#i love the comparison of the two things made from portals

[bluerosefox]

Assassin Heir? Crime Fighting Furry? NOPE NO THANK YOU!

"Danyal, its time to end this game and return with me."

Danny should had known Clockwork had something in mind when he sent him on this mission. He knew he should had been suspicious of the time keeper when he noticed the little 'this is going to be fun' smile on his face when he sent Danny off into the portal.

"Get back here you demon spawn 2.0!"

But how was he supposed to know that he'd wake up in this world version of himself in a pit full of corrupted (AND NASTY) ectoplasim at the tender age of five or that when he swam up to the surface he'd be meeting face to face with what was apparently a cult.

"-O just spotted him a block away! I'll try to cut itty bitty bridie off!"

An Assassins Cult his, new to him, loving yet a little insane mother was in charge of (though during the few months he stayed in the compound he heard rumors and gossip from maids and others alike that if his grandfather returned from the dead he'll take over once again, no doubt punish Talia for creating another heir after the failure of the last one, most likely was going to kill Danny and that... that was can of worms Danny didn't wanna deal with yet)

"Ten bucks says they try to stab RR when we get the feral thing home"

"...Losers bet...."

Danny had lived with his mother for a while after being brought back from the 'dead' for apparently the first time, it turned out training a five year old with an actual sword and a dumbass hidden revenge seeking teacher was a terrible idea.

"I swear if this one tries to murder me like the others I'm asking Zatanna if there is a curse on me."

He dealt with her high demands of perfection, the endless training, and the constant comparisons to his apparent older brother Damain... Who didn't know Danny, or rather Danyal existed.

Nor did his father (when Danny, using his powers he's kept hidden since 'waking' up in this Realm, he sneaked his way around the base and discovered how he came into the world. And tbh he couldn't blame his mom how she made him, she was an assassin first and foremost, being naturally pregnant would had painted a target on her for to long... but he also felt it was unfair and an asshole move on his unsuspecting father as well)

"As your elder brother I demand you to stop running!"

Now don't get him wrong, he did like his new mother (total badass assassin lady and all that) and he knew she loved him in her own... deadly way. But yeah, she really shouldn't be taking care of kids. He could tell she struggled with wanting to be a normal mother but her first instinct after so many years was to be an assassin first.

Something she was trying to engrave into Danny with as well.

"Ah, hello Beloved. I see you've learned of our Danyal."

"Talia. Back away from him and leave Gotham now."

"I can not do that. The League needs an heir and since Damian refuses to return... I have decided to create a new one and I shall not be leaving until he returns with me."

"Talia."

Hence why when Danny, or rather Danyal al Ghul had gotten decent control over his powers he decided to leave the League. Again nothing wrong with the life his mom leads, to each their own, but he... really, really didnt want to be an assassin. Or an assassin heir.

So here he was, after almost a year on the run, using his powers and training to out smart and out maneuver his mother and her many band of Assassins, in Gotham. One of the last places he ever wanted to run to cause he knew his father and brother lived here.

It was just his luck that his mother had managed to intercept his train ride that passed into Gotham for a few hours and forced him to run into the city...

Add her assassins into the mix and running into Robin, who heard from Oracle his mother had been spotted chasing a young boy across the city, that same night.

After that it became a full on "catch me if you can" chase for not only his mother but for the batclan as well.

And after two whole days of chase, it seemed like the final showdown was about to begin because everyone was on top of this rooftop, his mother and her assassins on one side, his father and the batclan on the other and Danny well... he was right in the middle of all of it.

He just had to hope no one would notice him once the fighting started...

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #blue rambles #crossover #writing ideas #random idea #danny phantom dc #basicly Danny is sent on a mission by CW #he wakes up in the DC version of himself in the pits after being killed and Talia tossing him in #he was created by Talia since shes head of the LOA now and needs her own heir #but she once again wants Bruce's bloodline in it so she used some leftover dna she still had #so no one knows Danny was created until he left about a year later #danny has his ghost powers since he took a dip in the pits #but had to relearn some control and kept it secret #he knows his mom would see it as 'the pits granted my heir its powers.' mindset #so hes been on the run #and didnt wanna go to Gotham cause... his dad dresses as a gaint bat #and dont get him started on the rest of the batfam #he doesnt wanna be an assassin or a crime fighting furry #in case some people didnt get it. the words being spoken happen when Danny is running all across Gotham away from those after him #guess who said what lol #i want danny to be completely independent and trying to take care of himself tbh #but hes still baby to everyone else #talia is slowy becoming a little unhinged due to being the Demon Head now #maybe due to the stress of it all? or maybe due to a curse? idk

[kerryweaverlesbian]

I want destiel with 13 or 22 (the prompts you reblogged)

Take it easy, with me please, touch me gently, like a summer evening breeze

"You know what this mix is called, Cas?" Dean murmers, pressing his forehead to the side of Castiel's and changing their sway to match the new rhythm.

They've been dancing alone in the kitchen, slow and close, for something like half an hour, and these are the first words either of them have spoken since Dean pulled Cas in. On one side their hands are tangled loosely together, and on the other their arms cross over at their waists, keeping them both pressed together, chest to chest.

"No," Cas says, playing along. They both knew the tape had already been in the stereo when Dean had reached out and pressed play. It wasn't one Cas recognised; all slow, a lot of crooning women.

"It's called, 'For Cas, if we win'. I made it while you were gone." Dean's breath warms the tip of Cas’s ear, and his meaning warms him everywhere else.

"Was there an 'if we lose'?"

Dean shifts his head back to look Cas in the eye. "No. I was never going to happen."

Andante, andante, just let the feeling grow.

Enchanted by the devotion in Dean's eyes, he's caught of guard by his sudden, amused smile. He understands when Dean sings along, sotto voce, "Touch my soul, you know how. Forgot that was coming."

"You've touched mine, now," Cas reminds him, "Or, the closest thing I have to one."

That's how he'd gotten out of the Empty, Dean cradling his Grace to his chest and then fighting his way back through miles of black, sucking sludge, beset by angels, demons and the Empty's own power as he went. The place had been a lot more active since the last time Cas had been stuck there, but no less bleak. There had only been a chance for Dean to finally choke out an, "I love you too, you fucking idiot," when they'd collapsed back out through the portal before he'd fallen asleep for 15 hours straight.

"Your hands were very gentle," Cas notes, and he can feel Dean's face heat as he moves them cheek to cheek, an endearing and unsuccessful attempt to hide his blush. "I felt very secure."

"I didn't want to drop you," Dean admits at a mumble, then complains, "You were freaking slippery, man."

"My apologies," Cas teases, and Dean knocks him with his hip in playful retaliation. "If it helps, you fought me all the way from Hell to your gravesite."

"Sounds like me," Dean says, with a prideful grin that Cas can hear in his voice.

I'm your music. I'm your song.

"Yes. Had I known then how you would change me, I might have held you even tigher."

"Or you might have let go, save yourself the trouble," Dean quips, but there's a fragility to it that has Cas stop the dance and take Dean's cheek in his palm, guiding him to look at him.

Play me time and time again, and make me strong.

"I wouldn't trade the life that we have built for anything. All the time that I have loved you has been-" Cas can't help the tears starting to catch at his voice - "Has been the best of my existence."

Dean's welling up along with him. Perhaps they will both cry every time he tells Dean he loves him. A very small price to pay, in comparison.

"Cas," Dean says in a rasp, and knocks their foreheads together gently. Two teardrops fall from Dean's eyes to Cas’s cheeks with the movement.

Andante, andante, tread lightly on my ground.

No matter who moved in for the kiss, they both lean into it, careful and soft and everything they haven't managed to be with each other until this point. The passion shared between them is palpable, even as the kiss remains relatively chaste. There's no finish line to run to, anymore. No Apocalypse to beat. They have the time to dance together, just as slowly as they please.

Andante, andante, oh please don't let me down.

[noxcheshire]

I’ve been kinda thinking this for a while because I know the dpxdc fandom likes thin as a bean and shouldn’t be capable of lifting Superman so easily, buff as a Viking, and as small but so much curves like his mom, Danny Fenton/Phantom.

And I love them all. For various reasons.

But I just thought about something really hard for a second.

Danny died at 14.

He died being small, and young. He became ecto-contaminated in a way so much more different from Vlad who had been blasted in the face by the smallest portion of ecto-portal that infected and corrupted into his skin.

This is in comparison to Danny who literally had a dimension rip open on top and inside of him.

To me, Vlad basically got the equivalent of a mini bomb exploding in his face and came out of it with severe third degree burns that translated into Ghost Acne.

And then we look at it again from their Ghost’s.

Danny’s ghost is that of a 14 year old boy who died in a cold portal in his parents basement.

Vlad who got blasted in college, was a twig and yet his ghost form is buff and aged just like his aged human body.

If he ‘died’ when he got hit by the mini-portal than his ghost would mimic the form he died in.

But he isn’t.

Instead we get Two different spectrums of a ghostly appearance for two halfa’s.

Ghosts who are meant to form as how they had been during the time of their death. Ghosts who will always be at their core the person they died as, the identity of those last seconds before death took them.

That’s the point of ghosts.

The only time it changes is if there are external third factors.

Such as Aragon’s Necklace. Or being able to use something of the living to ‘change shape’ as the Lunch Lady, or stretch yourself into a giant like Walker, and the greatest exception being Amorpho who HAS no identity to begin with. More than likely a thought that was made but never given anything further, and thus his jealousy with identity. Either that or he died never making a solid identity that could carry on into death, thus making him faceless because he didn’t even know who he truly was at that time of death.

Even Spectra is different! She’s more of a poltergeist-demon than an actual Ghost from the way she does things and even from how she looks in ghost form.

So with that, who is actually Human-Ghost and who just happens to be Ghost adjacent enough to get powers?

Danny is a real Halfa and Vlad is just mimicking one.

Now for the Dan, evil-phantom, of the fandom.

Dan is just BUFF.

He’s an adult. He GREW.

But it wasn’t due to Danny.

It was due to whatever he took from Vlad/Plasmius.

To me, Plasmius was just the ecto that resided in Vlad. All that anger and resentment that gave birth to itself from Vlad’s own anger at what he went through with the mini-portal. It was ecto that was residing in him, ecto from the Infinite Realms itself that was made INTO an idea and then given form.

Ecto that lived, Venom-style, in Vlad.

An idea that grew up with Vlad BECAUSE Vlad was growing up himself. He wasn’t thinking of himself as that scrawny college student anymore. He was becoming an adult so of course the ecto would mimic that idea of Vlad and make Plasmius older too.

Plasmius was a fairy tale that Vlad made up, and that’s why Dan was able to rip that part out of Vlad like it was it’s own true ghost. But it wasn’t, and so it collapsed without its person to control it. At least until Dan dove into the ecto and took the ideas that were there and intertwined himself with it.

Those YEARS of ideas isn’t so easily brushed away either, and even less so when Danny and Vlad had believed that Plasmius was Vlad’s ghost, a halfa just like Danny. So of course Dan would believe in the idea that he took/ate Vlad’s ghost. And that idea would spread because ecto is just another form of power and vitality. So of course that ecto should change Dan.

And then it did.

It changed his colors first and then eventually his physical form.

Thus we have Buff older Dan.

Now back to Danny.

With all that, this means that Phantom is never going to age.

Because Danny did die that day. He died, and only came back because the dimensional rip of ecto from the Infinite Realms tied his ghost neatly into his human body. The human body that just died.

He isn’t alive, his ghost that is tied to the body is simply puppeteering it. And as the Infinite Realms is literally all of time and space throughout every single multiverse in existence, it’s not too far of a shot to say that it could snatch that very moment, that heartbeat Danny craves restlessly, the heartbeat just before he truly died entirely.

Danny is a moment in time.

So his ghost will never age. And neither will his body.

Basically, Danny is forever an eternal 14 year old twig and he will be so very mad about it.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #danny phantom #danny fenton #thoughts on Danny and his death #vlad #vlad plasmius #twig Danny #buff Danny #curvy Danny #eternally 14 year old Danny #Dan #tbh don’t remember much of when I first watched Danny Phantom #but I’ve been rewatching it #and also reading ao3 #and then had a thought that wouldn’t leave #especially when I kept looking between Vlad and Danny #and trying to figure out how the HELL did Danny’s GHOST get buff and old #it’s a GHOST #HE DIED AT FOURTEEN it isn’t gonna suddenly shapeshifter to be an adult because he felt like it #even more so since it was heavily implied that Dan KILLED his human half #so I had to figure this out

[justcommander]

Well, I did get asked to write a little more about my little Father and Children AU.

Some little facts about this unusual trio? Of course, under the cut!

This is long. I'm gonna warn you, this is a whole lot of rambling.

This trio won't stay a trio for long, once Lisa and Father Garcia will reach John. Michael won't be happy to see one of the two. But will eventually accept his presence.

So, we started with Michael, a little more about him. The boy is not doing too well, but is also getting better now under John's care. His hair started to grow back but won't ever be as fluffy and soft as they were before: now they're coarse and grey. If they get grabbed and pulled, they fall right off in thick tufts. His nose is completely gone and he his right leg is permanently wounded, making John's knee look perfect in comparison. So he walks with the help of a crutch. He already got cataract, because of the infection in his eyes. Those sunglasses are a gift from the priest and he refuses to take them off even for sleeping.

Why wasn't he brought to a hospital? Well, John is terrified by those places and can't be the one to bring him there, risking to have police taking him back in for being a suspect for kidnapping and harming a kid that they've been looking for.

But why won't he go back to his parents exactly? They should be still alive. And they are. However, there is a number of motives why he won't do it. He's afraid to return to them now he loos like this, they've never been very caring towards him, and yet he also doesn't want to put them in danger now he got involved in something so much bigger than him. He thinks John is truly the only one who can fight demons and he loves him a lot. To him he's more of a father, than a Father.

How did he convince John that he does not have parents to return to? Easy: He lied about his name. He claimed to be called Michael Garcia. Unfortunately for him Father Garcia manages to contact John and this leads to a lot of misunderstandings. And confusion.

He speaks Spanish, yes. Though uses mostly English because John doesn't understand it. Only when he gets agitated or feels strong emotions of any kind, he slips. Or when Amy starts speaking Latin, he begins to speak Spanish to her. And John loses his mind when they do that.

-

Amy now!

Amy was saved by John just a little too late, but not that late. When he found her, her face had already been carved out but no offering was made. John made good use of that "one bullet" by shooting at Gary, and stopping him before he could continue with the ritual. Yes he shot Gary. Without knowing what he had just done. He took Amy away from him and wrapped up her face in bandages. He narrowly got away with his life and Amy safe in his arms.

What does this mean for her? It means she cannot be exorcised fully, even if he tries, because her body is dead. There is a portal to hell in her face, but without the sacrifice it required, nothing can truly come out. What kept Amy alive was the awareness of having John there for her, caring so much. The Second Death had never happened. The death of the soul was prevented because she never stopped fighting, when he arrived. Despite the pain and everything she lost. He was still there. The UNSPEAKABLE is inside her, but his control is weak. So weak, that she takes over without him even realizing, when he thinks to be the one in control in certain situations.

This means she can use those supernatural powers, stealing them from him. But the longer she does it, the more she risks to lose herself. Every night, she is afraid he could take over while she's asleep too , that's why she does not want to take off that straightjacket and specifically asks to be restrained. John can't bring himself to do it, he's afraid of that thing. So Michael does this instead.

-

Basically they both Love John so much. He gave them a reason to live, he put his life in danger to save them so they will fight for him even if they're frightened by the cultists and by Gary. They're just kids after all. But their Father also became their father, for both of them. They might be scared, but they won't let anyone take him away. In those moments when John's life really is at risk, that's when neither of them would hesitate and jump at those cultists's throats.

Anyway, they are very hard to handle, and they know it. When john faints on the chair after three sleepless nights, they try to put him on the couch and cover him with a blanket. They try to cook, they try to tidy the place. A little apology, for realizing they've exhausted him to this point.

And I wrote way too much. I warned you. This was a ramble. Ops? Maybe I'll write more in the future, when I'll learn to write more by writing less. Gosh, I talk too much.

#the commander talks #the commander talks too much #so sorry #faith the unholy trinity #father and children au #tw: straightjacket #tw: body horror #no actual visual of that #it's only mentioned but you know how it is.

[leggerefiore]

Oh shoot the s/o being the hybrid!! I would live for that, please please tell us more about Emmet’s spider wife or Ingo’s Sneasler wife or whatever he’d like?!

cw: hybrid reader

▲Ingo▼

● A certain loneliness overcame the Warden of the mountain. Falling through a strange portal without any recollection of his past was a painful feeling. The kindness of the Pearl Clan was something that he greatly appreciated, and his Noble, Lady Sneasler provided him decent company within the cold ridges of the highlands. Ingo sat in the cold embrace of the snow with a sigh. It was his fault that he had forgotten his flute in his cabin, but he was in a rush to help the other Warden, Melli, with a large amount of aggressive Rotoms.

● It was then that you dared an appearance with the strange man. Ingo mistook you for his Noble at first, but apologised after realising his mistake. The light red upon his cheeks from the embarrassment of his error left you interested in the human man. You carefully helped him back to his cabin. He was ever so grateful for your assistance and offered you to stay there for the night, as the sun had begun to set. Taking it up, your friendship with him started.

● It was soon after you both took to spending time with each other. You lived within the highlands, too, finding yourself uninterested in joining a clan and unable to live with the settlers of Jublife for their distaste towards hybrids. Ingo was a kind, mannered man with a passionate in bonding and battling with pokemon. You admired his lack of fear towards pokemon that was often observed with humans. Conversations were long and mild, sometimes falling into deeper things as he contemplated just how he landed in Hisui.

● Through these times together, however, you found yourself admiring him in different ways. He was beautiful, you noted, shining silver eyes and a hardened form from the harsh life living in Hisui provided. The personality of a caring, duteous man would call out to anyone. A feeling of his warm, calloused hand gently scratching behind your ear. You were simply in love. The admission of these feelings let to a flustered Ingo, who ultimately spoke of his attraction towards you. It was with soft hold of your clawed hands that your relationship began.

● Ingo was a dedicated lover who made sure you always felt satisfied and happy. Though, you would prefer if he stopped staring at you with pleading eyes when he wanted to cuddle. Your purrs seemed to put him at ease the most, and he adored holding you close to himself. Your heightened body temperatures in comparison to a normal human's certainly had an appeal to him, too. your affection softened his stiff distance. It was clear he preferred to keep more to himself with other's watching, but when it was just the two of you, he was deeply needy.

● There were times your biological differences caused confusion, but you both worked to explain oddities to one another. He didn't understand why you needed to randomly get up and rush around, but he was easy to accept it. Though, he never seemed ready to accept your grooming of him or your cycles. The Warden remained with you through them, but seemed distressed by your whines and needs.

● You lived together in his cabin, maintaining some peaceful life there. Often times you helped him wrangle and take care of the kits that Lady Sneasler entrusted him with. It was cute to have such tiny creatures play about, but a dark feeling hit you one day from the peak of Mt. Coronet. Akari descended with a tall, noble pokemon behind her and offered something to Ingo. He was able to return from where he had come. In turn, he faced you with a gentle smile. “Would you join me, dearest?” His hand was held out to you. There was no chance that you wouldn't go with him.

▽Emmet△

○ Chargestone cave intrigued him, he would admit. It was home to numerous Joltiks and Galvantulas along a rare Tynamo. Such a place would naturally call to him, yet… He hummed as he descended lower into the cave. There were rumours of a secret population of hybrids that lived within the walls of the cave. Emmet was deeply fascinated with the idea of a Galvantula hybrid. All of his knowledge on them left him pondering how human genes would mix with the pokemon's own. He crept around carefully and mindfully. The arachnids weren't the biggest fans of unexpected guests within their dens. He still had to hold back his Galvantula from attacking unknown people when they entered his apartment.

○ Of course, you had become confused by the strange little man who entered your den. Emmet smiled and waved at you. He reeked of another Galvantula, but he seemed polite. “I am Emmet, and I want to know about,” he explained. You felt suspicious. Humans didn't like hybrids, from your understanding. Though, you would admit he seemed different from most other humans. “Mmm, nice web! How long did it take to spin?” he tried another approach. You felt excited from his compliment of your hard work.

○ A friendship was built between you and the odd human. He'd come visit your den and speak with you, and you never ate him because he entertained you with the weird things he had seen in the so-called subway. You were also gifted food from him, which you adored. His funny manner of speaking and goofy nature made you smile. He was not at all like the other Galvantula hybrids around the cave or the few other humans you had met.

○ It was soon after that you found yourself cocooning Emmet and sticking him in your web. He was silent with a smile still on his lips as you did it. Eventually, when you were done, you felt proud. Now the handsome man couldn't leave you. He was your mate, and you were tired of him leaving you. His head tilted as you left him bound in the webbing. “If you like me, darling, you could have just said so,” he cooed, “I like you, too! I like you a lot.” You grew flustered from his words. A screeched came from you when he managed to escape your cocoon. His arms came around you while he peppered your cheeks in kisses. You excused his destruction of your precious silk temporarily.

○ He was a busy, clingy lover who seemed to stick to your side. The gifts of food continued, alongside assorted human items that he thought you might enjoy. You met his brother, who seemed to just sigh when introduced. It wasn't anything mean, but just him dealing with Emmet's odd fancies. He did checkups on you, much like he seemed to do for his Galvantula and Joltiks, but you appreciated it. Though, you did get jealous when his attention was fully on his Galvantula. He was your mate, not hers. A chuckle came from him at your envy. You found him a reliable mate that was easy to adore.

○ Your biological differences were easy for him to overcome, as he was used to Galvantula behaviours. His flipping you onto your back and leaving you defenceless was not appreciated, however. It was nice to have a human mate not judge you or be disgusted by your habits. If anything, he was deeply interested. Though, you did not have his ease with overcoming the differences. Why didn't he want to stay in your cocoon all the time? You wished he would. He never did.

○ In the end, Emmet and you found yourself happily paired as mates. Your cycles were helped by him with his enthusiastic dedication, and you found yourself adoring his clingy affections and cooed praises. Ingo did scream at the news of becoming an uncle, though. Joltik niblings were not on his list of things expected in his life.

#ingo x reader #emmet x reader #ingo/reader #emmet/reader #pokemon x reader #pokehybrid au

[nin-jay-go]

changeling cole au. hear me out

oni cole was pretty popular, we all know about that, but when i first came up with this au i also had fae on the mind for oc purposes and thought like. hey no one's stopping me from adding fae lore to ninjago

so! the basis of the au. cole is a changeling that doesn't know he's a changeling. his human counterpart was taken as a baby and left in the oni realm for whatever purpose oni have to kidnap and raise a human baby. at some point, he escaped the oni and survived in the oni wilds for a while, until the portal to ninjago opened during s10.

more about the au under the cut!

the story starts after s10 ends, where cole asks wu how he could have possibly survived the oni smog. only oni could breathe it in, and it would have turned him to stone within seconds of him breathing it in. wu thinks about this and offers to give him a special tea that reveals one's true nature, in case there's something more hidden to cole's nature. he accepts.

drinking the tea reveals cole's oni form, which he obviously didn't know about beforehand. he (understandably) freaks out and the rest of the ninja comfort him. wu confirms that cole is a changeling after asking if he's allergic to iron (which he is), something only present in changelings versus pure oni.

the ninja all get used to cole being an oni. accommodations are made, cole and lloyd bond over being oni, and wu gives them basic shapeshifting tips and ways to hide their new appearances

a little doodle of he :) [note: yes i know his gi is tied the wrong way it's symbolic of his undeath]

so flash forward maybe a week, cole's still getting used to his oni form and nature. he hasn't told anyone other than the ninja and wu (i wanna think garmadon knows but doesn't do anything about it). the portal to the oni realm is closed, and the only remaining oni (that they know of) are wu, lloyd, garm, and cole.

then, coal finally finds ninjago city.

and yes. i named him coal. because someone on discord suggested it and i thought it was the funniest fucking thing ever.

quick doodles of oni!cole and coal for comparison (they look identical aside from coal having more of a beard and a different hairstyle)

so anywayz coal comes to ninjago to see his changeling on the news being heralded as a hero. he grows bitter and angry that cole is stealing what should have been his life and decides to get revenge.

he confronts the ninja, asking for cole, to defeat and/or kill him, whatever happens. the ninja fight him off for a bit until cole arrives and they face off one on one. coal ends up defeating cole, but spares his life, stating that he should quit while he's still alive (the guy's undead but w/e)

coal manages to find where lou lives and breaks in. he loots around looking for evidence on cole's oni nature, but gets caught by lou. he thinks that coal is cole and welcomes him inside, since cole hasn't visited in a while. here, coal learns how much lou (and lilly) love (and loved) cole, how good he had it, and how good he could have had it.

the middle of this au i barely have anything for fgkjhfdkjg like yea it sure does exist. things happen.

but one thing that i Do know about is that through some set of circumstances, cole and coal are forced to work together, and have to learn about each other in the meanwhile. maybe they're handcuffed together by Someone? who fucking knows

either way the two bond, and coal learns that cole had no idea he was a changeling until a week ago, and that he feels genuinely bad about replacing coal, despite not even remembering it. cole, in turn, learns that coal's just trying to find a place he belongs where he doesn't have to run and hide anymore, to be in a family.

the au concludes its main story with cole and coal making up and becoming friends. they figure out their differences and learn that the other has had it Real Rough and not at all like the other thought. so they make a deal - coal decides to live with lou, as long as cole visits his dad more.

one scene lives rent free in my brain. this is right after an emotional break with these two, and cole hugs coal and says "i've always wanted a brother," to which coal finally lets himself be vulnerable for the first time since being trapped in the oni realm. so now cole has a brother and coal has a family :)

#ninjago #ninjago au #ninjago cole #cole #cole brookstone #changeling cole au #aus.png #jay.error #oni cole #oni!cole #bc lets be honest this Is an oni cole au

[countlessrealities]

@advnterccs sent:

A green portal formed within the middle of the bedroom. Rick stepped out, dressed up nicer than his normal. His usual pants were replaced with dark tight-fitted slacks, paired with a teal buttoned up shirt and a black blazer. He hadn't announced anything about the plans that he had. Nor did he specifically say that he would be dressed up. Though, that was all part of the surprise.

He left the swirling green mass opened as he approached his counterpart, arms curling around that waist, bodies pressed together. Just a small embrace before he revealed what he had planned for their one year anniversary.

"Happy anniversary, baby," He whispered against his boyfriend's cheek, placing a gentle kiss on the spot.

For a moment, his lips lingered, savoring the sweet contact between the two. Only for that small moment though. He was a man on a mission and he didn't have any time to waste.

Breathing softly, he stepped back from the embrace. Not before catching onto those hands, holding them within his own. "I-I did a thing, i-it's -- j-just follow me."

Without having to elaborate more, he lead his boyfriend through the portal. On the other side was a familiar scene, a grass field with blue wildflowers, looking out into the large night sky adorned by purple and blue galaxies. Although that wasn't all that was there.

In close proximity to them, was a canopy that covered a certain spot on the grass. Accompanied by pillows for comfortability and two neatly folded blankets. It wouldn't be anything, however, without a large bucket full of ice and four bottles of different liquor resting inside. And not to mention the basket that could was filled with food items that they could share.

"I-I thought that, y-you know, we could have a picnic in one of the places where it all started," He stepped closer towards his counterpart's body, stilling holding hands, half-lidded eyes gazing adoringly. "--- I-I love you, Rick, always and fucking forever."

{ To your Rick from my Rick 💙💙 }

Rick knew for certain that his boyfriend would have organised something for the them to do together or that the other would have gotten him a gift. He himself had spent over three months on the present he would give to his counterpart, working on it during the little time when they weren't together and when he wasn't out for an adventure.

Neither of them was big on celebrations, but this one couldn't not be an acception to that rule. It was the one year anniversary of their relationship.

Letting out a slow breath, Rick ran a hand through his hair. That exact day, one year before, he and his counterpart had given up the charade, officially confessed the feelings they already knew they had for each other and started dating.

One year. Damn. That felt like an extremely long time, even if, all considered, it wasn't. Maybe it was because, after Diane, his relationships hadn't last that long and, especially, they hadn't remained as good as they had started. Or perhaps it was because, technically speaking, since they were the same person, he and Rick had known each other for their whole life.

In any case, it was hard to believe that they reached that milestone, and what was even more astonishing was how happy they were. Of course they had had a few ups and downs, but for the most part they had been living in a constant honeymoon phase after having properly settled down in their relationship.

Admitting it made him feel a little guilty, but the truth was that the domestic bliss he had once shared with Diane paled in comparison to what he had with his boyfriend. They just had it all. Fun and comfort, adrenaline and happiness, adventures and domesticity, mind-blowing sex and all the shades of romance.

Rick's lips twitched in a smile at those thoughts, as he checked his reflection in the mirror. Back to the matters at hand. Since he didn't know what sort of surprise he should expected from his other self, he had decided to change out of his usual outfit and wear something a bit more fitting for the occasion. Even if his counterpart hadn't planned a trip, he knew that they would have gone out anyway, even if just for a drive in space.

The new outfit was nothing too complicated. He has swapped his usual top with a teal office shirt and put on a pair of black dress pants, his ever-present lab coat thrown over them. It was obviously different, but comfortable and not too flashy.

Rick barely had the time to give the lapels his lab coat one more tug before the familiar sound of a portal opening reached his ears. He turned around to greet his boyfriend, only to find himself enveloped in a hug, soft words breathed into his skin and that loving kiss planted against his check.

A small shiver of anticipation ran down his spine, his eyes leaving his other self's face for a moment to look at the portal, before moving back on those handsome features, shining even brighter than before.

"H-Happy anniversary, lover," he echoed as he allowed himself to be guided through the portal.

He had meant to say something else, but the words died on his tongue as soon as the alien scenery opened before them, on the other side of the green vortex. Red grass, glowing blue flowers, twin moons and the ethereal twirling of the galaxies above them. He instantly recognised the place, because how could have he not?

It was the planet where he had taken his counterpart for their unofficial first not-date. The memory of that night felt like it belonged to another lifetime, and yet at the same time it was incredibly vivid. The smell of weed, the tunes in the background, their voices talking in hushed tones, the way their bodies had gravitated towards each other until their limbs had tangled together.

"Ho-Holy shit, Rick," he stuttered out, eyes wide with wonder. "Y-You...T-This..."

There wasn't a word that could define what he was experiencing in that moment. Reverent amazement, ecstatic enthusiasm, love-infused happiness, and a small hint of amusement at the thought of what the gift he had prepared was.

Shit, it should have been physically impossible to be that much in love.

"I-It's perfect, baby," he eventually finished, gaze filled with adoration. He freed one of his hands so that he could cup the line of his boyfriend's jaw, finally taking the time to take in how gorgeous the other looked in that outfit, under the silvery light of the moons. "Y-You are perfect. An-And I love you so fucking much. I-I always will."

With that, he leant in and brought their lips together, in a kiss that echoed and amplified the sweetness of the one his counterpart had pressed to his cheek earlier. There would be time for more heated, sensual touches. Right now he was more than contented to soak in the warm intimacy of the loving gestures they were sharing.

"C-C'mon," he spoke up again, once he had broken away, but not without stealing another quick peck from the corner of the other's mouth. "S-Show me what fuckin' amazing things y-you prepared for us."

#[ ic :: c137 Rick ] #&& Rick Sanchez #[ Step through the mirror and let me tell you my dreams for our destiny :: Rick & Rick ] #[ v. Rick Double Morty and Trouble ; timeline split :: c137 Rick ] #advnterccs #[ ic :: event ; the Ricks' one year anniversary ] #[[ my Rick was stunned bc he wasn't expecting THIS ]] #[[ it brings back some of his favourite memories ]] #[[ so he's touched and he got super soft x3 ]] #[[ also yeah he dressed up bc he was like 'we're going out at some point' x'D ]]

[atossofthedice]

A thing I noticed

Beware of Spoilers x_x

So er- Hi! I'm new to Tumblr, and uh... that's it, lol. I join cuz this place seemed cool, and after browsing for a while I liked it so a made an acc. (My grammar's way worse than this, I swear :P)

But anyways, there's something I noticed while watching Naruto with my family at 11 pm yesterday. And that particular something has to do with this:

Now, I'm sure many awesome people have already commented on this before, but I wanted to have a take on it too(plus it's good first post material xD)

So, for context, Sakura and Obito(most people that haven't finished Naruto don't know him so- he's a villain turned good after some Talk-no-Jutsu from our fav blond bi boi Naruto :D) have been ripping open holes in Kaguya's dimensions using Obito's Kamui to find Sasuke, who's been trapped in there so he can't help save da world. Obito's very fatigued, not to mention his eyes are crying blood at the moment, and while Sakura keeps pumping chakra into him, they are both obviously overstained. (The wounds on Sakura's arm are from a boiling acid dimension)

And I think that's it! Now we can move on to the real stuff lol

Obito and Sakura rip open another hole and- finally! Sasuke's there! Sakura shouts "Sasuke-kun" to get his attention(making me groan on how annoying she sounded), Sasuke notices them, and starts running over-

And Obito, exhausted, can't stop the portal from closing despite Sakura's efforts. So Sakura watches the portal close and falls over, tired from expanding her chakra and thinking that she'll never see Sasuke ever again...

Only to be caught by Sasuke.

Now, as much as I would like to go, "Oh, that's really sweet, Sasuke caught Sakura! What an rare sight, to see Sasuke romantically help her!" I can't. Why? Well, take a look again at the photo. Studio Pierrot drew Sasuke's face so weirdly I noticed right away. ("He doesn't look like that at all! He's much cooler than that!" -sleep deprived me screaming at my tv)

So instead of using the anime version, let me show you the manga version of this.

Look at his face!!! He looks hot like Sasuke! Indifferent, stoic, cold. And since I don't read the manga (I was strictly an anime-only person until like a month ago) I was a bit confused on who he was thanking(don't kill me because I dunno what's on the next page TwT)

Enough of that, maybe I'll rant about it later, but this is a side-by-side comparison of the two images.

Look at his face in the anime compared to the manga!

(Not to mention how the acc I found this from on Twitter called his manga look 'loving'. Please-)

In the manga, it's a "my teammate, while annoying, needs help and I'll help her so she doesn't fall"

In the anime, it's a "I'm going to help my teammate right now, Studio Pierrot softing my facial features so it looks romantic at the cost of my face looking not hot not like mine"

I really don't like SasuSaku, I think it's a very blatant and unhealthy relationship, and I wish that Sakura got a better man than Sasuke. Because, let's face it, Sasuke only has eyes for another man- Naruto. And Sakura is just a roadblock for him if she keeps chasing after him. I personally actually like/tolerate Sakura. Despite how crappy her character is, I like her because I myself behave like her sometimes, minus the fangirling and the crying and the screaming. So I can only feel sorry for her, like I did when I was watching the anime yesterday. When Sasuke held her, she must've felt like: "oh my goodness... Sasuke-kun is so sweet!" but later, this happens:

Which just kills the whole 'rOmAnTiC' thing here.

So yeah. That was my random rant + first post on Tumblr xD I look forward to post more about SNS in the future! Have a good day :D

#naruto #sakura #haruno sakura #sasuke uchiha #anti sasusaku #sasunaru #sns

[hughhowey]

The Messiverse

I really wanted to love the latest Dr. Strange film, but I couldn't.

The problem with the multiverse concept is that nothing matters. No one dies, because an infinite number of them live. In 616 Iron Man gave his life, but there are plenty of Starks still out there. And also Iron Men who are sentient globs of algae-infested pudding.

I don't want to hear that "our" Captain America is one of the good ones and some of the others are evil. And I don't want to try and believe that an infinite number of Stephen Strange's broke their hands and all became the Sorcerer Supreme in the same way, but then somehow other things in their lives went completely differently.

Their origin stories are minor miracles where happenstance and innate character traits combine to make them complex heroes. It shouldn't be reproducible -- not and have me care about the process.

The problem I had with Marvel and DC's comics worlds over time is that they got too big and lost focus on the small stories. They became cosmic. Instead of multi-dimensional characters we got multi-dimensional plot arcs. Not enough Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne. Too much of Spider-Man off in space and Batman donning powered armor to take on another god.

What were they thinking, our heroes? What were they thinking, the people who thought each climax needed to be bigger than the last?

It's not just the multi-verse, it's the ballooning of powers. The Dr. Strange films are one of the more pernicious for this. Waving arms to create teleportation portals caused more problems than it solved. Why not open a portal around Thanos's neck or arm? Or send in bombs from anywhere? Or open a portal between your enemy and the middle of a nearby star?

For that matter, how come every portal isn't accompanied by a blast of wind as the pressures on the two sides attempt to equalize?

When you introduce powers this great, you introduce plot holes and remove tension. It leads to scenes where the characters can't teleport to where they need to be, and they have to comment on "my magic can only take us this far." I groaned. I groaned my way through the film. Every bit of stale exposition. All the hand-holding to lead us through a maze of a plot that lead nowhere.

I think it goes back to Thanos, and a mistake Marvel made early on. In the comics, Thanos wants to kill people to please his true love, Death. There was heart and emotion at the center of the story. The films made it about dwindling natural resources. So with stones that could do anything, instead of removing the need to eat, or creating endless supplies of food and habitable planets, the best an all-powerful mind could think to do is snap away half of all living things (which would presumably include half the living things we eat, which means not only is the problem not simply delayed but not changed at all).

The next big-dumb-thing Marvel did was the 5 year disappearance of so many people. The "blip," which is a terrible name for a terrible concept to anchor the future of your world-building around. It's such an enormous idea that all the other plots pale in comparison. How many people fell in love during this time and had to cope with their prior loved ones coming back? The blipped felt like they weren't gone at all, so they return to find they are five years behind. The in-grouping and out-grouping based on whether you blipped or not would redefine society and culture. The therapy required. The "stolen" possessions, the homes that are invaded, the poor pets, the orphaned kids.

It's difficult to care about another alien invasion when the universe we're meant to care about is made this alien. Or it is one of a numberless many.

Dialing it back will be difficult. Shoehorning the rest of these characters into the world will be painful and groan-inducing (the Reed Richards casting was awful. Just awful. And how does Stephen break his hands in every universe, but Xavier and the FF don't exist in 616 but are established everywhere else?) There are better ways to handle the unfolding of the MCU. They all involve an end to this messiverse madness.

#marvel #multiverse #writing #comics #film

[mistrdctr]

They'd been standing in front of those three portal doors at the Sanctum for a while now, the guise of needing it for soothing presence seemed to have lapsed, however. Logan could see it in the lilt of Stephen's shoulders, in how it seemed Cloak was trying to hold him straighter. Honey brows furrow in concern and Logan turns to wander closer.

"Look at me, Stephen." His voice is a whisper against the birds chirping in the bamboo forest to their left, and when the other slowly looks over, Logan leans up for a kiss or two, soft little things though not lacking in passion, just placed a little differently in the moment. He doesn't allow himself to linger too long but just long enough before pulling away just a tad, gazing into those eyes with his own: he knows that helps Stephen. "Tell me what I can do to help you through this. I hate seeing you like this, so...alone."

Even though Stephen has long since made peace with what his past-self has done - at least he tells himself he has, it's easier to cope this way - the constant reminder of his previous self-centric and blown-out-of-proportion behavior, the way it turns especially bad sometimes, just...

Hurts. Not only physically, but also mentally.

Not only cause those damaged nerves pain that's hard to cope with, shaking digits that aren't able to hold a cup of tea - Strange cannot even write properly, that is - but it also lingers on his mind like a heavy weight, dark clouds forming on the horizon that threaten to drag him into a dimension that exists outside of all the other ones.

A dimension within Stephen, dark and cold and empty. He's so, so lonely there.

He's lonely here, on earth, within the reality that surrounds them - a little less alone ever since he's met that gorgeous, stunning, absolutely wonderful young man that loves him, for some odd reason, granted, but... He still is alone. At least when the sorcerer allows his gaze to roam along the vastness of what earth truly is, the Universe in its entirety. He is part of it, and yet he is just a small speck of dust desperately clinging to life that, somehow, carries a burden - which, in comparison to him, might be as big as the sun is. Perhaps even bigger and heavier.

It helps to listen to nature whenever that dark dimension inside Stephen tries to claim him, but... it's not always effective enough to keep him from losing the battle. He did not, not yet, but...

Logan can see it, it seems. has been by his side for hours now, quietly taking in the sight of that lush jungle, the heat of the desert, the silence of snow falling from the sky.

Scarred hands are trembling, fingers stretched out, and the pain feels like scalding electricity that's being send through sinews, muscles and bones alike. A fire that eats itself through tissue, burning, consuming---

... Those mismatched eyes are so, so beautiful and Stephen swallows as he gazes into them, looking at that split iris, brown and blue, surrounding a dark pupil that feels inviting, somehow - with the sorcerer experiencing the urge to just curl up inside of it, a sea of comforting darkness that will brush through his hair and tell him that it's going to be okay, everything is going to be alright...

The sensation of those kisses lasts, but not long enough. Softness fades from his lips, with it the warmth they have brought.

"---You can't do anything.", is what Stephen says, finally, his voice barely louder than a whisper, consisting of an apologetic, exhaled breath and sagged shoulders, glistening eyes, strands of hair that fall into his forehead and a profound sadness that clings to his own irises. "No one can do anything. ---I am sorry."

Strange is so, so sorry about this, about the young man having to go through this, see Strange being in this state, with the sorcerer himself unable to push all of that darkness and pain away so as to give his partner a better time.

Logan deserves so much and he gets so little at this moment.

#ssolessurvivor #( ;_; ) #(sobs) #(bbys)

[bramblewatchescharmed]

s1e9 "Jingle Hell"

Thoughts on Charmed (2018) s1e9 "Jingle Hell":

demons celebrating Christmas seems . . . odd to me, for several self-explanatory reasons

Mel ducking out on her family's Christmas party to have her Sarcana initiation . . . okay. And she doesn't explain this at all; she just gets her scarf and leaves.

Shout-out to Bucharest, Romania, but... there's an Orthodox priest in a Catholic church. ...Ok. Do appreciate the priest immediately realizing what's going on and whipping out the staff to try and send Parker and Hunter to Tartarus, but . . . Two episodes ago, it was pretty clear that the Scythe of Tartarus was the only thing that could open a portal to hell-prison, yes? But now apparently anybody with a staff and the right spell can do that?

I saw the "Julia Wagner is Parker's mom" thing coming from a mile away the first time I watched this show, and it's still not a major surprise. But I do think it's weird they come up with this whole elaborate plan to steal Maggie's powers through the pendant so they can get Charmed One DNA when, correct me if I'm wrong, they already had Maggie's blood in the lab from when she did that donation for Parker. So why?

I do admit that Hunter and Parker's relationship is adorable, with Hunter genuinely looking out for his younger half-brother. (Also Hunter spilling the beans that Parker's being groomed to become the Source of All Evil.)

It's weird to me that in this universe, the Source can only apparently possess "a demon of human born". I'm willing to bet money that the writers only made it a thing in the reboot because one of the most well-known storylines from the OG show is Cole becoming the Source in season 4, and Cole was half-human/half-demon. (But the Source's essence could possess full demons, warlocks, even a wizard; it doesn't have to be a half-human demon who becomes the Source.)

It feels odd to me that the show only brings up Mel's issues with her dad now? Especially since he doesn't even show up in this episode at all. Prue's issues with Victor fully reared their head in s1e3 when he suddenly dropped back into their lives after they'd received their powers, but it was hinted at before then she didn't like him much. This show never even really hinted whether the Veras' dad was alive before this episode.

Charmed reboot fans cannot sit here and say with a straight face that there are not that many comparisons between this show and the original. I'm sorry, they cannot. Not when Mel is a composite of Prue and Piper (Piper's power, Prue's personality and daddy issues and cop love interest); Maggie is an exact copy of Phoebe; and Macy is a composite of Prue, Paige, and Piper (Piper's personality, Prue's power, Paige's long-lost half-sister deal + being a hybrid); Galvin is basically Neighbor Dan; and Maggie/Parker is a direct lift of Phoebe/Cole. Certainly not when it's later revealed there's a vortex/nexus underneath Vera Manor the same way the Spiritual Nexus was underneath Halliwell Manor.

Maggie and Parker's relationship feels like it's on speed and the pacing is way too fast. They've been officially dating for all of, like, three episodes prior to s1e9 and now the writers are going for the half-demon reveal? It took Phoebe half of season 3 to find out that Cole's a demon, much less choose him over her sisters.

Okay, so it's about midnight... and they have this whole feast of food on the table. Who is eating it?! They were all dealing with demon fighting and drama, the only guests were Harry (though he practically lives there), Galvin, and Parker, and Parker at this point basically kidnapped Maggie, so that just leaves Macy, Mel, Harry, and Galvin to eat all this food.

me re: the cliffhanger ending: If I cared about any of these characters at all, that would be sad.

Like, I am sorry, but I just cannot get emotionally invested or attached to any of the characters here the way I did the original, not when the acting and writing is so bad and cheesy.

Don't get me wrong, the original show was definitely cheesy at times, but it was 90s cheese and good cheese. This show feels like it should almost be on Disney Channel or, uh, Freeform (formerly ABC Family) instead of The CW.

#anti charmed 2018 #( Bramble watches Charmed 2018. ) #s1e9 Jingle Hell

[creekpuma99]

How To make use of Toy Scorpion To Want

Modern wooden or plastic versions with snap-together tracks and smiling Tv character engines are still a number of enjoyable to play with, however they do not hold the same fascination for us as the detailed replicas that got here earlier than them. So let me get this straight, the prolonged versions are only available at their members only portal? Second, do not let anybody beneath age sixteen function a riding mower, and do not let children trip as passengers. 1- You may trip a highway bike on all terrains, each urban and rough. Note: Before you go loading your automobile with every part on this list, it is best to know that a number of the objects (like gasoline) will be extremely harmful to store inside your car. What I like about studying these complete things is that they will take you thru a full series of chord progressions so that you know how to suit things together. As well as, you should examine with pool supply shops to determine if they have the model of swimming pool cover that is designed for and in reality will match your particular above floor swimming pool.

You might want to spray/paint between 3 to four coats earlier than you get a strong cover. What higher technique to strive to stay on high in Nashville music scene by be friending a young man who will soon rule the Nashville skyline. Safe to say that once they play together, they push each other to turn into better gamers and that thought scares the living daylights out of me..! I loved it (in aspect-by-facet comparison with actual bottled Fixed Gear, the homebrew was very comparable but higher!). Called Red Dog-3, the helmet was made with copper, leather-based, plastic, brass, black walnut and even real hair for a scary and outlandish look. But since I'm clearly in the honeymoon interval, Ormond's overview is the real stuff. BTW I have not had a chance to look on the tab recordsdata, their site had solely 3 (every disk from the primary sequence I presume, ought to ask them in regards to the prolonged stuff and the tab for disk two, until it's already in those ptb recordsdata that I haven't had an opportunity to check out as yet). I'm also glad I've acquired a glendale tele neck for all of the nut bending stuff. The other nice thing is after solely two days I used to be sounding completely different, my singer buddy was like hey that is so country, I've received a smile on my face regardless, so I flick the pup to the neck from my bridge and pick the identical materials blues type and gawd rattling it labored simply as well.

I'm excited not nearly the quality of material but being that the style is new to me, it is amazingly refreshing. I'm a campolongi together with his materials. To be revisited after you've got got previous among the extra superior material. Although Wayne was a bit ‘‘hesitant’’ at first, it wasn’t long earlier than he also received enthused. So, after a little bit of tinkering, they constructed a tunnel with a 16-inch (40.6-centimeter) take a look at part. In reference to the bending bit on the DVD, there's a youtube clip of Sol on the Collins America site the place he is demo'ing a brand new PA system - a number of the bends are simply horrifying. Called the BagAmp this brand new amplification system is designed for the singer/acoustic guitarist producing an amazing sound and unimaginable portability. The frequent universal reply to questions like these is a misguided pacifier: “if it appears like steampunk music, it is steampunk music.” This purely subjective approach performs a disservice to the neighborhood – especially to the musicians who pour their souls into developing their articulated rendition of the steampunk sound.

Simon Nelson, who has worked with me as guitarist for a few years now, is giving a a guitar workshop within the morning (11am -1pm) and I'll be calling in at round 12:00 for a query and reply session. 2 years in the past on youtube. Can't access YouTube It's effectively price a glance thought. Goggles look actually incredible, yes, however they're additionally very thick and are typically created of heavy materials. Irrespective of how much folks say so, there isn’t a rigid hierarchy of materials. Many individuals are discovering that common carpet and flooring cleaning is simply as easy to do with lighter, greener fashions. Hey Julie, Seems we're talking just about all over the place lately..! I can see that when enough "vocabulary" is constructed up then these lessons and tabs are not likely mandatory because your brain and fingers will simply take you where you might want to go. The Stockholm ought to see loads of use in our local weather. Sharing or otherwise offering content from throughout the obtain is just not thought of private use. As mainstream and impartial artists alike abuse the steampunk aesthetic and abandon its substance, we’re beginning to see historical past repeat itself. more to see you there!

#3d metal

[duawheat]

ranboo i love you but this room is ugly

#i love the comparison of the two things made from portals #we have the syndicate room in all its glory #that room is so goddamn sexy #and they we have ranboos little experiment room #purely angst and iron #sir it looks ugly #ranboo #dream smp #liveblogging

[absolutepokemontrash]

Hi! So, I absolutely love your series where the MC is the kid of Lucifer, and I was wondering if I could request that with Diavolo and Barbatos? •v•

:0 you definitely can! Right now I’m just doing Diavolo, but Barb’s will be up sometime soon!

MC is Half Demon and Oh Shit They’re Diavolo’s Kid-

Diavolo wasn’t exactly what one would expect of the prince of Hell, I mean, he was suppressing the urge to bounce in his seat from pure excitement. I mean, his exchange program was starting! Humans, demons, and angels, all together, his dream was coming true.

All that was left was for the student to arrive, the portal opened, and the human fell flat on their back. Oof, maybe Diavolo should have set up some kind of landing zone filled with pillows. No matter! The human was-

…

What peculiar eyes this human had…

Oh… oh dear…

Dad-volo

The MC was his child, no question about it. This was… very unexpected. Well, the entire assembly hall was completely quiet, and the kid looked like they were getting impatient.

“HEY! Mind telling me what the hell is going on?!”

After that, Diavolo launches into his explanation, also the explanation that he’s definitely this kid’s dad. Kid was not impressed, they tried to square up with Diavolo and Lucifer had never been more confused as to what to do.

Well, the moment MC sprouted wings and launched themselves at Diavolo, Dia caught them with one hand and continued speaking like nothing happened.

MC, please calm down… Diavolo didn’t know they existed, let him make it up to them! They’re going to stay at the Demon Lord’s Castle! Dia’s going to be a good dad!

“This feels like the plot to the world’s most messed up fairytale.” MC jammed their hands into their pockets and grumbled. “I get sucked into hell and find out I’m royalty there. Great.”

Diavolo managed to smile and awkwardly reach out to give them a pat on the head, then retracted his hand after the kid shot him a glare. “Well, it’s not a very traditional fairytale, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time here.”

“Mm, sure.” MC mumbled.

Okay, so his child wasn’t that enthusiastic about the exchange program, but Diavolo was sure they’d come around.

Dia tried everything he could possibly think of to get his kid to both like him and enjoy their time as an exchange student. A lot of things had… mixed results.

Also, legally recognizing MC as his child and legitimizing them caused a big stink amongst the nobles who were opposed to the exchange program to begin with. So MC then had to deal with a few assassins. Wonderful. Fantastic. Show stopping. Dia, be a good dad and comfort your angsty murder target- I MEAN preteen.

They do manage to build a good relationship fairly quickly despite their less than stellar first impressions, and Diavolo made them a promise that he knew he wouldn’t ever break: he would let them live as normal a childhood as possible.

This means that MC gets to do all the normal kid stuff that Diavolo wasn’t allowed to do. It honestly works out great for everyone. MC gets to live their life, Diavolo gets the satisfaction of knowing that his kid’s having fun, and Barbatos doesn’t need to worry about MC causing chaos in the castle.

Man… does this kid’s magic potential scare the shit out of everyone though…

Tired Uncle Lucifer

No. This has to be a violation of his worker rights. It cannot be legal for him to be this stressed.

He knew this exchange program was a bad idea. LUCIFER FUCKING KNEW IT. This kid was judging him. Why did he suddenly feel self conscious about every single one of his features? This child was picking him apart and they hadn’t even said anything!

He confiscated Asmo’s phone immediately, this was a matter of national security! Satan’s too! Beel as- oh shit Lucifer may have to give Beel the heimlich maneuver, then take his phone.

When all the brothers eventually got back to the HOL, they were greeted with Mammon getting shaken down by Levi.

“Lucifer! Ya won’t believe this! Levi- what’s wrong with you?” “The exchange student is Diavolo’s child.” “What..?” “*pops the cork off a bottle of Demonus* the exchange student’s Diavolo’s child.”

The worst part about this kid was that they took to the privileges of being royalty like a fish to water. MC went out and did whatever the fuck they wanted, and Lucifer needed to make sure a state of national emergency wasn’t called just because MC picked a fight at RAD.

It didn’t help that MC was just so unimpressed with Lucifer. Anytime Lucifer would tell them not to do something they would just raise their eyebrows and challenge his authority without saying a word.

What the fuck.jpg

The things he does for his prince boyfriend…

Cool Uncle Mammon

Huh, so this little pipsqueak is Lord Diavolo‘s kid? Hm, do ya think they’d let him into the royal treasury? No? Okay… lame.

Mammon then decides this kid would be just perfect for scamming people! Who is going to say no to the Crown Prince’s kid? A suicidal person, that’s who!

And the kid is… up for it? Wow, Mammon didn’t even have to grovel! Awesome!

It’s such a shame that Lucifer came in and promptly removed MC from Mammon’s presence. Tsk, killjoy…

Mammon and MC do get along swimmingly after MC stops angsting. Whenever they hang out it’s pure chaos.

And they would have gotten away with it too- wait, they do get away with it. Because who’s going to question the Crown Prince’s kid? >:)

Reclusive Uncle Leviathan

Levi was in the middle of throttling Mammon for his money back when Lucifer burst through the door looking like he had spent over 1000 Grimm on a gacha game only to not get the card he wanted.

And where was that human he said would be staying with them? Huh? The human’s HUH????!!!!

… wack. Maybe he shouldn’t have skipped out on that Student Council Meeting…

Either way, ew, new person he needed to talk to. NO THANKS. Well, no thanks until MC started to visit the HOL to hang out with Mammon. Of course those two normies decided to bug him. OF COURSE.

Levi finally snapped when MC loudly proclaimed that they could totally beat Levi in Mario Kart. Haha, NO. Levi challenged the little runt to a 1 v 1 race on Rainbow Road.

Kid lost. Obviously. Rainbow Road is rigged.

Honestly, kid’s alright. Still a total normie, but not completely terrible.

Cat Uncle Satan

Huh, a half human child of the soon to be demon king, how very interesting.

Oh, and just look at Lucifer’s face. :D priceless. Satan wished he was fast enough to get his DDD out to snap a picture, but he wasn’t able to…

But back to MC, oh how very intriguing. How much power do they have in comparison to Diavolo? Will using that power rip their fragile little body apart? Would they learn to control it? Satan was just dying to find out.

His feelings on the child themselves were mixed at best. They were clearly unhappy with the situation and Satan could sympathize, being thrust into a completely new world and then being told you can’t leave and are also royalty? That has to be hard. But this kid was still being an unreasonable little shit.

Satan continued to try and study MC from afar until the kid themselves walked right up to him and half demanded half pleaded for his help in studying for a test.

Not being one to avoid an opportunity to flex how smart he is, Satan agreed to help out. (Nerrrrd)

And honestly, it went well. When the kid wasn’t being a little shit, they were actually quite pleasant to be around.

Overly Affectionate Uncle Asmo

…wut

Listen, when Asmo asked Lucifer to pick a cute human, he didn’t mean cute as in CHILD.

This kid was DIAVOLO’S?! What lucky human had gotten to have the experience of [Jesus Fucking Christ, Asmo I’m not writing what he said for the sake of the nation]

Anyhoo~ little MC just made his heart go “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SO CUTE!” They were so cute Asmo could just eat them up!

But they were so mean! That scowl they always had on was going to give them wrinkles and ruin their perfectly cute face!

Sigh, oh well. He can’t manually rearrange people’s expressions. What he can do is take this child shopping. Poor Diavolo was constantly in his RAD uniform, this poor innocent baby shouldn’t have to suffer the same fate.

The kid continued to scowl at everything, but at the same time, their little quips were very entertaining. This little kid spitting verbal venom at anyone who displeased them reminded Asmo of someone… he just couldn’t place who, but they definitely had amazing hair and a cute face :3

Hungry Uncle Beel

Where’s the takeout- I mean human? What’s happening? …are all humans this small? Dang, that’s barely enough for a snack.

So the human’s not going to live with us because they’re not fully human and Diavolo’s kid? Huh. Wild. Anyway, what’s for dinner?

Beel’s not too invested in this drama, he misses Belphie too much to be that interested…

The kid’s weirdly interested in how cool and strong Beel is though. MC tails him to the gym pretty often.

Diavolo and Beel already being gym buddies send tweet-

Since this benevolent little shit likes Beel so much, they decided to take it upon themselves to help with the family drama.

Beel finds that very sweet 🥺

Murder sleepy Uncle Belphie

Oh man… if you thought Belphie was being unfair to L!MC due to their parentage… hoo boy…

When this kid waltzed up the attic steps like they ran the place, Belphie needed to hold himself back from trying to break down the door and throttle this kid.

Pff, of course Diavolo would have a half human kid. Of course.

…kid beat the shit out of him when he tried to kill them. We stan this MC.

After all is said and done, Belphie still isn’t overly fond of MC. They’re brash and rude and only funny 40% of the time. They don’t even like napping 😒

But Beel likes the little runt, so Belphie and MC put up with each other.

Bonus! Your Angelic Uncle Simeon’s Chihuahua

:0 friend!

MC: *speaks*

>:0 not friend! Begone! *throws crucifix*

#obey me #obey me! #obey me! shall we date? #obey me shall we date #obey me mc #Obey me Headcanons #obey me! headcanons #obey me Diavolo #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Mammon #Obey me Leviathan #Obey me Satan #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Beelzebub #Obey me Belphegor

[icicledream-archive]

part 2 of portal robot size post

(because i am still obsessing over this)

continuation of this post where i posted this image which is a screenshot from this video showcasing the size of portal 2 characters. and also i included my height of 5′3 for fun!

the post got a comment basically saying “model sizes don’t always = canon sizes” and that is indeed true! especially given how the game seems to handle how things look when they’re picked up. personally i can find these sizes believable, especially comparing them to how big glados appears in robot repair vr.

anyways, i’ve been thinking about that comment a lot! like i said, i personally find all these sizes believable, but i wondered how much different they would be if i resized them based on certain robots with canon measurements: atlas and p-body!

these blueprints are shown in portal 2 co-op loading screens! i specifically chose the blueprint of atlas facing the right because the front facing version’s head size seemed to include the frame that holds it, which added little over an inch.

ALSO, this was just something i did for fun! please don’t treat this post as the Definitive Portal Character Sizes Post. personally, as much as i love how huge the in-game model sizes are, i’m going by my resizes from now on because while they’re still decently big, they’re a lot more manageable to draw lol.

if you DO want to use this post as a reference to their sizes, by all means go for it! :D  credit isn’t necessary, but it would be nice just because of how much time i spent on this ;w;/

the rest of this post will be under a read more due to its length!! as a tl;dr, here’s a direct comparison image!

feel free to share your own thoughts and whatnot if you would like!! ^v^ just a few more things before i continue...

THERE WILL BE A PRETTY BIG PORTAL 2 SPOILER GOING FORWARD!

i bolded character names + their heights because it was easier for me to read :o

i did all of this in.... gmod..... because i couldn’t find all of the models i needed, and i couldn’t be bothered to rip models from a freakin’ source game. SO i just, carefully lined everything up in gmod to the best of my ability and took screenshots, which i edited in my art program!! i’m a bit of a perfectionist, so hopefully things aren’t toooo far off... but yeah, just a heads up.

i’m, really bad at math, so not everything will be 100% accurate, especially the full glados size measurements. i used the website mrinitialman and a lot of measurement calculator websites to be sure things seemed alright. still, if there’s errors i apologize!

ANYWAYS let’s go!!

SO, here’s a new size comparison image i made. sorry if my writing isn’t readable! i’ll be restating the important things written on the images as this post goes on ;v;/

p-body is around 6′7.5″ (201.9cm), atlas is around 6′1.3″ (186.2cm).

for chell i decided to go with her height from her heels rather than from her tiptoes. she’s still pretty tall at 5′11″ (180.3cm)!

wheatley’s model is around 2′7″ (78.7cm) in diameter, which is hilariously big and i love it BUT it’s probably not what his actual height is. same goes for the turret’s 4′10″ (147.3), and glados’ head being around 6′10″ (208.3cm) (i do wish these were the For Sure canon heights because glados' full model being ~50' (15.24m) long is so very funny to me. Giant.)

i’ve seen a few people say that atlas and p-body may be based on personality spheres and turrets respectively, and i like to think so too! so i resized wheatley and the turret based on those two. also, considering that wheatley’s model size stays the same size when he is on glados’ body, i resized them at the same time, as their sizes are relative to each other.

anyways with that, here’s my resize!!

as i said: wheatley (and the other cores, of course) ends up being the same size as atlas’ head, so that makes him around 1′8.4″ (51.8cm) in diameter!

the turret ended up being around 3′10.5″ (118.1cm) tall.

glados’ head is around 4′6.4″ (138.2cm)! which makes glados head + body around 18′1.4″ (5.5m), and her entire model around 34′2.8″ (10.43m)! (btw for reference, movie theater screens are generally 30′ (9.14m) tall!!).

aand that’s it for my resizes, really! :O like i said earlier, this is what i'm personally gonna go with for my headcanons and whatnot.

that’s not the end, though. when i went back into gmod to get a screenshot of chassis wheatley, i somehow noticed for the first time that there’s just. straight up smaller models of a core and glados’ head, so i thought “eh! why not!” and measured those out to the best of my ability! here’s the results of that. 

the smaller gmod core model is around 1′3.8″ (40.1cm), and glados’ head is 3′3.6″ (100.6cm)! this would make her head + body be around 13′2.4″ (4.02m), and her entire model around 24′11.3″ (7.6m)! i imagine this is what the “actual sizes” of cores and glados would be? who knows though!

with all of this being done, here’s the quick direct comparison image again :D

oh and also for fun, here’s portal 1 glados’ head compared to the portal 2 glados head models and the resize i did! i always thought the portal 2 glados in portal 1 mod looked weird, turns out it’s because her main p2 model is much bigger than her p1 model!

and well! i don’t really have anything else to say, so that’s the end!

like i said, this is NOT the Definitive Portal Character Sizes Post ;o; i did this entirely for fun!! and even if this was the Definitive Portal Character Sizes Post, you can do whatever you want with these characters and their sizes! but again if you would like to use this post as a reference then by all means, go for it!! :D again, credit isn’t necessary, but it would be nice just because of how much time i spent on this... 

ANYWAYS thanks for reading!!! :D

#hoo hoo! #portal #portal 2 #portal 2 spoilers #chell #glados #portal turrets #wheatley #atlas and p-body #HOPE U ENJOY THIS. this took too long but im happy. also sorry if any grammar's weird or whatever im Done rereading this.

[edoro]

S2E9 Hunter-Belos Interaction Analysis

And here I am again with the meta analysis of s2e9, as foretold in the ancient prophecies. (Aoyama BNHA voice) I Cannot Stop Talking About Belos And Hunter.

As I said in the other essay, I think that the exchange at the beginning of this episode really exposes the heart of the relationship between Belos and Hunter. 

S2e6 lays a foundation for us, and it’s an extremely compelling foundation, but it’s also nothing we haven’t seen before. Villainous ruler has a lackey who also turns out to be a terrorized younger relative who does their dirty work out of devotion and fear - we’ve all seen A:TLA, we all remember Zuko. S2e9 is where we realize that, for the purposes of the comparison I have just made, Hunter is Azula.

(This is neither an exact comparison nor meant to belittle the work TOH puts into its characters and plots. I find that type of relationship dynamic extremely fascinating and enjoy the unique spin TOH puts it. But it’s a useful and well-known cultural touchstone.)

He’s the golden child, the Emperor’s Special Little Boy, the genius teen prodigy who is destined for greatness, and it’s by holding that approval (or the threat of having it withdrawn as punishment for a disappointing performance) over Hunter’s head that Belos manipulates him and keeps him loyal and desperate to prove himself.

Belos isn’t simply cruel, distant, and emotionally unavailable. He hides his cruelty under a veneer of warmth and kindness and he manipulates the level of emotional distance and intimacy between the two of them depending on the situation and what kind of tone he wants to establish. He offers conditional and unpredictable access to emotional intimacy as a reward and withholds it as a punishment, trapping Hunter in this constant cycle of compulsive seeking and anxious avoidance where he’s just sort of always frantically doing things almost at random in the hopes that they will prove he’s good and make Belos love him.

The episode opens with Belos alone and unmasked, up late fiddling with the portal door he’s worked so hard to rebuild. This is the first time we’ve actually seen him on his own; every single other glimpse of him was filtered through the viewpoint of another character, defined by his interactions with them. 

We’ve seen, at various points, how carefully Belos constructs himself for others. He’s clearly a man very conscious of his image, which I think the s1 finale demonstrates especially well with the way he spins letting Eda go for the assembled citizens. We can try to reverse engineer a sense of personality and purpose from how he acts in those scenes, sure, but the fact is that every time we’ve seen him up until now, we’ve seen what he wants the other people in the scene to see. We really know very little about his actual motivations or feelings about basically anything at this point.

In the beginning of this scene, though, before Hunter comes in, we get as close as we’ve gotten so far to the real Belos. There’s no one else in the room for him to need to manipulate or cultivate a certain impression of himself for. It’s just him and this project he’s spent who knows how long working towards, and the anticipation and frustration.

He hesitates before he puts that recently made substitute key into the lock. There could be plenty of reasons behind that - checking to make sure everything’s in order, nervousness that it might not work, nervousness that it might, a sense of triumph at getting so far, a very practical concern that this might quite literally blow up in his face, I could go on. We still don’t know what’s going on in his head here. 

But he hesitates - and in the original storyboards, when it doesn’t work, he punches the door, which is an interesting show of frustrated petulance. That doesn’t happen in the final version. He just stands there instead, staring at it, his expression obscured, and we cut to Hunter watching him.

Hunter’s lurking, hanging back and watching Belos from behind a convenient bit of architecture. He looks very uncertain here. This is an ongoing thing throughout this entire scene - Hunter never seems to quite know where he stands, and the way he looks at Belos is at once fixated and fearful.

To me, this bit feels like he’s waiting for Belos to finish what he’s doing so as not to interrupt him. It comes across very much like another little bit of mood-reading from Hunter; he comes in to see that Belos is busy, so he waits, and then he watches as whatever Belos is doing doesn’t work, so now he’s waiting to see how Belos reacts, whether he seems frustrated enough that it’s a bad idea to approach him.

A second or so after this, Hunter says he wasn’t trying to hide, but honestly, he clearly was. He shooed the palisman off in a furious whisper and stayed lurking there, watching to see how Belos reacted. He’s obviously very startled to be directly addressed, but he can’t keep pretending he’s not there or slip off quietly without saying anything, so he has to go ahead and have this interaction.

That sort of tentativeness around interacting with one’s guardian is quite a tell. Hunter’s used to having to read, predict, and manage his uncle’s moods and adjust how he acts to account for them. Sure, everyone has bad days or times when they’re less patient, and it’s not necessarily abnormal to gauge what kind of mood someone’s in before you have a difficult conversation with them, but there’s very much a sense here that Hunter’s used to doing this and fearful of what might happen if Belos isn’t in a good mood.

There’s also the matter of how he addresses Belos. Here, Belos is ‘Emperor Belos’. Hunter’s form of address is very formal, even though it’s a relatively informal setting - late, no one else around, Belos stripped of his outer layers and his mask, though Hunter’s still in uniform. 

There could be a number of interpretations for that. I can see it as being a way of Hunter trying to sort of preemptively make up for having sneaking around here, as well as him being nervous because he’s planning to ask Belos something related to his recent performance, so he’s slipping into formality as a way of coming across more serious and professional. 

But it’s interesting that the way Hunter addresses Belos seems to be based on how Hunter is feeling or what kind of tone he’s trying to take, rather than the signifiers of the actual context they’re in. It goes well with the idea, I think, that Belos tends to be the one to set the tone here and that Hunter doesn’t necessarily know what it’s going to be until Belos does. 

It also speaks to an aspect of Hunter’s character we get more insight into later on in the episode, that he seems to relate to other people heavily through the lens of his own feelings and experiences. He seems to have a skill for reading people or picking up on the dynamics in a situation, but not necessarily for interpreting them unless he personally understands them.

People have talked about the face reveal before, but it really is an interesting moment. It’s dramatic for us because we’ve built this guy up over the course of a season and a half as the ultimate big bad, the spooky faceless evil emperor, and suddenly he has a face, and he’s just some kindly-looking old man - but it’s not dramatic for Hunter, because he’s seen this face before.

The casualness of it really hits home. Belos is just a person. He’s just some guy. He doesn’t look evil. He looks fond and approachable, in direct contrast to how nervous Hunter seems to be.

This, too, is a form of intimacy between them. How many people have seen the emperor unmasked? It’s probably not a list that only includes Hunter, but it’s surely a very exclusive one.

(Especially considering how jacked up his ears are there. This is not the place to go into “Belos is a human man” theories, but those are not normal witch ears, and he has a vested interest in presenting himself not only as a witch but as the most gifted and powerful witch of all. Letting Hunter see him like this is another way of making Hunter feel special, like his relationship with Belos is a privilege.)

The mask also serves the purpose of - similarly to how the Golden Guard’s mask does for Hunter - allowing Belos to disguise his emotions and reactions. All anyone who sees him masked has to go on is the deliberately expressionless mask and his tone. Even his body language is cloaked under all the layers of robes. It’s a very deliberate way of cultivating an inscrutable sort of presence.

Without it, we see some interesting things. Whatever his face might have looked before, when he turns to look at Hunter, he’s smiling warmly, inviting…

But when he turns to look back at the door, that expression drops right off his face. We get what I can really only describe as petulance. His wording, too, is interesting here: “Without the power of the real key, it refuses to open.”

Not that the door didn’t open or won’t work, it refuses to. The door is framed as not just nonfunctional but defiant, like it’s willfully disobeying him rather than being, you know, an inanimate fucking object.

The way he expresses himself to Hunter is as much a performance as it is with anyone else, but I think this is a glimpse into his real feelings. He very much wants this door to work and he’s feeling angry and thwarted that it’s not, and blaming the door itself for not doing what he wants it to do. We can easily extrapolate this attitude towards how he treats the people in his life - in fact, we’ve seen it, with both Hunter and Lilith.

Hunter’s expression here really kills me. He spends most of this scene staring at Belos with exactly this face, this mixture of fear and worship. Belos is the central fixture in this scene to which Hunter is drawn and around which he orbits. He never takes his eyes off Belos and aside from a brief bit at the end of Belos’s little speech coming up, his face never changes.

It’s the sort of expression one might expect a much younger child to direct at an adult guardian who, in their eyes, is as big as God and controls the world. On Hunter, a sixteen year old, it comes across as somewhat developmentally odd, but it fits - Belos does control his entire world. Belos is the ultimate authority to Hunter, able to shape and reshape Hunter’s reality with nothing more than a word.

When Hunter asks about the rain in the Human Realm, Belos’s expression goes from that frustrated petulance to something that almost looks a little startled, like he wasn’t entirely expectring Hunter to interject. Then, once Hunter’s finished, he turns to look at him properly and once again he’s smiling as he shares a personal anecdote.

Every time he directly addresses Hunter, it’s in that same warm, pleasant way. Everything about how he’s talking to Hunter in this scene suggests a comfortable, familial sort of intimacy. He’s friendly, smiling, sharing stories about his life - when he asks, “Have I ever told you that before?” it suggests he thinks he might have, because he’s told Hunter other things about himself.

The single, tiny, silent shake of the head Hunter does also always gets me. He’s so quiet, so still, so tentative in his movements, not wanting to interrupt this moment, this intimacy being handed to him. He comes across as painfully hungry for any scrap of closeness, any further insight into Belos. These moments come at unpredictable intervals, subject to Belos’s own unreadable internal whims, and so when they do come along, Hunter must grab onto them tightly.

But then the moment ends, and Belos brings the subject back around to what exactly it is that Hunter’s there for.

“Are you spying on me to hear these boring old stories?” Obviously they’re quite fascinating to Hunter, but here I want to focus on his use of the word ‘spying’. It’s a bit loaded, and I think this is one of our first glimpses of how he slips in these little conversational barbs with that same fond look and warm tone.

As soon as Belos turns around to directly address him, Hunter straightens up, coming to a sort of attention. Belos is relaxed, playful even, but Hunter’s taking it very seriously, and it seems to me that he heard that teasing question as an accusation. And indeed, what Belos is asking here is: “Why are you here?” with an emphasis on the fact that Hunter was sneaking around.

Once more Hunter is tentative and unsure. He doesn’t really seem to want to bring this up. I get the impression he had to work himself up to coming in here in the first place, and then the conversation seemed to be going so well, with Belos being open and telling him stories, but now he’s got to bring the mood down by bringing up the thing he’s worried about - why Belos switched him out with Kikimora.

But as little as he wants to bring it up, he needs to know. He wants to understand why, wants the chance to try to prove himself, and also, he was asked a direct question - and we have seen that Hunter isn’t very good at lying. Omitting information or misdirecting, sure, but not outright lying.

And then, of course, we get to That Fucking Speech. This is where the scene got really good for me, because the next thirty seconds or so are just pure, weapons-grade compressed emotional cruelty. 

Right here, though, this is important. “Everyone has a use, Hunter.” This is a belief we see Belos operate by in a lot of different circumstances. People are tools to him, and he manipulates and wields them in order to get what he wants, then discards them when he’s done. 

It’s also the guiding principle of Hunter’s life. He believes entirely in this idea, that everyone has a use, that he specifically has a use, and he sees it simultaneously as a gift Belos has bestowed on him - a purpose and a future for a boy who didn’t ever think he’d have either - and a cage he’s been placed in. Having a use is a dual-edged sword, because it gives him a place and makes him worthy, but also means there are expectations he has to meet and therefore consequences if he doesn’t meet them.

We see just how thoroughly he’s been conditioned to believe that later on in this episode with how he talks and acts during the trip to Eclipse Lake. But this, right here, it isn’t just that Belos says this to him, reinforcing the lesson: it’s how he says it that’s important too.

This entire time, he’s approached Hunter with fondness and warmth. He’s treated him like a family member, like someone who he cares about. This interaction has been intimate and casual. When he says that everyone has a use, he doesn’t speak harshly or coldly. He smiles, he puts his hand on Hunter’s shoulder, he speaks in the tone of a teacher imparting a lesson.

Hunter has come to believe that he only has worth when he is fulfilling a purpose which Belos defines, but this isn’t because Belos tells him he’s worthless if he doesn’t. It’s because Belos tells him he has a purpose, in the manner of a man passing on the wisdom of his age, and then offers a reward for living up to that purpose. He doesn’t simply punish Hunter for failing to, but offers Hunter the promise of greater care and affection and approval if he succeeds, which is much more powerful.

Before I get into the rest of this speech, I also want to talk about Belos’s use of physical contact as a tool of manipulation. Belos changes the emotional distance between the two of them frequently during their interactions in order to set a certain tone, and physical touch is one way he does it. He doesn’t come across as particularly distant or withholding in that way - he actually touches Hunter in two out of the three scenes we see them interact in!

Sure, he’s not pulling Hunter in for a big hug, but he’s physically affectionate. The thing is, though, that it occurs entirely according to what Belos wants. Hunter doesn’t get to initiate or ask for touch; he simply receives it. It’s something that happens to him. 

In s2e6, at the beginning, Belos puts his hand on Hunter’s shoulder in a similar way while looming over him, to lean on the sense of an emotional connection between them while he tells Hunter to be careful and not get hurt because of wild magic. 

Then in this scene here, he repeats the gesture as he delivers his lesson. He then shortly deepens the touch from a hand on the shoulder - fond but distant - to an arm around the shoulders, which he uses to physically control Hunter by walking him down the stairs and out of the room. Hunter has no choice but to move with him, and so Belos exerts both physical and emotional control over him with this single gesture.

So it isn’t necessarily that Hunter is starved of affection or touch, but rather that he receives them conditionally and without any control over them. Any form of intimacy is at Belos’s discretion to give or withhold, and Hunter simply has to guess what mood Belos is in and what actions will bring about the result he wants. Since it’s unpredictable, and Belos can change the rules at any time without telling him, he never knows where he stands and he can’t settle into stable patterns of behavior.

This makes it much harder for him to understand the patterns he’s stuck in. There is no pattern, except that Belos will do whatever he feels is most effective to manipulate and destabilize Hunter at any given time. Hunter is trying to put together a puzzle with a handful of pieces that don’t match, and Belos has the box image. 

Unpredictable stimulus like this makes it almost impossible to respond rationally or in a consistent manner. If it’s negative, like an unpredictable punishment, then the person subjected to it simply becomes anxiously avoidant. They live in constant fear of a punishment that they can’t predict or plan for. Because it could happen at any time, they feel like it will happen at any time, and they have to always be prepared for it. 

So you get Hunter being nervous, trying to read Belos’s mood, trying to interpret the doublespeak and hidden implications he knows are in Belos’s speech, trying to suss out some hint or sign of what it is he’s meant to be doing and how to act correctly and therefore avoid punishment.

When the stimulus is positive, you basically get gambling. Hunter knows he can get a reward - his uncle’s love and approval - but he never quite knows when or how he’s going to get it. Sometimes, when he thinks he needs to be stiff and formal, Belos is intimate and warm. Sometimes, when he’s speaking from a place of love and concern, Belos demands distance and formality. 

The most reliable way he knows to get it is to succeed, but he only vaguely knows what Belos expects of him, so he just tries to frantically come up with anything that sounds plausibly like a success or in line with what he knows Belos wants or has wanted in the past and then do that in the hopes that it’ll work.

That’s much harder to break away from than if he reliably knew he would not get rewarded. It’s much harder to plan for than if he reliably knew when and for what and how he would be rewarded. It’s an abuse tactic designed to keep the victim incredibly disoriented and off-balance, unable to comprehend the patterns of behavior they’re being subjected to, blaming themself and trying to alter their own actions to try and gain some sense of control over their circumstances - but control isn’t possible.

So, anyway, onto the rest of that speech. Remember, this is Belos’s answer to “Why did you switch me out with Kikimora?”

“Everyone has a use. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders…” I find the line about Kikimora interesting. At first, I interpreted it be Belos subtly saying that he knows Kikimora’s been plotting against Hunter, and that he isn’t planning to do anything about it. That Hunter needs to be able to handle it, and if he can’t, then he isn’t worthy.

I don’t think that anymore - I think that Belos intentionally sent Kikimora to Eclipse Lake knowing it was a fool’s errand as a way of punishing or potentially getting rid of her for having tried to kill Hunter, who he needs around and in one piece - but I think Hunter may have interpreted it that way.

Hunter, after all, knows that Belos doesn’t strictly mean exactly what he says here, but he’s also not always that good at accurately reading the subtext. He also, later, takes “stay safe in the castle” to mean “go do something to prove yourself or I’m replacing you”, and I’m pretty sure Belos did indeed want him to stay the fuck home. That’s the danger of cultivating an environment of mind-reading - sometimes your mind doesn’t get read correctly.

Then we get to this line: “And as for you, well…”

Look at Hunter’s face and body language. As he has been throughout the entire scene, he’s so incredibly attentive to Belos, like Belos is the only thing that exists. He’s afraid, too. He desperately wants to know what his purpose is, what his use is, how he can prove himself.

And Belos knows it. He’s drawing it out, teasing Hunter again. He’s being deliberately very cruel, pushing buttons that he himself has spent who knows how long installing to throw Hunter into a panic. And then he’s still very vague! 

Hunter obviously wants concrete answers. He wants to know why he was switched out, he wants to know if he’s being punished, he wants to know what his purpose is and what he’s meant to do. He wants to know how to act. He needs firm, specific directions, but instead he’s left to struggle through a sucking swamp of implication and misdirection, left to intuit Belos’s desires and punished for his failure to. 

(And, of course, the beauty of this sort of treatment is that even if he does do everything exactly right, if it isn’t convenient for Belos to praise or reward him at that moment, then he can just invent an infraction. How is Hunter going to know the difference?)

Instead, Belos simply reiterates that the Titan - an entity only Belos can speak to - has ‘big plans’ for Hunter. They’re very important, yes, but Hunter doesn’t get to know what they are. Belos is the keeper of that information. Belos is the one who molds Hunter into who and what he’s supposed to be to live up to those plans, and Hunter simply has to try to grow as he’s instructed.

And then of course we have this shit. “It would be such a hassle to find a replacement.” That’s just pure intentional emotional terrorism. He knows Hunter is afraid of being replaced and constantly trying to live up to his vague, unexplained expectations. He intentionally cultivates the atmosphere of competition and backstabbing in his coven, encouraging people to fight with each other for his attention.

The message there is very clear: he could replace Hunter, and in fact has already spent enough time thinking about doing so that he has an idea of what he would have to do. He doesn’t want to, because it would be a hardship, but it’s completely within the realm of possibility.

Furthermore, because it would be a hassle, that means that if Hunter does fail badly enough to warrant replacing, his failure is, in and of itself, causing problems for Belos. One last disappointment. 

This threat is not particularly veiled at all. Hunter reacts visibly and intensely to it, absolutely panicked. And yet Belos delivers it in that exact same fond, warm tone he’s said everything else in! He could almost be making a joke, the sort of teasing “I’ll give you away/get a new one” type of joke that some parents make, that in a different relationship might indeed land as one.

It doesn’t here, though, because it’s not. It’s a threat. It’s manipulative cruelty. It’s of a piece with “These outbursts are painful, and so is watching you fail.” There is a point past which not even Belos can keep giving Hunter chances, and it would hurt Belos to have to reach that point and dispose of Hunter - but he will if he has to. 

This is why I think that while Hunter definitely needed to hear Amity tell him that there are people who won’t make him feel worthless, he’s not actually ready to hear it or really apply it to himself. It’s not that Belos makes him feel worthless, it’s that if he screws up, he will be worthless. Belos is only telling him directly what will happen. He’s making both his expectations and the consequences clear. If Hunter brings those consequences on himself through his own poor behavior, then that’s not really something Belos did, now is it?

Ironically, I think Belos really does want Hunter to stay in the castle. He does need him. I think he was genuinely rattled to hear Hunter was presumed dead for a period of time, because it would have disrupted his plans. (Also, maybe he does care about his nephew, maybe not.)

Hunter, however, doesn’t even assume for a moment that that’s the case. Which is extremely sad in its own way, but, then, he clearly learns well from example, and he’s been shown plenty of times that his physical health and safety aren’t really that important to Belos.

I think he’s pretty desperate here, too, to have been pushed to being so blunt. He tries to interpret and understand the implications, but here he’s been driven to just outright asking if this is emotional punishment for his failures.

Which earns him this chilling and sudden departure from the avuncular warmth of the entire rest of the scene. He spoke out of turn, refused to accept what he was told, and correctly identified the abusive dynamic going on of how Belos is manipulating him - none of which Belos likes.

So now Belos is a bit more overt with the stick. He lets that look of cold disapproval and disappointment linger for a silent beat or two, then slowly and deliberately smiles a much less kind smile and simply tells Hunter, “Good night” before shutting the door in his face.

So, in a way, that’s an answer. Yes, Hunter, this is punishment for your failure. No, you’re not going to be handed a chance to make up for it. Go to bed. 

He’s also, in essence, saying, “Guess.” He won’t confirm or deny. He’ll leave it as subtext, up to Hunter to interpret the nuances of tone and expression and precise word choice for any possible meaning he can extrapolate. He doesn’t have to be overtly cruel to Hunter, because he can just do this, and then Hunter will torture himself.

And that’s what makes Belos so insidious an abuser to me. He knows exactly what he’s doing here and he does it incredibly well. The damage from this sort of treatment is absolutely debilitating; it takes years to even begin to understand the extent to which one was manipulated and abused, much less figure out how to process and reverse it and develop healthy patterns of relating to others.

And it’s so hard to identify. You can’t tell Hunter his uncle doesn’t love him, it’s just not true. His uncle smiles at him and puts his arm around him. His uncle tells him stories about his life and his travels in the Human Realm. His uncle teases him. His uncle speaks to him with fondness and warmth. His uncle teaches him how to live in the world. His uncle believes in him, his uncle knows he’s special, his uncle knows he can be better. 

You can see throughout that Hunter is hurt. He feels the knives Belos is sliding between his ribs here. But he doesn’t realize he’s bleeding. He doesn’t understand that Belos is being cruel, because Belos does it so gently and kindly, and Hunter’s been taught that this, right here, is what being loved feels like. This is how family treats you.

And on the surface, it is. I have seen plenty of people say that this scene made Belos seem softer, more personable, more relatable. That’s not just because they’re misinterpreting it, it’s because he’s doing that on purpose. 

He’s trying to come across that way. He’s presenting the appearance of a loving family member to Hunter and using that to manipulate him with. Someone who hasn’t been emotionally abused in this way or doesn’t have the context for this relationship would see this and think it was perfectly normal, because it looks and sounds that way on so many different levels, and that’s something Belos is doing on purpose.

(Whether or not he truly does love or care for Hunter is honestly beside the point. As I mentioned, I find it reductive to assume abuse and love cannot coexist, because it’s my experience that they almost always do. Additionally, I find it just more interesting to assume Belos does love him, but is still willing to hurt and use him for his own goals. But the point really isn’t what Belos feels, but how his actions make Hunter feel.)

So that’s how we get Hunter in the state he’s in for the rest of this episode, rushing frantically to do exactly what he was told not to do because he’s so afraid of being replaced and so desperate to prove himself. Belos winds him up and Hunter goes marching, abusing himself on Belos’s behalf.

Meanwhile, Belos hasn’t said or done a single thing that an outsider who isn’t familiar with this type of abuse or someone who’s privy to their other private conversations could find objectionable. He especially hasn’t said or done anything Hunter could concretely point to and say that it was done to hurt him. Hunter knows the end result is that he is hurt, yes, but that’s not his uncle’s fault, it’s the consequences of his own behavior.

It’s just incredibly insidious and very densely layered. The folks on the writing team here really knew what they were doing with this. 

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.

#hunter toh #emperor belos #the owl house #long post #meta #emotional abuse #oh boy is it ever #the experience of writing this was just going 'i want to put belos in a jar and not poke any airholes in the lid' every 20 seconds #somehow this one is longer than the other one. how is it longer. help me