25 packets of different brands on his lap.

“I really don’t think this many is necessary.” Derek stated as you dipped one at a time into the cup of pee, specifically the morning pee you had been holding since you woke up at 7am this morning. The internet said it was better to take it with your first pee of the day something about HCG hormones or something... You didn’t understand most of it.

“And I really don’t think you should be judging me right now since I might be carrying your wolf spawn.” You sassed, making him roll his eyes but dutifully pass you another test to dip in the pee.

“Okay, now we wait!” You cheered happily as you lined the last one on rows and rows of toilet roll you had set out on the coffee table; you were aware it was gross but you planned on cleaning it afterwards, but you needed a large surface for the test, and the dining table didn’t seem like a good idea.

You sat there, your leg bouncing up and down as you watched the tests from the couch anxiously. Derek was pacing at the other side of the coffee table making you look at him with the deadliest glare, before you could tell him to sit down the loft door burst open and you stood up panicking.

You looked up to see Peter, who looked shocked by you and Derek staring at him like he was a trespasser. Your eyes widened as you pointed to Derek signalling for him to get rid of him, but Peter scrunched his face n distaste as he got closer.

“Why does it smell like someone marked there territory in here?” Peter gagged and your eyes widened.

“Don’t come any closer, Hale!” You screamed as you pointed at Derek’s uncle.

“Okay, did I walk in on some weird kinky thing?” Peter asked in distaste.

“Why does everyone think we’re always doing something kinky?!” You screeched, your arms flopping to your side in exasperation.

“Baby…” Derek tried by you immediately cut him off.

“Not now, Derek! I need to know why the pac-”

“Babe! Look!” He shouted, effectively shutting you up you looked at him with a glare before he pointed at the tests.

Every single one was positive. Holy shit, you were pregnant with Derek Hales baby. You looked at him with wide eyes when he stared at you as if trying to see how you felt about it. When your grin broke out, so did his, his arms immediately on your hips to lift you up happily, burying his head in your neck.

Suddenly you were very aware Peter was still stood there, as he hadn’t said anything you glanced over and found him staring directly at all the tests with wide eyes. You looked back at Derek in worry but he stayed silent like he was waiting for Peter to get his bearings.

“Congratulations, dear nephew… Talia would be proud.” Peter stated uncharacteristically gentle and you started sobbing shocking both men.

“Good luck with that. Bye.” Peter added with an arrogant smile on his face as he left Derek to deal with you.

“Peter’s not so bad! People should be nicer to him.” You sobbed making Derek snort humourlessly.

“Oh dear… Isn’t it a little early for the hormones to start?” Derek laughed and you just started sobbing more.

“Why am I crying?!” You cried into his chest, sniffling into his top, his scent instantly calming you.

“When do you want to tell the pack?” Derek asked softly as he kissed the top of your head.

“Tonight.” You sniffled as you pulled away to look at him. You could barely believe you were pregnant despite seeing the 25 tests with your own eyes. You were so happy, and Derek seemed even more excited, which made you proud that you could be the one to give him a family.

You were falling for Derek Hale, and for once, there wasn’t a reason to worry because you felt completely safe doing it.

********

When the pack all wandered in for the usual Friday pack night, you were in the kitchen making mocktails for the whole pack before making a few alcoholic ones for the adults that weren’t pregnant. The pack looked confused as they crowded around the dinner table with the take out bags.

You strolled over to the table as Derek and Peter carried the drink trays out behind you, looking unusually happy, and nobody dared speak like they were concerned for your mental stability. Malia glared at her father as if he was just as insane, while he helped you into your chair.

You made aimless chatter with Lydia, and the pack quickly relaxed so you started serving out the take away food that Scott had brought. You ate more than usual, making Stiles tease you, but you just stuck your tongue out at him causing him to scoff in disbelief.

After everyone had finished the food, the pack started to make their way to the couches and you gave Derek a nod as he stood in front of the pack with a small awkward smile. Everyone looked at him curiously but waited for him to speak, knowing it wasn’t Derek’s forte.

“We have some news, and I’d like everyone to remember mouth filters…” He stated as he directed his gaze to Stiles, who scoffed again, making everyone laugh.

“I’m pregnant.” You stated casually, and the pack just stared for what felt like forever, but then everyone went insane.

“Congratulations, Y/N. You’re gonna make a great mother.” Melissa stated, as she got up from her seat to hug you.

“You’re gonna be a great dad too, Derek. I’m so proud of how far you’ve come.” She added and she pulled Derek into a hug much to his shock.

“Thank you.” He mumbled, a blush taking over his ears and cheeks as he pulled away from Melissa.

“Congrats, man. Honestly, if anyone deserves this it’s you.” Stiles said as he approached Derek and the wolf’s eyes widened in surprise before softening and bringing Stiles into a firm hug, clearly shocking the younger boy, but he laughed and gave into the wolfs hug before pulling away and looking at you.

“You are the only girlfriend he’s had that I actually like.” Stiles whispered playfully and you let out a laugh before bringing him into a hug.

“You’re gonna be great parents.” He added seriously making your smile soften.

“Thank you.” You replied honestly as you pulled away.

“For everything… Like Derek, I have no family left and you guys have given me that. Through everything we’ve been through, that fact has only gotten stronger and for that I will be eternally grateful. I know a lot of you didn’t trust me when I first showed up, but after fighting together and surviving together for so long we’re stronger than any blood related family out there. So, thank you for being my family and I can’t wait to add to it.” You expressed slowly, Melissa and Lydia were crying into their significant others shoulder as you raised your glass in cheers

Everyone raised theirs in return with happy and satisfied smiles on their faces and for once everything felt complete, like finally having a baby on the way made this family more real and suddenly you couldn’t wait until the little one arrived.

[whatevertheweather]

Well, hello again.

It's been a very busy month, and I have roughly nothing left in my head, but it's Wednesday okay, and that's finally aligning with a day I ended up driving home thinking I want to do a wip post okay. So first, thank you to everyone still commenting on Musical Chairs, and I'm sorry to anyone who's been hoping I can get the last chapter out in a timely manner. I can't, obviously, but as a sad offering in that chapter's stead, I have here An Ode to How Soundly Musical Chairs Is Kicking My Ass.

This is a multimedia presentation. In this essay I will-

I don't have a posting goal anymore. As soon as possible is a moving target. But I do have two deleted scenes, and here's one.

“Stupidity has no bearing on whether or not I hate something,” Baz said. “No? The two’ve always struck me as pretty intertwined,” Niamh said, picking up her drink. And then, like it was a completely separate observation, “I’ve noticed you seem to hate a lot of things.”

I also have 44 pages at the top of my Miscellany document that contain nothing but snippets for musical chairs, and scenes cut from musical chairs, and scenes rewritten for musical chairs, and checklists made for musical chairs, and all caps yelling for musical chairs, and-

Featuring such goodies as:

And:

So in theory. And I hate this because I’D HAVE TO REWRITE AGAIN but in theory.

And:

[HEY MAYBE JUST FULLY FUCKING SWITCH TRAJECTORY AND GO] “[Redacted].” Baz raised an eyebrow. “[Also redacted].” [FUCK BUT ACTUALLY. IT’S WEIRD AT THIS POINT. AFTER HE’S ALREADY PUSHED THIS MUCH. FUCK. YES OKAY MOVE IT UP TO COULD HAVE HAD SOME FUN. SIMON JUST PIVOTS FROM COMMITTING TO THAT/MAKING BAZ MAKE HIM COMMIT TO THAT BY SAYING HE DOES ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT. AND THE SCENE WILL DEFINITELY AND FOR SURE WORK THIS TIME AMEN.]

It's possible these latest two yellings are leading me in the right direction, but I don't know yet, because I made those notes and then dusted off my hands and ran walked away for a month. We'll see. I've at least started thinking about it again. (The trick is apparently pacing small circles around your enclosure while you're on hold with customer support for an hour.)

Here's that other deleted scene, as a treat. It was a treat for me, anyway, because I don't remember writing it.

“Despite our best efforts,” Agatha muttered, and everyone looked at her. She raised her eyebrows. “She started it. I was out for a week because of her.” “You gave Agatha a concussion?” Baz smirked as Simon said, “You’ve had a concussion?” “Yes,” Niamh answered, and Simon added, “That explains it.” Agatha turned from whatever she’d been about to say, replacing it with, “Explains what?” Simon gave a sad little hum and nudged her chin. “Why you don’t even know what it explains.”

By the way, the actual final chapter is 45 pages at present. One (1) page deeper than the burial ground for its failures. Though the burial ground has a lot of gaps between graves. That probably adds a few pages.

Anyhow, I do sincerely hope y'all will be able to read it before another 7 months have passed. I'll do my best. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who's still tagging me in things, and I'm sorry I disappear a lot and don't shower y'all with the love you deserve for it <3

Here's an incomplete mess of tags, because I do need to go do many other less fun things now.

@fatalfangirl @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @moodandmist @cutestkilla @whogaveyoupermission @aristocratic-otter @alexalexinii @iamamythologicalcreature @facewithoutheart @bookish-bogwitch @artsyunderstudy @ileadacharmedlife @ivelovedhimthroughworse @run-for-chamo-miles @rimeswithpurple @thewholelemon @forabeatofadrum @monbons

[puella-1n-somn10]

🕊️Puella Magi Madoka Magica x Team Fortress 2: Medic and his Witch Form🕊️

word count w/o intro text: 10,651

(Over...two...months...of writing; thank FUCK I've managed to get this all down right on time for Halloween!)

This has been a long time consideration, and, according to one of my last few polls, ya'll really wanted to see how I would interpret Medic's witch form! Well, after a long-time wait, here's the rundown of how Medic's witch would look like in my mind!

Before we start, I highly recommend that you look at the list of trigger warnings present in the tags; the Team Fortress 2 universe, both in-game and outside of it, is no stranger to gruesome elements, so I strongly urge you to take a long look at them before proceeding. If any of the mentioned makes you uncomfortable in whatever form, look away now for the sake of your own health.

As expected, spoilers for Madoka Magica, Kazumi Magica, Tart Magica, Magia Record (especially the anime), and the Team Fortress 2 comics ahead! We are going to talk about one of the many stingers of the Puella Magi universe, after all! On top of that, there will be mentions of Heavy x Medic x Engineer, so if the ship doesn't sit right with you, I must sincerely apologize in advance; it is recommended to click away from this post if said ship is not your cup of tea at all.

With all that being said, let us begin with this mess of an analysis/ficlet post!

-The Wish, Possible Powers, and Soul Gem-

"Oh ho hoh! I have been in zhe wrong profession. I must learn zhis magic!"

Let's be blunt here for a second- he's already laid waste to whatever concept of "morals" present within the human consciousness that would prevent him from furthering his medical and experimental endeavors, and he's done so much without the use of an incubator's powers; from granting his teammates invincibility to bringing them back from the clutches of death. Ludwig's immoral, sickened mind, coupled with his medical skills and treatment of the human body as an art canvas, has allowed him to play God.

On the other hand, though he did align himself with the opposing Classic team for some time within the comics, he explained to the newly-resurrected Sniper that it was purely for financial reasons, and that he never harbored any ill-will towards his teammates. In fact, it would be safe for us to assume that he, in his mind, genuinely cares for his team, and made it one of his missions to turn them into unstoppable killing machines- into gods. He cherishes his fellow mercenaries...albeit in his own twisted, inhumane, and silly way.

Building upon the above, it is also clear that Ludwig is a responsible pet owner and genuinely cares for his doves, especially Archimedes. Yes, he does resort to using animal organs - especially the exotic kind - when fit in order to further his experiments and enhance his teammates' performances, but the contrast between that and his care for the birds is kind of a testament to how he treat other humans - especially the classic team - vs. how he treats the mercs and others close to him. For goodness' sake, he's put Classic Heavy's demands on a back burner and allowed Sniper to escape while he was too busy reviving Archimedes! Ludwig does have a heart and the capacity to care, but not much in terms of morals, if at all.

Wow, he would definitely get along with Alina Gray, huh?

So, right off the bat, it wouldn't be farfetched for Medic to be curious over Kyubey's wish-granting skills; he did make a deal with the Devil himself on two separate occasions within the official Team Fortress 2 comics (though the initial deal's conditions is still unknown to us), after all. How he came to figuring out the existence of the incubators is anyone's guess at this point due to his unpredictable nature, but, in my opinion, it can range from old folklore surrounding the species or simply finding out that one of the mercs had already contracted (my personal bets are either Heavy or Solly). I recommend going off the walls with this one; for all we know, he could have managed to detect spikes in magical activity around the base/island and forced himself into the world of Magi, Witches, and wishes- all the while a certain little bipedal fiend began to showcase an equal amount of interest in him for reasons we are going to dive into soon.

On to the main topic of his wish, it's quite simple, really; it would be related to his hunger for power/knowledge and furthering his research/scientific endeavors; promptly dissipating whatever is limiting his experimental pursuits (maybe even financial, as presented to us in the comics).

Another possible wish that he could have made might be rooted to the bonds he had formed with the mercenaries and the surprisingly deep respect he had shown to each one them on numerous occasions. Such fascination towards his teammates is even presented to us within the beta version of Meet the Medic, where he made his goal of enhancing them and turning them into beings akin to the divine as clear as daylight. I won't deny the fact that this man just keep on finding out new ways to break both the Hypocratic Oath and Geneva Conventions with each passing minute - and it's usually for his own amusement -, but he also seeks to sculpt each mercenary into the best versions of themselves not just as a testament to his own prowess, but also because of his fascination towards them; he just likes those goobers around him and sees the mercs as his fellow pals.

With all that being said, I personally don't believe that whatever power he gained as a result of these wishes would be on a similar caliber as his canonical healing skills; after all, even without Kyubey's interference, he has shown to be exceptionally skilled in his craft to the extent that he had deemed himself to be a god on multiple occasions- and none of them were without reason. Instead, I believe that the core theme of his new magical powers relate to limits- whatever barriers that prevented him from unlocking his and the rest's full potential, and fully dissipating them. Perhaps he can manifest organs, transfer them at high speeds, all the while making his surgeries a little easier for himself. The option of him being able to create little animated "familiars" of his own from the remains of both ally and enemy alike is also there. If you guys have better ideas, please don't hesitate to share; I'll have to admit that this coming up with wish-related powers is a personal weak point of mine, and I will be accepting any and all criticisms coming my way.

Finally, to close this section and move on to the next, I would also like to discuss the matter surrounding his soul gem, and how I would personally interpret it. I am unsure if what I am going to say next has been backed up by canon or not, but a nice detail that I have noticed whilst looking into the soul gems present in canon is that they often correspond with the eye colors of their respective magi; which brings to mind the idea of eyes being the windows to a person's soul. Even if it's not a mandatory rule for when it comes to designing a Magi (especially when we take Nagisa Momoe into account), we can still see this metaphor being at play on numerous occasions throughout the Madoka canons, and where else is it more evident than within Kazumi Magica and the Magia Record anime?

Putting it briefly, aside from just looking at their soul gem, another indicator of a magi's slip into witchhood is by looking into their eyes during their final moments; Michiru Kazusa's sclera turned completely dark as her pupils began to shift into scribbles, and Kuroe - poor, sweet Kuroe - had the same corruption her soul gem was undergoing being displayed from within, you guessed it, her eyes.

So, while I do believe that red could be a nice color for Ludwig's soul gem, as it would also correspond with him being on the RED team - as presented to us on the cover of Fight Songs -, I can also see that a striking blue could also fit our crazy bastard.

As for the emblems present on his soul gem's egg form and its shape upon transformation, I'm gonna be honest; this is gonna be a little more complex than the color part - especially with the soul gems of Tart Magica and Magia Record in mind -, but I will do my best to summarize it to the best of my abilities-

To make this easier for my sanity's sake, the red cross he is already associated with in-game will be present as the emblem on top of his soul gem, though the the one on the middle would probably be based on either his bonesaw, the Ubercharge, a realistic heart (as a tie-in to how the Ubercharge works), or his doves instead. The actual shape his soul gem take on upon transformation, on the other hand, would resemble a large, anatomical heart placed on the center of his chest - connected to the rest of it and his shoulders through glass arteries and veins - due to its sheer size; usually, a magi's soul gem is only large enough to fit within the palm of their hands, while Medic's could be as huge as his curled-up fist or even an ostrich's egg.

The cause behind this peculiarity will be thoroughly explained soon enough, but, for now, let us close this chapter up and move on to the next...

-Descent Into Despair-

Before we kick off this angst fest and start hypothesizing, we're gonna need to take a good look at the nature of the soul and how this ties into the existing similarities shared between Kyubey and Ludwig- yes, this will get wild, especially if you're in only one of those fandoms from the outside looking in, so it's best for you to buckle up, hon, 'cause we in for a fucking joyride.

According to multiple religious and philosophical texts, the soul is a vital, non-physical part of a human being; it is an individual's very core of existence. The soul isn't exactly abstract, per se, as it's believed to actually exist between the lines of this plane of reality and that of the intangible world, and that each person has a unique soul that is distinctly theirs; it is, by definition, metaphysical- that person is the soul, as much as the soul is them.

Despite the limitations placed upon us by the very nature of the soul, it can be treated as a tangible and even physical object within both the TF2 and PMMM canons; in the latter case, Kyubey was able to turn them into magical gems for the sake of both efficiency and "incubation" - the goal of turning his victims into despair-riddled witches that spread the very misery they are drowning in -, all the while, in the Team Fortress universe, they are treated as nothing more than organs that can be removed and then reapplied at will by the very hands of, you guessed it, our very own Ludwig Humboldt for the dual purpose of conning the Devil out of the ownership of his soul and, in turn, extending his own life span.

This brings us back to the very moment where Ludwig made his wish with Kyubey; as presented to us via both Sayaka Miki and Homura Akemi, the process of making a wish and establishing a contract with Kyubey is proven to be quite the painful procedure, as they were able to feel their souls being pulled right out of their bodies by Kyubey in order to remold the very cores of their whole existence into these magical jewels known as Soul Gems; shining with the wishes that bind them to the life of a Magi until they inevitably reach their grisly ends.

Medic, of all people, would absolutely be the first to know exactly how painful it would be to have one's soul be forcefully ripped out of one's own body; he had already done so to 8 other people before grafting the extracted essences into himself. As result of this forced amalgamation, the size of his soul gem would be, as already stated, much larger than average. As for Medic himself and his reaction to his accumulated souls being turned into this grand artifact of magical potential, he would be in a state of shock, awe, and perhaps even a tinge of conflict - from the pain alone, he knew that his souls were tampered with; extracted and reforged -, but they were miniscule when compared to the wave of amazement that washed over him as he held the newly formed symbol of his status as a magi in his hands, shining a brilliant red with the wish he made with the white devil before him.

If Medic had to be honest, he would say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the incubators sure knew what they were doing; despite the tinge of bitterness regarding his souls being torn out of him, it was undeniable that having his life essences be turned into an all-powerful jewel was rather efficient, especially when stranded within the chaotic, unforgiving battlefield. Besides, this deal not only granted him what he desired most in life, but it unlocked a whole new world for him to explore; the realm of the witches.

After his first witch hunt went off without a hitch, he looked at his soul gem...yes, it had dimmed a little, and, according to his newly-formed, four-legged acquaintance, its brightness reflected what magic he had left; the very power he had gained from their infernal deal. This knowledge, combined with the grief seed taking in the impurities he had accumulated, had sparked inspiration within him, and, inevitably, that little glimmer turned into a raging, uncontrollable wildfire.

As his lips curled into that deranged smile of his, he arrived to the conclusion that he needed to research both his soul gem and these otherworldly monsters. Oh, was he was ever-so excited; a whole new world of possibilities had unveiled before him! He knew he had to learn more about these witches, for they were prime candidates for new observations and experiments...

Besides, if things were to go awry, he would have his backup plans as safeguards. He looked at the large jewel on his desk, its light reflecting on his glasses, with a look of complete confidence- after all, he was Ludwig Humboldt, the RED team's medic; he had already played the classic team like the money-hungry fools they were, defied all known laws of life, death, and nature on the regular, and bested the Devil in his own game! What bases of morality and human decency were little more than etches on the wall to him, and he was willing to go above and beyond to ensure his own and the rest's survival.

He cackled; oh, there was no need for any worries, my friend! Whatever that may come to pass, he shall find a workaround. So, with his lips curling into that toothy smile of his, he went to work-

Just like clockwork, it didn't take long for his signature obsession to dig its talons; day by day, he would salvage what parts of these unfathomable creatures and bring them back to his infirmary- even going as far as to capture their familiars and the smaller witches to bring back. After all, killing these wicked creatures outright would just cause them and their barriers to fade away, so he had to think of workarounds in order to harvest as much useful parts of them as he could.

All that, and that is without even getting into the details of the bargain he had made with the little pale ferret- why, that rascal Kyubey could be considered a new good friend of his in his eyes! He had even experimented on the bipedal fiend, and the Incubator held no grudge towards the quack doctor (hence how he came into the knowledge of his entire species and the fact that they were a hivemind). Back on topic- yes, the contract in itself was agonizing, there was no denying that, but at least he had gained a myriad of benefits from their mutual agreement.

Yet, as the saying goes, the higher they soar, the harder they fall.

Within every enforced law and in every deal made, loopholes were an inevitability- Ludwig and Kyubey knew that all too well as the roles of the recipient and contractor respectively. Time and curiosity have worked hand-in-hand in order to nurture their individual experiences and wisdom surrounding this unwritten rule of the universe. As several blazing days turned into howling nights, Ludwig's intrigue towards the limitations set before him as both a mercenary and a Puer Magi grew; his souls being turned into a singular, portable trinket was effective, yes, especially with the magic he had gained and his more than impressive healing abilities making both jobs a lot more easier, but, of course, so much could go wrong in the long run-

Ah, and these witches- at this stage, he had accomplished what many had deemed to be either impossible or far too risky; lining up the walls of his laboratory, amongst the butchered appendages and organs of their kin, were the captured forms of smaller witches and familiars- some were still struggling to be set free, while the others have resigned themselves to their fates. Whenever Ludwig wasn't on either battlefields or experimenting on his teammates, he would be slicing and chopping these poor souls away- trying to see how they functioned, or even analyzing their individual reactions to his little tests. Each of these curse-driven monstrosities' very existence brought forth a cluster of enigmas that only Ludwig could unravel, and the answer to these riddles must be tied to the very core of these beings- whether we're talking about how they would function as a living organism...or their grief seeds.

Besides...in his mind, there was nothing wrong with getting a few more benefits for yourself, was there? So long as such a possibility could help him continue on with both his life and work without any worries over the unknown, he was willing to take that chance. He was more than willing to rise up in the face of these hindrances- even if it took nearly pushing his soul to its breaking point, or unleashing what horrors mankind is not ready for once he manages to crack open a grief seed, he was certain he would find his way through this maze.

Unfortunately, his trickery of the devil himself had rendered him too confident. This unassuming little creature was no devil.

The further he descended down the inferno, the more barricades he had encountered on his way; wounding and injuring him to no end. Even with his soul gem on the edge of shattering, the grief seeds he had gathered were torn apart, watching as his own teammates neared their own limits as he caught up with them during their own witch hunts- the result was the same; he needed to research this even further. The fact that the two objects were apparently made of the same material had led Ludwig to several hypotheses - even coming close to the truth himself -, but, let us be real here for a second- if he did manage to figure out the truth behind the witches, which, logically speaking, he would, would it even come close to bothering him?

In fact...who was to say that, by learning the origins behind these creatures, that he wouldn't embrace the corruption of his soul gem? That he wouldn't lay his old vessel to waste, and treat his ascension to a higher plane of existence as a new experience for him? If that wasn't the case, then wouldn't he also inadvertently boost the process by going through meaningless hoops in the attempt to prevent his pre-written fate?

When looking at a man like Ludwig, a man already too far gone, only cold insanity and sadism irradiated from him- possessing an uncaring glee over the prospect of being able to experiment on the less fortunate souls who got in his way. His insistence on carrying on with his research came to the shock of almost nobody; such was his habit, and the mercenaries got used to his antics over time- yet, as time passed, his grip on his frustrations, desperation, and ever-growing drive continued to waver; everything about this new perspective on life filled him with a sense of wonder, even the countless roadblocks he had encountered still gave him a sense of awe...

His soul gem was as large as it was powerful, yes; it would take a larger accumulation of filth in order to actually affect him in any way or manner, and the reserves of magic he had- oh, how brightly must his gem shine when at its peak! Yet, one must consider at what point will the accumulated filth become...irreversible- how, at a certain threshold, the process of gathering up enough grief seeds to make sure it stays at its brightest at all times will yield more drawbacks than prospects of restoration? That the net value of the magic restored will inevitably hit zero if not the negatives?

How many times must this cycle repeat itself in order for the magi to inevitably give up on keeping their own soul completely pure at all times?

Ludwig still managed to keep his magic reserves somewhat afloat; though his cheerful and friendly mannerisms haven't wavered a bit, he couldn't keep his attention away from the developments that were unfolding before him. The experiments he had conducted on both his soul gem and the grief seeds he had gathered up did not help at all; further damaging and tainting his core only to satiate his own curiosity. He saw no issues as darkness slowly consumed his soul gem- it was simply another phenomenon to experience and document, no? It wasn't like it was hurting him or anything- if anything grim were to occur, he had his backup plans...if he could find one that actually worked...

No matter what Ludwig did, it appeared that his core was strictly bound to this jewel; he wasn't able to separate the souls within it, and, no matter how many times he would place another soul within him, it would just fade away as soon as he reached for it- purifying his soul gem in the process and leaving Ludwig as hollow as he was before the tests.

...He needed to study this further.

Ludwig's worries and starvation for answers gnawed at him. Within his glass heart, shades of ebony and crimson danced around one another, with only a small glimmer of light flickering through the veins existing to provide any form of luminescence, and his eyes-

Mikhail felt a lump on his throat as he gazed into the medic's soul through them- his once bright, fear-inducing blue eyes were beyond bloodshot, and, by his life, he could have sworn he saw the particles of his overheals float amidst the chaos. Still, Misha gulped down his worries as he placed the sandwich on Ludwig's desk and expressed his concerns over his health- to which the doctor thanked him - for both the meal and his considerations -, and assured the Heavy Weapons Guy before him that it was really nothing to flutter his feathers over, in his own words.

It was all going to be worth it soon. He knew it.

Tensions within the RED base grew with every passing day, and nobody sensed it more than Mikhail and Dell Conagher; though Ludwig would insist that he was alright - that it was all a part of the usual routine - and how close he was to a breakthrough, the two couldn't help but look out for the well-being of their medic. For the last few weeks to come, the two would keep a close eye on him- checking on the guy every now and then - as much as they could -, and making sure he hadn't completely lost himself.

His answers were becoming more cryptic as time passed; no matter how much Dell would ask and express his concerns, Ludwig would still act nonchalant, even as his eyes continued to darken with and his health evidently took a nosedive. This was no need for the concern, my friend; he continued to promise the engineer that it was all working out fine, and that he'll be okay once it's all over. Dell still kept his guards up; worried that, one day, Ludwig's gonna go completely off the rails- his and Mikhail's resolution to keep that man safe grew with each conversation they had with him. Something just ain't completely sound here, and he'll have to be there for him when that time comes.

What a hollow vow.

Days blurred with one another in Ludwig's mind. Each passing second held little to no significance to him anymore. No, he had to continue on with his hunts- he needed to. His doves looked at him with worried expressions; the lab was a mess, with papers and feathers scattered everywhere, the lights burnt out, and Ludwig himself slouched on the chair- illuminated by moonlight, and still carrying that damned gem.

And...he was never as satisfied as he was right at this very moment.

He looked down at his beaten-down, darkening soul gem- it was all worth it, no? He gazed into the flickering crimsons as though he was in a daze. He was exhausted, unable to get up on his feet, but he didn't mind that at all. His team will understand soon enough...

The light within his soul gem went into a frenzy- he smiled from ear to ear, for it was finally time; the hour of revelation had dawned upon him. Like a grand supernova, it collapsed into itself.

Ludwig tilted his head backwards, still fascinated by what was happening before him even as all life escaped his eyes. He embraced the corruption consuming him, and, with a crack and a flash of bright light, the entire RED base was sent into chaos.

-The Witch's Nature-

In short, this is tied to the personality/aspect of a magi that did them in; what drove them to slip into despair with their skulls cracking wide open upon impact. To provide a few set examples; Homulilly's was Self-Sufficiency (closing herself off from others as both Moemura and Cool Homu), Oktavia's was to Fall in Love (the infatuation with both Kyosuke and the ideal of a Magical Girl marked poor Sayaka's end), and Candeloro's was inviting (Mami's coping mechanism to deal with her loneliness- and the irony of her dragging innocents into the life of a magi). It can also reflect the intent behind their wish (Sayaka and Madoka) or how they would cope with the life of a magi and the responsibilities that come with it moving forwards prior to their demise (Mami, Kyoko and Homura).

Unfortunately, it is rather....difficult to describe the traits and convictions that cause such complex characters to do what they have done in a single sentence, much less a word or two. For all anyone would know, any of the mentioned above - cause of their wishes, how they cope, and what finally marked their ends - could have been driven by a multitude of a magi's traits and goals, and Ludwig was no exception.

To make this easier on everyone, myself included, I have divided most of the traits that have pushed Lud over the edge into separate segments. The suggested natures listed below are in no particular order; one can fit the bill more than the other. Though I have chosen only one of them for the witch card, ya'll are free to reinterpret it with any of the other suggested natures.

Desperate

Cunning

Wonder

Sadistic

To Experiment

Observant

Curious

-The Witch's Appearance-

"I have a bird head! You're dominated! We're both having a bad day."

This might either be the most fun or the most agonizing segment of the entire thing. As a matter of fact, aside from his descent to despair, this part took me the longest to conceptualize, and it's still not 100% complete in my eyes, oh dear oh me-

Right off the bat- the witch has to be gruesome. I am not placing heavy emphasis on this one just because this is Medic we're talking about and how we're all aware of his...peculiar views on his job and the human body, but it's also due to the aforementioned souls he's surgically implanted into himself prior to contracting. Let me state this again- before managing to find and ensure a contract with Kyubey, the man had already managed to turn the abstract concept of a soul into nothing more than an organ that can be grafted into himself; that ferret's nifty trick is no longer special.

To showcase exactly why the topic of Lud having multiple souls is so integral here, we have to recall that, throughout the Puella Magi canon, we have witnessed witches fusing with one another via various means; it has been stated that Walpurgisnacht was a singular witch who fused with others over time, and Kazumi Magica's Hyades Daybreak was an artificially-created witch born from the fusion of multiple soul gems. You could argue that Madokami is another such example thanks to Homura's resets and wish having her as the main focus; thus binding her to multiple iterations of herself across numerous timelines (as is it made clear to us with Madokami's transformation sequence in Magia Record).

The point being is that not only is Medic's witch's stupidly powerful, but I doubt it would be pretty to the eyes; unlike Madoka, those souls weren't originally his, and the way that he fused himself with said souls is thanks to his, let's say, bizarre surgical skills, and not due to whatever logic is behind the witches' ability to fuse with one another. Think of the core of his very being as an amalgam; whether he's retained his original soul from the Devil's ownership upon contracting or not is up to you, but the idea still stands nonetheless. It wouldn't just be some Frankenstein-esque monstrosity with stitches, additional appendages, and mismatched skin, either; the organs representing the souls he had stolen are there for all to see just beneath his unassuming, reliable, and even charming exterior.

Now that we've gotten some key details written down, we are going to have to examine his role, self-image, history, and the impact his actions had on the rest of the team in order to actually, well, design the bastard's personification of obsession and despair; these four elements are crucial for when it comes to designing a decent witch that would not only fit in the world of Madoka Magica, but also drive home the idea that these witches were once Magi themselves- with their own dreams and goals.

We'll kick this off by looking at Ludwig's role in the canon of Team Fortress 2; he is the de-facto healer, but he's less interested in actually helping the ill and is more into the idea of tinkering with the human form- going as far as to use animal organs for his whack scientific endeavors for the goal of satisfying his curiosity. His healing abilities are also stated to be side-effects of his knowledge regarding human anatomy- even the Medigun wasn't initially supposed to be healing the mercs, according to the lore provided for us.

While on topic, I should also bring Medic's gameplay onto the table; though he is one of the weaker classes when speaking in terms of strength, making sure your team's medic stays on the map for as long as you could is crucial. Think of him as the king piece on a chess board; once your doc out of the picture, not only will your team start to drop like flies, but you'll lose some of that sweet, sweet Uber time. There is a reason as to why Medics tend to stay around the more resilient classes rather than glass cannons like Scout; survival and defenses.

Next up, we'll talk about his self-image and how he is perceived by the rest. As we can tell, he takes much delight in his work and his experiments on other human beings- he doesn't see anything to worry about his interests and the peculiar way he goes about it, no matter how extreme it is. Obviously, the man's not in-tune with the concept of human morality- going as far as to see these unwritten rules of humanity as nothing more than roadblocks on the way of his life.

In spite of his...screws being more than loose, as I already stated above, it isn't like he sees his fellow mercenaries as lesser beings when compared to himself; he does like them, albeit in his own amoral, gory way - he wouldn't have granted them the power of invincibility otherwise, among the other feats in modern science he had accomplished in order to save his team's asses -. Yeah, he does experiment on them, but, at this point, that's just how he says "hello"- and, when compared to what he did to the Classics, the adjustments made were for the active benefit of his team (...most of the time).

From all this, we can tell that his witch is on the more dangerous side (AS IF THE EXTRA SOULS DIDN'T DO THE JOB?)- with a dash of grace, of course; a reflection of his friendly exterior hiding away his twisted interests and "job"- and, fellas, he adores his work. He holds no regards for the safety of his patients and how outlandish his experiments are; he already kept an enemy Spy's head alive in a fridge, for corn's sake. Nonetheless, he is still a competent doctor- more than competent, in fact; when given the right tools, organs, time, and budget- death is no more than a small hurdle to him. He also genuinely cares for his fellow mercs, even going as far as to call them his friends; maybe that's how the witch will see his own familiars? What if he also tries to smile, joke around, and sing lullabies as he cuts open his human victims?

By looking at this being, only unfathomable, suffocating dread surrounded you- for you were in the presence of he who holds the thread between life and death. This creature before you- no, that isn't right...this deity looked down upon his next patient; surrounded by the lifeless husks of his familiars and their victims, he was rather annoyed over the prospect of having his work be interrupted, but he was also more glad that a living being had wandered into the operating room. Yes, he knew it now; a sadistic sense of glee beamed from the monster as he knew that the next medical trial will be a lot more interesting than he had expected.

Finally, to wrap things up, we glance at his history. Now, I am going to give you guys the heads-up in advance, because not only will this segment be composed of speculations for the most part, but we will be discussing themes of ethn1c gen0c1de. If this topic is in any way triggering, scroll down to the part where we talk about either the latter part of his design, his barrier- or just skip right to the Witch's Card. Clicking away from this post altogether is also highly encouraged.

Much of Ludwig's history is currently kept wrapped under shadows- we were told of Mikhail's, Tavish's, Jeremy's, Dell's, Mundy's, and even Jane's lives before they joined RED/BLU and partook in the Gravel Wars, but, aside from the enigmatic Pyro, Medic was the only one whose backstory was never clearly given to us. All we have to go off of are the bits and pieces peppered across the official website(s) and several official cosmetics-

We all know that he was native to and lived in Germany "during an era where the Hippocratic Oath had been downgraded to an optional Hippocratic suggestion" until he had escaped it by hijacking a catering van during a prime minister's wedding for reasons currently unclear to us - it has been speculated it was due to him having stolen a man's whole skeleton, but he had stated that he lost his medical license soon after the incident -. In the Two Cities update, one of the signs present in Rottenburg, his hometown, was that of a pharmacy advertising a number of...odd products, one of which being Baboon Hearts (leading to the speculation that his name has to be Humboldt- as it was the name of said pharmacy and the confirmation that Medic descended from a line of mad scientists like himself). We also know that he had found and then adopted his doves, namely Archimedes, as he escaped via grand theft catering van.

These should be all he scraps we were given in regards to Ludwig as a character outside of his job and the mercenary business, right? Weeeeeeelll....not quite. There is still one more jigsaw puzzle we should piece together, and, when combined with the time period TF2 takes place in, it does not paint a pretty picture of his life prior to becoming a mercenary. Folks...

We have to talk about Ludwig's Jewish coding, and the implications it has in regards to his backstory when combined with the timeline of the Team Fortress universe.

Though it was never explicitly stated to us, several aspects of Medic do shine a light towards this specific direction; to make this easier for us all, I'll just be listing down the evidence present across the canons of both the game and the comics-

The theme song of his bird, Archimedes, that plays during his surgery on Heavy in Meet the Medic is Klezmer music- Yiddish folk music

His pronunciation of "Danke Schon" is the Yiddish way

In the Gargoyles and Gravel comic, he was dressed up as the openly Jewish Albert Einstein for Halloween

The most damning of all, Valve's insistence that Medic is NOT a N-zi; especially with how fanmade cosmetics that portray him in such a way are often taken down almost immediately

Now, I do understand the fact that Ludwig is far from a saint, but...you have to understand the sheer, vile evil the N-zis and their ideology embody- and, unfortunately, he was also another target for their venomous rampage. Add in the fact that it was at full swing back when Lud was a young adult and he probably witnessed the rise of the heinous ideology when he was a little sap, and...there is no way I can say this lightly-

Ludwig had lived through dark, heinous years. Maybe he's always been this crazy, maybe what was left of his sanity had shattered to brittle pieces thanks to what he and countless others were forced to experience- perhaps he was already insane, but the slaughters and oppression were a whole other degree of evil to him; of course, until the writers at Valve say otherwise, all this falls upon how you personally interpret Medic as a character and how he coped with his backstory.

Though this is all just simple speculation based on what bits and pieces of the man's background we were given officially, it does bring into question what Lud had experienced outside of his medical endeavors. Besides, topics surrounding the second world war have already been explored in the world of TF2- Heavy's backstory is one example, where he and his family were sent to a gulag following the imprisonment and execution of his father, a counter-revolutionist; they only managed to escape once it had burnt down. The trauma of the experience still lingers within Mikhail, as was shown to us in A Cold Day in Hell, so such a backstory for Ludwig is not out of the realm of possibility.

With all that in mind, one must wonder about the kinds of thoughts that were running through Ludwig's mind during that time, and place his escape from Germany under a different light. I must, once again, repeat the statement that Ludwig is not a good man, but did that justify whatever he possibly went through? He even went as far as to crash a political figure's wedding in order to flee; was it because of the hilarity factor TF2 and Medic as a character are well-known for - namely after he stole that dude's skeleton -? Or was there another aspect at play- one of utmost urgency? After all, leaving one's home country for good has got to be a difficult decision- he didn't even return to Rottenburg when Grey Mann took over, implying that, unlike the rest, he didn't have anything waiting for him back home...

Ah, it wasn't like it mattered to him nowadays, anyway; nay, he dared not to think about it any further- all that mattered to him now were his research...his experiments...

So, with all the complicated stuff set on the table, let's move on to the simpler bits of a witch's design- the glue that tie all these bits and pieces together!

Where do we start? With the Magi's own design, of course! After all, Oktavia's knightly theme didn't just come from Sayaka's desire to become a hero/Kyosuke's knight in shining armor, and don't get me started on Homulilly's final form. I am certain that there are other witches that would also help get the point across, like Charlotte, but let's not extend this segment too much.

Upon taking a closer look, we can see that Ludwig's design invokes the imagery of a dove - just like how the little nubs on Nagisa's hat are reminiscent of mouse ears (and we all know how her witch form looks like) -, especially with the ends of his coat resembling a dove's tail feathers. Several cosmetics of his that are present in the game also boost this specific theme of his, especially the Blighted Beak mask, the Wings of Purity, and, of course, the infamous Medimedes bird head.

Of course, this might be a reference to the doves in his lab - there we go, simple as that -, but I don't think that's all there is to it; remember, for an amoral, crazed man like Medic, he is still represented by holy themes, much like any other healer in most media. When you think of a healer, you think of a person who swore under the oath of not doing any harm, and have devoted themselves to the life of pacifism...everything that Medic is not. In fact, Medic himself invokes the fear of being before the almighty; how small and utterly insignificant we are in his eyes, and that, to a being with a mind like Ludwig's, our lives are in the palms of his hands to toy with.

Ah, sacricore and holy themes- don't we just love them? The idea of a savior is definitely written down; a brilliant being with evidence of the slaughter staining his hands. Doves are also gonna be heavily referenced- what kind of Medic-related design are we working on if we didn't give him a pair of wings or two?

As a matter of fact, who is to say that the witch isn't a mad, humanoid-ish dove? With his crooked, bright smile and unfeeling red eyes being hidden by his aura and brilliant, white feathers? You think you might be in the presence of a god of hospitals and medicine, and he even approaches you with such a cheerful demeanor; happy to see a patient stumbling into his lab! That is, until you see how red the ends of his feathers are, how wide that smile is under that plague mask of his, and his eyes...

Hang on- is this a plague mask to begin with? As your eyes finally focus...you can see that it is jutting out of his skin- it's not a mask, but a part of his skull.

Next, we are going to focus on the magi's weapon and what powers they had prior to witchification; now, I am aware that their weapons and their powers are not always reflected in their witch designs - coughs coughs, Kriemhild and Homulilly -, but it does appear to be an "either/both/neither" case for when it comes to analyzing and designing them - I mean, just look at Ophelia -. Besides, Team Fortress 2 is a combat-oriented game, so it would be of great disservice to the game if I did NOT incorporate the main vessel in which you would use to bludgeon your enemies to smithereens with.

Once more, the Medic's main shtick is healing and granting your team a wide number of buffs depending on the medigun equipped; the Kritzkrieg grants a 100% crit chance upon activation, the Vaccinator provides immunity/reduced damage against several damage types, and don't get me started on the number of buffs a Medic can grant their team alone in the Mann vs. Machine mode. For now, we'll just be focusing on the classical Medigun, and how it grants invincibility to both himself and the person he is healing upon activation.

As seen in Meet the Medic, this was possible due to the adjustments made on each of the mercs' hearts- or, what replacements they have received in place of said organs, considering that even HEAVY'S had burst from the pressure caused by his medigun's rays. It is shown to us that the heart begins to pump at an accelerated rate upon activation, likely to spread the influence of the medigun at full power through the subject's veins; turning them into a bulletproof behemoths ready to turn the enemy team into a pile of mush.

From this alone, we can pinpoint the idea that hearts are an important motif in his witch's design. I'd also wager that he'd also possess powers that aren't unlike the functionalities of his medigun; allowing him to heal himself, his familiars, and even other witches at close proximity- bloodthirsty, erratic mercenary or not, he is still the team's doctor. Once the witch starts glowing red, you only have a few seconds to either find a weak point as soon as you could or make a break for it.

To further build upon this theme, attached to his back, not looking too dissimilar to how his medigun backpack, are vials filled with fluid that each resemble the lights of a soul gem at its limit. Within them, he stores his victim's souls, blood, guts, and organs for future usage. How did they get here? Why, with his other appendage hidden inside his forearm; resembling a combination between a saw and a needle. It is easy to use a surgical knife, yes, but some patients are...less than cooperative.

Before we unveil the finalized-ish idea for the witch, I should also take a second to talk about his hypothetical barrier and possible witch's kiss/warlock's whisper. It is true that the most powerful witches in-canon don't exactly need to hide in their barriers - case in point, Walpurgisnacht, Kriemhild Gretchen, Hyades and Shitori Egumo -, but, if we go by the concept art pertaining to Kriemhild Gretchen, we can see that they do have labyrinths they call their own. Even Walpurgisnacht has a pocket space she calls her home; it's the none other than the monochrome hallway Madoka was running through during episode 1, as confirmed by the PSP Game. If neither Walpurgis nor Kriemhild were exempt from this rule, then it shouldn't be surprising to see that this also applies to Ludwig's witch.

As stated in the January 2012 issue of Dengeki Playstation, a witch's labyrinth represents "the magical girl's mental landscape before they became a witch"; Oktavia's was a concert hall- resembling the one where she would watch Kyousuke play the violin, Candeloro's a tea party for one- representing how she would cope with her loneliness and the fact that she arranged her meetings with Madoka and Sayaka as tea parties -, and, according to the aforementioned concept art, Kriemhild's barrier is an obsidian and magenta void full of floating furniture- specifically those of her and her mother's rooms.

From these examples, we can assume that the barrier represent core memories of the magi before they fell into despair, and are either tied to the reason behind their wishes or how they coped with their lives after contracting:

Madoka had a healthy family life in comparison to the other members of the holy quintet, and it is thanks to the environment she was raised in that she ended up becoming the merciful, selfless girl that we all know today

Everything about Homulilly's barrier just represent how much Madoka meant to Homura, even if she didn't exactly see her perspective 1:1; as such, the rundown state of Mitakihara City not only represents her time loops and how it is the setting for all her time loops, but also how she failed to protect Madoka in the end and to grieve the normal life they could have had- had it not been for the universe and everything it stood for standing against them (it might also foreshadow the choice she had made at the end of Rebellion; trapping her team and the rest of the city in a gilded cage so that the incubators will not have a chance at hurting Madoka ever again)

Nagisa didn't have much of a social life outside of school, her run-down home, and visiting the hospital where her mother was at- and it is within that hospital that she proclaimed that she was done with being the perfect daughter to someone who barely deserved it; that it was her turn to take control

We can even tell that Sayaka watching Kyousuke's concerts was such a pivotal moment in her life because of how this specific memory was shown to us at least twice during the series; when she explained what happened to him and the cause behind her wish, and as soon as her soul gem had reached the point of no return- albeit for a split second.

Of course, this is not necessarily a strict rule to follow for when it comes to designing and deciphering witch labyrinths; H.N Elly's barrier resembles a snow globe in composition - according to production notes -, Charlotte is having a tea party with a doll in which both of them are unable to respond, and...I am not 100% sure on what to make of Ophelia's barrier- though I will come back to it later. Barriers don't have to be based on actual locations that are significant to the magi's life; rather, they can be manifestations of their desires prior to witching out- Elly wished to preserve a happy memory that gave her a shred of respite in the midst of the stressful life of an idol; and the tea party symbolizes the relationship Nagisa craved from her mother, that she was the timid one of both parties- silent as a doll, and how ultimately hollow that wish is- in the end, it's just a toy; it cannot respond to her even if she could speak, nor could it comfort her.

Unsurprisingly, I can see that Ludwig's barrier could be an infirmary...no, that can't be right; after all, Ludwig does what he does not out of compassion for the sick, but because he could. He seeks to change and perfect the mercs; turning them into unstoppable killing machines forged by his own hands and mind. He usually does all this to satisfy that itch in his mind and the excitement whatever results he gets from these surgeries bring him. It looks like a place of respite for one's health, but it is a death trap, first and foremost.

As a reference to his escape from Germany, maybe Ludwig's doves are still flying around the barrier; blood and feathers staining the floors and hallways, and themes of uprooted trees are peppered in as paintings and ruined potted plants. This represents the panic setting in and high speeds of the van, on top of how he came to discover and adopt these feathery companions of his, while the uprooted tree symbol suggests that he has nothing waiting for him back home in Germany; the other mercenaries went back home after the events of Rings of Fired (sans Pyro and Engie) except for Medic, after all. Maybe he was just lucky(?) enough to immediately land a job amongst the classic mercs, or perhaps...he just couldn't go back "home", not after everything.

Going back to the canonical barriers for a sec, one part of when it comes to designing a proper labyrinth is that, sometimes, a person can sway your heart so much they could change the trajectory of your ideals and influence the way you look at both your actions and the world around you.

This is most evident in Ophelia's barrier, as seen to us in Madoka Magica Portable; though it's hard for me personally to decipher exactly what it is, there's a fuck-ton of symbolic elements literally swimming around there, including musical notes floating from the ground and into the air. I don't think I need to specify exactly what said notes represent here.

Since there are multiple rooms within a barrier that can serve different functions, perhaps there's an outdoors segment where the magi first end up in; a frigid winter wonderland threatening to turn this labyrinth's visitors' limbs into unfeeling, darkened blocks of frozen meat falling off their bones. The only salvation from this bitter cold is to enter the interior segments of the barrier, and, even then, you are still not at all safe; his familiars are still on high alert- whenever they aren't "looking after" the other patients present -, and the infirmary in of itself is nothing more than the lure of an anglerfish- fooling the humans who have stumbled into it and punishing them to a fate worse than death.

The conveyor belt stretches through the halls of the labyrinth and leads right to the center; the operating room. There, the doctor awaits either his next batch of organs - human or otherwise - or a new patient. Ah, how everything runs smoothly; the bloodshed, the violence, the screaming- such fine melodies, they nearly compelled him go and play a tune on his "bone" saw at this very moment.

Another small detail that I want to pepper in is that there are the sounds and vibrations of a heart beat that echo through the halls of the labyrinth's interior sections. Perhaps there are slices of lavish wedding cakes (the van), pretzels (Germany), and all manners of bread (the mercs and that bread monster) that are being served in the canteen- and, before you ask, no, I would not recommend eating them. I know I already said that hearts are a core theme of the witch's design itself, and maybe the canteen thing is a bit too farfetched, but, hey, a nice detail is a nice detail.

Finally, so we can wrap this whole segment up already, we'll discuss the details of his witch's kiss/warlock's whisper. Now, Witch Kisses in-canon are...weird; they hold less consistencies than the witches themselves and their barriers, so it is hard to draw out the necessary similarities needed to create a decent design. Some witch's kisses are tied to the witch's type (Uhrmann, Homulilly), designs (Oktavia, Elly), and their grief seeds (Kriemhild). Sometimes, I have no idea on what they represent at all! (CANDELORO) I'm just gonna go on a limb here and just...wing it.

-BADUM TSS-

Okay, okay, that was horrible, I'm sorry. Indeed, wings will be a key theme- specifically 6 of them; not only are they reflective of him being a dove, but also to boost the holiness theme he has going on and to symbolize his earlier deal with the devil. In the middle of it, a clawed, red hand grabs on to an anatomical heart; whether he is handing it out or taking it for himself is unknown. Upon closer inspection, one can see that it is affecting the victim's veins, causing the area around the whisper to turn into a deep, glowing red; remember how the ubercharge works, people.

Finally, finally, after two months of hard work - two months of AGONY -, we have it; the moment we have all been waiting for...

-Witch Card-

Asclepius, the Warlock of Reconfiguration. His nature is wonder. A revolting, mad avian who conceals his sickened mind with the appearance of a plague doctor, and a charming, silver tongue. Upon gathering up those who would become the volunteers and patients for his latest medical trials, his very own ward begins to choir and hum with every slice and stitch made on his victims' bodies; readjusting and mutilating their forms to fit what piqued his mind at the hour.

The leftover organs are then either stored for his future endeavors, swallowed whole by the warlock in order to improve upon his own self, or are kept alive - perhaps even conscious - within his barrier as a testament to his prowess; eternally trapped and wailing for the liberation of death.

-Familiars-

Galatea. Servants of the Warlock of Reconfiguration. Their duty is to worship. The warlock's beautiful creations- the culminations of his medical curiosities. Right out of the operating tables, they would test out the enhancements blessed to them, and continue to be of good use to the warlock by defending his infirmary and the operating room. Those who cross paths with the Galateas will not see a hint of hesitation- they are willing to keep the bloodshed around the labyrinth ongoing for the sake of their doctor, even at the cost of their own lives.

Though the warlock prefers the blank slates that are the humans who get admitted to his infirmary, he would still pick apart at and experiment on his Galateas, whether in order to fix them, enhance them using the organs of his victims, or to salvage as much of their parts as he could- perhaps in order to rebuild them in the future.

(Familiars are said to be "projections of a magi's heart before they became a witch"; as result, their duties can range from directly serving the witch - the Holgers representing Sayaka's desire to be in the center of Kyousuke's attention, and the Anthonies are tasked to care for the roses Gertrud cherishes from the bottom of her heart -, to becoming obstacles to all, sometimes even to the witches themselves - the Klarissas' only task is to dance around Oktavia, Anja's stated to have been separated from Albertine, and dare I talk about how the Clara Dolls represent Homura's self-loathing over her inability to save Madoka? -. It isn't uncommon to see that a familiar can be based on significant key figures in the magi's life, especially if they were either related to the wish they made or the cause(s) behind their despair.

These buggers here symbolize Ludwig's love for not just mutilation, but also reinventing the way his teammates' organs function- and, as I mentioned before, his deep trust in the mercenaries. He also compared himself to the divine on numerous occasions and is followed by multiple holy motifs in spite of his little deal with the devil going on; he was even followed by a choir and his doves flying behind him as soon as he stepped into the battlefield in Meet the Medic.)

-

Hubris. Servants of the Warlock of Reconfiguration. Their duty is donation. Bound by their hauteur and the broken bones of their bounties, these pathetic prisoners of the warlock have been chained and are treated as nothing more than livestock by both their master and his other servants. Watching their own organs and other body parts be pulled apart from one another before regenerating once more for the continuation of this cycle has drained all hope of ever escaping their punishments from their eyes- not with these atrophied limbs and sore boils.

Their stringy, rotting flesh provide little to no sustenance for neither the warlock nor his other familiars, and are too fragile to use for his medical trials - hence the need for human patients -. Nonetheless, they are bound to these spare operating tables, awake at all times, as the claws of the other servants pick apart and toy with each and every one of their fibers. The warlock finds humor in their agonized howls.

(They resemble misshapen versions of the TFC team - barring their own medic -, since we are going with the assumption that he took their souls rather than those his own teammates. Why I went with the idea of the classics themselves becoming his familiars is and are not just projections of how Medic saw them during his time working with them is due to how both Walpurgisnacht and Hyades Daybreak had their respective original forms re-manifesting as their own familiars.

Yes, Cheavy gets the worst of it.)

-

Archimedes. An old friend of the Warlock of Reconfiguration. His duty is attendance. As he glides through the bloodstained halls of the infirmary, this dove, whose pristine feathers have long since been soaked with a deep crimson throughout his master's countless trials, would not only take part in the warlock's surgeries as the role of a willing audience, but he would also stand by and even assist (Asclepius) - all the while satisfying his own morbid, sickened curiosity -. Of all familiars, the warlock treats this one with the most respect, understanding, and fatherly affection.

(Not a familiar that looks like the bird, not a familiar that is inspired by the bird- it's the fucking bird itself.)

-Inspirations-

In-game:

His doves, and the fact that Archimedes was a WEDDING DOVE before Medic found him

Him hijacking the chancellor's van during his wedding in order to escape Germany (and eventually finding then adopting Archimedes who was within it)

His silver tongue clashing with or weirdly complementing his deranged personality and actions; would it translate into his witch looking more humanoid, among other traits? Well...

His usage of animal organs to compensate for the fragility of human organs might make the humanoid aspect of his witch sort of moot

His bonesaw and how he plays it like a violin (non-conventional musicals?)

The Vita-saw

Ubercharge

Him playing cosmic systems like a damn skipping rope to his advantage (reviving Sniper and having multiple souls sewn into himself in order to scam the Devil out of their deal). This does not work with Kyubey, like, sir, your surname ain't Kaname, if memory serves me right

The Blighted Beak cosmetic; its Vibrio Cholerae style specifically, as it would better fit Inu Curry's art style

Medic's gameplay in both the vanilla game and the V-Script Zombie Infection mode

"And no wonder! For even the devil disguises himself as a being of light." - His association with themes that are considered "holy" and "good" in Meet the Medic and several of his own cosmetics...yeah, no need for me to go into detail as to how ironic this all is

Outside Influences:

The Greatest Living Show by Itoki Hana and Toby Fox (wow, I have an addiction to Itoki Hana's songs, don't I?)- evident especially with the heart beats in his barrier

Repo! The Genetic Opera

German fairytales- especially with how some of them revolve around mortals dealing with otherworldly beings

-Closing Statements-

To be completely honest, I wish I was able to actually draw this shit and not make ya'll read through this drag of a document and leave the gist of it up to your imaginations. I also have to apologize for how rushed it is near each segment's ending; I initially wanted to publish this around the start of October, but it was far, FAR from finished by the time it rolled around.

This has been a wild 2 or so months; constantly looking up references and refining the concept time and time again along the way, and it is still not perfect (especially with how the description of the warlock's appearance), but, overall, I am very happy to have managed to deliver it during spooky season.

I should also give a huge thanks to @bluethepearldiver! Not only did they support me incredibly so throughout the process of writing this in ways I cannot write down so easily, but they've also helped me with the names of his familiars and that RAW line ("Unfortunately, his trickery of the devil himself had rendered him too confident. This unassuming little creature was no devil.")! So, please, do give them the support they deserve ;0;

Once more, I am more than willing to listen to suggestions and criticisms; I'm aiming to not just improve upon Asclepius, but also the other mercs' witch forms when the time comes (I even have a concept for Scout's)! Do not be afraid to send an ask or even tag me regarding the matter- I'll do my best to reply (if Tumblr gets its head outta its ass and does its job notifying me for once)!

Thank you all so, so much for reading all this! I appreciate any and all engagements and feedback coming my way.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Uh. Hmm.

So this is a topic that's kind of hard to talk about due to the polarization of it in general but it's something I have some thoughts about. Recently Kamala Harris on the campaign trail on one of the few times she is actually spoken to the public, has gone out on a limb and said that you should be thankful to unions because you would literally have absolutely nothing if not for unions.

This type of rhetoric actually annoys the hell out of me, because while yes there are times when unions are a good thing unions are not the be all end all. Actually it's much more common that unions themselves become corrupt and make it so it is impossible for you to move up in your own workplace. Specifically, prioritizing employees that have been at a place longer even if they do not deserve to move up because they are lazy. Because what happens typically, is that the top brass of the company will pay off the leadership of the Union which means that you are effectively under two entirely separate power structures. One of which, you actually have to pay to be a part of. Except it gets worse than that. Because often you don't have a choice but to pay to be part of a union at a job site. What's even worse, is sometimes stipulations for you even being able to work at a place is that you will join their Union.

And what's worse, it is often times the case that you cannot go to actual employer when something bad happens to you. Often times you have to go to the union leaders and hope they do something about it instead which can sometimes be bad, because unions often do not have the same form of HR that companies do. And companies will frequently wash their hands of employee issues once a union is formed.

Long story short, unions are not always a good thing. And a lot of people treat them like God's gift to mankind. As if no one would ever have anything ever if not for unions. But that is factually untrue. Mind you this post is not specifically denigrating all unions because it is not the case that all unions are bad. I just take issue with the new personification of unions as if they are perfect and flawless in every way and that they are the only thing that exists in the world that gives help to people as if many a job out there don't already have programs in place to give you time off and what not. Hell, Kamala Harris literally got up on stage and said 5 day work weeks are because of unions and having two days off is actually because of unions. No they are not. It's fucking wild.

Honestly I'm just tired of this deification of Unions. My friend was forced to be in one at his last job and part of his pay went to that Union. What's more he was at the job for 6 years and was WELL qualified to move up. But other more lazy workers were "in line first" and the union had to do all haggling for raises and often didn't unless they really liked you. Unions can be just as bad if not worse than some predatory work places.

[that-starry-freak]

Ahhh yes, the "I Can Fix Them" au

Genuinely just a comfort au where I play with relationships and things. The actually story/plot of the au isn't too important. There is one tho!! Thats what this post is for, and for exploring some of the relationships in the au!

The au mostly follows Canon up until around Solar being brought back (though there is already kind of an established qpr between solar and Nexus that was disrupted by solar's death and Nexus becoming a villain, but yknow-)

After Solar is brought back, immediately is worried about Nexus. He ends up getting closer with Moon, but he is working on a way to help Nexus. 

He does end up finding him. But he can tell something is wrong as he talks to him, and nothing he says helps. So, he starts panicking, and does the one thing he can think of: kisses him.

AND IT WORKS?? (True loves kiss lmao)

no one knows how to this day, but for some reason the virus in Nexus just breaks when he kisses him and Nexus is free. Of course he feels so so bad for everything he did, and cries for awhile in Solar's arms till he passes out. Solar takes him home, and the family is very apprehensive of Nexus being back in the family, but they eventually warm back up to him (starting with Sun). Moon hates him still, though him and Solar are friends. Soemthing Nexus HATES, but it's mutual because Moon hate state Solar and Nexus are now dating (how yeah and they started dating)

On top of this, but Eclipse has to move out of the dimension because of Solar. So he goes to another dimension and moves into an apartment with Puppet and works as security for a small fazbear's pizza (yeah were saying fuck you to eaps i don't have the energy to watch it 😔)

Nexus and Solar are grateful for bringing Solar back. Nexus visits him quite a bit, ectopically cause he was the one who talked Earth into forgiving Nexus, so he's even more grateful. The two end up getting close, and Solar and Eclipse exchange letters a lot. But they can't actually see each other.

Solar and Nexus realizing they're both falling for Eclipse.

Yada yada it all ends up fine and Eclipse gets a new signature and they all can kiss now 👍

They are all healing and things, cause oh my god they're all SO FUCKED UPPPP

There's also probably stuff going on with Dark Sun, I havnt gotten that far yet. Idk what happens to him after Nexus is save.d he probably just disappears for awhile and Nexus jumps every time he sees Sun, because he was abused a lot by Dark Sun.

Nexus honestly isn't that close with Sun, less than before. Moon doesn't want him around Sun, and Nexus doesn't like looking at him because it makes him think of Dark Sun.

Monty dies idgaf. Bitch dies, Moon realizes how much of a bitch he is and hat he isn't good for Earth and confronts him and Monty tries to fight him and Moon kills him. No more Monty <3 (second au I've killed off Monty now)

Lunar isn't the biggest fan of Nexus but he gives him a second chance. He hates that he's dating Eclipse tho.

Moon eventually starts warming up to Eclipse. And Nexus, though that takes longer.

Uh- Sun and Bloodmoon are in a qpr- yeah-

Qpr blood/sun:

They met after [insert dead brothers name here] died. The remaining bloodmoon brother was incredibly vulnerable and terrified without counterpart. Sun, against his better judgment, reached out with help to them. They were suspicious at first, but eventually accepted.

They grew closer and the twin practically became like a cat to Sunny. They slept in his bed with him, and was by his side often. The family repeatedly asked if they were dating, but they denied it each time, sometimes even seeming kind of grossed out by it. Cause they weren't dating, it was a lot more complicated than that

Eventually Eclipse helps and they figure out how to bring back the dead twin. They Are… unsure, at first. So much as changed since they're death, and him and their twin were still separated… and the person who killed their original virus was so close with their brother? It was an uncomfortable situation, but they ended up becoming comfortable with it too, though wasn't as docile as their counterpart, much more talkative, talking for their twin usually

Eclipse/solar/nexus:

If you know you know. I won't say more here, but-

https://www.tumblr.com/that-starry-freak/760369555440861184/okay-wow-uhm-this-is-my-rant-about-eclipse-x?source=share

Solar and Moon:

God they're beasties. Bffs. It makes Nexus really insecure, but they're still friends. They talk about their Suns and their inventions and things. Sometimes they'll just quietly work together cause they're both bad at talking

They mostly avoid the topic of Nexus and Eclipse cause Moon can't stand them, but once Moon accidentally slipped an insult/a bit of shit talking and Solar just snapped. And yelled at Moon about how he should empathize with Nexus. He stormed off after. 

Later he tried to anxiously apologize to Moon but he just reassure him that he was right, and tried his best to give Nexus a bit more of a 2nd chance

Solar once, as a prank, painted an aroace flag on the entirety of one of the walls of Moon's room with washable paint. It took forever to get off and Moon made Solar do it. Eclipse was laughing the entire time both at the prank and his bf lmao.

Anyway yeah they're stupid antisocial nerd beasties

Silly and sad au

[fritzes]

rank the m1000s 👀🙏

ooh okay, I’m not gonna do the ones that keep changing around (I’m sorry maria I love you but your 1000 isn’t getting on the list):

indian wells. for non taylor fritz related reasons I SWEAR (okay maybe a little bit). I mean, it's literally tennis paradise. no other masters can really compare to this in my opinion, there's something really magical about it. it's the first combined 1000 of the year, it is absolutely carrying the "sunshine" in sunshine double (we'll get to miami later), and did any other 1000 get its very own maya edit? I don't think so

monte carlo (don't kill me!). ok picking something to be #2 made me realize that the drop-off from indian wells is real, I had a hard time with this one. and as much as I dislike monte carlo as a place... that court has off the charts vibes. the 2023 edition might be one of my favorite tournaments ever, and I like the way it kicks off clay season. the vibes guys, the vibes!

cincinnati. tbh I'm surprising myself with this one because I've never reeeeeally been able to take cincy seriously because like. it's in ohio. it's known for having players hang out at an applebees. but jokes aside, I kinda love it. the place on the calendar is good, it's a nice warmup for the us open. also influenced by recency bias because the 2023 edition, both wta and atp, were so good. I don't know, I really like its place in the tour, it's just so solid

rome. if you thought cincy had recency bias, let me introduce you to the daniil-incudced overrating of rome. this kinda occupies the same space as cincy, being the real warmup tournament for rg, and same as cincy, I like its place in the calendar and the tour. except, unlike cincy, this is clay season so insanity galore. iga double bageling pliskova in the final that one time will always be iconic and of course, the hard court specialist himself winning this tournament will elevate it forever

miami. "but maya! miami is cursed! it's always raining! how can you put it so high?" two words: jannik sinner. yeah the jannik miami narratives strike a chord in my brain like few other player + tournament pairings do and it makes me so insane that I kind of learned to make gifs just because I had a jannik miami gifset idea. other than jannik, despite the nature of it being very much cursed, it does usually produce some really good tennis in the last few rounds

madrid. ah, madrid. if we were going off of tennis alone, this would be top 3 easily. back to back amazing igaryna finals, carlos' magical 2022 run, andy murray beating rafa in the final in straight sets somehow, ons' win in 2022. alas, there is more that just the tennis, and the organization of this tournament is genuinely horrible and so fucking sexist. a tournament like this does not deserve the quality of tennis it gets

doha/dubai. yes I know they're two separate 1000s this year but they've always flip-flopped in the past so as a 1000, it's always been one entity to me (and there's nothing that would put one above or below the other). there's always really good matches, obviously iga consistently sweeps doha and it's amazing, but dubai also gave us krejcikova's absolutely ridiculous 2023 run and this year's final was amazing. always a solid tournament with some great tennis

montreal/toronto. I feel bad for putting it so low, but it's always been kinda meh to me. 2023's chaos aside, this is the tournament where top players find their feet on hardcourts after wimbledon, and... I don't know. it's perfectly fine, but there's nothing really remarkable about it

shanghai/beijing. another one that I feel really bad for putting low, but there's something about that post-us open big tournament that just feels so bleh. the season is so long already and the players are just so exhausted. it doesn't usually take away from the quality of the tennis, it just doesn't have the same feeling as the stuff above it. I would say it feels a bit tacked on, but there's only one tournament I really think that about and that's...

paris. good god. there is something wrong with this tournament. I don't think an indoor 1000 is a bad idea, but the court and the lighting is just so bland, especially when compared to turin which is just two weeks later. at this point in the season, the top players want to be at the finals and anyone who isn't a top player just wants to be home and it just feels like an exhausted tournament. casper was right about one thing in his yap session the uts dinner: paris is easily the worst masters 1000

[huachengeye]

Only Friends Episode 8: And they were all messy

Hello there! Episode 8 has been out for some days now, but after watching a reaction os YT and scrolling through the comments, I wrote this piece to add my two cents to the whole Mew victimization and Ray the supreme asshole (I don't actually think he is tho).

For organization and better reading comprehension, I'm going to separate this into sections, starting off with Mew going wild, then Ray, the fandom's favorite broken boy, and ending up with little about the relationship of the friend group.

Mew, one of the nasties.

First off, I'm a Mew apologist. He is, in fact, my favorite character as of now, but I'm down to criticize the hell out of him, because loving is caring <3

I want to start with the whole discourse around his and Ray's relationship. The fandom seems to be separated into 3 categories (and yes, I'm generalizing a lot for the purpose of making my point): Mew apologists, Ray apologists, and everyone else who thinks they are as messy as everyone else without needing to explain their behavior.

In contradiction with my very first sentence, I belong to the third category in the sense I think they all do bad things to one another. Starting with Mew, we already know that he puts himself on a pedestal compared to his fucked-up friends, but my boy was kicked out of his high horse and now is like us, failed humans. One of the discourses I've been seeing, and that some characters in the series agree with (Cheum and Top), is that Mew is being dragged down by Ray. I completely disagree. Mew is an adult, and although he is experiencing heartbreak for the first time, the way he is acting is very realistic. Mew's first honest conversation with Top was about how he is afraid of getting his heart broken. He confided that to Top, about how he lives through his books because of his fears of getting hurt. And it happened exactly as he feared. It would be weird if he just behaved normally after finding out his boyfriend cheated on him with his friend. So his way of hurting is not hurting at all, is numbing his pain and he does it in the same way as Ray because that's the way he thinks it works.

As the theories go for this BL, I've seen a lot of people saying that it is Mew that it's enabling Ray's substance abuse. Honestly, in my opinion, they are using each other. Mew made it clear that he doesn't love Ray romantically, he said it himself in this episode, Ray is the one he should love. I genuinely don't think Mew is using Ray with the idea of making Ray drown more in his addiction, I think the reason Mew is clinging to Ray right now is the same reason Ray clings to him: they were there when the other was going through his worst time. They are like lifesavers to each other. In this sense, they are mutually using one another, the difference is that Ray is also clinging to the idea that he is in love with Mew, when it's already clear to us, the viewers, that this boat has sailed. If Ray was certain that he wanted a future with Mew, and Mew only, he would've let Sand go. Because Ray didn't go after Sand only when he was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, he also went when he was sober, actively trying to keep Sand in his life, even if their relationship was never a friendship, and was always sexual/romantic (for Sand, at least).

Still analyzing Mew, I saw this brilliant post by @wen-kexing-apologist (this post right here, highly recommend for you to check it out) where they analyze Mew, and his personality (or lack of, for that matter). As soon as Mew told Top that he decorated his place with ideas from Pinterest I felt bothered, especially with his whole introduction in the first episode, about how he is the table keeper (I honestly don't remember how he worded it). I felt bothered but I couldn't quite say why, so when I read Wen Kexing Apologist's analysis, it all made sense.

Lao Wen's (I'm sorry for the use of the cannon nickname of wkx, saying the whole username is a task lmao) thesis is that Mew has no idea who he is, and I completely agree with them. The thing that was Mew's whole personality is that he was a virgin, which was the thing that most set him apart from his friends. Yes, he is also a bookworm and a smart person, but these were secondary things when it came to who he was. Mew was the "pure" one of the group, the one that was waiting for the right person, for the person that was worthy of his virginity (just typing this makes me want to wither away). After Top, he is no longer a virgin, he is no longer that different from his friends. So once he found out about Top cheating on him, he had lost more than his virginity, he had lost his own ideals, because he wanted his first time to be with someone worthy, as I said, and well, Top wasn't worthy, but Mew didn't know that at the time.

Now, Mew doesn't have the one aspect of him that defined him, so he is utterly lost and is now mimicking the one person that offers him some type of stability, one person that he knows truly cares for him, Ray. I really don't know how Mew will react if he knows that Ray kissed Sand at the party, I don't if he won't care because he isn't in love with Ray or if that will only make him go down to the worst path. I think he will get mad if he finds out, especially because it's Ray, his best friend, the one who was there for him when Top cheated on him. Oh, the drama it's gonna be.

Now for Ray. I'm gonna be straight with y'all and say that Ray is the character I dislike the most in this BL, but also the one that I pity the most.

From the get-go, I knew Ray wasn't better than Boston or Top, but after this episode, I can't understand why people still treat him as the victim. He keeps on stringing Sand around as if he is his personal doll, even after Sand makes it clear that he doesn't want to be Ray's second option, that he wants Ray to let him go. Ray does not let him go, and more than that, he clings to Sand as a spoiled child clings to his favorite toy, not out of love, out of possessiveness. I don't really see Ray and Sand's relationship as one of love, Sand is basically Ray's parent, and for Ray, Sand is a thing he can own, just like he can own anything else with his money. For this topic, I recommend this post by @wen-kexing-apologist (yes, I might be a little obsessed with their analysis, sue me) and this post by @emotionallychargedtowel.

I saw some people saying that Ray doesn't know he is addicted, and that his substance abuse doesn't excuse his behavior but certainly explains it, I disagree. I think that Ray knows that his actions hurt others around him, and he knows because his friends and Sand already told him when he was sober. Sand said more than one time that he should drive whilst drunk because he could hurt someone. Sand in the hospital made it clear that he should take accountability for his actions. Mew keeps on chewing him about his drinking behavior (even if he doesn't in a very judgmental way). So he knows, he might not be able to control himself when he is drunk, but he never takes accountability afterward, not really. Even after his accident, what was his punishment? Community service, and even when it comes to that he tried to make Sand help him.

As for the idea that he doesn't know he is addicted, I think he does. I think he does, but he doesn't want to acknowledge it. If I remember correctly (and I might not, please correct me if I'm tripping), when Ray and Mew kissed back when they didn't know Sand or Top, Ray says to Mew that if he hadn't found Ray in the bathtub, he would've joined his mother. At the time, I hadn't watched the flashback of his mother on the floor, but I got the impression that he meant that not because he would die like his mother, but because he would've joined his mother in the same way that she went. Now, I think that scene was Ray's way of acknowledging for a brief moment that he is going down the same path as his mother. Again, I might be way off here.

So my point is, I'm a bit tired of people trying to blame Ray's trauma for all of his actions. Of course, his traumas and mental issues are a big part of it, but he still chooses to hurt others, even when sober. Trauma doesn't mean you can treat others like shit. And as someone who grew close to a person that dealt with alcohol abuse and turned a jerk because of it, it's fucking tiring and emotionally consuming to have someone berating you. It doesn't matter at the moment that they are out of their minds, because in the end, you are hurting.

THEY ARE FRIENDS, BUT ARE THEY REALLY?

Now onto the Fantastic Four. After this episode, I saw some people talking about Cheum never actually caring for Ray or that neither of the friends did. I saw someone talking about how Cheum shouldn't have said that (her whole monologue) whilst Ray was being held down by a cop. I agree with all of it, except maybe for the part that his friends don't care. I think Mew does care, although he certainly doesn't look like he does now. But we need to remember that he was there for Ray when he tried to take his own life. And I believe that there are still things we didn't see from them because they are best friends. Before Top, before Nick, before Sand, the one that Ray could lean on was Mew and from the way Ray behaves around him, it seems as if Mew wasn't the worst friend around.

As for Boston and Cheum, it is VERY clear that the one person who keeps these 3 people (Boston-Cheum-Ray) as friends is Mew, he is the glue of the friendship. Things are starting to look bad for their friendship now that Mew is acting out, because even when Boston did what he did, Cheum-Ray-Mew were still together. We also have to take into consideration that maybe Cheum and Boston don't know the scope of Ray's problems, maybe they don't know that Ray tried to kill himself, because from what we saw that was something that only Mew knew. Cheum clearly knows that Ray still suffers from his mother's death, and that's why she walked away when he said that his mother is dead, but we don't know if they actually know why Ray behaves in such a way.

Let's look at the situation from Cheum's POV for a minute. She is watching her friend, Mew, acting the same way as Ray, when Mew used to be the one to try and make Ray stop. She sees that both of them are making decisions about the hostel that the FOUR of them worked on, without her (or Boston). She knows that Ray did the whole hostel thing because of Mew. She is feeling left out as if no one cares for her like Ray was feeling before he started going out with Sand. When it comes to their friendship and this scene of Cheum's explosion, we need to remember Ray did a similar thing to her on Mew's birthday. He told everyone about her private business, and for her, it doesn't matter that he was drunk, because it hurt her and could've possibly ruined her relationship (ofc if it did the blame wouldn't be on Ray, because he didn't lie about the things she said about her girlfriend). And as she was talking, she mentioned that she and Boston were always the third wheel, which makes me think about all the times Boston talked to Ray about how he needed to stop his bullshit and be real about how much he wanted Mew to stay away from Top - and he was so right about that, because what was the thing Ray did when Mew was heartbroken? He asked Mew for a chance.

For my last point, I just want people to try and be in the friend's place for a second. In everyone's place actually (except for Ray's). Would you be a pantheon of peace and calm when your friend keeps on doing things that hurt you? The series did a great job at showing how Ray's traumas hurt him, but it also did a great job at showing how Ray's substance abuse hurts everyone around him.

As I said, when you are close to someone who has an addiction, you want to help them because you know that it's hard, but at some point, you get tired because, in the end, you are putting your own mental and emotional health in line for someone else. Most of the time, the person doesn't accept your help. It's not that they don't know they are addicted (sometimes that's the case tho, not trying to generalize, but I'm using my personal example and Ray for this), is that they don't want to assume it, they honestly want to believe they are in control.

Ray doesn't have the best support friendship, but in the end, not a single one of his friends is well enough to help him out, not even Sand. Not one of them has the capacity to help him, so I think it's unfair to place them as awful friends for not helping Ray out every time. Again, you can't help someone who does not accept help, but that also doesn't mean that they should just leave him to go crazy and drink like a madman, snort like his nose is made of steel. That's not it. But I think we should stop minimizing his acts just because of his mental issues and substance abuse. As someone who has mental issues in a way that I had similar thoughts to Ray, it does not mean that I'm allowed to treat others badly because of it. And I know people ain't trying to place Ray (only) as a victim, but I feel like the bar is raised high for everyone that isn't Ray, just because of his traumas and addiction -- let me also remind some of yall, that Top snorts too, he looks like he may have or may have had an addiction to his sleeping pills, his house caught fire and his parents weren't there to help him because his parents don't give a shit about him. From what we know the thing that sets him apart from Ray is that his mother didn't die in a very traumatic way, but still, I don't see anyone trying to justify his wrongings by using his traumas (as it should be).

This whole essay is just to say that no one is fully right here. We have people messing up and people trying to better themselves. Right now, Mew and Ray are messing up, but I'm sure at some point they will get better, and hopefully Ray will get the help that he needs because now he is looking for the help that he wants (aka Sand and Mew).

[araneitela]

So, on the topic of female muses. Right, I’ve changed my mind, I want to separate these two topics as this one is really on the forefront of my mind. Man, not once have I ever thought that I'd write a post in which I would genuinely ever use 'as a woman' as part of enforcing my argument, but here I am: May 2nd of 2024 marks the day.

So, here's the band-aid that I'm ripping off: if you follow me for the sole purpose of showing support because I write a female character: don't. As a woman, I actively don't want that mindset anywhere remotely near me. I don't want that kind of support from you, I don't want that kind of pity from anyone, I don't want the 'sisterhood' to rally around me, I don't want 'our girls can be besties' on the simple and mere premise that they're both women. Get out of here, I don't want anything to do with it. If you follow me, I want it to be because I've piqued your curiosity with my analyses, and that I've earned your interest (yes, just like you earn everything in life, including someone's attention and respect), and that I've made you want to approach and interact with me because the character that I write appeals to you on the premise of being a good presentation of a character, regardless of whether she's a woman or not. Do not think for even a moment, that you are under any obligation of interacting with me because I write a female character, because you're not. And honestly, on top of that, I don't deserve any sort of special recognition for writing a woman, I don't face any kind of daily struggles in life for writing a woman on Tumblr.com. I do not and have never felt 'lesser' or 'prejudiced against' for writing a woman throughout all of my years of writing them off and on across so many different fandoms, both canonical and original alike; nor have I ever needed to work harder to get them any sort of interaction(s).

I genuinely hate reading so many posts that tell me to 'hang in there', and to 'stay strong, girlfriend' as if I'm fighting some war: I'm not. I don't want to be associated with this kind of mindset and/or behavior, I rebel against it and would shout it from the highest rooftops if my lungs permitted me to do so. I do not write a woman because I want to 'represent women', I do not write a woman because I'm 'fighting against discrimination', I do not write a woman to get respect from other women, I do not write a woman because I love women more than anything else in this world, I do not write a woman to help carry any sort of torch for my sex, and I certainly don't write a woman to say 'fuck you' to men. Honestly, and I say this as a woman: it would be pretty devastating to know that you, a (most likely) fellow woman on this platform, would reduce a female writer to wanting to write a female character for those reasons, and nothing else. My rage then, would be aimed in one direction, and one direction alone. And quite honestly, it's already there; my respect is more than halfway out the door.

I write the female characters that I do, because they're amazing characters that happen to be women, and I've written amazing characters that happened to be men. And guess what, many of those amazing female characters that so many of us love so desperately? Have been written by men, just like women, too, have written incredible male characters. I wish that were a reality that many of you could look at and realize, instead of pointing fingers at 'cishet men', as if they are the huge majority within this RPC.

Any way, I'm getting a little off-topic so let me get back to my point, because I sure as hell want to be sure that it's read, understood and that it's taken at face value: every single follower is appreciated more than they realize. However, be here because you appreciate what I do because I do it well, that I've earned your attention and am deserving of it, and not because I'm a woman or because I write one, because that would be one hell of a disappointment (and quite frankly: an insult) to come to terms with.

[madness-of-void]

The Cosplay Progress (?)

Okay...I'm doing it. I'm showing off the hot mess of progress of the possibly decent, or absolutely hot garbage, cosplay of my version of human!Ink. I do have a nice chunk of the items for the cosplay - just gotta put it together. Most of the putting together can be done in a day, and I have until July to finish it all, soooo...we'll see how this goes! ^^;

Now I'll just post updates maybe every other day, or once a week, since I do have most of it in hand. And it will all be under the cut, since it'll long as fuck. So, without further ado, let's begin, shall we?

First off, this is probably the most ambitious cosplay I've ever done. Normally I do something easy. Examples: Stiles from TW, casual Keith from VLD, and recently (for Halloween) genocide route Frisk. debating on positing what garbo pics i have of those

Flowerfell!Frisk? Probably the most complex I've done, and only because I had to have help make a flower crown, actually use fabric glue for the flowers and little heart on the shorts and flower on the mask , painted up a random prop stick I had lying around no idea why i had that , and did a little bit of faint make-up. And ended up with this:

bad pic i know but it's all i got of the full thing where i don't look like a drowned rat coz goddamn it was hot af

So after that, for some damned reason, I decided it would be a GREAT idea to do a difficulty jump and do Ink! Yaaaaay...I'm so smart. I have been looking at this as a reference for what I need mostly coz i had it saved on my phone already , which has been both motivation to get this done...but also a little intimidating. But I'm already too far into this. Can't back out now!

Anyways, enough rambling! Let's start with the first update on this silly thing!

HOODIE

So, firstly, I already had my eye on the Ink hoodie from @simakai's shop! I already have the Underfell one that I used for my Flowerfell!Frisk cosplay. I also have the Outertale hoodie, bi pride hoodie, and ace pride hoodie all from Simakai! They are all amazing hoodies, and I actually just bought Epic's hoodie from their new shop! Definitely check them out! They're comfy, well made, and I'll admit I wear my Outertale and Underfell hoodies out sometimes.

The pic doesn't do it justice (hence all the millions of links above), but tada! The hoodie! My biggest worry is maybe tripping on the scarf, but I think I can manage. place your bets coz my ass clumsy

Also, there is a little surprise in it!

Twas quite the laughing jumpscare when I was messing with the pockets.

And that's it for update 1! Stay tuned for more. >:3

~+~

Update 2 time!

Apologies for how garbage the pics are for this part. Space was a mess at the time, and I'm too lazy to redo it. With that out of the way...let's ramble!

PANTS

So, next to the sash for the vials, this was surprisingly the hardest thing for me to find. I couldn't find anything that looked "just right". The first pair that I bought did look just right...but the color was way off. Way too bright from what was advertised. Took me a while to find another pair, and I actually bought two more. one of which i may use for a ftfo!ink Now, the next pair is the right color...but it's just a nice pair of sweats/joggers. Which is a bit of a bummer, but seeings how I cannot sew/make a full blown pair of pants (can barely sew at all), and my stepmom (who can sew) isn't that insanely skilled, they will have to do.

Here is a pic of the pants side-by-side coz for the longest time I was going to go with the first pair I bought. But after putting it together with the top...no. Just...no. Did not look good. You'll have to take my word for it.

And before you ask, yes. I will have assistance sewing on the little suspenders. That will be two separate posts on their own in the future! It won't be just plain brown pants.

So that's it for update 2! Stay tuned for more! if you want i ain't forcing ya lols

~+~

Update number 3! Wooooo!

And it is actually really boring.

Like...royally boring. sorry?

GLOVES

So these were a bit easy to get. Granted, I did buy two pairs, because I couldn't decided initially. It was only after trying them on that I could make a decision.

They are a bit long, but I can live with that. especially coz I am not planning on doing the tatts, that would end terribly And, yes, they are missing that little piece on the pinky. Just like the pants are missing the suspenders. And just like with those, I will be having assistance sewing that piece on!

I could show you want I have of that, but I'm planning on making that one big update.

Okay! That's it! Stay tuned for update 4!

~+~

Update 4! Not another exciting one again. The more exciting ones will slowly trickle in. depending on what you define as exciting

Anywho! Update 4!

SHOES

Yes. Shoes. I know our favorite souless bean doesn't wear shoes anymore...but I have to. No need to get my toes all messed up! Especially at this convention center. Walking around there can be a nightmare! Closed toed or not. 😭

Anyway!

Shoes!

They were sadly kind of expensive, but these were the closest I could find that kind of fit for what I was going for and i looked at custom ones first. Plus, I will be wearing these outside of the cosplay. So I get shoes for cosplay, and shoes for whenever I wanna wear them - a win-win.

But, one more thing! I will also I guess ruin them, in a way. How will I ruin them? Well...I was thinking of adding more splatter to them. Plus, see that pesky logo? Welp...I also had an idea for that.

And I'll just leave this update at that. >:3

~+~

Update 5! Long time coming, I know. But a lot of what I have left are bigger pieces that have a few extra things I gotta do, and I just haven't been focused on doing them. But since I'm actually going to finish this one this weekend, I decided to show the unfinished product. With that being said, here we go!

VIALS

These were actually so hard to find! I couldn't find anything that worked! And I originally started looking during the Halloween season, too! When these type of things would be more around. But everything was either way too big or just straight up decorative glass. Which...yeah. Would not do!

Eventually, after searching for ages, I found these on Etsy.

They're originally for necklaces, which, even though they are glass, they're hopefully a tad more sturdy. And, if things work out, I'll have a perfect way to keep them in the sash! We shall see.

I also found these!

Figured it would be fun to have little earrings on human!Ink.

Now, for the paints in the vials, I was having a hard idea what to do. Part of me wanted to put real paint in there. Yeaaaaah...probably not the best idea. But I finally figured it out, and I'll be working on it this weekend!

Stay tuned for the final look!

~+~

Hello hello hello! Tis time for the final rush post of the process! It's all the final stuff, so yay. Pics of the full cosplay will be up either later on after the con, or the day after.

So, without further ado...here we go!

PANTS PART II

Tada! Simple little thing. Probably one of the easiest to do with the whole shebang. And the straps?

Ribbon. Ain't that neat? XD

GLOVES PART II

So this was a bit tricky. I had cloth from an old t-shirt to do for the pinky, but it kept making the sewing machine freak the fuck out since it's such a small piece. I did have backups of gloves that i could wear under the brown ones and cut off all the other fingers. Unfortunately, the two pairs I got turned out to be bright, obnoxious blue instead of the sort of teal-ish/mint color as advertised. So I had to get a third pair, which was a darker green and sheer. Not exactly what I wanted, but eh. Oh well. Creative liberties!

Here is the final result! I had to cut the pinky on the brown gloves too so it looked a little better. And the nail polish is close to what they'll be at the con, just more cleaned up.

SHOES PART II

Okay! Shoes! These came out a little better than I thought they would! And they were fortunately very easy to do. (Which I needed after a few things causing issues)

Tada! Fun little nod to his old shoes (before he had nada)! And of course the black "ink". The paint refused to splatter like I wanted, but oh well. Still pretty happy about it.

VIALS PART II

These actually proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. Many coats were needed, and even then they sort of still smeared oddly. Despite that, they turned out pretty great! I especially love the ink vial earrings. Those definitely were difficult due to their size.

SASH

Whoo-hoo! The sash! Fortunately, my stepmom is a sewing whiz and she helped a great deal with making sure this part of the cosplay came to be. So, here is the sash before:

Definitely was a bit rough, since the Joanne's we went to lost all momentum to care since the bankruptcy filing. And it did fray a little bit upon the cutting of the pattern. Not enough to absolutely ruin it, thank hell.

Here is the final result:

(Sorry about the poor lighting, I really had nowhere else to get a decent pic)

Tada! Vials in sash! Thankfully, they all are snug as a bug in a rug in those pockets! .... With super glue. Really didn't have a choice on that front. Still, for something as ambitious as this, something I definitely went clueless in to, happy it turned out as good as it did.

(Stepmom saved ass with this one ❤️)

WIG

Okay! This...this bitch...was a nightmare. I had never styled a wig before, and for some reason thought it would be a good idea if I did! Had a nice tutorial vid all qued up and thought I was all set! Except...the wig was an absolute tangled mess and took ages to untangle. It was also the second wig I had bought, coz the first one, for some unknown reason, was more purple than advertised. So wig number two, I had to buy in a hurry and it was a tad cheap since I'm on a bit of a budget (moving at the start of August ftw).

But, finally, after hours of fighting with this beast, this is the end result:

The braid will be pulled back into the makeshift ponytail, since I actually do have to pull it back up once it is secured onto my head, but otherwise this is the final result. The blue and pink (squint and you'll see it) are extensions I added, which also proved to be a challenge. Still proud of it all for someone who has never done more than brush a wig before! Though, never again. At least for a long ass while. ;_; thank you Dust for being an easy cosplay for next year

MAKEUP

I can't really show the full makeup I have to do until, well, it's all done, but I have tried it all out and hooray! It all works! So, instead, here is the nice pile I will have to use:

We got two different shade of eyeshadow, since I can't do colored contacts. My eyeballs are...very weird. Only one eye will allow a colored contact, and I did not wanna waste money to only use one contact. So one eye will have green eyeshadows, and the other will have yellow eyeshadows.

There's also gonna be blue eyeliner with the green eye having it on the underlid, and they yellow eye having it on the upper lid. To make it all "whimsical" and "silly".

There's a pencil liner to create the inkblot shape, black face paint to fill it in, and black eyeshadow to help make it even darker. i am a master of doing some cool shit with eyeshadow

I have two different sprays to help keep the makeup on longer. And, of course, the foundation and concealer coz I will look like a zombie otherwise lols.

Yeah...I am...gonna be having a blast with this lot. Especially making sure I can remake the really nice inkblot I did when testing it out. Fingers crossed and best wishes for my dumb ass for being so ambitious.

BROOMIE

No. I will not show this one. Just picture a wig on a stick and there you go. Needless to say, as much as I wanted to like it...I don't. It looks so bad. 99% sure I will not bother bringing bootleg Broomie with me. Makes me sad, but hey...can't win them all.

Okay, so that's it! I'll do a part two of this post since, whoops! I have hit my limit! So, with the next post, I'll have the bag I specifically got for this cosplay (and will totally be using it later), and the full cosplay itself!

And, if anyone is going to AX, I'll see you there mayhaps!

[redfish-blu]

yes yes yes yes hiiiiiii!!!!! any thoughts on zone lore? personally, I feel that there’s of course, the main deities, but I feel like they have a lot of folklore! sitting by a campfire at night, telling tales about the first killjoys to make it to the desert, what the colours in the sky mean, etc, etc.

(I wanted to ask earlier lol, but I can’t seem to switch to my danger days blog so I was trying to figure that out and then forgot lol :,) )

have a great day!

This is a great question, very expansive as well so I’ll do my best to address my take on all of it.

Quick disclaimer: my interpretation of the zones deviates from canon as well as general fanon, so some of what I say might not align with the knowledge of the average Danger Days tumblr user. I’d be happy to explain my own thoughts in a separate post if anyone should be interested though!

Like you said, we already have Destroya and the Phoenix Witch. I feel like Destroya is more of an inner-zones vibe. You hear about him more when you’re still on the power grid, killjoys who don’t originate from the city or the grid aren’t into Destroya as a figure of worship like they are with the Phoenix Witch. The two definitely coexist, but in the way of popularity, the inner zones take Destroya. Purely because Destroya and the Graffiti Bible are are pertinent to the inner zones’ issues. Oppressive regime, surveillance, androids, etc. On the wall separating Battery City from Zone 1, the side in the zones is covered completely with murals and quotes and imagery from the Graffiti Bible. The other is constantly being pressure washed.

The Phoenix Witch (on top of the fact that she’s a tangible being unlike Destroya for most of his existence) is popular among older killjoys for the most part, who pass her stories down to the younger ones. There’s no point of origin for the Phoenix Witch, everyone has a different story of her conception. Some believe she’s just a reclusive human, some believe she manifested from some higher power to watch over the Zones and give them faith to defy BL/ind. Some even say she and Destroya come from the same cloth and are working together, or something. And some just think she’s b.s, even if they do believe in her.

Moving on to less household Zone Lore, it’s no debate that every Zone is haunted as fuck. In the scary way and in the “that’s not normal but it’s not hurting me” way. If you spend enough time with the right crowd of ‘joys you’re bound to get a handful of campfire stories. Or you’ll be the one telling them.

Obviously there’s the iconic Zone Fridges that just appear out of nowhere, fully functional and stocked with exactly what you’re looking for even if it isn’t food. This also happens with toilets, just make sure to watch your back while using them. You learn not to question those. Whatever causes the phenomenon seems to be benevolent anyways. Perhaps it is the same thing that keeps the car running when there’s no gas, or causes that blaster shot that definitely should have hit to fizzle out harmlessly.

There’s UFOs, of course. They never get close to the ground. Usually just lurking over the hills or skittering off when you try to get a picture or approach them a la Nope (2022). It’s become a sort of good luck charm to encounter one, especially in Zone 3 and 4. You have to wave to activate it though. UFOs became super common after the last Helium War, maybe they’re more interested now that humans have bigger problems than proving they exist.

And then there’s the things you can’t explain. The things you just have to accept as they are because they’re too damn weird. Like people you saw dead two days ago showing up alive, or Zone 3 just disappearing into thin air. The latter usually happens before a big BL/ind sweep is scheduled, which is quite convenient as they are almost always canceled afterwards. Nobody really knows where Zone 3 goes when it disappears, everyone who has a story of being in it when that happens says it’s just like normal Zone 3 but it doesn’t end.

There’s plenty of wives tales to keep kids from exploring dangerous places and staying out after dark. Run of the mill boogeyman shit, a third of which might actually be real. Freakish monsters roaming the desolate hills of Zone 4, haunted caves out in 5, never stepping over a grave, and believing in bad omens are common superstitions. Hearing a pack of coyotes at night, disembodied music or whistling, and circling vultures are all considered signs of warning for the future.

Killjoys make Bad Luck Beads, carved with symbols of luck and protection to ward off any unwanted creeps and bad energy. Being gifted a set is a huge sign of admiration from the giver. People paint eyes around their homes, typically on windows or doorframes as a symbol of being looked after. And creating art with crow feathers as a nod to the Phoenix Witch is popular as well. It’s hard to feel truly safe in the Zones, so killjoys turn to habits and ritual to soften the blows.

I just noticed I forgot to talk about the mailboxes. There’s a few “official” ones floating around, mostly in Zone 3 and 4 because that’s where most people get dusted. But any mailbox works for the Witch. ‘Joys decorate them with bright colors, candles, flowers, jewelry and messages for the dead so the Witch will see them and know to check for letters or masks. November 3rd is Mailbox Day, which is sort of a blanket holiday for Halloween, Día De Muertos, All Saint’s/Souls Day, and Thanksgiving. Killjoys write letters and poems, dress up, make artwork, and tell stories around the mailbox to remember the dead and let them know they’re still thinking of them. It’s a very popular occasion, as it’s generally a festive event rather than one of mourning or sadness.

I’m gonna call it there! I hope that blurb satisfied your curiosity. I really do enjoy discussing it :D