#conservation of energy.... where does it come from.... if it comes from death.....

[traditionanddebts]

yeah I'm an "Ianthe cannibalized the would be 3rd tridentarii triplet in the womb to gain necromancy" truther but why stop there. the eggs you gave me all died. harrow is 200 dead children. the ongoing living death of the 7th house as power.

maybe every necromancer is a result of twins or triplets eaten or sacrifices made. maybe every necromancer comes from death. what did you do, Jod. what did you do

#this is a shitpost OR IS IT #tlt #the locked tomb #dun dun dunnnn #gideon the ninth #conservation of energy.... where does it come from.... if it comes from death.....

[gayhenrycreel]

okay i filled out a google doc survey of aro experiences in the queer community and at the end i kinda went on a commie rant, so this is it copy pasted. (yes my mutuals, im aware as i reread this that this sounds like the blorbos 4.07 monologue)

i want people to know that no one should ever be in a relationship just because they want to be considered normal. alloros included. the relationship hierarchy hurts everyone.

hierarchy has always been the problem. its time that people start realising that we are all equals, and the idea of any particular thing being inherently better than another is the basis for amatonormativity, homophobia, racism, transphobia, misogyny, eugenics, and ultimately fascism. "superiority" does not exist.

even the natural world is negatively affected by human ideas of hierarchy. conservation efforts are for animals, occasionally plants, and never for fungi. fungi are barely even researched properly compared to other clades. how many fungi have gone extinct without anyone knowing, because no one cares?

this affects humans directly. penicillin comes from a fungus. hallucinigenic mushrooms can treat anxiety, depression, adhd, and even ptsd. lions mane contains biochemicals that prevent cell death, which means (and research is ongoing) it could slow aging, lead to longer lives, and quite significantly, prevent dementia.

those are just known fungi. imagine how many are out there that could save lives that are endangered and dying, but no one cares to save them because they are small and not very noticeable. theres an antioxidant thats exclusively found in fungi. that means it too could prevent cell damage, such as those that cause cancer.

if i were to get into human prejudice this would go on forever. hierarchy kills. it destroys entire species, cultures, lives. the solution to defeating amatonormativity is to remove hierarchy.

this would also solve infinite other problems. we could no longer have to work our asses off for the profit of billionares. we would use resources when we need them, not for some hypothetical world where they might be bought on mass. no one needs a billion iphones. the slaves who make them certainly dont.

things should be produced when they are actually in demand, not just so elon can get money he will never use. that money could go to education, science, sustainable energy, medicine, conservation, and literally billions of people who are starving because elon and bezos want to think about their sci fi fantasys that they do not allow to become reality by not bloody paying their slaves, as well as hoarding money that could be used by places that could legitimately get people to mars like nasa.

elon works closely with nasa, but nasa cant afford to pay their own scientists. many of nasas workers hate spacex. one even quit over it. there are so many people who could help humanity, who could invent cures for AIDS, vaccines for deadly diseases, better solar panels, solutions for space junk, more efficient farming, more nutritious native plants that people have harvested for centuries before colonizers decided nutrient poor cabbage is better than the vitamin rich indigenous vegetables.

like seriously, there are so many plants that indigenous societies have been eating for thousands of years that the world just doesn't know about anymore.

the wider queer community could do a lot for arospecs by taking off the hierarchy glasses. we all need to take off the hierarchy glasses. its killing the world.

#anarchism #communism #queer #aromantic #arospec #aspec #survey #anti capitalism #anarchy #eco anarchy

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 223 (Spoilers)

Utahime really sells this image. The way her hands, arms, robes and her hair are drawn awakens in the reader the feeling that we're really at the beginning of the first attack in this gigantic battle. Gakuganji on the other hand conveys passivity and because they're meant to be seen as a unit, we can guess before turning the pages that what they're going to do will be in support of Gojo.

We get closure on Yaga and a Gakuganji who who lied to the higher ups and seems remorseful. Two pages of the manga for his heel-face turn seems exactly right for a minor character and in hindsight this doesn't even come as a surprise. Gramps plays an electric guitar, his favorite singer is Jimmy Hendrix and he has nose and lip piercings; things the conservative elders hate. Hakari was thrown out of school for his technique and Kirara because she's trans, so it's logical to conclude that Gakuganji had similar conflicts with the JJsociety in the past and look where he's now!

This is also the first flashback we get of the month we skipped over. We're going to get even more of them when the time in the narrative is right.

There is no JJK fan who wasn't delighted in seeing this massacre

Ijichi gets his time to shine and the recognition from the strongest... unfortunately he's now targeted by death 😂

Utahime's technique is really interesting. It's not an offensive technique by itself and Utahime still became a semi grade 1 sorcerer with it meaning her fighting capabilities lie somewhere else.

This is some spectacular lore! Singing, dancing, playing instruments and making hand signs. Only the hand sign can't be omitted when activating the Domain Expansion. Gojo does all of this as well so be prepared for Sukuna singing and dancing somewhere in the future.

Sukuna was really taken by surprise by this and lost both of his hands in having to take the attack had on. (Uraume is somewhere in the background and no one cares). The first point in this battle goes to Gojo and this sets the scene for the upcoming chapters.

We've already seen this wavy effect when someone with high amounts of cursed energy does something. E.g. when Megumi tried to summon Mahoraga before Sukuna took control of his body.

This is one of the better drawn faces of Sukugumi and Sukuna is enough of a bitch that he'll start his counter offensive against Gojo with Megumi's shikigami but I have a theory on how Megumi is going to fight against Sukuna with his Chimera Shadow Garden DE.

The results for my poll from last week are in and more than 2/3 of the 195 who voted think that Nobara will come back.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #sukuna #ryoumen sukuna #gojo satoru #fushiguro megumi #utahime iori #gakuganji #jjk ijichi #meta #kugisaki nobara

[lia-land]

A Court of Silver Flames

3/5 stars

Spoilers for A Court of Silver Flames*

How this book made it past an editor is beyond me.

I read a review where someone said that this book felt like reading smut about a cousin and I couldn’t agree more. I can’t connect with Nesta. She will always just be Feyre’s sister to me and not a main character as she was supposed to be in this book. I feel like we were set up to dislike her in the earlier books and that dislike was set in stone for me.

This was kind of like a long fan fiction and had the same vibe as A Court of Frost anf Starlight because there wasn’t a strong plot and it read like A Court of Nesta and Friends. What little plot exists was mainly there to set up for the sex scenes and Nesta’s redemption arc. When a book is over 600 pages, I expect a strong plot, not for things to conveniently happen solely for the purpose of Nesta and Cassian having sex and for her and Rhys to salvage their relationship. The pregnancy plot came across as nothing more than an excuse for Nesta to come in and save the day so that she can redeem herself. I also think we should have seen the pregnancy through Feyre and Rhys, rather than having it happen in a book where they are side characters. Especially since it involved the death pact backfiring. I have many issues with the death pact regardless and it was a plot point that was set up for failure, especially since it was thrown into the end of ACOWAR. In fairness, we did get a bonus chapter of them finding out she’s pregnant, but after three books of their relationship developing, this seemed like a big thing to leave out. Perhaps we’ll get a novella of it one day. Although, it doesn’t seem like Feyre was getting up to much in this book while she was pregnant, so maybe it would have been somewhat uneventful to read about her pregnancy from her POV. Then again, this book is over 600 pages of nothing particularly eventful, so it wouldn’t be out of the question.

As many other reviews have said, it makes little sense that Cassian’s guts were falling out in ACOWAR and he lived, but C-sections do not exist. As I said before, a lot of things were just too convenient for the ‘plot’ so that Rhys and Nesta could have an excuse to mend the relationship. And the whole thing at the end where Nesta quickly throws in that she changed her hips as well so that she can bear a winged baby?? That’s not the sort of execution I’d expect from an author who has published multiple series and has been writing for years. 

The stairs specifically don’t make sense because if Nesta is so tired from going down them, how does she make it back up the stairs every time? Surely going up is more effort than going down. This is a huge plot hole and I don’t understand how not one person picked up on it before the book was published. It’s stated that she is completely drained and doesn’t stop until the can’t take another step down, so it’s not like she’s strategically conserving enough energy to go back up. There’s one occasion where she goes down more than halfway, and then gets too tired so she goes back. Like… would it not have been easier to go down when you’re already halfway there… This bothered me the most out of everything else. The House of Wind in general is a plot hole because as far as I can recall, it’s never stated that there is another way to get in other than flying. So my question is why and how would they use it for their ‘official’ meetings and parties? Do Rhys and co go back and forth to fly all these people in? Especially during those weekly meetings Rhys and Feyre do with the citizens that was mentioned in ACOFAS, because I doubt everyone would be willing or able to go up those 10,000 steps while dressed for a party or meeting.

Also, how did Rhys and Feyre build the River House so quick? Hasn't it only been like 8 months or so since Rhys gifted her the land in ACOFAS? Has the rest of Velaris been rebuilt with this same speed since the Hybern attack? Are there still Velaris citizens living on the outskirts with their houses lying in rubble while their High Lord and High Lady built their fourth house (on the biggest plot in the city, I should add)? Let’s not forget Rhys only purchased the land because the house previously on it was ruined in the attack and the owner didn't want to rebuild. The timing is just in poor taste.

Then there’s the Valkyrie. How do Gywn and Emerie win the Rite after being dragged into it unprepared with a few months of training when we’ve been told multiple times that it is nearly impossible? Even for Illyrians who have trained their whole lives. I could maybe justify it by how it was implied that the Valkyrie had specific training methods and skills, but were those skills really that much more advanced than those of the Illyrian males? So much so that Gywn and Emerie won with only a few months of training? If so, this should have been made more clear, but I’d still find it unrealistic that said skills are so advanced that one could win the Rite with only a few months of training. If Nesta alone had won, I could maybe justify it and think about how her powers made her an exception.

It also didn’t fully sit right with me that Feyre essentially locked Nesta up in the House of Wind after what Tamlin did to her. I know it’s not the exact same situation, but it felt close enough. Even if it was truly and completely the last resort, which it seemed like it was, Feyre didn’t seem very bothered by the decision. I say this specifically because of the scene after the first meeting with Nesta, when Rhys has sent all the servants away so him and Feyre can have sex. Read the room. I get that they were both extra horny from the pregnancy, but I don’t think that scene was necessary. It felt more like SJM just being like 'don't worry! Your favorite couple from the original trilogy are still having lots of sex!' Although, I forget this is the same couple that got it on to ‘the distant cries of the injured and dying' in ACOWAR, so what do I know? At least their characters are consistent in that sense. Is there a situation they won’t fuck in? Now I’m curious about what the limit is for them to say ‘no, it’s inappropriate for us to fuck right now.’

The original trilogy made me want to read slower because I did not want the pages to end and I could read about that story forever. With this book, I ended up listening to the audiobook for 2/3 because I wanted to get it over with because I’d like to know what happens to the characters. I really only got through it because I wanted to read about Feyre and Rhys, but even they were out of character and not enjoyable. Feyre often seemed like she’d aged 30 years in the way she spoke and acted. Being High Lady and the things she went through would undoubtedly have made her more mature, but it’s only been like a year. It would have made far more sense if this book was set 50 or 100 years after the events of the last book. This didn’t feel at all like the badass and sometimes reckless Feyre who escaped the weaver, had water wolves, killed the Attor, and turned the Spring Court on each other—all of which happened approximately under two years before this book.

I would happily pretend that this book does not exist if SJM one day asked for it to be ignored so that certain plot lines could be rewritten. I didn’t like the direction of any character in this and it has not left me excited for the upcoming books in this series. In this case, I think the characters would have benefitted from having their story end in ACOWAR.

I did enjoy the dance scene between Eris and Nesta and I’m excited to read more about Eris and his side of the story. I don’t care much for Mor, though I wish Lucien made more appearances in this book.

Azriel Bonus chapter: Angry Rhys and the whole “My office. Now” is hot, but he was far too harsh with Azriel. He literally told him to go to a brothel if he’s that desperate for sex. I can see where Rhys was coming from, but he straight up threatened Azriel. Not sure how I feel about that, but maybe some justification from Rhy’s POV will help in the future. It's okay for Rhys to almost cause a war over Feyre, but Cauldron forbid Azriel even entertains the idea.

I find the Evil Rhys theory entertaining and this book made me happy in that regard, but nothing else.

The only thing this book somewhat attempted to do well is set up for another book in a different SJM series, which I will not delve into due to spoilers, but iykyk.

2.5 stars, really, but 3 because Azriel called Cassian out for the dining room. In saying all of this, I will absolutely be reading any upcoming books in this series because I love the characters and I’m invested in their stories, but this book was frustrating and slow.

#a court of silver flames #acosf #a court of thorns and roses #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #acotar #feyre #rhysand #nesta archeron #cassian #azriel #amren #velaris #night court #sarah j maas #book review

[quohotos]

My fan theories about how the Underland works

In today's @returntoregalia episode had some interesting tangents about how the creatures probably couldn't survive in the Underland. There wouldn't be enough air, the air wouldn't circulate, and larger creatures die sooner than smaller creatures because their hearts have to work harder. The correct answer is obviously "It's fantasy", but I still think there are some clues that can give a plausible psuedoscientific explanation of how this can work.

Where does the air come from? The overland, specifically the currents. That massive amount of air being pulled in and out of the Underland is what is recirculating the air and keeping it breathable. This is sort of passing the buck, since the currents are never explained and are one of the few purely magical parts of the worldbuilding, but I believe that is the purpose they serve. There is something in the Underland, could be magical or some strange natrual phenomenon that's not explained yet, that flushes out the dead air pulls in fresh air. Sometimes Overlanders like Gregor get caught up in it and it allows for safe passage between the two lands. Sandwitch specifically sought out the Underland because he saw visions of the surface being uninhabited (headcannon: nuclear war), so it's possible that the underland wouldn't actually save them in the event of that happening because it relies on air from the surface, but you can't really blame him for not understanding that.

Why are the animals so big? Yes, larger animals die sooner, but they also are much more efficient because of the Square-Cube Law. "This principle states that, as a shape grows in size, its volume grows faster than its surface area." Energy lost as heat is a function of surface area, which means that larger animals have to eat less often than smaller animals. Mice can starve to death within days whereas a human can stay alive for weeks without food. In places where food is scarce and temperatures are low, like the open ocean and deep sea, we see lots of animals evolve gigantism. If you go deep in the ocean you'll find lots of animals that look like the ones at the surface just scaled up (and yes there's more than one factor that contributes to that, but the caloric efficiency of gigantism is one of those). In a cave environment where calories are scarce it would make sense for everything to get bigger to conserve energy. As for them dying sooner, who's to say that they don't all die pretty early. The oldest creature we see is a cockroach on the code team, but basically everything else besides humans aren't given an age. Maybe Gnawers only live to be like thirty, maybe Ripred is an old geezer who's about to keel over. Most people die in wars anyways, so longevity isn't really a concern. The fact that Rats can grow up from pups to adults in about a year leads me to believe that they die off early and their whole society has made peace with and is designed around that fact.

When it comes to why the animals are all intelegent... that where there's no explanation beyond fantasy book, and that's fine. You could make an argument that with the added stresses and challenges of finding food in the underland intelegence would be important, but also complex brains are a huge caloric sink so it's more efficient to be dumb and specialized. The truth is that no one should ever have to justify having big talking bat friends in their story. Every story should have those without needing to explain their reasoning.

#return to regalia #return to regalia podcast #the underland chronicles #tuc #gregor the overlander #fan theories #I'm a programmer not a biologist so if I got some details wrong please correct me politely

[fumifooms]

My take on why Falin saw the Winged Lion

(chap 97 spoilers)

I have one main theory, and its central point is that Falin wouldn’t have been successfully revived if she hadn’t, without him.

After all, we’re told that the only reason revivals are possible is that the dungeon’s mana ecosystem makes it so that souls are bound to the body even after death. But when reviving her, they’re out of the dungeon and mana is fading. Marcille was assisted by elves and I seriously doubt they used ancient magic, which can bypass some of these rules and issues to an unknown extent. By those standards, it’s a miracle that reviving Falin could even possibly work.

And what is ancient magic, really? It’s mentioned that ancient magic is a magic that comes from another dimension of infinite magical energy, which is Marcille’s field of study. The same dimension the Winged Lion comes from. As the demon said himself, he is Power. He’s not a finite entity, he himself talks about his intangible and even abstract nature. He changes appearances, he can be anywhere and have as many bodies as he wants acting simultaneously without problem (as shown with his multiplying as Laios, and the ambiguous way and timeline that he hops from dungeon to dungeon), he cannot be killed. He does not exist on the same plane, in the same way, as everyone else. Ancient magic uses his energy, and though the dungeon Lord is the one that orders and shapes things to their wants, it’s the Power’s magic that actually get things done. It’s the Power’s magic that creates the creatures in the dungeon, the dungeon’s ecosystem and mana is the demon. The Power is a being of magic, he is ancient magic and ancient magic is him.

It’s not only how Falin is fused to the soul of a dragon that the Power birthed, it’s also that Falin was revived through ancient magic by Marcille. Falin owes her life to ancient magic, it’s this magic that regrew her body and bound her soul long after her body was too damaged to keep the soul bond. I think that means that there’s remain of that ancient magic in her, wether it’s in her flesh or her soul or in the very fabric of her being, and I think it’s that sliver of ancient magic in her that allowed her to come back and be revived.

The Winged Lion went back to his dimension, and who the hell knows where souls go after they leave their body and don’t become ghosts, since the Winged Lion has this "exists somewhat everywhere at once in many dimensions" thing, I could see the space where she saw him be some purgatory, but personally I see it more as an inner space thing. I think there’s a small part of the Winged Lion in every creature it materialized into life, and maybe even in everyone that he gave himself as food to like in his backstory story. And in a space as abstract as the place between life and death, that tiny presence of his can manifest itself. Wether that spark of ancient magic got used when reviving her or simply allowed her to be brought back and continues to live in her, I think it could go either way. She’s part of the dungeon forevermore, even if only in infinitesimal way.

I lean a bit more towards the former option in that last bit. But I don’t really remember wether in the worldbuilding, mana is used up and disappears or is simply transformed and moved, law of energy conservation and whatnot. Welp, I should reread it again

#Dungeon meshi #the winged lion #falin touden #theory #spoilers #dungeon meshi manga spoilers

[grippingbeskar]

salt, ice and fire | frank castle

chapter eighteen - your fathers eyes

frank castle x fem!reader

word count: 5.9k

warnings: canon typical violence, punisher shit, mentions of blood, death, gross stuff u know the drill by now. also we decapitate someone. ya.

a/n: i’m not even an older sibling but why does this make me so emo???? idk. also yes i named the brother bc i’m watching supernatural again. i’m soft okay don’t look at me. how is there 18 chapters of my shit up in this bitch wow okay enjoy!!

[series masterlist] [previous chapter]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It had been an hour since the call from Agent Madani, and you were still in some sort of shock.

They’re going to kill him.

“Where’d you see ‘em last?” Frank had asked, getting in the drivers side of the car while you loaded the boot as fast as you could.

“He’s heading back to base, but it’s a mess. The ‘New America’ men stationed there have gone full riot— they saw the news, thought it was time to take a stand or some shit. Dead bodies everywhere. I have a link through their network— he’s given the order to move the kid, but the rest of them want him dead.”

“Why move him?” You felt sick as Frank pulled off the curb, but it was a fair question. Bobby wanted to hurt you— break the last piece of yourself you still had. Why not just kill him now? You were still six hours away, although with the way Frank was driving, it would be less.

“He said he wanted to finish the job— that he was taking him somewhere he could do that.” A part of you lit up— a part that you had tried to swallow down the past few weeks, something that had been far too easy to do.

“My old house.” You say, and Frank looks at you only for a second before repeating it into the phone. “It’s only an hour away from their base. We still have five between us.”

“They haven’t been able to get him out yet. Too many people.” You’d bought yourself time— maybe a few precious hours, but it would be enough. It had to be. “I’m heading out there now, you go straight to the kid. I’ll tell the rest of the squad to meet you there.”

Frank throws the phone behind him, and you see the red bar of the accelerator hit a new height. The highway stretched so far in front of you that you couldn’t see any end— it was like it went on forever, continuously throwing miles and miles between you and one of the only things you cared about.

“We’re gonna get there.” Frank says, sending your anxiety and you tuck your legs up under your chin. “There’s too many of the Colonels guys out there to make a quick exit.”

“Bobby’s men will shred them.”

“Good. That was always the plan. It’ll take ‘em time, time we need.” Swallowing hard, the seatbelt around your neck feels like it’s suffocating you. “We’re gonna get there.”

“How do you know?” The voice that comes out of you isn’t one you felt related to anymore— that low, commanding tone that sent shivers down your spine. Frank isn’t phased, his hand dropping from the wheel and planting firmly over yours.

“You trust me?” It was simple now— you trusted him with your life, like he did with his. Once a far away idea, now a real, tangled thread tying you to him. You nod once, and you swear he smiles slightly. “I’ll get you there.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Frank drove the next few hours, and you slept where you could. Once you got into the drivers seat, Frank passed out almost immediately. He’d told you to wake him up in an hour, but he needed to conserve his energy, so you let him sleep.

Weaving through traffic, you knew what you were driving into. It was going to be your last few moments of freedom— but nothing would stop you. Not when you were this close. You’d come to terms with the fact he might not know who you are, and as much as that broke your heart, nothing mattered more than his safety. He was your brother. The one you had let your house burn for, the one you’d killed for a thousand times. You owed him this much. It was your fault he was there, your fault he was used as leverage.

Everything you had done was leading to this moment, and when the sign to your town flashed over your head, you took the exit and woke Frank up, trying to swallow down the sickness in your chest.

“Hey, we’re nearly there.” He shot up, moving a lot easier than just a few hours before. The other wounds would hold well enough, but that one on his side was still raw. Madani had said they were taking a few men with your brother, and they’d only gotten him out about half an hour ago. You’d beat them here— giving you an advantage. You’d need all the help you could get right now.

“They already there?” Frank leans into the back seat, pulling out a long gun and loading it up.

“No. We should have… twenty minutes.” You pull onto your street. God— it was your street, your home after so long. The neighbouring houses were exactly how you remembered them— white picket fences, golden retrievers barking at mail men, the smell of someone barbecuing something. It was all so… familiar. “It’s this one.”

Pulling over, you hadn’t allowed yourself to look just yet. There’s been something built over the top of the ruins. A giant yellow ‘for sale’ sign is sticking up in the lawn, and then you see the one thing about this street that you don’t recognise. The house— entirely rebuilt as if you were never there. In some ways, you guessed you weren’t.

“Hey.” Is all Frank says, but it’s all he needs to. He says everything in that one look— that you needed to be good right now, needed to be strong just for a little longer, and you’d have everything you worked for. You both get out of the car, and look up.

“You should get up high. Pick them off.” Watching Frank wince as he bends out of the car, it’s clear he’s not 100%.

“Just like before. Once you see him, go. Madani’ll be there somewhere.” He says, but not with the relief that you feel. Your brother was going to be safe; that was a good thing. “Once your brothers safe…”

“I do what she wants me to do.” A metallic taste in your mouth forms at the words, knowing you wouldn’t see him again. Was that it? “That’s the deal.”

Frank meant… something to you now. What that was, you hadn’t had time to figure out, but it was big enough to distract you from your work, and certainly big enough to risk your life for. You’d brought each other back from the edge time and time again, and even though it had only been a few months since you met him, you don’t remember feeling anything like you do now for anyone you’ve met.

The way he always looked at you like you were something special— the first real person to treat you with some kind of dignity, kindness, compassion. He saved your life, knowing what you were and what you’d done, and you had done the same for him. He stepped forward, hand reaching for yours as he pulled you toward the empty house.

“Once he’s safe, come back to me.” You blink a few times. Once your brother was out, Madani would need to take you in. None of this made sense if you weren’t the link—if you weren’t her informant, she would never get the location to be here today. You had to— “You come back.”

“I can’t. Agent Madani—“

“Screw that.” He busted the lock to the door, and instantly you were looking around, finding possible vantage points of the new layout all the while trying to process what Frank was saying.

“I- I have to make sure he’s okay.” That was all it was. There was only, truely, one person that would override whatever it was holding you to him. One person that didn’t even know who you were. You heard the screech of tires outside, and knew that you didn’t have time. You never seemed to have the time you wanted with him, no matter how long you were given.

“He will be.” The guns strapped to him bulk him up too much, and you can’t get closer, but you heart was beating so fast like he was on top of you. You already know what he’s trying to say before he says it.

“I can’t ask you to do that. He’s… he needs to be away from all this shit. Away from me—“

“That’s bullshit. Kid would be lucky to have someone like you.” You try to blink it away, but a tear drops down your cheek anyway. “It’s not just for him. Come back to me.”

“I will. You know I will.” He doesn’t look so sure. You knew you needed to go with Agent Madani— give her what she wants, hold up your end of the deal. You couldn’t start your life running from another person. But after all that, you’d come back to him. You always would. “You remember that day that I left the hotel, after you stitched my leg up?”

“I remember that night.” You suck in a slow breath, trying not to think about how his hands held your skin, how you knew how they felt everywhere now.

“I left in the morning, and you told me you would leave if I didn’t come back.” He nods, eyes looking over your shoulder and out the window again, checking you were still alone, then locking back on you. “I knew I was coming back. Always. No matter what happens, I’ll come back.”

“You were late.” He looks down at you, hand tangled in your hair. “I told you thirty minutes in that hotel and I’d leave. Waited 45.”

“God, you really have gotten soft.” A grin splits his face, and his thumb traced over that tiny little scar on your head, the one he made with his gun the first time you fought. “Go.”

You shove him towards the stairs, knowing he needs time to set himself up, but he just looks at you.

“Go, Frank.” He looks like he’s in pain, and you can’t tell if it’s his side or you telling him to move, but either way it hurts him. You turn around, hearing Franks’ loud footsteps stomping up to the window of the attic you had spotted, and try to focus. Nothing was laid out the same, but you didn’t need it to be. You could asses— you could find the best spot, and then you would do what you always did. Find a way.

Frank was shooting as soon as the engine to the now pulled up car outside cut out. You shrunk back, covering yourself from the door by the corner of the wall, peeking up to look over out the window and firing a few shots. Two guys were splayed out on the driveway, blood splattered on the white fencing around the front lawn.

“Kill him now! Just fucking end it already!” One of the men was shouting and you couldn’t hold your spot any longer. You know you should, but you couldn’t stand there and wait. You had waited too long already— it was here and now, and a glimpse of brown hair, curly, like your dads, cracked out of the boot of the car, and you ran.

Adrenaline like you’d never felt it spurred every move. Three car loads of people were in front of you and you tore through them without blinking. You swung an open hand across the first man’s face, and felt the flesh split part underneath the sharp end of your fingers. Blood splattered and he fell, so you moved on to the next. Shots were firing around you, but you didn’t flinch for a second, trusting Franks’ eye to keep you safe. Trusting him to keep you safe.

You could see a part of your brothers face now. He was curled up in a corner of the boot of the car, hands over his head. You were distracted, and one of the men clocked you over the head but you recovered quickly, feeling his weight drop away when a sniper bullet tore through his head. There was another man, his focus on the car, shoving other people out of his path. He was the leader of some sort, ordering people in the chaos of bodies, and the shout of his voice was one you recognised.

You ran across the yard, dodging bullets and cracking bone wherever you could. You got your hands around the cuff of his shirt and yanked him back, only a few meters from where the gun in his hand would of been firing at your brother. He struggles, calling to someone, but your fingers are already linked around his neck. The flesh under his jaw gives way, and a familiar crack sounds as his body drops lifelessly to the pavement.

You hold his fractured head in your hands just for a second too long, before dropping it, a loud thud ringing over the shouts of men around you. The numbers had thinned, and you hadn’t realised Frank had dropped out of the second story window, hearing him groaning in pain as he laid into the man underneath him. Two more punches confirmed the man’s fate, and Frank staggered upright before turning around and starting over on the next.

You sprinted downhill, finishing off whoever you could, and your breath caught in your throat when you finally rounded the car.

You saw him.

Terrified, curled up, but unharmed. Your brother— after twelve years, he was here, and real, and right in front of you.

“Please, don’t hurt me.” His voice cries out, and footsteps behind you snap you away from the moment. You take care of your next victim swiftly, using the gun Frank gave you to put a bullet through his eyes, but not before you dragged him out of your brothers eyesight. He didn’t need to see anymore of it.

“Sammy?” You kept your distance, seeing how much the kid was shaking, but when you called his name, he looked up slowly. “Is that you?”

“How—how do you know my name?” He says, arms still wrapped over his head. You could feel how much blood you were covered in; feel it dripping off onto your shoes.

“I…” You lose the words. God— he looked just like your dad. That same curly hair, bright eyes… he even sounded like him. You heard more shots fired, and Frank was okay— you knew it, because the footsteps could be no one but him. “You won’t remember me, but I promise I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I haven’t seen you before?” He asks, the high pitch voice only reminded you how young he is. Your heart broke a little more when he shuffled back, seeing Frank appear behind you.

“It’s okay. You… I have met you before, but you were very young.” You were blinking back tears, and he squinted— curious. “Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” His clothes were dirty, and there was a small cut on his cheek, probably from where they had knocked him out before chucking him in. “They— please, don’t make me go back with them. They’ll hurt me, they said—“

“No, I promise… God, I swear I will never let them take you again. Okay?” His eyes brimmed with tears, but he nodded, inching forward just a little. “First, we have to get you out of here. There’s some people coming, they are going to make sure you are safe.”

“People?” You nod, and he shakes his head. “No, no I can’t go with anyone. I don’t want to go with them again.”

“I promise you— they will keep you safe.” He was still shaking his head a little, bundled up in a corner, looking over your shoulder. You’d nearly forgotten Frank was there. “He’s a friend. It’s alright.”

“Why are you helping me?” He asks, eyes still squinted. Maybe you had mistaken his curiosity for suspicion, and it killed you that he had to be.

“I… I knew your parents. They would want me to make sure you are safe. I’ve been looking for you ever since they took you.” He shoots straight up, with more energy than you would of assumed he had with the dark rings under his eyes.

“My parents? You knew them?” You nod, going to open your mouth but he was was already talking. “What about my sister? Do you know her?”

“Your sister?” You felt something inside you thaw out— he knew he had a sister.

“They didn’t want me to know about her, but I remembered. They have her somewhere, she’ll be looking for me, too. I don’t want to go with someone else— you have to help me. I want to find her. I have to tell her I’m okay!” He was frantic, standing on his knees in the back of the van, his hands stained with how he grabbed your blood covered shoulders. “They said she was coming— that they’d kill me before she could find me. You have to let me go, I need to find—“

“Easy, kid.” Frank knelt down beside you, his hand easing Sammy down to sit. He was breathing rapidly, and looked pale. “Just… take a second. You’re okay. Just breathe.”

It’s you now that might start crying. It felt like the wind was knocked out of you— watching your brother, alive and real in front of you was one thing, but seeing Frank— Frank, who apparently never misses a fucking thing, talk him through it, counting the seconds for him slow and clear.

In for seven.

Out for eleven.

You knew exactly what you wanted now. God, it was so clear, now it was in front of you.

“I need to…” Sammy started saying again now his breathing was slower, less panicked. “I have to find my…” He stopped talking, looking up at you, eyes locked onto yours. “I do know you.”

“Yeah, you do.” You say, voice choked up. You knew what he was looking at. Where he had your fathers eyes, you were the spitting image of your mother. You saw the recognition, how his face drops when he puts it together. “I’m so sorry, Sammy. I tried to—“

He cut you off, slamming his entire body into yours so hard you nearly toppled over. His arms locked around your neck, so tight it crushed you a little but you couldn’t care less, grabbing him just as tight. He was smiling, maybe even laughing, and for some strange reason he laughed the same as he did when he was just a little baby, all high pitched and squeaky.

The sound makes you breathe again, holding him as close as possible. Your family, your fucking brother was here, in your arms, and it felt like somehow all this had been worth it. If you had to go through everything over again, for this moment, you would. Even with your brother in your arms, though, you knew it wasn’t the only thing you’d go through hell to fight for again.

Frank had a hand on your lower back, keeping you from dropping backwards even further as Sam eventually stopped clinging to you.

“How did you find me?!” He shouted, a giant grin spread across his little face. You never thought you had a motherly bone in your body, but seeing him just made you want to grab him and never let him out of your sight again.

“I never stopped looking for you. They never let me see you, I thought you might of been…”

“I knew they had you! I nearly found you, too! But they told me you were coming, just a few months ago and I thought it wasn’t real, but it was!” A car pulls onto the street, and you grab him, putting yourself in front of Frank and Sam. Franks hand falls on your shoulder.

“It’s Madani.” You knew she would come. Knew that this wouldn’t last, but he was safe. She would make sure of it. You turned back around, linking your hand with Frank’s, who had inched closer to you.

“I never stopped looking for you.” You put your hand on his head, and he smiles again, but it doesn’t last long when he sees Agent Madani walking up to you on the street, two other agents with pale faces taking in the scene. “Don’t worry. She’s a friend, too.”

“You must be Samuel.” She bends down, nodding at you and Frank, and smiling. “It’s very nice to meet you. My name is Dinah.”

He looks back to you, unsure, and the gesture is so small but it means so much to you. To have him look to you. You nod back, trying to look as encouraging as possible while still covered in blood.

“It’s okay. You know how I said before, there’s people that can make sure you never end up here again.” You stood up, and he did the same, following you close behind.

You lead him away from the scene, but he doesn’t seem phased, which only makes the pit in your stomach a little bigger. He must be used to it— to seeing things like this. It made this decision a little easier. If he was with you, this is all he would see, and even if the prospect of leaving him moments after you got him felt like a piece of yourself was being torn out, you knew you couldn’t stay with him.

“I’ll let you guys have a second. Then we have to get moving.” She looks at you, sympathy painted on her face as she heads back onto the front lawn, trying to shoo away the gathered neighbours. Stopping at the car, you bend down again, noticing Frank has given you your space, talking with Madani.

“You sure you aren’t hurt?” He shakes his head again, eyebrows nearly crossed.

“Don’t make me go with them. I…”

“You have no idea how much I want you to stay with me. I’ve been trying to get to you for 12 years— and I’ll visit as much as they let me.” You try to swallow the lump in your throat.

“As much as they let you? Where are you going?” He looks over your shoulder again, constantly analysing where he is, who’s around him.

“I’ve done… I’ve done some really bad things to find you, Sammy. I don’t regret it, not one second; but I have to own up to it now you’re safe.” You can feel the moment closing in on you, Frank and Agent Madani coming up behind you. “You’re gonna be okay, and I’ll be around, I just… god, you look just like him, you know.”

“Like who?” His voice was so small.

“Just like Dad.” He hugs you again, clinging onto your bloodied clothes. “It’s gonna be okay. I promise.”

“I don’t want you to go away again.” He cries into your shirt, and you do your best not to cry with him.

You needed him to go. You needed him to be safe, and to know he wasn’t in danger anymore— Bobby was still out there, and you couldn’t give him the security you know he needed. Whether you were locked up by the FBI or hunting down the rest of the gang on your own terms, you needed to know he was safe. And happy— seeing that kid smile made the last twelve years worth it. Agent Madani calls your name, and you look at her, still clinging to your brother.

“We need to get going. The rest of the Bureau is on its way, and they won’t wait before…” She looks down at Sam, and smiles kindly, choosing not to finish her sentence in front of him.

“Madani.” Frank says, his voice low.

“Castle.” He says something to her you can’t hear, and Sam finally lets you go.

“Alright. I have to go, now. You’re gonna go with some really nice people, and they’ll make sure you’re—“

“I don’t want to.” He says, a little more defiant. He wasn’t a baby anymore, and he sure as hell had good reason not to want to go with anyone, even you.

“I don’t want you to go either, but I have to sort this shit out and then I promise I’ll come see you.”

“Why? You haven’t done anything!” He turns to Agent Madani, having to look up pretty high to see her. “She was just trying to help me! It’s my fault— I promise she was just… they would have killed me. You want them to kill a kid? Huh?!” Christ, even though you haven’t seen him since he was a baby, he sounded more like you that you thought possible.

“We just need to talk to her for a while. Make sure everything is sorted out.” Madani says, trying to reason.

“Everything is fine. I’m fine right here.” He says, and you may have your mothers face, but he has every bit of her attitude. He moves away from her, holding you by one arm, and to your surprise, grabs Frank as well, who looks down at Sammy like he’s seen a ghost.

“We need to go. Now.” She says, losing her patience as she looks down at her phone.

“Okay.” You take Sams face in your hands, seeing his cheeks already smeared with blood. “Okay, I need you to do this for me. Just go with her, and I swear to God I will come back for you, but it isn’t safe for me either. We still have to find—“

“Bobby. I know. He told me he was coming for you.” Sam says. “You promise I’ll see you soon?”

“Promise.” You hug him, and he stands to the side, Frank looking down at you.

“You promise you’ll see me real soon?” He says, and you smile, laugh, then grab him and kiss him as hard as you can. You don’t care everyone’s watching, that everyone can see— you’ve spent too much time without the people you love, and you aren’t wasting a second of it now. And you do, love him, even though it makes you feel sick and scared and all too consumed— you love the shit out of him, and he kisses you right back. You let yourself think he’s telling you the same.

“I’m coming back for you. I promise.” You whisper, and Frank leans into you, his forehead pressing to yours. “Just like you said. I just need to know he’s okay.”

“He will be. I’ll—“

“Frank, he’s not your responsibility. I’d… I’d never ask you to do that.” Your eyes flutter open, watching as he looked at you with some kind of intensity you felt nearly naked under.

“I know.” You can’t help it, leaning in to kiss him again. “You say the word, and I’ll get you out of here right now.”

“It won’t be long. I…” You weren’t going to make a promise you couldn’t keep. In truth, you have no idea how long it would be. It could be hours, years… she could be planning to take you to Rikers and lock you away for good. Whatever happened, though, you’d come back. You knew that. “I’ll come.”

“You better, or I’ll have to come find you.” He says into your hair.

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Shaking his head, he links his arms around your back and crushes you to him, all but devouring every one of your senses.

“I have to go.” The sirens of cop cars sound around the corner, and you pull away at the sound but he just pulls you back. “I have to.”

“I know.” You pull him back this time, allowing for one, two, three more seconds of pure, pure happiness.

“I have to go.” You open the care door, mouth still on his. Everything is coming to a point— things feel sharp and raw and you have a name for that thing your feeling right now, the thing that’s been eating at you for a longer time that it should of. You know what it is, and that it’s not the right time or place but he kisses you again and you can’t help it. “I have to go,I—I love you. I have to go.”

You drop into the seat of the cop car behind you and the door is closed by more agents who appear out of nowhere. Through the tinted window you can only just make out his face, how his mouth is open and he hasn’t moved an inch from where you left him, and you can’t see anything more as you are sped out of your childhood street, and straight to the headquarters of Homeland Security.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You should go, too.” Madani says, and Frank is still glued to the sidewalk like an idiot, watching you get hauled away in handcuffs. Like they’d do anything to hold you. “They might not kill you, but they’ll try.”

“What are you gonna do with him?” Frank nods over to where the kid— your brother, was sitting in the back of an ambulance. Madani blew out a breath.

“Social services, probably. He’s going to need a lot of help, and who knows what kind of shit he went through in there.”

“So you just ship him off?”

“Why are you trying to make me the bad guy here?” She turns to him, and Frank can’t take his eyes off the end of the road where you disappeared.

He thinks he could of blinked and missed it, that fucking word you said. He can’t even hear the sirens anymore, you were that far away. And he didn’t say it back. Said nothing at all— just fucking stood there and watched you go, staring down the street.

“If we don’t do this now, everything I’ve built— everything you’ve done for the past year goes to shit. If they find out I was working behind their backs and never brought her in, I get fired and the Gnucci’s lawyers get the case thrown out. Him and the rest of his family walk free. Are you willing to risk that? Especially now, with him out there?” She nods at the kid, but he’s still staring down the road. Madani looks too, and clearly puts it together. It probably didn’t help that he’d kissed you before you left. But what else was he gonna do? “I saw that, before. Since when were you and her…”

“You really goin’ there with me right now?” She put her hands up.

“Okay. I won’t ask.” He shakes his head, turning to face her. “He’s not going far. For now, we put him with a foster home. Keep him close as we can. I don’t want to seperate them.”

“Be a lot easier for them to be together if you let her go.” Madani sighs again, ignoring the buzzing of her phone.

“I told you both, I would do everything I can, but I’m not a miracle worker.” She goes to answer her phone and walk away, and something overtakes him. He can see the kid sitting there, alone, staring down the road like he was just seconds ago. “Some things need time. I need to put this all together, legally, or we’re all back where we started. The Gnucci’s have money— which means they have good lawyers. One slip up, and we lose everything, and I can’t control the fall out of that.” He knew what that meant— that you’d be the CIA’s next target, like you are now, and all this shit would of been for nothing. But he’d wait, if that’s what he had to do.

That little boy was gonna be waiting for you, too. The only family that kid had ever known just walked in and out in less than ten seconds. His face, all sad and tired, was tugging at strings Frank didn’t know he had left, and something about him, seeing a little bit of you in those big eyes… something in him just switches, and he’s grabbing Madani on the arm and saying something he’s probably going to regret.

“Let me take him.” Her face drops, and he thinks she laughs for a second before she realises he’s serious. He should laugh too. It was fucking ridiculous— a kid, a twelve year old, tagging along with him. Now, of all times.

“You?” Him. “You want me to hand over a vulnerable child to a known felon? A man who just racked up a higher body count that most of my agents have in years on the force, in less than twenty minutes?” He looks out at the yard, the bodies being carried away, then sees the kid out the corner of his eye, watching too, not flinching or even reacting. He felt…bad for him.

“Or take your chance in the foster system. You and I both know how well that can work out.” Madani looks at him then, the inference clearly enough to make her think for a second. “Come on. At least you’ll know I’ll be close to the city. You know I won’t be far.”

“Because you’re waiting for her.” She looks at him a final time, assessing him like she did when she first met him, interrogated him. He nodded once, and watched as she went over to Sam. His head snapped up when she started talking, and he looked him in the eyes, and it was then that Frank realised what he’d done. 

His vision and his brain was foggy with the memory and though of you, and now this kid was looking at him and he was fucking terrified. He didn’t know why, really. Maybe it was the part of him that was still so attached to kids. Your brother wasn’t that much older than Frankie Jr. would of been by now. Probably would look a lot like him too. Head of hair that messy, it was making Franks stomach churn just to think about it.

He didn’t know why he’d said what he did to Madani, but he did know you, and maybe that was why he’d done it. He knew you’d feel safer if your brother was with him, the only person you trusted since getting out. He knew a lot of things about you, now he thought about it, and yeah— that was exactly why he’d said he’d look after him. He was important to you. And you... you were everything to him.

Sam hopped off the back of the ambulance, walking over to Frank slowly, his head tilted a little to the side, and Frank thinks he might be in over his head again.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

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[hasmadara]

Kakuzu Biology Speculations

Obviously it there is no realistic way to make sense of how the HELL Kakuzu’s body works, but it’s still fun to think about!

Okay so first of all, what does Earth Grudge Fear actually seem to do to his body? I’d say it’s safe to assume Kakuzu was a regular ass ninja before he used the kinjutsu, and that it was forbidden in the first place due to both the cost of live hearts and the danger posed to the caster. It seems as though all his internal organs and muscle was replaced by the strange threads, and I’d extend this to most, if not all, of his skeletal system alongside it. Personally, I see the Glasgow’s Smile and stitched-up limbs as signs of something forcing entry into his body and stretching it to the point of tearing, but this is probably just a design choice. He can move these threads at will, and can turn them into live creatures outside the body that act in his will. 

So, if his internal organs have been decimated by Earth Grudge Fear, how the hell is he alive? My favourite theory is that Earth Grudge Fear could actually be a type of summoning jutsu, where these thread creatures feed upon the internal organs, muscle and bones of the body before merging with the host and replacing the musculoskeletal and nervous systems - forming a mutualistic, parasitic relationship with the summoner. But what happens after? How does Kakuzu receive the energy needed in order to move, fight, speak and sustain perhaps up to five other living organisms on top of himself?

I believe this is where the hearts come into play. The caster will supply the creatures with a number of hearts that they will slowly feed upon over time, providing energy to the body, alongside elemental chakra and keeping Kakuzu ALIVE. If he has only one heart, then I think these five creatures could merge together into one to conserve energy and provide it to all of them equally, leaving them with only one type of chakra gained from said heart. If the creatures are outside the body and their own heart is lost, they will die however may be able to be manually merged with the others and resuscitate them.

Five hearts for six organisms isn’t a lot of energy, however - if this were to sustain them then they’d need to have freakishly slow metabolisms and waste as little energy as possible. This may be how Kakuzu is able to live for so long without aging: a slow metabolism! This is just speculation and can be attributed to personality, however to me Kakuzu doesn’t seem to move around very much. He stands still a lot of the time, not even moving an inch (for example, when Hidan was fighting Team 10 by himself) and I don’t believe we ever see him run outside of combat. In combat, too, his movements are very precise and hard-hitting, almost as if he’s trying to be as efficient as possible in order to conserve energy. Again, this can be boiled down to personality. It would make sense that he would move as little and as efficiently as possible outside of combat, and may require crazy amounts of sleep or even enter hibernation-like phases during certain times of the year, perhaps when business is slow or he could even receive something like medical leave. This means that during combat, it may be a life-or-death situation. He expends A LOT of precious energy during combat, and so he may actually be required to kill his foes in order to replenish his hearts and ‘eat’ so to speak. It would make sense if he also has some sort of deal with many bounty houses and use his canon subordinates to collect spares to keep in safehouses or be available for him to take as needed. It is shown that these bounty houses have huuuuge morgues, after all, so plenty of bodies. He may also use a large portion of his money to buy hearts off the black market, and this could be a further explanation for his greed!

Overall, I think Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear jutsu results in a mutualistic parasitic relationship with the thread creatures and the caster’s body - the caster being able to control these creatures at will while providing energy to the creatures. This results in a very slow metabolism as they may eat the hearts he collects over time, which can be replenished through bounty houses, the black market, enemies and his subordinates. This explains his ruthless efficiency. I enjoy speculating these things, and Kakuzu is one of my favourite characters; he is very interesting and could’ve been explored SO MUCH more!

Idk who would read this but figured I’d put it here :P

#naruto #kakuzu #akatsuki #naruto shippuuden #headcanon

[deathblossomed]

THE BOOK OF LIFE & DEATH READS:

@thuganomxcs / For a guy that's been fired from his duty as a spirit detective they certainly had a knack for asking him to do this or that whenever there's a supernatural occurrence that they simply lacked the manpower to handle. Still, there isn't a favor Koenma could have asked that Yusuke would decline but it does feel good to push his buttons. Either way after the mission Yusuke was incredibly tired, he has this knack of just shutting down whenever he's exhausted his supply and his Reiki had been considerably low due to the enchantment cuffs. However, the next morning he woke up with Botan next to him in bed and it freaked him out to the point he rolled out of bed. ━━   ❝   𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐏!!  ❞ Botan's here?! With him?? Did she? Is he? "I'm on the choppin' block now aren't I?? Damn I thought being half yokai meant i'd have more years before ya friggin' reap my soul. Ugh..fine..but..where's my bod-" He felt himself.. "OH I'm still alive..whew. You're gonna have t' warn me whenever you come over for a slumber party."

Admittedly, she probably shouldn't be entering other people's homes without permission. But she has a good reason. After Yusuke completed the mission, he'd seemed inordinately tired. He never was good at conserving his energy or playing strategically. Between him and Hiei, she should start carrying around a pillow in her bag of tricks. And while she had to part from him to report back to Koenma, that didn't mean she wasn't worried. So as soon as she was done in Reikai, she traveled back to Yusuke's home to make sure he was alright.

And when no one answered the door, well, she was worried! So she may have phased through the door, entering into Yusuke's bedroom, just to peek! She could see the glow of his spirit, simmering low, his reiki exhausted. He was recovering, he'd be fine, but it still wasn't good for someone to exhaust their energy so regularly. She tiptoed closer, her foot creaking on the floor, startling herself and apparently waking Yusuke.

She jumped back, face flushed, hands up defensively. But she couldn't help but laugh a little. That was probably an appropriate reaction to a reaper standing over your bed.

"No, no, nothing like that. Believe me, when I'm truly here for you, you'll know it. Sorry-- for barging in. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. But you seem to be recovering, I don't want to disturb you anymore so I'll let you get back to sleep," she says with an embarrassed laugh, rubbing at the back of her neck.

#❀࿐ messages from the crossroads ( answered. ) #thuganomxcs

[anghraine]

I was thinking about character flaws and their interrelationship with character growth—like, yes, these can make characters more realistic, dynamic, and sometimes (where relevant) more relatable. For me, flawed characters with actual character growth are almost always improvements from idealized characters who are never allowed to make misjudgments or mistakes.

But that's pretty obvious, and I was thinking some more about why I'm drawn by significantly flawed characters who are still clearly good people and who do remarkably heroic things when push comes to shove. They don't just feel more interesting to me because of this mix of real flaws with a strong and admirable ethical core. To me, they actually feel like better people, even though they are clearly more flawed than the idealized type.

Sometimes it's because their virtues lead them to more drastic heroic actions—often some kind of reversal/amendment of a previous mistake—so there can be a stronger impression of goodness on some audiences even if they aren't literally more virtuous. But I think that's something else going on, too.

I said above that flawed but essentially noble characters can feel like better people even though they are definitely more flawed than idealized ones. But I'd correct that to: because they are more flawed than the idealized ones.

The thing is, I don't quite believe idealized characters unless there's some kind of edge. Fandom sometimes refers to this as "chaotic energy," though I don't think it's necessarily chaotic in a literal sense, just sharp and often unexpected. Usually, these are among my favorite moments for a noble character—like Luke Skywalker losing his shit on the second Death Star or Faramir blaming Denethor for Boromir's death.

I especially don't believe idealized characters as main characters. Their virtues and trivial flaws (when they have them) are just kind of meh to me. A flawed character whose flaws are significant but still considerably outweighed by their virtues, especially if they actually grow over time, feels like a better person to me, because in this odd way, their clear flaws let me believe the virtues are real.

I understand why the uniform everyday niceness of more idealized characters can be very appealing for some people, and the strongest evidence of good character—not how someone acts in flashy extreme situations, but how they act in day-to-day life when they don't have to be nice to everyone, but just are.

I am not one of those people, in part because I grew up in a conservative community that puts an extremely high premium on day-to-day niceness. You should be courteous to everyone! You should take compassion on the unfortunate, and be helpful to your neighbors, and blahblahblah. They're super nice! And part of growing up as a lesbian in that community was discovering how little that niceness ultimately meant.

It's not that all nice people turn out to be bigots supporting horrific policies (though mostly they are in that community). But day-to-day niceness does not in any way prevent that. So when I see characters who are really nice and idealized for the persistent niceness rather than any more pronounced action, my instinctive response is "maybe." OTOH, if someone screws up here and there or has to overcome an inclination towards some major flaw, but can be depended upon to come through when it's super important—that's what good people in my life look like. So I suspect that's part of why it tends to be the heroic type I'm most drawn to and find most convincing and moral.

#maybe it's also bc i'm from the pnw and spent a lot of my adult life in progressive parts of it #so 'chilly to strangers but progressive and ride or die when it counts' is just 'aww' to me #my real people :) #anghraine babbles #long post #general fanwank #i got started thinking about the way more idealized austen heroes get compared to my fave (darcy) #and it's always like ... yeah they're nicer but also i don't care and i don't actually believe they're better people. #but also my best friend and i have been discussing the limits of niceness based on our hometown experiences #(he's a jewish atheist and has also dealt with nice people who turn out to be horrific bigots) #when people talk like the most important thing in a partner is being persistently soft and approachable #or super nice and funny with everyone #rather than common intellectual interests or similar ideologies (things i've seen specifically referenced as inferior concerns) #or handling urgent situations well #i'm just ... damn. couldn't be me #austen fanwank

[t4tdanvis]

Please share your headcanons and thoughts on Gene! I wanna hear them!

i have too many i have one million billion thoughts about gene every second its like this every day:

anyways. gene!!!!! i will give a few thoughts/headcanons/paragraph-long rants about him weeeeee

for mystreet specifically:

-gene is a wof fan, dante is a wc fan. gene is quickly outnumbered bc vylad, zenix, and sasha all also like wc, and he is forced (read: willingly does so bc their friends like it. not that she'll Ever admit that tho) to read wc. it actually ends up liking the books (he heavily relates to ivypool... i wonder why... such a mystery... /j)

-gene is very tall and towers over most of the people they know bc theyre 6'3 (he took all of the available height when he was born so now dante is 5'2 /j). she feels very self-conscious about her height at times but usually finds it very entertaining to scarily lean over people (even though none of their friends are scared by that at all bc theyre super skinny and they have the energy of a sopping wet kitten /j)

-during high school, gene is too stressed to deal with gender or sexuality or anything but that does not stop it from hitting him like a truck. and then backing up to run her over again. repeatedly. they are genderfluid and use any pronouns, and they are bi, polyam, sapphillean, demiromantic, and asexual :)

-seems very intimidating to strangers but the second u actually start talking to them they just. arent intimidating at all? he can be a little rude at times (due to the Autism) and is very quiet and closed off, but really hes just shy and bad at talking to people. unless u hurt any of her friends then she WILL murder u

-gene can and will kill fascists. be gay do crime, death to america <3

-gene has freckles :) she also has a ton of piercings, and has heterochromia (one blue eye and one brown eye)

-their first friend ever was sasha. the two of them met whenever sasha was being bullied in elementary school and gene stood up for her. zenix became friends with them later whenever it just... came over to them at lunch in like 7th grade and started sitting with them (it straight up just said "idk where to sit and you both look gay"). the three of them have been inseparable ever since

-gene is very protective over dante (and by extension, travis as well). no one ever messes with dante or travis bc if u do dante is 100% telling his sibling and ur Dead if gene finds out

-scarily good at video games. her favorite game is rain world and she plays it all the time (they managed to beat enots campaign. somehow?????)

-huge crywolf fan. discovered crywolf when her dad was still at home a lot of the time (he ends up being put in jail for life after attempting to murder his wife. so uhhhhh at least hes gone now?? his family still has to deal with the Trauma but hey) and its been a huge comfort for her ever since

-very high spice tolerance. eats carolina reapers for fun <3

for mcd:

-gene was killed via being burned at the stake. he is now terrified of fire (although he pretends he isnt). he was only 18 when he was executed

-while mys gene is transneufem, mcd gene is transmasc. he uses he/they and is a gay trans man :)

-"but how is her gay if he was canonically in love with a woman" WELL! he suffered from the very common transmasc experience of "i knew i was gay but i didnt know i was a man yet so i thought i was just a lesbian". and also bc of the BPD + trauma making him super attached to this one girl

-speaking of that: gene tried to kiss the girl, and she ran off bc she turned out to be homophobic. they tried to erase her memory so she would go back to being their friend, but dante caught them and she ran off while gene was trying to explain (dante thought what was going on was much worse than it was, and didnt realize until it was too late to apologize)

-growing up, genes entire village was very conservative. the abuse he went through went ignored and shoved under the rug, and he wasnt able to come out until he died and became a shadow knight

-fully turned into a shadow knight after murdering their father. he also set his home village on fire and erased everyones memory of him and dante for good measure (in his mind, he thought he was helping dante)

-gene is 6'8. he used to be 6'6 but grew two inches when he became a shadow knight. also they used to have really long hair (bc he wasnt allowed to cut it) but now they have very fluffy hair that ends around their shoulders

-the color red is a huge trigger for him, he hates it

-was launched out of one abusive relationship (his dad) right into another (shad). he didnt realize shad was abusive for a long time bc, well, shad is nice to him a lot of the time, sure he forces gene to commit murder and torture people and gene really feels iffy about that, but he lets gene cut his hair and and wear masculine clothes so he cant be that bad right hahaha? (<- gene is in denial)

-oh nooo now hes getting sent to the Torture Chamber oh nooooooooo oh well (vylad ends up saving him but not before he gets More C-PTSD)

-he tried to use his powers to forget his entire past. it didnt work well. now his memories are just very fragmented and come back/disappear randomly

-he has DID (dante does as well). due to the Trauma

ANYWAYS that is all i have. for now. i have a billion more hcs but i have typed way too much so here u go

#❄.txt #ask box

[styxdippedorgans]

a reflection on the concept of permanency

Society as a whole is terrified of permanency. However, permanency simultaneously does and does not exist. For example, as a person with quite a few tattoos and piercings, I've consistently heard the phrase “you know that's permanent, right?” Sure, tattoos are permanent for my life. But eventually, my body will decay and return to the earth and that ink in my skin won't seem so permanent then, will it? They are simply permanent markings on an impermanent vessel. That leads into a deeper aspect of the idea of permanency, that death is such, life is not. In pondering this, one must consider singularity and multiplicity. Life is permanent in the singular. As a person, as I am right now - lungs breathing, heart pumping - I am alive. And I will be, for the rest of my life. As of right now, life is the only permanency I, or any other individual, has. No one knows what happens after death, so we cannot count on such to be an end or not. Being alive is simultaneously permanent and not, as is death. However, in the multiplicity, such as of the entire existence of living organisms, life is supposedly also a constant. No one knows definitively when or how life began, or when it shall cease to exist. For eons, life has existed, and perhaps for eons more to come. 

Decay might also be permanent. If life is to be considered a constant, so must death. After all, where there is life, there is death. And where there is death, there is decay. It has been said that decay is an extant form of life - consider the kingdom of fungi. A category of life that exists from decay that has evolved to be the recyclers of life. When an organism dies, fungi have the ability to digest and decompose it, from which new fungal life may spring. In turn, fungal life can be ingested by other organisms to continue the cycle of life - fungi are the perfect examples of energy transfer. Any and all energy in the universe has been there since the beginning, and will be there until the end, as per the law of conservation of energy. All energy is only borrowed and then returned.

The concept of permanency also forces one to explore ideas of time and confront the unknown. Maybe that’s why society is so afraid of permanency, because we have no idea what it truly is. Humans are, always have been, and always will be constantly trying to predict the future, to know the unknown. I think that's the beauty of permanency, though, that it is both real and not. Humanity has a tendency to see only the black and white of a situation, but there is no black or white. There is no grey either, these are all simply concepts. Polarity is useless when there are no poles. The universe is cyclical and definites don't exist. However, these concepts wouldn't exist without cognizant life to think them in the first place. Perhaps the universe wouldn't exist if we didn’t acknowledge it. Maybe nothing is real at all! However, as a member of society, a part of cognizant life, I am inclined to try and find answers for everything. The nature of life is to try to answer the unanswerable, hence religion, higher powers, research, science, et cetera. In my personal opinion, change is the only permanent thing. As contrary as that may sound, things will forever and always change, from each microscopic organism to the universe itself. Evolution is unstoppable. 

In the end, I don't think that there are any wrong answers on anything, simply because there are no right answers. One can never be wrong if they can never be right, after all. There is no universal truth to anything, reality exists only on the singular scale.

#organs writing #writblr #writers of tumblr

[darkenedreaper]

hello it's me again haha🌸, I wanted to ask you if you could maybe write something for the descent girls (especially juno cause I'm in love with her😩), like how they would react if the reader was also in the descent cave (like how they protect them from the monsters and so on). Anyway I hope you have a wonderful day/night! 💗💕

Pairing: The Descent (all girls) x Reader

Warnings: Fluff, mentions of violence from the film

Summary: How the girls would put your safety first and do their best to protect you

You Before Me

Juno:

Literally will sacrifice herself and fight these things just to maintain your safety

She stresses to everyone but especially you that you must stick together

She gives you her backpack, her necklace and even her flashlight and spare batteries incase she gets separated from you

She hates seeing your reaction when its exposed that she left the map in the car

Promises you literally every 5 seconds she's going to get everyone out

She analyses the creatures as best as she can in order to study them so she can keep you as safe as you can

Has breaks and rests in small corners of the cave that she can find

She'll carry you if need be

If you are to come across a Crawler in a close encounter she pushes you back and will fight it

Does her best to stay alive, solely so she can get you out

She'll do her best to get you both out, she's not certain that she will, but she'll fight to keep you alive

Beth

Beth tries to think rationally when the first Crawler attacks

Pulls you aside, holds your face and kisses your face to calm you down if you panic

Doesn't necessarily comfort you during times of panic because she doesn't want to make you feel worse but will always always keep an eye on you

Will do her best to fight a Crawler if need be so she pushes you away so you don't get caught in it

She's smart and uses her brain to evade the, not her fists

Gives you whatever spare stuff she has; batteries, food, rope, clamps whatever she has is now yours

Empties whatever water she has from her water bottle into yours

Makes sure that you're next to her every second you're in that cave

Actually scolds you quietly if you're not close enough to her

Whenever you find the exit she pushes you out first with force, as long as you're safe, she'd happily stay back in the cave

Sarah

She real serious when shit hits the fan

Lectures each and every single one of you

She's actually always quiet for the time you're in there

Will always hold your hand

She takes off her coat and puts it over you if you're cold or wet from the water

There'll be times where you both need a break in absolute silence and she'll just hold you, keeping her unsteady breathing next to your ear

There'll also be times where you have to calm her down; she stresses and is sometimes reminded of Jessie

This woman will f i g h t, literally pushes the Crawlers eyes out of their sockets if one of them was to even hiss at you

She's very very defensive and protective of you

She'll carry you or let you ride her back whenever possible

She promises to keep you safe and sane

Holly

In contrast to her usually bubbly attitude she's serious

She's mad at every creature she sees

In the cave sometimes her anger will get the better of her and she'll flip out

She's a very affectionate person and so whenever she can she just holds you

She moves quick through the cave

She says she isn't panicking but she's frantic and desperate to get out

The adrenaline and anger goes towards her strength if you come across a Crawler

She plunges the pickaxe through its skull and whatever kind of brain it has and then takes a hold of you, making sure she still has you

She's smart with the resources, she knows how to conserve hers and yours energy, the batteries and whatever food and water you have

She does her best to reassure you with her physical affections and her quiet verbal reassurances

She'll fight the Crawlers to her death if it means getting you out

Sam

Sam needs as much reassuring as you do

She does her best to stay strong but really she's crumbling

She needs you to support her

She does her best to be rationalise in order to keep you calm

She clings on to you and needs to make sure that she physically knows that you're there with her

She's ready to become a doctor so she's smart

Because of that she'd rather her brain than a pickaxe and try to fight with one of them

She tries to think logically with regards to getting out of the cave, when she sees a dead one she takes a few minutes to study it, to understand it better to have a better chance of survival

She tries to analyse each new rock she sees so she'll remember if she's gone past it

Kisses you as often as she can, each kiss is one step closer to finding the way out

Rebecca

She panics as soon as the first Crawler attacks

Runs to grab you and hides wherever you can

She suggests to take a break instead of running and wasting energy immediatley

You both just hide in small sections of the cave and cuddle close to one another

You breath into one another trying to supress your heavy and rapid breathing

Always walks ahead in front of you to protect you from anything on its way to you or anything that may harm you

She puts a light and a pick axe together so she can swing at anything

Holds you as tightly as she can whenever she can

She's real efficient in getting out of the cave as quickly as possible

She promises to protect you for as long as she can

#the descent #the descent x reader #beth the descent #the descent beth #beth obrien x reader #beth obrien #horror

[sordideuphemism]

How to Finish a Fight

In a prior post, I explained some basics on how to avoid getting in a fight. The other half of that is what to do when the fight can't be avoided. I'll try to cover that here. Apologies for those of you who read the Twitter post in the same vein, a lot of this will repeat what you've seen.

When the fight begins, you need a goal. Between yourself and your goal will be your opponent. And then there's your ability. Let's address the goal first.

It could be that you just want to get away. Unless you're being restrained or are someplace you can't leave without assistance? HIT. THE. BRICKS. The hypermasculine bullshit about 'running away' being 'cowardice' is just that - hypermasculine bullshit. Run, as far and as fast as your legs can carry you. Sure, do what you can to slow your opponent, but until you are somewhere safe getting your ass out of there is the only focus you should have.

It could be that you need something your opponent has. An irreplaceable item, to be clear, and one they're likely to destroy. I'm talking an epipen when someone actively needs it level of irreplaceable. Narcan for someone ODing. Maybe even a meal, if it's the only one you'll have for a while. (Anything less? That's not worth the fight. Work outside of violence to achieve its return.)

Maybe you have to fight now to prevent a fight later. (While this is rarely the case it does happen.)

Maybe the opponent doesn't want anything more than to harm you.

Maybe you have to fight because someone else can't fight for themselves, and they are facing harm that can't be negotiated.

If that's the case, you clearly need to stay put until the problem is resolved.

Before that first swing comes, you need to internalize a few things. Make them part of your awareness:

First, a fight typically ends one of two ways: very quickly with one or both people walking away, or on the ground as the two of you try to disassemble each other.

Second, there are no rules in a fight. None. You need to be willing and able to use any advantage you have, whether it be sharp teeth, a hand covered in rings, piles of sand, or the strap of your handbag.

Finally, as a fight should only be engaged due to self-defense or the defense of another (see above) that makes every fight, until it ends, a matter of life and death. You may be adverse to killing your opponent, or causing them permanent injury. But do they feel the same? Don't bet on it.

So you're in a fight. Your goal is now to end the fight, as quickly and decisively as possible. In order to do that, you need to engage with your opponent. Let's talk about them.

Unless you've been attacked unprovoked, you likely have seen your opponent, and gotten a sense for their size. Size is (usually) a good indicator for how someone will move, and where you can focus your efforts. This is likely to be the last chance you'll have to think before the fight begins in earnest.

Are they big and stocky, barrel chested, with strong hands? See if you can outrange them, ducking in and out to make your mark. Make them jog a little. Avoid their grip. Larger people typically have less overall energy in the cardio range, but have great stores of anaerobic strength. If they look like they've skipped leg day? Fold that knee backwards until you hear it crunch. They'll never need to worry about exercising it again.

What about the inverse, where they're lithe and fluid? You'll need to outlast them by conserving energy and taking shots where you can. Blocking and grappling are your best bet. If you manage to grab a piece of them, break that piece, whether it be a finger or wrist or anything. If you get lucky and can grab some hair? That's your handle, now. Don't rip it out, but tighten your grip and try to keep them facing away from you. Once in position, take them down with strikes to sensitive areas.

In either case? Keep your stances grounded but mobile. Don't rest too much on one leg or the other. Throw sand in the eyes, or spit, or blood. Punch for the throat, or the side of the neck, or sensitive muscles/organs in the chest/back. Don't punch for the face unless you know what you're doing - humans have bony, thick skulls.

You want them to stop fighting, so make them regret choosing to.

You might get lucky. They might give up, or be rendered unable to fight. But if not, you're going to end up on the ground.

If falling, try to land away from your opponent and brace for the impact, then be ready to move. If following an opponent's fall, see if you can steer them into an obstacle - bouncing their head off a parking curb is a great way to convince them you're not worth it.

Once you're on the ground, unless you're a trained grappler, you're going to want to pull out all the stops. Act as if you're not going to get up again, because there's a good chance you're correct. Gouge. Bite. Scratch. Break joints, tear muscle, pull anything that can be gripped.

Hopefully, you'll be able to stand up again when it's all over.

And when it is all over - when your opponent has either surrendered or been neutralized - STOP.

If you keep going, you've just crossed the line from self defense to assailant, and nothing you've done to that point will matter to the cops, or the judge, or to anyone.

That leaves us with your ability. I'm afraid there's not much I can say here. Physical combat cannot easily be trained with a few paragraphs. But I can point you towards some tools.

First, figure out your physical dynamic, and where it's lacking. Are you the lumbering hulk, or the speedster, or somewhere in between? You don't need to be physical perfection, but knowing your own strengths will help you judge how a fight should be pursued. Have you been training your cardio and your strength? Both are necessary.

Second, work on your balance. You can do this yourself with some YT videos and time, or dance, or some fitness video games. Or you can seek some entry-level training in gymnastics, yoga, boxing, martial arts, or any number of sports (I like field hockey and soccer for this).

Third, learn how to strike and how to block. You can do this with training through a boxing program, or a martial arts studio. Your trainer will drum this into you, but a strike is an opening. Make sure once you've attempted to strike that you bring your limb - arm, leg, elbow, whatever - back and away from your opponent, otherwise you've just given them a way to yank you around and cause you all sorts of interesting new pain.

And fourth, learn how people act and react. This is something that will come with time, but a few things I can mention.

Defensively, if they're resting on one leg more than the other? They likely favor that side for strikes. Most right-handed people will rest on their right leg, and favor their right arm for punching. If they drop a shoulder when moving in? Expect a hit from that side. Watch where their eyes go, see if you can catch them arching a foot or clenching a hand. Those are called telegraphing and over time you'll understand them instinctively.

Offensively? Your opponent is trying to read you too. Everything I just said should be used to confuse your opponent. Do you have good peripheral vision? Great. Unfocus your eyes and stare at a point above their head, or at their neck. If not, simply refusing to make eye contact will unsettle them. Want to punch them in a high location? Feint low. Telegraph all your intention for that belly shot and then introduce your knuckles to the back of their throat.

That's what I've got, for now. Fighting is a grim, ugly way of engaging with the world, and for good reason. It should never be the first or fifth choice, but when the time comes it should be nasty, brutish, and swift.

I hope you never need anything on this page.

Take care of yourselves, kids.

Love, Dad.

#fighting #self defense

[necrocities]

@cell113 realized tumblr wasn't gonna let me dm you bc this is a sideblog, so I figured I'd @ you since the link is one of your reblogs and I am indeed interested if you happen to have any thoughts.

-------------------

I honestly don't know how I feel about reblogging the post directly, but I have a thing I've noticed. I'm gonna dissect it further but.

[pedophilia, sexual assault, systemic harm, physical harm, discomfort.]

the energy this gives off is the same as conservatives celebrating when drag queens are chased out, or medical facilities get bomb threats called in, or places are ACTUALLY set up with bombs in the name of "protecting the children."

it was never about protecting the children. not really. even when these people say it is, and they may genuinely think it is, it's about their fears and discomfort. more often their fears imo.

but in this specific case. it even looks to be about the blind adrenaline about "getting something done"

it really can be difficult to sit down and have a clean discussion about what to do to keep people safe without divulging in discussing your personal feelings. it's natural in itself, but the trouble is with not letting that stop the conversation from coming to an effective conclusion. when the answer is to do something that obtains results similar to in the post, that's just beating on someone weaker to achieve getting those you dislike out of the public eye.

even if they don't/hadn't match(ed) up to the accusation (which I'm not familiar with the animator being spoken of), it's about feeling good. those who celebrate the death of those who remind them of their fears and discomforts are chasing good feelings to escape the bad.

and that's breaking it down simply. no emotions are actually inherently good or bad. they're all complex.

this is why it's important to actually be able to set them aside when the time is appropriate. pushing for actions that cause harm to or the death of others is not effective action.

if you're someone worried about either those with paraphilias you see as inherently harmful, or sexual predators, killing them will not conclusively address your goal. I phrase them this way since there tends to not be a comprehensive difference from what I typically see. I want to make sure I fully address this.

when a group decides that the solution us to kill another group, in our current environment, that often means them hiding who they are for their own safety. you can't count all of a population when they're afraid to identify themselves anyways, so it's inherently ineffective. an unlikely goal.

and here's the thing. causing those with paraphilias to hide doesn't mitigate the harm caused by sexual predators. if someone wants to cause harm, they easily can in the US, where I'm mostly speaking of.

the response I see from people when someone actually is blatant about WANTING to cause harm sexually is to freeze and stare at others, waiting for someone to speak up. nobody does.

note that this is OFTEN what I see occur. not always. there's also times where people take action and can attempt to bring victims to safer places or take action against a perpetrator.

but even then, the actual victims don't always find more benefit in speaking up over risk of losing any safety still left. there's nowhere near enough evidence that speaking up will ACTUALLY bring safety to them.

we have to provide safer environments to lessen these fears. provide for and support those who come to you. ask THEM what they wish you to do. they may not want the world to know, but they told you because they think you'll keep them safe. be it physically or emotionally.

I can't say I have a perfect answer as to how to mitigate harm from predators across the board. it's a million dollar question.

what I can say is that we have to do our best to be gentle and understanding with the victims who DO open up to us. let them decide how public to make it. if they need to be quiet, respect it. you often won't know their situation better than they do. work under the assumption you don't if you aren't sure. but support them nonetheless.

#ill add more tws on request #hareraiser #long post

[magicalbuffalotransformerman]

{There walks a beast, prowling the lower layers of Hell. The Angels speak of their name only in short murmurs outside of earshot, for fear that they may hear, no matter how deep. They spread a rumor of Gabriel's spine having been destroyed by this beast. A beast donned in impenetrable armor. A beast fueled by naught but boiling blood.}

{A beast by the name of Asbeel.}

{Asbeel is a dangerous foe from time immemorial. Their legacy is drenched in blood and born from a perceived hatred of everything living.}

{Asbeel had not seen a hostile enemy within their adventures of Hell. They were unknowable yet terrifying. Even the Hideous Masses hadn't thought to cross the wires of Asbeel.} {...not like Asbeel could know why.}

{It enrages Asbeel to know that they are unapproachable by those they would befriend in a heartbeat. Perhaps it is their armor. Perhaps it could be their large crowbar. Perhaps... something else.}

{Asbeel recalls the moment around them, recognizing the frozen halls of 9-2. It appears that everything is pristine... whatever still stands, at least.}

{It freezes down in these layers of Hell. They say that the light of the Holy Father cannot reach this far down... perhaps that The Devil forbids it so. None knows for sure.}

{Asbeel's thunderous footsteps echo throughout the landscape of ruined walls and expansive rivers, the heat emanating from their armor melting the snow and ice beneath if the weight had not done so already. Equally, their armor turns all snowflakes that dare touch it to pure steam.}

-

{Gabriel leans against a pillar, learning to draw in a notebook borrowed off of a skeleton back in 7-3. He'd remark that he admires the artists of Humanity, but he'd rather conserve his energy for drawing.}

{He hears the footsteps of what he assumes to be a Hideous Mass, or maybe one of those 'cyber-demons', from beyond the pillar encroaching ever closer upon his pillar.}

{He grows curious, standing from his rock and satisfying his curiosity.}

Gabriel: Halt, heathen! Who goes the-AGH!

{Asbeel stares down upon the Archangel.}

Gabriel: I... ehm... greetings, a-Asbeel. What brings you here...?

{Asbeel does not respond.}

Gabriel: I see. Erm- you are mute. My apologies. You'd not mind communicating through writing?

{Asbeel, again, does not respond.}

{Gabriel hands Asbeel a mechanical pencil and the notebook he found.}

{Asbeel looks upon the unfinished sketch upon the page; Gabriel being cradled by Minos Prime. They flip the page, looking to Gabriel, before writing a response to Gabriel's earlier question. A new experience, seeing as Asbeel's handwriting is... less than holy.} {Asbeel flips the notebook so that Gabriel may read it.}

{'A WALK'}

Gabriel: Well, you... know what they say. A walk does wonders for those under rage. If I may ask another question... what are your thoughts on me? Seeing as...

{Asbeel flips the page and writes down another response.}

Gabriel: ...you're the one who broke my back back in... what was it? Some amount of time ago. Eh- mm.

{Asbeel flips the notebook over again.}

{'SMALL ARCHANGEL WITH A BAD ATTITUDE. WEAK. MILDLY ANNOYING'}

Gabriel: ...weak? Me?

{Asbeel does not respond.}

Gabriel: You... dare insult Archangel Gabriel?

{Asbeel's armor creaks, and they flip another page of the notebook.}

Gabriel: ...hmph.

{Seconds later, Asbeel has another response.}

{'HOW'S YOUR BACK, GAYBE?'}

{Gabriel can feel an +ENRAGEing coming on... despite staring deep into the core of a walking nuclear power plant.}

Gabriel: I don't recall you being this... offensive? Where's that uncaring death swing from before?

{Asbeel gets tired of Gabriel's questions, pushing the notebook against his chest and walking past him.}

Gabriel: ...ahm.

{...Gabriel doesn't know how to respond to that. Knowing Asbeel's capabilities, he wouldn't want to attempt to backstab them, but the insult cut deeper than any bullet wound.}

{He rescinds his attitude, continuing to draw on the spare pages.}

#ultrakill oc #asbeel ultrakill #gabriel ultrakill #(mild ooc writing for gabe. also inconsistent writing for both characters.) #(sorry lol.) #ultrakill