#me now with almost no free time: wtf do i do i have so many things i am paralyzed

[lionfanged]

say hewwo and plot w/ me on discord @ catticus 🐱#1300 catching up on my long overdue video-gaming in between writing stuff...

#▲ ↠ ♛ ❛ the chicken wizard ; wizard of all chickens┊✧ OUT OF CHARACTER #i miss u free time #me: i am bored i have too much free time #me now with almost no free time: wtf do i do i have so many things i am paralyzed

[phyrestartr]

Vampire | Miguel x M!Reader

Vampire!Miguel x Reader W/C: 5.9k

#NSFW, vampires, blood, gore, violence, bottom!reader, top!Miguel, mentions of sex work, mentions of assault, it's kinda cute idk, posessive behaviour, questionable relationship, reader is morally grey, reader is lowkey a criminal though lol, Johnny Blaze = Nic Cage 5ever sorry not sorry

Note: I FINISHED IT! Lost steam with editing so some bits may be kinda weird and word-y, but I really enjoyed writing this honestly :clap: ty guys for voting for me to finish this o(--( I actually finished it so quickly wtf--

--

Vampires. Blood-sucking, man-killing, devil-calling creatures. Many feared them, even now, even after the legends of Dracula faded into obscurity and out of the minds of mortal men. But there were some who kept weary watch on the old castle looming before your meager town: older folks, the ones with bleached scars and haunted voices, with quivering hands and a phobia of the dark. 

You thought they all spun tales, convinced themselves of a time that never happened thanks to whatever their parents hushedly told them come the waning of the sun. “Don't leave the house after dark,” “be wary of the man you know not,” “pray to God for his protection,” is what you figured they'd been told. You couldn't blame them. Not really. Mass hysteria, mass lies told to the young had a penchant for warping their minds, destroying their futures. 

But still, you'd listen. Face alight with a smile, one ear turned their way as you poured drinks for whatever patron came bumbling your way that night. There was one man, one who claimed to have been touched by the devil himself, momentarily transformed into something wicked and unholy, who frequented the establishment. 

“Come on now, Johnny,” you chided with a laugh, “you don't really believe all that rubbish. Touched by the devil? You Americans really are the dramatic sort, aren't you?” 

“You don't need to believe all of it,” Johnny said mildly. “You just need to believe a sliver of it. It'll do you some good. Keep you safe.” 

You smiled to yourself as you busily made a drink for a new customer. “Yeah? Keep me safe from what, exactly?” Your eyes met his, then, and you found your blood stood in place for a moment. 

“You know what.” The devil. He'd said it too many times to count without uttering his name. “Just be smart.”

“I'm always smart,” you said with a phony laugh, the sort you used to lull women and men into some cheap sense of comfort. 

“Smart people do dumb things, too.” He took a swig of his drink before peering down at the amber pooling against crystal. “Like sneaking around old, unhallowed castles.” 

You pursed your lips. “I'm just curious, old man, you don't need to worry. I've not been inside, yeah? Just looked ‘round the outside of the old place.” That's probably filled with loads of goods. 

But Johnny only stared at you, calculating, thinking. It almost unnerved you. 

“Just be careful.” 

And in that moment, a man whose name you didn’t know, but whose body you knew too well, walked into the bar. His shoulders were impossibly broad, his frame unnaturally tall, and from the glimpses you were allowed of his face hidden away under the brim of that hat, you remembered strong lines and proud cheekbones. His eyes, a bizarre colour, always glimmered ruby in the firelight thanks to some strange disease you never quite remembered the name of, and his hair, a dark oaken hue, wisped like tendrils of shadow rolling off his strong neck. 

He didn’t look at you, but you couldn’t look away. Your gaze followed him to where he found a quiet seat off to the side by a small table. He wouldn’t order anything. He never did. He only ever waited for your shift to end. 

“Kid?” Johnny prodded, freeing you from your momentary curse.

You blinked and sputtered, nodding in earnest to whatever Johnny had said. “I–right. Careful. I’m always careful.” 

–

Just be careful.

But that was impossible with this otherworldly spirit around you, waiting for you every other night just for the sake of bedding you, and leaving before morning with nothing but a stack of bills (or sometimes some jewelry, if you were lucky) to remember him by. Your favourite client by far. Your only client, per his request.

Your fists twisted into the bedsheets as you gasped with every brutal crashing of the man’s hips against yours as he took you from behind. He was in a bad mood tonight, it seemed. Normally, he liked to take it slow, he liked to savour his meal, but for some reason–

His hand clasped over your mouth when his teeth tore into your neck again. The cry that left you was hoarse and tired, but not so surprised, no; the man had his kinks, and one just so happened to be biting. He did quite the number on you, too, always breaking skin and leaving scars and scabs in his wake. But it felt good. It felt right to be claimed. The greedy, ugly little part of your heart wanted people to know you were taken and owned by this strange, captivating man.

“Fuck, I–” You buried your face into the mattress as another orgasm hit, striking your dull nerves like hammer on hot iron thrust after thrust. Soon enough, you felt his body stutter against yours just before an uncanny, liquid gold filled your guts and seeped into your core–he was finally done. Finally. Though part of you wished it didn’t have to end. 

His teeth, the pointed, feral things, dislodged from your neck before he ran the flat of his tongue against the weeping wound. Somehow, that always staunched the bleeding. You didn’t quite understand it, but you weren’t exactly well-versed in medicine.

“Tired already?” He mocked in that smokey, American accent. “Thought the young had more than that to offer.” The purr of his voice soothed the pulsing start of a headache as you came down from your high. Yet another strange effect he had on you. 

You took a good handful of moments to catch your breath before you tried to hazard an answer. “I’m–you’re in some kind of mood, darling; can’t blame me for your brutality.” You turned your head to rest your cheek against the scratchy sheets, and the beast took the opportunity to leave nips and kisses along your jaw. 

“Tch. I’m just reminding you who you belong to. Where you belong.” Sharp teeth grazed your skin again, and you shuddered. “No one likes to see theirs fawning over another man.” 

You strained to look back at him. “You–you mean Johnny? He’s not–I wouldn’t let him bed me, are you mad?” A rough push of his hips against yours reprimanded you. “H-He’s a mate, love, that’s all.”

The man twitched. “A mate?” 

“A friend, you bloody idiot.”

He relaxed, but still sought confirmation. “A friend.”

“A friend, indeed. Father-figure, maybe.” With a bit of effort, you managed to wriggle free from the strength of the man pinning you in place, and laid on your back to gaze up at him. “I’m not interested in him, he’s not interested in men, so you needn’t worry a thing.” One of your worn hands reached up and smoothed over the curve of his sharp cheekbone, drawing a pleased hum from the chamber of the beast’s chest. 

“Fine.” He rested his weight on you, and you sighed, content and warmed. But that bony chin digging into your chest was a tad bit fucking irritating. “Then if he’s not trying to fuck you, what makes you listen to him for hours on end, hm?” Hah. Annoyed. Jealous. Quite endearing. 

“He has stories to tell,” you offered. “Words about the devil and the curse of the undead. About Dracula and that old castle.” 

The man’s brows raised in interest. “Oh? And you like ghost stories, is that it? Here I figured I'd be enough to keep your mind entertained,” he said with a taunting smirk, like he thought your suggested belief in those spooky tales was laughable. 

Heat washed over your face. “I–you–shut up, I just like me a good story, is that so wrong? Tch, stupid American.”

He laughed, a sound you adored to hell and back. “I’ll keep it in mind. Might have a few good stories up my sleeve, too.” His head tilted the slightest bit. “Maybe then your eyes won’t wander.”

“Terribly jealous one, aren’t you? I never would’ve guessed it.” You raked your hands through his hair and he sighed, deep and ancient. But your words were true–this man, your mysterious client-turned-lover, he captivated all wherever he traveled. With so many eyes on him, why did he want you to look nowhere else but to him? 

Greedy man. That’s what you decided. He wanted everything and more. 

“Other men don't get to look at what's mine,” he mumbled after a time of you pampering him with pets and scritches. “And you're mine, for the record.” 

“Hm. I quite like the sound of that.” 

“Then marry me.” 

“I'm not sure I can,” you lamented. “I find myself in trouble too often. It puts me on the run, jumping from town to city and back again.” 

“You'd never have to run again if you let me have you.” He picked himself up and loomed over you, brushing his nose against yours as he spoke against your lips. “You'd be safe, cared for, never want for anything. None of those sacks of shit would would lay a finger on you again.” His lips trailed down, brushing against the thick vein in your neck. “I think it's for the best if you agree.” 

You almost argued back, but the large hand engulfing your throat gave you pause. He didn't hurt you, no, but gave you a silent warning. The power that man held over you contradicted his weakness to your wants and desires, and twisted your thoughts into unorganized knots. 

“I'll think on it,” you breathed, not wanting to say yes but unwilling to say no. You didn't want marriage, but commitment was a tantalizing idea. You'd just never thought it'd happen to you. 

His eyes came back to yours again. Your heart fluttered at the glints of carmine shimmering in candle-lit eyes. God, he was beautiful. 

“I better like your answer.” 

–

You left. You hated doing it, you hated running from your problems and whatever seemed to haunt you day to day, but too much happened in too short a time. 

For one, the landlord demanded more and more rent money from you when he noticed your gifted jewelry and newly tailored coat, and then, when you didn't give it to him, he took to trying to get payment another way. You shot him, obviously. 

Which led to your second reason for leaving–you'd shot a man and fled the scene, unknowing if he was alive or not, and uncaring of the outcome, quite frankly. You figured the lowlife would be more pressed about the money than dying, anyway. 

And third, the bar you worked at found out you'd been swindling and stealing on the job, pocketing tips and taking home near-empty bottles to refill with something of your own design to sell on the streets. Admittedly, it was fine work, but you'd long abandoned that method of money-making once that stranger wandered into your life and offered you more cash than you could imagine.

But you liked that bar. You liked those patrons. No strings attached.

And that's why you were back. Not with the intention to stay, no; you were back to scout out the castle after getting confirmation from some university lads about how valuable the old place was. You figured you could find enough in there with the scoundrels you'd come with, and maybe you could pay the old owner back before leaving for good. 

You'd never have to run again if you'd let me have you. 

Maybe you should've just said yes.

– 

The castle stood beautifully, even with the screams of the slaughtered ringing through the halls. It was big, too, eagerly letting you get lost in its enchanting halls and inviting rooms as you tried in vain to remember the way out. 

That's when you crashed into one of the uni snobs you'd come with, Harry. He was a mess, clothes and hair out of place for once, with a spray of sticky blood coating his face and white shirt. Osborn must've seen their tormentor. 

He grabbed your shoulders as you grabbed his arms. “We have to go, we have to go–” he chanted, pulling and pushing you in undecided directions. 

“Osborn, where did you see it? Where–” Another scream gave you a hint. Your eyes snapped down the hallway, staring deep into the torchlit halls and finding nothing but the unknown staring back. 

Then, there were footsteps. Slow, methodical things that rung to a tune hidden in your memories.

“We have to go,” you whispered, like that'd help. “Osborn, we have to–” a splitting pain electrocuted your senses and sent you stumbling backwards. The world spun. Your head ached. Funeral bells shrieked. Worst of all, that dress shirt and that fancy jacket you loved so much were stained suddenly, a foul colour of darkness that reeked of pennies and iron. It took you too long to look back to the student, and to see the smoking pistol held out in his shaky hand. 

“I had to,” Osborn whispered, so, so haunted. “I had to. You understand.” And quite frankly, you did understand; wounding a lamb to leave behind for a wolf to indulge in was a sure way to let a farmer escape. 

Harry took off. You grasped your stomach and leaned hard against the wall, trying to pull yourself together to make some kind of run for it before those languid steps found you and cut your story short. But you felt so tired, so dizzy. The red weeping under your hand and the bewildered pants leaving you left you colder and colder. You wondered if Osborn had shot himself in the foot with this one (hah), killing the sacrificial lamb, rendering it useless to what was believed to be a vampire of all things. They devoured the living, not the dead. 

Clack, clack, clack. The haunting echo of fine shoes on wooden slats passed you by, then vanished all together. You collapsed to your knees and heaved in the burning air just as a deafening screech ricocheted through the halls with the echo of frantic gunfire, and the slosh of viscera. You fought back the burn of bile in your throat when you braved a look; there laid a body on the floor, and a corpse standing above it, illuminated just barely by torchlight. 

His shoulders were impossibly broad, his frame unnaturally tall–

“We could have avoided all of this,” the creature growled. 

–from the glimpses you were allowed of his face hidden in the swath of darkness around him, you remembered strong lines and proud cheekbones–

“But you didn’t listen.”

–his eyes, a bizarre colour, glimmered ruby in the firelight thanks to some strange disease you never quite remembered the name of– 

“Why couldn’t you just listen?”

–and his hair, a dark oaken hue, wisped like tendrils of shadows rolling off his strong neck.

He appeared beside you so suddenly, so soundlessly, you wouldn’t have known he approached if it weren’t for the strength of your fluttering eyelids seeking the truth. You stared hard at the tips of his leather shoes. Perhaps you should’ve known it was him all along. Perhaps you had known. 

He knelt before you and forced your chin up, making your eyes meet his as he stared down through you. Blood marred his face, matching the wine-red hue of his furious, gem-cut eyes; even like this, teeth bared, about to kill you, he was beautiful. 

“Look what you’ve done. This is your fault–”

But that beauty was wasted on such a foul-mouthed monster. 

“My fault?” You spat. “Fuck you.” You tore your chin from his grip, but his hand sought out your throat instead. “Don’t fucking touch me–”

He smiled, bitter but so wholly and infuriatingly amused before he chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ll do whatever I want with you.” And before you could lash out, before you could throw a fist at his stupid face, he yanked you in and bit.

A winter breeze rippled through you. Cold. Piercing. And you gradually froze like water dripping from the gutters, no longer able to fight back, too sluggishly slow to do anything about your fate. You breathed hard, feeling the hole in your stomach and ache of your heart weep and worsen with every shattering breath you took. Your hands, gentle in their weakness, pawed at his chest and sought a spot to dig in and hold on to for dear life as the waking world turned its back to you.

But despite the bitterness, and despite words exchanged, he held the side of your face as you faded in and out of consciousness. He called something, and a flurry of orange wisps appeared above you. 

–

You awoke to the echoes of a dream, one you hadn’t had for a while. A cloudless night where you’d been caught in bed by a taken woman’s man and beaten half to death; in return, you shredded through the man's chest with a knife from the kitchen while the wife watched on in silence. You'd been ready to kill her, too, slit her throat in one easy motion, but she never screamed, never looked at the wild animal with fear. 

Tell the police he attacked you, miss. 

Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

You fumbled through the alleys after leaving the scene, but others, foul things that roamed the streets where not even rats lingered, found you, threatened to use up the last of what you had to offer this pitiful world. It seemed as though they disappeared in the time it took you to blink, though, and a man was left, standing in their wake. He looked somewhat disheveled, like he’d just finished some grand task, but he was just so put together, too. You struggled to make sense of it, but you didn’t really care to. 

“Well, isn't that impressive,” you said with a breathless laugh. “Not a shred of blood on you. Are you the ripper the paper’s gone on and on about?”

The being glanced over his shoulder, eyes alight in curious mirth. He turned your way and stepped closer. You saw it then, the slightest bit of dark smears on his face.

“Is that what they're calling me?” He adjusted his cuffs, and rolled his shoulders. “Huh.” 

Adrenaline poured into your heart. “You're quite the dangerous man, aren't you, sir?” you swallowed thickly as you looked him over: fine shoes, expensive coat, luxurious rings. “And, ah, well-off. You wouldn't happen to be interested in spreading the wealth, hm?” 

His hand cupped your jaw, sticky with freezing blood, and he leaned in. The pungent scent of iron curled your gut as he breathed you in, making up his mind with what to do with you. Then, with the dry, warm back of his gloved hand, he caressed the side of your face and watched your eyelids flutter, devouring the simple gesture. 

“Let's see if you can convince me to.”

-

“I know you’re awake,” he mumbled.

Curiosity willed your eyes open, and you gazed down at the hollow tube connecting you to the walking corpse. You fought to ease the jump of your heart, but it became impossible when a dark red raced from the vampire's arm down into yours. 

“Is that going to make me like you?” You whispered, nerves twitching and burning with the bite of restless fire ants. 

Crimson eyes found yours and looked deep. “It won't. You can relax.” But you weren't convinced, and your lover could tell. “You'd have to drink my blood.” 

“Why're you giving me your blood, then?” 

“You'll die without it.” He pumped something, you now noticed, and realized it was what drew the blood from his veins and drained it into yours. 

Curious. “Were you a man of medicine?” 

He scoffed. “Still am.” He threw you a wary look, one brow raised. “How many more questions are you–” 

“Your name?” That was something you'd requested before, but always through a veil of uncertainty. You didn't like to ask much of him. He didn't ask much of you. But you didn't know him, yet he knew you. 

Your vampire frowned, unapproving. “What difference will it make?” 

“You asked me to fucking marry you,” you bit out. “And yet you keep so many secrets from me, still. I've given you more than I have, and you can't even–” 

“Miguel.” You both paused–him to gauge your reaction, and you out of shock. “Miguel O'hara.” 

The cracks in your chest mended, just slightly. Miguel O'hara. What a name that was. Formidable and wholly suiting the beast of a man you'd known and craved for far too many years. 

“Miguel O'hara,” you whispered, staring tiredly at the red thread connecting the two of you. The name felt good on your tongue. 

Nothing more was said, then. He must've still felt the tension in the air, or maybe the coil of apprehension in your body, for he worked on in silence, quietly saving your life for no reason. 

It was when he pulled free the needle that you found the will to break the silence on your own. 

“Why didn't you tell me?” It came out a pathetic whisper, sounding as broken as your mind felt. 

He paused before pulling the needle from his own arm. “Tell you what?” 

It was a good question. You didn't know what to ask him to elaborate on. You didn't know if you wanted him to elaborate on anything, actually, because it'd make it too real, too tangible. 

“Everything.” And when he stayed silent, you narrowed it down to just, “all of…you.” 

Miguel licked his thumb and stroked it soothingly against the pinprick of a wound while his brows furrowed and his lips twisted into something of a frown. “How could I?” You both watched the tiny dot of red cease weeping. “If you'd moved on and you knew, it could put everything at risk.” 

If I'd moved on. It felt wrong. It felt uncomfortable to know he felt that somewhere between his ribs and his heart. And for how long? How long had he not trusted you? Did he even trust you in that moment, knowing what and who he truly was? Or were you now doomed to this castle just as he was? 

“I'll let you rest,” Miguel said as he clasped his medical case shut and stood. “Lyla'll bring you food.” 

Thump, thump, thump, echoed his footsteps, those fine shoes muffled by old carpet; but the sharp clack, clack, clack in the hollow echoes of your memories, just before the truth revealed itself to you, swallowed up your thoughts.

“(Name),” Miguel said, and your eyes opened to find the tall, proud back of his silhouette stood at the door, one hand clutching the knob. “Don’t leave this room.” 

And he left you there, heart aching, mind melting, soul shattering. 

–

Solitude reminded you of what else happened. The lads you'd come here with, nothing more than acquaintances, were missing, or perhaps dead. It ate at your mind. Could you have done something different? Could you have convinced him to let them go?

More importantly, would Miguel let you leave? He claimed he wanted to marry you, but words were just words if not put to use with actions. Staying by his side would mean stomaching the fact he'd consume countless other people, wouldn't it? How were you expected to watch your partner(?), your groom-to-be(?), hold and pierce others the way he promised to you and only you?

But could you let him stay here alone, hunted and hated by believers, laughed at by the average skeptic? If you were not here, how many more would walk in on a dare, and meet a terrible end? They didn’t matter, no, but the legend of a vampire would turn more and more true, summoning devil-hunters to his doorstep, stake and flames in-hand.

The thoughts plagued you, filling your head with the terrible buzzing of bees. You couldn't fathom why you cared so much; most of your life you'd lived for your own sake, doing what needed to be done to get by, to have a better tomorrow. You hated other people. A few of them you'd personally buried six feet under, whether they were dead or lived still, and you never batted an eye. You had no patience for those who'd oppose you. 

You would have killed Osborn yourself if O’hara hadn't. And that was the truth. That'd been the truth the whole time, ever since you saw just how expensively he and the others lived; gold dripped from their tongues, silver ran through their veins, diamonds fell from their eyes. You wanted to claim a bit of that for yourself. 

And Miguel had shared his wealth with you, just in exchange for a bit of blood and your body for the night. Surely you could look past what he did to survive, even if it put your heart into a spiral. 

Lost in thought, you found your way to his chambers, freely disobeying his orders

He lounged in a clawfoot bath. Stuffy heat lulled you into a daze, something like a carefree summer evening wherein the sun took too long to vanish. Though when he noticed you approach, shedding clothes the entire way, the heat grew near unbearable.

Miguel's claws creaked against the enamel in anticipation when you stepped into the water. You watched him with the same delicate intrigue as prey investigating something that could be a threat as you found your place between his spread legs, getting close enough to feel the pounding of his undead heart. You'd only seen his body in dim candlelight or withering rays of the moon, never truly illuminated by the glow of floating chandeliers nor the collection of sconces arching from the wall.

Slowly, your fingertips dragged along muscle, warm and firm under your calloused touch. The scars littering your hands and knuckles shone so stark against his perfect complexion. He really did seem too perfect. It would have sparked jealousy in your gut if he didn't apparently belong to you, and you to him. No one else got to touch. No one else got to see. 

Now, you were built finely yourself, but the man before you was something entirely different. You didn't know if it was thanks to his supernatural existence, but his body was built in a near-animalistic way that screamed power and speed, not similar enough to a human. Though, looking back, you did always think his manners in bed were more beast than man. The growling, the clawing, the marks of claim on the nape of your neck, it all clicked and made sense in the whirlwind of your mind. 

“I think a werewolf would suit you better,” you admitted. “What with the claws and biting and general uncouth behaviour.” 

Miguel huffed. “You must be talking about yourself.” His voice rang low and quiet, too aware he might scare off his prized hare if he put too much into his words. “You're the one acting like a rabid animal.” 

“No, you.” 

“Don't think so.” 

“You're difficult.” 

“You're one to talk.” 

“How long have you been like this?” Your fingers combed through his hair, and his eyes fluttered shut. “A vampire. Or whatever you are.” 

“Lost track,” he said, sounding too honest. “I have records. Notes. From experiments. The dates on those are close to when it happened.” Experiments? Colour you intrigued.

“So you weren't exactly practicing white medicine?” You tilted your head in thought. “You were doing something more–” 

“It wasn't black magic,” Miguel scoffed. “It was science. Genetics. Studying how other organisms function, learning about them.” His expression darkened just the slightest bit. “Trying to…recreate them.” 

Your head spun a little trying to fill in the blanks. It wasn’t too hard, but it was hard to accept as reality. But if anyone were to unlock the damned secrets of immortality, of course it'd be this man. This cocky, genius, charming man. God really did have favourites, though they always did seem to disappoint him.

“I see. So you're telling me you're a genius who rebirthed vampires,” you summed up, letting your hands melt down his body, below the water's surface. “How is it you only get more and more impressive, Mr.O'hara?” 

A smug smirk bloomed across his lips. “It's just in my nature.” His head tilted back with a pleased sigh when your touch finally landed on that annoying thing prodding your thigh. “I have no choice but to succeed.” 

“Tch. Americans are so arrogant.” You hummed and leaned in, ghosting kisses along his vulnerable neck while your hand pleased him slowly, teasingly. His talons screeched against the tub again. “But maybe you have reason to be, hm? Given how accomplished you are.” 

A dark, scarlet haze like the sky of the blood moon illuminated Miguel's eyes in the few moments they slipped open to catch a glimpse of you. You wondered if he needed a reality check. Maybe he thought he was hallucinating, maybe he thought that you weren't really there despite being pressed up against him and murmuring useless quips into his skin. You'd be sure to leave an impression on him; your hand quickened, gripping tighter and pulling the way he directed you to far too many years ago, but his barbed hand caught your wrist. 

“Stop,” he gasped. His chest rose and fell with his light panting as he stared you down. Want radiated off of him like an animal starved. You knew what was rattling around in his mind before he even spoke. 

“You want to fuck me, is that it?” 

Miguel's breath hitched. 

–

You made him ravenous. You were the only thing he wanted to feast on, delicacies and sanguine temptations be damned. 

One of his large hands held your waist in a death grip while his other hand held your head down, forcing your incoherent ramblings into the soft, silken sheets as he rammed you from behind like a beast in heat. You took it well, too, not that you hadn't before–he always held back, appeared to you as human when he fucked you previously. But now that you knew the truth, now that you knew what lay hidden in the dark nooks of his bones’ marrow, he felt complete. And that meant he could completely lay claim to you, too. 

He matched the curve of your back with his chest when he leaned over you, burying his nose into your neck and shoulder to indulge in your scent. Your vampire's desire to breed slowed and steadied into deep, thoughtful rolls of his hips. Perhaps his mind had caught up with him and ushered him to slow down, to abandon some of that reckless excitement. 

Miguel heard the slightest mumble of his name on your lips and leaned down further to touch his own to your cheekbone. One arm looped underneath your throat in a benign chokehold of sorts, while his other hand threaded through your hair–if he wasn't fucking you like an animal before, this makeshift mating lock he had on you sealed the deal. 

“You feel good,” Miguel murmured, voice tickling the shell of your ear. 

“Hah. I, ah, always feel good,” you tried to quip back, but your expression betrayed the fraying threads of whatever self-control you still desperately clung to. “You’re, uh…unhinged, hey?” Miguel scoffed. “Like a…a wild beast.” 

“Oh?” A purr hummed through his chest, piercing your body and rattling through your own lungs in seismic pulses. “A wild beast? Flattering.”

“Really, darling, you don't have to be such a sarcastic asshole when you're–” a hard snap of his hips sent you spiraling for a moment, “--in my ass.” 

“Maybe you should watch your mouth,” he suggested. 

“Maybe you could watch it for me,” you countered. 

The warmth of his laugh sent chills scattering across your skin. He pulled out of you and turned you over, dragging your hips back against him before his powerful body engulfed yours again. Miguel liked this more. He liked the feeling of your hands grabbing and clawing at him, the way your thighs attached to his waist, how you bit your bottom lip while your eyes screwed shut from the overwhelming feeling of your partner destroying you.

And of course, his lips could meet yours like this. The sweet tang of copper and berries, a taste so familiar and so you, was shared between tongues, kept secret in the crevices of teeth. It amazed Miguel how much one little kiss could push him over the edge and make the bed creak and groan with you as he loved on you and made sure to send the message straight to your core. 

Your hands fisted in his hair when you came undone. That lovely voice of yours poured into Miguel's eager mouth, and you tightened, pulling him to the edge and pushing him over with the might of a wild stampede. Claws nipped your skin, fangs pierced deeper, yet his rutting hit deepest, and burned you alive with unbearable, liquid heat.

–

“Why me?” You asked into the stillness of the room. 

Calm silence answered you for a long moment. The sun bloomed beyond the thick curtains, you noticed in your wait, and you wondered if you would ever miss the sight. England never truly had bright, sunny days from what you recalled; stretches of smokey, grey overcast clouded the skies and your memories more often than not. Could your vampire walk amongst the living like this?

Miguel sighed, leaning into the hand carding through his hair. “Figured you’d understand.” 

“I’d understand what?”

“Killing to survive.” 

“How long have you known?” You wondered, unsurprised. 

“Blood tells stories,” he whispered. Long, dark eyelashes fluttered a moment before crimson eyes peered open the slightest bit. “Your story’s long. Complicated. You’re too young for it.” 

A smile twitched onto your face. You adjusted in the bed, getting more comfortable on your side in those pooling, satin sheets. “So you thought I’d be an easy target for sex, then? Desperate and young as I was.”

He found your eyes, his gaze earnest and bleeding. “I–you–fine, at first it was like you said. Maybe. But after enough time, I decided you weren’t like the rest. You’re as supernatural as I am.”

“Supernaturally handsome? I agree.”

“Stop.”

“You didn’t think I’d be afraid of you.”

“I’d hoped as much.” 

“And you still didn’t tell me.” Your fingertips danced along the arch of his cheekbone, leaving pleasant sparks against his skin in their wake, unbeknownst to you. “Were you scared?”

“I’d rather have you as a man for whatever time we had together than to lose you to a beast,” he explained, cryptic as one would expect an old legend to be. “I’ve lost too much already because of…this. Because of me. I didn’t want to lose more.” Miguel’s dark brows furrowed. “If you ended up fearing me to, I–”

You silenced him with a hand over his mouth. “Enough. I understand.” You palm smoothed back up to cup his face. “You needn’t be afraid of me–well, being afraid, I suppose. I’ll stay.” You took a deep breath and leaned in, pressing your forehead to his. “This bed’s too comfortable to give up, after all.”

His breath fanned against your skin as he chuckled, tired and perhaps tinted with disbelief. “Well, you can stay here as long as you want.”

“Brilliant. Would you even let me drink your blood?”

The rumble of a growl, or perhaps a purr, rolled through his chest into yours. You searched his eyes, wondering, hoping, and found mere slices of ruby peeking out from behind eclipsing pupils. 

“We’ll see.”

#miguel o'hara x reader #miguel x reader #atsv imagine #atsv reader insert #male reader insert #miguel ohara x reader #miguel ohara x male reader #miguel x male reader #male!reader #atsv male!reader insert #atsv x reader #atsv x you #miguel x you #miguel ohara x you #miguel ohara x y/n #phyrestartr #vampire miguel #vampire!miguel #Vampire Miguel O'hara

[zeephyre]

CRITICAL ROLE CAMPAIGN 3 EPISODE 85 SPOILERS

IM LITERALLY ABOUT TO LOSE MY MIND YALL

Where do I even ??? start ???

I haven't been posting c3 as the episodes dropped in...a while actually, like right before they went to the feywild. i have many thoughts and many feelings about so many things that have happened since then and I'll summarise them so I can get to THIS episode.

fearne and ashton - love their shard powers, they're literally royalty and terrifying, and i want them to make-out. i can't wait to see them go full primordial again in a real combat situation.

imogen - save her. literally save her. free her, even. i love everything about the call of ruidus when it comes to imogen on a narrative standpoint, but...God I get so worried that we're gonna lose her. I don't mean she's gonna betray the hells, but...ruidus could take her and then i would simply perish.

laudna - before i really get into wtf went down this episode with her and she who must not be named, i gotta say... im worried. very very worried. however, that fireball was objectively the best shit ever.

fcg - i can't even really remember anything stand out abt fcg except what Sam pulled last night so.

chetney - still the heart of the team, still my baby girl, still my favourite. love him to bits.

orym - i think laudna is going to beat his ass one of these days and im... even more concerned about that after this episode. his nana morri powers are cool as fuck tho... does that make him a warlock now? i know he isn't multi-classing but wouldn't that be cool

ANYWAY WE'RE ON THE FUCKING MOON AND WE GOT MOON LORE AND EVERYTHING WAS SHITTY THEN FUN THEN SHITTY THEN FUN AGAIN THEN REALLY FUCKING SAD THEN IT ALL WENT TO SHIT AGAIN.

the moment imogen reached out to ruidus and matt mentioned that she could sense where other ruidusborn were i fucking knew that otohan was high tailing it in their direction, and i thought they instinctively knew that too but they probably got so distracted.

we were travelling for hours and had a huge fight that almost got them captured (not to be confused with the OTHER two fights that almost got them captured) and I was begging and screaming and crying for them to get a long rest safely hidden away AND THEN THEY SPLIT THE PARTY WITH BARELY ANY SPELL SLOTS OR HIT POINTS AFTER BEING DRAINED FROM ANOTHER BATTLE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM

(Sidenote, the willmaster really opened up the door to the further increase in moral pondering in a certain number of hellians. i do think using the harness is disgusting and hypocritical, but i don't condemn them for it, it just...makes me wanna vomit thinking abt what ludinus did with it. not to mention the HUNGER parallels between laudna and ludinus...its just not good yall. also??? objectively funny that fcg seemed weirded out by the idea of killing the willmaster, not just with the harness but in general, considering how many people they've killed up to this point)

idk if its just the inherent terror that an evil old hot lady can inspire that makes otohan so much more terrifying to me than ludinus. like, objectively, ludinus is a worse threat and could wipe them out EASILY but jesus otohan is like the damn reaper to me. it's the trauma from the laudna, fearne, orym massacre mixed with the underlying little drop from their uthodurn romp that let us know that resurrection spells are NOT working and idk if that got fixed bc of time passing or distance from the leylines but i really did not want to test that shit out in real time

thank...god that sam riegel is a damn genius player, that banishment of fcg and fearne was the ONLY reason fcg survived. and thank GOD FOR KEYLETH BECAUSE WITHOUT THAT CLOUD SPELL BELLS HELLS WOULD BE VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY DEAD RN.

God, "otohan has us. run." is going to haunt me just as much, if not more than the almost tpk. it just...shot me straight back to bassuras and the plan to run that just...immediately fell apart.

god fcg truly could have died there. and fearne would be captured. i know the hells would be too stupid and too brave and too loyal to leave fearne with otohan in their cloud form but can you imagine a world where fcg was gone, fearne was captured and the hells had to switch from recon to rescue... itd be stressful but pretty fun.

thankfully it didn't come to that and some good came from the shit.

ruidus is so beautiful. i was worried they'd end being trapped under ruidus while they explored (not that I wasn't on board with the detours, I wish this wasn't a time sensitive mission), but matt's imagery of the fossilized elven structure and garden made me sad but also happy that we got to see it.

i cannot believe that the stupid plan to shove fearne up a water hole happened AGAIN and it ended up with us FINDING A BACK HOLE TO RUIDUS GOD I LOVE THESE CHUCKLEFUCKS WHEN IS THE NEXT EPISODE MATT YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME. WHERE EVEN ARE THEY??? IS IT EVEN EXANDRIA???? WHAT DO WE DO IF IT IS EXANDRIA??? WHERE DID THIS HOLE EVEN COME FROM???? DOES IT CLOSE AND REOPEN??? IS IT STAGNANT?????? IS IT FUCKING STABLE?!?!?!?!?!

God...we could go back to keyleth and the others and actually invade ruidus without encountering the ruby vanguard. (that's if they're alright because otohan did go out onto the battlefield and we don't know what fhe fuck she did when the illusion fell through)

GOD. IS IT THURSDAY YET??? WE HAVENT EVEN FOUND THE RESISTANCE????

#critical role #cr3 #bells hells #critical role campaign 3 #c3 #critical role c3 #critical role spoilers #imogen temult #ashton greymoore #cr laudna #laudna #orym of the air ashari #chetney pock o'pea #fcg critical role #cr spoilers #fearne calloway #c3 e85 #cr3 ep85

[judeswhore]

Situationship!jude that thinks he can fuck whoever he wants but you can’t. You’d be scrolling through your socials and you stumble over his private story and it’s a photo of him in bed with a cocky caption like “I’m free tonight” just him being in his whore era and it gets under your skin so bad because this isn’t the first time he’s done this and you guys are always at each others house and even ‘spend a few nights.’ And ur just like “is that my Jude..?” so you do the same thing; posting a picture of you in this really skimpy outfit with a caption like “my bed was finally warm last night” something kinda discreet because you can read that in two ways (but your bed was warm last night, just not because of Jude😒), and now he’s blowing up your phone with “wtf are you posting?”/“so you’re just being a whore now?😐” Obviously annoyed: you leave him on read but he just comes straight to your door at 11:30 at night and now you’re really pissed because you almost fell asleep and you have an appointment tomorrow morning. When you finally get out of bed and open the door you’re met with an angry Jude who pushes his way inside and shuts the door all “who the hell do you think you are?” And you’re just baffled at how he thinks he owns you but deep down you know you love when he shows you attention but sadly this is the only way you can get it because when you guys have a tiny fight the first thing he does is storm out, find another girl, and forget about you.

By the way your staring at him in a sad zoned out type of way it kind of breaks his heart to see you look so sad; asking if your okay. “Did you really just ask me that? I mean you just get to fuck any girl you want while I sit at home and wait for you to even see my text?!” Is all you can really scream at him before yelling at him to get out. The next morning you wake up to a bouquet of flowers at your door step, specifically your favorite and Jude’s blowing up your phone trying to apologize because you were always so quiet about what he did so he never really noticed or cared because you guys weren’t official.

waking up the next morning and ur still a complete wreck and u feel like an absolute mess bc you’ve been crying all night and it’s so clear to see and u hate jude for making u feel this way. checking ur phone to see so many missed calls and texts from him, all of them begging u to let him explain and make it up to u, asking u to meet him for breakfast or lunch bc he needs to make it right. but ur ignoring all of them, going as far as to leave ur phone at home bc u don’t wna deal w anything today but u have uni or work so ur having to leave and when u open ur front door there’s this massive bunch of ur favourite flowers sitting there with a note from jude saying that he’s sorry and again asking u to let him make it right. but it’s too little too late so u don’t even bother taking them inside u just leave them on the front and head out. then later in the day when u finally get home the flowers are still there and sitting right next to them is jude looking absolutely distraught and out of his mind. jumps up the second he sees u and comes rushing over, hands finding ur cheeks so he can inspect ur face and he’s all “ur okay? fuck, ur okay. do u know how worried i’ve been? u haven’t been answering anyone’s texts all day i thought something had happened to u!” and ur so confused bc ofc u haven’t been answering and why does he even care? he goes days without answering u. so ur shoving him off and telling him that but he’s shaking his head saying he gets u not answering him but when u called ur friends and ur mam they all said you’d been ignoring them too and now ur staring at him like he’s got two heads bc “u called my mam???” which has him glaring at u all “i thought u were hurt!” now ur both just sort of glaring at each other in the hallway and then ur telling him “well, u can clearly see i’m fine. u can go now” which has him answering “i’m not going anywhere until we talk this out. u have to let me fix it”

but ur so tired of the same routine bc he never changes and he’s broken ur heart one too many times and when u tell him this he’s huffing a little sigh and being like “u know u never told me how u felt, right? u never told me i wanted more than what we had. u told me it was fine, u said u didn’t care who i slept with. jesus, if you’d have just told me how u felt i wldnt have even looked at anyone else! i was waiting for u but u never gave me anything” which is like a slap to the face to u bc he never gave u the impression he wanted more. and u know deep down that the whole thing is a result of terrible communication between u but ur so stubborn and still so hurt that u don’t know how to actually forgive him despite what he’s saying so all u can do is tell him u just want space and it’d be best if he just left u alone for a while

#hey jude :)

[eldrbraus]

TWISTED WONDERLAND BOOK 7 CHAPTER 2 SPOILERS. (summary, kinda. dont trust me a lot on literal translations its more of a general summary and i could be wrong with some things. also its kind of live reaction so. yeah. this shit is long btw. too much lore.)

no spoilers in tags, but beware that i will be spoiling the whole chapter for people who cant wait for the full translation/people who cant read it

we begin.

>lilia is asking malleus to use the dorm for a “im going away lol” party that apparently the whole dorm is organizing??? damn lilia way to make malleus sad lmao

>MALLEUS IS INVITED!!!!!!! HES INVITED HE GOT AN INVITATION AND EVERYTHING!!! SOBS. he even accepts it this is a glorious day for dragonchan

>uhhh something i dont fully understand but goes along the lines of malleus.. had gao gao kun.. FOR 17 YEARS??? AND WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE TOY HE WOULD GO TO LILIAS HOUSE FOR HIM TO HELP HIM??? omg thats so fucking cute help

>basically more talk about how time goes away way too fast for malleus

>lilia comments how the more time you spend with someone the harder it is to say goodbye (bestie arent you going away like too easily then? sus.)

>lilia left and OOP. MORE MALLEUS BLOT. NOT GOOD. malmal is very confused??

>lilia goodbye party already??? wtf thats fast

>so apparently every single character is going to be here (almost...)

>hmh where the fuck is malleus? lol what

>trey says something along the lines of lilia having a hmmmmmm unique??? way of cooking LMAO. lilia thanks trey for his cooking advice (YOU DIDNT LISTEN EVEN ONCE WHAT THE FUCK LILIAAA)

>cater....... hes so sad about lilia leaving the music club :((( he thanks lilia for being friends and they take a pic together waaaaa ;;

>lmao leona appeared and lilia is teasing him so much bcs leona is glad to not see lilia again

>LEONA WANTS TO LEAVE BUT RUGGIE SAID “NO??? THIS IS FREE FOOD??? R U DUMB” HELP

>octavinelle time! lilia basically gives all of them advice (azul dont be too greedy or it will kill you wwwww)

>floyd says something like “why are you leaving actually” and lilia says something along the lines of “i dont want you to see the ?? me?” the what you i didnt understand that part what are you hiding little bitch

>KALIM BASICALLY SAID THAT IF LILIA GOES TO HIS COUNTRY HE WOULD HAVE VIP TREATMENT FROM HIS FAMILY HELLO? and jamil comments how kalim wanted to gift him an instrument but they needed a TRUCK TO MOVE IT???? tf were you giving him, an organ?

>now to pomefiore, vil comments how malleus restored his beauty at the end of book 6 and wonders if they can do a magic transfer (?) of the same type to lilia and he says nah

>BECAUSE HES JUST OLD

>pomefiore is like ? arent you the same age as us

>LORE BOMBSHELL, LILIA SAYS HES ALMOST 700 YEARS OLD??????? (way less than i expected?? lol)

>LMAO THEYRE SO SURPRISED. rook asked if malleus is as old as lilia and lilia said that malleus is younger??? or that hes as old as them??? i didnt get that very well but something along the lines of malleus being way younger than lilia basically

>lilias family members are supposed to reach 1000 years old but apparently lilia was to eager? well not that, like he fucked up by playing too many games and that somehow made him old very fast? what (i think this might be a misstranslation help because it doesnt make a lot of sense. but something along the lines of lilia being 700 or so and his family being much older usually but him not reaching that age)

>cant remember exactly where it was but lilia also coments about how the dragons usually live much longer and that 1000 years for them is like peak maturity, when they become adults

>IDIA IS CRYING BECAUSE HIS GAMER FRIEND IS RETIRING FROM GAMING BUT HE WONT FUCKING CONNECT THE DOTS AND REALIZE ITS LILIA LMAO

>HE FORGOT TO ASK HIM HIS CONTACTS HELPPPPP

>also apparently him and lilia were their own best and first friends in online games?

>oh malleus and silver time! theyre in the main road to the main building 

>malleus is throwing a mild tantrum (?) and he made snow??? apparently

>silver fucking crying because he wasnt able to do anything for his dad bruh malleus feels the same

>more malleus blot?? what the fuck thats fast

>UH OH MALLEUS HAS AN IDEA. that cant be good.

>back to the party, first years time

>basically all thank lilia for everything

>i think ortho knows about lilia and idia being gamer friends but wont tell them??? he just said that idia didnt want to come and hands lilia a list of everything idia is playing (and lilia is surpised because most of the games are the same BUT HE WONT REALIZE) so maybe they can play a match before he retires i guess???? theyre so close to finding out but they wont fucking do it im going insane

>idia didnt come to the aprty btw he is the only character that is not there because he was mourning his friend quitting the game lmao

>lilia thanks yuu once again for being friends with malleus?

>HUH? A DREAM???? BUT YUU IS NOT ASLEEP TF

>yuu asks lilia if they can do anything for him and lilia asks the first years to be friends with sebek because poor croc hasnt made a single friend rip

>lilia apologized for sebeks behaviour bcs ace i believe said that he was so rude and said to sebek to behave but sebek.... refuses? lol

>LILIA IS GOING ALREADY AND MALLEUS AND SILVER ARE NOT BACK YET STOP.

>apparently lilias card for nrc arrived 500 years ago but he didnt care back then? so when malleus received his much later he went along with him (and he thanks crowley for letting him enter the school 500 years later lol)

>LILIA IS GOING

>MALLEUS AND SILVER ARRIVED ON TIME!

>malleus is really happy everyone is there

>??? the party said that no gift was needed but malleus is brining lilia a gift anyways, a “blessing”. uhhhh. 

>m. malleus is like way too happy about this. hes saying something along the lines of “today we dont celebrate an end but a beginning” uh. not good.

>this bitch is way too happy tf

>BASICALLY MALLEUS PLAN IS THE MUGEN TSUKUYOMI HELP?

>ORTHO IMMEDIATELY DETECTED BLOT RISING

>crowley is fucking alarmed and he lets everyone use their magic 

>malleus regular battle HE HAS 300K HP AND REGENS 60K EVERY SINGLE TURN??????? BASICALLY AN IMPOSSIBLE BATTLE LIKE THE FIRST BATTLE IN THE GAME AGAINST THE CHIMERA

>you will lose this battle

>lilia tried to make magic to stop him but says something like “this body cant even do magic like that anymore?!” tf you mean “this body” do you have other bodies like dottore or what

>everyone is scared shitless HUH

>lilia is now insulting malleus calling him a dumbass or smth and saying that he doesnt know what hes doing and malleus screams that hes doing this to not lose him HELP

>sebek and silver are trying to calm things down, it obviously doesnt work

>malleus says something about grabbing his hand??? scary

>he gave his blessing! its a long ass spell btw. i think his “blessing” is his unique magic

>DAMN THAT LILIA SCREAM

>MALLEUS FUCKING OVERBLOTS. ALREADY???

>THE WHOLE SCHOOL WAS COVERED IN THORNS AND EVERYONE FALLS ASLEEP???

>malleus saying something about 1000 years will pass very quick wtf

>”you will become the heroes of the story”? malmal says something like that

>AND NOW

>AND FUCKING NOW

>WE RETURN TO THE TWISTED WONDERLAND LOGO. THE ONE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME. WHILE MALLEUS HUMMS ONCE UPON A DREAM.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.

THE TIME LOOP THEORY? HUH?

#twisted wonderland #twst book 7 spoilers #HELP. #i fucked up and wrote book 8 LMAO my bad

[hezuart]

im really glad people are finally talking about their critiques of helluva boss on youtube instead of just praising so i wanted to say thank you for being honest!! i know some people are afraid to critique the show cuz of the fanbase n that sucks :( oh btw!! what were your thoughts on Western Energy :0?

Yeah the fandom (and the critics too honestly) have all gotten really out of hand. The fandom is very very toxic.

Since I announced in my comments section that I'm probably gonna wait until the end of Helluva Boss season 2 to review the remaining episodes for it in succession, I may as well schpeel my thoughts on Western Energy. And boy howdy do I have... a lot of them ~~~

What the f_ck. WHAT did they do to my boy Striker

Striker in Harvest Moon: A secret assassin working as a farmhand who knew Stolas was going to appear conveniently in his own isolated ring of Wrath for the Harvest Moon. (where there are imps aplenty participating in the pain games; who hate the Goetia so there would be too many people to investigate for Stolas' murder so he could get off scot-free) Striker hides in a room with an angelic sniper rifle set up a street down, where he can make a quick getaway and no one will even see him. A quick, easy, clean kill.

Striker in f_cking Western Energy: CRASHES THROUGH A WINDOW OF A PUBLIC UPSTANDING CAFE WHERE OTHER GOETIA ARE DINING and starts FIRING ANGELIC BULLETS AT RANDOM; EVERYONE CAN SEE HIS FACE, THERE ARE SEVERAL WITNESSES. He even manages to capture Stolas via rope. AND THEN FUCKING DRAGS HIM VIA HORSEBACK ALL THE WAY TO THE RING OF WRATH TO TORTURE HIM BEFORE K_LLING HIM????? FUCKING EXCUSE ME? WHO IS THIS??!!! This was completely pointless. It was padding. Time wasting. In season one, Stella was pissed that Striker didn't shoot Stolas on sight. She wanted him dead and she wanted him dead NOW for cheating on her. She was ANGRY. She was out for blood.

In this episode, Striker says Stella asked him to give Stolas the "royal treatment" which goes against what she wanted in season 1. It actually goes against what she wanted at the start of this episode too! Striker literally busts into the cafe and starts firing bullets, nearly insta-killing Stolas right then and there had he not dodged. Striker tying him up and hauling him away is so illogical. It makes no sense. Stolas should have been shot dead in that alleyway. This was pathetic. At the end of the episode, there's a huge media circus for Stolas being hospitalized which is really weird because how they hell did they know? I guess Moxie and Millie called the hospital ahead of time, but I don't think the news would spread THAT fast. If anything, its ridiculous for Stolas to call Blitz and request help. Dude wtf did these two learn nothing? Stolas has gone right back to taking advantage of the situation for his fckin knight in shining armor fantasy play. and then like, after the call, Stolas is all "Oh shit, am I in danger?" LIKE HELLO? FCKING ??? YOU JSUT DODGED ANGELIC BULLETS AT THE CAFE?! YOU KNEW IT WOULD KILL YOU! BRUH?! OF COURSE YOU'RE IN DANGER YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN DANGER WHTKASFHKRDGJLlkdg Anyway, as CONSEQUENCES for Striker attacking a high-class Goetia in a public cafe with several witnesses, the news reporters should have swarmed the place. Striker's identity should have been revealed to the world as a prime suspect for the attempted murder and kidnapping of a Goetia. Stolas would be missing and Striker would be wanted. Blitz should have seen this on tv at the hospital with Loona. That would make the most sense. It would keep the drama going. The serious tone of the episode. The news station reporters wouldn't have appeared out of nowhere at the end of the episode; we would have expected them because they've been following this story all day now.

Striker getting this whole song about he's a cruel conniving almost well-known assassin with an evil lair in the mountains as though this is a folk tale song like everyone knows about him... when he was so secretive and Millie's family didn't know he was an assassin before they hired him.... and his ........... statue of himself what the actual f_ck Striker isn't Chazz. Striker is arrogant, but he's not promiscuously arrogant. He only takes pride in his farmhand work and assassin work. Not whatever the hell.... this is. This is a gross misrepresentation of his character.

Stella in season 1 was pissed Stolas cheated on her and was so angry with rage she wanted him killed immediately. In this episode, she's like teehee yeah I hired an assassin :P like its a fcking joke? Like its a silly game to her? This wasn't a game. Andre (shortening her brother's name) talks to her about inheritance and says she will get nothing if Stolas dies; which I thought he was convincing Stella to call off the assassination because otherwise it would all go to Octavia (who apparently is of legal age to inherit everything over her mother) Because of Stella and Stolas divorced, typically, its supposed to be 50/50 regardless of inheritance of the children. Andre says Stolas' duties, possessions, and his legions will all pass to Octavia. What? Stella has never been interested in the book. Octavia is the one who seems like she was taught by her father the star spells, so yeah, probably gonna inherit the book duties. Stella apparently throws parties... she's never been seen doing actual Goetia duties though. So she probably wouldn't want his duties anyway; they'd be inconvenient for this "childish spoiled brat" Viv is ... sigh, currently trying to portray of her. Stolas already gave away most of his possessions to Blitzo 25 years ago. Granted, he probably accumulated more. But still. And legions? Excuse me? Does Stolas have an army, or are you talking about imp butlers? Those guys are cheap and aplenty. and Stella has money. She even offers Striker more money to bring Stolas back alive. As for negotiations, the only way Stella could get anything out of Stolas is if she threatened Octavia or Blitz, and I don't see her actually doing that. So I don't know wtf they think was gonna happen if Striker brought Stolas back alive. He wasn't gonna budge on shit. The Goetia inc*st is disgustingly unnecessary. Especially because Stella is treated like a dumb whining child while Andre is the one comforting and coaching her like ...... he even calls her a stupid cow....and she seems uncomfortable with his advances like what the actual hell is this. Why did we need inc*st here

Loona's voice actor lost her boyfriend to cancer... (really upsetting so sorry this happened) so Loona's voice has been missing for the past two episodes (respectfully), but you know, I actually laughed really hard at Loona this episode. It's great that she's dead quiet throughout, it wouldn't have been as funny otherwise. So hey, fun simple B plot! That being said though... while this Loona gets her shot is a funny B plot, it does not belong in this episode. We go from serious torture and fight scenes to Loona and Blitz shenanigans. The tone shifts are very wrong. This B plot should have been in a different episode. Not this one. The B plot though isn't without its nonsense, though. The lady at the desk is like "I can't read or spell" and then literally a few seconds later she CAN suddenly read. Like what? What is this dialogue? Its unfunny padding, stick to a joke. What's even more frustrating to me is that the potential social commentary is a complete miss. The hospital is in sloth and the shot wait list is 5 years. Is Viv making fun of hospitals for being slow? For why appointments have to be made several months in the future? What??? Doctors aren't lazy?! They're LITERALLY OVERWHELMED WITH CLIENTS. THEY ARE BUSTING THEIR ASSES EVERY DAY WITH PEOPLE! THEY DO NOTHING BUT WORK WORK WORK!!! Hospitals belong in the greed ring!!!!????? for the sheer ridiculous amount of charges and expenses! Especially because the medicine industry is PRIVATIZED! AND HEAVILY CAPITALIZED! Huge missed opportunity on social commentary. Disappointing.

Millie and Moxie I guess go deal with Striker because they have unfinished business which you know I guess is nice but... I feel like Blitz is usually the one to save Stolas... Moxie and Millie should have had a different set up to confront Striker, because them being put in charge defeating an assassin that almost killed not only them both but also Stolas... like why would Blitz trust them? They failed last time. He seems so unconcerned.

Also Millie puts a random hat on Moxie's head at the beginning. It's apparently a point of contention. Some random fckin guy comes up to Moxie and gets mad they're wearing the "same hat". Why the hell is the hat a point of contention?! Why isn't it just a random fashion choice for the "western energy" aesthetic the episode was going for? And Moxie actually beats the hell out of this gang?! Excuse me what? He was a damsel in distress last episode!? Moxie is a twink! It's been established he can't wrestle or fight with his fists!? Since when is he suddenly a strong badass????? What is this inconsistency!?

The tiny imp mariachi band, they're actually adorable. Love their designs despite their poor story-written Striker song. Wish I could see more of those fellas!

ALso forgot to mention, Striker has a new voice actor. Bosco does a great job. I'll miss his previous voice actor, he was so good, but you know... word is, Viv completely blew her budget on hiring him. Viv can no longer, or rather, was never really able to afford Norman Reedus. Sad to see him go, but you know... Striker isn't the same Striker from season 1 anyway. All the characters have changed in season 2. So I think its nice Norman Reedus got to voice act for the good episode time period.

Striker torturing Stolas and Stolas turning it s_xual... this is a trend Viv is doing and I don't know if she even realizes it. "Characters get tortured and make it sexual to try and weird out their captor" and "Character gets sad looking at pictures full of context that slide by the screen way too fast" are some of her favorite tropes apparently. That being said though I'm lowkey concerned. Striker breaks his fcking leg and Stolas says "Blitz is rougher in bed"? Excuse me? I know maybe there's pain play or Stolas has healing abilities and pain tolerance but like???? Is Blitz?? Fucking breaking his bones and stabbing him in bed?! JFC? What is this relationship????? I've grown very concerned. Speaking of that fav trope of Viv's, when Moxie shows up and gets choked by Striker, he smiles and says "harder" like Angel Dust did in the pilot of Hazbin. Striker recoils in disgust, LETTING HIM GO? That doesn't warrant Striker letting go?! Striker has a giant b_ner statue of himself, his entire pain game competition with Blitz- them rough housing and enjoying it-, and Stolas was talking dirty the entire time he was getting tortured. I know Moxie of all people saying this is supposed to be shocking since he's not the type to say this, but like?? Striker shouldn't have been as weirded out by this ?!

Anyway oH MY

GOD I LOVED the Millie & Moxie vs Striker fight scene holy shit its SO GOOD?! Who did the choreography?! The car flip, revealing Moxie aiming directly at Striker, Striker dodging, spinning the knife then expertly throwing it into Moxie's gun... the gun shot activating the radio in the layer, "watcha thinkin' bout now?" a perfect fitting song for the western vibe and a great beat for this fight?! Striker TAPPING HIS FOOT TO THE BEAT , AND THEN CRACKING HIS NECK WITH A DEVILISH SMIRK, PREPARING AND WAITING FOR MOXIE AND MILLIE TO MAKE THE NEXT MOVE? Spinning his dual angel GUNS?! NOW THIS IS THE STRIKER I KNOW AND LOVE! HELLO THERE SIR!

And Moxie and Millie acting like the Bonnie and Clyde duo, where Millie is the close range blades expert while Moxie is the long range gun expert, both acting as offense and defense for each other, circling around Striker , taking him on together while he takes them both on at once? Since they know he's over come them individually before, but together? Man this is.... molten gold, beautiful ...and then its ruined when the song gets changed to a crappy unfitting pop song... ..... sigh, thanks, Viv ..

Anyway back to epic fight scene... Striker shooting, back flipping away from Millie's axe... Moxie coming in for a kick and then Millie coming in to block the gun shot with her axe, protecting Moxie omygod I love this... Moxie immediately going in for the shot.... HOO THIS IS SOME GOOD SHIT

Striker's guns get cut so he grabs his lasso and slams a rock into Millie, SEPARATING the two, an excellent tactic... Striker uses his lasso and twangs off the bendy axe handle to get up onto higher ground to get the advantage- GRABBING MILLIE'S AXE WITH HIS FRICKEN TAIL??? aND HURLING IT AT HER HOLY SHIT GIRL ALMOST DIES Ey! She's not invincible, thank goodness??? Its refreshing seeing her and moxie a little bit more on par this episode. Both having weaknesses and strengths instead of Moxie always being the weak damsel in distress and Millie being the ridiculous OP wife Anyway Millie almost dies and its a wild shot, her OWN AXE almost cuts her head from her body like WOW! AND then sTRIKER AND THEN STRIEKR RRRR He snaps his fingers, sighs and tutts with disappointment, but still SMILES like a "damn it, missed... I'll get her next time" LIKE ??? THAT'S SO GOOD ?? SO IN CHARACTER? SO CHARMING? SO CHARISMATIC? I don't know why but I laughed SO HARD at Moxie screaming "YOU COWBOY PIECE OF SHIT!" It was so funny in Richard's voice, so funny and weirdly personal over cowboys lol , loved that

Striker's..... stupid ugly statue falls on him, but it's shown he's escaped.

and then Stolas is brought to the hospital; and then Moxie and Millie inform Blitz that Stolas got hurt

and the dumbest line of the episode: "He can get hurt?" YES??????????? Yes he can??? You know he can get hurt? HELLO? Why did you stop Striker???!!! Moxie knew Striker had an angelic weapon and Blitz must have been suspicious of Striker and followed him, found him ready to kill Stolas?! Even offered a deal??? A partnership to kill Stolas?! MOXIE LITERALLY STOLE STRIKER'S FCKING ANGELIC RIFLE. WHERE THE FCK DID THAT GO? DID IT BLIP OUT OF EXISTENCE? OF COURSE STOLAS CAN GET HURT SDKGJDFLKJGLDFKJLGJ BRUH

WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW This is like such a shocking moment to Blitz its so dumb of course he cant get hurt i swear to - sIGH

and then we have more nonsense. You know how everyone was complaining about Blitz and Stolas in the Seeing Star episode? Acting like nothing happened between them at Ozzies? Like they didnt have this weird break-up reality check? Guess what. It's "addressed". Off-screen. Via text messages. And double guess what? The text messages are empty. They say absolutely nothing.

Stolas is like "Hey I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you last night" Blitz: "Whatever" Stolas: *Long paragraph about how he noticed Blitz was upset* "Asmodeous can be very invasive in humor, but I thought it was pretty funny myself" NO HE FUCKING DIDNT? STOLAS WAS SO UNCOMFORTABLE??? Is this like a weird lie to cover up his discomfort or something stupid like ???? bruh??? "I enjoy being the subject of jest, you can come over and make fun of me"

Blitz: "sure" ????????????????? What is this????? They arent talking at all! It's just Stolas rambling worrisome nonsense and Blitz being emotionally stunted and not talking back! and then in seeing stars the texts are like "thanks for helping with Via! We don't have to bang. you can keep the book if you want. Or we can just hang out!" and blitz is like "whatever im busy" Blitz types "get better soon :(" to Stolas and Stolas is like "thank you, come visit me!" and Blitz doesn't respond.

Rose petals are slowly falling off in the background, as Stolas waits for a reply that never comes. He finally sets down his phone. I think this is supposed to be like weirdly symbolic, a "he loves me, he loves me not" and when all the petals are gone and Stolas puts down his phone, probably finally giving up his crush on Blitz realizing Blitz doesn't like him back and will probably give Blitz those crystals to get his book back. Blitz and Stolas' relationship has turned so sour and weird in season 2. It's such an unhealthy relationship. Like it wasn't great in season 1 either but season 2 the context makes it far worse. Blitz has been using this guy for decades and its just being romanticized.

Also tho..... Stolas is surrounded by get-well bouquets? Who sent these to him???? He has no friends! The Goetias think he's pathetic... the imps and lower class hate his ass..... like ... did weird rabid fans send them??? Where did these come from!! Anyway, if Stolas doesn't rant to the media that his own wife tried to have him killed, exposing the domestic drama going on in his home, I'm gonna throw a fit. This is his perfect opportunity to finalize his divorce. Sure, he could risk putting his "cheating" with Blitz into the spot light but like... people already know about that so ??? All the more proof to stack against Stella? That she's out for revenge? This is a scoop! Hell would be eating out of the palm of his hand! There's also weird compositing in this episode. Why are these scenes composited??????? These aren't dramatic serious scenes! This is the silly B plot!

Also the Striker statue falling... is just a flat png skdgjlfkgj whats going on with the budget of this episode

This ep was ridiculous. But Moxie and Millie vs Striker genuinely had me smiling and excited. I miss when this show actually had me interested....

#helluva boss #helluva boss critical #helluva boss western energy #ask #text post

[running-with-the-feels]

saw a post on twitter about how in mkx kuai liang bowed to hanzo the japanese way and prepared tea in the japanese way as well as the utmost sign of respect what are your thoughts 🎤‼️

oooooooo my god do I have thoughts

Basically, that scene is my roman empire, and it lives in my brain Rent Free.

I think that Kuai Liang was just going out of his way to make Hanzo as comfortable as possible. Like he knows where they are, he knows how hard being here must be for Hanzo given what the Lin Kuei did so he's doing literally anything he can think of to say "I am not a threat, please hear me out"

I think he's also trying to soften the blow as much as possible, like there's no way to make telling Hanzo about the truth of what Quan Chi did not hurt, but Kuai Liang is trying so hard not to be cruel about it.

So he tries to show Hanzo by bowing the japanese way and preparing the tea in the japanese way that he wants this to be a chance to communicate, that he respects the pyromancer and his clan enough to learn at least part of their customs so that Hanzo feels a little bit less like he's just walked into a trap.

And the thing is, it works! You can see that even tho Hanzo is doubtful and suspicious of wtf is going on (and honestly that is a very fair reaction to the situation), he's listening to Kuai Liang. He's trying to hear the guy out!

It's also pretty clear that Kuai Liang is comfortable with the motions of preparing the tea, like there's no hesitation or fumbling (which might just be bc the game designers didn't want to deal with animating that but I choose to read into it anyways) so its obvious that he practiced this. He wanted to get it right!

And I just can't help but wonder what else Kuai Liang had in place to try and ease communication between them, to try and make Hanzo more comfortable. Like, did he find any Shirai Ryu items that had been taken as trophies and intend to return them (bc lbr, the Lin Kuei def took trophies)? Was he going to offer to let Hanzo stay the night? Like what was the rest of his plan had Frost not intervened?

Like Kuai Liang went so far out of his way to show Hanzo "I mean you no harm, I just want to talk" in the most polite and respectful way he could and Hanzo sees that! It's why he's so confused during the whole interaction bc to him it doesn't make sense. Kuai Liang should, rightfully, hate him.

And, just a side note, I don't think Hanzo ever blamed Kuai Liang for trying to kill him that one time. Like, Hanzo wasn't gonna let him, but he knows that he killed Kuai Liang's brother, so I think he understands why Kuai Liang hates him so much. It's why (as I read into it, this isn't confirmed) he doesn't kill the cryomancer in the mkx blood ties comics, and instead just leaves him there to bleed to death (dick move tho) bc he doesn't want to kill him. He just wants their feud to stop, bc he doesn't have any quarrel with Kuai Liang.

He might not like the Lin Kuei, but the ones responsible for what happened to him are dead, and by now I think he'd have figured out that Kuai Liang wasn't involved. So he's not trying to be the guy's best friend, but part of him doesn't want to be his enemy any more (I have so many thoughts about that whole interaction too, like that is my second Roman Empire)

But, back to the topic at hand:

The thing is, no one would have expected Kuai Liang to do all that. No one would have ever expected him to try so hard or be so kind about it. He now has proof that Hanzo did the very thing he's been accused of for years, he killed Bi-Han unjustly. Kuai Liang would have been well within his rights to simply send Hanzo that information some other way, without ever facing him.

Hell, he'd be pretty justified in just killing Hanzo over it bc all of these characters seem to agree that vengeance and justice are about the same thing (I mean, canon is slightly more nuanced than that, but that's the general gist of it).

And i think Hanzo knows that, and a part of him almost wants Kuai Liang to do it after he finds out.

but he doesn't

Instead, Kuai Liang offers him an alliance and an apology for what the Lin Kuei did (which, btw, I know we see real regret from Hanzo in that same scene but he does owe Kuai Liang an actual apology with actual words) and lets their feud end. Kuai Liang takes informatoon that would drive anyone else mad with rage and grief (*cough* Hanzo *cough*) and instead chooses to be kind.

I really wonder what that scene would have looked like if Frost hadn't interrupted, if she had trusted Kuai Liang to make the right choice and just let it happen.

How would that change their relationship and its development?

How would Kuai Liang have broken the news?

What else had he planned to say and would Hanzo have listened?

Roman empire guys, roman empire

#kuai liang #hanzo hasashi #mortal kombat x #mortal kombat #subscorp

[the-not-so-safe-way]

Tokyo Revengers characters but as my roommates gc.....

WHEN I SAY PEDO I MEAN HISOKA IF YOU TAKE ONE THING FROM THE WARNINGS IT SHOULD BE THAT

bouns sano family at the end

umm language, mentions of drugs, kissing(ONE TIME), talk about death, jokes about pedophile, depression, feet, and I THINK that is everything so just tell me if I missed something, and I've started to think about posting more so tell me if you want me to write something

the characters will change to see which ones I deem most funny as

———————————————————

Ran:How TF did u do that?

Rindou:wdym that’s just my face

Ran:Gurl

Rindou:are you face shaming me

Ran:Yes, Yes I am 🫶🏼

Rindou: damn that hurts

Ran:wow That must suck SUCK D-

———————————————————

Sanzu: I just offered a kid drugs and they legit said yes like don't they know not to take drugs from strangers also I don't think blood drives like me I have too many drugs in my blood so they don't like me did you know that dolphins can get high just like me

Mikey: Wtf

———————————————————

Ran: yeah he turned you into a cat

Rindou: It was Ran lmao

Ran: nope 🙅‍♂️

Koko: I HATE U WTF Bitch I hate u

Rindou: it wasn’t me 💀

Ran: it was he lies

Rindou: …

Koko: I'm gonna kill u both when I see u

———————————————————

Sanzu: DOES SOMEONE KILL GOJO SATORU

Mikey: death by tractor

———————————————————

Koko: i’m finally home from hell help me i’m at ikea i wanna leave

Ran: don't you dare say that about ikea 😤 I love ikea 😍 bring me meatballs

Sanzu: Oooh I want some meaty balls too

Ran: that’s what he said

Rindou: yeah It is what he said

———————————————————

Ran: im depressed now 😔😔

Mikey: ok join the club

———————————————————

Koko: pick a color

Sanzu: pink or white prolly white one wait when even is the gala

Koko: The gala is in june But this isn't for the gala

Sanzu: oh, the blue ones so pretty too

Koko: PICK ONE

Sanzu : but i love them both

Koko: PICK ONE

Sanzu : uhhh blue

Koko: Okkk thx

Mikey: the black one

Koko: ... There is no black one

———————————————————

••SANZU PULLS AYAKA ON FIRST TRY••

Ran: I HATE U SHES SO GOOD

Sanzu: I was hoping for mika

Rindou: i used 30 wishes for her and i got c3 diona and tighnari

Sanzu: LMAFOOO

Rindou: my friend made me keep fueling my gambling addiction

••Sanzu pulls the other 5 star (I forgot her name)••

Ran:BRO WHAT ARE U ON CRACK

Sanzu: yes always

———————————————————

Koko:i’ve smelled his shoes before

Ran: why

Koko: its free

———————————————————

Rindou: ur outside? at 11

Ran: I went to get groceries I'm almost home tho••5 minutes later•• Dw I didn't get kidnapped

———————————————————

Sanzu: i ate expired yogurt from school lunch today and had to go home early that’s was pretty delicious

Ran: HAHAHA IMAGIIIINE

Rindou: avoid da yogart I thought it was common knowledge about da gurt

———————————————————

Ran: imagine not eating badish tacos while your socks say let's taco about it

Koko: why did u buy that 💀

Ran: I didn't I made it

Koko: what r u watching

Ran: I'm watching the last of us

Koko: it’s so good have u gotten to the gay redneck episode yet

Ran: no I'm on episode 2

Koko: still watching the pedophile 🤨

———————————————————

Ran:hehehehehehe I have major issues 🫤

Rindou: yeah you do

———————————————————

Ran: Guys Help

Mikey: ew no

Ran: Meany

Mikey: I don't care

Ran: WOOOW why u gotta be so mean?

Mikey: because I don't care

Ran: Wow

Mikey: Yeah

Koko: that’s very nice

———————————————————

Mikey: dam that shark

Ran: It's so 😍

Sanzu: hes kinda fine

Ran: He so fine

Sanzu: who let the dogs out

Mikey: put your dogs away

Sanzu: guys what is this a feet pics chat

Mikey: nah it about da gang

Sanzu: 🥵🥵

Ran: Hehehehe

Sanzu: not the pedofile

Mikey: weirdows

Ran: WOOAH

Mikey: not the shark lovers

Ran: He's actually a gay psychopath thank u very much

Mikey: and a pedophile

Ran: Wellllll.. Ok maybe But damn he's hot 🥵 JKJKJKJKKKK

Sanzu: wtf is wrong with u

Mikey: your the real psychopath

Sanzu: fr

———————————————————

Rindou: do u like my ceiling

Ran: OMG ITS SO SEXY I love it

Rindou: ikr

Ran: nah mines better

Mikey: mine sucks it was leaking 😕

Koko: guys we live in the same apartment

———————————————————

Shinchiro: I didn't kiss her 🫥

Emma: Damn WHY CANT U STOP LAUGHING

Young mikey: because of face shaming

Izana: ✨yEs✨

#tokyo revengers #tokyo rev #tokrev #manjiro sano #rindou haitani #rindou #ran haitani #ran #sanzu haruchiyo #sanzu #tokyo revengers sanzu #bonten #sano shinichiro #sano manjiro #tokyo revengers fanfiction #tokyo revengers incorrect quotes #izana kurokawa #tokrev incorrect quotes

[timeofjuly]

Okay I’ve been scrolling down for a little while now? And?

And I’m starting to think the PTSD flashback Quinn had in chpt. 10 (? I think) is something to do with her dad *almost* drowning MC, at least once.

If I had to guess, he found out between Quinn and MC, and absolutely blew up. He was either going to, or already had hurt Quinn in some way, and MC either was called for help, or walked in on it, and somehow ended with them in a very bad way involving water, and Quinn’s dad with a busted nose. Maybe Quinn hit him with something when MC was getting attacked, MC got a hit in (I don’t think MC started it, since it’s on the record that MC doesn’t do random acts of violence), and took the blame for it ALL.

But I’m also so confused!! Because you also described MC in Quinn’s horror flashback as being wet and ice cold, and looking like they did before they were clean - I’m MISSING SOMETHING, AHHHHH. The gas station ice bags, you mentioned it twice, and I’m drawing a blank as to why that’s so important.

Drugs and ice, what’s the connection? Could it be some kind of memory? Where could Quinn have seen ice bags, and why would it be so important that ice was where it was? Camping? I can only think of organ harvesting, but that seems too far fetched 😪😵‍💫

Can I ask when did MC start using? (Was it related to Quinn’s dad/their trauma surrounding that mystery water incident?)

Most (if I’m remembering correctly,) of Quinn’s trauma has been catholic guilt, daddy issue related. Where was Quinn’s mother in this? Was she involved? Was she behind the scenes, encouraging her husbands violence? Or was she the keeper of peace? What’s her place in all this??

I’d say ‘WHO KNOWS’, but YOU knows. >:( I hope you’re amused, cause I feel deranged.

I hope this doesn’t come off as demanding you to answer my questions 😭 it’s really fun to talk (type?) out my thinking process, I hope it’s somehow beneficial to you too 😂

you don’t have to answer/respond to anything if it’s spoiler-y!

I just read your progress tracking update, and oh my god, the energy to lovers with underfell Grillby? Sounds SO GOOD!!

You wrote so much; and are going to write so much, I hope you’re also taking enough time to do nothing, and take breaks! Good job!! AHHHH!!

I am SCREAMING at ‘WHO KNOWS’, but YOU knows’!!! I was literally thinking the other day how funny it is that I’m the only one who knows wtf is going on lol. This is too much power and responsibility for me!!!

Okay okay so I'll answer things sorta vaguely, if you want anything clarified more and aren't afraid of broaching closer to the spoiler territory feel free to dm me and I will straight up tell you anything lol, I am terrible at keeping secrets and I will also pop the below under a cut cause it's kinda long -

Re: the flashback, I'll note that Quinn doesn't make any connection between the wet, frostbitten, fucked-up MC, except that they look like they did when they were still using. Quinn, just like the reader, also doesn't know why MC appeared to her like that. It is disturbing and confusing, but she doesn't relate it to any event or experience with MC. Same with the ice bags - she doesn't have anything to connect it with, so she doesn't. Because we're working through the lens of Quinn in that scene, there's a whollllllle lot of context missing.

As a hint, though: the Quinn's dad incident and whatever the fuck is going on with the frostbite and ice and water are completely separate things.

MC's drug use started when they were thirteen and doesn't relate to Quinn. I do like your line of thinking though! I also like your thinking about organ harvesting lol, that would've been a very different turn to what I'm planning!

Quinn's mother was complicit in a lot of Quinn's childhood. I've kinda gotten into it, but the Lawsons are deeply, deeply religious, super fundamentalist. Many fundamentalist Christian families follow a hierarchical structure of the family, where the husband is the spiritual leader, wives are expected to submit to their husband's authority and support his decisions, and then the kids submit to them both (dad first, though).

And oh my gosh not demanding at all!!! I love answering your questions and you always do help my process! I am so! excited! for the Undefell Grillby fic too, I think it'll be good for me to write something a little lighter and simpler too lol.

I really appreciate your kind words <3 <3 <3 Not to get mushy but I wrote more in 2023 (and only started in July!) than I have in my whole life. RTC came after a three year break from writing and was in a brand-new fandom with a kinda weird concept and I was so so so scared to post that first chapter. I'm so glad that I did, though! I feel like I've really found a little community here.

#rtc asks #july talks rtc #thank you so much :) #i always get excited when I see you've commented or sent me an ask!

[chaoskirin]

Have you found that you’ve been less motivated to create art now that AI has become so good?

I don’t really draw anymore because whenever I start a new drawing, I’m immediately plagued by thoughts like, why even bother? This piece is going to take hours when, theoretically, I could ask Mid-journey to do it for me and it would take about 10 seconds and probably look way better. So like, why should I even try?

I’m at college getting a degree in illustration but I’m afraid that by the time I graduate and get out into the field, I won’t have any job prospects. Human artists are becoming increasingly obsolete in the corporate world and I feel like nobody is going to want to hire me. I mean, from a shitty CEO’s perspective, why hire human artists when AI is right there? It’s faster and cheaper. Many established studio and corporate artists are already being fired in droves. We’re seeing it happen in real time.

I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle. AI has drained me of my creativity and my future job security. I’ve lost interest in one of my dearest hobbies and my degree may end up becoming completely useless. I loathe AI for the way it has stripped me of something I’ve dedicated so many years of my life to. Something that was once so precious to me.

I feel that I’ve spent thousands of hours honing a now useless skill. And that really sucks.

Sorry for ranting in your inbox, I hope you don’t mind… but since you are a working adult and do art and writing (of course writing AI has gotten stupid good as well and I’m bitter about that too) professionally, and as a hobby too, I figured that you would definitely understand.

Hey! This is a great question, and I have what I hope is a very hope-filled answer.

By the way, I don't call image generation "AI." It's not. There's no actual intelligence involved. It's an algorithm that averages images and combines them into something new. I refer to it as GenSlop.

First, the reason you're seeing such a proliferation of image generators attaching their dirty little claws into every website on the internet is due to what I call "just-in-casing." Rather than develop an ACTUAL ethical image generator (which would only use images from creative commons or pay artists for their use) generators like Deviantart's DreamUp and Twitter's Grok (?????? wtf is that name) have just stuffed LAION-5 into their code and called it a day.

Why? Why not wait and create an ethical dataset over several years?

Because it's become more likely than not than image generation is going to become strictly regulated by law, and companies like DA, Stability, Twitter, Adobe, and many others want to profit off it while it's still free and "legal."

I say "legal" in quotes, because at the moment, it's neither legal nor illegal. There are no laws in existence to govern this specific thing because it appeared so fast, there was literally no predicting it. So now it's in a legal grey area where it can't be prosecuted by US courts. (But it can be litigated--more on that in a bit.)

When laws are passed to govern the use of image generators, these companies that opted to use LAION-5 immediately without concern for the artists and communities they were harming will have to stop. but because of precedent, they will likely have their prior use of these generators forgiven, meaning they will not be forced to pay fines on their use before a certain date.

So while it seems they're popping up everywhere and taking over the art market, this is only so they can get in their share of profits from it before it becomes illegal to use them without compensation or consent.

But how do I know the law will support artists on this?

First, litigation. There are several huge lawsuits right now; one notable lawsuit against almost every major company using GenSlop technology with plaintiffs like Karla Ortiz and Grzegorz Rutkowski, among other high-profile artists. This lawsuit was recently """pared down""" or """mostly dismissed""" according to pro-GenSlop users, but what really happened is that the judge in the case asked the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to be more specific, which is generally a positive thing in cases like this. It means that precedent after a decision will be far clearer and have a longer reach than a more generalized complaint.

I don't know what pro-GenSloppers are insisting on spreading the "dismissal" tale on the internet, except to discourage actual artists. What they say has no bearing in the court, and it's looking more and more likely that the plaintiffs will be able to win this case and claim damages.

Getty Images, a huge image stock company, is also suing Stability AI for scraping its database. I'm not as well-versed on the case, though.

The other positive, despite what a lot of artists are saying, is the new SAG-AFTRA contract.

It's not perfect. It still allows GenSlop use. But it does require consent and compensation. Ideally, it would ban the use of artist images and voice entirely, but this contract is far better than what they would have gotten without striking. If you recall, before the strike, the AMPTP wanted to be able to use actor images and voices without any compensation or permission, without limitation.

And you can bet your ass that Hollywood isn't going to allow other organizations to have unregulated GenSlop use if they can't. They might even step in to argue against its use in front of congress, because their outlook is going to be "if we can't make money stealing art, no one else should be able to, either."

TL;DR: the huge proliferation of image generators and GenSlop right now is only because it's neither legal nor illegal. Regulations are coming, and artists will still be necessary and even required. Because the world is essentially built on a backbone or artistry.

I personally can't wait to drink the tears of all the techbros who can't steal art anymore.

[sketching-shark]

Reading your last answers to some asks, soo... shxdowpeach is already canon then? ☠️ like, that would be gross because the director and some people who work in the show know that some chinese people culturally see them as siblings, like not everyone but still they are two parts of the same being, it would be like saying they are making Wukong falling in love with his own devil self- like I know it's a jttw adaptation, but knowing the original context and how some chinese people sees them is just- i dunno, man.

Monkie Kid spoilers & complaining below so proceed if you want to watch me whine

I mean it's definitely not, but given the hyperfocus on that ship in fandom & the way quite a few people at Flying Bark are openly liking it & have now repeatedly brought literally every other potential path in the plot to a screeching halt to focus on those monkeys' bullshit drama d'jour it's a frustrating situation indeed anon! And yeah! WTF! To this day I'm very baffled by the lengths to which so many people seem hellbent on ignoring and rewriting like EVERYTHING about Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque from the og classic to force them into a close relationship! I mean it's aggravating and boring enough that even Flying Bark basically threw away so much of what made LEMH & SWK interesting to turn them into yet another sonic/shadow clone--and with the added absolutely delightful bonus of frequent "swk is mean and awful and sucks!!" accusations that the plot then scrambles to at least semi-validate--but tbh what especially pisses me off about this situation is the way it almost seems like SWK has been written into this state where he's not allowed to have any other close companions besides LEMH, and in following so many cool and interesting stories that they COULD have gone with have been tossed down the drain. I've talked plenty about how it sucks that basically everyone from SWK's past hates his guts, how he's now routinely been written as an entire screw-up and now at times an entire asshole, & that we STILL don't know what happened to the og pilgrims (though given past writing whatever bad thing ended their lives was was probably mostly swk's fault lmao), but as of season 4, it turns out he never even had a monkey yao family (which means no grandchildren, no marshals, no "big happy family," no other monkey yaoguai characters who knew the Monkey King, etc), his six other actual friends in the sworn brotherhood never existed aside from the Demon Bull King (very confused as to why you would write them out of existence like that's basically 5 free ocs you've just been handed), he's never had any other tudi outside of MK (which means there's now no chance MK could gain some elder brothers in Liu Chenxiang and the Indian prince SWK trained in the og classic), and it's like...you can do SO much with a Journey to the West retelling, even one for little kids, but tbh Monkie Kid seems to more and more be this series of slamming doors & a subtle yet persistent disdain of the og classic, and tbh the shadowpeach ship seems like the epitome of that. As it is, it's hard to watch Monkie Kid these days without being reminded of this meme:

#anon answered #monkey critical

[dreadnoughtus]

Liveblogging after taking an edible and watching

game awards

I don't know what these games are

Oh wait assassins creed VR??

Got distracted my friend texted me.

The dress is kinda flapper ish you know not in a bad way it's fine

What did Forza just win

Oh that's cool good for them I don't drive cars

The height differences......

This would freak me out being on live TV I would hate it ohmygod

Wait huh hometlstuck

This is such strange vibes

Sign language is so sick tho

Why isn't there a general neutral version of mommy and daddy

Oh here come the names I don't know

I'm playing Sandrock while I watch this

Would it be weird if your kid immediately called you by your name like would that fuck them up or

Was told to use beepbo

Alright I'm back

Jk gusher break

BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY

I'm fucking clappiny

Ok but this game fucks

This is about persona 3 btw

I'm absolutely freaking out over her writing

Wait is it a bit

Who

Oh

She's in a silly goofy mood

Omg

Oh never mind I wanted more burning things in a fireplace game

Cool if you're into goo.

I'm a googetter myself

?????????

Omg remember this

Ok but I'm hype

HORNS

I'm gay

Hell yea hell yea

Remember when Rocco was sitting all by himself on camera

Guys I really don't hope someone says some dumb shit on stage again

Geoffs walking out music is cracking me up

Get you a mans who sends you two chairs and a table through the mail

Omg remember his speech last year lmao

Oh it's a bit

Damn

What is this lol

Is this a roast

My fucking boyfriendddd

Idris where you at

Idris you're missing the fanciest night in gaming

Our boyfriend won!!!

.....what is he wearing lmaoooo

Security BEEFY this year

Aww omg

He wore his armor I'm dead

I need to replay baldurs gate NOW

That's right baldurs gate!!!! You can fuck a bear!!!!

Geoff relax

Huh lol

Immediate fanservice

...I'm dying

Turned him on??????

Is he gonna fuck us????

Interstellar?????

This isn't interstellar

Damn bro

Wet Chair :/

Daddy's back

Oh free dayum ok

Geoff has the air of a man who presents this as if he himself made these games

Goose guy 2

Wait this is great

This is my kind of game

I love this

Fuck gta6 I got Big Walk

HUH

Is this fornite Lego????

What the huh

Took a break for ice cream

I just got the news Wonka will be presenting

They give them less speech time than on the Oscars

Oh wait this is the cool lady

FINALLY GONZO

Gonzo has good taste

Cocoon was good

Ok Sega ok!!!!!

Hold up anime game I'm awake

Oh nice ok I'm into it

Alan Wake sweep

Apparently the site you have to login into to get a steam deck for whatever is crashing crazy lol whoopsie

I liked venba!!

Wtf

His boy

I'm scared that's just a video

Not the fog machine

His broach is wild

I'm so glad kojima is finally making the movie he wanted to make

Is this wrestling

Huh

This is a WILD collaboration

They have my support

Movies and games!!!!

Ohhh dinosaurs?? I'm too scared to play this

Everything is fortnite now we are all assimilating into fortnite

Monkey 👍👍👍

I cannot escape suicide squad

Nooooot a fan of the remix

NICE CLAWS

Where do I aquire claws

What is Warframe sorry

Acab

Good games!! I loved tchia

This looks sick, ori vibes

So many cool looking games

Man with ponytail?????

THIS IS EVERYTHING TO ME

I want to play rebirth so bad

SHUT UP STOP lol huh?????

Sea of stars was meh sorry I said it

Omg I forgot about hades 2

Cutting to ads from ads is so funny

Holy shit he almost killed the camera guy with one kick

Anthony Mackey doing crowd work lmao

Fortnight

He's zooted

Thank you for the meme s

Thanks for the memeorys

Steve Martin looks different

There's 3 genshins now

Hell yeah democrazy

Are these guys a big deal I just don't know

I feel like I need to have played Alan Wake I guess

BOOGIE DOWN WHITE BOY

Ok but they are shredding

Ok I'm ready for bed how much longer

Stop flirting on stage

Gamer snax

We get it you're a voice actor 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Ok wait the armor??? Ok nice

It's funny tho cause the last thing I liveblogged was last of us, good show

BAGGU REPRESENT

The PR glowup for no man's sky was impressive no doubt

No mans sky 2!

We're always talking about mountains

Dragons so I'm in

Can I be a wolf man

Badass title

Stretching this is what I'm always saying unironically to everyone

I love tonberry king

Omgggg monhun!!! Chocobo

Huh what modded controller???

He flutin

Gotyyyy let's goo lol

Bg3 🫡🫡🫡

I sleep 😴

I'm not reading this back

#goty #game of the year awards

[fastigiums]

[OP-ED: This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of allkpop.] 

If you haven't spent the past year living under a rock, then you've probably heard of Boys Planet. And if you're gay or an Mnet stan, you've probably seen it. And if you've seen it, then you've heard of a certain Hwang Jaesun.

For the uninitiated (feel free to skip this paragraph if you saw the show), Jaesun competed as an independent trainee specializing in dance. He's a former Cube Entertainment trainee, presumably having brushed shoulders with Sung Hanbin and Seok Matthew before BP. After the show, he signed with Zenith Entertainment (best known for so-called cultural representatives Fable, but that's a different story) and debuted almost immediately.

Now, onto the point. Jaesun's second mini album released last week. It's a bastardized, commercialized, watered down excuse of a punk/rock album. The pop-punk-ification of kpop was a mistake. We need to put back whatever Olivia Rodrigo released into society. As if it couldn't get worse, Jaesun's album was supported by an NME cover and the worst interview I've ever read. Every sentence was physically painful, like the author had shown up to my doorstep to stab me with her pen. 

In the interview, it becomes very, very obvious that Jaesun is playing at being an idol. He speaks about his veteran actor parents in a way Lam (the author of the piece) refers to as "refreshing." It is not. She refuses to call it what it is. Nepotism. Jaesun is an idol because his parents pay for it. (That's also Zenith Entertainment's biggest issue, but again, a different story.) What happened to sheer grit and determination? Plain old good luck? Working a part-time job to finance your dream? It’s unlikely Jaesun has ever worked a day in his life.

Every word out of his mouth about his music reeks of inauthenticity. He sounds robotic and spoon-fed. He names Bring Me the Horizon, My Chemical Romance, and Paramore as his favorite bands. Anyone who’s listened to music in the past year could name the three of them. Jaesun never offers anything more concrete. There’s no “That’s the Spirit made me fall in love with rock” or “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge inspired me to make music” or “Brand New Eyes was the first CD I bought.” Why? Because I doubt Jaesun could name any of these albums on his own.

In an era of kpop that puts so much emphasis on artistry and self-production, it’s shocking to see him succeed when so many other talented musicians remain unheard of. For all his faults, Jaesun is surprisingly open about his reliance on his producer, who wrote both of his albums. Lam describes his debut mini as "distinctly kpop" which could mean any number of things. It's average pop? Every song is three at once? The boundaries of music as we know it are being expanded upon? If it’s anything like his second album, it’s the first category (but I haven’t heard it, so you’ll have to let me know).

One thing remains obvious: Hwang Jaesun has no idea what he’s doing.

[+71, -3] not olivia and fable catching strays 💀💀

[+51, -8] if you’ve listened to his new album you’d know jaesun has writing credits. wtf are you talking about.

[+49, -3] there are other nepo babies in kpop. why is he the problem?

[+15, -10] you're not missing anything... this new album is better than his debut

[+14, -26] I agree. K-pop is so oversaturated recently. Anyone with a lot of money or the slightest interest is an idol nowadays. We still need plumbers and electricians.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT HERE.

#( ☆ ) ⸻ here i am : [ news. ] #fictional idol community #idol oc #kpop oc #idolverse #kpop addition

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 75

Nord VPN again? So what ... oh gods no ... no, please don't sing, Sam. Please don't sing ... crap ... full-on Rodgers & Hammerstein ... we're in Hell ...

Laura: "Now I see why it took you so long for sound check."

No more announcements? Just straight into the game then ... big things are brewing then, clearly ...

First time in a little while we're jumping into COMPLETELY unknown waters ... so what now?

Wait, that was COLM?!!! Blimey, Sam ...

Ah yes, the Ashton Greymoore origin story ... how many superheroes are we gonna have on the party by the end, then?

Chetney's velvet jogging suit keeps him warm ... XD

No, no more jumping ...

"Flying is the best climbing" ... LOL

A tight warm crack ... I'm so glad Sam didn't pick up on the potential innuendo this time ...

Ashley rolls a Crit Fail ... of course she does ... Fearne: "I have no traction with my hooves!"

Low ceiling = much inconvenience ... so FCG turns himself into a lowrider ...

Oof ... this place is totally giving me flashbacks to The Descent ...

Slickshimmer oil? Oh yeah ... might come in handy ... and now Chetney's just making it weird ...

Oh yeah, she can just Wildshape ..

A lil snowbat ... awwwww ... yeah, she will be completely blind, but at least she can eccolocate ...

Oh, here we go then ...

Shit, it's a full blown drop further down ... but tight ... oh boy, this isgonna be problematic ... fuck, that's just it? Crap ...

IT JUST STOPS. So what now?

Bat sonar it, Fearne! Oh, it's just a blockage? Hmmmm ... so what do we do about it, then?

Orym tries to pry through ... pop! Oh crap ... here we go ... A CHARRED SKULL?!!! WTF? Laura (angrily): "Matthew!"

Claustrophobic Fearne forgetting she's currently a bat ...

Sam's fake teeth are still there ... Matt: "I hate it so much ... don't put it BACK!"

Crap ... whenever everybody has to keep doing individual checks it's such a worrying thing ...

The coins are melted onto the rock? That can't be good ... please tell me this isn't a fucking lava tube ...

DISASSEMBLE Letters? Really? Chetney is WAY too enthusiastic about that idea ...

Chetney: "Consent I all I need. I got a whole bag of tools." O.O

FCG ALMOST gets stuck ...

Great, now Imogen IS stuck by her ankle ... crap ... Matt: "This is my nightmare. That I'm inflicting on all of you." Damn it ... Marisha confirms this is most definitely a thing ...

Fuck this is getting worse all the time ... this really IS turning into The Descent ...

She takes her boots off and is FREE ... okay ... and now she's stuck on FCG ...

Good roll + bad roll = logjam ... of course it does ...

And now Letters is clanging down the passage like a ball bearing ... crap ... and he crashes right into Orym ... fuck ... now they're both FALLING ... crash! Ouch ... Orym (winded): "Take ... your foot ... out of my gooch ..."

Imogen drops hoping one or both will catch her ... phew! That was almost bad, but ultimately okay ...

Bones. A fuckload of bones ... charred and melted bones and other stuff ... and it's HOTTER in here ... crap ...

Flashes of intense heat ... please tell me there isn't a fucking DRAGON in here ...

Odd, unpredictable low vibration in the rock ... not a good sign, I'm sure ...

Black volcanic rock, and it's newer ... crap ... fresh lava flow, clearly ... DEFINITELY not a good sign ...

FCG casts Detect Magic ... ooh, magic ring ... cool ...

DO NOT go digging through the suspicious volcanic floor ...

Oh, they're doing this after all ... maybe let the others KNOW what you're doing first, guys?

Laudna is UNIMPRESSED with this plan. As she should be ...

Stoneshape ... gods this is DUMB ...

Just LIGHT? Please just be light ... and now it's hotter ... okay, so what's down there? DO NOT just fly down through there! Are you an idiot?

Literally the floor is lava ... yeah, I saw that coming ... XD

NOT a whole lake of lava ... oh, so there are CREATURES here ... imps? SERIOUSLY?!!!

Another communication about further plans ... Laudna: "Are you absolutely insane?!!"

A rock water slide to JUMP the lava? Are you SERIOUSLY considering this plan?

Ashton goes first and RAGES as he goes to try and widen the passage ... oh boy ... a Nat20? Really? Because he's an Earth Genasi AND a Titan this actually WORKS ...

Laudna is dislocating herself to fit through and then FORGETS to pop the joints back into place ... ye gods ...

Fearne is going to fly down and try to COMMUNICATE with the impish things ... right ...

This is a BUST ... yup ...

A whole load of chaos as they try to formulate a plan ... oh boy ...

Okay, here we go ... Ashton cracks the floor and NAT FAILS so the WHOLE THING just gives out ... crap ...

That was almost VERY hairy ...

No way out? Crap ... Travis: "We came down here for NO REASON."

Fearne tries to speak to them ... they're less freaked than just curious ... wow, they ARE cute, aren't they? :3

Oh wow, they're being BORN out of the lava blow ... wait, that one just DIED?!!! Already? Whoa ...

Who's the Elder? Oh, the one that just died ... of course ... another one: "I'M the new Elder!"

Oh, they KNOW about the Shard? Okay ...

Wait ... the Shard is IN the lava itself ... so what happens if they TAKE it?

They have no concept of time ... of course they don't ...

Elder: "Others have come and angered the Spark." Okay then ...

Ashton's going to try and touch the lava? Really?

This whole thing is like NINE FUCKING LEVELS OF SUPREMELY STUPID ...

Cue chants of "Rock! Rock! Rock!" Like in Galaxy Quest ... XD

Ray of Frost? Okay ... please don't trigger the explosion ...

Fuck, Ashton's going straight in ... wait, what ring? He needs to atune first ... aaaaagh ...

So he's flying over towards the bubble, then ... it's CALMING DOWN? Is this a good sign or really bad? And he's Raging now ... fuck, he's IN THE LAVA now? Oof ... ouch, this is gonna be SO NASTY ... an Investigation Check? RIGHT NOW?!!! 22? Wow ...

He HAS THE SHARD!!! Get the fuck out of there, man! 12 ... crap ... no joy? Imogen tries to communicate with him and just picks up a lot of cursing ...

Ashley: "This is so dumb ... I'm gonna jump in." O.O

FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!

I mean if ANYBODY could actually DO THIS ...

Telekinesis? Really? And Matt will actually allow it ... oh, nice roll ... Holy fuck this is actually working?

Go go go ... be strong, Ashton ... Nat20 for 28 total? Oh shit ... IT'S WORKING!!! IT'S ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKING!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Lava shower! Crap!

Ashton is FUCKING GLOWING ORANGE right now! Holy shit ...

Oh man, the imps are all dying? NOOOOOOO!!!

That was horrible but also totally worked ...

Ashton is really hot. LITERALLY.

Holy shit ... this gas actually HEALED Ashton's original cracked damage somewhat? Seriously? Oh, and he's just full on shirtcocking it right now ...

Wait, yes ... give it to Fearne! Give it to her! Let HER be the Empress!

He tries HOLDING IT to the crystal in his head and thinking through it ...

AND ALL THE TIME HE'S STILL TAKING FIRE DAMAGE!!!

Do not SMASH IT Ashton! Are you NUTS?!!!

Imogen holds it in the air so it won't keep burning him ... oh, that is beautiful and powerful ... like the fish in the meme ... XD

Laudna wonders if they might actually be in the belly of a Titan ...

Imogen TOSSES Chetney the Shard to make him do Grim Psychometry on it ... ouch! XD

Oh this is just INTENSE ...

Ashton is going to press it to his chest WHILE HE RAGES?!!! Oh shit ... and another 9 points of damage ...

Ashton: "I don't think it's FOR ME. I mean it's for me ..."

Yes. Seriously. Give it to Fearne.

Marisha fretting about rolling for Arcana because she's been rolling SHIT all game ... oh! Nice! Marisha: "I need Travis talking shit to me all the time!" Good roll!

A Funnel? OH SHIT!!! The Harness! They gotta go to Joe!

A flash of light? What the hell?

Ruby Vanguard? Crap ... and Reilora? Double crap ... oh fuck ... IS THAT FUCKING LUDINUS?!!!

Laura: "Telekinesis! I'm gonna throw the lava they're above AT THEM!!!"

Matt: "And we're gonna come back to that zfter a break." AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Crap crap crap crap crap ... how bad is this gonna be?

Aaaaaah! Battlemap! Cue Wizzkids plug!

Holy shit ... nice terrain ...

Nice reminder from Liam that Ashton is currently doing this half naked ... and not the polite half, either ... and what about Fearne?

Shit this is REALLY bad ...

Ludinus succeeds his Dex roll? Of course he does ... but ONE of them fails ... okay, then ...

ROLL INITIATIVE!!!

Ashton up first ... SUPERHERO IT, BOY!!! He Rages ... he's getting heavy? Oh, Gravity effects ... here we go ... he's shielding FCG? Even though he's low on hit points right now? Ballsy ... he grabs the Shard and tucks it behind him ... so he takes MORE damage next round? Bloody hell ...

Imogen tries to grab the skinny Reiloran with Telekinesis snd he fails to save ... yanks him into the lava! Matt tells her to roll EIGHT D10!!! Fucking hell ... 50 POINTS OF DAMAGE!!! Fucking hell indeed! Then she Quickens another spell for bonus action, Mindwhips the big Reiloran ... it saves so only takes HALF damage ... 7 points? Oof ... not too impressive, then ... mostly just made it angry, then ...

Orym is up! Gets close as he can so he can CUT THE AIR with Seedling to hit the submerged Reiloran ... and that is IT for it ALREADY!!! Wow ... second strike to the soldier with a vine, succeeds and drags HIM in too ... Holy shit, that's a FUCKLOAD of damage ... and HE'S DEAD TOO?!!! Holy fuck, wee man!

Ludinus came to offer an OLIVE BRANCH? Really? Oh crap, he just recognised the staff ... what's THIS mean? What's he doing?

Fearne is now DANGLING OVER THE LAVA!!! Shit ...

Reiloran JUGGERNAUT?!!! I'm sorry? Oh lawd he comin! Orym has to make a strength save? Crap ... and it's a fail ... and he's just DRAGGED into melee with it ...

Chetney grabs the Shard, slips it into the Bag of Holding, then goes invisible! Okay ... now he just BOLTS for Imogen ...

All FCG can do is hit Ashton with a 3rd Level Cure Wounds ... 17 Points back ... it'll do ... then he gives Fearne a Bonded Blessing ...

Fearne's turn ... what CAN she do? Just spells, but attack rolls are at a disadvantage ... crap ... Wall of Stone? She wants to completely encase Ludinus ... oh yes, that sounds sweet ... yes! Do that! Do that! Holy shit, and it actually WORKS too ... but she's still stuck ...

Laudna's turn ... she Quickens a spell for Mirror Image, then Blights the Reiloran. And he FAILS ... okay then, that's 8 D8 of Necrotic damage! Here we go ... 32! Sweet!

The last one just holds his action? Hmmm ...

Ashton burns a Chaos Burst and ALMOST knocks the Reiloran into the lava ... second same ... hmmm ...

Imogen chucks a bunch of lightning at all of them ... oh shit, boom indeed! Now none of them can SEE!!! Okay ... that doesn't ACTUALLY change anything for Fearne, though ... then she casts Blade Ward on herself ...

Orym steps under Ashton's legs and detects Chetney close by from smell alone ... XD ... attacks the Reiloran and hits him with THREE Pushing attacks ... he fails so he is now IN THE LAVA!!! 33 points of damage! Nice ... and now he JUMPS on the Reiloran's head, slashes away down on him ... Action Surge? Okay ... bang bang bang ... but Matt keeps rolling SO WELL ... one more try ... HE GETS THE HDYWTDT!!! YES!!! He kills the fuck out of him and jumps back off again! Now he's just SOLIDIFIED in the lava ... Orym you absolute WILD MAN!!!

Ludinus casts Dimension Door to bamf out of the wall ... crap ... he raises her EVEN HIGHER ... She can't break free ...

Fuck, is he gonna JUMP AWAY with her?

Chetney clicks his Boots of Speed, gets close enough to Ludinus to ... do something he CAN'T do because it's ALSO a bonus action? Crap ... so he DOESN'T do that but just holds his action instead ... crap ...

FCG pulls Spiritual Weapon on Ludinus ... since it's a hostage situation, he makes it a hsnd holding a pepperbox pistol right to his temple ... JUST hits him ... nice damage, but doesn't do anything major ... then shoits a Sacred Fame at him too ... which he fails to save against ... ouch! Nice ... he's looking rough but still strong, apparently ...

Fearne casts Wall of Fire on Ludinus? Wow ... can he Counterspell? Nat20? Crap ... that didn't work, then ... Ashley tries to work out what else to do ... and just tries to negotiate instead? Hmmmm ... roll good, Fearne, be charming ... 18?

Laudna unleashes her Hound of Ill Omen upon Ludinus! Okay ... Phantasmal Force? Oooooh ... and he has DISADVANTAGE?!!! But he still succeeds ... crap ... but it's now the pooch's turn! Attack hits! 10 damage and heneeds to roll a strength check ... FAIL!!! He is now PRONE!!! Nice ... but he STILL maintains concentration ...

The last guy attacks the Hound ... and KILLS IT!!! What? Seriously?

Ashton gets as close as he can and tries a Wormhole Strike on Ludinus! Fuck ... and it HITS!!! Nice! 20 damage! Second misses, though ... crap ...

Imogen casts Lightning Bolt on BOTH of them ... defender fails, but Ludinus STILL makes his save? Shit ... that's a lot of dice though ... 42 points on the defender ... and he goes DOWN in a smoking heap ... AND LUDINUS' CONCENTRATION IS BROKEN!!! Fearne is FREE!!!

Orym runs in and chucks 2 daggers at Ludinus, misses with BOTH because he's prone ... nuts ... nothing else he can do ...

Ludinus gets up, steps past Fearne so she has an attack of opportunity ... he starts brewing a Sphere, Laudna Counterspells ... but it's a LEVEL NINE?!!! Holy fuck ... did she just CRIT?!!! SERIOUSLY?!!! Oh my gods she fucking DID IT!!! Nice! So he tries to Counterspell HER? And he FAILS?!!! OH MY FUCKING GODS!!! Amazing ... suddenly the dice gods are with us! So hejyst keeps walking ... INTO THE LAVA? AND JUST DISINTEGRATES?!!! Bloody hell ... he was a FAKE!!! Bugger ...

Fearne TRIES to grab the stone he wore ... it's cracked ... nuts, only MAYBE a clue now ...

Smart thinking, might be a good idea to run ... but first LOOT THE BODY that DIDN'T burn ...

Fancy robes ... NOT damaged by the lava? Handy ...

Time to Teleport out, then ... but where to?

Oh, Whitestone? Yes. Go there. Definitely.

Here we go, then ... aiming for the Sun Tree ... they jump ... and Matt calls it there BEFORE they roll ... oof ...

At least they killed his villain speech before he could deliver it ... but yeah, that was one HAIRY fight ...

#critical role #crit role campaign 3 #crit role spoilers #campaign 3 spoilers #campaign 3 episode 75 #matt mercer #marisha ray #laudna #travis willingham #chetney pock o'pea #laura bailey #imogen temult #liam o'brien #orym of the air ashari #ashley johnson #fearne calloway #taliesin jaffe #ashton greymoore #sam riegel #fresh cut grass

[ephemeralgalaxies]

Shadow and Bone s2 spoilers

also some Six of Crows spoilers, so if you've watched s2 but still don't wanna know anything more yet about the crows than what the show has already given us, beware cause this will involve (probable) future spoilers

(once again, Wylan edition (and a lil jesper. but mostly wylan). but this time it's about the soundtrack that plays during a certain scene in episode 4 iykyk) (most of my meta posts will probably be about him. he's a cool character. and he's me but that's beside the point) (me as in ND with tics, sass, and way to much random fact info than is for his own good but sometimes actually proves very useful but not in the way you'd expect. usually in a quite disturbing and confuzzling way)

last warning for spoilers under the cut bc I am absolutely picking apart as many frames as I can

OK OK YES THIS IS ABOUT THE KISS SCENE BUT SPECIFICALLY THE MUSIC THAT PLAYS BEFORE/DURING. Bear with me here, this is gonna be quite the trainwreck as I am running on adrenaline from sleep deprivation and also like two oreos.

To start off, the song for this scene is The Night We Met composed by Joseph Trapanese (spotify link).

Alright, first, the way this song just blends so nicely from the scene with Pekka Rollins in the cemetery to this one just *chef's kiss* (ofc we get quite the gap in soundtrack between the end of that scene and once this song starts playing, but they still arch together pretty well) In fact, I almost thought they were the same, or at least same motif (it tries to be a major key song with lots of accidentals/minor-falls/glissandos to make it more angsty dramatic). Which, shouldn't mean that much from a distance... but oh boi does it make my mind stir.

That song (labeled by Netflix CC as "dramatic music" lmao) surfaces when Pekka Rollins and his crew are scouring the Black Veil Cemetery in search of his son, Alby Rollins. Ofc, he finds him safe and well just as the police(?) take Rollins under arrest for the murders he's just admitted to (holy shit, Kaz works fast). Like, with the beginning of The Night We Met, these are the same songs in different fonts. Which,,, may not be on purpose but is absolutely brilliant anyways bc of how much Alby and his father mirror Wylan and his father (if that mirror had shattered into a web design and had been left to collect dust and mold for decades).

(summary context just in case we do have some ppl reading this that don't know about Wylan's family and want to: his father is Jan Van Eck, a very wealthy merchant from Ketterdam. Like, Pekka Rollins "rules" the Barrel, but Van Eck (and capitalist co) run the country. But he's a shit person and an even more shit father, disowning Wylan on the basis of him not being able to read and therefore "useless as an heir" so,,, Wylan ran away ofc)

So right before this very emotional scene for Wylan, we get Pekka Rollins, absolute dumpster fire trash of a man, be a good father. aND EVEN HAVING THE MUSIC DO A HARSH FADE FROM WHEN ROLLINS NON LONGER CAN SEE HIS SON TO WYLAN ASKING JESPER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE FREE?

im screaming so much it was perfect

So with that in context, we lead into the scene in Wylan's workshop. It's quiet now, hopeful even. You're already forgetting about abandoned sons and desperate fathers. The world is "full of possibilities." There's no music anymore, just the fizzling and clanging (Wylan, wtf do u have clanging in your workshop???). And the silence stays as Jesper talks about what he'd like to do now that he can roam the Barrel free again. How he'd like to do that... with Wylan.

But Wylan's acting weird. He should be in his element here; laid out, an open book. But he's hiding. No literally, he ducks under the table. And even after he's explained that he's feeling strange bc he was so sure Jesper wouldn't want anything more with him, there's silence. It's only when Jesper starts to back away, when he seems hurt by the idea that Wylan doesn't think Jesper would like him, that the music picks up. And I love this so much because throughout this entire scene, Wylan is interacting with the music. As if he can hear it. Jesper floats along it, fitting everything so perfect within pauses, but Wylan actually feels it. Like each little violin arco pull or harp chord is another thought in his head.

So here: the music starts. Just gentle harp for now (I think that's a harp. Or something of the variety. I'm gonna be so embarrased if it's just like an acoustic guitar or smth). And Jesper backs up, hurt, and Wylan realizes oh shit wait this actually means something to him, I've just hurt him, I have to fix this. I need to clarify. Let him know it's not like I wanted to leave, but "better to cut my losses." (and my god I love Jack Wolfe's little "I... huuuuuh" that he gives like I love it so much it's so awkward and accurate like Wylan has so much he wants to say but can't figure out how to actually get it out right).

And we keep with this pattern, just gentle (almost melancholic) harp chords of one two three four pause... one two three four pause... BUT IT'S A SORT OF ARPEGIO. BC once Jesper says "my reputation isn't entirely unfounded," the camera pans back to Wylan for the next set of notes that reach a little higher, a little different, little more noticeable. And with this frame, we get a nod and a small smile (not reaching his eyes, ofc, Wylan seems to smile as a signal a lot more than in genuine) -- this feels like confirmation to him. He's correct, his assumptions from that night are valid. Someone like Jesper wouldn't want anything more (from someone like him).

Then we stay on Jesper again, how he likes "the gamble of Barrel life" (sobbing for Wylan thinking that Jesper won't like him anymore when he finds out that Wylan isn't "Barrel life" (not really, he thinks. Not like the rest of them). We even get the more overt and dramatic lil "yeah there you go, ofc, I get that" hand motion with another nod and smile before he avoids Jesper's gaze (and the camera) again by walking off to the end of the table. He's put more distance despite being more accessible now; they're not looking across from each other anymore. Jesper has to move to keep engaging.

And he doesn't at first. He lets his eyes follow Wylan, but then drops them again shortly as he thinks on it all. He's losing Wylan here, he knows it. He needs to change this pattern up before Wylan disappears into that quite chord progression entirely. "I may very well have left you first..." Wylan looks up again, smiles and nods, still tinkering away. He's trying to engage the conversation but only as little as possible. He wants this over with, he's got his confirmation. It's all up to Jesper now.

AND OH BOI DOES JESPER TAKE THAT CHANCE.

He starts walking towards him. "But that..."

Wylan stills, looks back at him, shakes his head and looks back down. Like for a moment it was maybe maybe maybe then pushing that hope back down bc that can't be what this is.

"...was before I got to know you." THE "what wtf hold on" ON WYLAN'S FACE IM SCREAMING. THE HARP IS STILL ALONE, HE'S STILL NOT TRUSTING IT. HE'S LISTENING BUT WON'T DARE ENGAGE YET. HE NEEDS MORE.

"I can't make you any promises." VIOLIN!!!!

"Or predict what might happen between us" VIOLINNNN!!!

"But I can tell you that..." quieter violin as Jesper hesitates

Wylan realizing oh shit oh shit oh shit right along with that muddled lower violin arco note mixed with the harp chord. It's not clean like the others. The harp is catching up to the violin.

"I'd like to find out." Another weird chord (forgive me im tired and can't tell if it's an accidental or just a deviation entirely into another key but it sounds like a different key for a sec) with the harp and a beat of silence. Then the violin follows it...

AND WYLAN SMIRKS. LIKE I SWEAR TO GOD THIS WHOLE POST STARTED BC WHEN I FIRST WATCHED THIS SCENE ALL I COULD THINK OF WAS HOW IT LOOKED LIKE WYLAN REACTS TO THAT VIOLIN NOTE AFTER JESPER SAYS HE WANTS TO TRY SOMETHING MORE WITH HIM. He hides his face from Jesper, and it hits him with the arco note. The guy he likes actually likes him back. This incredible, cool, gunslinger that has his back and doesn't care or judge him for his quirks also actually likes him. more than friendship, more than sex, there's another shared thing here. Wylan can be more. But the harp here slows down, a ritardando only it actually feels the effects of bc the violin has already done its job. Jesper is worried now, he's said what he said and all he can do is hand control over to Wylan.

and then ofc my favorite "hey bro pls respond" like after that arco note that seems to be just for Wylan, like it's his own lil secret realization music, Jesper sits in silence (literally, there's only ambient background, no more actual notes) and when Wylan realizes he hasn't actually responded, that Jesper also needs confirmation, dear god he's gonna give it to him.

But the music doesn't start up again once Wylan begins to walk (run. Like he's sprinting into this kiss) to Jesper, it starts again when Jesper realizes what Wylan's doing. That he's responding. And he's responding very positively.

Now the violin is confident, steady, forceful. There's no more of that careful sliding on the bow, this is borderline staccato. And it's joining the harp. THEY'RE PLAYING TOGETHER NOW!!! THEY'VE CAUGHT UP!!!!!!! Like they've literally caught up, the two characters and instruments melting together in a new melody of the same key but with energy and passion and giddy joy. IT'S LIKE FIREWORKS, LIKE A GUNSHOT.

Then the roaring ocean, violin switching from a long-short combo to straight 16th notes fast and ready and dear god I love it. There's still that whisper of the more hesitant violin in the background, but the faster one is taking control of the piece now. It knows what it wants, has a clear direction. And saints, if that doesn't perfectly mirror Wylan in this scene. This music piece is a beautiful conversation not just between the two characters (and respective separate instruments) but also with that haunting past Wylan carries with his confidence. He knows his worth, knows he's useful. He just can't think that others would recognize this as well. A violin is not a gentle instrument (I'm sorry, but there's a reason I chose the cello). It's higher pitches are harsher, sharper. It can be beautiful, yes, but it can never have that subtlety of a cello or viola (at least lower strings of a viola). The violin is the 1st chair, the main melody carrier, the gem of the orchestra. Sure you need the others, but everyone knows the violin. Wylan knows his worth to a sharp, unsubtle point. But he hangs back like a 2nd violin position -- letting someone else take the reigns until he finally has the space (the safety) of exploding (hehe) into sound. He trusts Jesper now. Wylan's gonna play with the force of his bombs now.

At least until Jesper learns about his history. Which, I think might be another reason why we still have that 2nd violin position sound even at the end. He's encouraged, but he knows there's something he's still gotta hide. And it won't be pretty when it all spills out.

TLDR: the music nerd obsesses over the fictional music nerd way more than anyone asked for (which is at all. no one asked for this. why do I keep doing music-based metas. because I love them and can't sleep until I do them that's why). Wylan is a violin apparently but he can't decide whether he's playing along with the cellos/violas or if he's taking the reigns and filling that conductor's right-hand man spot (is it the right side? hold on. wait shit no it's the conductor's left side. whatever. that 1st chair violin thing that's really special but idc bc Im a cellist and my director switches our section arrangements all the time to play with sound). Also apparently Jesper is a harp which does kinda make sense considering it's a pizzicato sound and Jesper is very ticky ticky like most of the soundtrack songs he's in the scenes of have some kind of ticking. so,,,,,,,

#shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone s2 spoilers #sab s2 spoilers #s&b s2 spoilers #wylan hendriks #wylan van eck #wylan van sunshine #jesper fahey #wesper #wylan x jesper #jesper x wylan #six of crows #soc #music meta #soundtrack #ost #I will never stop obsessing over soundtracks in media and how they and the film crew understand so much more about the show than producers #sometimes #most of the time #look they don't have much to work with. their whole job is to take abstract and make ppl feel smth specific with it #I am sad about the lack of crow songs actually listed on the spotify album for s1 and s2 #like i know there are some really cool dRaMatiC MuSic moments with the crows #but give those moments credit aaaaaaah #I would listen to that music when pekka searches for alby so many times. it's so good and such a perfect example of character foils #like with what pekka means to kaz and what alby means to wylan and those foils on their ends and THEN the foils of kaz and wylan just #my god im gonna write another post #not now though. it's 3am #mutuals i am so sorry

[abyssal-cryptid]

I keep playing Tears of the Kingdom (SPOILERS)

The Like enemies are the worst

I hate them

Yona is such a sweetie

They wrote Sidon and Link's relationship to be romantic in this and added a girlfriend to Sidon for deniability

Yona even calls me Sidon's 'true companion'

The people making tutorials for every little thing have my heart because I am dumb of ass

I cant be the only one who avoids the depths like my life depends on it

Its not even the depths, the chasms just make me almost have panic attacks

Anyways there is a chasm under Zora domain

Its free on enemies and has a forge

Im terrified of the dark

Also there is Zora statues

Why is Link dick sucking height for everyone

Sidon, Rauru, Ganon

I mean

I dont write porn someone else do that for me

I write sad Link

Not that sad Link cant suck dick I just cant write it

Anywaysss

I would go to the Tulin air temple but there is an ice spider there

FUCK I FORGOT TO TAKE A PIC OF THE BOSSES IN WATER TEMPLE NOO

MY COMPENDIUM

Also the boss bokoblin marches are so scary wtf

I saw group of black bokoblins paradin around and immediatly dipped into the ocean

Safety

Cant follow me

I was excited for pirates

But no its just monsters

Uhhhh quick tip dont sleep in the middle of killing the Lurelin village pirates

You bet your ass Im spending my precious time fixing up the village with Bolson

Its so fun

Im helping

I love these types of quests

In going to Hestu after this

I dont want to

I so dont want to

WAIT I WAS LIED TO

HESTU MY DEAREST

HE'S AT THE LOOKOUT TOWER

BABY BOY

I hate the depths

WHY IS THERE LIGHT EATING ENEMIES

But I need bombs and theres a lot of them here

Stop making me go down there

Let me be

Back to rebuilding

Im sure I was doing something but I cant remember

I need more space for meals

YAY WE DID IT

REBUILT

Roman is now 4*-5*-4*-3* horse and I love him so much

He looks like Epona and has flowers in his mane

Ive gotten like 9 memories

I love the animation for Link gaining hearts or stamina

Why cant the musicians walk

I love Mastro

His little ya yahs

Their band is really good

Makes me want to run in the woods

Anyways more great fairy!

Why is there no great moose

Why do I have to pay the great fairy

HOW DO I KEEP PREDICTING BLOOD MOONS TO A TEE

They gave Link so many slutty slutty outfits

Making Link wear the hylian hood when he opens a memory looks funny

LEAVE ZELDA ALONE

Why doesnt Master Sword ever talk to ME

Why does it only talk to Zelda

Maybe there was a mix up because goddess Hylia only talks to Link

Imagine

NO ZELDA NO DONT DO IT

ZELDA BABY PLEASE

ZELDA

NO

ZELDA DONT

ZELDA

Im going to write Zelda-Link fanfiction about this

Typhlo ruins being visible is kind of strange

Wait I can have a whip

Okay I admit I like the vehicles

All great fairies opened

Stable Trotters play so beautifully

The scales on the great fairies clothes are so pretty

Sidon's avatar has scared me so many times

Can I please get the ancient saddle back

YIGA FIT AQUIRED

I slayed

Literally

Got all the rewards possible from the hideout

Rauru is dumbass a little bit

Ganondorf is so hot here

Ganondorf is a liar but my god

Sonia is so beautiful my god

Zelda looks kind of like Sonia's daughter and I wonder if Ganon thinks she is

The Zonai clothing is stunning

Why does Ganondorf have to be so evil

I GOT THE HYLIAN SHIELD

OMG

I NEVER GOT THIS IN BREATH OF THE WILD

Slip resistance is like the most useless thing in this fucking game

Because it does nothing

Even on level 3

Nothing

NOTHING

WHY DID YOU PUT THIS IN GAME THEN

The Dream Homes are so cool

They cost so many coins

But Im so excited

Its so cute

I CAN HAVE ROMAN IN A PERSONAL STABLE

I got a kitchen too

And a study

And weapons room

I love it

Is it time for Gerudo town clearing? Yes yes yes

I hate this sandstorm and love the desert so

The Lightning Temple is so cool

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT

WHAT

WHEN DID THIS BECOME A HORROR GAME

I HATE THAT

The puzzles are hard, I have so little brains

Boss battles are so hard

The Lightning Sage is majorly hit

Why is Demon Ganondorf so hot

WAIT DAYBREAKER WAS HER SHIELD

Is this like a traditional shield and weapon of the Lady of Gerudo?? I thought it was just Urbosa

Btw Urbosa is my favorite Champion and I adore her

Simple lesbian brain

Once again Zonai Zelda is the prettiest person in any room

Please Can I Marry Her

Why does Zelda have tear tattoos? Like did she just get them to complete her fit

Iconic

Why cant we see the faces of the Sages

Me every time they call Zelda the Sage of Time

Riju is adorable

She's grown so much

I intended to write a long fic about BOTW with my interpertation of Link and all

But then TOTK released

I do keep thinking about it

There is so many ideas and headcanons I have

I do miss dressing Link as a girl

He has slutty outfits but like let me explore Link's gender

RIJU'S AVATAR IS SO PRETTY

LIKE PRETTY AND FIERCE AND SCARY

I LOVE IT AND HER

I so had a crush on Riju in BOTW I was just dumb and in denial

GERUDO TOWN IS BACK TO NORMAL

MY BELOVED

FAVORITE CITY

I want to write a desert civilization inspired ny the Gerudo and also real desert civilizations

But idk where to start

Oh I need to take a picture of Mattison for Hudson

I love Patricia

*feeds fruit to her*

I love that Padda also loves her despite her puns

WHY IS BOZAI STILL HERE

HOW DO I GET RID OF HIM

A VOE IN THE CITY

I really like the custom they have of the vai coming to live and grow in the city after certain age

FINALLY I CAN HAVE A NOBLE PURSUIT

I love the thunder helm

Haha you cant touch me

Its 3.30am rn

I should sleep soon, the sun wakes in like an hour

Impa, staring at me publicly in Gerudo town: I did not expect to see you here

She has the same energy as Yoda

#tears of the kingdom #legend of zelda #spoilers