#or whatever shenanigans that seem to be popular

[reginrokkr]

𝐂𝐗𝐕𝐋. Following with the post series of breaking down a bit every AQ in which Dain appears, here is the first part of AQ: We Will Be Reunited. Given its length and more density in what I find interesting to comment, I'll be splitting this in two or three posts.

✦ For all the centuries Dain has been thwarting the Abyss Order's plans, he claims that he has never seen an inverted Statue of the Seven holding Abyssal power in its hands before, although he did have his suspicions on the matter.

✧ ◜There are no coincidence in the world. Everything is the fruit of seeds planted long ago. [...] Time is just waiting for those seeds to sprout. [...] The connection between the Abyss Mages and the Ruin Guards is by no means incidental. Rather, they are both branches that have grown out and up from the same roots below.◞

I think that these quotes are the first time he ever teases his connection to Irminsul as a Bough Keeper. But putting this aside, and as I discussed briefly in the previous post about AQ: Dainsleif, this cements even further that it is possible to know if something is preordained through Irminsul and make educated guesses of what may happen in the future, just as Fontaine's prophecy was actually carved in Irminsul a very long time ago. This, alongside the established power that Irminsul may or may not provide of foreseeing events to happen in the future solidifies even more that Dain's appearances aren't coincidental either and are product of either estimations of his own or direct clues of a time and place where something will happen.

✦ ◜Khaenri'ah was a nation without a god— not because it had a god that died or abandoned them, but because it never had a god to begin with. It was a powerful nation built purely by humans, an unprecedented flourishing and glorious civilization— it was the pride of humankind. [...] 500 years ago, the gods descended upon the world and brought desolation to Khaenri'ah. The "pride of humankind" was uprooted and crushed, like a weed removed from the garden of the gods...◞

It's interesting to revisit this explanation about Khaenri'ah after a significant amount of time without doing so. Mainly because I have read in the past countless of times people saying that Dain is biased in regards of Khaenri'ah and, while he, himself, admits to have his own opinions and is not above falling into subjectivity, this description is strangely objective. As someone who advocates for everyone being masters of their own fate and praises the heights people and creatures alike can reach without the aid of the gods and in view of the way humans were treated and "babied", what those who built Khaenri'ah did was praiseworthy. So much that it attracted even the gods' attention to mimic some of the things they did for themselves (Guizhong is a clear example of this, and so is Ei who created Kabukimono and later Raiden Shogun via the Art of Khemia confirmed in one of Wanderer's stories as a point of interest for Dottore to replicate himself). There isn't any moment that alludes to him pitying the Abyss Order too as I've read in many instances people saying. Overall, he says two things here that are entirely accurate:

Khaenri'ah's magnificence could be considered the peak of humankind for doing it themselves without gods and the gods destroyed the nation.

✧ ◜After the destruction of Khaenri'ah, these masterless "Field Tillers" went completely out of control. They wandered aimlessly over the centuries, gradually spreading to every corner of Teyvat. Perhaps resonating with the sorrow of other civilizations lost to time, they found their way to various ruins across the land, where they lie dormant.◞

It's interesting the thought that these automatons, as they began to be built with Abyssal energy as their sustenance, have some manner of sentience because of just that of echoes of the past that still surround these ancient civilizations. This wouldn't be far-fetched at all as Kazuha's quest shed light on the possibility that even a sword can gain some sentience and be possessed by the Abyssal darkness, but still have its own divided part untouched by its negativity.

◜Once you understand more, those details won't mean much. But no matter their past, all that remains of them now is the danger they pose... so destroy them all.◞

This quote here in conjunction with the moment of empathy Dain showed for these Ruin Guards is worth mentioning as well as it can be easily extrapolated to Abyss Order creatures (I'll touch more on this when I reach to AQ: Requiem of the Echoing Depths) and it feels like he had a hard time to come to terms with this, despite how much he can feel for the automatons and most likely Abyss Order creatures that were once humans, that he has to do what must be done nevertheless and that a tragic background doesn't erase the current situation of both automatons and Abyss Order members.

#◟༺✦༻◞ Events to be remembered in blue veins ┊Addendum.┊ #it's also getting late #and I should go to sleep soon #tomorrow I have an exam #so I'll need to revise it before it's time #but I have no regrets of revisiting this scene by scene #and see everything he has to say #while putting it into context given the additional lore #we've been getting in later patches #I found a new pet peeve of mine #in regards of part of the fandom's take on Dain can you tell #specially regarding on their so-called “bias” towards Khaenri'ah #and extrapolating that to the Abyss Order #or whatever shenanigans that seem to be popular #like he serving the Abyss Twin or K.aeya #if he were to choose Khaenri'ah over Mondstadt #it should be an understatement by now but #we close our eyes in this house at those takes #they don't exist

[lenavonschweetz]

Hunter Insert

Dean Winchester x Reader

Synopsis: You really didn’t mean to, but somehow you’d stumbled upon something called Tumblr - and in turn fanfiction. You may or may not get addicted to reader inserts featuring your favorite teammate. You may or may not get caught.

Warnings: Smut, second-hand embarrassment, adorable Dean, fanfiction cliches, fanfiction cliches turned on their heads, fluffy smut.  It’s ok (and quite adorable, honestly) to laugh during sexytimes.

A/N: This is just a reworking of one of my most popular Bucky x reader fics!  Tweaked for the Supernatural world and storyline. No Beta, so be kind!

You’d had a thing for Dean Winchester for longer than you could remember.

It probably all started when you met Sam Winchester at school.  The tall goober took to you immediately.  Your calming presence and warm smile lured him in and you became fast friends, giving Sam a bond he hadn’t felt in a long time.  You were the only one he trusted enough to tell the truth about his family and their business.  He spoke of his older brother with bucket loads of admiration, though he would never admit it to the man in question.  When he told stories of their shenanigans back in the day, his eyes would light up but then his smile would fall just as quickly when he also recalled his father.  You fell in love with the idea of a man glorious enough to make even displaced, ‘unwanted’ (his words, not yours), and jaded Sam smile like the kid he never got to be.

They say reality never lives up to the stories, but lord almighty were they wrong.

You first met Dean when the business of his dad’s disappearance was in full swing.  A regular weekly movie night at Sam and Jessica’s place having turned tense when an unknown figure had broken in.  You remember your eyes had wandered to his dark figure, speaking to Sam in hushed tones, head reeling as you realized this was the man who haunted your dreams. The infamous older brother and monster hunter, Dean Winchester.

You hadn’t believed in love at first sight, but the way his impossibly hazel eyes made your heart clench… Well, there was no denying this is exactly what was happening.  

After Jessica had died you sat out the first leg of their search for their father, wanting to let them catch up.  It wasn’t until after their father was long dead, and the apocalypse was well on its way that you joined back in - or rather, were dragged back in.  Being the only woman currently in Sam’s life - though platonically, of course - the universe seemed to have it out for you and after having to save you from demons at least twice, the brothers claimed teaching you how to defend yourself and dragging you along with them would be safer than leaving you to whatever fate there was to be had.  You even became an incredibly capable hunter.  Though this was all after Sam had effectively ended the world with a demon lover who screwed him over, Dean died then came back thanks to the help of an angel - Castiel - who joined in your asinine little game, and the apocalypse really started.  Because life with the Winchesters was never simple.

And through all your years together, there was always the looming reality - or rather, fantasy - of the Supernatural books by Chuck Shurley.

At first, the fans were harmless.  There was the convention incident where reality and fantasy got a little too close, but Chuck assured you he was going to stop writing the books.  

He lied, obviously.

Still, the fandom was mostly benign - and rather small, actually, with only some fanatics here and there. Although perhaps your favorite attention to come from the ‘fame’ was from Tumblr.

Folks from all over the world posted about the boys - or rather their ‘fictional’ counterparts. Artists’ work would pop up from time to time, usually of the boys, but yours were there - even if they were pretty scarce. 

The art was amazing.  Some funny comics, some lewd drawings, some gorgeous renders - all talent.  But somehow, from Chuck’s descriptions of you and the boys, these artists rendered the most flattering, wonderful, and accurate works.  It was incredibly humbling and awe-inspiring all at once.  It even got you to start reading the books!

And you couldn’t blame them for the way the brothers were almost always shirtless or naked. They were like Greek statues, for God sake!

Your character was pretty popular, up until Chuck’s latest book where he started hinting at your little crush on the older brother.  Thank God the boys never read them, or you’d be in deep shit.

Some users sided with you “she’s only human! And he is just so…well, look at him!” Lewd pictures were attached to that post.  Others condemned you. “Seriously? How could he ever notice someone like her? #DeanDeservesBetter” “What’s Chuck thinking?”, “Worst.  Ship. EVER!”

Those stung, you’d admit. But if growing up in the 21st century taught you anything, it’s that fans were only jealous and no one was safe. You could ignore the hate though.

What you couldn’t ignore was the fanfiction.

Oh goodness, the fanfiction.

What seemed to be most popular were the reader inserts with your gorgeous teammate, and you didn’t mind indulging in them one little bit. Some were sweet and cute, others left you dashing for a cold shower after. It stunned you that these writers were able to capture Dean’s mannerisms and personality so well! And these works were just so addicting!

It became a daily thing, finding a new fic, and reading it in the safety of your room where no one could see or judge. You read reader inserts, stories with original characters, and may or may not have found a guilty pleasure in a teensy bit of Destiel (who could deny the two perfect specimens would be hot as hell together?? But you would never tell them).  You steered clear of the Dean x Lisa fics, though, like your life depended on it.

That was one torture you just couldn’t expose yourself to.

Then you stumbled over the one that changed everything. A new fic by one of your favorite authors that featured Dean (of course) and…you. It was a prompt you hadn’t read before, one where the two of you had to share a motel room with only one bed and things got hot and heavy. Your heart raced as you indulged in this fantasy, thinking of all the times you had to share a room with your teammates, though there was always more than one bed. You had never shared with Dean, as he usually bunked on the couch while you and Sam each bunked alone, but a girl can dream can’t she?

And dream you did.  Especially with Dean’s constant flirting and sexual innuendos.

The story became a constant thought in the back of your mind and when Sam hangs back at the bunker and leaves you and Dean to take on a duet hunt together, you felt your heart stop. At the motel when checking in, you were given one room and your mind ran ramped.  Had he read your phone’s history? Did he find your Tumblr? What if he had read the sinful story you’d found and wanted to live out the fantasy with you (another of your favorite prompts). The thoughts had you following silently behind your partner, heart racing as he smiled at you while his deft fingers unlocked the door. Steeling yourself as you walked inside behind him, you dropped your bags and spun around to find… 2 beds.

Oh.

Well, you supposed your dirty fantasies were just that; Fantasies.

----------

The night crawled on with no notable incidents -unfortunately-, and when it was finally time to call it a night, you both fell into your own beds.

Sleep evaded you for hours. The thought of that perfect body lying just feet away from you swam in the back of your mind. You could easily get up, crawl into bed with him, and make all your dreams come true. The fantasies that filled your head made you anything but tired.

Well, that, and the fact that Dean was snoring like a mother fucking buzz saw.

Your wide, dry eyes stared up at the ceiling as the loud rumbles filled the room. Dean had come a long way - with your help - and no longer had nightly episodes or memories of hell. Of course, they still happened on occasion, but they were a rare occurrence now.  The hunter often found himself sleeping soundly through most nights, including this one.

He was the only one who would, it seemed, as you tossed and turned, doing your best to tune out the irritating sound. You put earplugs in, then headphones playing music, then even tracks of white noise.  A forest, a stream, the ocean each one louder than the last.  They all usually knocked you right out on a hunt.

But Dean snored over all of them.

You did your best to ignore it, you really did, but when he rolled over onto his back and started with a newfound volume, you’d decided you’d had enough.

“Dee.”  You say lowly, hoping that he’ll sleep through the disturbance, but that his subconscious will hear his name and disturb his sleep just enough that he’ll shut the hell up.

The resounding snort proves that theory wrong.

“Dee!”  You snap, louder now.  Nothing.  “Dean!”

A few moments pass…

Nothing…

Maybe it worked!  Maybe-

Yeah, no,  there he goes again.

Groaning loudly, you sit up and reach for your phone.  Fine, if his hard-sleeping-ass can sleep through all that, then he could sleep with the light from your phone filling the room as well.

You open your favorite app, the blue screen greeting your tired eyes.  Switching over from the homepage feed, you type ‘Dean x reader’ into the app’s search bar and your screen is immediately flooded with fic after fic.  Pursing your lips, you decide to narrow your search.  It doesn’t seem like you’ll be falling asleep any time soon, so what would the harm be?  You let your thumbs fly over the screen’s keyboard.

Dean x reader smut.

Happy with your amendment, you hit ‘search’ once more and decide to take a walk on the wild side.

Immediately, your screen is flooded with sin and you bite back a smile.  With your screen’s light as low as it’ll go, you click on the first story and settle into a comfortable position, facing away from Dean and the window as you immerse yourself in the fic.

You’ve probably been reading for about an hour or so when your bladder decides it’s time for you to get up.  Sighing quietly, you leave your phone on your pillow, creeping through the silent room.  As soon as you’ve taken care of business and washed up, you tiptoe back to bed.  As you all but fall into the sheets, feeling like you can finally sleep, you realize your phone is not where you left it.

Hell, it’s not even in the bed.

Sitting up in fright, your eyes dart across the room and the sleeping man in the bed opposite yours.  When you see the dimly glowing screen on the bedside table, you sigh in relief, telling yourself that your sleep-deprived brain probably just didn’t register you putting it away.  Locking the screen with sleepy eyes, you drift off to sleep with visions of Dean trailing kisses down your neck flitting behind your eyes.

----------

The morning comes much too quickly for your taste, but you push yourself out of bed to face the day ahead.

You grab your bag quickly, packing up all your belongings as you and Dean prepare for your hunt.  He’s uncharacteristically quiet this morning, barely meeting your eyes as you two embark from the motel room.  Shrugging it off, you follow behind him and before you know it, the two of you are standing before the doors to a known haunted office building.  It’s far too early for anyone to be there, so breaking in is easier than you’d expected and the two of you don’t run into any trouble as you make your way to the top floor.

Once there, you put your plan into motion, Dean taking a defensive position as you sneak into the manager’s office.  You find the haunted artifact like you’ve done a million times before, and you note the sudden shift in the air once you touch it.  It’s almost too quiet as you do your work, but by the way Dean hasn’t even flinched in his spot is a good indicator that things are - miraculously - still going as planned.

Finally, your work is done - the artifact turned to ash and the ghost successfully placated.

----------

You don’t allow yourself to breathe until you and Dean walk into yet another motel, this one only a few towns over from your rendezvous point with Sam.  You’d spend the night here before making the remainder of the journey in the morning.  Exhaustion hits you like a freight train as you trudge to the room, and you find yourself hoping against hope once more that your favorite fics may come to life.  But when your eyes fall on two beds once more those hopes are dashed.

“You can take the king,”  Dean says, and you suddenly realize those are the first words he’s spoken to you all day aside from the business of the break-in earlier.  There hadn’t even been one famous Dean innuendo all day.  “I’ll take the queen.”

You raise your eyebrow at that but don’t argue, even though you know damn well that the man who is almost twice your size probably needs the larger bed more than you do.

No more words are passed between the two of you as you prepare for bed, each taking their turn in the bathroom and shower before turning the lights out and settling down to sleep.  It doesn’t take long for sleep to tickle at your eyelids, but it’s chased away almost instantly when Dean’s buzz saw snores kick to life again.

Groaning quietly, you toss a pillow at the human-grizzly bear before rolling over to grab your phone and headphones from the bedside table.  He continues, of course, and you go to your favorite app once more.  Using your phone this late at night and right before you sleep is bad, you know, but how the hell are you supposed to sleep with that man rumbling only several feet from you.

You open a new fanfic, this one’s warnings staring you down as you read “smut, language, NSFW gifs” and you can’t fight back the smirk that plays on your lips.  Again, you roll onto your side, back towards Dean, as you get to reading.

You know your breathing has picked up pace as you get past the fic’s casual banter between friends and the sexual tension sets in.  Your legs squeeze together of their own accord, your chest warming in arousal as you envision Dean speaking to you the way he’s speaking to Y/N in this fic.

Within a few minutes - and a few lines - the sexual tension explodes into a full-on kiss, the smut slowly building as a result.  You scroll quickly, devouring every detail before your fingers slow as the top of a gif comes into view.  It’s sinful, to say the least.  You watch the way the man’s hips swivel into his lover’s, her head thrown back as he buries his head against her throat and himself deep into her.

Your lip is back between your teeth and you can’t bring yourself to scroll on just yet.  Instead, you let yourself take every detail in as the image loops, again and again, your arousal growing with every second.  Oh, what you wouldn’t give to have Dean moving against you that way.  His heavy breath fanning over your collarbone as he grinds against your most sensitive skin.  You have to bite your tongue so as to not moan into the silent room.

Wait…

Silent.

You realize at that moment that the violent snores from the other side of the room have died completely, silence overtaking their absence.  A silence that has you tentatively glancing over your shoulder and only to immediately regret it.

Even in the dark, your eyes find the hazel ones that are only inches away.  Hazel eyes that are damn near swallowed with lust.

Oh.  

Oh, Jesus.

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Kiddo?”  His deep voice rumbles in the quiet room, sending your heart galloping as you jump up to sitting, desperately burying your phone against your breast in an effort to hide its contents from him.

“Nothing.”  You say, your voice scarcely above a whisper.  You don’t miss the smirk on his face and frantically reevaluate the past several minutes in your brain.  When had he woken up?  When had he snuck up behind you?  How much had he read over your shoulder?

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me.”  He says, teeth dragging over his lower lip and it seems for a moment that he’s debating on whether or not he wants to take this any further.  When he speaks again though, he makes his choice very clear.  “Looks like you’re being a very bad girl.”

The room is so fucking quiet that the lump that you gulp down is painfully audible.

He didn’t just say that…did he?  You chuckle humorlessly, trying desperately to break the obvious tension and play off of the joke he is so obviously playing on you.  Dean makes comments like that all the time.  That’s just how he is with you!  Any moment now he’ll chuckle like he always does.

But then he doesn’t laugh with you.  Just stares as he scoots closer on his knees until his frame is right against the bed, pulling you by your thighs until he’s encasing you - palms on either side of your legs that are now thrown over the side of the bed.

You’reDreamingYou’reDreamingYou’reDreaming…

“That…that was too far, wasn’t it?”  He suddenly asks, rocking his weight back on his heels.  Bless him, he looks so uncharacteristically shy and you must look completely dumbfounded.  He waits with bated breath as you open and close your mouth uselessly, desperately searching for words.

Finally, you spit out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Did you just quote the fanfiction I read last night?”  OH MY GOD, you mentally scream.  Why the fuck would you expose yourself like that?? What if he just thought of that himself??

But then what if he didn’t?  Because that line had definitely stuck out to you when reading the night before…and suddenly, you remember why it had.  That was the last line before you left your phone to go to the bathroom.  The last line you’d read with tired eyes before you set your phone down, unlocked, on your pillow and - ohmygod!

“You read that!?”  You screech, gripping your phone tighter.  You gasp so hard you damn near swallow your tongue.  “You put my phone on the bedside table! Dean, you totally snooped while I was peeing!”  Alright, you could’ve kept that bit to yourself.

He’s biting that damn lip again, and you know he can tell that’s exactly where your eyes are zeroed in on.

“Maybe?”  He says, voice small as he admits his secret to you.  “I didn’t mean to!  I just…I woke up when you shut the bathroom door, and the screen was shining right in my face - I just-I got up to lock it so it wouldn’t bother me, but then I saw what you were looking at and…”  He clears his throat.  “Y/N, I…were you reading porn…about me?”

Your face is no doubt a thousand degrees of embarrassment.

“It’s not porn!! It’s fanfiction, and-”

“It literally talks about me fucking you.”  He deadpans, eyebrows raised.  “In explicit detail.  It’s porn.”

You’re silent for a few moments, staring him down as you wait for him to back down.

Of course, he doesn’t.

“Ok, fine!  It’s porn, are you happy?”  You huff, crossing your arms and finally ditching your phone to the pillow beside you.  A sudden terrifying thought causes you to freeze. “So…are you going to tell Sam?”

“Why the fuck would I tell him?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Do you honestly think I’d tell him something so personal?!”

“I don’t know!”  You repeat, floundering as you toss your hands up before crossing them again in a pout.  “It’s embarrassing.  You know I tend to jump to the worst-case scenarios…”

“Y/N, I would never out you like that.”  You would have to be blind to miss the way his eyes drag over you in your nightclothes, and you are suddenly very aware of your lack of bra and just how cold it is in the room.

He seems to notice too, his eyes zeroing in on your breasts and the way your nipples are pressing against the soft fabric encasing them.

“Do you…do you want me like that?”  He asks, his voice dropping back into the husky tone it had been before his awkward detour.

“No, Dee, I was just reading porn of you for the fuck of it.”  He chuckles at that, his palms coming to rest on your thighs as the embarrassment between you two eases - making way for a choking tension.

“Really?  Ah, well, then I guess I can just go back to bed, then.”

“Don’tyoudare!”  The words are out before you can stop them, but at this point, you don’t much care.

“Oh?  Then what should I do?”  His hazel eyes are dark, gazing at you from below thick lashes as his hands creep higher up your thighs, pushing your oversized t-shirt up to expose the soft cotton covering you from his gaze.  “Should I do this?”

Your breath catches in your throat, eyes widening as he leans forward, lips pressing against the soft skin on the inside of your thigh.

“Oh, please.”  You beg, arms falling at your sides to support you as his mouth grows closer to where you really want him.  Only he doesn’t quite reach, his eyes twinkling playfully at you.

“Words, Y/N.”  He grumbles lowly, splayed hands pushing your legs wider to give himself better access to your heat.

“Dean, please-”  A squeal escapes you when his teeth drag across your hip bone.  “Put your mouth on me.”

Nothing you’ve ever read could’ve prepared you for the way Dean touches you.

He moves slowly, his palms running from your inner thighs to behind your knees to pull your legs over his shoulders.  The movement has your stomach flipping, eyes never leaving his as he drags his tongue up the material hiding your core from him.

He chuckles at your moan, eyes batting as he presses the point of his tongue against your clit beneath your panties.  To be honest, you’re not sure which one of you is enjoying this more what with the way his fingers tighten against your legs, his eyes closing in concentration as he laps at you.

In your wildest dreams, you never thought Dean would be touching you like this - at least not outside of the fiction you were reading.  But, oh, is he touching you - playing you, more like it, plucking your strings until you’re practically singing for him.

You could cum just like this, light pets of his tongue teasing your sensitive skin, but then he’s tugging the panties from your form, diving right back into your bare skin and you’re keening at the contact, your fingers knotting in his long hair.  He groans in response to your moans, forearm flung lazily across your hips to keep you still as he wreaks havoc on you.

You open your mouth, ready to chastise him but the words instantly make way for cries as he finally swipes his tongue through your folds - fucking you with his mouth as he watches your form writhe.

“God, you taste amazing.”  He moans, and you have to hold back a giggle.  “What’s so funny?”  Do you admit that you’d read him saying those very words far too many times to keep count?

But then he’s pulling away, leaving you whimpering at the precipice of release and the sight of his strong torso being revealed to your ends any thoughts you may have had.  Especially when he reaches down and rids you of your own shirt, kissing across your collar bones once they’re exposed.

“You got any protection?”  He asks suddenly, teeth scraping at your throat and you are suddenly aware of the fact that this is real life, not a fic, and wow you’d lost count of how many bareback smuts you’d read.

Not that the thought of Dean cumming inside you wasn’t the hottest thing ever, but the idea of pregnancy was something you didn’t even want to entertain at the moment.

So, begrudgingly, you pushed him off gently, bending down to rifle through your bag - hey, it never hurts to be prepared.  You roll your eyes at his chuckle as you bend over, shaking your exposed backside at him - where he has taken your seat on the mattress - before rising to hand him the small, metallic square.

He toys with it for a few seconds, watching as you stand with a lip tugged gently between your teeth and your eyes flicker to the semi-hard shaft against his thighs. Long fingers enter your line of sight, coming to cup himself, stroking a few times as you watch him.

“See something you like, baby?”  He asks, free hand coming up to run his thumb against your lips.  You nod slowly, shivering at the new pet name, eyes never tearing from where he teases his cock.  You flick your tongue out to wet your lips, Dean’s thumb accidentally catching where it had been against your lips and then he’s growling and pulling you to him.

Your lips crash together, a flash of pain as your teeth clack momentarily, but you’re far too lost in Dean’s intoxicating proximity to care.  He seems to share the sentiment as your hands weave through his hair, pulling him closer as he moans and strokes himself faster before you straddle his strong thighs.

You consider grinding down against the taut muscle momentarily, but then Dean’s rolling the condom down his shaft, his knuckles brushing your folds as he does and all you want is for him to fill you up to the brim.

The desperation is clear on your face, wrapped in hooded eyes and a deep flush as you inhale deeply every time Dean’s knuckles brush you.

“Oh, my god!”  You huff, getting ever so impatient.  He chuckles at your tone, tugging you higher on his lap so that - finally - you’re aligned.  A brief moment passes as you two eye each other hesitantly, your nerves on fire as you consider what it is you’re about to do.  

You’re about to fuck one of your partners, one of your best friends…the man you’ve been fantasizing about for years.

“Ready?”  He asks softly, testing the waters as he runs the head of his cock through your lips.  Any hesitation you may have had melts with the shiver that travels your spine, and then some when Dean growls as you bare your nails into his shoulder blades.

“Dean, I swear to god, if you don’t fu-ck me!”  You squeal the tail end of your sentence, Dean’s own groan disappearing into the skin of your shoulder as he slides home.  Pain and pleasure flood your senses and suddenly you are highly aware of just how long it’s been.

“Shiiit,” Dean sighs at the tight fit, his fingers digging into the skin of your hips and holding you still as he struggles to hold himself off.

It’s been a while for him, too.

“Jesus, you’re tight.”  He hisses between his teeth, his brow as scrunched as yours no doubt is at the moment.

“And you’re huge.”  He laughs then, the movement of his abs against your sensitive skin enough to have you sighing.  “I, uh, think you’re good to move.”  You say quietly, testing this theory with a slight brush forward of your hips.  When delicious friction reaches your clit at the action you moan lowly.  “Oh, yeah.  Very good to move.”

And move he does, giving you a few moments as he slowly builds up the pace before falling back and letting you take the reigns.  Your hands find his strong pecs as you fall forward at the sudden shift, and a shit-eating grin crosses your face.  Dean misses this, however, as his eyes are screwed shut with pleasure.

“Fuck!”  He groans when you begin to rut against him, dragging your clit against his adonis belt as his cock head catches against your insides perfectly.  He doesn’t seem to mind this change, panting openly and quite vocally.  Well, that is until his hands find your thighs and hold on tight.  “Shit, slow down, baby…I don’t know how long I can last if you keep that up.”

You’re about to apologize, a flush very evident on your skin before Dean is manhandling you onto your back, your legs cast wide in his grasp.

“Let’s slow things down a little.”  He teases, kissing your nose as you giggle and let him set the pace.

When he does, it’s dizzyingly slow, his teeth dragging against your skin as do his fingertips and after a few minutes of sinfully slow rocks of his hips, he is very quickly stringing you towards the edge.

“Dean,”  You whimper, your walls beginning to flutter around him.  The groan that milks from his chest is nothing short of sexy and you return one of your own.  His name becomes a chant on your lips as pleasure rushes through your bloodstream, your nails digging into his taut back and after a few more thrusts of his own, he’s emptying inside the condom.

The high fades slowly, your skin buzzing in sated pleasure as a lazy smile takes place on your face.  Dean is quiet, almost shy as he retreats to the restroom to clean himself and dispose of the condom.  You snicker quietly to yourself at the thought that this detail is often left out of the fics you read, but the pleasant ache between your legs certainly isn’t.

“Well,”  He says as he returns, slipping under the covers with you.  As you shift, something digs into your side and when you bring the offending object above the covers do you realize that your phone had remained in the sheets that whole time.  You hand it off to him as he tugs you closer, waving him to put it on the bedside table.  “Aren’t you glad I decided to snoop?”  He teases as he takes the contraption from you.

“Yeah, Yeah, Dee.  But not as glad as I am that we can save on rooms by just booking us one bed from now on!”

You both chuckle at the jest, your giggles soon dying into labored breathing as your energy drains quickly against the warmth of Dean’s body wrapped around yours.  Your eyes drift shut of their own accord, not noticing how Dean hesitates at placing your phone on the charger…again.

“Hey, baby?”  He asks hesitantly, his eyes widening as he scrolls through your Tumblr feed and exposed to all sorts of sin.

“Hmm?”  You hum, sleep tickling at your mind.   That is until your eyes fly open wide at his following question.

“What’s Destiel?”

FIN

#Winchester #Winchester fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #spn #spn fanfic #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #hunter reader #dean winchester fanfiction #supernatural smut #dean winchester smut #spn reader insert #reader insert #dean Winchester reader insert #lena writes

[yoon-kooks]

paw prints & presents | jjk

⛓️pairing: hotnerd!jungkook x popular!reader

⛓️genre: smut, fluff, college!au

⛓️summary: You and Jungkook never discussed Valentine’s Day plans, but that doesn’t mean the night won’t include corny Valentine’s cards and you getting down on your hands and knees in pretty pink lingerie for him.

⛓️word count: 2.1k

⛓️warnings: catdilf!jk, dom!jk, sub!reader, daddy/kitten undertones, praise kink, dirty talk, oc is a horny lil brat, dry humping, sex on the couch, handjob, blowjob, face fucking, cumshot, she swallows, oc makes another ignorant comment about earl grey tea lol

⛓️p&p masterlist⛓️

a/n: here's a lil smutty drabble i wrote up for valentine's day! (you don't have to read the other p&p fics before reading this one)💖

You’ve been acting a little weird lately. Ever since February came around, you’ve been asking Jungkook about random shit like his favorite flower (lavender), his favorite romcom (none), his favorite day of the year (nonexistent), and his go-to boba order (you called him grandaddy for saying earl grey again). The most recent question was about his taste in lingerie (doesn’t matter because you’re hot regardless). 

But whenever he asks why you need to know these things, you just shrug your shoulders and pretend like you’re too busy playing with the cat to answer him. The way you always shush the kitten as soon as he enters the room leads him to believe the two of you are up to no good. 

It’s driving him mad.

At one point, he thought you might be sweetening him up for when you go behind his back and adopt another cat because “Lucy needs a friend” and “there’s a cute cow cat at the local shelter.” But something tells him you’ll save the cow cat shenanigans for another time. 

The thing is, he’s not completely clueless here. As much as he doesn’t want to think about it, he’s well aware that Valentine’s Day is around the corner. It’s not a day he typically celebrates, but he also doesn’t know how you feel about it yet. If it’s a big deal to you, he’d want to do something thoughtful to live up to whatever the fuck you’re secretly plotting. At the same time, the two of you still haven’t made it official, so perhaps you aren’t scheming anything related to the most romantic day of the year. Perhaps he’s just overthinking it…

…Or not.

A few days before Valentine’s Day, Jungkook comes home from class early and sees something he shouldn’t have seen. Your laptop is out in the open on his bed, but you’re nowhere to be seen—probably in the bathroom or something. He’s always been the kind of guy to respectfully look away from what’s on other people’s computers or phone screens. But it’s kind of hard to ignore the pink lingerie set you apparently just ordered. The lingerie you normally wear is a sexy black or a sophisticated neutral. But this baby pink one, with the tiny red hearts and bows, is way cuter than what he’s used to seeing you in. It’s giving submissive vibes, for sure.

The thought of you wearing that tiny thing on Valentine’s Day would automatically make February 14th Jeon Jungkook’s new favorite day of the year. And that alone is something to celebrate.

But how exactly is he supposed to celebrate? It seems you have your mind made up on surprising him with pretty pink lingerie, but what can he provide in return without being too cheesy? He’s terrible at shit like this. In fact, one of his exes broke up with him specifically because he wasn’t romantic enough. She wasn’t wrong, but it’s not like he’s going to rewire his entire brain to be romantic enough for someone else’s liking. Maybe that’s fucked up of him. Maybe a good partner would make sacrifices and force themself to change for the sake of the relationship if they truly cared. 

You’re different, though. With you, nothing feels forced. Rather, he gets an urge to do something nice for you, even if it goes against his natural tendencies. And right now, he wants to also surprise you with a little something on Valentine’s Day.

On the big day, he waits for you to leave for your afternoon class. That’ll give him plenty of time to put together the surprise. All he needs is some pink cardstock, markers, paint, ribbon, and a kitten.

As much as he hates cheesy Valentine’s cards, Jungkook finds himself pondering over what to write on the cardstock. Knowing you, it’s safe to go with something silly and funny. Thankfully, you’re an easy one when it comes to humor.

“Have a paw-esome Valentine’s Day, Mommy,” he writes in bold marker. You’ve been hesitant to call yourself the kitten’s mother despite raising her right alongside Jungkook. But it’s clear that you’re doing a good job. “Love, Lucy.”

He picks up the sleepy kitten, dips her paw pads into safe non-toxic paint, and adds her paw print to the bottom of the card like a signature. As the paint dries, he gives the kitty her first bath, blowdries her fur, and ties a pink little ribbon to her collar.

When the sun goes down, Jungkook rolls up the note and attaches it to the kitty’s ribbon like she’s some messenger pigeon. And then the two of them wait on the couch together, kitten loafing in the boy’s lap, for the door to open.

Five long minutes later, your keys jingle around as you unlock the front door.

“Go hide,” he whispers to the kitten who runs off into his room with a frisky tail in the air. She probably thinks he’s playing hide and seek with her like they normally do. Poor thing.

Jungkook makes himself comfortable on the couch again and pulls out his phone to look natural. Totally normal.

“Hi?” you say as soon as you open the door and see him sitting in the dark living room, his floating face illuminated by his phone screen. You hit the light switch as you kick your shoes off and look around for possible booby traps or jumpscares. It seems you’re very aware that the potential for a surprise is at an all-time high today. Then your eyes fall back on him. “Why do you look like that?”

“Like what?” He scratches the back of his head.

“Like this.” You do the awkward pose thing people do when they’re very clearly failing to act natural. How do you manage to make even the most awkward poses look cute? Maybe your little black dress has something to do with it. You weren’t wearing that earlier when you left for class.

“What do you mean? I’m just here, sitting on the couch with my phone.” Damn, is it really that obvious?

“Ah, so you were here waiting for me to get back from class like a dog?” you tease as you climb into his lap and set his phone aside. Your new perfume is a sensual lavender (no wonder you asked him about his favorite flower). And your dress is so short all he can feel is skin when he grabs hold of your ass. “Don’t worry, I missed you too.”

You snake your hands around the back of his neck and devour his lips, his tongue, his taste. He’ll never get over the moans you make just from kissing him like he’s the finest dessert you’ve ever tasted. Or the way your tongue just laps him up like a kitten—

“Wait,” he says after forcing himself to pull back from your lips. The urge to put his lips right back where they belong is incredible.

“No, Jungkook, I don’t have any homework that needs to get done before we…” Your words trail off as you kiss him some more and roll your hips against his crotch. You’ll never let it go that he’s “the biggest nerd in the world” for always making you finish your homework before sex. Thank god you don’t have any tonight. Because his hard cock is already past the point of no return.

The secret Valentine’s card still needs to be delivered, though. And the poor kitten is still waiting for her daddy to come find her.

“No seriously, wait a sec,” he chuckles, lifting you off of him before walking into his room to scoop up the kitten hiding behind the clothes hanging in his closet. When he rejoins you on the couch, he passes the fluffball to you.

“Ooh, did daddy give you a bath? You look so cute,” You sniff her orange fur and find the rolled-up note tied to her pink ribbon.

Your face quickly goes from curious to smiley as you unroll the note and read the silly message. Jungkook reads it right alongside you as if he wasn’t the one who wrote it.

“Congratulations, it seems Lucy has accepted you as her mother figure,” he says in the straightest face ever.

“Paw-esome?? Mommy??” you giggle, turning to the boy whilst cupping his chin. “Is that what you think of me?”

“It wasn’t me, it was Lucy,” he shrugs. “Right, Lucy?” She meows in agreement.

Then he pins you down against the couch cushions and leans in to whisper, “You’re my baby girl, remember?”

Your face is flushed with color as you nod up at him. You grab a handful of his t-shirt and pull him in. He finds your neck and leaves a trail of little marks as your body heats up beneath him.

“I love the card, by the way,” you manage to get out between breaths. “Thank you, Jungkook.”

“Like I said, it wasn’t from me.” His gives you a few more kisses while running his hands along your dress. As hot as you are in that dress, he’d love to get his hands on everything hiding beneath it. “I didn’t even know today was Valentine’s Day.”

“Liar. You suck, you know that.” You pout for half a second before your horny eyes are showing again. “Guess you don’t want to see the surprise I have for you.”

“What is it?” he asks a little too quickly. He must sound like such a simp.

You sit up, leaning your tits against his chest, and say, “Undress me.”

Jungkook lifts the dress up and over your head to reveal the same lingerie set he saw on your computer screen the other day. Except now it’s on your body. And boy does it look good on you. It doesn’t matter that he already had a sneak peek at it and plenty of time to mentally prepare himself for this. He still can’t take his eyes off of his baby girl looking all pretty in pink. And he forgets to speak.

“What do you think?” You drop to your knees on the carpet and situate yourself between his legs.

“Hot,” is all he can say before you unzip him and get your hands on his hard cock.

“Good.” You wet your lips with a sly tongue. Your hands start stroking his length up and down as you eye his tip. “It was an impulse buy the other day when I was feeling so horny for your cock.”

“Do you need my cock that badly?” he asks, his breath getting rougher. 

You nod, licking your lips again. He’d normally make you wait a little longer before letting you give head, but fuck it. It’s Valentine’s Day, and his cock is his gift to you. You’re always begging to suck it anyway.

With a firm hand, he angles your chin up until his erection is staring you in the face. You wrap your lips around him and take him in until he hits the back of your throat. Your cute little gag doesn’t stop you from going right back in, bobbing your head back and forth, up and down his length. He decides to help by thrusting in and out of your throat.

When you stop to catch your breath, his glaze runs down your mouth. You make sure he’s watching when you lick it up and swallow before sucking him more. One of your hands grips his cock while the other travels down into your thong. He watches the way you rub between your legs and rock your body back and forth to pleasure yourself and him at the same time. 

You savor each and every drop of him as if it’s the last. Your lips glisten and swell with pleasure as you’re hard at work with his cock. There’s no way anyone else can look this good while doing what you do to him.

“Fuck,” Jungkook groans, fucking your face faster. You moan something that sounds like his name, although it’s kind of hard to understand with a fat cock in your mouth.

At his breaking point, he pulls out and strokes his length until (most of) his cum sprays right into your mouth. You swallow it up while shooting him an awfully innocent smile. After catching his breath, he wipes up the bit of lust on your cheek and lets you suck it off his fingers. You’re such a good girl for him.

“You were so good, baby,” he praises you. You definitely need to be rewarded. “Should we watch one of those romcoms?”

“I thought you said you didn’t like romcoms.” You tilt your head. “We can find something else that we can watch togeth—”

“Pick your favorite romcom.” He shakes your suggestion off and lays you down on the couch so that you’re facing the TV. He hooks a finger on the strap of your thong and tears it off. With his lips just a kiss away from your wet pussy, he says, “I won’t be watching anyway.”

#bts smut #jungkook smut #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fanfic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bts fluff #bts college au #nerd jungkook

[mermaidfanficlibrary]

Hello, Hello!!

I hope my request isn't much of a burden-- however, I was wondering if you could do a one-shot with the decay of angels(Fyodor, Nikolai, and Sigma) with a male reader who has white wings?

Quick rundown for the idea;

The reader is the leader of a different organization called the Aviators; the Reader doesn't exactly have an ability but they do have wings-- the reader and their group side with the Armed Detective Agency because reader is heavily in love with bringing people to Justice, like the Decay Of Angels; however, something goes wrong and the reader gets captured while the three DOA members figure out what to do with them.

You can choose if it's more yandere-like or violent, I don't mind, really!! I usually write requests longer but I'm in a rush <\\3

These wings bind me | Bungou Stray Dogs x Male Reader

Characters: Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor, Sigma

Summary: Those wings you had didn't even grant you freedom

Warnings: Yandere behavior, Gore, Obsessive behavior, manipulation, death, kidnapping

Taglist: @nightshade-clown

A/n: This is very Nikolai heavy because I am biased. Also, sorry, the wings aren't mentioned as much

Y/n was a big name in Yokohama, well, a moderately big name. He was a well-known justice bringer with his group called the Aviators. It was a group of people who thought everyone deserved freedom and the choice on where their wings take them. Some of them were like Y/n, with giant wings granting them flight through the sky. 

But some had abilities that helped with bringing justice into the world. Y/n heavily believed in bringing justice to everything that tried to inflict on it. The Aviators seemed to be of decent popularity that even the ADA sought them out as an extra branch. The two organizations were seen as partner groups, essentially. 

Y/n still did whatever he really wanted under his association, but he would give the ADA extra people when they needed them. The same went with the ADA sending the Aviators people when they required them. It was quite the relationship between the organizations. No one really expected it, since Y/n was more about vigilante work and the ADA worked with the government in a way. 

But here is the leader of the Aviators, analyzing a case with some of ADA's best detectives. Dazai, Kunikida, Autsushi and Y/n were all lurking around the crime scene, looking for any form of evidence to link anyone or anything to the scene. Y/n was with Atsushi, as not wanting to deal with Dazai's shenanigans or Kunikida's harsh comments. Atsushi and Y/n were decent acquaintances and worked well with each other.

The two made basic small talk as they searched the crime scene and conversed with passerbys to see if any of them were a reliable witness. Atsushi left Y/n on his own to look for something, though Y/n didn’t know what. He was on his own, just standing out in the open, it seemed pretty safe with the amount of people around. However, there was something off, and Y/n felt it. 

Something in him made his white iridescent wings fluff out in anxiety. None of Y/n’s associates were near bye, and that worried Y/n. No one was there to protect him if something bad were to happen, well, something incredibly bad. Y/n could fend for himself, he knew basic martial arts, but against ability users all he could really do was fly to avoid as many hits as he can until back up comes. 

Y/n wasn’t completely helpless, but he preferred being with someone who could save him if he were in trouble. Y/n didn’t only feel just one pair of eyes on him, but multiple. They were watching him, marking his move and every twitch he made. But Y/n didn’t know who was watching him.

Just as the paranoia subsided, Y/n was swept away from where he was standing. The kidnapper knocked him out, and everything else was blurry in his head. Atsushi came back only to find where Y/n stood was blank. He wasn’t the only one who was worried, however. 

Atsushi went to his two fellow co-workers and told them what had happened, both seemingly hid their panic on the inside. Those other pairs of eyes that kept a close watch on Y/n left, to find their dearly beloved Angel. The crime scene was left barren by both the ADA and the Decay of Angels. Both were on the hunt to get Y/n back.

Sigma, Nikolai, and Fyodor looked everywhere in Yokohama, all the places they knew Y/n might have been taken. But there was no luck, not until a few days later. It was late at night, and the three DOA members followed some of what passing witnesses said they heard or saw a couple of days before. There was a tiny sliver of hope in all three men. 

Nikolai was the first to step into the abandoned shed that rested near a busy roadway. It was covered in foliage and trees, keeping the whole building a secret, or so it seemed. Nikolai, however, paid no mind to any of that, only focused on finding his Angel. Fyodor and Sigma only followed Nikolai, keeping the white haired man at a distance. 

The two didn’t trust anything about this place. They were prepared for any form of attack from anyone. Nikolai wondered in, carefree, not caring about anything else other than his Angel. The three stopped in their tracks as they heard metal bars swishing around. 

Nikolai ran in deeper into the building, stopping to marvel at the sight of a beautiful golden cage. What quickly knocked him out of the trance was the iridescent, feathered wings of his Angel. Nikolai felt angry that someone would do this to his Angel, no one should cage his dearly love up like this. He jumped up against boxes that were stacked to reach the cage. 

Y/n was startled by the sudden stop of the cage he was trying to escape from. He looked outside the bar with teary, enraged eyes. He was met with piercing blue gray eyes that streamed raw anger, yet there was love that trickled lightly. Y/n was left so confused as he just stared deep into the eyes that looked back. 

Y/n didn’t notice two others walking into the room that held him in the golden cage. The metal shined slightly with the whisps of moonlight beaming through the cracks of the wooden roof. Sigma glanced up to see Nikolai gazing at Y/n, holding the cage still. Something wasn’t right about the whole situation. 

Fyodor felt the same as Sigma as the two shared a knowing look of imminent danger. They stood back to back, covering each other's blind spots. Nikolai used his ability to bring himself into the cage. Y/n was taken aback by what this man did, why bring himself into the cage?

Nikolai crouched down to meet Y/n’s face, a sickly smile graced his face. It unsettled the winged boy, he tried to move out of range, but he was stuck to the floor of the cage. He felt the touch of Nikolai, and it increased the anxiety that floating in him. He brought Y/n into a warm embrace, his smile not ceasing from his lips. 

Nikolai gave the other two men a knowing look, and they nodded in agreement. The kidnapper seemed to notice the three and came out of the shadows. Their eyes gleamed with insanity, their laughing was incoherent to the three men and Y/n. Y/n’s fear was practically spilling out of his body, and Nikolai noticed. 

“Don’t worry, my dear Angel, we’ll set you free!”

Y/n felt disgusted by that nickname, coming from a stranger. There was so much going on, he didn’t know what to make out of anything. Nikolai covered Y/n’s ears and brought him even closer to him. He silently whispered to him. 

“No need to be scared, my Angel. Everything will be okay. You’re safe now! Sigma and Dotsoy have it all covered!”

Just behind Y/n, Sigma and Fyodor were fighting the kidnapper. Their anger was shown in their attacks, and it was scaring the kidnapper. The hood fell off, and it showed the face of the persecutor. Y/n glanced behind his back slightly and gasped as he saw the face of his kidnapper. 

“How did you find this place?! I was sure I kept everything out of the public eye!”

Sigma’s face stayed flat, but his emotions were clear to both the kidnapper and Fyodor. Nikolai was too busy with Y/n and comforting him to even notice. Fyodor managed to immobilize the assailant, pinning him to the ground. Sigma walked closer, as he bent down.

“It’s easy for us to find what we want. Now you will pay for stealing from us.”

Sigma looked at Fyodor with an approving look. Y/n and Nikolai were watching from the cage, Nikolai waiting for a change to get Y/n out of said cage. He gripped Y/n harder, to a point it hurt, but he didn’t want to let the h/c haired boy go. Blood splattered everywhere, as Fyodor used his ability to get rid of this pest. 

Y/n wasn’t shocked about the death and red soaking everything around him, but it amazed him how easily someone would end other's life. He has killed others before, but only because they were hurting and taking other’s freedom. Nikolai scooped Y/n into his slender arms, hopping out of the cage, unknown to Y/n how he did, but Y/n couldn’t get out of his grip. Y/n was then surrounded by Sigma and Fyodor. 

Y/n tried to stand, but his legs were still asleep and he collapsed. Sigma caught him, being careful of his white wings. As Sigma stroked Y/n’s h/c hair, loving how it felt against his fingers. Fyodor was busy taking care of the dead body, and Nikolai was gently touching Y/n’s wings. 

Y/n looked up at Sigma, with watery eyes glistening the little moonlight that let itself into the cracks. His lips quivered a bit, fear still settling in his heart after a traumatic event. Sigma brought one of his hands to cup Y/n’s cheek, wiping away tears that threatened to fall. Y/n’s voice was sweet and soft to the three men that surrounded him, they all slightly blushed, feeling honored to hear it. 

“Why did you come and save me?” 

Fyodor came back, gently walking to the side of Y/n. Y/n’s e/c eyes looked at Fyodor, he stopped slightly. Oddly enough, those e/c eyes froze Fyodor right in his place. He sighed, trying to keep Y/n’s eyes on him. 

“Why wouldn’t we? We adore you, my dear.”

Y/n was so confused and look to all three men. He didn’t know who any of these people were and why they were here. The silence filled the building, making Y/n even more uneasy. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him. 

Y/n looked back to Sigma, hoping he could bring himself to ask the most important question. For some reason, Y/n already knew the answer based on the grip Sigma had on him. The more Y/n slightly struggled to get out, the harsher Sigma’s grip became. The hope Y/n had was slowly diminishing. 

“Can I go home now?”

The quiver in his voice was noticeable. Nikolai slightly hugged Y/n’s back as a big grin once again found its way to his face. He was noticeably giggling, seemingly finding the question Y/n asked funny. He brought a hand to pat the winged boy’s head. 

“Oh, my dear Angel! Of course not! How else are we supposed to keep you safe if you go home? We can’t watch you every day now, can we?”

Y/n’s eyes widened, more questions and confusion were swirling in his head. Before Y/n could speak again, he was knocked out once again, but this time no one would come to save him. Fyodor carried the winged boy out of the building, leaving NIkolai and Sigma to walk behind him. 

Y/n woke up in a dark room, nothing but a bed, a desk, and a bathroom as all that filled the room. The bit of light came from a small lamp on the desk. Y/n panicked and ran to the door, trying to open it, but to no avail. His wings fluffed out in panic, feathers falling due to the amount of stress Y/n was under. 

Y/n fell to the ground, trying to hold in sobs. He was so busy with trying to not make a lot of noise, he didn’t notice the three people that came into the room. Y/n froze, feeling arms snake around his body. He frantically looked around and recognized the people as the ones who saved him. 

Sigma looked down to Y/n, seeing the fear in his eyes. It did something to him, he cupped Y/n’s face and brought his lips to Y/n’s. Y/n’s e/c eyes widened with fear, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to push Sigma away. Fyodor and Nikolai kissed Y/n’s cheeks softly, trying to calm the boy down.

Sigma spoke up, his voice was warm and loving.

"No need to worry anymore my doll, you are safe now. No one will take you from us. Never again."

Y/n choked back sobs. He didn't understand what went wrong. He remembered being with Atsushi, and somehow it came to him being caged once more.

What irony this was, wanting to bring freedom to others and not having any of his own.

Do not repost or translate without my explicit permission! Reblogs are welcome!

#🪸.mermaid fanfics #🪸.mermaid time #x male reader #bsd x male reader #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs x male reader #Nikolai gogol x male reader #Fyodor x male reader #sigma x male reader #y/n gets wings less gooo #decay of angels x male reader #yandere nikolai #yandere fyodor #yandere sigma #yandere bsd #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere bsd x male reader #yandere bungou stray dogs x male reader #bsd DOA #bsd sigma #bsd nikolai #bsd fyodor #bungou stray dogs nikolai #bungou stray dogs sigma #bungou stray dogs fyodor #bungou stray dogs fanfic #bsd fanfic

[meowsgirldrawing]

Obey Me Next Generation Idea(aka-My au)

What about poly Au with the bros? I assume with demon culture, MC having kids and the bros all being the dad wouldn't be too surprising as I think monogamous relationships are seen just the same as polyamorous. Like neither really matter honestly in a "oh this is a big deal/drama!" Sense.

Plus its the 7 lords, they can do whatever the fuck they want

I know MC is mostly human but I think having kids is still possible as they got magic plus their pacts with the bros might make them stronger. Plus, historically, woman have been able to have multiple pregnancies, like more than 4 at least, so still- not impossible.

Just let me have my next gen shenanigans

ONTO THE KIDS PLEASE AND THANK YOU

Varya (1st Born) (she/her)-25

Daughter of Mammon

Is more demon than human, possibly the most demon out of the kids.

Holds a very smiley but deadly aura around her.

Seems the opposite of Mammon in behavior but you can tell by her subtle acts towards her family, shes his kid alright.

Is the type of person to shake a person's hand but hold a knife in the other.

"Looks like a cinnamon roll, can kill you"

Lights up at the mentions of crocheting, dogs, and weird but oddly alluring creatures around Devildom.

She does have a small habit of gambling when out with Mammon, but is actually able to keep her wins because no one expects it through her gold-winning smile.

Mess with her family and its on sight.

Lilith the 2nd (3rd born-1st triplet) (she/her)-21

I headcannon Lucifer to at least be the only one to name their daughter after their sister. Not to replace, never, but to honor her.

Is in a strange middle between Half demon-mostly demon

Sweetheart by default

That big sister you can always talk to and she wont judge.

Will make passive agressive remarks when peeved off.

Definitely denies acting like Lucifer yet can do the stance-arms crossed and glare- exactly like him.

Even does the whole hand chest like him too. Shocked look and all.

Calls all the brothers papa but Lucifer father, not as a distance way but thats just how she's always been.

Theatre kid- almost always lead.

Anna from Frozen vibes at times.

Hopeless romantic too.

Basically Lucifer if he actually showed more emotions.

Daddy's girl 100%

May or may not be in a secret relationship with Diavolo's heir👀

Rhomb(2nd Born) (he/him)-23

Son of Leviathan

Named after the Loch ness Monster

A nice balance between human and demon

But has "mutations" that make him have scaly patches on his body, his tail out almost 24/7, and bad eyesight.

Stern attitude most of the time.

Big bro protector

Tallest of all the kids

Softer on the younger kids but will smack a bitch if they act up.

Cant play video games much cause eyes so turns to more physical games that include puzzles.

Likes games with strategy to follow like War tanks, or chess. Is the type to make a DnD game the best cause he makes amazing stories too despite not reading much.

Likes mystery shows too and tries to figure it out before the answer is revealed, could go on rants about why. Gets it right 11/10 times.

If Leviathan wasnt his biological dad, people would believe he was Satan's kid.

Doesnt like cats tho.

Quinn (4th Born- 2nd Triplet) (He/they/doesnt care) (21)

Asmo just thought Quinn was a pretty name so picked it lol.

Also a nice balance between human/demon. Tho his wings stay out constantly.

Very much vibes from that yellow bird in Rio.

Laid back personality but is an outgoing dude.

Also very protective of their siblings, and will not hesitate to cut a bitch.

Isnt as flamboyant as Asmo but does have a just as great fashion sense.

Has a hard time dating as people automatically assume hes just like Asmo so will try to date him for that reason only.

Love his dad but hates the reputation he gets because of being said son.

So he resorts to just sticking to his siblings or the few friends he trusts.

Besides MC, is the second most popular face to pop up on Asmo's Devilgram

Fucking adores axolotls for no particular reason, just loves them to no end which Asmo makes sure to get many axolotl themed plushes, shirts, etc. for him.

Libbey(Liberty) (5th Born- 3rd triplet)(she/her)-21

Another balance between human/demon, maybe a tad more on the demon side.

Tho, also has "mutations" like very enhanced hearing.

Bookworm to the max

Loves reading dramas and fantasies, but seems to enjoy multiseries more than stand alone.

Very quiet and shy kid of the group.

Sometimes cant even talk so signs instead because earaches or headaches.

Likes cats but perfers reptiles more.

Has a small turtle in her room from the human realm, set it up beside her bed and everything. Their name is Casey after one of her favorite human novels she read.

But despite all this, isnt called the daughter of wrath just for nothing beside biology reasons.

Is like Satan 2.0 when pissed, she wont yell or scream but you can just tell from the drop of room temperature and the subtle tilt of her head.

Her eyes glow an electric green when shes pissed.

Had more anger issues when younger, but cause Satan knew how to handle his better now, taught her how to aswell.

Satan is probably the main one to understand her issues with such a problem, despite being more mellowed out now that shes older.

Is definitely a cryer when really angry tho.

Ryder(6th Born) (1st twin)- 19

Ngl, everyone was surprised that they had twins. Including Belphie himself.

But then again, they did have triplets before them so....eh?

Ryder is a tad more human than demon, but still powerful enough to have his own demon form like his older siblings.

His tail is seen smaller than Belphie's, and a bit thinner too.

The sloth genes affact him only so much, making him more likely just want to procrastinate then outright not do anything.

He honestly enjoys the human world more than Devildom, mainly cause everything is less..hectic per say.

Hes the type of brother/older friend that will cover for ya if you have to hide something but will subtly suggest how to fix whatever their doing.

Like one time Quinn came home slightly tipsy and past curfew, and he snuck them into his room. Though he scolded them in the morning, he covered for Quinn at breakfast, saying they ate too much sugar last night, thats why hes queasy and has a headache.

Quinn did fix that habit up quick after Ryder threatened to leave him on his own next time it happened.

Calls everyone bro or dude, no matter their gender.

Gen z vibes too in most areas.

Has a fixation with cow bells for some reason, likes the noise is all he can say.

If he were told what Belphie did to their mom/human parent way before they were born, he says "Cowabummer" while screaming inside.

River(7th born-2nd twin)(they/them)-19

How is this Belphie's kid?

Too hyper, tad crazy

Probably has ADHD, who knows.

While Ryder is the slightly responsible twin, their the reason why Ryder needs to be said twin.

Their just about the same range of human/demon as Ryder, can have a demon form, but only uses it to fuck with people than to actually be scary with it.

They may have alot of power, but their personality alone can kill people.

Is the type of kid to crawl on the ceiling when they were 2.

Is also the type to hop outta window to get to the lower floor faster. Thank Belphie for their demon powers otherwise we'd have another Lillith situation.

Has scared even Lucifer at one point, has made him yelp out of surprise. Will not go on how, no matter how much Papa Satan and Belphie ask them. Just has a toothy grin when they ask.

When calm, is actually a pretty chill dude. They like odd patterns and get fixated on the most random things.

MC gave them one of those sand timers that you flip to restart and when she came down to tell them food was done about 2 hours later, she found them sitting on the table, holding it while watching the sand go down. They use it now to relax and focus on when overstimultated or just having too much of a fuzzy head.

Has spent nearly a how week with Leviathan because they got hooked on one anime with him. Now has frequent solo movie nights with him cause.

"They're tad confused, but got the spirit"

Literally had to have someone (Rhomb) explain to them what the LGBTQ+ letters meant. Legit thought it was just new alphabet pattern, was still happy to find out what it all means.

If you told them what Belphie did to their mom before they were born, they'd think it as a joke. Dont tell them otherwise or they will cry.

Frankie(8th Born)(She/her)-16

Everyone thought that she would be the biggest child when MC was pregnant with her, since y'know, it was confirmed Beel's kid.

Yeah, she came out small. Like scary small for a baby.

It was then everyone knew she would be the most human. Has a little demon in her, but clearly not enough to have a demon form nor mark.

Lucifer's wallet cried in relief.

She does eat a good bit more than the average human but overall, nothing compared to Beel.

She does adore sweets to the max, especially gummies. Give her some and she'll love you forever.

Sweetest little sunshine in the world, everyone adores her. If they dont, then they will soon.

Shes like Mirabel in encanto, kinda wishes she had more demon powers but is still overall happy with who she is.

When her a Beel are with each other- OH MY DIAVOLO, THE CAVITIES PEOPLE GET- TOO DAMN SWEET AND PURE

Like big papa Beel and his sweet little girl all smiley and pure. Best father-daughter relationship out of all the siblings and fathers.

Shes kinda like pinkie pie from MLP but like more hyper as fuck. Can and will speak so fast when excited that it just comes out as squeaks at that point.

Since her more human side, shes more likely to stay in human world when their mom is on Buisness there, so she has alot of human friends.

Shes in gymnastics, which definitely helps keep her figure more smaller despite all the sweets she eats. Does work out with Beel too.

Mess with her and you have a whole army on yer ass.

"Bounce to the beat of my own drum!"

You can just tell how much I love this dear. HA

#art #digital art #oc x canon #oc inserts #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me imagines #obey me headcanons #Obey me Next gen #MC kids #obey me asmodeus x mc #obey me lucifer x mc #obey me mammon x mc #obey me satan x mc #obey me beel x mc #obey me belphie x mc #obey me levi x mc #next generation #next generation kids #love child

[myx-on-earth]

Content Warning: Landfall Game's April Fools Triumph

For the Content!

It would seem that an April Fools joke of a game has resulted in overnight indie success. Landfall Games, a beloved indie game studio, has a yearly April Fools tradition they call “Landfall Day”, where their devs put together essentially a parody of whatever game is popular at the time. They’ve parodied everything from DayZ to battle royales (Twice, with Totally Accurate Battlegrounds and Knightfall), and this year it would seem it’s Lethal Company’s turn.

Lethal Company is a game known for silly co-op shenanigans that seem to instantly translate into YouTube content- and Content Warning takes that idea and turns it up to 11, making being an influencer a part of the game mechanics. You and a group of friends take a diving bell to “The Old World”, a spooky map filled with monsters and traps entirely for the sake of internet entertainment value. With a single camera and 90 seconds of film, your group has to make the spookiest, funniest video possible- because your only source of income is Spooktube, and that revenue doesn’t come easily.

It's such a brilliant parody of both the horror genre Lethal Company tapped into and the loop of content creation in the internet age that it, somehow, wraps around to being an excellent game in of itself, though Landfall is no stranger to finding gold through satire. Previously, their first battle royale parody (Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, a riff on PUBG) found some success, enough that Landfall turned it into a full venture. It’s not as popular nowadays, but it IS legitimately good- and Content Warning seems to be turning out the same way with its initial popularity and engaging premise.

Typical Content Warning video result, featuring myself, @thatpocketninja, @squiddskipp, and a third friend who requested to remain anonymous

In the space of video game development, April Fools seems to be not so much a “joke” day, but a day that allows ideas to be thrown around that might not otherwise have been considered, which can lead to majorly creative leaps of faith. With examples like the Yakuza series’ pivot to turn-based combat, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s continued success in the midst of a floundering Ubisoft, and even Lilith Walther’s upcoming definitely-not-Bloodborne Kart (now known as Nightmare Kart), the idea of “joke turned legitimate gamedev venture” isn’t exactly new.

I actually had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Hanna Fogelberg (@thebirdmountain on Twitter), Landfall's Head of Community, who provided some insight into Content Warning’s development and the overwhelming response in the interview below.

1. What's it like to go to bed seeing some success, then waking up to find your joke game is a viral hit? Did you expect this at all, given the surprising amount of polish it has?

"We couldn't sleep to tell you the truth! Even if the team said good night at about 2am we kept texting the player numbers to each other throughout the night, we were very wired! We always knew there was the potential of the game going really well, there's something about the design and shareability of the videos you make that we knew could hit it big but it's still surprising it went THIS well."

2. How long did it take to develop Content Warning?

"Content Warning was made in about six weeks of active game development, but the idea came to us back in December!"

3. What were your main inspirations for the game? (Beyond Lethal Company, of course)

“Lethal Company and similar games were an obvious reference for the gameplay loop, we love that game! That said, what was most interesting to us was the core of the game - the filming and video creation. We were inspired by YouTubers and influencer culture, there's something interesting in people risking life and limb for content that we wanted to play off of. 

Other than that, the vibes of The Older World were inspired by Junji Ito and a specific H.R Giger painting while The Over World references the Swedish children's book Pettson och Findus.”

4. How experienced was the dev team?

“We're pretty experienced, the Landfall team has been making games for over 10 years with previous releases being Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, Stick Fight: The Game, Clustertruck and Rounds to mention a few.”

5. How does this experience compare to the last semi-viral success Landfall had with a Landfall Day game? (TABG)

“This game outdid TABG in player numbers several times over! So it's hard to compare, this is by far our most viral hit to date.” 6. Any plans for the future of the game? Or just basic bug fixes and some more content? 

“We will see! Currently, we're focusing on fixing bigger bugs and other issues but we already have some new content planned. We're kind of playing it by ear at this point, it all depends on how things go in the coming weeks.”

Some may attribute Content Warning’s success to multiple factors- the 24 hour free period, how it riffs on Lethal Company and the tropes it already employs, or even that it was “designed to go viral”- but you can’t deny that, even as an iterative piece, it still manages to find its own identity and already seems to have captured the content creation hearts of everyone who gives it a chance. Games like this, that aren’t reliant on micro transactions and are buoyed by the PEOPLE you play with, rather than the money that one must spend on it, are the hope- and, hopefully, the future- of the video games industry. You can find Content Warning (No longer free, but still very cheap!) at the link below: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2881650/Content_Warning/

#indie games #gaming #journalism #landfall #content warning game #honestly a legitimately fantastic game #i will be absolutely playing more #better than lethal company??!?!!?!?! jk 2 legends can exist

[crappymixtape]

where you go i go too

everyone’s home for christmas break, so steve drags you to a party, but tommy’s there being a creep – steve has to confront his old ‘friend' | (  2.3k, fluff, angst, friends to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

W H E R E  Y O U  G O  I  G O  T O O 🎶 bodies, the knocks, MUNA, tycho

“C’mon, it’s a party, we’re supposed to have fun.”

The heat of Tommy’s breath washed over your neck, heavy with the scent of bourbon and cheap cigars, and he was drunk.

“Fuck off, Tommy,” you snapped, shouldering him in the chest, wanting nothing more than a breath of fresh air and Tommy fucking Hagan out of your face.

“Ooo, feisty, I like,” his nose wrinkled as he emphasized his words, hand catching your wrist as you turned to walk away. He pulled you back against him, giving you one of his devilish grins. “Carol won’t care, she’s not coming home for Christmas,” he gave you a wink then and you couldn’t take it anymore.

The grip he had on you was vice-like, and for a split second you felt your heart rate flutter against your neck. If he really wanted to he could pull you away, down the hall behind any of the doors and do whatever the hell he wanted. Panic threatened to wreck your cool and you quickly looked over his shoulder for Steve, but he was no where to be seen.

You’d only come to this fucking party because it was Christmas break and everyone was home til New Years. Steve said it’d be good for you both to get out, spend time with people your own age for once – no offense to the kids – but it had proven to be nothing short of a shitty time.

Everyone that had been a dick in high school still was, except for Steve, and college only seemed to make it worse. The popular girls were even more cliquey, wanting nothing to do with you when you approached to say hi, and all the guys were only there to hook up.

Resigned to the fact that Steve was off doing whatever the hell he was doing and not coming to save your ass, you closed your eyes and took in a breath to try and steady yourself.

Then, leaning in as close as you could bear, you put your lips to Tommy’s ear, voice saccharine sweet, “You’re an ass.” And your knee moved so fast he didn’t have time to think before it connected with his crotch.

“Fuuuuuuck,” he half groaned half yelped, doubling over in pain, and you couldn't move fast enough as you walked quickly across the living room to the kitchen. Anything to get away from that creep.

Your face must have said volumes because the girls that had been crowded around the bowl of punch chatting about their nails or something just as stupid scattered without hesitation. Grabbing a red cup from the stack you dunked it into the bowl, not bothering with the ladle, and downed it in one go.

Vodka. Gross.

Wiping the back of your hand across your lips you dunked it again when you felt someone grab your shoulder.

“Tommy, I said fuck off,” you snarled, rounding on what you assumed was a second attempt to yank you into a bedroom, but instead found yourself face to face with the stupid idiot that had dragged you here in the first place.

Your mouth firmed into a straight line and you said nothing as you turned back to the bowl.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Steve scrambled around you so that you were facing each other and he put his hand back on your shoulder, “What was that?”

“Nothing. This party sucks,” you snipe, giving him a shitty look before downing your second cup of gross vodka and Kool-Aid.

Steve’s brows furrowed and he straightened, eyes scanning the room, then stooped back down to look at you again. “What’d he do?” he knew, it was always Tommy, and you knew the look on his face. If you hadn’t been so angry about everything you might have told him how much you liked it when he looked at you like that, but you didn’t have it in you. Not now.

The two of you had been friends forever, since the second grade, always following each other around to parties or movie night or Upside Down shenanigans. Just friends. But lately. Lately it felt like more. Like crackling static buzzing between the two of you anytime you were close. Anytime he pulled you into a hug. Anytime you caught him looking at you while you sat close on the couch watching movies with the kids. And it was there now, but you were too angry.

What’d he do? Steve’s words echoed again in your head, pulling you back to the present and you set your jaw, looking away from him.

“Just being Tommy, fucking creep,” you went to dip your cup in for thirds, but Steve’s hand gently caught your wrist before you could refill it. “Hey!” yanking your hand away you gave him a glare, “It’s a party. We’re supposed be ‘having fun’ aren’t we?”

Jamming his tongue into his cheek, Steve sucked in a breath, a piss poor attempt to keep his cool as he looked up at the ceiling. Bringing his gaze back down to you he took your hand again and gently, but firmly pulled you out the sliding door and onto the patio.

The cold Indiana winter hit you square in the chest, taking your breath away. Even your grandma’s old bedazzled Christmas sweater couldn’t hold any warmth. “What the hell?” you could see your breath as it carried into the night air, glaring at Steve.

His face was struggling between anger and concern and he put his hands on his hips as he leveled with you. “Tommy! What’d he do?” he asked again, flinging a hand out for emphasis, and you felt yourself coming down from the mixture of anger, panic, and shitty vodka.

Biting in your bottom lip you looked away from him, eyes dropping to your chucks that were quickly cold as ice in the small bit of snow still on the ground. “I don’t know,” you started, throat tight as you tried to put words to how for a minute you felt scared. For a minute you weren’t your confident, don’t-fuck-with-me self. And all because of some asshole.

“He–” your words caught in your throat and you cleared it, trying again, “–he tried to get me to…mess around or whatever.” The last part of your sentence was said quietly, almost a whisper. Saying it aloud made it feel more real, made you think about what might’ve happened had you not kneed him in the crotch.

Steve had closed the gap between you two, you hadn’t realized until his fingers softly lifted your chin, trying to meet your gaze. “Fuck him,” Steve said decidedly. His other hand took yours for just a second, squeezing it reassuringly, and then dropped it to storm back inside.

The slider door slammed open on the frame and the buzz of laughter and yelling quieted immediately, ‘Need You Tonight’ by INXS blaring from the speakers was the only thing cutting the silence.

“Tommy!” Steve’s voice was loud over the music and the crowd quickly parted giving him a path straight to what used to be his best friend.

The shit eating grin on Tommy’s face was enough to make Steve want to level him right then and there, but he knew better. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the King,” Tommy drawled, pupils blown from all the keg stands and cigars, hands lifting up as he gave an over-exaggerated bow.

“Shut up, Tommy,” Steve snapped, bringing himself well into the other man’s space. Rolling up the sleeves of his sweater Steve pushed two fingers into Tommy’s chest and shoved, “Get out.”

Ooooooo.

A crowd had gathered now, leaving enough space in case punches were thrown, and when you finally shoved yourself to the front your stomach dropped. A small groan escaped you and you covered your face with your hands. Why did it always come to this?

“Steve,” you hissed, “Drop it.”

But he either didn’t hear you or ignored it – probably the last one – and hadn’t pulled his gaze away from Tommy who’s response to getting told to leave was laughing.

“Fuck you, Harrington. I’m not leaving,” Tommy crossed his arms over his chest and took a step toward Steve. The toes of their shoes were almost touching as he bit in his lower lip, grinning ear to ear, “You’re gonna have to make me.” The smug look on Tommy’s face was enough to make anyone want to punch him at that point and every pair of eyes at the party immediately settled on Steve, waiting to see what he was going to do.

A dark laugh escaped Steve as he shook his head, turning to look at you as if to say, this fucking guy. A few others chuckled along with him, but the tension was thick.

Then, you saw it first, Steve’s fist ball up at his side, and when he turned back to Tommy it cut through the air, slamming into Tommy’s jaw.

“Oh shit!”

“Fuck him up, Harrington!”

“C’mon, Tommy! Don’t be a pussy!”

Tommy yelped and put a hand over his face, a lilac colored bruise blooming where Steve’s fist had landed. “Man, fuck you, Harrington!” stooping down Tommy lunged at Steve and tried to catch him around the waist, but Steve was too quick. Probably because neither of you had had too much to drink just yet, but Tommy crashed into the coffee table just behind Steve with a crack! the wood top breaking in two.

Shaking his hand, Steve grimaced and quickly shoved past a couple people who were crowding over Tommy to get to you. “Let’s get the hell outta here,” he grumbled, holding his hand against his chest.

“Best idea you’ve had all night,” you say rolling your eyes, but your tone didn’t hold any venom.

You grabbed the front door for him and followed Steve down the front walk to his BMW parked on the street. His one step made up for two of yours and you had to half jog to keep up as he stalked along the pavement.

Unable to help yourself, you looked over at his hand as you got to his car, his good hand reaching to open the passenger door for you. One of his knuckles was cracked and bleeding and the rest of his hand was bright red.

You bit in your lower lip, worrying it between your teeth as the door closed next to you, plopping down into your seat. Clicking your belt into place, Steve fell into his seat quickly after you and started the car. He turned on the heat, ‘Girl Like You’ by Foreigner quietly playing through a bit of static on the speakers.

Neither of you said a word as he waited for the car to warm up, but you could tell his hand hurt. His brows were knitted together as he slowly flexed his hand open and closed, and when he closed it he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Hey,” almost instinctively you reached across him for his good hand, voice soft as it was your turn to give a reassuring squeeze.

Steve lifted his gaze from the steering wheel to meet yours, the light from the street lamps turning his brown eyes a soft caramel color. A small huff of a laugh escaped him as he threaded his fingers with yours, “Sorry. That party did suck.”

You gave him a half-hearted smile, but it fell when you looked back down at his hand. “Your hand…” you started, untangling your fingers from his to ghost over the cut and bruises that were forming.

“Ah, it’s fine. I’ve had worse,” he joked, and while you knew he was right, demobats aside, he was still hurting. His eyes flicked back up to look at you and you felt the last little bits of anger melt under his gaze. Even now, brow furrowed and hair haphazard, he was still so fucking pretty.

“I’m sorry,” you finally said, reaching a hand up to brush a few stray hairs out of his face, letting it settle on the line of his jaw.

Steve leaned into your touch, it was warm and soft as you both sat in the wintery cold, and he was thankful for it. “S’okay,” he murmured, his good hand moving to brush his thumb gently across your cheek, “You’re worth it.” The smile he gave you then sent your heart rate racing, heat rising in your cheeks, and you could’ve sworn you saw the same in him.

The air between you felt electric as you held each other softly, tenderly in a moment where only the two of you existed. Swallowing the nerves that were creeping into your chest, you blinked softly, lashes sweeping your cheeks. “Steve…” your voice was gentle, more timid than usual, and he could sense your hesitation.

“Yeah?” he said, leaning in just a little closer, your noses almost touching as his bruised hand settled on your waist.

Quiet again, you couldn’t muster a response, and instead closed the gap between the two of you by pressing your lips against his.

Steve was soft and sweet and you could taste the spearmint gum he’d been chewing earlier in the night. The leathery cedar scent of his cologne made your head hazy and when you finally pulled away the absence of him made your heart ache.

“Hm,” Steve murmured thoughtfully, hand still gently resting on your cheek, “That’s funny.”

Your brow furrowed in confusion, finding nothing funny about what had just happened, but he caught it on your face and laughed softly. “My hand feels better,” he joked, the corners of his lips tugging up into a grin.

Letting out a small groan you shook your head and slipped your hands down to his chest to grab fistfuls of his scratchy, woolly Christmas sweater. “Well, then you better do it again, Harrington," you said, matching his grin. Pulling him into you there in the idling car, the warmth from the vents not the only source of heat in that moment, you kissed him again. And again. And again.

crappymixtape™ • steve harrington masterlist // stranger things masterlist

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem #steve stranger things #steve x you

[fractualized]

Three Jokers Are Not Better Than One

(or, cheap twists don't make a good story)

Would you look at that? It's time to bitch about Three Jokers!

(spoilers for a 3-year-old comic ahead)

Gotham War got me into hater mode, so I figured it was time to take a second look at Three Jokers, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jason Fabok. I first read it when the issues came out, and I thought it was possible that the story isn't as bad as I remembered. I don't know why, since for the past three years I've been haunted by the possibility of it being deemed canon.

Of course, at the time of conception, Three Jokers was intended to be canon. Johns set up the premise in the Darkseid War storyline of the 2011 Justice League run, in issues published in 2015/2016. Batman takes control of the omniscient Mobius Chair, and he tests it by asking who killed his parents. Then he asks a second question, which Hal Jordan presses him on several issues later.

[Justice League (2011) #42 & Justice League (2011) #50]

Four years later, when Three Jokers was set to be released towards the end of 2020, Johns did at first confirm it would be canon despite being released via Black Label, where books are not meant to be part of the larger continuity. In later interviews, however, this assertion got walked back in favor of saying the canonicity is up to each reader, which is kind of a wild thing to say. "Look, this story merely proposes that one of our most popular characters has actually been three different dudes the whole time, which totally has a negligible impact on how that character should be seen and has interacted with the world. Take it or leave it!"

But then, DC's idea of canon has been pretty squiggly of late, especially with the increasing multiverse shenanigans. In the final issue of Dark Knights: Death Metal in 2021, the reader is told, "with our past finally set, myriad new futures are opening up. And as hypertime heals, we'll likely experience flashes of them– and even alternate pasts– in pretty epic fashion." Infinite Frontier followed, with a press release declaring, "When our heroes saved the Multiverse from Perpetua in Dark Nights: Death Metal, everything was put back where it belonged… and we do mean everything. All the damage from all the Crises was undone [....]"

I have a lot of thoughts about this, revolving around what the heck does it mean for storytelling and how we should understand characters that apparently, somehow, everything is canon? How are we supposed to take this as anything other than the omniverse being an excuse for DC Editorial to wave off responsibility for a legible timeline? "Batman can be in two places at once because, uh, the Monitor sneezed?"

But this too-long essay is about Three Jokers, so I'll narrow my concern: if character histories can simply change with a multiversal glitch, in whatever overwrought way those are usually explained to us, then it sure feels like it doesn't matter that Three Jokers was published under Black Label. It sure seems like, at whoever's whim, Three Jokers can still get locked into the main storyline. I mean, Zdarsky still hasn't explained what that three Jokers shit in Batman #135 is about. On the other hand, we know that the explanation for the two Jokers in The Man Who Stopped Laughing does not involve the multiverse, and Joker is supposed to reunite with Batman over in Zdarsky's story when that story closes out, so… I actually have no reason to be confident that means anything.

"But why would Three Jokers getting canonized be so bad?" you may ask if you've never read Three Jokers (or if you fully enjoyed it).

Speaking for myself, it starts with the premise: taking a character and saying, "actually, this is not one complex guy but three different guys, which fractures the character's motivations and relationships over the last several decades." When that character is one you enjoy very much, this twist is not fun. It's a fundamental change to who they are.

Then five months before the release of Three Jokers #1, Johns and Fabok did an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Some things the pair said raised red flags:

1) Three Jokers' story would focus on the trauma that Barbara, Jason, and Bruce suffered at Joker's hands, per Johns. "If you suffer some trauma, you don’t just get over with it and move on with your life, it changes who you are. Sometimes it changes you for the better, sometimes it changes you for the worse. You can heal right, and you can heal wrong. That’s really what the book’s about: Healing right, healing wrong, and surviving."

2) Johns also said of the story: “It goes back to the beginning when Batman first encountered the Joker, but it’s also The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family that speak to the book and that we’re building off emotionally." And Fabok mentioned that the book's look would be based on the aesthetics of The Killing Joke: "I really want it to feel like it could be a spiritual sequel, at least artistically."

These remarks foreshadowed a disconnect. A key part of The Killing Joke itself is that both Joker and Bruce experienced terrible trauma ("one bad day"), but in responding to it, they made different choices: broadly, Joker choosing to hurt people versus Bruce choosing to help people. Johns excluding Joker from his comments about trauma felt like a sign that he ignored a key part of the character, despite Joker being a core part of a new tale "emotionally" inspired by TKJ.

(We're setting aside "you can heal right and you can heal wrong" for now. Ohhh, we'll get back to that.)

Johns' blind spot was confirmed a few months later when he was quoted by the DC Nation Twitter account: "There are very few characters that are, to me, as irredeemable as The Joker. There is nothing in him that is good."

Wow, what close analysis from Mr. Emotional Build.

Look, I don't need Joker to be redeemed or woobified. (Ask me about the "Pushback" storyline from 2004 and hear my gnashing teeth crack a filling.) But I would like the full breadth of his character acknowledged, especially when you're claiming you're writing about trauma, especially when you're creating a "spiritual sequel" to one of best known Joker stories (if not the best known one).

Then Three Jokers finally came out, and over three months it proved to be neither an examination of healing nor very interesting, at least not in an enjoyable way. What it has to "say" about trauma, for any of the characters, is no different than the limited conclusion made in previous Batman books: mainly the drumbeat of fighting off the darkness by being a bigger person— or at least not killing your enemy. Making Joker into a role played by three different people adds nothing; it amounts to little more than a gimmick.

Hell, even as a gimmick, it's flawed. Theoretically, the three Jokers represent phases of personality the Joker has embodied over the years— but the representations we get don't make sense. Here they are summed up in Book 3:

Sorry, what? The Criminal is less interested in theatrics? In what time period was the Joker ever not interested in making a big show of things in one way or another? Maybe this is supposed to be an "early" Joker in terms of the Rebirth/InfiniCrisisDarkCarnateTier/whatever more recent conception of him, but I'll wager that's not what people think about when they think of Joker at his start. They think about Golden Age Joker doing goofy shit and laughing maniacally. They're not expecting this morose man.

The other thing is that, in Book 1, the narrative "assigns" each of our three protagonists to a Joker: Bruce to the Criminal, who appeared at the start; Barbara to the Comedian, who shot her; and Jason to the Clown, who killed him. Now at first I thought Johns was saying one Joker took over after another, but since Barbara's attack and Jason's death happened 9 months apart in 1988, which are not different Joker eras, I think we're supposed to see them as sort of… cycling on and off depending on the needs of the scheme? Maybe? But the descriptions above are still confusing. Why am I supposed to see the Joker who got carried away with the fun of beating Jason with a crowbar and successfully blew him up as less sadistic than the other one?

Johns does appear to lampshade this confusion in the middle of Book 1, when we get all three Jokers in a cabin in the woods. The Clown and the Comedian have this exchange:

This and a later panel with the Comedian actually imply that he and the Clown are interchangeable, even though they're supposed to be different. So are they or not? Is there an actual reason we need three Jokers, or did Johns just think it was a neato idea and then spend four years trying to figure out a "layered" justification for it?

The other thing about this cabin scene, and about the Joker trio largely, is that it should be fun and it's not. There should be chaos! Zaniness! At the very least, all the narcissism in the room should generate a competitive friction, make their interactions more dynamic. (Really it should generate bloodshed and end with one man standing within like ten minutes, but I'll grant the choice to save that for Book 3.) Instead it's almost mundane. The cabin isn't even decorated! It's dark and dreary, like the Jokers are dark and dreary. If we're gonna have three Jokers, can't they at least be Jokering with each other?

The same thought comes when I consider the very beginning of Book 1. It all starts out like a typical Batman story: three deadly crimes are committed in one night, the Joker seemingly responsible for all of them, and Bruce, Barbara, and Jason are drawn together as they try to figure out what's up. Of course, thanks to the Magic Chair, Bruce already knows there are three clowns, but Barbara and Jason are thinking that Joker is working with two look-alikes to create confusion. And considering the basics of what happens in this story, what the Comedian's larger plan is meant to accomplish, why couldn't this have been written with just two look-alikes? I mean, yeah, it would require Johns to forget about his continuity bomb, but maybe the story would have been better (and shorter). Again, the creation of other Jokers isn't doing much for what the plot is getting at. The three crimes that start us off would still serve the function of reminding Bruce of how Joker's been a constant in his life. The taunting of a convincing Joker look-alike is enough to set off Jason's anger and sadness about what happened to him, and his fears of what he could become. The climax with Joe Chill would have to be redone, but the threat of him being Jokerized isn't the crucial plot point; the Comedian's film of him is. Bruce doesn't even have any substantial thoughts about there being three of his nemesis.

But, alas, the story goes how it goes. And as it goes, we also see that Jason behaves more cruelly in his search for Joker than Barbara and Bruce. For example, Jason attacks and threatens one of Joker's victims to get information, feeling justified because the guy has a rap sheet, while Barbara scolds him and Bruce tells the victim, "I'm sorry this happened." What I find notable about this is that while comics regularly present Jason as hot-headed and Barbara as reasonable, Bruce… uh… If you gather a random selection of Batman comics, you'll find that his level of violence is all over the place. This story, however, requires a more somber Bruce, whose violence is more reactive, because Jason and Barbara serve Johns' dichotomy of "heal right" versus "heal wrong." We can't have Bruce on the sadistic side of the scale fucking that up, and besides, Jason's long been the posterboy for healing "wrong."

That notion comes to a head at the end of the issue. The heroes have encountered and subdued the Clown at the aquarium when Jim Gordon calls. The GCPD found another Joker, and Bruce leaves Jason and Barbara alone with the Clown to assist.

Goodness me, who could have predicted Jason might kill a restrained Joker? Not Bruce, who absolutely should have. Barbara is there to talk Jason down, sure, but what else is the Clown gonna do but needle Jason to kill him?

The Clown cackles then, declaring that Red Hood is his Robin, for the very reason of his violent impulses and how much he upsets the Bat, and of course Jason shoots him in the head, because oof.

Honestly, on this second read I found this scene a smidge too oof. Jason was a determined little Robin, dedicated to saving his awful mother to the very end, and him cracking and declaring that he'll work for a criminal… I don't know. I don't think it's impossible, but it feels superfluous. I don't think such a reveal is necessary to get Jason to fire. I think the Clown focusing on how the new Red Hood is actually quite similar to the old, as well as how Jason matters less than the neverending battle between Batman and Joker, is enough emotional stress to get to the same end result.

But that's a minor quibble; we've got bigger fish to fry! Such as the specter of the "healed right/healed wrong" dynamic that reappears as Barbara and Jason argue over the Clown's corpse.

Barbara leaves angrily after this, but man. I wish the story overall took more cues from this scene, that in a Black Label story we could stray from the simplistic idea of how a Good One would save Joker and a Bad One wouldn't. I want to explore Jason's assertion that Barbara didn't do her best to uphold Bruce's one rule. I want to know if maybe she's tired of being the fucking Good One.

Hell, let's go further: what if we were surprised by Barbara killing the Clown before Jason could? The Clown's taunting about Jason could have gotten to her too. We could have a story about how being put on a pedestal as a Good Victim is a cage, about Barbara struggling with falling from that position, about Jason feeling unsure if he should commend her for an act that obviously hurts her or comfort her for something he would have done himself. That's an actual examination of the struggle to process violent trauma— that you don't need three Jokers for!

But the story we have never gets back to Jason's suggestion that Barbara let the murder happen, not in this issue or the following two. This issue just ends with Jason hoping that the Clown was the actual Joker and that he didn't kill the wrong guy, which is a pretty "LOL oh yeah" line when you remember that he and Barbara don't know there are three Jokers yet.

Book 1, truth be told, isn't that bad. On my reread, I started to wonder if my only real issue with the story is that it's not as engaging as all the hype insisted it would be.

Then Book 2 starts, and goddammit. GODDAMMIT.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: why can we not have more DC writers having fun with Joker's multiple-choice backstory? Why did Johns read The Killing Joke and decide his interpretation would be this?:

Ugh. UGGGHHH.

I don't recall the issue, but there's these panels that circulate sometimes of Harley Quinn encountering Joker in Arkham or prison, in which they exchange words about their relationship and he's a creep and she kicks his ass. I have no problem with Harley kicking Joker's ass. He deserves it. My problem is that those panels play out like an empowerment scene in a generic Lifetime movie. My problem is that it doesn't have the flavor of Harley and Joker. My problem is that it's lazy.

And that's my problem with what Johns does with Joker's backstory in TKJ. He could take it anywhere, and he goes gritty without an ounce of nuance. Because hey, this is Joker, and  "there is nothing in him that is good," right? We'll just ignore that one of DC's all-time classics, the one this garbage is ✨inspired by✨, has Joker reflecting on a past for which he is an unreliable narrator, but in which he laments how his comedy dream put his growing family in a bad spot, in which he desperately aligns with shady people so his family can be secure, in which he's devastated by losing the only person he has in the world and their growing baby. And these memories could be distorted or entirely fake, but what's interesting in TKJ is that Joker never tells anyone else about them, even in his big speech to Batman. The flashbacks are not part of an attempt to manipulate anyone or convince them his world view is correct. It's a tale in Joker's head that, regardless of the truth, deeply affects him. It's what drove him to go to horrendous lengths to prove his point, even if the point is wrong.

But fuck that, right? We're going lazy! We're going cheap! We're going with the Jeannie backstory, but actually Joker was only terrible to her. The Comedian fondly fantasizes about terrorizing her and their son, because he's 100% an abuser, because he must have always been that way, with not a single appealing quality that we need to reckon with as we so often do with toxic people in real life. Even the freaking stutter Joker had as he struggled with stand-up comedy is given to Jeannie. Seriously?

I cannot emphasize enough: fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this "take."

On the other hand, when the Comedian is brought out of his stupor, we do finally get something super funny:

At least we'll always have this panel of Joker eating cat food.

The Criminal only interrupted the daydream because he's mad the Clown is dead, and the Clown was so eager to be dead I thought it was part of their plan buuuuuuut I guess not. Then we jump to Bruce figuring out that the "Joker" that Gordon cornered is just another victim, a dead judge. Barbara appears to tell Bruce what Jason did, and they discuss it over comms on the road.

Bruce, shockingly, says that they can't really do anything about what Jason did.

Pretty sure the guy who batarang'd Jason's throat rather than let him kill Joker would have a more intense reaction than this?? Or any reaction other than sober understanding? Maybe Bruce is still coping with finally dealing with three Jokers at once and will flip his shit when this all resolves. Or maybe he's just thinking, "it's okay, I still have two emotional support clowns left!" I don't know. He's so weirdly passive in this story.

What's more aggravating, though, is the other aspect of this conversation, that Jason "healed wrong." It would be one thing as a pat judgment Bruce is making, but we know from that interview that Johns positioned "healed right versus healed wrong" as the story's theme. It's not good. It's way too glib a framing for evaluating how people who've gone through trauma are dealing with it, in any context. Sure, there are better and worse coping mechanisms, better and worse outcomes, but healing is an ongoing process that can be so individualized. Reducing it to "right" and "wrong," saying that one is "strong" and implying that the other comes from some sort of deficiency… I hope Johns just spoke poorly and he does understand that it's not that simple.

Now, is it a stretch to apply that critique to Jason killing criminals at his whim? Sure, deciding that you personally should play the role of judge, jury, and executioner is not a good way to deal with trauma. But that's not exactly what's happening here. This "healed right versus healed wrong" framing is being applied to Jason Todd going after the Joker. Obviously, I like Joker, but can we be real about this? Can we be real in a Black Label book, the imprint where comic books (allegedly) have room to take things more seriously? Can we take the question of, "In this fictional world where Joker is an unstoppable fatal mayhem machine— now THREE machines— is it completely out of bounds for someone to finally kill him?" and be like, "Errr…not really?" When this story explicitly denies Joker even one teeny redeeming human quality, are we seriously still going to say, "Well, you know, if Jason takes the life of the man who murdered him and millions other people, because he doesn't want him to kill more people, which Joker will absolutely do and we all know it, doesn't that say something awful about Jason?" Are we really??

Plus the judgment about healing is put into the mouth of a man who— say it with me!— regularly dresses as a bat and beats the ever-loving shit out of people because his parents were murdered. Toning Bruce down in this particular story doesn't hide that.

Although, what I think is intended as a flawed assumption on Bruce's part is his other line, "Jason's suffering." It implies that Barbara still isn't, but we are shown Barbara reflecting on her paralyzation, even now when she's "strong" and has healed "right." And the story will get into this a bit later, but it absolutely does not let Barbara and Jason escape the dichotomy. To the story's detriment, their interactions go in a wild direction, but we'll get to that.

First, Bruce and Barbara's investigation leads them to Blackgate, because the fingerprints on the murder weapon for the dead judge belong to none other than Joe Chill. However, we learn that Chill has been in the medical wing for two months because he's sick with cancer.

Meanwhile, Jason's investigation leads him to a closed athletic center. The pool inside is filled with the chemicals stolen from Ace at the start of the story, as well as dozens of pale naked bodies with green hair. Jason's attempt to contact Barbara is interrupted when one of said bodies bursts to life and grabs his ankle, asking for help. Jason reacts with hostility, kicking the poor guy, and I'm not sure if it's because he's unnerved by a room of floating Jokers or if it's pretty normal for him to not keep his cool even for the sake of an obvious victim of a horrible crime. A Gotham City vigilante can't be that shocked by one guy being alive in a pile of bodies, can they?

But that's all setup. When the guy falls unconscious, the Criminal and the Comedian ambush Jason and drag him away, one saying, "He'll be perfect."

It's a line that meanly gets your hopes up, poking at a subject that could make all this more interesting.

Jason awakes, strapped to a chair and as naked as the bodies in the pool. The Criminal says he and his pals have spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect candidate for a new Joker, and he repeats the question of what's up with Jason taking on the Red Hood moniker.

It seems that, like DCAU Tim Drake in Batman Beyond before him, Jason Todd will be transformed into a fourth Joker! But it won't only be because it will wreck the Batman. It'll be because Joker already sees himself in Jason. This is something new to explore! There are places to go here; other comics hinting at Joker's past point to him having a childhood not dissimilar to Jason's, of growing up on the street, experiencing abuse, and learning unpalatable ways to survive. We could see Jason struggling with the possibility that he has more in common with Joker than he wants to think about!

But we won't. Inexplicably, the Criminal turns around and says that despite their similarities, despite Jason hating Batman as much as he does, despite the Comedian (presumably) saying Jason is perfect, and despite getting Jason ready for the pool, Jason actually isn't good enough, not "bright" enough. (Because all the Jokers we have in this dour story are so bright?)

And then the Comedian just beats the hell out of Jason (saying it's more fun than the first time, in another annoying nod to how he and the Clown are the same damn Joker) and says they're leaving Jason alive because maybe he'll prove them wrong and he'll become a new Joker after all? But the current Jokers aren't really going to go for it. Their interest is just abandoned.

The point is only to freak Jason out, so when Bruce and Barbara arrive, fight a horde of Jokerized victims, and find Jason alone and naked and vulnerable, he does not react well when Bruce tries to ask if he's okay. Jason turns on him and blames him for setting him on this path, for leaving him in the dirt, for replacing him easily. He lashes out at Barbara too, asking if she's going to lock him away, but ultimately it's easier to take comfort from her.

A direct reference to Return of the Joker here, focusing on the shadow Batman casts over the lives of his partners, the responsibility he bears in how Joker targeted them to hurt the Bat, and how poorly he offers comfort himself.

It does segue nicely into the next scene, when Bruce and Barbara get Jason to her apartment to rest. Bruce leaves to keep investigating, and Barbara is pissed because this is the exact lack of support that contributed to Jason going his own way. Support is highlighted again when Jason wakes in Barbara's room and looks around.

Aside from Barbara seeking out books to deal with her physical and mental struggles after Joker's attack, the old calendars show the help she received from her father and health professionals.

And this scene does get into something that's missing from TKJ, in which Bruce tells Joker that no, not everyone will retreat to madness like he did. How we react to trauma is greatly affected by the resources available to us.

This scene is nice. It's nice to come from the action to some place quiet and for someone to say this Jason, something he's wanted to hear. It's late in coming, but it's pain validated.

And then Johns fucking ruins it.

Man. Just. Ugh. Yeah, I know people seek comfort in moments of vulnerability, but… the reader knows. The reader knows moments like this aren't included to be like "oh, this was an isolated blip of human behavior! The story won't call back to it later!" Johns apparently wants Barbara/Jason to be a thing. And if you want a solid reason for that… well, we don't get any good ones.

Meanwhile, Bruce is in the cave, and I'm only mentioning that because these folder labels are incredibly funny:

Then the issue ends with Joe Chill kidnapped from Blackgate by the Comedian, who has a video camera and asks him to talk about why he really killed the Waynes. Dun dun dunnnnnnnn! Is that a twist on the way?! Well, yeah, but not really the one you think and it's incredibly stupid.

Finally we are at Book 3. Jason is suited back up, and he and Barbara have met up with Bruce in the cave to figure out how the Jokers plan to create another, better Joker.

Soooooo Jason and Barbara had that whole conversation. Jason was shaken by what the Jokers said to him. But now he's completely back on track. Allllllrighty.

Jason and Bruce then have an argument rehashing everything that Barbara said she was sorry Jason experienced, with Bruce saying of course he'd love to kill the Joker, and Jason pointing out that he obviously hasn't. Jason also says he thinks the only reason Bruce isn't turning Jason in for killing the Clown is to protect Batman's identity. Barbara just tries to de-escalate with her doe eyes. They're back to the status quo, and it sucks, which is the point. When they try to get back to the investigation at hand, Bruce pauses and attempts to apologize.

And again, with this blatant TKJ reference, it feels like we need to dig into the parallels between Jason and Joker! They both insist it's too late! They won't take help! But surely Jason isn't as far gone! There's something to chew on here.

But nah, this story is heading toward a big ol' revelation, foreshadowed here:

🎶 Why the fuck you lyin'? 🎶

Finally they get the alert that Joe Chill was kidnapped, and on investigating his cell, Bruce finds a bunch of letters addressed to… himself, Bruce Wayne. He seeks out the prison reverend.

Which is unintentionally hilarious, because in the storyline that started this whole three Jokers nonsense, there's a Batman Darkseid War one-shot where Joe Chill's behavior does not remotely align with this.

Lol comics are fun.

In the middle of Bruce investigating the letters, we get Jason being all repentant with Babs again.

You just said? You totally were?? Gonna kill more clowns??? How is this supposed to come off as genuine? Granted, Jason doesn't try to kill the other Jokers after this, but the apparently impetus for reversing course is... uh... we'll get there.

Anyway, among Chill's letters are tickets to the Monarch Theater, so the heroes all head over for whatever the Jokers have set up for them, which of course includes another horde of failed Joker zombies. During the fight, the Comedian's interview of Joe Chill plays on the screen, and the Criminal reveals they have Chill tied up in a chair suspended over a vat of green chemicals.

As Chill on screen explains that he killed the Waynes out of hatred and envy for how much they had, and how much he regrets his actions, the Criminal explains that he considered both Jason and Barbara as strong candidates for the new Joker. And wait. WAIT. Mr. Johns, sir, are you telling me it crossed your mind to write a story in which Barbara becomes the new Joker? That's so much more interesting than the bullshit we're getting! Imagine it: Barbara dealing with the dissatisfaction of being the "good, strong victim" and just losing her shit. You could combine that with how uneasy Jason is with his similarities to Joker, and maybe Jason is the one who convinces Barbara to turn back. This is Black Label! This could've been anything! Anything!

But we've got Chill. And the Criminal goes on to say the reason he wanted to make a new Joker at all:

Are… are you? I'm pretty sure Joker is pretty well fucking defined. He's a murderer with a very dark sense of humor who is obsessed with Batman. That's been a pretty good through-line.

Also, Joker pretty clearly means a lot to Batman, as that middle panel with Jason seems intended to remind us, but the Criminal does clarify that he wants to be "everything" to him, which is why he's pulling Bruce's parents' murderer into all this. I guess I can't blame him for reaching for the stars?

Cue big fight scene. The Chill recording continues to explain his regret, and soon the theater is on fire. Batman saves Chill and knocks the Criminal unconscious. Chill thinks Batman is going to kill him, but Bruce saves him from a falling brick wall instead— before the Criminal revives and tries to set off a bomb to kill them all, maybe. There's a BOOM flag sticking out of the dynamite a few panels later, after the Comedian shows up and shoots the Criminal in the head. TWIST!

The Comedian surrenders, and after a scene with Jason picking the most awkward time to suggest he and Barbara try being a couple and Barbara looking pissed she has to tell him no, we jump to Bruce and the Comedian in the armored police car.

As a batjokes shipper, looking at these pages is weird, because they are good food for the brainworms. The Criminal wanted to engineer a Joker who meant the most to Batman, but the Comedian wanted to be that Joker. It's a weird plan, considering that Joker prefers Batman over Bruce Wayne, so he would be more likely to not want to heal Bruce's wound lest the healing lead to less Batmanning, but still. This crazy plan is all about maintaining Batman's attention.

But I can only enjoy these panels out of context, not just because I'm pretty weary of insanely elaborate plans that manage to work out, but also because there's just so much to hate in the rest of the story, especially the real twist that closes it out.

Before we get to that, though, we're thrown back into the Jason/Barbara nonsense with a very gross letter he writes to her.

"Dear Barbara, I want to make a change. But I can't do that without you. I know I've come across cold and distant…"

1) Look, love can help people heal. Barbara could be a good friend advising Jason on what might help him. She could help bring him back into the batfam fold. This letter is not that. This letter is pushing someone to be in a romantic relationship with you for the explicit purpose of getting them to heal you. That's not how love works. That's using someone as a tool. It's supposed to be sad that Barbara never sees the letter but it's good, actually. Don't put that shit on her!

2) This romance came out of freaking nowhere and now we get Jason insisting he can simply stop being Red Hood for the sake of it— but only for the sake of it, apparently! Does Jason think his worldview as Red Hood is an impediment to healing or not? This is just surface-level melodramatic nonsense. And I wish that was the point, but no. Again, the letter getting swept away is presented as sad.

3) Speaking of which, who tapes a confessional letter that exposes your vigilante identity to a door where anyone can see it? You'd slip it under the door at least. Johns couldn't figure out any other way for the letter to vanish? Get out of here with this contrived nonsense. There should've been panels of Jason rereading the letter, realizing how unhinged it is, and throwing it away himself.

4) Is the "Funtime Cleaners" guy in his purple uniform supposed to be Joker? Or representative of Joker's influence on their lives? If yes and it's him, he's a goddamn hero. If it's symbolic, what does that mean, that even when you reach out to others… elements out of your control will keep you alone? 'Cause that sure is bleak for a book allegedly about healing.

With all that done with, now we get to the big twist, the dumbest fucking part of this story, the end, the takeaway. Of course it involves more crimes against The Killing Joke, which I'm increasingly convinced no one at DC has actually read in the past thirty years.

Bruce drives up to Alaska, and we get this reveal.

Do the kids still *headdesk* nowadays? That's what I'm doing. There will be a blood stain.

1) So Bruce has known the Joker's identity, or at least the Comedian's, basically the whole time. We're just retconning that the Joker question he asked the Magic Chair wasn't for information; it was a second test question. And all this is in the face of Bruce lamenting many times over the years that he doesn't know who Joker really is, of him lamenting it in The Killing goddamn Joke. "I don't know him, Alfred. All these years and I don't know who he is any more than he knows who I am. How can two people hate so much without knowing each other?" We're just. Fucking excising that. A line alluding to Bruce's motivation for visiting Joker in TKJ's opening scene.

2) We're rounding out the lazy revisions to the TKJ backstory with some copaganda! Geoff Johns doesn't think it's possible for Joker to have been anything but a horror to his family, but he does think it's possible that random officers in the friggin' Gotham City Police Department— in early Batman lore no less, when they were at their most corrupt— would fundraise for a "lady" they clearly don't know to get her out of the city to safety. Also, what was the plan for when Joker asked to see his wife's dead body?? Congrats, you've come up with something dumber than "Pushback."

3) This scrawls more highlighter on how bad the premise of there being three Jokers is, because the flashback in TKJ happens before Joker starts out. Like that's how Bruce always recalls it; he didn't meet the Joker until after what happened at Ace Chemicals. So isn't Jeannie then actually the Criminal's wife? Because the Criminal is the one who behaves as Bruce remembers Joker was at the start. So is the Comedian obsessed with the Criminal's wife for some reason? Or is the Comedian actually the first Joker, and the Criminal came later and used to be more wacky? What is going on here?

Under all these questions, per the final page, the point of Three Jokers is still visible: ultimately, his victims matter more than he does. But that's a hilarious point to a story that revolves around three of the guy, with very little payoff to the gimmick, and when part of the plot is that the heroes still shouldn't kill him.

And again, just because a story makes reference to healing, it doesn't mean it's "about" healing. The most we get is the knowledge that Barbara and Jeannie received support from other people. There's no discussion of how long it took either of them, of why Barbara came out the other side not wanting to kill Joker, of anything Jeannie has done since she left Gotham. The possibility that Jason could find connection is promptly throttled by a forced romance. It's implied that the Comedian's plan worked for Bruce, as we see Bruce at Chill's deathbed, holding his hand, and at Chill's grave. You might be interested in Bruce's thoughts as he juxtaposes Chill's repentance against the fact that his parents are still dead, so you can assess if this really would affect the feeling of loss that drove him to his lifelong mission, but you won't get them. The "how" of healing is up to the reader— who is never asked to extend the same thought process to the Joker. And you personally do not have to give a crap about Joker, but again, if this book is supposed to be about responses to healing, about Jason's response versus Barbara's, then taking an actual look at Joker feels relevant!

So there we are: fourteen pages of me venting my little heart out, hoping the premise of Three Jokers never gets looped into canon. I'm well aware that my personal attachment to a character means nothing against DC's incentives to promote stories with Big Twists (and endless events and multiverse bullshit), but then again, those incentives are based on what people will buy. So if I can add to the voices saying that Three Jokers is bad, and you should not spend your money on it or books like it, maybe I can be one vibe of many that keeps the Joker as one single bat-obsessed murderclown...

Though if not, I can always retreat to older comics. I still have plenty of those to get through.

#three jokers #the killing joke #batjokes #batman #joker #bruce wayne #barbara gordon #jason todd #analysis #my jibber-jabber #tl;dr three jokers is just usual batman stuff with a dumb gimmick #and jaybabs thrown in for the lulz

[t1oui]

penelope clearwater headcanons

she hates quidditch. despises it. this makes being friends with percy, marcus, and oliver all the more difficult.

cho looks up to her like an older sister.

(she sits through all the quidditch talks solely for her sake)

penelope and percy are best friends, despite being in different houses. they just get each other in a way that the others don't.

she's panromantic and demisexual. when it comes to having crushes on people, she has almost no preference as long as they care about schoolwork.

penelope has always been proud of her house, but secretly, when she was younger (and as she grew up), she wanted to be in gryffindor. percy's the only one who knows.

she and marcus act a bit like an old married couple.

she ends up sleeping in percy's bed at least once a week. nobody knows how she gets in, because percy stopped giving her the password in 2nd year.

(when percy isn't there, maybe on a walk or already in oliver's room, she gets in adrian pucey's bed instead because he's the only one in that room other than percy who doesn't snore.)

penelope's patronus & animagus forms are both weasels

she becomes senior undersecretary to the minister for magic (aka percy). shenanigans ensue.

she may be nerdier than percy, but she also has way better fashion sense than him, and is probably the best dressed of the friend group.

she thinks romance, all romance, is funny. when percy and oliver get together they get no mercy from her teasing

most younger students are scared of her

when she and oliver found out remus was an alcoholic when he came to teach at hogwarts (even if he was trying to sober up), they broke into his quarters and made him give all his whiskey to the giant squid. surprisingly, it worked.

penelope is not, contrary to popular belief, a skeptic. she used to be, but then she met luna "probably a seer" lovegood and all that went out the window.

loves the hunger games books

breaks a lot more rules than you would expect (she is a member of the golden era's marauders, after all)

her favorite subject is potions

penelope is a genius muggleborn witch, and when she hears people calling hermione "the brightest witch of her age", penelope kind of hates her for it.

she's head girl when percy is head boy

she despises percy's family. where he's like "yeah my family sucks sometimes but i'm over it", she's ready to kill all of them.

on that note, she's a bit unhinged, but she hides it well. only her friends truly know the extent of it

she, percy, oliver, and marcus have meetings in the room of requirement. whenever she calls the meeting, she shows up at least five minutes late, for "dramatic effect" or something.

if she ends up with anyone, it's marcus, and it's not until they're like 28 or something. she kissed him on new years purely because she was annoyed at percy and oliver snogging right next to her

(if they have kids, they name them percival and cedric, which is cute and not confusing in the slightest :))

when they get older, in their 20s or so, penelope starts calling percy "mr. wood" whenever he says something stupid. within a year all of their friends do it. oliver always gets mock offended but actually he thinks it's hilarious

penelope is percy and oliver's oldest daughter, lucy's, godmother. lucy is obsessed with quidditch. penelope does not think this is as funny as percy and oliver seem to.

penelope was the one who walked percy down the aisle. it was the first time anyone (except him) saw her cry

penelope is obsessed with flowers, and she knows all about them. she forces her friends to garden with her. eventually professor sprout gives her some space behind one of the greenhouses to make her own garden.

when sirius is proven innocent or whatever he gets really confused about why there is a newly graduated penelope constantly gatecrashing to hang out with remus (turns out her and oliver forcing him to become their friend during 7th year paid off)

she and percy make like 20 spells together before they even graduate hogwarts, and they eventually co-author a book on magical theory.

penelope, percy, oliver, and marcus are all animagi, and it was penelope's year to try and do that. she didn't like the idea of having to keep a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month, so she just invented a new way of completing the transformation.

(when sirius finds out they first transformed in 4th year and without mandrake leaves, he's pissed.)

penelope goes with percy as his date to the yule ball (while he's helping supervise it) solely because they want to snoop around

during quidditch games, she always cheers for whichever of her friends' teams is playing. if it's a gryffindor v slytherin match, she cheers for the team of whoever annoyed her the least that week.

(if she's been really pissed off at her friends lately, usually because of too much quidditch talk, she will go out on a ravenclaw game day with her face painted blue and bronze and scream her head off just to spite them.)

people are scared of her. she likes it that way.

#penelope clearwater #harry potter #harry potter hc #penelope clearwater headcanons #hp fandom #golden era hp #percy weasley #oliver wood #marcus flint

[gravity-falls-au-tournament]

The AUs in the running!

With the submission now closed, the time for the Tournament to begin is fast approaching! With that in mind it is time to reveal the AUs in the running:

Drifting stars AU by @the-subpar-ghost

During the events of not what he seems, Mabel ends up falling into the portal instead of Ford coming through it, and Mabel ends up stuck with Ford in the multiverse. The two of them travel the multiverse and get into many a shenanigan trying to find a way home. In most versions Stan and Dipper also work to bring their twins home

One of us AU by @ashidaii

During the events of Weirdmaggedon, Ford accepts Bill's offer to join him and is transformed into a demon. In some versions it is with the intent to betray Bill later while struggling with Demonic Corruption, in others it is genuine.

Reunion falls AU by @sailorleo (Now @hellspawnmotel)

Not long after Mabel and Dipper were born the two were separated, with Dipper being sent to live with Stan and Mabel remaining with their parents. After finding out about her twin years later, Mabel travels to Gravity falls to meet him.

Timestuck AU by @dodofiasco

In which one of the Pines twins (or both, in which case usually they get separated but sometimes they are together) end up stuck 30 years in past due to the time tape and meet the younger version of one (or both) of the Stan twins.The most Popular version of this AU has Mabel travelling with a younger Stan.

Blind Faith au by @gravity-what and @thesnadger

During the events of the Portal incident in the 1980s, Both Stan and Ford fall through the Portal. Due to McGucket being driven mad by what he saw when he entered the portal, Ford fears the same could happen to Stan and thus blindfolds him to prevent him from Seeing whatever lurks in the mysterious and insidious dimension where they have ended up, and the two travel to escape. However, while Ford cannot see fully due to losing his glasses, what little he can see is starting to take its toll. This mounting paranoia and fear eventually reaches a Boling point and leads to Ford attempting to blind Stan to keep him safe from the horrors (In some versions he succeeds, in others he only manages to do so for one eye) Eventually the two manage to leave this dimension and they begin travelling the multiverse.

Monster falls AU by various

The discovery of a magical stream results in the characters of gravity falls being transformed into various monsters. Dipper is turned it a Cervitaur(Deer centaur) Mabel is turned into a Mermaid or a Unicorn centaur, Stan is turned into a gargoyle, Ford is turned into a Greek sphynx, And the list goes on.

Mystery trio AU by various

Based on a popular theory prior to the release of Not what he seems and a tale of tale of two stans. The story of the Mystery trio au has many different variations, but the general premise is that in sometime in the past before the portal incident, Stan and Ford make and the two of them plus Fiddleford work together to help with Ford's research in Gravity falls, getting into all kinds of trouble.

Beauty and Beast AU by @artsycrapfromsai

A Familial love take on the Disney movie of the same name, in the Beauty and the Beast au the pines twins end up living in the castle of the Stan twins, who were cursed years ago by bill, with Ford being transformed into a Book and Stan into a beast

Reverse portal AU by @busket

During the events of the portal incident, Stan is the one to fall in the portal instead of Ford. Ford then spends the next 30 battling with himself over whether he should risk the universe and try and bring Stan back, Meanwhile Stan travels the multiverse, probably getting banned from numerous dimensions.

Relativity falls AU by Doidles and Gargunk

An age swap au where the stan twins are twelve years old and staying in gravity falls with their Grauntie Mabel, who is secretly working to bring back her brother.

Transcendence AU by Zoey Chu(Now @transcendence-au)

Due to a long series of events, Dipper gains Bill's powers, becoming known as "Alcor". Meanwhile in an event known as the "Transcendence" gravity falls weirdness spreads to the rest of the world.

One and a half stans AU by @disappeareddraws

After the events of a tale of two stans, Stan ends up being reverted back to a kid through some means or the other.

Ghost stan AU by @gryphsdeadbones

Some point after a tale of two stans, Stan dies and becomes a ghost, eventually becoming a category 10 ghost.

Never human AU by @notllorstel

Stanley pines was stillborn, replaced by a changeling at birth. In some versions Dipper is also a Fae and the story deals with the aftermath of these revelations

Pirate AU by @gobblewanker

During the 18th century, Orphan stowaways Mabel and Dipper find themselves on the mystery, A pirate ship manned by its notorious captain Stanley pines, who is fueled by a desire for revenge against the man who killed his brother.

Summer job AU by Various

After the events of Steven universe future, Steven gets a job working at the mystery shack (sometimes post-series sometimes pre-series)

Round one will start on the 10th of August Aest and the brackets will be up on the 9th. See you all soon!

#i tried my best to do background checks on all the aus here and make sure there wasnt anything nasty #but please let me know if i missed anything #gravity falls #gravity falls au #bracket tournament #tournament blog #masterpost #tournament poll #tumblr tournament #tumblr polls

[hiemaldesirae]

Ok so imagine an au where early on into their friendship Vox gets the idea that he’s probably just some entertainment to pass the time for Alastor and that their friendship will end in Vox being heartbroken and Alastor moving on like nothing happened I mean he’d seen it happen with Alastors other business partners so it’s only a matter of time before that it happens to him and the way Alastor doesn’t seem interested when Vox talks about anything certainly doesn’t help so why would Vox put his all in a friendship that was probably doomed from the start so instead of just waiting for the eventual heartbreak Vox slowly becomes more and more distant he would talk less give short answers to any questions and worse of all he wouldn’t talk about any of his ambitions anymore ensuring that they would just quietly drift apart and for the most part it’s all going well but Alastor isn’t dumb he realized pretty quickly what Vox was trying to do you see Vox was right about a lot of things he didn’t really value what they had as much he was planning on just abandoning Vox whenever he got bored but that was in the beginning now it was different Alastor got unexpectedly attached to Vox even seeing him as his inspiration his muse and only his he can see that Vox is trying to leave him and that just won’t do Vox would stay by his side no matter what.

HOLD THE PHONE... nonny youre cooking. youre cooking like hell rn im literally frothing at the mouth for this concept

ill be fr i feel kiiinda like a hypocrite saying i like this sort of storyline because i kinda hate seeing it displayed in popular media like time-regression manhwas and stuff, but for some reason it just feels like such natural progression here i cant find anything wrong with this specific portrayal of them because. Yeah. in a world where vox is a little more cognizant with perhaps cracked rose glasses, he'd probably realize that alastors just toying with him early on. and maybe at one point he might have thought, no but i can fix him... but as time went on, he slowly grew more and more disillusioned and given how dangerous he knows breaking off the alliance directly with alastor would be he probably begins to collect allies elsewhere and branch off from alastor slowly- tries to make himself quieter, more withdrawn and *boring* so that he can make alastor break it off with him first and disregard whatever he does next

but ALASTOR on the other hand... oh he is Not taking that !!! at first if he'd seen vox slowly inching away, he might have paid a blind eye to it and let it happen- that is, if that was back when they'd first met. now, with years of having vox by his side... how could he possibly go back to a world without that delightful, silly little picture box of his? no, no, this couldnt do- if vox was going to try and slip away, that little rascal, then he'd just have to work harder to keep him by his side!

thus starts a bunch of shenanigans where vox, suddenly treated to alastor paying MUCH much more attention to him than ever before and lavishing praise and affection on him for no apparent reason is simultaenously terrified out of his mind (is he lovebombing me just to kill me later?!?!?) and also deliriously happy (because alastors finally paying attention to him, does this mean he wont kill me??) and its a silly romcom if you ignore the fact that alastor looks like hes about to atticwife vox the second one more person looks at his muse

#ran rambles #hazbin hotel #general asks #radiostatic #i went overboard on this but in my defense its because this prompt has been swimming around in my brain all day #again. hate it when the person indifferent to the other starts chasing them bc of a change in personality #but for radiostatics circumstances? it fits them so well ive got no room to be a hater at all #even if i wanted to. which i dont

[torchickentacos]

How do you think May and Drew would’ve gotten together?

OOH OKAY so, first off, same answer I have for another ask somewhere in my queue- which is, I'm not someone who usually latches onto one version or fanon. I like to mix and match and mingle between interpretations rather than setting up my own concrete one, honestly. I have no taylor-canon-contestshipping agenda, I just go with whatever's the most entertaining to me and my friends at any given point in time.

That said, I feel like the Johto Arc THAT WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE could have kickstarted it. Like, in the Johto arc, they may or may not have traveled together as a group (unconfirmed) but at least they'd have ran into each other multiple times (confirmed, May says that her rivals are kicking her ass in Johto during the Wallace cup cameo). And by that point, they're on friendly terms (see: Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing as their last real canon marker of where they are friendship wise). Headcanony territory below, rambling as I do. Long post, which is to be expected when someone enables my contestshipping LMAO.

In Johto (rip the abandoned Johto fic I had like 1.5 years ago and all the other fics that don't make it out of google docs), I like to think it was May, Drew, Harley, and Solidad travelling together for at least certain stretches of the journey. I can see SO MANY SHENANIGANS that could lead to bonding and furthering that friendship into more of a foundation for something more. Strolling the Goldenrod National Park and talking after one of them had a bad loss (canonically, probably May), meanwhile Harley is off trying to be a guest on Goldenrod Radio or something with Solidad in tow. Or, May making an ill-informed decision to poke around Burned Tower and having her leg fall through one of the rotting floorboards, only to find a hand IMMEDIATELY reaching out to catch her. ALSO, BUG CATCHING CONTEST! Wait, lmao, imagine Drew in the Pokeathlon.. it's giving 'May wanted to do it and needed teammates but Drew is basically taking the approach of walking the mile in PE but he's doing the best he can and hating every second of it' tbh. You cannot convince me he's a sports guy. ANYWAYS little things like that are what I tend to gravitate towards- little misadventures that come together to solidify that trust and friendship, via situations and circumstances that were entirely avoidable but not at all regretted. A very 'Who What When Where Wynaut' approach, honestly- toss them into a situation and watch something bloom out of it.

So, Johto happens, shenanigans ensue, the rivalry turns far closer to pure friendship. I'd say the rivalry really leans into that shift from 'I want to be better than this person, I can't lose to them' towards 'I want to do better because of this person, not to spite them'. It becomes a partnership.

But technically I haven't even answered your question yet. I think this carries on for a few years, rivalry and friendship and whatever else sort of intermingling into its own form of relationship. They aren't rivals or friends or lovers, just... May and Drew. Like a combination move- it's no single thing, it's a conglomeration of emotions that come together into its own thing. I think they're two people who fall into something very naturally and without 'making it official' per se, just a gradual tumble into friendship-and-then-some over time until one day they sort of realize they've been functionally a couple for months on end and didn't notice. I like to think it's the kind of thing where they say they're dating and people would be like...a "wait, we thought you guys just had your two-year anniversary" type deal LMAO. I think this tends to be a pretty popular opinion/interpretation, too. Because here's the thing.

Drew would make a move. We see him do it every other episode he's in. May does not pick up on it or really explore her own emotions like he seems to. I think even if she did find herself on that same page, it would go like:

Drew: Well, I've been doing the rose shtick for years and nothing's happened, so I should respect that boundary and make sure to not push it anymore.

May (assuming she figures herself out here): I value this friendship and don't want to risk it, and I'm probably misreading him.

Like, I can SO EASILY see them falling to a standstill on actually making it REAL, so I think it's something they just fall into quietly until some external force makes that push for them. (forced proximity trope, in vino veritas trope in a timeskip, something like that).

#this is SO UNSTRUCTURED. sorry #also sorry this was so long. alternately- you're welcome that this was so long! #contestshipping #taylor's tag #may #drew #taylor's headcanons #asks #thank you anon!

[larathia]

TBHK Theory (as of 102)

That's right. Not an analysis of THIS chapter, per se, but an overarching theory of the manga as a whole that incorporates what we see in this chapter, because WHY NOT.

The TLDR of it all is - what if the whole thing's about love?

I'm still hashing this idea out, and I think it may still need a precipitating event - something that would have happened even without the Time Shenanigans, or could have happened without them. At present, I'm thinking that's the real 'curse of the red house' - that the house was trapped in paradox and that's why it drove everyone who tried to live there to madness and death, but …I'm hazy on that idea, it doesn't feel complete yet. Still, it does feel like that's the closest we have, at present, to a true divergence-point in the overall timeline.

Consider this: Tsuchigomori says that Amane was not supposed to die. He was supposed to live, and become a teacher. For that to be the case, Tsukasa's sacrifice has to have happened - and his return from the red house has to NOT have happened. In the red house, little Tsukasa says he "could have left at any time, he just felt like he probably shouldn't". So that's a 'point of choice' - if Tsukasa LEAVES the house, you get the main story loop. If he DOESN'T LEAVE, you get the timeline that Tsuchigomori had in his book.

And what makes him leave? He meets Nene. Who encounters the red house at a point where supernaturals are blocked from interacting with the main world. So it's possible, at least, that Nene encountering Tsukasa in that manner, at that point in time, was a 'time flex' that happened outside of all the others, the one that got the ball rolling.

Let me get back to this. Because it's behind all the rest of it. The question that makes me think this might all be a straight up tragic love story on both sides is - what if it WAS love that set it all in motion?

Like…this.

Imagine you're Amane. You're kind of an outsider. Kind of a nerd. You've got your twin brother, who despite being your twin is…really odd. And yet, he's popular where you're not. And you never meet anyone that would be your friend.

But there's…this ONE girl. This one, beautiful girl.

And you can never find her, but sometimes, just sometimes, she finds you. And it's never when you're at your best, whatever that might be. It's always when you're alone, afraid, Definitely Not Looking Sharp. And yet she's always concerned for you, always kind. And your brother seems to get it (well, you're twins, and he might be weird but he IS your twin so maybe he OUGHT to get it?) And you tell your brother about this girl. And you can't find her, but you'd like to, and he says he can help. So he says make this clock work. You've got to do it within this set time frame, or it's not going to do anything. But if you CAN make it work, you'll find that girl again.

So you do. You put the nerd brain to work and you make the clock go, and your brother's right - you meet the girl. And she loves you. She even tells you she loves you (or otherwise makes it clear - I mean this is the point in the loop we're AT, but the latest chapter makes it look like she may well do this.)

But then there's the price.

Firstly, you've fucked with a Wonder. Your life is going to turn short and brutal. (The Rumors of the First Wonder say that if you mess with the clock, the school's Time is yours to control - but if the Wonder catches you, they steal all the time you would have had.) But secondly, maybe…you don't mind. Maybe you forgive it. Because the reason that clock trick worked at all is that the girl who comes to you, that girl who loves you, ISN'T EVEN BORN YET. And the only way you're ever going to meet her, be with her, is if you throw everything you have now away forever. So you do it. You throw it all away. Including your life, your family's life, your brother's life. And it huuuuuuurts. Boy does it hurt.

And it's still not enough. Your brother warns you, there's still another step you have to take. You can't just be a 'ghost'. You have to be a 'supernatural'. And there's another price to pay for that. But you've already done so much. One more thing is just…one more thing.

So you become a supernatural…and the price turns out to be forgetting the reason why.

(Or: Why I Think Hanako's Being All Spacy Right Now - Poor Kid Might Just Be Starting To Remember.)

#toilet bound hanako kun #tbhk analysis

[abnormalityjoseph]

SAGAU Idea Part 2: Electric Boogalo

SAGAU, but [Reverse] Isekai type beat

Can you imagine the Genshin Characters being thrown into the reader’s world instead of the other way around?

The chaos

The way I’m thinking of is more like.. some of the characters suddenly appear in the reader’s house world. Like they broke out of the game

Temporarily, ofc. At least initially

Since, while they’re in the reader’s world, that character(s) presence seems to disappear in the reader’s game.

Just— the reader vibing, watching some anime or smth, then Thoma just walks out of the closet confused as hell

“Hello there!” “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE??”

Both parties confused as hell

Are they dreaming? Are they dead? What?? How??

Since this is SAGAU the character(s) that show up prob think they’re dead. Since they’re meeting their creator/overseer/the player and that shouldn’t be possible—

But… Funny slice of life opportunities? Where the reader has to house whatever character shows up until they leave

If the reader does want to help them figure out a way back or not…can vary

And the point in time the characters show up could vary as well!

Like, you can meet a Post-Sumeru Scara, Raiden Shogun before the Inazuma Quest, Signora before she goes all Crimson Witch, etc! At all can vary!

That also means the interactions can differ. Awkward, funny, angst, crack-fic-esque, angst, angst/comfort, you get the idea.

The amount of time a character is in the Reader’s world can also be insanely different. You’ve got Thoma there for less than a day, and then Razor’s there for a whole week. It’s wild

Not to mention if there’s more than one character that showed up—oh boy, that’s gonna be hectic to manage.

When the character(s) return home, it can be weird for the reader

But it’s probably weirder for the Reader if a character keeps coming back with all the memories of what happened before

So it’s not a dream or hallucination. Lovely.

If the Reader gets Isekai’d into Teyvat, they would get a very big welcome party. And a lot of people who would be willing to show them around, as you did help them while they were in your world.

But if the Genshin Cast get’s isekai’d into the Reader’s World?

Oh boy..

They’d have to teach everyone about the world.

Some of them have to work, because you can’t support such a large group without help.

Also have to explain to the cast just how popular Genshin Impact is, so they’re going to be seen as cosplayers if they don’t change up their identities and looks.

Ofc the cast has been aware they’ve been in a game, but this is…a lot to take him

And probably a big ego boost for some of the characters, since people seem to love them so much.

The cast have to realize that, divine or not, they’re all now on an even paying field.

Not to mention they can’t use their visions openly, lest more suspicions are made by the Reader’s Neighbors

Tbh, the entire cast could do a ‘group Cosplay’ channel where they’re all ‘cosplaying’ Genshin Character’s to do vlogs and possibly make some cast.

And use of their visions can be passed off as video effects

If they do that, the cast would probably be very popular in the Genshin community for being the Cosplay Icons.

Bonus points if you also have to explain the fandom shenanigans

“What’s a Scaranation? What the fuck?”

“Is there..a reason? Why all of the anemo boys care being called an idol group..?”

“[Reader], what is a ‘simp?’ And why are there so many of them?”

Extra bonus points if whenever a new character enters the Genshin story they show up at the Reader’s house as well.

You’ll need one big ass house to keep all the Genshin Characters under one roof. Rip to the wallet.

Now, imagine the crossover potential in SAGAU

Reader is from the Bungo Stray Dogs Universe, Port Mafia Executive. Cool right?

Not cool when characters from the Reader’s favorite game (Genshin) start materializing in the real world.

Try explaining that to the rest of the PM executives. Good lord.

Random opinion but I think Scara would love Q to death.

Meanwhile the Armed Detective Agency is investigating the strange case of ability users, that look like characters from a video game, are appearing in the city.

Oh! Or a Twisted Wonderland Crossover type beat! People that the Reader knows, who many assume are also from their world, started appearing and now Night Raven College needs a new dorm to house all of them.

For these crossovers, imagine if the worlds were actually merging. Or well— mixing in some ways

People are getting visions, slimes are causing havoc, teleport waypoints are appearing along with the statues of the seven

And the only way to revert it would be to send the Genshin Cast back.

How would they react? Would there be a permanent gateway established, or would it be a one way thing? Would the Reader choose to stay in Teyvat with them?

Oh but someone would totally say “Hell no” and start trying to prevent any progress of sending them back.

#Joseph’s Think Thonks #genshin sagau #SAGAU #also sagau crossovers are talked abt here but dw abt it #sagau brainrot lmao #no but crossovers would be the same #except it’s SAGAU #which doesn’t change much

[kyouka-supremacy]

Any predictions on what is going to happen in and after this arc?

I don't think I'm very good at predictions (╥﹏╥) I really can't guess what's Dostoyevsky's deal, but if else, that makes following the current manga events all the more exciting! Again, by the looks of it we're going to find out the backstory of a character that was first introduced in 2013, so reading the last chapter was a real “whoa” moment for me. As for the guesses I can take, it really doesn't go much further than:

Whatever is going on in the last chapter between Dostoyevsky and Bram is probably going to lead to Bram's demise as it was shown in chapter 102.

I think there's likely some connection between the scars (?) on Bram's face and the way medieval Dostoyevsky displayed an analogous one in the last chapter, because they're too similar to be put there randomly.

Something I haven't seen being brought up is the possibility of Dostoyevsky being able to time travel rather than be eternal, which even though doesn't feel like the most convincing explanation, I feel like it's too soon to fully exclude either?

Jokes aside, I don't think Akutagawa has any real chance to play a role in this, because it's evidently something that's happened in the past. And though the author looves time traveling shenanigans, that feels a bit of a stretch. Although the last attire we saw Akutagawa in did resemble a medieval aesthetic, so who knows if he doesn't have some other kind of connection to the events…

But I DO feel like the change in appearance must be telling of some new alliance. Likely something from Europe. We know the author is probably going to move the focus to European authors next, they already seemed to suggest so in an interview, and if God allows it it's finally going to be time for Agatha and the Order of the Clock Tower.

I. Idk. Have been growing an underlying suspicion that the 2-hours-later sskk scene is going to be a spinoff movie to come some time in the future. It's going to feature time traveling shenanigans (see the very limited timeframe skip) and Fukuchi coming back in a new weird form and sskk getting their rematch with him I have been saying they narratively deserve. Overall it's something that won't be covered by the manga à la Dead Apple, standalone and that can be skipped past. It does make sense marketing wise because it'll be years before the manga will have released enough content for another anime season, and given that the bsd franchise is comparatively very popular right now, I highly doubt they'll let the hype slowly die– that's also why I'm waiting for the announcement of a new Wan anime season any day now. I've said before it doesn't look like we're getting the cool sskk scene in the manga soon, and that it most likely solved the purpose of a teaser for the next arc for various reasons; the last chapter seemingly skipping past it seems now to confirm that. The very high quality of the animation of that scene in the anime might be a further hint in the movie direction, to be honest. (I'm only now realizing that if that's true, it means that we are not getting that scene in Harukawa's art style, and am suddenly hating everything and not want it to become true). That said, a Stormbringer movie seems likely too, so who knows.

Back to chapter 113. The jokes about Dazai not being included in the ada family picture are hilarious, and I do personally believe Dazai is more distant to the rest of the ada than other members; that said, I doubt it has anything to do with the panel itself, and as of now I don't think it's that deep ahah. In general, I find it very hard to believe that Dazai is the one that's going to be transferred to the pm: that feels to me a quite lazy direction to take storytelling wise. We already saw what it's like to have Dazai in the pm, no need to relapse to that. That's why, regretfully, I doubt Atsushi is going to be taken in either, because we already know what pm Atsushi is like (VERY very regretfully for me. Because I'd love more Atsushi screentime and because my brain quite automatically makes a jump from “Atsushi joins the pm” to “sskk canonly live together”. Also all the “sskk are Double Black 2.0” that has been tormenting sskk shippers since the start of time, might as well make them the New Double Black for real this time.). Tanizaki sounds like a good bet to be honest: because, on top of being the only ada member with a completely unexplored backstory, we already saw him interact with the pm a lot over the course of the whole manga, which can be taken as a slow build-up for the moment he ends up joining their ranks; from the pm perspective, since he showed to be a challenge for them in more than one occasion (he even intruded the boss' chambers once), it would make sense to try and get him on their side. And Tanizaki having already volunteered to join them in chapter 65. Honestly, everything seems to point in that direction right now.

I hope the following chapters also explain why taking the sword off Bram didn't kill him as previously established because as of now the seemingly plot hole is bothering me a lot.

That's all that comes to my mind right now, excited to see what the manga will be up to next!

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd ch 113 #mine #people asks me stuff

[lowrezbonuslevel]

oc ask game!!! :DD im obsessed with your ocs omg 😭😭

🕸️/🥀 for tillda

🧋/🪄 for zed

Omg thanks that's a big big compliment :,)

Here are the answers:

--- (For Tillda) ---

Q: "🕸️ (Spiderweb) - Create a bouquet inspired by your OC! It can be based on their colour palette, flower language and symbolism, whatever they like best, or any combination of the three."

A: I wonder what Tillda's favorite flower is? Forget-me-not? Ha ha ha. ...But seriously, I put 'em in there.

White lilies are the national flower of Italy. Supposedly, chrysanthemums represent mourning there?

Mimosas are said to represent women.

I just added lilacs because of her color scheme.

Common understandings of flower symbolism seem kinda shaky and varied at best, except for the REALLY popular ones (roses for love, etc.), so I didn't take the "deeper meanings" here too seriously.

(rest of the answers under the cut)

Q: "🥀 (Wilted Rose) - Do they have a Soul form? What would it look and act like? How much control over themselves do they have? Is it still possible to save them, or are they too far gone?"

A: Well... I wonder how she'd become "Tillda Soul" in the first place. In the Kirby series, "soul forms" usually come about because of plot-defining magic shenanigans (messing with ancient artifacts, toying with destructive power, etc.), which Tillda tends not to involve herself in. But I could see her flying to close too the sun for the sake of Zed or her brother. For fun, I've drawn up what a "Tillda Soul" might look like.

I don't think Tillda's soul form would be "beyond saving" by any means. She's brash, but she's squishy on the inside. Hugs melt her.

Let's see: Tillda is stubborn, and if anything, trying to fight her would push her further away from the light, so to fix things, we'd better just give her a glass of warm milk and put her to bed. Hope you feel better in the morning, Tillda!

--- (For Zed) ---

Q: "🧋 (Boba Tea) - Come up with a Kirby Café item themed around your OC! It can be a savoury dish, a drink, a dessert, or something else entirely."

I would pick a bento box because it seems like something Zed would take to work :) And fish is one of their favorite things to eat. Made a few sketches but nothing big.

Possible blurb:

"Enjoy a balanced meal with fluffy rice, baked fish, tasty melon, and an assortment of nutritious vegetables. It's a practical lunch for hard-working felines everywhere, and it comes in a sturdy, decorated box that looks just like the one owned by a certain N-Z."

(Yeah while brainstorming/researching this one I found out that, as a species, cats really like melon? And scientists think it's because melons give off a scent similar to something in meat that cats like?? Who discovered this and why??? I guess all those videos of cats utterly destroying watermelon weren't flukes... Zed is 70% honeydew confirmed)

Q: "🪄 (Magic Wand) - Are they capable of wielding magic? Is it a learned skill, or is it innate? What sorts of spells can they cast? Do they possess any magical items or artifacts? [e.g. the Dimensional Mantle]"

Zed is kind of inherently "magic" since they're made of Dark Matter, but they don't have any flashy spell-casting abilities a la Magolor or Taranza (or Tillda herself, to a lesser extent). Maybe Zed would be a decent magic user if they practiced, but they've never really cared to.

Their shape-shifting abilities mean flying is easy enough.

Their visor is hand-made and probably has some magic properties. I won't reveal its name or why Zed wears it (partly because "spoilers!" but mostly because I still need some time to work it out lmao), but it does come in handy often and is capable of more than meets the eye. (Or the zero, I guess. Hardy-har.)

That's everything answered, I hope! Thanks for your submission, and thanks again for enjoying my posts about these two! :)

#kirby #kirby oc #lrblev art #sketch #lrbbox #original character by: lowrezbonuslevel #tarantillda #zed #text post #sorry it took a while!