#~DUN DUN DUUUUUUN

[miasma-museum]

Miasma had committed a lot of theft during the few months he was out of his cell. Well, allowed to come out. After the first two weeks or so, he found himself retreating back to his supposed safe space, gradually hoarding more and more in the cold area.

He caught a glimpse of something on a TV in a sitting room earlier that day. And he needed to see it again. So it seemed like the correct solution to grab the TV, wearing his uniform to appear as if he was doing something for Frater. He successfully carried it to what he now deemed his room, setting up and plugging it in to some of the wall outlets that he was not confident would work. Nothing had been plugged in them for as long as he's been here.

But, to his surprise and delight, the TV sprung to life. It took him a moment to figure out how to switch channels and how to mess with the volume with the remote, but after maybe 20 minutes, he felt confident in his technological education.

Miasma sat down on his pile of blankets and pillows, wrapping a thick black one around himself as he began to watch the TV. It was some cooking show he wasn't familiar with, but he hoped that he would see what he wanted to see eventually.

An hour passed. He had laid down, stretching his tail out and yawning.

Two more hours. His eyes felt heavy.

Soon enough, his eyes had closed. His breathing slowed.

...

"Are you lost?"

He jerked up, eyes widening at the screen as he scrambled to find his ministry-approved cell phone that every ghoul owned. He growled in frustarion at how slow it was, smacking it with his hand as it loaded the phone key pad.

"1... 866..."

Miasma furrowed his eye brows, looking up at the screen.

"... Holy hits?"

[tea-potato-gt]

A Borrower at the End of the World part 13

Word count: 2500ish

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TW: blood, hunting/killing/skinning a rabbit for food, emotional/child abuse, and panic attack described. (Oop, writing that out makes this chapter sound crazy, but it’s not that bad (I don’t think).)

***

Three Years ago...

THWAP.

The sound of crushed leaves and a quick thud interrupted the two people sitting at the tree.

One of their traps had been activated. Jace and Briar froze and looked around the tree towards the trap. A gaping hole in the earth sat where they had laid leaves. Jace stood up and quickly walked towards the pitfall trap. 

“I think we got something, boss!” Jace looked back to the branch, but the small man wasn’t there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw taller blades of grass move erratically towards him. After a minute the borrower walked out from the grass. 

Jace couldn’t explain it, but just looking down at this man made him feel vertigo. It was like he was standing on top of a skyscraper looking down, but he himself was the building. His own legs were the support beams. He felt like his body wasn’t his own as he looked at the borrower standing in the grass.

“What is it?” Briar called up, his voice soft and distant, even though he was only a couple of feet from Jace. 

“Uhhh– Oh!” Jace bent down, he reached into the hole and brushed the leaves away. Inside the box sat a wild hare with terrified eyes. It’s heart was beating erratically as it pushed itself in the corner furthest from the boy. Jace grimaced, he was kind of hoping they would catch something ugly, like a goose or a snake. “It’s a rabbit,” said Jace.

The borrower finally caught up with the boy, he stood before the pitfall trap and looked down. To Briar, this simple hole looked like a sheer drop off a cliff. Jace was half tempted to pull the man away from the edge, but he remembered he promised not to touch the borrower. This is a grown man, he can take care of himself, Jace reasoned. 

“Looks like a sizable meal, could last a couple of days or a week. For me at least.” Briar laughed, “It would probably only last you one meal with the way you and your sister eat.” That last part was a little quieter, so as not to offend the giant pre-teen.

Jace nodded, but he wasn’t really listening. He was staring at the rabbit as it stared right back.

The Borrower continued, “Later I’ll show you how to catch other things, like fish. You can’t just go on eating only rabbits, you’ll get sick if you only eat hares for a long time, not enough protein. But an occasional rabbit makes for a good meal. And the fur is perfect for a winter coat.”

Briar looked up, he couldn’t see the boy’s face from where he stood. Briar was a little taller than the boy’s ankles and he couldn’t really see past Jace’s torso. But Briar could tell the giant’s posture gave off an air of uncomfortably, like he wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment. 

“Are you alright, boy?” Briar called up.

“What?” Jace finally looked down at the borrower. “Did– did you say something, Boss?”

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes, I’m fine.” 

Briar wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t want to push further. “Then let’s get this over with.”

Jace got onto his knees and reached down into the hole and pulled the box out. He set it on the opposite side of his body, where Briar wasn’t standing. He watched the rabbit in the box, eyes that were usually all black showed the whites. This creature was petrified. Terrified of Jace. 

“Now get your knife.” Briar finally broke Jace’s thoughts. As commanded, Jace grabbed his pocket knife without thinking. But his hands were clammy and he almost lost his grip on his weapon when he looked back at the rabbit. Locking eyes, it's anxiety was contagious. Jace didn’t feel good. He was sweating profusely. Was the sun always this hot?

Jace reached into the box and wrapped a shaking hand around the small rabbit. He felt its soft fur and its rapid heartbeat through its chest. Jace’s own heart thundered in his ears. Was my heart always so loud? My chest hurts. It's too tight.

Jace grabbed the rabbit and began lifting it out of the box, but he wasn’t prepared for what happened next:

The hare started to scream. 

Jace immediately let go of the creature, it dropped back into the box with a thud. He had never heard such a horrifying scream. He felt completely sick to his stomach. Was the world spinning before? I’m going to throw up. 

Tears began welling up in the boy’s eyes. His vision became fuzzy, he couldn’t focus on anything. 

No. I can’t cry. Don’t cry!

A familiar angry voice echoed in the back of Jace’s mind. A voice he hadn’t heard in three years. It chastised him, telling him to Man up. Crying was only for the weak. The voice continued to grow louder and yell more insults. It screamed that he was a pitiful and disappointing excuse of a son.

The turmoil of his mind overwhelmed Jace. He wanted to scream and cry and throw up and run away all at once.

He had to kill this rabbit to survive. His sister depended on him. But he couldn’t kill it. But he had too. But he didn't want to. He had to.

Tears began to fall.

I can’t do this.

The angry man in the back of Jace’s mind yelled he wasn’t going to amount to anything if he couldn’t stop crying and just kill this stupid pest. That only made Jace more upset. 

Jace raised his knife with a shaky hand, it glinted in the sunlight. The boy’s breath hitched and his heart did somersaults. His stomach ate itself away.

I can’t kill it. It’s so small. It’s so fragile. I don’t want to kill it.

It’s scared of ME.

The angry voice of his father continued to shout to kill the creature or he would never be a man. 

Too much was happening, Jace felt like his body was dying. The world was disorienting and he completely forgot where he was—

“JACE!”

A new sensation tapped rapidly on Jace's right leg. This new feeling coming from outside his body grounded him.

Jace returned to the present. He was still in the forest. The breeze wafted through his hair, his face was dripping with tears. The boy took a long shaky breath. He opened his eyes wide as the tapping sensation became a continuous gentle stroke on his leg.

Jace looked down. There stood a small man, no more than 5 inches tall, tenderly stroking the giant leg, bringing him back to reality.

“Boy?” Briar finally got the bean's attention.

Jace didn’t break the no touching promise, the borrower did. The small man willingly made contact with the boy, reaching for the only part of the bean’s body he could reach. 

“Are you alright?”

“I… I,” Jace sputtered. He could barely speak, his voice was shaking so much and tears continued to fall from his eyes. 

Great, Briar thought, I’m stuck in the woods with a mentally unstable giant pre-teen. 

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Jace was silent, he looked in the box, the rabbit was still there, still alive, staring at him with terror. He let out a shaky sigh as he looked to the sky. My father was right. 

“You can’t kill it can you?” The borrower seemed to read the boy’s mind.

Jace looked down, unable to meet Briar's eyes, then shook his head. “I’m sorry.” Jace’s voice was hoarse. “I’m sorry for being so… weak.”

Jace expected to be berated by the small man, for him to yell or leave, maybe even throw things. It wouldn’t be the first time Jace’s crying aroused that kind of reaction from a man.

“You are such a kind boy." The borrower said tenderly, "I admire that.”

Jace looked down at the borrower in surprise. The man still stood right next to his leg, gently petting his skin in circular motions. Keeping him grounded. Keeping the boy present. 

“You can’t bring yourself to kill it, is it because you don’t want to…” Briar searched for the right words, “end a life?”

Jace nodded.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Briar understood, “Listen, I would much rather you be kind to creatures smaller than you. Than you not caring if they lived or died.” He gave a weary smile, “If you hesitate this much to kill a rabbit, then maybe there’s hope for me too.”

Something snapped in the boy and he crumbled into himself, inadvertently bringing his face closer to Briar. “I-I would never hurt you…” Jace started sobbing again, Oh, god, He’s afraid of me too.

The borrower smiled up at the child, “I believe you.” And he meant it. But something in the back of Briar’s mind egged, the boy would never hurt you on purpose, but on accident? You could be dead in an instant. And what about the other bean child? She’s more dangerous than her brother.

Briar shook that thought out of his head, it didn’t matter right now. “Let’s make a new deal.”

“Okay.” The boy hesitated.

“If you keep the three promises you already agreed too, and as long as I stay with you: I will kill any animal you catch so you don’t have to.”

Jace slowly nodded.

That was all the confirmation Briar needed. He stepped back from the giant and untied his rat skinned cloak. It dropped from his shoulders onto the ground. Then he reached for his shirt and pulled it off. Briar didn’t want to get blood on his nicer clothes. Cleaning his cloak was a pain, most of the time large chunks if fur usually fell out if he tried. He didn’t feel like making a new one. Though a new rabbit fur cloak sounded pretty nice and warm. 

Jace let out a soft gasp, the first thing he noticed was how muscular the borrower was. If this man was the size of a human, he could easily be a bodybuilder.

The next thing Jace noticed was the menagerie of scars that stretched across his 5 inch tall body. The stories those scars could tell. He had several on his torso, one of which looked like he was stabbed in the stomach and the weapon went out his back. 

Briar grabbed his hook, needle and knife. Where he was going he’d only need these to attack and defend himself. Everything else would be extra weight. This wouldn’t be his first tussle with a rabbit and based on the deal he just made with the boy, it probably wouldn’t be his last.

Jace watched as the small man swung his hook several times. On the highest swing, released the string. The hook sailed through the air and embedded itself in the box. Briar pulled on the string to ensure its security. Then he began his assent up the 90 degree climb cardboard box. 

Briar reached the top and stood on the box wing. He looked back at the Bean. “You don’t have to watch,” Briar was now standing at level with Jace’s shoulder. “In fact, don't look.” 

Jace gulped, nodded and turned away, he promised he’d do everything the borrower asked of him after all. 

When Jace’s eyes weren’t on Briar anymore, the borrower walked around the edge of the box until he was just above the rabbit. He pulled out his needle, aiming right for the rabbit’s wild eye. Taking a deep breath. Then, he jumped.

Jace didn’t see what happened, but he could hear it. The cry of the small creature as it panicked. It was painful. Jace thought he was going to be sick all over again. But, eventually the scampering and crying stopped with a soft thud. 

Jace held his breath. The only thing he heard was the wind in the trees. Till a soft coughing sound came from the box.

“B-boss?” Jace said worriedly. 

“I’m fine.” The borrower coughed. “Just swallowed a bit of blood.”

“Can I look now?” 

“Sure.”

Jace turned back to the box, one of the corners began to turn a dark shade of brown as it absorbed fluids. When Jace peered inside the box his heart just about stopped. The borrower was covered head to toe in blood. 

“Are you alright!?” Jace began to panic, unsure what to do. If all that blood was the borrower’s, he should be dead! How is he still standing? How do you perform first aid on a man about as tall as a hand? Jace was about to completely freak out, but the smile and laughter from the smaller man made him pause.

Briar found the fear on the boy’s face to be hilarious. He never thought a bean would care about him this much. “I’m fine, none of this is mine.” He smiled up at the boy and held out his arms. “Well, I’m fine other than the fact I smell terrible and these boots are probably ruined.” Briar sighed. But, he’ll be making new boots out of fluffy rabbit skin soon. 

Jace was at a loss for words. Looking at the dead rabbit that was almost twice the size of the borrower. He could never imagine trying to fight a creature that big. Jace didn't even have the stomach to kill a bunny. With his promise to Briar, he wouldn’t have to kill anything any time soon.

Once again, Jace was saved by a man the size of his hand.

***

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with Briar washing himself in the creek, but not before he instructed the boy on how to gut and skin a rabbit. Briar only knew how to to teach by example, which caused more blood and guts to splatter on his already filthy body. Jace in comparison only needed to wash his hands of blood and bile, while Briar was soaked head to toe.

“You never want to gut or skin animals near your house. It attracts predators.” The borrower advised. “Don’t want no foxes coming to your camp looking for an easy meal.”

By the time Jace had finished stringing up the skinned rabbit fur and leaving its guts over other pitfall traps, the sun had almost set. They needed to get back.

They left Layla alone at the abandoned house all day. She got lonely most of the time and had an unfortunate habit of wondering off. But she had a headache that morning, so Jace wouldn’t be surprised if she stayed inside and played by herself all day. 

Jace and Briar made their way home separately. Even though Briar knew the boy would get there faster than himself, he didn’t have the courage to walk near a giant in the dark. 

In an empty pot Jace carried the skinned rabbit. It was free of its fur, bones and intestines. All that was left was the meat for the kids to cook and eat. 

Jace had never cooked rabbit before. He had never properly cooked anything before, but the borrower promised to catch up with him and explain how to at the house. 

“I’m back!” Jace pushed open the door with his shoulder. Usually at this point his sister would drop whatever she was doing and run to give her brother a big hug. Nothing happened. “Layla?”

The sun had set, the room was dark and cold. No sign of his sister. 

Then he saw it. A small hand sticking out next to the mattress. Jace walked around their bed, his eyes widened and panic set in. 

On the floor lay a little girl. She wasn’t moving. 

Jace dropped the pot and screamed, “Layla?!”

***

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[adventurepunks]

@isitrecording

It was a big step in any relationship, asking your boyfriend to meet your father...it was a bigger step when your father was Giovanni Zatara...and a scarier step when said Giovanni...well Jake would find out. She had been fussing over his appearance the entire car journey.

"I'm sure it's gonna be great. You;re great. I'm sure he will love you...and even if he doesn't I don't need his approval" She did. She was extremely close to her father and them not getting along would...well she didn't want to think about that.

"Ready?" she asked as she rung the gate bell by Shadowcrest.

Dzzzzz the big gates opened and in they would walk as their driver joined Gotham's traffic again and would not return until 8 pm. 4 hours. Four long hours and she was riddled with anxiety.

The old manor house was exactly what you'd expect for her ancestral home, grandiose and yet warm, a very lived in home instead of a museum of the past.

"Dad?" she asked as they walked in and was met with no answer.

"He must be nose deep in the library." Their coats removed and carried by seemingly no one to hang them neat and tidy by the door.

"DAD!" she shouted and a loud thunk followed by footsteps upstairs signaled that he had in fact fallen asleep in the library.

"Just a minute rabbit"

"Okay-want me to make the tea?" she yelled.

"I'll make us some tea, give you a tour." she looped her arm around Jake's as portraits on the walls moved to look at them.

"My grand father Luigi" she showed one painting of a man in the 1930s as a teenager.

[soldierandawar]

SVU is so wrong for putting a funky ass beat as their intro.

[kits-shrine]

"Not exactly what I meant, Papa," Meeka smiled, tamping down her nervousness rather viciously. If that damned hellhole taught her anything, it was how to control her emotions. Realising Bruce, she used the tip of her tail to trace letters in the clever boy's hand. Go get her, "Ama and her children come to parties like this too, right? That's what I meant by a big step. Would you be comfortable trying to be near them yet?"

Bruce hesitated looking around the corner with worry as she spoke.

Meanwhile Tsukuyomi was already turned heel to beat a hasty retreat to his room. He would never in his life knowingly endanger a child.

He was stopped in his tracks immediately as he too ran into a much smaller figure that looked up at him with surprised red eyes. "Ahhh..." the goat king let out awkwardly Soul starting to pound... but not burn. "F-Forgive me... Little one... I... did not... see you." he managed shakenly.

Frisk gave him a ready grin and a cheeky wink, throwing out the universal 'Ok' gesture, before waving and moving around Tsukuyomi to round the corner where Bruce was waiting.

[koenigami]

internship starts tomorrow and this girl right here’s feeling very anxious sobsobsob

[themosthatedbeingg]

(from @queen-of-prophecy)

A letter than can only be described as "brief" floats onto Lucifer's desk.

"Lucifer, Made two new Rings under Sloth. One is mine. Gave the other to Paimon. Please forward all paperwork to the Society of Hags regarding my rule over Heresy. Vine"

He has been so so tired lately .. drained even and he didn’t know why … something was leaching on his magic but what —- he sees the letter and reads it .

“…. When the fuck?! I DIDNT GIVE YOU PERMISSION FOR THAT?!”

At least a heads up would have been nice, ugh that would explain what’s been draining his magic he has been fighting this hibernation sleep for days .

“Fucking hell… Both of you are getting an earful .. once I wake up again ..” he’d have to cut his magic off from those rings … of course they would be Vassal states to him and he would make sure they pay their dues and taxes .

With a snap of his fingers he cuts the two lower rings from his main magic so the two could rule that as he saw fit.

And with that he’s —- Passing out on the floor oh no.. who knows when He’ll wake up again.

[jonvandernoorde]

☹ ☹ - Elena and Jon

Cuts over eyes (Elena) & broken ribs (Jon)

The gunshot was thunderous in the quiet of the forest night. The man looked at Jon in surprise before slumping over to show the others the perfect red circle in his forehead. The other three hunters froze; the woman had waved the gun around and threatened them before but killing?

Jon held his side, clenching his teeth as the gun swung around to the three men. They raised their guns towards him but they weren't fast enough. Three successive shots rang out, three more bodies hitting the ground. Once he was sure they wouldn't get back up he staggered his way over to Elena.

The hunters had surprised them on their rounds of the property. Jon had been hit in the side and back while Elena took hits to her back and across her face. Whatever they had hit her face with had cut her around her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Jon had found her gun, tossed aside, while on he had been beaten on.

"Can I help?" He asked, kneeling beside Elena check her condition. "We're safe now."

[wcrldcffantasy]

Tsubasa's head popped out as he felt the strong hand onto his head and felt a small spark of warmth as he then moved intot he touch, closing his eyes for a moment before he then opened again. It almost feels like...?

"Ah! Um, t-thank you," He sat up properly as he saw the tray, as he then nodded and then coughed, "Um, I...didn't get your name?"

Although something in his brain itched one name.

Bael.

Percy looked at Ash's expression and raised a brow. But when looking at Aladdin again, the other did look quite...awkward. So he knew it wasn't like horrible news or anything but then sighed, "Aladdin, you might as well tell us. Ash would indeed smack the ever living daylight out of you to get the answers we want..."

"I forgot how scary you both can be," Aladdin breathed out as he then sighed, before rubbing the side of his neck, "Actually, I bumped into someone that...says they knew you."

Percy was alert, "...Did you bring them here?"

"....yes."

Percy was feeling his heart leap into his throat as flashes of faces came into mind. Surely it wasn't any of their fallen friends...?

But what if it was a Vox Machina member?

It was then Aladdin looked at the door behind him and called out, "You can come in, it's okay..."

Percy braced himself, even grabbing Ash's hand tightly in case, just for some grounding. His eyes widened as he saw a woman in green, her red hair still as fiery as her spirit and green eyes more...mature.

"...Keyleth."

"Hello, Percy. I've finally found you..."

"You really want me to answer that?" Ash hissed before he was pulled into Percy's arms and soothed. Hearing though that it was Cindy who was watching over his little brother, Ash sighed in relief. Cinderella, or Cindy as they called her, was a good egg, and boy, was she spoiled by the brothers.

Whatever she lacked in her previous life was given to her in spades, such as love, not to mention she got her own sister in the form of Melee, who thoroughly enjoyed having another female around.

But it was the mention of Belle that had his serval ears perked up. "She wouldn't team up with Zen, Percy. Not her style, even if her staff and the grimoire messed with her head a bit." He reminded the two. "But I agree with Percy, it's pretty late to talk about this now."

Still...

"Al, what else are you hiding?"

Tsubasa's question had Bael laughing softly, finding the brunette adorable. "Well, technically, I am." He replied and got down, walking over to his bed and gently ruffling the other's hair. "Ya slept a good portion of the day, Lad. I got ya some food and water to sip on."

He summoned the tray and though it wasn't much, it did have gentle foods for Tsubasa's stomach. "Ya need yer strength."

[greekmythcomix]

Stand down, lads. We’re getting BLAH.

I, as an avowed nerd of Mycenaean Greece, am disappointed: while the filming locations are local and the monsters might be animatronics and the budget is ONE OF THE BIGGEST EVER, the cast is still very HOLLYWOOD and not a very representative, so I had *really* high hopes for the costuming. There could have been so much more going on that was period, or at least took inspiration from the period - like the sets clearly are in the background of this first-look image.

Dun dun duuuuuun? More like Done Done Done.

Ok, it’s mostly taken from later Greek pottery - which anachronistically depicts the Trojan War in contemporary armour - so it’s not entirely Hollywood-invention (except for the sodding bracers?!) But it’s hardly inspiring. And why is it so damn GREY? Ugh. I guess it will look like what a non-specialist audience will consider ‘Ancient Greek’.

Also, where *is* he in this scene?! Troy, at the end of the battle? There’s nowhere else in the story where he’d be in a (palatial, judging by the frescos) room in full armour with a cloak.

You could argue that myths are timeless, unreal, but this one is directly tied in with an event - the Trojan War - which occurred (in some form) c. C12-11th BCE. It would have been really nice to see the costumes reference that.

I am really hoping this look and colour scheme aims to make the character look battle-hardened and will contrast with literally every other costume. Maybe all the mortals will be drab and the gods and monsters technicolour. PLEASE let it become more interesting!

Right. Excitement over. Back to editing YOU ARE ODYSSEUS which *does* feature period-specific descriptions and Homeric references… 😋

Http://yaoljb.wordpress.com

Main photo: universal pictures

[wrengrif]

Okay! * slaps hands on desk *

So - Get The Fuck Off My Lawn, Self Appointed Ambassador Crowley and You Bullied Me And Now I'm Your Boss Bitch Supreme Archangel Aziraphale have hit over 2000 NOTES.

Thus, I promised to play the Note Game.

But ... with Good Omens.

SO.

100 Notes - I spend the extra $2 to get BEST CONTENT for @gleafer

200 Notes - I finally buy a Good Omens laptop vinyl sticker.

500 notes - I finish Chapter 3 of my fic 'I See A Silhouette' before Saturday and get it put in for editing.

750 notes - I start Chapter 4 right after.

1000 - I buy new Good Omens t-shirt AND work on Chapter 5 to be finished by sometime next week.

1500 - I rewatch the entire series, and perhaps record train of thought commentary? Add another Good Omens artist to my Patreon? Not sure about this one. Open to suggestions!

2000 - I finish my fic in the next 3 weeks, I buy NEW art for everyone to enjoy, and I start my Human AU Good Omens. DUN DUNNNN DUUUUUUN.

Motivate my Good Omens obsession, Tumblr!

[maxwell-grant]

I'm working on a big post breaking down my thoughts on episode 01 of The Penguin and I wanted to post this theme separately. There's only so many ways I can say the show is perfect and does perfect Penguin things but this theme merits it's own post, it is so good. I love how differently the show sounds compared to the movie, how that plays into the exact scene and moment where it stops being The Batman and becomes The Penguin. It follows similar ideas to past themes for Penguin in that sense of awkwardness and stress, these offbeat weird motifs stumbling over themselves, like the "lumbering oom-pah brass", as Daniel Schweiger described it, he had for TAS. The soundtrack for this episode in general sounds cartoonish and old-fashioned, that music sting that plays when Sofia Falcone indicates how she's onto Oz wouldn't be out of place in a silent film, and it's so perfect for Penguin. The whole song is really good but it's those first notes that bowled me over.

So perfect as a point of contrast with the way The Batman is scored, and specifically the theme that's associated with Batman himself. Batman's theme is that imposing, dramatic bell, those four notes that adapt and creep up and overtake their surroundings, the dark foreboding brass of it all. That's the motif that plays when Batman enters a room. For The Penguin? It's that DUUUUUUN-DUN!, it's the strings that play when he's either royally screwed or royally screwing someone, the pain and indignity that's either about to happen to him or he's about to inflict on someone else. Pure musical expression of "Aw fuck, not that guy right now / here comes the bastard".

It is simply sublime, that the first note of this Batman's theme tells you "oh shit, Batman's coming for you.", while the first note of this Penguin's theme, in turn, instantly tells you "Oh shit, sunavabitch did it AGAIN!".

[sorasan000]

Tonight's reading: chapters 1211 - 1220. Thoughts about Luma, his relation to time, and a revisit of this Luma theory.

I appreciate the predictability of Turning because the DUN DUN DUUUUUUN moment that this stretch of chapters ended on, with Enon suggesting that Luma could've potentially created a spell to transfer his soul from one body to another, was all but confirmed 50-ish chapters ago.

Luma truly is a revolutionary character in the grand scheme of things, isn't he? In a story that's all about turning back time to change the future, with Yuder, the First Orr Emperor, and an ancestor of the Wolf's Eye clan being among the roster of regressors, Luma is the one hopping forward in time. He wasn't even originally like this. He had the ability to send people back in time two timelines ago.

They're now in the "figuring out how it works" stage, and there are three similarities they've noticed between the two instances they know of: 1) they belonged to a certain "school" where disciples were keenly attuned to the dangers that could befall the world, 2) they were severely injured or killed while saving others in monster-related incidents, and 3) healing was activated after the incidents and they were completely changed people thereafter.

Earlier, I posted a theory post that wondered if Luma could transfer his soul to people who had grown up under his discipline + their descendants (since traces of his discipline would've been evident with each passing generation) under a certain condition, such as being injured or killed before a natural age-related death. Having this idea honed in, that it's a certain school of thought, like being aware of the impending dangers that could befall the world, that can trigger the transfer brings me back to Yuder from that earlier post.

I made a guess that perhaps Luma's soul possessed Yudrein's body upon his execution. He had been raised by Grandpa MeLuma, and he had been tortured and then executed by beheading. It tracked. However, there's something further going on with Yudrein, and it's that he was keenly aware of the impending destruction befalling their world. He buried himself in trying to figure it out, all while leading the largest legion available to fight the monsters. He was then tortured and executed for treason upon going a step too far in his investigation. Again, it doesn't seem too odd now to guess that Yudrein was a suitable candidate for possession.

This swings around back to what Grandpa MeLuma said about Yuder while he was alive. He claimed that Yuder would go on to become a great man. Upon learning this during their Airic vacation, Yuder wondered if that was an appropriate prediction of his future path when he had only been a mountain bumpkin with nothing particularly special going for him at that point.

What if the reason Grandpa MeLuma knew is because this soul transferring spell he has in place is able to show all the experiences of his incarnations through time simultaneously, even across timelines? Lumadrein would have figured out what kind of man his little muddy puppy grew up to be if he possessed his body and managed to escape.

Luma's ultimate goal seems to be making sure that the sacrifice the First Orr Emperor made wouldn't be in vain. He may have saved the world from destruction then, but he seemed to know that it was only a band-aid at the time and that the same kind of destruction could come again. Luma understood at some point that there were things he needed to prioritize more, like the preservation of the future and ways to prevent destruction. He wondered if perhaps going forward in time where destruction was getting closer and closer would give him insight not only to what the First Emperor faced, but what he had to work to prevent.

How is Lumadrein doing now, I wonder?

[thesoulspulse]

Our Last Lost Soul Update!

Ok so, I've been doing a lot of thinking today since finishing the previous chapter and honestly, I think now is the perfect time to start over from chapter 31 onward. Of course, I'm still planning on keeping two major events in the story, such as going on the cruise and meeting Frostbite, but since I don't know how much longer the rest of this fanfic is going to last I figured my time would be better spent doing that instead of continuing to edit the same old stuff from before. Not gonna lie, it was starting to become pretty tedious work which I'm usually fine with. That's why I've decided to stop here now that we've successfully wrapped things up with Nocturne.

Besides, I've been itching to work on something new anyway and I'm hoping this will help satisfy that urge. Plus I really want to see what'll end up happening once we reach the grand finale when Astra finally enters the stage...

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

Anyways, that being said, that also means I'm going to go ahead and remove the old versions of chapters 31-35 now that I've taken screenshots and made extra copies to reference later. Just wanted to let you guys know about this ahead of time just in case anyone freaks out and starts to think those chapters disappearing is another crazy glitch on FFN or something. Oh, and here's a special thanks for all your wonderful reviews @dp-marvel94! I'll cherish their memory! And hopefully you'll enjoy these new chapters just as much as you did the old ones!

[hecatia666]

duuuuuun duun dun dun... durururururururuuuuuuuu just a silly weird doodle of a rajang... kong! ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ɪᴍᴀɢᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴏᴍᴇ sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴍᴇᴀɴɪɴɢ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴏʙsᴇʀᴠᴀɴᴛ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ғᴀɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀɪᴇs!

I remember the first time I encountered one on my first time playing Rise and i thought: "oh it's a demon gorilla coolio!" And then i hit it so hard that it flinched and: "OMFG IT TURNED SUPER SAIYAN WHAET" to then find out that there was a variant that went to the hyperbolic time chamber and learned how to ascend from the regular super saiyan into a more powerful form, LOOK EVEN THE GAME SAYS IT!!!

it's also fun to fight, it's tense but puts my reflexes to the test!

[digitalpocketandmore]

"D-Dad..."

Shoto was gripping the other tightly once Yun came rushing towards him and bringing him into a hug, suddenly feeling warmth and closed his eyes. He started breathing heavily as he was snuggling into his father figure and his eyes glowed for a moment.

"Warm...more warm..." He murmured as he was accidentally sipping up Yun's energy without his notice, but then suddenly heard sounds behind Yun.

Looking up, he was seeing heroes, young and old, that were watching and gasping. Something inside him snap at seeing one of Endeavor's sidekicks approaching to attack Yun's back, and Shoto was moving quick.

And a scream was herd when Shoto was strangling the person's throat, his eyes wide and crazed as the body before him was slowly drained until it was a husk, and turning into ashes before him.

"..."

Shoto felt warm, his cheeks giving color slightly as he looked down at his hands shakily.

What did he just do?

Any damn hero who tried to take him down met a pretty nasty fate or was punched through a building as Yun made his way to where his son was.

Not even Bakugo or his group stood much of a chance as the dragon eventually made it to where his son was. Seeing him rushing up to him, Yun flapped his wings and ran to meet him, catching in his arms as he hugged his little boy tightly.

"I'm here, Sho. Daddy's here." He crooned only to notice how cold his son was, with no heartbeat. Oh no. His son is of the undead, and that broke his heart all over again.

But he will support and stand by his boy, smiling up at him.

"Let's go home, Sho." He whispered, only to use his quirk to defend them from an attack.

"Not my son, you BITCH."