#I get it. some come to this conclusion simply because they know how dangerous it is to be a woman throughout history.

[canichangemyblogname]

I watched all eight episodes of season 1 of Blue Eye Samurai over the weekend. I then went browsing because I wanted to read some online reviews of the show to see what people were thinking of it and also because I wanted to interact with gifs and art, as the series is visually stunning.

Yet, in my search for opinions on the show, I came across several points I'd like to address in my own words:

Mizu’s history and identity are revealed piece-by-piece and the “peaches” scene with Mizu and Ringo at the lake is intended to be a major character reveal. I think it’s weird that some viewers got angry over other viewers intentionally not gendering Mizu until that reveal, rather than immediately jumping to gender the character as the other characters in the show do. The creators intentionally left Mizu’s gender and sexuality ambiguous (and quite literally wrote in lines to lead audiences to question both) to challenge the viewer’s gut assumption that this lone wolf samurai is a man. That intentional ambiguity will lead to wide and ambiguous interpretations of where Mizu fits in, if Mizu fits in at all. But don't just take my word for this:

Re: above. I also think it’s weird that some viewers got upset over other viewers continuing to acknowledge that Mizu has a very complicated relationship with her gender, even after that reveal. Canonically, she has a very complicated relationship with her identity. The character is intended to represent liminality in identity, where she’s often between identities in a world of forced binaries that aren’t (widely) socially recognized as binaries. But, again, don’t just take my word for this:

Mizu is both white and Japanese, but she is also not white and not Japanese simultaneously (too white to be Japanese and too Japanese to be white). She’s a woman and a man. She’s a man who’s a woman. She’s also a woman who’s not a woman (yet also not quite a man). But she’s also a woman; the creators said so. Mizu was raised as a boy and grew into a man, yet she was born a girl, and boyhood was imposed upon her. She’s a woman when she’s a man, a man when she’s a man, and a woman when she’s a woman.

Additionally, Mizu straddles the line between human and demon. She’s a human in the sense she’s mortal but a demon in the sense she’s not. She's human yet otherworldly. She's fallible yet greatness. She's both the ronin and the bride, the samurai and the onryō. In short, it’s complicated, and that’s the point. Ignoring that ignores a large part of her internal character struggle and development.

Mizu is intended to represent an “other,” someone who stands outside her society in every way and goes to lengths to hide this “otherness” to get by. Gender is a mask; a tool. She either hides behind a wide-brimmed hat, glasses, and laconic anger, or she hides behind makeup, her dress, and a frown. She fits in nowhere, no matter the identity she assumes. Mizu lives in a very different time period within a very different sociocultural & political system where the concept of gender and the language surrounding it is unlike what we are familiar with in our every-day lives. But, again, don’t just take my word for this:

It’s also weird that some viewers have gotten upset over the fact women and queer people (and especially queer women) see themselves in Mizu. Given her complicated relationship with identity under the patriarchy and colonial violence, I think Mizu is a great character for cis-het women and queer folks alike to relate to. Her character is also great for how she breaks the mold on the role of a biracial character in narratives about identity (she’s not some great bridge who will unite everyone). It does not hurt anyone that gender-fluid and nonbinary people see themselves in Mizu's identity and struggle with identity. It does not hurt anyone that lesbians see themselves in the way Mizu expresses her gender. It does not hurt anyone that trans men see themselves in Mizu's relationship with manhood or that trans women can see themselves in Mizu when Mama forces her to be a boy. It's also really cool that cis-het women see themselves in Mizu's struggles to find herself. Those upset over these things are missing critical aspects of Mizu's character and are no different from the other characters in the story. The only time Mizu is herself is when she’s just Mizu (“…her gender was Mizu”), and many of the other characters are unwilling to accept "just Mizu." Accepting her means accepting the complicatedness of her gender.

Being a woman under the patriarchy is complicated and gives women a complicated relationship with their gender and identity. It is dangerous to be a woman. Women face violence for being women. Being someone who challenges sex-prescribed norms and roles under patriarchy also gives someone a complicated relationship with their identity. It is dangerous to usurp gender norms and roles (then combine that with being a woman...). People who challenge the strict boxes they're assigned face violence for existing, too. Being a racial or ethnic minority in a racially homogeneous political system additionally gives someone a complicated relationship with their identity. It is dangerous to be an ethnic minority when the political system is reproduced on your exclusion and otherness. They, too, face violence for the circumstances of their birth. All of these things are true. None of them take away from the other.

Mizu is young-- in her early 20s-- and she has been hurt in deeply affecting ways. She's angry because she's been hurt in so many different ways. She's been hurt by gender violence, like "mama's" misogyny and the situation of her birth (her mother's rape and her near murder as a child), not to mention the violent and dehumanizing treatment of the women around her. She's been hurt by racial violence, like the way she has been tormented and abused since childhood for the way she looks (with people twice trying to kill her for this before adulthood). She's been hurt by state-sanctioned violence as she faces off against the opium, flesh, and black market traders working with white men in contravention of the Shogun's very policies, yet with sanction from the Shogun. She's been hurt by colonial violence, like the circumstances of her birth and the flood of human trafficking and weapons and drug trafficking in her country. She's had men break her bones and knock her down before, but only Fowler sexually differentiated her based on bone density and fracture.

Mizu also straddles the line between victim and murderer.

It seems like Mizu finding her 'feminine' and coming to terms with her 'female side' may be a part of her future character development. Women who feel caged by modern patriarchal systems and alienated from their bodies due to the patriarchy will see themselves in Mizu. They understand a desire for freedom that the narrow archetypes of the patriarchy do not afford them as women, and they see their anger and their desire for freedom in Mizu. This, especially considering that Mizu's development was driven by one of the creators' own experiences with womanhood:

No, Mizu does not pass as a man because she "hates women" or because she hates herself as a woman or being a woman. There are actual on-screen depictions of Mizu's misogyny, like her interactions with Akemi, and dressing like a man is not an instance of this. Mizu shows no discomfort with being a woman or being seen as a woman, especially when she intends to pass herself as and present as a woman. Mizu also shows the women in the series more grace and consideration than any man in the show, in whatever capacity available to her socially and politically, without revealing herself; many of the women have remarked that she is quite unlike other men, and she's okay with that, too.

When she lives on the farm with Mama and Mikio, Mizu shows no discomfort once she acclimates to the new life. But people take this as conclusive evidence of the "only time" she was happy. She was not. This life was also a dance, a performance. The story of her being both the ronin and the onryō revealed to the audience that this lifestyle also requires her to wear a mask and dance, just as the bride does. This mask is makeup, a wedding dress, and submission, and this performance is her gender as a wife. She still understands that she cannot fully be herself and only begins to express happiness and shed her reservation when she believes she is finally safe to be herself. Only to be betrayed. Being a man is her safety, and it is familiar. Being a boy protected her from the white men as a child, and it might protect her heart now.

Mizu shows no discomfort with being known as a woman, except when it potentially threatens her goals (see Ringo and the "peaches" scene). She also shows no discomfort with being known as, seen as, or referred to as a man. As an adult, she seems okay- even familiar- with people assuming she's a man and placing her into the role of a man. Yet, being born a girl who has boyhood violently imposed upon her (she did not choose what mama did to her) is also an incredibly important part of her lived experience. Being forced into boyhood, but growing into a man anyway became part of who she is. But, being a man isn’t just a part of who she became; it’s also expedient for her goals because men and women are ontologically different in her world and the system she lives under.

She's both because she's neither, because- ontologically- she fits nowhere. When other characters point out how "unlike" a man she is, she just shrugs it off, but not in a "well, yeah, because I'm NOT a man" sort of way, but in an "I'm unlike anyone, period," sort of way. She also does not seem offended by Madam Kaji saying that Mizu’s more man than any who have walked through her door.

(Mizu doesn’t even see herself as human, let alone a woman, as so defined by her society. And knowing that creators have stated her future arc is about coming into her “feminine era” or energy, I am actually scared that this show might fall into the trope of “domesticating”/“taming” the independent woman, complete with an allegory that her anger and lack of human-ness [in Mizu’s mind] is a result of a woman having too much “masculine energy” or being masculine in contravention of womanness.)

Some also seem to forget that once Mama and Mikio are dead, no one knows who she is or where she came from. They do not have her background, and they do not know about the bounty on her (who levied the bounty and why has not yet been explained). After their deaths, she could have gone free and started anew somehow. But in that moment, she chose to go back to life as a man and chose to pursue revenge for the circumstances of her birth. Going forward, this identity is no longer imposed upon her by Mama, or a result of erroneous conclusions from local kids and Master Eiji; it was because she wanted people to see her as a man and she was familiar with navigating her world, and thus her future, as a man. And it was because she was angry, too, and only men can act on their anger.

I do think it important to note that Mizu really began to allow herself to be vulnerable and open as a woman, until she was betrayed. The question I've been rattling around is: is this because she began to feel safe for the first time in her life, or is this part of how she sees women ontologically? Because she immediately returns to being a man and emotionally hard following her betrayal. But, she does seem willing to confide in Master Eiji, seek his advice, and convey her anxieties to him.

Being a man also confines Mizu to strict social boxes, and passing herself as a man is also dangerous.

Mizu doesn't suddenly get to do everything and anything she wants because she passes as a man. She has to consider her safety and the danger of her sex being "found out." She must also consider what will draw unnecessary attention to her and distract her from her goals. Many viewers, for example, were indignant that she did not offer to chaperone the mother and daughter and, instead, left them to the cold, only to drop some money at their feet later. The indignity fails consider that while she could bribe herself inside while passing as a man, she could not bribe in two strangers. Mizu is a strange man to that woman and does not necessarily have the social position to advocate for the mother and daughter. She also must consider that causing small social stirs would distract from her goals and draw certain attention to her. Mizu is also on a dangerous and violent quest.

Edo Japan was governed by strict class, age, and gender rules. Those rules applied to men as well as women. Mizu is still expected to act within these strict rules when she's a man. Being a man might allow her to pursue revenge, but she's still expected to put herself forward as a man, and that means following all the specific rules that apply to her class as a samurai, an artisan (or artist), and a man. That wide-brimmed hat, those orange-tinted glasses, and her laconic tendencies are also part of a performance. Being a boy is the first mask she wore and dance she performed, and she was originally (and tragically) forced into it.

Challenging the normative identities of her society does not guarantee her safety. She has limitations because of her "otherness," and the transgression of sex-prescribed roles has often landed people in hot water as opposed to saving them from boiling. Mizu is passing herself off as a man every day of her life at great risk to her. If her sex is "found out" on a larger scale, society won’t resort to or just start treating her as a woman. There are far worse fates than being perceived as a woman, and hers would not simply be a tsk-tsk, slap on the wrist; now you have to wear makeup. Let's not treat being a woman-- even with all the pressures, standards, fears, and risks that come with existing as a woman-- as the worst consequence for being ‘found out’ for transgressing normative identity.

The violence Mizu would face upon being "found out" won’t only be a consequence of being a "girl." Consider not just the fact she is female and “cross-dressing” (outside of theater), but also that she is a racial minority.

I also feel like many cis-het people either ignore or just cannot see the queerness in challenging gender roles (and thus also in stories that revolve around a subversion of sex-prescribed gender). They may not know how queerness-- or "otherness"-- leads to challenging strict social stratifications and binaries nor how challenging them is seen by the larger society as queer ("strange," "suspicious," "unconventional," even "dishonorable," and "fraudulent"), even when "queerness" (as in LGBTQ+) was not yet a concept as we understand it today.

Gender and sexuality- and the language we use to communicate who we are- varies greatly across time and culture. Edo Japan was governed by strict rules on what hairstyles, clothes, and weapons could be worn by which gender, age, and social group, and this was often enshrined in law. There were specific rules about who could have sex with whom and how. These values and rules were distinctly Japanese and would not incorporate Western influences until the late 1800s. Class was one of the most consequential features to define a person's fate in feudal Japan, and gender was quite stratified. This does not mean it's inappropriate for genderqueer people to see themselves in Mizu, nor does this mean that gender-variant identities didn’t exist in Edo Japan.

People in the past did not use the same language we do today to refer to themselves. Example: Alexander The Great did not call himself a "bisexual." We all understand this. However, there is a very weird trend of people using these differences in language and cultures across time to deny aspects of a historical person's life that societies today consider taboo, whether these aspects were considered taboo during that historical time period or not. Same example: people on Twitter complaining that Netflix "made" Alexander The Great "gay," and after people push back and point out that the man did, in fact, love and fuck men, hitting back with "homosexuality wasn't even a word back then" or "modern identity didn't exist back then." Sure, that word did not exist in 300s BCE Macedonia, but that doesn't mean the man didn't love men, nor does that mean that we can't recognize that he'd be considered "queer" by today's standards and language.

Genderqueer, as a word and as the concept is understood today, did not exist in feudal Japan, but the people did and feudal Japan had its own terms and concepts that referred to gender variance. But while the show takes place in Edo Japan, it is a modern adult animation series made by a French studio and two Americans (nationality). Mizu is additionally a fictional character, not a historical figure. She was not created in a vacuum. She was created in the 21st century and co-written by a man who got his start writing for Sex in the City and hails from a country that is in the midst of a giant moral panic about genderqueer/gender-variant people and gender non-conforming people.

This series was created by two Americans (nationality) for an American company. In some parts of that country, there are laws on the book strictly defining the bounds of men and women and dictating what clothes men and women could be prosecuted for wearing. Changes in language and identity over time mean that we can recognize that if Mizu lived in modern Texas, the law would consider her a drag performer, and modern political movements in the show creators' home country would include her under the queer umbrella.

So, yeah, there will also be genderqueer people who see themselves in Mizu, and there will be genderqueer fans who are firm about Mizu being queer to them and in their “headcanons.” The scene setting being Edo Japan, does not negate the modern ideas that influence the show. "Nonbinary didn't exist in Edo Japan" completely ignores that this show was created to explore the liminality of modern racial, gender, class, and normative identities. One of the creators was literally inspired by her own relationship with her biracial identity.

Ultimately, the fact Mizu, at this point in her journey, chooses to present and pass as a man and the fact her presented gender affects relationship dynamics with other characters (see: Taigen) gives this story a queer undertone. And this may have been largely unintentional: "She’s a girl, and he’s a guy, so, of course, they get together," < ignoring how said guy thinks she’s a guy and that she intentionally passes herself as a guy. Audiences ARE going to interpret this as queer because WE don’t live in Edo-era Japan. And I feel like people forget that Mizu can be a woman and the story can still have queer undertones to it at the same time.

#Blue Eye Samurai #‘If I was transported back in time… I’d try to pass myself off as a man for greater freedom.’ #^^^ does not consider the intersection of historically queer existence across time with other identities (& the limitations those include) #nor does it consider the danger of such an action #I get it. some come to this conclusion simply because they know how dangerous it is to be a woman throughout history. #but rebuking the normative identities of that time period also puts you at great risk of violence #challenging norms and rules and social & political hierarchies does not make you safer #and it has always been those who exist in the margins of society who have challenged sociocultural systems #it has always been those at greatest risk and who've faced great violence already. like Mizu #Anyway... Mizu is just Mizu #she is gender queer (or gender-variant) #because her relationship with her gender is queer. because she is gender-variant #‘queer’ as a social/political class did not exist. but people WE understand as queer existed in different historical eras #and under different cultural systems #she’s a woman because queer did not exist & ‘woman’ was the sex caste she was born into #she’s also a woman because she conceptualizes herself as so #she is a woman AND she is gender-variant #she quite literally challenges normative identity and is a clear example of what sex non-conforming means #Before the actual. historic Tokugawa shogunate banned women from theater #there were women in the theater who cross-dressed for the theater and played male roles #so I’m also really tired of seeing takes along the lines of: ‘Edo Japan was backwards so cross dressers did’t exist then!’ #like. please. be more transparent won’t you?

[nerdie-faerie]

Do you think there's any elements of vampirism that the Mikaelsons sold as being quintessential and a norm of being a vampire that was actually just a side effect of their specific experiences with early vampirism. Like maybe they try to sell that vampires don't need sleep, they're superior to humans but that's because they couldn't sleep while on the run from Mikael constant diligence was expected of them. Vampires can go days between feeds if they wished but in reality they couldn't always find someone to feed on while on the run at least not without alerting Mikael etc. etc. That lil speech Rebekah gives Elena about vampires being a predatory species just screams rehearsed, a story they sell to newbie vampires that also helps dispel they're own guilt

#TVDu #The Mikaelsons #idk the concept of being the first of your species and having to learn everything through trial and error and then having to explain to #others?? particularly when your case of vampirism isnt the same as theirs which they likely only would have realised by accidentally or #intentionally harming/killing baby vampires through that same trial and error #like im sure theres plenty of things that they consider to be part of being a vampire that is specific to their situation like #'love is a vampires greatest weakness' im sure thats not a conclusion that all vampires would naturally come to definitely some wouldve com #to a similar conclusion but i can imagine the mikaelsons trying to convince younger vampires that caring about others is dangerous and #theyre predators but they cant afford to care because mikael will destroy everything they care about #and the limits theyve discovered about vampirism that only came about from being on the run and likely most would never naturally encounter #those limits themselves most vampires have probably never gotten to the edge of dissication they dont want to risk it they get hungry they #feed simply as that they probably dont know how long they can run without stopping whilst the mikaelsons are probably very blase cavalier #about it 'oh well just run to france its easier' o.o like what? it probably wouldnt occur to must vampires esp the newer ones that have had #no ancient vampire influence in their life to tell them what is and isnt the norm for vampires katherine the salvatores were never coached #on being vampires but heres rose like the mikaelsons are the oldest vampires around and shes got all this lore and history #i just wanna know what the mikaelsons might have included in that particularly when they were newer and probably trying to seem #more important and grandiose than they were esp given their collective superiority complexes #no idea if im explaining this clearly its so clear in my head but wording it is hard

[andsomemaniacgotridofthewheel]

One of the reasons I will never be at ease with the overall "weirdness", the underwhelming pay-offs and the unfired Chekhov's guns during the plot(s) of season 2 - until season 3 arrives and we either learn that it's because of a brilliant trick they pulled on us OR because Neil & John actually did drop the ball and couldn't get the story structure right (yeah, sure 😏) - one of those reasons is that they got Aziraphale's character arc during that season so very, very right.

It is beautiful. It is subtle. It is organic. It is like a red thread running through all the episodes.

In the very first scene we learn something about Aziraphale & Crowley that we didn't know before. And it isn't that Crowley used to be such a ray of sunshine and that what led to the Fall must have been more traumatising than he always let on (that, too, but it's not the main point). It is that Aziraphale knew a version of Crowley that was deeply, unapologetically kind, and gentle, and caring; that he was everything an angel was supposed to be; and that Aziraphale himself, before the Fall even happened, was aware of some lurking inequity and oppression which presented a danger to that sweet, innocent angel. We are shown how Aziraphale could arrive at the conclusion that whatever happened to Crowley just wasn't right. And how he might think that that was something that should be fixed.

"I know the angel you were." In Job we are reminded that Aziraphale's memory of Crowley's angel persona at least that early in their story still partly informs his image of him.

"They aren't talking to him anymore", that sounds as if Aziraphale might have actually tried.

"It's nice to tell someone about the good things you've done, now that I'm not reporting to Heaven..." Aziraphale misses it. He still does good deeds, but he misses reporting them to someone.

"You really used to be awful." Gabriel is about the worst angel he has known. But once Heaven's conditioning was taken away, even he became an absolut sweetheart. Aziraphale learned this season very impressively that angels can change.

Muriel. Innocent, enthusiastic, downright good Muriel. Whose adventures as a human copper are mirrored so perfectly in Aziraphale's attempt to pass as a "newspaper man". Aziraphale learned that even now, not ALL angels are bad. And that there are some in Heaven who are just like him, and might need his help.

When Gabriel needed his help, Aziraphale gave it, with no vindictive thought or concern for his own safety. He couldn't just not help him. And when Crowley stormed off, Aziraphale simply waited for him to come back. This mirrors both their decisions at the end of season 2, though so far without Crowley changing his mind and coming back.

It has all been layed out for us from the beginning. Which is why it baffles me so much that so many people did not seem to see it - or want to see it.

Now, Crowley's character arc!

I am not really sure about that, but so far, to me, it seems to be just as all over the place as the plot setups and his sideburns, hair length, hair colour and sunglasses during the season are.

We are shown that present-day-Crowley keeps important things from Aziraphale - he still hasn't told him about Gabriel's attitude during the attempted execution, he hasn't told him that he is living in his car, and even when Aziraphale tells him that he needs to go to Heaven, he doesn't tell him about the looming second attempt at an apocalypse - which is extremely weird, since it would have been so important for Aziraphale to know and could have influenced his final decision quite a lot. At this moment the latest you also can't explain it as an attempt to protect Aziraphale anymore, since going in blind could make things actually more dangerous for him.

He did not do this during season 1, where it was Aziraphale who kept things from him for quite a while.

But after all this aggravated not-telling-him-things all he needs is a conversation with Nina & Maggie and immediately afterwards he makes the biggest, most honest confession of his life? Really?

And then all these comments casually dropped about his former rank as angel - "How do you know I didn't do it?" / "That's not actually a thing, that's just something we used to joke about to frighten the Cherubs" / "They never change their passwords" - and all these hints about his memory - he knows how it feels to "look at where the furniture isn't", he doesn't remember or claims not to remember either Furfur or Saraquael - something just doesn't add up. It actually is like looking at where the furniture isn't.

I do want to believe that when I figure it out that I will know a lot more about what's coming in season 3. Alas, I don't think I can figure it out without knowing what is coming in season 3.

#aziraphale #crowley #final fifteen #the final fifteen #ineffable divorce #good omens aziraphale #good omens crowley #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens season 2 #good omens s2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #ineffable husbands #ineffable dumbasses #az fell #anthony j crowley #aj crowley #ineffable spouses #ineffable partners #good omens show #good omens tv show #crowley & aziraphale #aziraphale & crowley #nikku's posts #nikku.txt

[three-penguins-in-a-trench-coat]

Memory in Stardew Valley is kinda fucked

So, memory in Stardew Valley is almost like a tangible thing, and I wanna talk about it. I mean technically speaking, you can sell it, trade it, swap it, bop it, twist it and so on and so forth. Why do I wanna talk about it? Because I have no social life and the only thing I can feel is the rage of my ancestors as I harvest yet another batch of ancient fruit wine.

Most people know about the Dark Shrine of Memory, the fun statue that wipes your ex's memories for a quick buck. Now that's pretty neat and all, but I think this leads to further interpretation I'm sure Concerned Ape wouldn't think is relevant but I'm gonna push it.

Someone had to put that statue there. I don't think it's the witch, because she has to shell up 30 big ones every time another thirsty wizard comes along. Also, Rasmodius still has his memories of them, and if I were her I wouldn't want a guy like Razzle-Dazzle thinking about her. And it's probably vice-versa, as the witch still curses the town from time to time to spite the purple-haired goblin.

Mr Qi would be a reasonable guess, especially since you have to pay to use it, and he is known to have several marketing schemes around the place, but this one doesn't feel like him. I think there's another powerful creature out and about, they've stumbled across a way to erase memories and are using it for profit. The witch is just a tool behind the mastermind.

On top of the memory shrine, the Dark Shrine of Selfishness also contains a portion of memory magic. No one remembers the children that disappeared. No one except the farmer. Perhaps some immunity comes with being a fallen god, or perhaps it's simply because they're the ones that paid, so they are cursed to forever remember their sin. Either way, considering the fact that two of the statues directly erase memories, there's something interesting going on.

Another aspect of memories that people don't often think about is resetting days. Now this does reach a fair bit into undertale, but I think it applies pretty well here too. Days can loop over and over again, and no one will remember any of them, except for the Farmer. With the knowledge and foresight of what's happening, the Farmer can escape danger and the villagers know no better. There is perhaps only two other people in Stardew who might have an idea of what's going on. The Witch, and Mr Qi.

The witch is obvious, she has the shrines in her house, but from Mr Qi's dialogue, we can gleam an idea of what he may know.

I got to where I am through the force of pure willpower, kid. You see... The mind is a very powerful tool. In fact, it's the most powerful tool in all of reality... and beyond

“Some things transcend time and space, kid. It's a unique feeling in the heart... a whisper of things beyond.”

Now it could be pretty easy to interpret this a hundred different ways, but I want to link it to memory right now. The specific wording states that Mr Qi might be aware of resetting save files and that memories can be erased. I don't think he can alter other people's memories (though we don't know enough about him to be sure), but he may have found a way to keep his own memories safe.

Perhaps it's even how he found the Farmer. One day, he wakes up again, and he knows it's the same day. This happens sometimes, and he's forced to live the same day twice, three times or even more sometimes. He seeks out the source of the issue and stumbles across the farmer. On the surface, they seem like a regular person, until one day, the day resets again and the Farmer acts like they've done it a thousand times, taking every right move in the mines and getting everything they failed to do in the last attempt.

I think Mr Qi would want to keep an eye on someone like that.

From all of this, I have come to a conclusion. The statues present the idea of memory, but they also show that memory magic can be used to accomplish very specific tasks. We've only seen a few examples, but it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that memory could be distorted a thousand different ways in Stardew. Perhaps none of the memories you have of your neighbour are real, and they never existed before yesterday. Or your parents actually died when you were three and you were raised by the spirits of hell. You actually have the memories of your best friend who died last week. Who knows?

Nothing is real, reality is an illusion.

#there is the possibility I'm overthinking this #but ive never listened to the rational part of my brain before #im not starting now #stardew valley #stardew #sdv #stardew farmer #sdv mr qi #mr qi #stardew theories #stardew theory

[bonespired]

How to degrease bones? (With the easiest and cheapest method!)

Bone cleaning is quite a journey - and honestly degreasing is the part I find a tad confusing. Questions like: how long it will take? Does it work in cold water as well? Is it done? Is it doing anything at all?

As a beginner bone collector, who also doesn't want to put a huge amount of money into it and finding an acceptable way to clean bones is essential. Mainly because of the challenge, - tbh it is quite enjoyable for me to create quality bones with a less amount of investment, it just makes me feel like I really worked for it, I love these challenges - but mostly because it is already difficult to make my family accept this kind of a hobby of mine. Not many people are fond of keeping rotting animal parts at home, I can tell you that! If this hobby turns out to be stinky and expensive, that is definitely a no from family members. And even though I am an adult, making my own money, my husband does have a saying about the family funds - because we are both responsible for this family - so it is important for me to keep things at a reasonable price.

There are many ways to degrease bones and you have to pay a price for it either way, be it about the time period the degreasing takes or the used materials. You can degrease bones chemically, using liquids like ammonia or acetone, but personally, I dislike these, because:

it requires some effort to put your hand on this stuff, they can be hard to come by

they can be harmful to your health (ammonia is not nice to work with)

they can be expensive, and we already have to buy H2O2

they have to be stored and get rid of properly - you cannot just let these go down in your sink

and some materials can be straightforward and dangerous - read about some pros are using stuff like petrol for degreasing and while it does the job, petrol is extremely unstable, highly flammable and tend to blow up easily, so super no!

So, I go with the safest and also the cheapest solution: dish soap.

Dish soap is something that is easy to come by, can be super cheap and the water system is well prepared to clean grey water, so you can pour dish soap into your sink. However, it can take time to degrease your bones. While ammonia or acetone can be done with degreasing under a day (depends on the size of the skull and species of the animal), dish soap takes a lot longer: days at the best, months at the worst. But this is also the easiest degreasing method for beginners.

But there is another big question: how do you know your degreasing is working (and when it is done)?

When I started to even think about degreasing I went online, read about dish soap and was happy because everyone has dish soap at hand, so I picked a pot, filled it with cold water, pour the dish soap in, put the bones in and yay, magic was done! But things are not this simple.

The first days everything went fine: my water had fat oil drops at the surface and a visible white cloud came out of the bones, so a clear sign of the degreasing is working. But this stage went down quickly, like a matter of days - and I thought okay, degreasing is done, time to pull the skulls out and whiten. But my whitening never turned out white, rather like light grey and first I blamed my peroxide because of it, then my bones. These are findings from nature, probably they are stained, right?

I started to be doubtful when my cat skull turned out to be sticky after whitening. That never happened before, so another research later I came to the conclusion the cat that I thought are fully degreased is actually not degreased. But it didn't do a thing in the pot anymore. So what did I do wrong?

I used cold water. Apparently cold water works, but only for a while. It cannot really pull out the grease that is hiding deep inside the bone - that's why I stopped seeing white cloud after a matter of days, falsely thinking I am done. I needed warm water in the long run - if I simply use warm tap water that just runs cold way too quickly. It can be done with warm tap water as well, but that takes even longer. So, I bought an aquarium heater.

I looked after the fat oil drops in the water. They appeared on the first day, so I thought they will keep appearing until I am done. Turns out they don't? Rather the water slowly goes more opaque and murky with time, but no more fat drops don't matter how hard I am looking for them. This makes my job significantly difficult because oil drops are easier to spot and tell based on them if the degreasing is working or if I am actually done.

I am just super imapetient. I want my skull done and perfect as soon as possible. But it just doesn't work like that. I am working on this cat skull for 3 weeks now and it is still going: I had to macerate it, then degrease it, then whiten it, and then go back to degreasing and all I wanna do is glue it together and post fancy pictures of it. Won't happen for a while, time to accept that.

But how this opaque water progress looks like? I was so confused about is it clear water, is it dirty water, is it done, whether the water is warm enough or not, so I started to document the process.

This is the freshwater stage. I just changed the water and quickly snapped a pic of it, making it my reference piece. I can clearly see all the details of my bones, even if my dish soap is yellow, colouring my water a bit - but I can see through the water without any problem. My heater can do 36 Celsius degrees max, otherwise, it cooks the fish in the tank, so I put that on max, hoping it will be enough. About the temperature: I did read about 46 Celsius or even more than 50 Celsius for water temperature, but the aquarium heater cannot reach those degrees, because the main goal is to keep fish alive and no fish stays alive in 40+ water. I could use a bucket heater, but for me, that is harder to get and I really don't want a setting that takes a lot of space/costs a lot of money, so an aquarium heater it is.

Another thing I am not comfortable to put my bones in more than 50 Celsius degrees. This is my personal choice, but I really wanna avoid any chance of accidentally cooking my bones, and 50 seems to be too much heat.

I looked back at it an hour later and snapped another pic: and look, we start to get blurry details! No oil drops on the surface, but something definitely makes the water murky: my water is not hot enough to cook the bones, so it cannot dissolve or take any kind of damage in my bones, so this stuff must be grease! Seems like the heater works!

Checked the bones that evening as well and the water is definitely even more opaque!

And this is the next day: I can barely see my bones anymore, so definitely time to change the water.

Conclusion

If you think you are done with your bones, but they:

have yellow spots or wax on them

stick to your hand like you glued them

are shining here or there

have a waxy feeling

smells

Then your degreasing is not done. The good news is you can always go back to degreasing, doesn't matter if you whitened the bones or not.

The cheapest version of degreasing is the dish soap version and you will need warm water for it! It can be a good idea to get an aquarium heater because that will help you to macerate carcasses during the winter as well and quickens degreasing too. You can work with warm tap water, but that takes even longer.

But the dish soap method really takes time! Seems like this part is the longest one in skull cleaning. So even if it seems like my degreasing is not over and my method works, I can also see I won't have a pretty white cat skull anytime soon.

The bones are bathing for the third day in a row now and they seem to release the same amount of grease, so no sign of clear water yet. Also, when I pull the bones out of the water I can still see yellow spots on it - that is grease, sweeping to the surface and I need to get rid of that.

And how I will know my degreasing is done? My water stops being opaque. I can decide when to pull my bones out - do I want to fully degrease it or I decide to end it sooner because I want some discolouration, preserving am roe natural look.... that is up to me. Ideally, I wanna do a full degrease, but I just wanna preserve my bones perfectly to have quality art references that will be with be for a long time, so I try to go for a full degrease and will see how long that takes.

So just take your time, change your water as needed and enjoy the process :3 You cannot harm your bones this way, so happy experimenting!

#vulture culture #degreasing bones #skull degreasing #animal skulls #degrease #degreasing #dead animal #oddities #bone cleaning

[torscrawls]

Cold Snap

Bruce tries to protect Phantom during his first real mission but he soon finds out that Phantom needs less protection than he thought. 

Words: 4 307 

Can be read on AO3!

-

"Phantom. Stay back," Bruce said gruffly as he pushed the Justice League's youngest member behind himself and out of the line of sight of Poison Ivy. She was currently calling forth a small jungle in the middle of the street; vines forcing their way up through the pavement, stems and roots rapidly growing up the sides of the surrounding buildings as they sprouted a copious amount of leaves and flowers.

Predictably, Phantom immediately tried to protest, "It's fine, I can–"

"No," Bruce cut him off as he drew a batarang, "she's dangerous."

Bruce gritted his teeth. Of course Ivy had to show up when it was just him and Phantom on the scene, and unprepared for a confrontation to boot. Bruce had been showing Phantom around Gotham—not giving his new son a tour of his place, no matter what his other children said—but because he wanted Phantom to have the tactical advantage of knowing his surroundings if he ever had to fight in the city. Which proved to have been a very valid point, considering their current situation.

It would be a tough fight to go head to head with Ivy while keeping Phantom safe at the same time. At least the civilians in the area had almost all completely fled by now; routine and repetition really did wonders for the effectiveness of evacuation.

Phantom scoffed. "She's just producing a few flowers. This isn't the first time I've faced someone who's controlling plants, you know?"

Bruce was now positive that Phantom wasn't used to fighting real threats and was severely underestimating the danger. The young ghost had been a part of the Justice League for a fairly short amount of time—coming with them on missions and helping out where his specific skill set was required—but it was enough for Bruce to come to the conclusion that he was an enthusiastic teenager with a lot of potential in the sneaking-around-undetected-business, but he was generally a bit too impatient or just plain untrained to make full use of his potential.

Then again, he hadn't been involved in a full-blown confrontation since he joined the League, but what little fighting Bruce had seen him do was sloppy and more haphazard than he would have liked.

Bruce might have made a mental note to offer some hand-to-hand training for the boy as soon as they had the time to spare. Only to make sure he wasn't a liability in the field. Of course.

But to do that Bruce needed to keep him safe, so he tried to put as much seriousness into his voice as he could as he growled out, "This isn't up for debate, Phantom."

Phantom's retort was drowned out by the deafening sound of a car getting crushed beneath a mass of twisting vines and then by Poison Ivy's voice ringing out across the street, "Enough with all the pollution! Enough with all the destruction! Enough with—"

Before Bruce could stop him, Phantom had called back, "Isn't that a bit ironic considering what you're doing?"

Ivy's eyes fixed on him and Bruce swore under his breath. Of course he had to call her attention to him. Of course. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm Phantom! It's…not nice to meet you, but, you know. Hello."

That seemed to stump her for a second before she laughed. "I like you. Too bad you sided with the wrong side."

Phantom crossed his arms over his chest. "You're the one hurting people and destroying things."

Batman sent him a warning look, trying to get him to stop antagonizing her.

If there was one thing that was good about Ivy, it was that she tended to at least be possible to argue with, to try and find another solution. She did what she did out of a misguided sense of justice, not to simply destroy and hurt. But that also meant that Phantom shouldn't needlessly push her.

She heaved a sigh and shook her head, looking very disappointed. "If that is how you want to view things. Then I guess I have to hurt you too. And Batman, of course."

Ivy added the last part with a wink in his direction and Bruce's frown deepened as he raised his batarang and breathed out to steady himself, and then he stopped. He frowned as he took in the way his breath was misting in the air in front of his face. In the middle of July.

And now that he thought about it, he did notice that it was an unmistakable and sudden chill in the air. He hadn't noticed because of his thick armor and focus on Ivy, but it seemed like they might have another threat on their hands. He cast a quick glance around to try and spot the new variable in this increasingly unpromising equation, and that was when he noticed that Phantom had gone very still at his side.

Bruce risked a quick glance down to check on him, not wanting to take his eyes off the enemy but needed to check that their young member was okay. He didn't have time to babysit him right now, but he couldn't just look the other way if a kid was panicking right next to him. Especially a kid that Bruce had indirectly dragged into the situation himself and was partially responsible for. So he said, in a voice that was only slightly gruff, "You don't have to be scared. I'll protect you."

It came out less reassuring and more annoyed than he had been aiming for, but hey, at least it was something. Bruce privately thought he was getting better at this whole comforting people business, but then Phantom shook his head. "I'm not scared."

Bruce opened his mouth to say that it was okay to be scared, that he knew Phantom wasn't used to fighting real battles against strong enemies, but before he could say anything Phantom spoke again, and this time it was with an echo and a snarl and loud enough that Ivy would be able to hear, "I'm angry."

That… was not what Bruce was expecting him to say. "What?"

All thoughts that the sudden drop in temperature could be caused by a natural occurrence flew out the window as Phantom's stillness seemed to spread—both through the ghost himself and through the environment around them—and goosebumps broke out all over Bruce's body as the temperature dropped even further. It came from Phantom.

This was unlike anything Bruce had seen from him before and he hated to admit it, but it was an unknown, something he hadn't taken into account, and he decidedly did not like it. So he turned to his companion and asked, "Phantom?"

But Phantom didn't have time to answer before Ivy spoke up, "Well, if you won't listen there's only one way to make sure this all ends…" She raised her hands and with them, all the vines surrounding her rose up too. "I have to take control of everyone's minds and make them respect nature!"

Bruce cursed under his breath as a cloud of spores erupted from the flowers around her, immediately starting to disperse in the wind as it carried the cloud deeper into the city, and thankfully away from him and Phantom.

Bruce threw his batarang at the closest wine, not waiting to see it connect before throwing three more in quick succession.

"What is it with you plant-people and mind control?!" Phantom growled out from next to him, and his voice was no longer anywhere close to human.

A shudder traveled down Bruce's spine and he couldn't tell if it was due to the sound of Phantom's voice or the sudden and steep drop in temperature, making the surroundings, impossibly, even colder.

He could already feel numbness spreading through his fingers and toes as he started shivering as a chill settled in, deep in his bones and much too fast to be natural. Bruce threw another batarang and watched as it missed its mark.

"Phantom!" Bruce barked out as he looked to his teammate and the blooming frost that branched out from where he floated, looking like deceptively beautiful and delicate latticework.

"Aww, what a pretty ice-show," Ivy cooed with a laugh. "Let me take Batman here out of the picture and we can talk. Just the two of us."

A vine shot out towards Bruce and he cursed himself from getting distracted. The cold surrounding him made him slow enough that he wouldn't be able to duck in time, he just had to trust that his armor would protect–

Or not.

The vine suddenly stopped in mid-air, overtaken by ice.

Phantom rounded on Ivy. "How dare you threaten my friend?!"

By now, the air was cold enough to hurt going in and Bruce had to struggle not to gasp as his shivering turned into painful shaking. It was cold and it was all his brain could focus on. Cold cold cold cold—

Bruce managed to convince his legs to move enough to take a couple of stumbling steps away from Phantom, hating that the action wasn't a conscious decision, and hating eve more that it left Phantom's side vulnerable. But his colleague didn't seem to mind, instead it was Ivy who looked suddenly exposed and unsure.

And Bruce couldn't blame her, and he definitely couldn't fight like this; while having to keep an eye on his ally at the same time. He needed his head clear, and to do that, he needed Phantom to calm down and stop whatever it was he was doing. Preferably now.

"Phantom. Calm down," Bruce tried again through chattering teeth, "You have to stop this."

But Phantom didn't seem to hear him, or if he did he ignored him, as he kept addressing a wide-eyed Ivy. "You have nothing on Undergrowth, and I won't allow you to destroy the city. It takes ages to restore the damages caused by the roots."

At the end of the sentence, Phantom's eyes blazed blue and Bruce realized that he couldn't remember a time in his life where he had ever been this cold. But wait… Maybe he wasn't cold? Bruce realized that he almost felt warm on top of alarmingly tired. Bruce blinked. That… was a bad sign, wasn't it?

When he blinked again he got distracted by the sight of his own eyelashes laden with frost, and then, again, by the sight of all the plants surrounding them suddenly freezing in place. Bruce watched in horrified fascination as a second later, they all turned brittle and hard before crumbling to pieces, and he realized—to his horror—that despite how cold he felt, Phantom was somehow protecting him from the worst of it.

His aching eyes landed on Phantom where he floated perfectly unaffected by everything going on around them, and even Bruce's struggling brain managed to come to the conclusion that he might have severely misjudged Phantom's skill set and what he was capable of.

It hadn't been Phantom's safety he should have been worried about

Ivy seemed to share his conclusions as she didn't waste any more time before turning and beginning to stumble away.

Which proved to be a mistake as it prompted Phantom to move, and with him all the pressure, all the focus of the sudden all-encompassing cold moved as well. Like an avalanche rolling down the street, unstoppable and terrifying.

Ivy stopped, frozen to the spot as he approached, wide eyes fixed on Phantom's form, and Bruce couldn't tell if that was because she was actually frozen to the ground, or if she was simply frozen in fear.

And then it was as if Phantom shed the burden of all that heavy power, and in an instant the slow inevitability of his movements switched to swiftness and Phantom faster than Bruce could follow, faster than he had ever seen him move before, and in the blink of an eye he was in front of Ivy and with his hands raised towards her—his expression was completely blank and deathly cold as his normally lively eyes held nothing but ice.

Bruce felt a sudden dread twist his gut.

What if he was about to kill her? He couldn't allow that. Not while he was there—he couldn't just stand by as the League's youngest member become a murderer. A voice in his head whispered that he apparently knew nothing about his team member and that Phantom might very well already be one.

How he managed to get his aching throat to produce words was beyond him, but he did manage to croak out, "Phantom, stop!"

And—this time—thankfully, Phantom did.

He tilted his head in Bruce's direction with a questioning look in his eyes. "Shouldn't I capture her?"

Capture her. Of course. The relief he felt at that barely registered beneath the mind-numbing cold and even if he wanted to, he couldn't give an answer as his shivering lips and hacking teeth refused to form any more words. Instead, he settled for gesturing with a shaking hand around them and to his throat, hoping that Phantom would catch on to what he meant.

Phantom frowned in confusion for a second before his eyes widened with sudden realization. "Oh, right. Sorry. Wait a second."

And, just like that, warmth started to spread across the street and across Bruce himself and he could feel a painful tingling starting up in his fingers as they came back to life.

The next breath he took almost burned on the way down as his frozen throat thawed.

Phantom looked the same as ever, as if controlling the very climate of a whole street was nothing to him, as if commanding the power of a tundra, an ice storm, was nothing to him.

Maybe it wasn't.

Ivy sank to her knees and Bruce would have followed her if he hadn't managed to lock his knees at the very last second, a skill honed after countless times of staying on his feet for far longer than he really should have.

Bruce forced his throat and mouth to work. "Don't hurt her."

Instead of answering him, Phantom turned to Ivy and asked, "Will they be okay? The people you mind controlled?"

She nodded. "Yes. It will wear out in an hour and they will be unharmed. I won't ask them to do anything. Please, you have to believe me, I just wanted to help—"

She stopped speaking abruptly when a Phantom moved, and Bruce had a second to tense up before he saw that Phantom simply crossed his arms and nodded as he said, "Alright."

And it felt like a judgment.

Bruce let out a slightly unsteady breath. He had thought he had become used to powerful beings, what with aliens, literal superheroes, and living legends being on his team, but this was foreign in a way not even the aliens they had encountered were. This was foreign to life itself.

After Bruce was able to move again, they made short work of capturing Ivy and sending her back to Arkham. For once, she didn't argue or try any tricks to get away, her eyes stayed locked on Phantom the whole time until she was taken away.

When it was only the two of them left, together with a couple of small and inconspicuous puddles that was all there was left of all the frost and ice, as well as quite a lot of destroyed plant matter, Bruce turned to face his teammate.

And all of a sudden, he started to doubt what had transpired; his brain having trouble connecting what had just happened with the innocent looking boy in front of him. But the street around them as well as his own shaking body spoke of the truth. That it had really happened.

Besides, the whole street as far as he could see bore traces of the melted ice and the crumbled plants. He felt himself hesitate for a split second at the implications of that—at the sheer size of whatever power Phantom had unleashed so casually and at the potential danger that it posed.

But then Bruce looked back at Phantom's face and the way he was keeping his earnest attention on Bruce—waiting for what he was about to say; waiting for his judgment—and felt himself relax.

Phantom had never done anything since he'd met him to earn his distrust and to his surprise, Bruce found that he didn't want to ruin that. His children had told him that he was too paranoid for his own good and maybe this was the time to start working on changing that; to prove them wrong.

Bruce fixed Phantom with what he hoped was a stern look and said, "Let's go debrief."

Phantom at least had the sense to look faintly ashamed. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we—"

"Watchtower. Now."

This time, Phantom followed him without further debate, and Bruce breathed out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure that he would be able to force Phantom to come if he didn't want to.

-

As soon as they arrived at the Watchtower, Bruce led Phantom to an empty meeting room and closed the door before anyone could stop them to talk. He was grateful for the effectiveness of his glare in keeping people away.

Bruce placed his hands on the table and fixed Phantom with a stern glare. "We need to have a serious talk about following orders. As well as withholding important information."

Phantom grimaced. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so angry. I just… Hated that she threatened you. I couldn't just—"

Bruce cut him off with a stern, "I can take care of myself." He couldn't have a young boy risk himself in a misguided attempt to protect him. "But I need you to listen to what I say in the field."

Phantom looked like he wanted to argue for a second, before he deflated. "Yeah, sure. I'm sorry."

Bruce had sons of his own; he could tell Phantom didn't mean it, so he raised an eyebrow and stared him down in silence until the boy broke.

"Okay, fine! I'm not sorry! I could help in that situation and to stand back and do nothing wouldn't have helped anyone!"

And that was a good segue way into the other topic Bruce wanted to discuss. "Why haven't you used those powers before?"

Phantom hesitated. "I was scared of hurting you guys. We've only really been on missions in small spaces and my skill set isn't really made for that." Then he paused with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, except for the invisibility and intangibility and stuff, but that's just basic powers, you know? Every ghost can do that."

Bruce had thought that was his only skill set.

He mentally tried to re-categorize everything he knew about his teammate, and started on making new contingency plans.

Phantom took a deep breath. "I normally try to hold back a bit. I know humans aren't really as durable as ghosts and I don't want to hurt anyone more than I have to, I don't want to destr–"

Phantom cut himself off, a pained expression flashed across his face, but it was gone before Bruce could get a good read on it.

And that was part of the problem, wasn't it? He didn't know enough about Phantom to know what to expect, not really.

He had been blindsided by Phantom's apparent youth and humor, how willing he was to cooperate, and how happy he always was to interact with the other members of the league. But Bruce knew, better than most, that appearances could be deceiving.

He should have dug deeper.

He had just assumed that there wasn't anything more to dig up on a dead child. That had been a faulty conclusion. He was getting weak. Lenient.

Well, he could start to work on fixing that now.

So Bruce crossed his arms and fixed Phantom with what he hoped to be a stern stare. "Why didn't you tell us you had powers like that?"

"I promise I didn't mean to keep it from you guys! It's just… I forget."

Bruce raised an eyebrow in question. Forgot what? He wanted to see where Phantom went with this. Thankfully, Phantom seemed to take the hint and elaborated, "My powers."

Okay, Bruce took it back. That didn't really clear anything up.

After a few silent seconds in which Phantom didn't seem to think he needed to explain further, Bruce caved and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I forget what my powers are sometimes. Or at least some of them."

"…What?"

Was Phantom messing with him? He couldn't seriously mean that he didn't know his own powers?

"Yeah… I know it's bad."

Bruce blinked. Or… He was serious. "How can you not know what your own powers are?"

"It's not my fault I get new ones all the time! I mean, of course I know about the ones I use on the regular, but the others… I get new ones so often it's hard to keep track!"

Well wasn't that a terrifying admission? Bruce almost didn't want to ask, "How many do you have?"

Phantom paused with a thoughtful expression on his face. Bruce wanted to cut in that it was a fairly straightforward question.

Then Phantom groaned and threw his hands in the air as he exclaimed, "Well that's the problem, isn't it?! I'm not sure!"

He couldn't really be serious, could he…?

Bruce looked into Phantom's eyes that were once again back to their familiar green color, and found only honesty there. Well, honesty and a fair share of annoyance and resignation.

What was he meant to say to that? He got new powers just like that? Was that typical for ghosts?

…How was he supposed to keep a detailed list of his teammate's powers if Phantom himself didn't even have the information and if it changed all the time?

Phantom seemed to take Bruce's silence as disapproval, which wasn't completely wrong, as he raised his hands defensively in front of him and plowed on, "I didn't know that was, like, a requirement for you guys! There's nothing I can really do about it."

"What about making sure you know your current powers before going into dangerous situations, at the very least?" Bruce barely recognized his own voice, he sounded so exasperated.

Phantom looked at him as if his statement was in any way shape or form an intelligent and revolutionary one. "That might actually be a good idea. I can try to write a list down if you want?"

"I can help you compose the list." The words were out of his mouth before he had made the conscious decision to say them and Bruce cursed himself as soon as he let them slip. His teammate might get the wrong idea that he wanted to help him out of the goodness of his heart, but it was simply to keep a closer eye on Phantom and learn his strengths and weaknesses. Of course. Nothing else.

Phantom stared at him in silence for long enough that even Bruce started to second-guess himself, before he broke the quiet with a barely audible but clearly awed, "You would do that? For me?"

Bruce cleared his throat. "It would be bad to not know your powers. It makes you a liability and a danger in the field."

"Aww, you care about me!"

"Of course I—" Bruce cut himself off. He would not admit to something like, especially not for a colleague of all things. And of course he didn't. He just needed good intel to make sure a repeat of today never happened again. What if next time Phantom got hurt or—

No. What if next time, Phantom compromised the mission. That was what he cared about. Only that.

Phantom's green eyes suddenly shone with tears and Bruce stood up straighter. Please, Bruce begged silently, please don't start crying. He hated it when his kids cried. Not that Phantom was one of them. Of course not.

But then a wide grin slowly spread across Phantom's face, stretching his mouth wide and squinting his shining eyes into mirthful crescents. The innocent picture was slightly ruined by his fangs peeking out from between his lips. "I care about you too!"

Those words shouldn't have almost made Bruce smile back, but he forcibly reminded himself to focus on his faulty assumptions and on the risks this whole thing posed instead of the warmth spreading through his chest. And Bruce could admit to when he had been wrong, despite what his sons said, but it had been a long time since he had been this wrong about something or someone. He didn't like the feeling, and he would make absolutely sure it didn't happen again. And that no one found out that it had happened.

He shook his head, forced the small smile off his face and said, "Prepare a list of all the powers you do know about until tomorrow."

Phantom sloppily saluted him with a grin. "Yes, sir!"

Bruce scowled harder, but it only made Phantom's grin widen. He needed to make sure Phantom knew the importance of this.

"And next time I tell you to do something, you do it," Bruce growled out.

Phantom nodded, still grinning. "If it's not too stupid."

Bruce could recognize when he had lost an argument and decided to take what he could get.

-

The next day Bruce found a note on his desk at the Watchtower with a long list of increasingly absurd powers in a very scratchy handwriting covering both the front and back and covered his face with his hands as he groaned.

They had a long way ahead of them.

#dp #danny phantom #dp x dc #dp fic #danny phantom fic #phic #i'm sick and i'm tired and that means i'm back on my bullshit #have some more op danny #just confusing bruce with his usual shit #i hope you enjoy! #my writing

[zootopiathingz]

A Promise in the Dead of Night

“I’m scared…”

Her voice is but a whisper, that Alastor barely registers her words at first. When he does, he feels himself tightening his arms around her, his mind already preparing to shield her from danger that he’s not made aware of.

Something’s been off about Charlie’s behavior and he hasn’t been able to determine the reason. From the moment she stepped in his room, he’s known she hasn’t been in her usual perky mood. It’s not unlike her to pay him a visit in the dead of night. Hell, it’s practically become routine for them. If he doesn’t end up falling asleep with her in her own bed, he can expect to find her hours later in his room, quietly requesting that she stay. And he never refuses. How could he possibly turn down such a request from the radiant, smiling princess of Hell?

But tonight, that gorgeous smile of hers that normally greets him when she enters a room was absent from her face. Her piercing eyes that could read all the secrets of his soul were puffy from tears she must have dried before coming to see him. She hasn’t uttered a word until now. She simply opened the door and walked over to join him on the sofa he sits on and crawled her way into his arms. He hasn’t questioned her, but he finds it odd that she had been so quiet. Not even a laugh, or even a breath. Has she been holding her breath the whole time?

Alastor brings his hand up to the back of her head that lays against his chest, raking his long claws through the soft strands of her golden hair. “Of what, dear?” He asks, his voice only slightly louder than hers.

She doesn’t answer. Not with words, at least. Instead she just further nuzzles her head against him, burying her face into the fabric of his coat like she’s trying to hide from something. Alastor swears he hears a faint whimper escape her—a sound that not only catches him off-guard, but fills him with rage. Several thoughts run through his mind like a herd of deer. What could have happened to her that would send her into such a fragile state? Who hurt her…?

Before jumping to conclusions, he decides to continue with his gentle approach. He shifts slightly, taking her chin between his fingers to lift her head away from his chest, her gaze instinctively meeting his. He’s met with the most heartbreaking look of vulnerability she’s ever displayed. He doesn’t like it one bit.

“What’s troubling you, my darling?” He questions her again, his thumb tenderly caressing the soft, milky skin of her face.

Charlie sniffles and briefly shifts her gaze downward as she struggles to answer in a way that makes sense. “I.. I don’t know.” She sighs shakily. She knows it’s a pathetic response, but she doesn’t know how to explain the hell-storm wreaking havoc in her mind.

Alastor stays quiet, only giving her a look that urges her to go on. And when she looks at him again, she does, however reluctantly.

“Oh Al.. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and no matter what I do, it won’t leave me alone.” Charlie lets out a small hiccup of a breath, leaning her head forward slightly, longing to lay on his chest again. “I keep having these horrible dreams. They play out differently, but they all end the same way…something bad happens, or someone attacks us, and one way or another, you get taken away from me. I don’t know what happens to you after. I always wake up before I can find out, but I’m afraid that it means you were…”

She pauses, not wanting to actually finish the thought aloud. She knows she doesn’t need to, anyway. Alastor can easily fill in the blank.

His signature smile, sealed by his lips at the moment, tightens at the corners. Charlie doesn’t see it, but his blinking eyes go wide for just a moment. It may be just a coincidence, it had to be. But what are the odds that they were both struggling with bad dreams about losing the other to some unknown force of darkness? Alastor hasn’t let it affect him like Charlie clearly has, because to him it shouldn’t have meant anything.

But to know that his princess was facing the exact same troubling phenomenon…that was a cause for alarm.

He doesn’t tell her of this. No, he refuses to worry her any more than she already has been. It’s his job to ease her worries, not increase them. It’s a burden he’ll bear for them both. What’s one more, anyway?

He pulls her in close to him as she snuggles into his arms. “Oh Charlie, you must not fret over something like night terrors.” He assures in a calming tone, trailing his hand up and down the length of her back. “They’re just dreams, after all. They cannot hurt us.”

“That’s the thing. What if they’re not just dreams?” Charlie argues, her body growing slightly tense at this thought she only just now realizes she has. “What if..it’s a warning?”

Alastor doesn’t even want to entertain the idea. He doesn’t want to imagine that that’s the reason behind their shared unconscious terrors. No, he won’t give into the fear. It will only consume them, and then they will be doomed to face it.

“You shouldn’t think like that, dear.” He says, leaning his head down, resting his chin atop of her head. “It will do you no good. You mustn’t let your fear control you.”

Charlie closes her eyes, her voice reverting back to its pitiful hushed tone. “I can’t stop it.”

There’s a brief moment of stillness between them. Neither dares to move from the warmth of the other’s touch. The air grows quiet, with only the cackling flames of the fireplace providing any source of sound. That is, until Alastor slowly lifts his head and pulls her back to face her again. The look in his eyes takes her aback. His grin is as wide as always, but there’s a subtle glimmer of sadness in his gaze that she’s never quite seen before. She’s not sure if she should feel touched that he’s grown so comfortable to express such vulnerability in front of her, or horrified of the meaning behind it…

“Then tell me what I can do to make it go away.” He raises his finger up to brush her bangs away from her forehead, before resting his hand against the side of her face, cupping her face in his palm. “Whatever it is, it will be done. Just name it.”

Charlie frowns softly, staring at him quietly for the longest minute. She’s not sure there’s anything he can do to make this all disappear. Alastor may be a powerful overlord, wielding immense power that has left even her impressed. But sadly, he can’t just snap his fingers and rid her of her fears like he wishes. Miracles like that weren’t possible down here in Hell.

There’s one thing he can do, though. As simple as it may be, it’s what she needs him to do.

Charlie leans her face into his palm, bringing her own hand up to hold his wrist as she looks deep into his eyes. “Just..promise me that no matter what happens, if anything happens, that nothing will tear us apart from each other.” She says, her voice trembling more and more with each word. “Whether these are just stupid dreams or not, I cannot lose you, Alastor. So please.. promise me now.”

Alastor gives her an incredulous look, raising his brow a little, just before he leans in, inching his face closer to hers.

“Charlie..my princess,” He speaks firmly, his voice lacking any static or filter that it normally carries, “I swear on my damned life, I will never let anything take you away from me. Not Heaven. Not Hell. Nothing is ever going to keep us apart. Do you understand?”

She nods slowly, and as she blinks the tears she’s been fighting back threaten to burst like a broken dam. Alastor kisses her, the tender touch of his lips bringing her a warm sense of comfort. He then pulls her back into his reassuring embrace, and at last the woman crumbles down. She cries into his shoulder, clinging onto him like she may lose him for good if she even thinks of letting go. He doesn’t say anything, knowing he’s said all he can to bring her solace and all he can do now is simply be here with her.

But they both know his words held nothing but truth to them. Charlie’s been the one good thing to ever happen to him in a long, long time. And he would sooner die again than ever let something rip that away from his grasp. He will hold onto her and use everything in his power to fight for her, and he will do it all with a smile on his face.

It’s alright, my love. Is his immediate thought when he hears that dreadful sound of her sobbing. He hugs her as close as he possibly can, letting his eyes fall shut as his face presses onto the mess of hair on her head. The shadow that resembles his shape looms over the pair, hovering its claws protectively over the woman in Alastor’s arms.

Anyone who tries to take you from me will be faced with a fate worse than death…

#a short lil charlastor one shot bc fuck it why not #I’m not super proud of how it turned out and I honestly had no idea how to end it #but oh well #it’s mainly for practice #getting out of this stupid creative block I’ve been in for a year #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanfiction #one shot #charlastor #charlastor fanfic #radiobelle #charlie x alastor #charlie morningstar #alastor the radio demon #gives these two a hug #hurt/comfort #slight angst #bittersweet ending #my fanfiction #lady luxo writes

[karniss-bg3]

Hi! I really like how thoughtfully you answer questions. I would like to know your opinion about the speed of Kar'niss. Is it possible to escape from the drider?) He climbed the tower quite easily, but how fast and hardy is he on the ground? As I remember, driders prefer ambushes. Does this mean that they are not too good at chasing? Or is it still useless to run from Kar'niss - it is just the way to die tired?) Thank you!

A great question! Let’s start by looking at Kar’niss’ stats.

He has fairly solid strength and dexterity. We know webbing doesn’t affect him in terms of rough terrain and he seems to maintain a solid pace alongside Tav and crew. His stats are the same as the drider monster sheet which helps in the regard of determining bonuses and the like. According to the drider sheet, they have a movement speed of 30ft and a climbing speed of 30ft. Kar’niss’ sheet says he has a movement speed of 0ft but I think this is a typo as he can clearly walk on the ground without trouble. The monster sheet says driders can walk on ceilings while the drider wiki says they are too heavy to do so. If I had to pick I’d say that it’d be unlikely they could traverse upside down because of their size.

Speaking of size, this is where Kar’niss would run at a disadvantage. He weighs 150kg (330lbs) and that is a lot of heft to move around, much less quickly. It is likely why driders prefer to ambush which falls in line with their spider counterparts. Running takes a lot of energy, it’s simply more efficient to let your prey come to you. That isn’t to say that Kar’niss couldn’t catch up if he really wanted to. I imagine he could sprint a short distance at a great speed but would tire swiftly there after. The terrain would also play a big part in how fast he could catch up to someone. If he was moving through a thick forest with a lot of obstacles he’d have trouble squeezing into tight spaces or navigating his large body around sharp turns. His legs do afford him longer strides to cover more ground at a faster pace and he can climb which may allow him to avoid something a regular humanoid couldn’t bypass. A clear field would be a dangerous ground to face him on as he’d have less things to get in his way if he was after someone.

Distance between an individual and himself would play a part as well. If he’s within fifteen to twenty feet of his target, he has the greatest chance to overpower and capture them without much trouble. Forty or more feet away would give the victim the best chance of escape. They can only hope that he tires out before he closes the distance, or they hide in a place he can’t access. Finding a way to disable his legs is also the way to go in an escape situation. Something like grease could do well to trip him up, some sort of bola or other restraints, an arrow in one of the joints, ect. His drow torso wouldn’t be strong enough to drag his body with any measure of speed so if he goes down it’s game over.

The last thing to consider is if he can jump and if so, how far. Just looking at his design his legs don’t look very muscular at all and in fact seem more hollow than anything else. He might be able to jump short distances but I’d say it’s not his strong suit and would require a great deal of his strength to pull off. Wide crevices and the like would hold off his direct pursuit but since he can climb he could get to the other side eventually, it’d just take longer than jumping over the opening. Edit: Turns out, Kar'niss has mad hops. Thanks to the helpful folks who gave me some awesome info! Terrifying to imagine a whole ass drider jumping right at you.

In conclusion, I think Kar’niss can be a deadly force on the ground but he’s at his best when ambushing or climbing. If it’s a straight chase where the victim isn’t surprised they would still have a fighting chance, they’d just have to be smart on how they used their surroundings to shake him. I do know one thing, much and all as I love Kar’niss, I’d piss my pants if a drider ever chased me. Not a scenario I’d ever want to find myself in. Thanks for the ask!

#baldur's gate 3 #kar'niss #drider #bg3 #karniss #baldurs gate 3 #answered #theorycrafting #drow

[crooked-wasteland]

How would you rank every HB episode from worst to best?

This took me some time to think on, but thank you for the ask.

So all the Helluva Boss episodes ranked worst to best (in my opinion):

The Circus

I have to place the season 2 premiere as the worst episode of the entire series, simply because it cemented the direction the story was going to go with all of the worst ideas floating to the top. The relationship mystery between Stolas and Blitz gets watered down to a childhood crush based on nothing. It is love at first sight, but then the writing performs gymnastics in order to justify Stolas’ attraction after the fact. It’s so painful in Seeing Stars and Oops how the writers really want us to believe that Stolas liked him as a person first and that is supposed to be shown in how Stolas thinks Blitz is funny when no one else does, but the series of events in the Circus will forever undermine that narrative. He finds Blitz funny because he is attracted to him. Not the other way around.

Aside from the issues with the overarching story, the entire structure of the episode fails. The idea of Chekhov’s Gun is one I believe holds merit as a fundamental tool. If you are going to introduce something like theft, acknowledge the danger of the event, repeatedly draw attention to the theft, and then just never mention any sort of natural conclusion to that plot point. If anything, Blitz returning to Stolas’ home 25 years later to do the exact same thing, necessitated a coming full circle moment of that particular plot point. The failure to identify even the most basic of narrative principles that was a solid through line of character, story and themes told me everything I needed to know about how the series was going to be handled.

Stolas’ song is a poorly-performed nonsensical word salad that I found lacked any cohesion to the character in the previous episode or the next. It’s an ugly song with maybe 2 decent verses where Stolas acknowledges that this was all playing pretend, but that eventually goes nowhere.

Additionally, Stella was officially ruined as a character, which ultimately ruined Stolas as a character. By not giving Stella depth, Stolas was also stripped of any depth or complexity. His reason for staying is dumbed down to “for the child”, and Stella’s motivation is thrown out the window in favor of “she’s awful and please don’t try to make her understandable, because then what if Stolas is held accountable for anything?” Stella is too important a character in Stolas’ story, to make her one dimensional is to make Stolas less interesting. Everything is interwoven in a story, pulling a thread in one place unravels the garment elsewhere.

In a single episode, it encompasses everything that is wrong with the series, past and future.

0/10

Seeing Stars

To be honest, I feel Seeing Stars is most people’s worst episode due to some sense of denial when the season premiered and expected the show to at least continue with some kind of coherent story/timeline. I don’t think it would be as hated if Medrano had tightened up the narrative and made Seeing Stars connect to Ozzie’s more.

However, I would still put it at number 2, even if it had. Mainly because Seeing Stars is the worst sense of characterization and dynamics I have ever seen. And when you are trying to sell a character-driven story, some kind of consistency is required. This episode cemented Loona as being an abusive, manipulative, and entitled “bitch” of a person. Octavia is written like she is 13, not 17. Blitz and Stolas have the darkest timeline where Stolas continues to sexualize Blitz after being told off in the last episode and seemingly acknowledging that he defined the dynamic without any input from Blitz. Then forces him on stage despite Blitz being on the verge of a panic attack. But most of all, it has Stolas and Blitz both completely forget why they are even in this situation, because they are supposed to be looking for Octavia.

There was no lesson Blitz needed to learn, if anything he needed to be instilled with more self esteem where possible. And Stolas already had this story arc done much better in Loo Loo Land. His character actively regresses to redo the exact plot thread, but worse. Much like The Circus, Seeing Stars set the stage for what we could look forward to in regards to the series from here on out, and the utter disrespect leveled at the original 6 episodes.

That’s not even counting how the episode is the exact same plot and story beats as Loo Loo Land, highlighting the extent of how creatively bankrupt the series is.

.5/10

Exes and Ohs

If it comes to personal most hated episode, it would be Exes and Ohs for me. The only reason it is number 3 and not number 1 is because it is a narrative cul-de-sac where the larger story is not affected by it at all.

However, it is still an objectively awful episode. Starting with the premise. The whole plot is a stolen South Park joke. It’s the Steal underpants episode, stretched out into something longer, and not nearly as funny. If you are wholesale ripping off another show, that’s plagiarism. This episode is creatively bankrupt, shouldn’t exist, has no purpose and serves no benefit. People try to argue that it has value due to Moxxie’s backstory, but what does it even serve? Sure, I know it now, but not a single character does. Millie doesn’t even find out. Even moreso, Millie’s entire connection to Chaz goes nowhere and is for nothing. We never know how, when or why she dated Chaz, it's shown she hates him, but she doesn’t even kill him. The whole episode would have ended exactly the same with Crim killing Chaz once he realized the shark demon was lying about having money.

It’s not good when the major complaints of the episode are actually what is saving it from being the worst episode.

2/10

Musical Special

The retconning of this episode, changing who Fizz was as a child to try and justify his uselessness in Oops retroactively is beyond frustrating. There is so much I could go on about in terms of character, but just focusing on this episode.

Mainly, the mildly perturbing extent Medrano goes to hetero-normalize her queer relationships. Every single relationship in the series is stereotypically designed as “Protector” and “Protected”. Stolas, Fizzarolli, and Moxxie are all characters who require constant support and protection from other factors in the plot.

Stolas needed to be protected from Striker. Moxxie needs to be protected from most things in his plots. Season 1 it was the fish monster, Striker, the agents, and finally Ozzie and Fizz. Season 2 we have him needing to be defended from his father and Chaz.

This episode it's all about Fizzarolli and him needing to be defended from his crippling low self-esteem that is only relevant to have him needing to be saved from something. The flashback serves to further retcon Fizz’s personality because a strong and confident performer doesn’t need to be saved from anyone, and in order to have the codependent romance where Fizz needs Ozzie, we need to fundamentally weaken him as a person. It’s a special episode, so the argument that it doesn’t need to exist is rather moot. Regardless, the characters and story are worse off for its addition to the narrative.

2/10

Queen Bee

Another special episode, so the argument of narrative value is once again disregarded. I dislike this episode for how one dimensional every female character is in this story. It highlights all the ongoing issues with misogynistic writing. Loona’s character is a wildly swinging pendulum from being antagonistic towards Blitz to being endeared with little motivation and ultimately being reduced to the caretaker of men. When she and Bee get into an argument, she only deescalates when she sees Tex be uncomfortable. The initial hostility itself is founded on nothing, Loona is immediately resentful of Bee because she’s attractive and people like her, specifically Tex. And her being sweet towards Blitz is entirely based on the fact that her relationship to him makes her look good due to his accomplishment of beating Beelzebub in a drink-off. It doesn’t read sincere, but rather she would look bad if she didn’t take care of him after identifying him as her “dad” when it suited her.

This entire episode works to assassinate Loona’s character and any hope of her being likable and growing. Everything about her motivation is purely selfish and consistently reinforced in big ways, so moving forward it will be very hard to realistically prove she does anything for not her own benefit.

The song was nice for about one minute, then it became unbearably repetitive.

1.5/10

Western Energy

This episode was altered and rewritten, which doesn’t inherently make it bad. It’s just that it was changed due to fans pointing out the glaring plot hole that is why Stella would want to kill Stolas when a divorce would benefit her more. Instead of critically assessing that question and focusing more on world building to create a logical justification for Stella’s actions, the writers shrug their shoulders and just can’t think of anything. It’s a special form of fridge horror as a writer to realize the major plot that was intended to push Blitz and Stolas closer together was so underdeveloped that when at all questioned resulted in the entire plot being unwritten. It’s transparently bad writing, but worse yet is that it is lazy.

This episode is what I use to show an example of how fans inject headcannon and plot into the series that the creators have no interest in spending the energy on. This isn’t James Cameron’s Avatar where there is a massively rich world around a lackluster story that has been crafted with such detail that it feels alive. Helluva Boss, and in extension Hazbin Hotel, have no world building and resort to the most superficial answers to any narrative roadblock at the expense of the characters and understanding their motivations. It shows resentment for not just the audience, but writing as an artform.

3/10

Ozzie's (with season 2 context)

I had to put Ozzie’s on the list twice due to this episode in specific having vastly different reads and reception before and after season 2 premiered. After The Circus, the episode loses all continuity with the original season. Stolas is pining and lovesick over Blitz, he doesn’t actually care about his wife and daughter leaving him. He just wishes more than anything to have his rugged peasant return his affections.

It is a plummet of quality and character in this episode that only comes to fruition with the understanding that Stolas has had an unreciprocated crush for two and a half decades.

With the context of season 2, Stolas doesn’t actually care about his daughter and how his affair, the marriage falling apart, their status, etc. affected her and his family. He only cares about the little boy he got a crush on, who his father rented out like a Lexus and then 25 years later Stolas demanded sex from. Stolas has a complete personality change and isn’t at all who he was the entire series to this point. Everything you thought mattered to him doesn’t, the ways we have come to expect this character to react to things is suddenly entirely different. His expectations are unexplainable and so far out to left field than what we previously established. This is one of the worst written episodes based on the major retconning of a keystone character and no effort being made to connect these changes in the narrative.

This was the warning shot we didn’t know we were given.

1/10

Spring Broken

Spring Broken to Unhappy Campers are the range of utterly ambivalence I have.

The song is poorly incorporated into the episode. Verosika isn’t ever fleshed out. Tex and Loona start off cute, and you can see a starting point of a dynamic between Loona and Blitz and you want her to treat him better while also recognizing that he infantalizes her constantly and doesn’t ever treat her like the adult she is. Could have been really good writing if it went anywhere. This episode establishes Loona abuses Blitz and does so intentionally because it gets her her way. It isn’t malicious, but immature and incredibly cruel, and there is a desire to see her become a better person and grow from this point.

Too bad.

4/10

C.H.E.R.U.B

I know this episode gets a ton of criticism for being a joke/filler episode that goes too long. And that is absolutely correct. However it is still better in that being filler, it is not seeking to be anything more than it is. It is just some dumb fun with a few jokes that come anywhere close to landing. But it doesn’t harm the characters or their stories, unlike the rest of the list up to this point

3/10

Oops

This episode is a hard one to place because I consider the first 7 of this list to be bad episodes. Then 8-12 are those that aren’t good with varying scales of enjoyment on my part. However I think Oops is neither good nor enjoyable. But it has some good story ideas that deserve some credit, regardless of how the writing and pacing consistently tries to undermine them.

The scene of Blitz and Fizzarolli in the alleyway is contrived and feels confused, but it does manage to land some points such as Fizz’s insecurity of being owned by his partner (too bad that goes nowhere and is immediately ignored in favor of Fizz NEEDS Ozzie, so essentially ownership is good actually) and Fizz hanging Blitz’s insecurity and guilt over his head.

The forced engagement, rapid fire pacing, and immediate resolution thoroughly dismantles any good points the episode started to set up. I have to admit the animation is pretty solid, people worked very hard on this for less pay than this quality deserves. But this episode struggles to find a place it belongs on my list because. It almost sees the light only to bury its head in the sand writing-wise.

2/10

Unhappy Campers

Unhappy Campers sits in the same pool with Oops and how it is objectively a terrible episode, but the portions involving Blitz and Barbie are genuinely interesting and I think relatively well done when compared to the rest of the season. Millie has some fun moments herself, though the whole portion of the episode surrounding her and Moxxie could have been cut and it would only serve to elevate the material overall. So even if she is the best part of the worst portion of the story, it still isn’t something I deem worth salvaging.

It would have been an excellent 5 minute episode.

2/10

Murder Family

It’s the first episode. It did well reintroducing the characters from the pilot. It had enough intrigue to see where it would go and how it would expand the world and characters. It. Was genuinely fun and impressive for a YouTube animation, with horror notes and black comedy. There was a sense of character that we could maybe get to know over time and see them struggle and change. It started off very superficial, which was fine.

The blank canvas of what could have been.

5/10

Ozzie's (Before season 2)

Having to remember Ozzie’s premiere after an entire season of thinking we were getting to know the characters, their dynamics, personality, wants, etc. So the personality change in Stolas is given more leeway as LooLooLand set up that he really wished he could find love and his wife and daughter leaving has changed his routine to the point he is in a depression. It even seems Stella took the staff with her in the separation and he’s genuinely all alone.

So him sitting in front of a television asking why nobody will love him makes sense and doesn’t feel out of character when given the room to rationalize and try to piece together the character from past instances. Additionally, him becoming overjoyed at Blitz calling him out is just as easy to rationalize away. I recall watching the episode and interpreting that Stolas was needy, desperate and earnest, not for Blitz, but just in general. And Blitz making himself available to Stolas is why Stolas tries so hard to make this pretend date legitimate. It also explains Blitz’s own utter disinterest in the scenario.

Ironically, looking back, Blitz feels like an Audience insert with how utterly confused and dismissive he is of Stolas’ targeted affection. He sees their relationship like the audience does: one of convenience and mutual benefit. Blitz calling Stolas out is him cashin in on this messed up coercive sex deal they have. Him calling Stolas out and using him for his own gains is only seen as fair in his eyes. And Stolas’ attempts to legitimize the date is a continuation of his own hedonistic selfishness. So when Stolas tries to leave Blitz or otherwise removes himself by covering his face, Blitz’s anger and resentment is valid. Because there’s a lot of confusion taking place at the moment, but Stolas is responsible for all of it and instead runs away.

The exact same escapist behavior that ended up with him in bed with Blitz in the first place.

This is all really compelling drama and without the codependent neediness of the second season, it ties together in what feels like a real season finale for the characters. Everything up to now was a prologue, an introduction of the world, characters and conflicts. Ozzie actually took the characters and faced them off against each other directly. Showing all of their worst traits and building more intrigue to Blitz’s past and his relationships. This was an episode of great potential when it was first released.

7/10

Loo Loo Land

I’ll be honest, the more I think on this episode the more I believe its placement is more out of pettiness than actual quality. While a song that made me invested at the time, You Will Be Okay is a poorly written musical song. Specifically in how it fails to actually build on the themes we were having presented. Because if you really listen to it, the song foreshadows how little Stolas actually cares about Octavia.

The only part of the song that builds character is the one when he speaks of how his marriage is cold and loveless and how “all [his] stories have been told, except for one.” Which one would think that untold story has something to do with Octavia. He’s singing the song for her, to her. He’s presumably alluding to the fact that she’s his only joy in life.

But the very next line is talking about Armageddon. Like the end of everything, the death of the universe, some heavenly judgement. That’s why everyone and their off brand YouTube clone was talking about Stolas dying at some point in the series. Because the song fails to adequately communicate the character and his feelings and how that wraps into the plot. It’s a pretty song to the ears, but fails as a musical.

Additionally, I feel I may still have such a soft spot for this episode in how it often contradicts the current direction the story has attempted to go. Details, dialogue, timeline discrepancies, all of that has continued to hinder the second season in trying to retcon the entire story to this lesser version of itself and Loo Loo land as an episode is just so tightly written that it has become a thorn.

All the portions with Blitz and RoboFizz are great. Great character, great foreshadowing (to nothing unfortunately), great pacing. Those scenes have some legitimately funny jokes. Stolas stole the show it seems, much to the series detriment, but the real stellar parts of the episode were for once the actual main character.

6/10

Truth Seekers

This episode would have been my favorite due to Blitz’s bad trip and the animation involved throughout. However, the fact that the show has entirely dropped the relevant and interesting portions of the episode, overused and abused Stolas’ demon design since this episode, and the animators have since been confirmed to not be paid fairly for the work they do, this gets to be number 2.

Like Loo Loo Land, Truth Seekers is a primary source of contradiction in the new direction the story has gone and a constant reminder of how little work has been put into the narrative. It’s one of the strongest episodes of the series as a whole, but it has been almost entirely retconned.

I have seen some mention of the agents returning to the story and if that does come to pass, this will be hilarious in trying to reconcile what parts of Truth Seekers is canon and what isn’t any longer. And the realization that all the best parts are the ones ending up on the cutting room floor.

7/10

Harvest Moon

Striker was an intimidating figure. Genuinely. There was a real sense of weight to this episode in the animation and visual storytelling. It’s a solid episode for what it is and far and above better than even Truth Seekers because it required Medrano and her staff to actually address the episode and make obvious efforts to retcon it. That is how solid an episode this is.

Stolas is not too creepy and dominating, but nor is he seen as the delicate princess who is always crying over some guy who doesn’t return his feelings. He is fun, and it starts the nudge towards maybe something a bit more amicable on Blitz’s end.

Millie absolutely deserved more time for her character seeing as they were staying with her family and she having an episode of standing by her husband and defending her choices in who she loves would have been far more engaging than Murder Family pt. 2, Moxxie lacks confidence and self esteem forever and always.

The song was so inconsequential. It was a funny segue with Striker basically upstaging Moxxie at every turn, but that doesn’t actually go anywhere when in regards to the plot overall.

And Stella putting a hit on her husband, to his face, was hilarious and would have been so interesting to have seen it played more than a joke. Like Stolas knows she wants to kill him, and he is just vaguely fine with that. Maybe thinking his letting her try to kill him would have her stay and not file for divorce. Have it been this macabre comedic sitcom where she’s always trying to kill him and hates his guts for being a subpar husband, but he takes it as some kind of tit-for-tat and plays along with it. She gets to send assassins after him, he gets to have sex with his rugged assassin imp. It’s a ridiculous level of absurdity that still allows for all the characters to be dimensional.

That got a little away from me there. Basically, this episode was the strongest overall. Animation wise, writing wise, story potential wise. This episode is the most solid Helluva Boss episode.

7.8/10

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #vivienne medrano #vivziepop #helluva boss criticism #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism #helluva boss

[xxsabitoxx]

I Still Do It Better {Teaser}

<Obanai x Mitsuri x Fem! Reader>

<Sequel to I Can Do It Better>

Warnings: the full fic will have a proper set of warnings

A/N: I’ve received so many requests for a sequel and a few months back I finally got around to it. Then I took my hiatus and returned to realize I didn’t like where past me was taking this sequel… so I scrapped it. Now, over a year after posting the initial fic, here is a proper teaser for the second part

You sunk lower in the water, not stopping until it reached just below your nose. You couldn’t believe yourself, betrayed by your own thoughts several times while trying to go about your day to day life. You had no concept of how to bring it up again, the physical reminders left on your skin wouldn’t let you forget. Yet, part of you was aching for more, not quite satisfied with the marks that remained. You wanted more, from both parties.

But above all else, you wanted to prove your worth. You wanted to convince Obanai you were worthy of his cum. Your legs kicked in the water, eyes squeezing shut as you came to the conclusion that you’d simply be plagued with these thoughts until you did something about them. Laying alone in your bed after had been the worst part. Having to drag yourself from their warm home and back to your empty quiet one felt like a death sentence.

“You really don’t have to leave just yet.” Mitsuri was worrying around you, fixing your hair neatly after you refused the offer of a bath. You wanted to wash your skin yourself, not create some fantasy that you’d stay here forever. “I’m fine, really Mitsuri. I need to get back in case I’m summoned for a mission.” You waved her off, thanking her quietly after she finished your hair. “Are you sure? You really don’t want to stay longer? We wouldn’t mind.”

Obanai didn’t interject, instead he remained quiet as he began wrapping his face once more on the far side of the room. He had been awfully quiet since waking up, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence like you were used to. “I appreciate the offer. I truly do. But I have to get back to my own home.” Your hands fidgeted in your lap, moving to stand with a slight limp. “You can’t even walk properly, please stay. Let us help you… it’s the least we could do.”

You felt warmth spread across your face, especially since you caught Obanai chuckling softly. “Mitsuri please, if she wants to leave, let her leave.” You didn’t want to leave, but you knew if you stayed you’d fall in deep and never recover. Little did you know the damage was already done. “Alright… but if you need us, you know where to find us.” Mitsuri’s hands fell to her kimono, fidgeting because she couldn’t quite figure out how to say goodbye.

It was a one time thing, there were no strings attached from it. At least that’s what you told yourself as you bowed to them, stepping off their front porch and heading back the way you had come. It was a one time thing, nothing more. It repeated like a mantra as you limped back, face holding on to the embarrassed warmth as you tried your damn hardest to not look like you had just got your ass handed to you. “Damn him.”

You pushed yourself up, the bath water sloshing dangerously close to the edge. “What the hell am I going to do?” you whined to no one, your voice bouncing off the walls and right back at you. It felt like you were being taunted at this point, like the universe was waiting to see how long you would take to crack. You had to wonder what would happen if you just gave in. What if you just dragged your sorry ass back to their estate and begged for a second round… a rematch.

#kny #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer imagines #demon slayer fanfic #demon slayer headcanons #demon slayer smut #hashira #xxsabitoxx’s work! #mitsuri x obanai x reader #mitsuri x you #mitsuri x obanai #mitsuri x iguro #mitsuri x reader #mitsuri x y/n #obanai x reader #obanai x y/n #obanai x you #obanai smut #mitsuri smut #kny obanai #kny mitsuri #kanroji x iguro #kanroji x reader #iguro x reader #kny smut #kimetsu no yaiba drabble

[yandere-fics]

ooooh i love those "darling wants to break up" scenarios... how would the sisters react to their darling wanting to end stuff?

♡ How They React To Their Darling Trying To Break Up ♡

♡ There are plenty of valid reasons to want to break up with Skye, namely her emotional unavailability. It gets frustrating after awhile that she is never willing to be vulnerable until you are first, she's had this issue with previous lovers, however you are the first who she has been yandere for so while with past ones she would always break it off before they could, with her she was just desperately hoping you were not actually going to do it while being unable to will herself to do anything to fix it and once you do dump her, she grins and bears it trying to will herself to not care and not be emotional about this. ♡

♡ She tries very hard to ignore it and seem like she could care less but everyone can tell that she's practically a walking corpse. In the end Sophie has to step in and perhaps the basement for you so that way her sister can be happy again. Skye falls into a delusion after you leave her with her three extremely delusional sisters whispering in her ear that they know you didn't mean it because you and her were the best couple they'd seen in awhile. Skye is the most lucid sister but her sisters help her to lean into her instincts and so by the time you're in her basement, she sees absolutely nothing wrong with her actions anymore. ♡

♡ Sophie would stop talking and just stand there, not leaving your room or house for an hour, just thinking about what the hell you just said. You can scream and yell at her to leave or you can even apologize for what you said and take it back but she's still frozen in place. Her house really wasn't prepared for this yet, she didn't want to have to kidnap you when she was still living with Skye because there's only one basement in the house and she doesn't want to take up the basement when her sister might need the basement too but Sophie can't risk letting you roam in her house until she makes you realize how relationships ought to be. It's a blessing for her that you don't realize everything she's thinking otherwise you'd already be calling the police on her. ♡

♡ It takes her a bit to come to a conclusion about what to do with you, while she doesn't like it she'll just have to lock you in your own apartment with nothing in it for you to escape so that way she has time to prepare the basement for you. This will have to be a rushed job, she stands guard near your apartment even though she's pretty sure you'll be asleep for the next few hours after she knocked you out, meanwhile she's on the phone with her sisters directing them to everything they need to get. Ellie is hacking your wishlists online to use Sophie's crime money to spoil you, Darla is spreading rumors you left town temporarily so no one will report you missing, and Skye is cleaning the basement so everything can be loaded in there. ♡

♡ She just simply laughs. You probably did it in private to spare her feelings since she didn't seem harmful enough to need to do it publicly. She was a bit clingy sure but your girlfriend was by no means dangerous, right? If she was then there's no way she'd be nearly as popular as she is. Still you weren't expecting her to laugh and turn to you, "gently" reminding you that she could ruin your entire life just out of boredom one day so it's not in your best interest to leave. People would automatically assume the fault lies with you if you two were to split so she's just protecting you from making a really bad choice. Anyways what do you want to do tonight? You two should go on a date. ♡

♡ If even her threats didn't work then she'll just have to figure something. She won't make good on her threats, instead she'll complain to all her friends about how she just got so busy on exams and then some random bitch acted like she was cheating on you so you had a little misunderstanding and the poor thing is just so scared of you hating her and she just doesn't know how she'll win you back. And thus begins the entire schools campaign to get you back in Darla's arms, and it will work eventually. It likely won't even be a week until you cave, she's very sure about this and after that she's going to make sure you're tied to her forever. ♡

♡ Hah! As if you could break up with her. You're literally trapped in her apartment from the moment she decides she loves you so if you do decide to try breaking up with her, just to see if that will work she will simply start biting you everywhere so it's undeniable that you are with her. How could you break up with her when you are covered in her marks? If she bit it then it's hers and therefore you are extra hers because you have been bitten literally everywhere. You're so stupid for thinking this would work. She has to do all she can to remind you that you are hers. You can never doubt it again. She knows she's not the best partner but at least she's trying why can't you understand that? ♡

♡ She's going to take a couple days off of work the first time you say it to show you how good of a girlfriend she can be and she'll also start making herself work quicker, not bothering to eat and neglecting her health while she's working so she can spend more time with you from now on. She's been trying to get a promotion but that can wait until you understand that she's doing all this work to make up for all her faults. You wouldn't want to be with her if it wasn't for all her work, she knows this for a fact so please just let her do her best to become worthy of you. ♡

#yandere oc #yandere lesbian #yandere x reader #yandere x y/n #yandere asks #yandere scenarios #my oc skye #my oc sophie #my oc darla #my oc ellie

[alexanderlightweight]

cat magnus/dragon alec is the best ever! i’m so invested 🙈 can we get an update please about alec realising his feeling about magnus is maybe a little more than platonic?? (or just a whole lot)

uh so... that will be a little while but this is alec realizing some stuff. from magnus' pov. ^_^

i hpe you enjoy!

the taste of his magic

<3 lumine

— Alexander is taking up a good deal of the bed, nearly as large as a cheetah as he drapes himself over the silk sheets and glowers at Magnus. He takes a large, obvious sniff, his scaled nostrils flaring before he huffs out a breath of crystal air and gives Magnus a betrayed, furious look.

“Darling, I assure you. They were simply the touches of being in a club with others and enjoying oneself.” Magnus tries to reassure him, however that seems to make things worse because there is a sharp trill and Alexander shrinks, burrowing himself in the pillows.

Magnus can see the dark matte of his scales stark against the gold pillowcases and he reminds himself that this was to be expected. That he knew this was a possible reaction, anticipated it really, and in fact insured that it would happen.

“Alexander, sometimes I want to be touched and kissed by others.” Magnus tells him wryly, because at this point he wouldn’t be shocked if it was a surprise. “I enjoy pleasure, almost as much as you enjoy my gems.”

Alexander looks irked by the news, nose wrinkling from where he’s watching under a pillow before he climbs out and gives Magnus a considering look. After a moment he shifts and then, naked, he boldly settles into Magnus lap and looks at him intently.

There’s a moment of charged silence as dark eyes linger on Magnus’ face and plush lips that Magnus has been dying for a taste of are set into a scowl.

“You can just kiss me.” He says, offering himself up like he isn’t the very morsel Magnus has been craving to devour.

“I want more than to just kiss you, treasure.” Magnus warns him, because a kiss from Alexander is not the only thing he wants. If Alexander isn’t ready yet and mistakes that, then Magnus isn’t sure he’ll know how to come back from that and salvage this.

Alexander’s eyes spark, a stubborn scowl on his face as he pushes Magnus down. Magnus lets him, thrilled by this new turn of events and he wishes he’d thought to provoke Alexander’s possessive instincts sooner.

“What do you want, Magnus?” Alexander is annoyed, Magnus can hear it in his tone and he’s frustrated, which is perfect for what Magnus wants then.

“I want everything, darling.” Magnus murmurs between them and lets magic spark through his touch and voice. “Everything you’ll give me and more, my treasure.”

Alexander considers him, staring contemplatively at Magnus and Magnus wants with a yearning he isn’t sure he’s experienced in all of his long life.

His darling, precious treasure finally seems to have come to some sort of a conclusion because he bends, lips pressing against Magnus’ own in a clumsy, greedy claim that Magnus eagerly reciprocates.

It’s so easy, to slip his tongue past Alexander’s lips and finally taste him. Magnus groans, the cool frost of Alexander’s magic overwhelming him with a delicious thrill.

It awakens a yearning ache and Magnus can’t hold back, had to risk ensnaring Alexander in his arms and pull him closer, deepening their kiss.

For a glorious moment there is nothing but Magnus and Alexander and the embrace of their mouths and then Alexander is pulling himself away. Magnus feels bereft the moment he parts but he stays still, panting as Alexander gasps above him.

Alexander looks breathless with curiosity rather than hunger, but also satisfied as well. There’s a dazed wonder to his eyes and then he nods, as if he’s decided something.

“Everything.” He agrees, simply and then his eyes narrow, a sharp, dangerous gleam as he adds. “And no one else touches you.”

Magnus smirks, because Alexander sounds coldly furious in that moment, demanding of Magnus’ commitment and while it’s clear to Magnus that they’re not quite there yet. This is a large step forward.

A completion of yet another part of his plans.

Emotions will come as they will, in whatever form they take and Magnus will eagerly accept them however they are given to him.

As long as Alexander stays his.

#lumine writes #writing wednesday #writing wednesdays #the taste of his magic #magnus bane #alec lightwood #malec #shadowhunters

[bluemoondust]

✧General Yandere Headcanons✧ — Gym Leader Grusha

Ao3 Request: I'd love to see Grusha headcannons. He already lost his career to his injury, he wouldn't want to lose his darling too.

Warning(s): Possessive Behavior, Overprotective Behavior, Gaslighting/Manipulation, Talk of Near Death Experience (Not with Darling), Attempted Murder

Grusha never really thought he'd feel this way after his perception of the world changed that one fateful day. Life really seemed to enjoy taking a turn on him, huh? He initially thought it was a simple crush that he may grow out of sooner or later. He kinda hoped it did. Don't take it offensively, he absolutely adores you as of now, but Grusha wasn't fully on board when he realized that these feelings weren't so innocent. It's just that he truly believed life wanted to screw with him again when he pinpointed his yandere traits. Are you for real? We can't have nice things apparently...

So he tries to suppress the feelings and even avoid you. He's got gym work to do, maybe he can hang out another time. Grusha puts the excuse that his position as a Gym Leader is crucial since it's what he has left. Sigh, don't look at him like that. This will only last until things pass on and he moves forward from this. Surprise, surprise. It didn't. This makes Grusha frustrated and now he has to deal with what he's feeling, giving him some time to actually put thought into it. A horrible decision that'll get you in the end, honestly.

The whole reason why Grusha couldn't allow himself to gain further feelings for you is because of fear. He is afraid of having something/someone that would truly make him happy again (like back then...) only for the world to take that away. Now that he's thought this through, Grusha has come to the conclusion that he's had enough. You've become someone he wants to desperately hold dearly. So, he is going to do whatever it takes to prevent losing you. He can't allow for anything to happen like last time.

So Grusha is an overprotective and possessive yandere to put it simply. He's automatically on you whenever you're visiting Glaseado Mountain, since, duh, it gets dangerous out there in the cold and you could get injured. Or worse. You don't immediately see anything wrong with his concern/warnings since he is right, there's no arguing with him on that subject. It would only get concerning if he suddenly prevented you from going anywhere else in the mountains unless he's supervising you. He's careful with his actions, but there are times where he kind of treats you like you don't know any better. Force of habit, really. I mean, you can't get too ahead of yourself in life, darling, or else the fall will only just hurt even more.

As for his more possessive traits, Grusha gets...passive aggressive with certain people. Rivals annoy him to no end but the possibility of you choosing someone else over him scares him. So, he's just projecting onto those people with his comments. You at first believe it's just sarcasm or that Grusha is in a bad mood, but if you decide to read into it, you'll be able to tell. Catching him mid comment is frustrating to deal with as he comes up with an excuse. For some reason, you always end up being the one falsely accusing him of being too judgmental. However it's fine, he always forgives you.

In all honesty, yeah, this makes him a little more selfish but he could care less. Life has this funny thing of just taking and taking, which Grusha is fed up with. So now it's his turn to take. Back then, he was too weak willed to push himself back up again. Not anymore. Forgive him, but Grusha is just bitter and taking that out on others. Which explains why he throws passive aggressive comments towards rivals and spouts how you don't know better sometimes. One of the things he doesn't want to appear is clingy around you because of this need to keep you around. It'd be so uncool...seeing him all needy for your presence and attention.

Is he a danger? To others, if given the chance, yeah. Grusha would be a-okay if any rival would be put off by his sarcasm and cynical/pessimistic attitude, but if they're persistent...it gets annoying really fast. The worse thing the person can do is confront him, shout at him even, and that determines what Grusha must do. Sigh, it seems like this person needs a reminder of how cruel the world can be.

You don't hear from them again as you're only informed that they had gotten themselves into an accident, leading to hypothermia and asphyxiation...they can't seem to remember how it even happened (apparently hypothermia has chances of memory loss/amnesia, depending on how severe it is). Grusha mentions that they must of been hit by an avalanche or something. He gives his regards, pointing out how these things happen due to how dangerous the mountains are. This honestly gives more weight to what he has been telling you since the beginning. You really can't be too careful, darling.

#yandere imagines #yandere x reader #yandere pokemon #yandere pokemon x reader #yandere pokemon headcanons #yandere grusha #yandere gym leader grusha #yandere scarlet and violet #yandere scarvio #yandere scavio #yandere male #male yandere #yandere x you

[cypherpt2supremacy]

Okay now that the haze has cleared after the insanity that was JK's live yesterday, I will try my best to rationalize everything that went down. I need to be logical and objective and keep the delulu in check. Okay let's start.

Jimin did see a naked Jungkook on live and hopped on it so fast but so what? I'm sure this had nothing to do with the skin JK was showing. It was simply because he missed seeing his bro's face. Also, he was bored and had nothing else to do. JK himself told us Jimin is usually bored in the mornings. See? Y'all are reading too much into this.

Now I know that after Jimin said good morning, the song that automatically popped into Jungkook's head was "good morning, this is what I texted you" "I think I'm falling for you, it's dangerous" but you guys this had nothing to do with Jimin. JK was not singing this to him at all. It was simply the word "good morning" that made him think of this song. If JK was singing this to anyone, it would be Army because JK is irrevocably and eternally in love with Army.

Jimin saying he could handle seeing JK's naked body should not be interpreted as something sexual. Of course he can handle seeing it. They used to live together. He's seen him naked a million times before. Why wouldn't he be able to handle it? This is the only logical conclusion. Yes I know JK melted into a puddle of goo when he read that comment, like I've never seen anyone look that whipped in my life but that's not the point. He agreed that Jimin can handle it and this is because Jimin would not at all be affected by it.

Now how do I rationalize JK's desperation and willingness for that Jikook live? My dude was like "your place or mine, just say the word, bro." The fact that he was going to shower at Jimin's place should be completely taken out of the equation. The point is that JK would have been out that door within the drop of a hat had Jimin said yes. Like he was literally begging at some point that's how bad he wanted it. He even tried to leverage Army into getting Jimin to agree but hey this was all because he knew how much the fans love seeing him with Jimin. He knows we love their bond. This was why he wanted that live so bad. Also he has been doing a lot of solo lives since the year began. It only makes sense that he would want to do one with a member now. Never mind the fact that the only member he's repeatedly asked to come over has been Jimin. That is completely irrelevant. JK loves all of his hyungs equally. OT7 forever bitches!

Jimin going all "kekeke I'm scared" "I think you are going to hit me" is where I get a bit stomped because how do I rationalize this one? This is peak kinky flirting but still I will try my best to defend Jimin. This was a joke. Obviously it was a joke because we all know JK would never lay a finger on Jimin. So why did he say it? Why on earth would he make this joke to a half naked JK? Yeah I'm sorry I got nothing. I don't know why he said it. I would probably never know the thought process behind it. It has nothing to do with him having a muscle kink and wanting to be at the mercy of his big buff bro. I will go back to pretending he never said it for my peace of mind.

The "I'm not that easy" comment is so easy for me to defend thank God. He simply meant he is not easily convinced. He is a stubborn man and when he says no he means it. He was not implying he is not easily seduced or that if JK wanted him, he needed to try harder. I'm going to ignore what those who speak Korean had to say about it. They weren't in Jimin's head. They couldn't have known what he meant.

Ending this post by saying that the pic Jimin sent JK was simply of his puffy morning face to prove that he's in no state to do a live. It wasn't a nude. I know he sleeps naked but he definitely put on a shirt before taking that pic. Y'all need to get your heads out of the gutter, jeez.

#cackling because i don't believe a single word of this #but i tried tho #bless me i tried #jikook #if only they didn't make it practically impossible to defend them

[americahasasuperstar]

Netflix & Chill

Adonis was cool peoples.

Of course, Nyla didn’t really have any worries that he wasn’t, but it was nice to confirm what she already thought.

Baking him a cake seemed to be the easiest way to get him to like her. Which she was grateful for because honestly, she didn’t care to do anything more to make him like if the cake didn’t work. She watched with an amused look on her face as he practically devoured the entire cake before him. She never understood how men could just eat so much and not gain a single pound. It made her wonder why they got that little superpower and not her.

He would take moments to stop eating to ask if she wanted any more than what she got or to tell her that she was a master at baking, which she surely appreciated. She was good with her one slice though, that was already too much sugar for her. 5 minutes had passed and it seemed like he was done eating for now. He only had like two slices left but she figured that he had ate enough to last him for the entire week, so she took it upon herself to grab the rest of the cake and put it in the fridge for him to eat later on.

“So, why move to Philly?” Nyla asked him as she closed the fridge after she placed the cake pan in there.

“Let’s just say I got some business to handle.” He shrugged.

“Oh, so you’re a dealer?”

“Girl what?” Adonis scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows at how she even came to such a conclusion. “No. Why you even guess that?” He asked.

“So… you’re a nigga with nowhere to go?” Nyla asked.

“Ain’t I just say I got shit to do here?”

“That’s what everyone says.” Nyla argued. “Truth is, nobody moves to Philly for anything other than the schools. It’s not like y’all aren’t aware of how dangerous it is.” She explained, shrugging her shoulders as she pushed her plate to the side.

“You not repping your city?” Adonis asked her.

“What’s there to rep? I’m leaving the moment I can.” She told him.

“Where to?”

“New Orleans maybe. Or maybe somewhere on the west coast. L.A. comes to mind.” Nyla said.

“I’ll take you one day.”

Nyla’s eyes lit up as she let out a cute little snort. “I knew you were from there!” She exclaimed.

“How?”

“I don’t know, you just give California. And I’m never wrong when reading someone’s vibe.” Nyla explained.

“Didn’t you just call me a drug dealer with nowhere to go?” Adonis asked her, amusement written on his face as she blushed out of embarrassment.

“I was simply asking.” She shrugged.

She walked around the counter, looking down at him as she stood by his side now. “So, what did you do before you moved?” She wondered.

“Boring ass office job.” Adonis muttered, clearly uninterested in talking about that aspect of his life.

“Oh yeah, that totally doesn’t seem appealing. I can barely stand still for more than 30 seconds.” Nyla chuckled.

“ADHD?”

“Nope. The will to explore.” Nyla grinned, placing her hand on her hip as she stopped by his side.

“How about you? What do you do?” Adonis wondered.

“I’m just your average waitress.” She shrugged.

“Doesn’t sound like much of a career to me.” He said.

“It’s a job. Not a career.” Nyla corrected him. “I’ll get started in my career soon though.” She said.

“What you thinking of?”

“Interior design.”

“Oh, that’s why you been disgusted and judging my empty ass apartment this whole time.” Adonis pointed out.

Nyla snorted as she hit his shoulder. “I have not been judging your place.” She giggled.

“You lying.”

“Am not!”

“Name three things in here you like then.” Adonis told her.

Nyla took a look around the very crappy— yet still beautiful in its own way— apartment for a few seconds. “Well, the cabinets are very evenly lined—“

“Don’t play in my face.” Adonis grinned.

“I’m not!” Nyla exclaimed. “The floors are nice. Love a good swept floor.” She told him.

“You really playing with me right now.” Adonis chucked, shaking his head in amusement as she rolled her eyes playfully.

“And the man that’s renting this place happens to be fine. So, that’s a good sign.” Nyla finished, smiling innocently as she batted her eyelashes at the man.

“How fine we talking?” Adonis wondered, raising an eyebrow.

“Real fine.”

Adonis grinned in satisfaction, patting himself on the back while she just rolled her eyes. He already knew he was fine. He just wanted her to validate it. He was so corny and it made her wanna rip her eyes out. She liked it though. It made him different than most of the men she had encountered in the past that took themselves way too serious for her liking. She actually liked being around Adonis. He wasn’t boring. And while that wasn’t anything special if we’re being honest, it still made him stand out.

The man stared at Nyla as she tapped her nails on his counter top, wondering if she was bored or not. He was enjoying himself, but of course, it didn’t take much to make him enjoy himself when he was in the company of the most beautiful girl he ever saw. Nyla was just enjoying the silence. There weren’t many people that she could be comfortable enough with to just sit in silence with them and enjoy their presence. Adonis happened to make himself one of those people in less than 24 hours of knowing Nyla. She couldn’t pinpoint it. Why him? What made him someone that she liked being around? Out of all the men that desperately tried to get her attention, here came Adonis, not even trying yet still getting something most men in Philly would die for.

“You got plans for tonight?” Adonis wondered, interrupting Nyla’s train of thought.

“Just staying in.” Nyla shrugged.

“Stay in with me.”

Nyla blinked a few times at his very bold statement, shaking off the feeling in her stomach that she felt as she bit her lip. “To do what in this lavish apartment?”

“You like movies?”

“What type of question is that, Adonis? Of course I do.” Nyla scoffed.

“My bad, some people don’t.” Adonis shrugged as he walked away from the counter. “Let’s see what we can find on Netflix.”

“Netflix and chill is what they call this.” Nyla told him, eagerly following him over to his couch.

“We just Netflix-ing. No chilling involved.” Adonis reassured her.

“Unfortunate.” Nyla muttered.

Adonis smirked as he looked at her over his shoulder. “You say something?”

“No, not at all.” Nyla chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. He had clearly heard her though. Didn’t mean she would give him the satisfaction of seeing her blush.

“Wanna watch The Purge?”

“What’s that?” Nyla said, gently sitting down next to him.

Adonis eyes widened as he looked at her. “You’ve never seen The Purge? You living under a rock or something, shorty?” He asked her.

“One, you’re cute but not cute enough to call me that. Two, I prefer dramas.” Nyla told him.

“One, thank you. You cute too. Two, but you not cute enough to get out of watching this tonight.” Adonis told her, making her laugh as he put on the movie.

“Oh God, am I going to have nightmares?” Nyla asked him, already whining and the movie didn’t even start yet.

“If you do, just scream my name and I’ll come running.” Adonis told her.

Nyla chuckled as she held onto his very strong arm, surely aiming on using him as comfort whenever she got scared. “My Knight In Shining Armor.”

┊┊┊✧ ⁺ ⁺ 　°

Opening her eyes, she was shocked to be met with the view of something other than her own ceiling.

Nyla shot up with panic coursing through her veins as she looked around to see where she was at. She felt dumb when she realized where she was at. She didn’t realize that she had fallen asleep in Adonis’ apartment. How long had she been asleep for? The last thing she remember was the movie beginning and now she was waking up. And where was Adonis? She was shocked to see the answer to her question being right in front of her eyes. She looked over to her right to see Adonis knocked out just like she was a few seconds ago.

She had tried to get up, but she was weighed down by the man’s heavy ass legs in her lap. How did they even end up in such position? Nyla shook her head in disbelief as tried to push them off of her, only to fail. Turns out she was no match for his muscle. Even when he was asleep, he was still stronger than her and he wasn’t even trying. Jesus. She really needed to start working out more.

“Adonis.” Nyla whispered, shaking his legs a bit. “Adonis, hello? Wake up.” She said, starting to shake him harder and harder.

“Leave me alone.”

Nyla groaned in annoyance, but that’s when an idea popped into her head. Her sister always used this trick to wake her up when they were younger. She put her finger in her mouth to wet it, which made her cringe but she managed to fight that, and then reached over to Adonis’s ear. It was a bit gross to do on a stranger, but hey, Nyla was desperate to get up. When she put her finger in his ear, she couldn’t help but laugh. She was so childish cause what the hell was she even doing right now? However, her amusement was cut short when Adonis suddenly shot up and snatched her by her wrist.

“Jesus! Don’t break my damn arm!” Nyla hissed.

Adonis’s eyes widened when he realized that he wasn’t man handling an intruder, instead the pretty girl he let spend the day with him. He cringed at himself, letting go of her arm immediately. Nyla sighed in relief when she got her arm back, looking down at the slight bruise that his grip left behind. And when he realized that he had his legs laying on top of hers, he took those off. Much to her relief. Though, she kind of liked having him touching her.

“Shit, my bad. I ain’t mean to be all in your space like that. And I definitely ain’t mean to hurt you.” Adonis apologized.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nyla muttered, rubbing her sore arm with a pout on her face.

“What time is it?” Adonis asked her.

“Almost 10.”

“Damn, you been here the whole day. We must’ve been knocked out.” Adonis said, laughing a bit.

“That’s what happens when you eat a ton of cake.” Nyla told him as she stood up from the couch finally.

“Where you going?” Adonis asked. He sounded a bit worried that she was leaving. A part of her believed that he wanted her to stay, but then again, she made a lot of shit up in her mind so who knew?

“Can I use the bathroom?” Nyla wondered.

“Oh, yeah. Go head.”

Nyla hurried and did her business. She wanted to leave and go sleep in her own bed, but a part of her wanted to stay and spend more time with Adonis. She wasn’t sure if he was giving the signs that he wanted her to stay as well. Maybe he was just being a good host and making her comfortable. Nyla surely want some stranger staying too long in her own home, but that was the thing. Adonis wasn’t just some stranger. She sounded crazy saying that but it was true. She felt as if she knew him for years now, so she didn’t feel the need to treat him as what he was. Which technically was a stranger.

She walked out of the bathroom, tossing the paper towels she used to dry her hand in the trash as she passed it. “How did you feel so comfortable letting yourself fall asleep around a stranger?” She wondered, leaning against the back of the couch.

“You fell asleep first so ask yourself that.” Adonis told her, shrugging his shoulder.

“I don’t even remember being tired.” Nyla said.

“Even if you didn’t, I like your vibe. It’s trustworthy. I don’t think you’d do anything to harm anyone.” Adonis admitted.

“Awe, well that’s true. I’m glad you can tell that off the bat.” Nyla smiled, slipping her sandals back on quickly.

“You leaving?” Adonis asked.

“Yeah, Adonis. I’ve been here for almost 5 hours.” Nyla told him, scoffing.

“You right. I just thought you’d want to watch another movie or something.” Adonis shrugged.

Nyla smirked as she sat back down next to the man, “You really don’t want me to go, huh?”

“It’s not even like that.” Adonis said, waving his hand. It was totally like that. “We just fell asleep for the first movie so we gotta make up for it.”

“Mhm.” Nyla grinned. “If we’re watching another movie, it’s my turn to pick a movie now.” She said.

“What movie is it?” Adonis asked, leaning back into the sofa.

“Hmm… ooh! I got it.” Nyla chirped, her favorite movie of all time popping into her head. “Hold on, lemme go get it.”

Nyla ignored his questions as she got up and ran out of the apartment as fast as she could. She hissed as her bare feet collided with the cold wood of each of the steps she ran down but she ignored that as she arrived at her destination. She started banging on the door immediately, already knowing that the person she needed at the moment was well awake. It took a few seconds before she finally decided to stop, pressing her ear up against the door to see if she heard footsteps approaching the door. And indeed she did.

“If you’re not bleeding or dying, go back where you came from!”

“It’s an emergency, Bi.” Nyla lied, grinning proudly when it worked and Bianca opened the door immediately. “You still got my Titanic dvd?” She wondered.

“Bitch.” Bianca scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s on my dresser. That jawn was too long. I gave up on even finishing it.” She said.

“Your attention span for anything other than music is shorter than ever.” Nyla pointed out, brushing past her friend into the apartment.

“It was too boring!” Bianca argued. “How you gonna blame me for that?”

“Whatever.”

Bianca stood in the doorway of her room as Nyla searched for her movie, arms crossed as she noticed how late in the night it was. “How did giving Adonis the cake go?”

“Good. Real good. We’re actually about to watch this right now.” Nyla said, picking up the dvd under Bianca’s pile of records.

“Wait, hold up, you been there all day?” Bianca asked.

“Yes.” Nyla nodded curtly. “Is that a problem?” She asked, turning around to face her best friend.

Bianca shook her head before a grin slowly spread across her face. “Did you fuck him?”

“Bianca!”

“Don’t ‘Bianca’ me, Nyla. Did you sleep with him or not?” Bianca questioned.

“No! I didn’t!”

“Boring!” Bianca sang. “Get out of my apartment.”

“You’re sick in the head.” Nyla scoffed, rolling her eyes as she made her way back to the front door.

“Tell me everything after y’all done fucking. For the 6th time tonight probably.” Bianca told her, snorting at her own joke.

“I hate you so much.” Nyla muttered, walking out into the hallway.

“Love you too!” Bianca exclaimed, slamming her door shut after Nyla was far enough from it.

Nyla hurried back up the stairs, hoping that Adonis didn’t fall asleep on her. When she entered the apartment, she was beaming with excitement as she stared down at the dvd as she walked over to the couch. She could watch Titanic a million times and never get bored of it.

“I found it—“ Nyla raised an eyebrow as she approached Adonis, who was setting up pillows and blankets on the couch. “And what is all this?” She chuckled.

“I just got some pillows and shit incase you got uncomfortable. I don’t want you twisting and turning like I be on this hard ass couch.” Adonis explained, shrugging his shoulders as he tried desperately to hide his blushing cheeks.

“Thank you for the kindness.” Nyla giggled. “Now, you ready to watch the best movie ever made?” She questioned.

“Friday?”

“Close.” Nyla lied, revealing the disk she had behind her back with a wide grin on her face. “Titanic!”

Adonis sighed, but he already knew he wasn’t going to win the argument if started one. So sighed and laid back. “I’m going to die of boredom…”

“No you are not.” Nyla scoffed, sticking the disk inside the dvd player. She was surprised he even had one, but thankfully he did!

“What did you say? I’m already fading away.” Adonis said, making Nyla roll her eyes.

“You’re so dramatic.” Nyla chuckled.

“You like it.”

“Mhm.”

“Why you still over there?” Adonis asked her. “Come sit down.” He said, beckoning her over to the couch. To which she gladly obliged.

“Get comfy.” Nyla told him.

Adonis did that corny yawning move so he could put his arm around her, pulling her into his side as the movie started to play. “I’m comfortable enough being with you—

“Shh! It’s starting!” Nyla hushed, slapping his shoulder so he would shut the hell up.

“Man…”

#adonis creed #bianca taylor #creed 3 #creed #creed 2 #halle bailey #little mermaid #the little mermaid 2023 #fanfiction #black love #black stories #rocky balboa

[bimboothefool]

Faint м℮м◎ґʝ℮﹩

Content Warning!! WEE WOO WEE WOO!! This contains talk/mentions of blood, neck licks/kisses and that's it! Enjoy!!

The question you'd ask yourself was why hasn't Shadow bitten you yet. He's been given every opportunity especially when you first became his servant. It felt like it was yesterday when it happened.

Your village as a whole decides your fate, to become his next meal, one he can do whatever he pleases until you draw your last breath. All to secure their salvation. Only for the time being.

During that time and until now. A lot has happened, he's fighting or warring with his brother Eclipse all because he said. “If my brother won't have you, then I'll happily make you mine…” Which took you by surprise. It definitely scared me when his brother had shown up out of the blue while you were tending to the garden. He was so close, his sharp claws and dagger-like fangs made my blood go cold. It was something you couldn't forget.

Shadow did push Eclipse back, but from then on just Shadow only calls for you to be with him for every waking moment. He even promoted you to be his personal servant.

Now it's possible another dangerous vampire from another country is roaming the streets. Obviously Shadow's on edge at this point, he's also been eating less and drinking more wine.

Even when you urged him to drink your blood, he still refuses and says. “I'll drink your blood when I feel like it.”

Unable to sit by and let something like that slip by, you decided to do some digging. Maybe his closest allies could help you.

~~

“That's weird he's never had a problem when it comes to feeding from his meals before. Still he takes care of them. But something like this is definitely…concerning.” Rogue ponders as she sips her red wine. Amy, another duchess chimes in. “Yeah I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but maybe he fell in love??” Her emerald eyes sparkled almost like the idea of Shadow falling for you was magical to her.

“Shadow in love…” You murmured under your breath, you felt your heart start to skip a beat or two. “Hmm now that you mentioned it, (Y/n) did say how every time they'd offer Shadow their blood. He'd refuse immediately. Him falling in love is certainly not a huge leap.” Rogue implied teasingly only fueling the ever growing warmth inside your heart.

“Oh my, looks like we've got a forbidden love story waiting to blossom.” Amy squeals with excitement at Rogue's comment. “You two have…a wild imagination.” You averted your eyes to your shoes.

'Shadow has treated me with such care and respect. Almost like I'm an equal to him and not a sacrifice… Then again he's always been that way ever since we were little. Then there was that promise he made to me. I have to wonder if he still remembers that..?’ As much as a part of you wants to shove those ideas away. Another part wants to be more than just his servant, a childhood friend. You want him to love you more than anything else.

~~

You knew while doing what you're about to do was dangerous, you just didn't want Shadow to destroy himself. But it was now or never. Shadow stands up to do something and you get in front of him. “(Y/n) what are you–?!” His voice gets stuck in his throat as you place a hand on the back of his head. Lightly pushing it, until you felt his nose against your neck.

“...(Y/n) you know this is dangerous right..?” Shadow questioned you, you simply nodded. “Mhm I know, but you don't look so good… I… I couldn't let you die for whatever restraints you have.” He soon became silent, his arms wrapped around you. Holding you closer as he started shivering, he knew he can't let himself give in especially, since he's practically starving. He could potentially kill you. “Especially since I'm back with you Shadow…” His eyes widened at this. “You remember me..?” Shadow asked quietly. You laughed airily. “How could I forget you? Especially since I've never seen anyone like you.”

“I'm not doing this as your servant, I'm doing this because you're the only one who can have my blood…and heart.” Shadow huffs out embarrassment. “I mean it, why else would I do this.” Shadow pulls away to look at you. “Are you sure you want to do this? Because if you agree to becoming mine it means you'll have to give up your mortality.” Shadow says, but once he looked to see if there's any hesitation. There was none, you were ready now more than ever.

“Of course, there's no one I'd rather spend the rest of eternity with other than you Shadow.” You said with a loving smile. “You did make that vow at that garden where we'd always meet up. You wanted me to be your beloved. I never gave a reply then, but I'm giving you my answer now.” You hold his hands within your own. “Please will you let me be your lover?”

Shadow smiles tenderly at you, nodding silently. “Of course (Y/n)...” He pulls you close, softly kissing your neck. Murmuring I love you's and licks your neck to soothe you. Finally his fangs plug themselves into your neck. Holding you close as he drinks your blood. As you blink in and out of consciousness, you see he's looking much better than before.

The last thing you heard was. “Hold on…”

~~

You groan feeling a soft light hit your eyes, you try to adjust yourself. But you quickly find out that Shadow's arms are wrapped around you, he starts to wake up. “Hello (Y/n)... How are you feeling..?” He asks with concern laced in voice. “Heheh.. A bit lightheaded, but I'm okay… How are you feeling..?” Shadow lets out a sigh of relief. “Better than ever, you're not a vampire quite yet. We'll have to wait until the next full moon.” You smiled, happy knowing he's feeling better. “Really now?” You questioned. “The whole getting bitten by a vampire makes you a vampire is merely a rumor. There's conditions.” You hummed knowing it was interesting to know that's how becoming a vampire works.

“I see, how interesting!” Shadow holds your hand and gently kisses the back of it. Looking up to meet your (e/c) eyes. “Indeed it is, but now I'll have to feed off of you for a while longer until I've found a better way to acquire more blood or until there's a full moon.” You laughed and said. “How meticulous you are, Lord Shadow…” You teased as he pushed you back and started showering your face with kisses.

You squealed happily and tried kissing him back. But you felt happy knowing that a future with him was worthwhile.

#my writing #shadow the hedgehog x reader #shadow the hedgehog x y/n #shadow the hedgehog x you #sonic the hedgehog x reader #sonic the hedgehog x you #sonic the hedgehog x y/n #shadow x reader #shadow x y/n #shadow x you #vampire au