#who the fuck needs canons when you can produce lightning from your hands??

[randomnameless]

I think the example of the aqueduct in the Red Canyon alongside with how among Seiros's miracles was creating a canal through Enbarr that was vital to it's growth, couple that with how humanity flourished due to Sothis sharing technology with them, I think the game might be hinting that technology regressed under the rule of Nemesis and the Agarthans, the latter keeping their own tech away from those they deemed as base animals.

TBH I'm always a bit miffed by the "technology" talks, because while Agartha sure kept Sothis' more advanced tech and current Fodlan was supposed to be "age of discovery" developed, we still have magic, like, people can warp around...

Tech in general regressed post Sothis vs Agarthans war, but we don't know how advanced/far Enbarr was before the WoH - of course they didn't have elevators, but indeed, I suppose that, in general, after this war, Fodlan had to rebuild itself without Sothis giving tech bonuses anymore to accelerate the growth and development of humans - and here would come the sci-fi principle of "giving tech when people are mature enough" or something, so maybe the Nabateans wanted to let humans develop themselves first, and then would have helped later on?

I still find it fascinating that when Rhea was apparently "roaming around Fodlan clinging to her desire of revenge", instead of directing the Enbarrites to build thousands of mecha-golems, she... made a canal for them.

#fantasyinvader #i wouldn't say Nemesis made tech regress under his rule or Agarthans but #after the first Agarthan War Fodlan was nuked #and the people there had to build everything back from scratch #maybe Nabateans were worried about Agartha 2 popping up so they didn't share their advanced tech #whatever that is #Zanado happens and Rhea doesn't get the memo she shares her blood and everything #that everything being how to build a canal and a bridge #and forts apparently #I happened on a redshit post today about uwu almyra has more tech than fodlan uwu isolationism #sure Lorenz mentions they have cannons on their ships but #uh dude #you can embark orbs that can cast magic afar on your own ships how is that different from a canon? #Doro goes to school for 5 months and she learns to summon meteors #who the fuck needs canons when you can produce lightning from your hands?? #FE16 #3 Nopes

[alexlabhont]

I didn’t mean to fall in love with you

Chapter Two

Book: Queen B - Choices (Universe)

Pairing:  Poppy Min-Sinclair x Trans!Male MC  (Beck Hughes)

Genre: Canon re-write (Because I can)

Rating: Anyone can read it, really... I think.

I´ll be posting this one over here because Tumblr, for some reason, thinks my secondary blog is a bot...

This is me trying to write by and for the Trans community, specially FTM community, meaning, trans guys, but I actually took the liberty to use They/them pronouns for everyone out there who´s interested (Also, the name Beck was the most neutral one I could find, trying to use the cannon Bea Hughes)

Now, about the PAIRING... I will be using choices style, kinda. If you have any comment, PLEASE BE RESPECTFULL and patient with me. This is also my first english fanfic and english is not my mother language, so... i’m sorry fo the grammar errors

CHAPTERS

The beginning

Chapter one 

ONE-SHOTS

Just a dance (Zoey x MC)

—————————————————————————–

One of their favorite things of all New York experience it's having lunch with Zoey. The girl was funny and interesting and she always had the right conversation to spend time with. Also, she had an incredible taste in music, they both even shared some classes together, working in pair so often that the rest of their classmates just knew they weren't available to them.

So when Beck found out Zoey co-produced the last summer hit, they weren't surprised, what was making some teeny tiny noise in their head was…

“Did you really co-produced Lightning and you didn't tell me?!”

… That.

Beck was impressed, of course. They where proud! That song was one of their personal favorites, so the fact of knowing they were collaborating all this time with such a spectacular talent was an honor.

“To be fair, you never asked” She chuckled.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, Zoey: Hey, my name's Beck, had you ever co-produced a summer hit? Because I haven’t”. Beck ironized. The news were all over The T, and it definitely had to do with a little lunch Zoey managed to have with the same Professor Roberta, making her finally be friends with Beck. “By the way, thank you very much. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Babe, you just bought us a $200 lunch. I think you deserved not to have some teachers bad blood”

“Maybe I did it to be on your good side” Beck winked towards her, making Zoey laugh.

“Such a charmer, aren’t you?” Zoey opened their room door, finally reaching their home. “Careful, Beck. You’re going to make me believe I'm your favorite girl.”

“How says you aren’t?”

“Hum… I don’t know” She tapped her chin with a perfect polished fingernail, pretending to be thinking about it. “Maybe some little bird called Ina Kingsley.

Ow! Low blow

“Ah, gotcha!” Zoey laughed.

“Ok, that’s completely unfair! You know it was one-time thing and we ended whatever that was as soon as we found out we were teacher-student” Which was practically the very next day, by the way… kinda.

“Still… I think you should make it up to me for it.” Oh, that little flirty game between them. Beck was curious about it most of the time. Was it just a joke? Something more? Back at Farmville they never had a friendship relationship like that one, but Zoey was never really clear about the matter neither.

Instead, she always came up with some Ina related topic and it was confusing as fuck. I mean, yeah, they kissed Zoey in front of everyone in that football kiss cam. Beck thought that time that it was very clear they wanted to be more than friends with her. But apparently, she didn't feel the same, so… they won’t be pushing her. Beck would never oblige someone to be into… well… them.

“What can I do? Please tell” They said, playing along with her.

“You're a smart one. I'm sure you’ll find a way to do so.” Damn it, Zoey…

“I already have a few ideas… Scandalous lingerie.” Beck joked some more, a mischievous smile on their lips. “I’m thinking satin sheets, handcuffs, maybe a blindfold…”

“I like this image. You, sprawled out on the mattress, completely at my mercy…” Zoey moved closer to them, trailing her finger up their arm, making them shiver.

“Come on, Zo. Back down already! At least show me something, do something.”

“I might just take you up on that someday.” She said before walking away, teasing them.

“Gwaah!”

Beck hated that. Really, that kind of frustration was no good at all.

“Crap, I'm gonna be late for music theory! This is not good. The prof is a total hardass.”

“Told ya! You should’ve choose professor Liam as I did. You brought this on yourself.”

“And now you’re just an asshole” She said smiling, hitting Beck right on their arm.

“Ouch! Rude…”

“I’ll catch up with you tonight, yeah?”

“It’ a date”

~~X~~

“Are you sure you’re ok, Poppy?” Veronica asked. She looked preoccupied, and she was… But Poppy wasn’t the one in her mind. The blogger was worried for Chloe.

She was number one now, dethroning Poppy so suddenly that it was suspicious, especially knowing the blonde dumb head girl. She adores Poppy since they were kids, Chloe would never betray her, never. But of course, Poppy wouldn’t see that; no, the strawberry blonde was furious, feeling backstabbed, feeling like revenge…

Of course, you couldn´t blame her. She lived all her life between smoke and mirrors.

“Of course I am!” She replied, knotting her white transparent beach dress, covering up a sexy pink bikini. Poppy took a deep breath and accommodated her cleavage so it shows part of her chest, just a little, seductively inviting, but demure enough no to seem made on purpose. She was an expert on it, and she was about to prove her theory right about now. “I´ll take care of that traitor later…” She checked the hour on her phone. She had invited Farmsville to come there around this time. Test number one: They needed to be punctual, no lover –real or fake- of hers is an irresponsible with her time. She had better things to do than waiting around for an asshole. “Now come, Hughes must be here by now”

 “No, I think I’m going to stay right here. Light’s perfect” Poppy rolled her eyes at the way Veronica was trying to find the right angle to make her face look impossible good. She always manages to do so, though.

The strawberry blonde crossed the room, walking through the cabin towards the swimming pool room, she could see Beck there, on time, talking with Michael. Poppy smiled to herself.

“Test passed, Farmsville…”

“… It was built by the Alphas and Zetas as a place to study, party, hook up… Now the only people who come here are - -“

“The people I decide should be here.” She made her entrance.

Test number two: Is Beck into girls? Kissing Zoey didn´t count, Poppy herself had kissed a lot of friends without liking them, she had to prove it herself first hand. So she walked to them with confidence, head up high while moving her hips seductively, attentive to Beck´s every reaction, reading their face, their expressions, the little gulp in their throat, the way their eyes opened wild, checking her out, looking at her boobs…

“Disgusting pervert”

… to her eyes, were Beck fixed their own to stay, always to the face. Beck was trying to be polite, respectful, but the red on their cheeks was exactly the same they had back in the class. They liked what they saw, Poppy knew it. Just to verify, she took a look at the rest of Alphas, who looked away the moment they were discovered. Ugh, gross.

“… but… you have manners. I like it… Second test approved. Well done.”

“Welcome, Farmsville. Let’s discuss our little project, shall we?” An inviting smirk was drawn on Poppy’s lips, willing to test the limits of her new discovery, how much more could she play with Beck today?

“Oh, sure. See ya guys at gym” Beck said, bumping fists and shoulders with the Alphas as if they were good friends. One more of them. For an instant, Poppy found herself wishing they won’t turn Beck into a brainless gorilla. Beck was fine just like already was.

A blonde head caught her eye from behind Beck, saving her of questioning what was that though about because the anger crawled its way up her stomach, keeping her from minding of anything else. “Hold on. What is she doing here?”

The fucking nerve!

The audacity!

Every person in the room was watching Chloe, but nobody had the rage Poppy had. Of course she made them block the entry, how dare she?! After a little scene, that bitch finally went away. To think she considered Chloe her very own best friend! Deep inside, she was hurt, she felt used… The society was right: never to trust anyone, because their always pretending, always faking no matter what they said. Waiting the right moment to strike. That was a mistake she was never going to repeat. Never. She was about to leave, ready to start the project, but of course, Beck was about to ruin her mood one more time.

“That was… pretty rough…” What did they just say? The strawberry girl observed Beck. There was no rest of respect in them, conversely, Beck looked at Poppy as if she was Narnia´s White Witch, what happened to the little lamb look? “I get it if ya’ll are in a fight, but isn’t she supposed to be, like, your best friend?”

God, they were an idiot.

“You´re not here to be my moral compass, Farmsville. Shut the fuck up and walk with me. The rest of you, get out. Now”

Once alone, they both walked slowly around the pool, silence… She didn’t enjoy that. At all. But it was necessary and she couldn´t show any weakness sign to anyone there. Especially not Beck. But… She was now sure of one thing: Beck didn’t care about looks, but actions, or… feelings?

“Have you checked the student ranking today?” She asked, her voice softened. Beck shook their head. They looked at her phone, and after a while…

“Oh boy. Chloe is…”

“Don´t say it…” She was angry, venom caught in her throat, but instead, she let that out like a whisper. A hurt one. She wasn’t faking it, but controlling her emotions on her benefit. Wanting more test, Poppy slipped off her heels and went to sit at the edge of the pool. A moment after, she felt Beck doing the same.

“Bingo”

“It’s just as my parents told me… You don´t have any real friends, Poppy. Just allies. Hmp! Looks like they were right all this time.”

“Poppy, I…” They said, unsure.

“Such a shame.” She stopped him, going back to the anger. “I don’t know who she thinks she is, or who she had to sleep with to knock me out of my spot, but if she thinks this is over she is so wrong. It’s utter betrayal is what it is. That girl is dead to me.” Silence. Was that too soon? Did she got it wrong, again?

“Poppy, you´re too hot to worry about this”

Yes… now they can play.

------

Next

#queen b choices #choices #trans #ftm #poppy x mc #malemc #poppy min sinclair #bea hughes #Beck Hughes #choices stories you play #choices poppy #choices queen b mc #mc x poppy

[kimabutch]

JLCR: kimabutch edition

To celebrate somehow reaching 1000 songs on Jam Like Critical Role, the giant fan-created playlist that I’ve been curating since February, I’ve decided to put together a mini-playlist of own, featuring two of my favourite songs for each member of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein! Each song has a YouTube link, but you can find the whole mini-playlist on Spotify here.

By mini-playlist I meant that there are “only” 36 songs, and also that I’ve pulled out my favourite lines and explained why I associate the song with them, so that this whole thing is approximately 5400 words long. I tried to restrain myself, but, well, Jam Like Critical Role is a testament to my lack of self-restraint. If it helps, I’ve tried to incorporate a diversity of artists, eras, and genres, from folk-punk to techno, country, dream-pop, classical, and beyond. I hope you find something you enjoy.

Grog

We’re Going To Be Friends, Jack Johnson (cover of White Stripes), for Grog and Pike’s incredibly wholesome childhood friendship. While many of the lyrics describe friends at school, which is not totally accurate for them, I can just imagine the two weirdos playing among the bugs:

“Walk with me, Suzy Lee/ Through the park and by the tree/ We can rest upon the ground/ And look at all the bugs we’ve found”

Not to mention Pike teaching Grog his ABCs:

“Tonight I’ll dream while in my bed/ While silly thoughts run through my head/ Of the bugs and alphabet”

I just love these two silly monstahs.

Giant, Juno Reactor: to balance out that last song, have some techno that makes me want to yell “Vox Machina, Fuck. Shit. UP!” and split Kevdak in half with a nat 20 from the sky. Appropriately named for our goliath friend, this song always temporarily convinces me that I, too, am a seven foot tall barbarian (which is not recommended while you are trying to do anything that requires brainpower.)

Keyleth

I Lost Myself, Lauren Mann and The Fairly Odd Folk, for Keyleth’s self-doubt about whether she can do her Aramente (or whether she even wants to) and fear that she’s hurting everyone:

“I’ve got voices in my head Making me think that this is where I end Hey, what do you see, if anything What do you see in me”

This specifically reminds me of her Aramente, and how it taught her so much more than she was expecting:

“You and me we made a plan To travel from here to there and back again Somewhere on that weathered road I found the dreams that I’d been looking for”

And “Hey, we’ve got the world to see/ So let’s forget our anxieties and get on our way” makes me think of Keyleth and Percy’s friendship, and how both of their stories are about trying to figure out what to do once you’ve achieved your goals. I want to think that after the story ended, they were still occasionally able to leave behind their responsibilities and travel the world together.

Take Us Back, Alela Diane, for a post-canon Keyleth, reminiscing on the old days and eventually outliving the rest of Vox Machina. I get a strong image of Kiki coming down from Zephra to see her friends:

“Atop the crags and cliffs the air is thin/ So we’ll find a mountain path on down the hill/ Meet me where the snowmelt flows/ It is there, my dear, where we’ll begin again”

And of her listening to Scanlan’s music, centuries later; they’d be the last two alive: “I’ve a friend who lives out by the river’s mouth/ He knows the fiddle’s cry is an old sound”

And then Keyleth, alone, listening to a river’s gurgle or the wind’s howling, and almost thinking she hears her friends: “Muted voices, just beyond/ The silent surface of what has gone.”

Percival

The Devil Spoke Here, Chicken Little, which I think is actually about the aftermath of a protest, but which I feel works eerily well for Percy’s development following the Briarwood arc. The beginning reminds me of his guilt, feelings of brokenness, and anger issues after he’s cast out Orthax — right down to his guilt about guns:

“There’s bullets in the streets/ and broken dishes on the floor/   enough anger in my heart/   to take the blame for it all/   I could take every bullet back/   if I could never feel like that”

It also covers Percy’s realization, after his conversation with the Raven Queen, that he’s free from the judgment of the gods, and acceptance that he’s the one who has bad thoughts for the greater good:

“I have no god for guidance/ still I’m praying all the same/ may everything I do/ be done for everybody’s gain”

And then this, for a reason that I can’t quite explain, feels so much like Percy’s forgiveness of Ripley at Glintshore, and his death at her hand:

“May we always fail/ with the best of intentions/   with our hearts always pure/   and our souls only human”

Wandering Star, Portishead: the weird trip hop vibe to this song somehow feels appropriate to Percy, and in particular to his darkest thoughts. The song addresses the possible punishments for these thoughts: “Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved/ The blackness, the darkness, forever.” It helps that this is an allusion to a Bible passage about atheists.

The second verse makes me think both of Percy’s relationship to the concept of eternity (because of the “needle’s eye” — a parable about the entrance of heaven for the rich) and his raven mask:

“Those who have seen the needle’s eye, now tread Like a husk, from which all that was, now has fled And the masks that the monsters wear To feed, upon their prey”

Additionally, “Doubled up inside/ Take a while to shed my grief” is reminiscent of Percy’s revelation, in the last episode, that he just really fucking misses his family. This whole time, something inside of him has been curled up into a little ball like the teenager he was five years ago, grieving his family.

Pike

Holy, Jamily Woods: a song about self-love and self-assurance, underscored by Christian imagery:

“Though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no love/ Oh my smile my mind reassure me I don’t need no one […] Woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me”

Many of the lyrics can be interpreted either as the singer being self-sufficient because her god is there — or being sufficient even beyond her god: “I’m not lonely, I’m alone/ And I’m holy by my own.”

I think both interpretations work for Pike: that she has found (or is attempting to find) peace when she’s not with her friends, or that although she worships Sarenrae, the Everlight doesn’t necessarily interfere in her day-to-day life and she makes her own happiness. Either way, the song makes me feel at peace in the same way that Pike does.

The Otherside, Ohbijou, for Pike’s feelings about Scanlan during the year gap. Particularly, I’m reminded of Pike’s attempts to talk to Scanlan on the earring: “With things left unsaid so unsatisfied/ And a burning to hear your voice just one more time.”

And in these lyrics:

“And it’s so silly for me to worry/ About situations that don’t exist/ We create these problems and try to solve them/ Why waste each passing moment?”

I hear Pike trying to figure out her feelings for Scanlan, but shooting herself down because he’s gone, why even try?

Scanlan

The Pilgrim - Chapter 33, Willie Nelson (cover of Kris Kristofferson), which really encapsulates, for me, Scanlan’s complex relationship with religion: the fact that a guy who regularly produces lightning from his dick, messes with people’s memories, and actively attempts to cultivate a drug habit finds himself praying to the Everlight at night and eventually becomes Ioun’s chosen:

“He’s a poet, he’s a picker/ He’s a prophet, he’s a pusher/ He’s a pilgrim and a preacher/ And a problem when he’s stoned”

The lines “He’s a walking contradiction/ Partly truth and partly fiction” reminds me of all the identities he’s taken on, both for fun and to shield his emotions from his friends, whereas “Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home” makes me think of Scanlan’s long road back to Vox Machina after leaving them.

Handle With Care, Traveling Wilburys: almost every single song on this album works for Scanlan, so choosing just one was a real challenge. But this song is so good for all the shit that Scanlan’s been through (and all the shit that he’s been), and his relationship with Pike through all of that:

“Been beat up and battered around/ Been sent up, and I’ve been shot down/ You’re the best thing that I’ve ever found/ Handle me with care […]”

“Everybody’s got somebody to lean on” reminds me of Scanlan’s feeling, in episode 85, that he’s the odd one out in Vox Machina.

The last verse encapsulates Scanlan acknowledging his own fuck ups, working to make them right, and eventually, having a healthy relationship with Pike:

“I’ve been uptight and made a mess/ But I’ll clean it up myself, I guess/ Oh, the sweet smell of success”

Taryon

Father and Son, Cat Stevens, for Tary’s relationship with his father and his decision to leave home; the song is a duet of sorts. I think the father’s part of the song is a little generous for Howaardt Darrington, but retains the message of (somewhat condescendingly) trying to keep his son at home and have him reconsider his far-reaching plans: “I know that it’s not easy to be calm/ When you’ve found something going on.”

The son’s part, though, captures Tary’s frustration with his father’s strictness and inability to actually understand his passions:

“How can I try to explain?/ ‘Cause when I do he turns away again/ It’s always been the same, same old story/ From the moment I could talk/ I was ordered to listen/ Now there’s a way and I know/ That I have to go away”

And the last verse is some real closeted gay feelings that always make me tear up:

“All the times that I cried/ Keeping all the things I knew inside/ It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it”

What’s It Gonna Be, Shura, not so much for the song’s lyrics, but for its music video, which is all about falling for a different gender than you expected, and which is incredibly sweet and beautiful.

That being said, you could definitely take the lyrics to be about his crush on Percy and his obliviousness about who in Vox Machina is sleeping with whom:

“Do I tell you I love you or not?/ 'Cause I can’t really guess what you want/ If you let me down, let me down slow”

Vax’ildan

Glorious, Muse, for Vax’s early relationship with faith. He can’t help but feel drawn towards Sarenrae’s light, even as he has doubts and perhaps even anger towards the gods:

Faith: It drives me away/ But it turns me on/ Like a stranger’s love It rockets through the universe It fuels the lies and feeds the curse And we, too, could be glorious”

He wants that glory that he sees in Pike, but he doesn’t know how to approach it or reconcile it with his life experiences. And then he finds his whole world shattered as he’s chosen by the Raven Queen, and he once again has to find faith, though in a way that he never expected:

“I need to believe But I still want more With the cuts and the bruises”

Fields of Gold, Sting: a song from Vax to Keyleth. I can imagine them so perfectly in this scene, perhaps during their year of downtime, with the winds of Zephra blowing through the fields and their hope beyond hope that they’ll be able to stay together:

“Will you stay with me? Will you be my love?/ Upon the fields of barley/ We’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky/ As we lie in fields of gold”

“See the west wind move like a lover so/ Upon the fields of barley/ Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth/ Among the fields of gold”

Years later, Vax knows that Keyleth will see those fields again and think of him: “You’ll remember me when the west wind moves/ Upon the fields of barley.”

Vex’ahlia

Half Jack, The Dresden Dolls: a truly haunting song about the pain and unavoidability of being her father’s daughter — she’s always half Jill (her mother) and half Jack (her father.) The whole song is incredibly painful for Vex, and the lines:

“It might destroy me But I’d sacrifice my body If it meant I’d get the Jack part out”

always makes me think of “If I could pull the blood of you from my veins and give it back, I would.” Also,

“But if you listen/ You’ll learn to hear the difference/ Between the halfs and the half nots”

reminds me of her asking Percy if she looks like she comes from money — or a younger Vex, in Syngorn, gradually realizing why everyone looked down on her and Vax. Lastly, isn’t “I see my mother in my face/ But only when I travel” absolutely heartbreaking for her?

Fall Down or Fly, Lindi Ortega, only partly because Lindi Ortega strongly resembles my headcanon for Vex. The other part is because of my abiding love for how Vex learned to fly, and how that worked with her character arc: from the first time, in the Briarwoods arc, that she discovered her love for flying, to her flaunting convention and stealing the broom, to Percy modifying it for her, to her friends cheering her on with chicken target practice, and finally to her soaring through the skies with confidence. And the song captures that so well for me, as well as her decision to keep going even when her father, Saundor’s words, and her own self-doubt bring her down:

“This is your life/ You can fall down or fly/ You can burn out a shot if you want/ This is your life/ You can live it or die/ You can quit now or try if you want/ But don’t you give up, don’t you give up”

This also reminds me of how much all of Vox Machina adores and supports Vex (and I will join them in crying about how awesome she is):

“You said what is there to lose?/ Do it if you choose/ I got faith in you/ Everything you do/ I know you are gonna make it to the top”

(I also maintain that a modern Vex would be really into country music, particularly the genre of country song in which women tell people to fuck off.)

Vox Machina

Call Them Brothers, Regina Spektor feat. Only Son, for Scanlan’s departure from Vox Machina and the whole team’s attempts to deal with it. I first heard this song in an absolutely heartbreaking TAZ animatic, and my pain increased exponentially when I realized how much it also worked for Critical Role. It’s perfect, in my opinion, for the sense that their family, which has seen them through so much, is irreparably broken — “That’s it, it’s split, it won’t recover/ Just frame the halves and call them brothers.”

But then you also get “Over and over, they call us their friends/ Can’t we find something else to pretend?” for Scanlan’s insistence that Vox Machina doesn’t really care about him, and “Find your fathers and your mothers/ If you remember who they are” for “what’s my mother’s name?”

Maybe this should go on Scanlan’s playlist, but I think “The hunt is on, everyone’s chasing a shot” also works for the way that the rest of Vox Machina independently searched for Scanlan during their year of downtime… and the feelings of defeat in the song just feel appropriate to the whole group.

(I actually have a playlist full of songs for episode 85, because I enjoy making myself sad; it took a lot of effort not to put them all here.)

Freaks, The Hawk in Paris: I can never decide whether this is a Mighty Nein or Vox Machina song, but I’m putting it here mostly because “If you come along with us, the doors are never ending” is absolutely hilarious in for Vox Machina’s single greatest enemy.

That, and there are a lot of lines that work for individual members of the group: “We have a flair for the shade and the inbetween” (Vax); “We like to run with the wolves from the darker scene” (Keyleth); “When we turn the safety off, the shots are automatic” (Percy); “All our friends tell their friends we’re so dramatic” (Scanlan); and “We’ll make you swoon, make it hurt just a little” (Vex).

Additionally, “We have a plan, we’ve got the means for your liberation/ You’ll only have to blur the lines on a few occasions” makes me think of the Briarwood arc, and I makes me think of Percy dramatically revealing his identity to the priest — and cut to Grog pulling out a guy’s tongue.

Anyways, if I learn to make AMVs by the time that the animated series is released, this will be the first that I’ll make.

Beauregard

Saint Simon, The Shins, for Beau’s escape from the Cobalt Soul. The song expresses frustration at weighty intellectualism and how much it doesn’t teach you — which i think is something Beau felt strongly with her monk teachers:

“After all these implements and texts designed by intellects/ So vexed to find, evidently there’s still so much that hides […] Since I don’t have time nor mind to figure out the nursery rhymes/ That helped us out in making sense of our lives”

So she tries not to care about anything because it’s safer that way (“The cruel, uneventful state of apathy releases me”), and she runs away:

“I’ll try hard not to give in, batten down to fare the wind/ Rid my head of this pretence, allow myself no mock defence/ Step into the night”

I think the last part of the song could also work for her meeting the Mighty Nein and starts understanding friendship and love: “Mercy’s eyes are blue when she places them in front of you/ Nothing really holds a candle to the solemn warmth you feel inside you.”

Jonas and Ezekiel, Indigo Girls, because what kind of lesbian would I be if I didn’t put at least one gay-written song on Beau’s playlist? This one is about road trips, wandering, and looking for a purpose:

“I left my anger in a river running Highway 5 New Hampshire, Vermont, bordered by College farms, hubcaps, and falling rocks Voices in the woods and the mountaintops”

But also contains one verse that I think fits her strict family, her new family in the Mighty Nein, and the “devils” — or tieflings — of which her family would certainly not approve:

“Now when I was young my people taught me well/ Give back what you take or you’ll go to hell/ It’s not the devil’s land, you know it’s not that kind/ Every devil I meet becomes a friend of mine/ Every devil I meet is an angel in disguise”

And something about this reminds me of her journey into Xhorhas and attempts to uncover conspiracies and work out the truth: “In the war over land where the world began/ Prophecies say it’s where the world will end.”

Caduceus

Born at the Right Time, Paul Simon, for Caduceus’s belief in destiny and his place therein. The chorus describes his occasional naïveté, and the happiness of his life in the Blooming Grove, with his family:

“Never been lonely Never been lied to Never had to scuffle in fear Nothing denied to”

And then gets into his conviction that his goddess and the world itself put him where he is:

“Born at the instant/ The church bells chime/ And the whole world whispering/ Born at the right time”

The very chill vibe of the song is also very Clay, to me.

Happy All the Time, Danny Schmidt: the singer himself has said that he doesn’t know whether or not this song is ironic and/or melancholic, so I’m going to go with a sincere and cheerful interpretation for Caduceus, with maybe a hint of nostalgia for more peaceful days among his family. It’s got some incredibly lush and occasionally strange nature imagery that I think is perfect for him:

“I took the time to breathe cause I was happy all the time/ Among the rootbuds and the weeds cause I was happy all the time/ But the peat moss and the leaves took turns with both my feet/ Until my toes took root and I was happy, I was happy all the time”

I think Caduceus is still happy, but he was definitely at peace as a hermit.

Caleb

I Miss That Feeling, Tennis: a song about panic attacks and how the physical effects, when described, almost seem like falling in love. It works not only for Caleb’s panic attacks, but also, relatedly, his relationship with fire, which scares him, even as he likes the way it feels — “Something like pleasure, you’d never believe it.”

The fiery way that the singer describes panic attacks is also very Caleb:

“I miss that feeling/ Flicker hot and hovering/ Like my own discovering/ Eagerly, tenderly/ I miss that feeling/ Flicker spread into an itch/ Into a burn, into a twitch/ Slow and even”

It brings me back to the first time we saw it, in the gnoll mines. Also, “Every little thing starts trembling/ Recorded by the needle of an EKG” feels very reminiscent of his hospitalization, though from a modern perspective.

Putting the Dog to Sleep, The Antlers, for Caleb’s very tentative trust in the Mighty Nein, and in particular his friendship with Beau. I think this song really encapsulates Caleb’s pain and skittishness, especially near the beginning of their campaign, as well as his desperation (unknown even to himself) to love again:

“Well, prove to me I’m not gonna die alone/ Unstitch that shit I’ve sewn/ To close up the hole that tore through my skin/ Well my trust in you is a dog with a broken leg/ Tendons too torn to beg for you to let me back in”

And this feels like something that Beau would say to Caleb — upfront and caring all at the same time, reminding him that his actions affect everyone else and asking him not to run:

“You said, ‘I can’t prove to you you’re not gonna die alone/ But trust me to take you home/ To clean up that blood all over your paws/ You can’t keep running out […] Kicking yourself in the head/ Because you’re kicking me too.’”

By the end of the song, Caleb is starting to believe her, and even asking her to trust him: “Put your trust in me/ I’m not gonna die alone… I don’t think so…”

Fjord

Release the Kraken, The Daysleepers: I added this to Fjord’s playlist back when everyone was speculating that his patron was something kraken-like, and even now that this is clearly not the case, I think it still works for Uk’otoa (Uk’otoa) and his attempts at freedom: “It pulled the ships down/ It’s rising from the deep below.”

But also for Fjord’s relationship with Avantika — for his attempts to get close to her in order to save himself and his friends:  

“Turn the lights down Careful as a serpent’s tongue Move without a sound Gentle as the cold wind moans”

I think “When you sold love/ Your heart becomes a monster” is some of what Fjord felt after those encounters: like he gave part of himself away.

21st Century Child, Daggy Man, for Fjord’s self-hatred and the masks he puts on. Many of the lyrics could fit several characters (particularly Beau, Caleb, and Scanlan), but

“I hate the sound of myself/ When I’m being honest/ Sounds like somebody else/ And I don’t wanna listen/ To the whinings of a 21st century child”

just perfectly captures his feelings about his voice and his past self — weak and whiny, and not who he wants to be. And then we get these lines, which feel like a good summary of his issues with identity and deception:

“And I’ve struggled with how/ Others perceive me/ And I can’t tell if I’m better/ Or just better at deceiving And I’ll keep going until I’m called out”

Jester

The Sweetest Sounds, Ella Fitzgerald (cover of Richard Rodgers), for pre-stream Jester barely waiting for her exciting life to begin. I first heard this song in Rodger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and while there is something fairy-tale-like about Jester, I think this upbeat, jazzy cover fits her well:

“The most entrancing sight of all Is yet for me to see And the dearest love in all the world Is waiting somewhere for me”

I can just imagine a 10-year-old Jester listening to the band at the Lavish Chateau play this song, dressing up in Marion’s clothes, and pretending she’s in a storybook romance.

One Hand in my Pocket, Alanis Morissette, which really captures her beautiful complexity:

“I’m free, but I’m focused/ I’m green, but I’m wise/ I’m hard, but I’m friendly/ I’m sad, but I’m laughing”

because Jester is so many things all at once, and none of them negate each other. It’s so hopeful (“What it all comes down to/ Is that everything’s gonna be quite alright”) and comforting (“What it all boils down to/ Is that no one’s really got it figured out just yet”) in a way that really reminds me of my favourite blue cleric.

The whole song has such a fun, free, summer vibe that always makes me smile — just like Jester.

Mollymauk

Carnival Overture, Antonín Dvořák (Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic Orchestra): one of my favourite pieces of classical music ever — when I hear it, an entire music video about a carnival plays in my head. The exuberant theme that bowls you over from the start reminds me of Molly’s effervescent, ostentatious personality.

The slower and quieter part in the middle with the violin and woodwind solos gives me a picture of Molly and Yasha sitting alone in the evenings just outside the carnival encampment, cuddled together — Yasha talking about her wife, Molly telling jokes, and the both of them making up names for constellations and flowers. Then the quick-paced minor section makes me think of the bloodhunter tiefling in combat, deadly with his swords and vicious mockery — before the return to the joyful, triumphant original theme.

Wonderful Everyday, Chance the Rapper & The Social Experiment**: this is sort of a cover of the Arthur theme song, but in the absolute best way possible. The meandering, loose, and extraordinarily happy vocals always remind me of Molly’s way of living.

Although some of the lyrics are more optimistic than Molly (I think he’d laugh at “Everybody that you meet/ Has an original point of view” and say that their points of view are usually bullshit), the message of appreciating every single day is just wonderful for him.

And the last bit hits me like a ton of bricks:

“And when I go down/ I'ma go down swinging/ My eyes still smiling/ And my heart still singing”

“Eyes never shut,” indeed.

**not on Spotify, sorry!

Nott

The Sore Feet Song, Ally Kerr: at first it appears to be a simple song about traveling long distances to find your love, which certainly describes Nott’s search for Yeza: “I walked ten thousand miles, ten thousand miles to see you/ And every gasp of breath I grabbed at just to find you.”

But the second verse is where it really gets into Nott’s thieving, rat-eating, badass ways:

“I stole ten thousand pounds, ten thousand pounds to see you I robbed convenient stores cause I thought they’d make it easier I lived off rats and toads, and I starved for you I fought off giants bears and I killed them too”

I love this strange little goblin.

Fox in the Snow, Belle & Sebastian: this song has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but the lyrics remind me of Nott’s intense vulnerability after she was transformed into a goblin — and in particular her self-image as something animalistic:

“Fox in the snow, where do you go/ To find something you could eat?/ Because the word out on the street is you are starving/ Don’t let yourself grow hungry now/ Don’t let yourself grow cold”

The second verse, which switches to describing a human girl, reminds me of pre-transformation Veth, more acceptable in body but no less socially ostracized than Nott:

“Girl in the snow, where do you go/ To find someone that will do?/ To tell someone all the truth before it kills you/ Listen to your crazy laugh/ Before you hang a right/ And disappear from sight/ What do they know anyway?”

I can just see that exact scene play out with a young Veth, right down to the “crazy laugh.” I’m glad she found Yeza, but she must still have been pretty lonely without any other friends.

Yasha

Into the Barrens, Grizfolk, for Yasha’s years of blank wandering after Zuala’s death. This song fits Yasha so well that for months, I somehow tricked myself into believing that Ashley had put it on her playlist. But I feel like this encapsulates her hopeless feelings, away from all society, not living for anything or anyone:

“Cast me away, my shadow’s cold/ Into the barrens where I will grow old/ Well, I’m not looking for answers/ And I’m not looking for gold”

And I can see this verse for the beginning of her relationship with the Stormlord, following voices she can’t understand as she wanders, barely alive:

“The voices in my head/ They echo in the wind and I begin to sway/ I follow what they say/ I can’t see their eyes, but I hear howling through the haze”

Dreams, Fleetwood Mac: technically a break-up song, but I can’t help but think of Yasha’s ever-present guilt and her memories of Zuala when I hear:

“Listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness/ Like a heartbeat drives you mad/ In the stillness of remembering what you had/ And what you lost”

The storm imagery also works for Yasha — “When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know” makes me think of her fight with the Stormlord on the boat, which allowed her to open up to her friends. And it touches on Yasha’s opaque dreams (“Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions/ I keep my visions to myself”).

(Ally and Stevie also have a lesbian mash-up of Dreams and Rhiannon, two of the gayest Fleetwood Mac songs, that I associate strongly with Beauyasha.)

Mighty Nein

Old Black Train, The Blasting Company (from Over the Garden Wall): trains don’t exist in Exandria (yet! — Percy or Taryon should get on that) but this is more of a metaphor for life. It reminds me of the Mighty Nein setting out from Alfield, not knowing the twists and turns they were going to face, the places they’d go, nor the family they’d become:

“This journey is a long one/ It will take you all around/ Life rushing by your window/ Before it lays you down”

Then there’s this verse:

“Oh come on now young stranger/ Weren’t you someone’s son? How’d you find this depot 'Cause it ain’t where you belong”

which feels very appropriate for many members of the Mighty Nein, separated as they are from their families and wandering in lands that aren’t welcoming to them. There’s also a verse that’s reminiscent of the graveyard they passed on the way to Zadash, which more and more feels like a portent of things to come:

“You will pass a graveyard/ Stones worn by the years/ The train’ll stop a minute but don’t let it leave you here”

Sailing, Leisure Cruise: another song about transportation, although this one is a little less metaphorical. As you can probably guess, I associate it with their adventures on the Mystake and the Ball Eater, which begun by total accident but which, in my opinion, was a turning point for the group, and ultimately helped them grow closer together:

“And to our surprise we’re sailing The high seas in the middle of the ocean […] We’re sailing the wildest mystery And to our surprise we’re happy and free”

Okay, so maybe “happy and free” is a bit of an exaggeration for that arc (particularly for poor Nott) but I think there were a lot of moments in which the Mighty Nein learned unexpected lessons about themselves.

And I think this is a good summary of the Mighty Nein’s modus operandi: seize every passing opportunity, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring:

“Maybe it’s today Maybe it’s tomorrow But we have to make a play Or the chance will fade away”

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for listening and reading. Love you all <3

#critical role #Cr music #my stuff

[sophiainspace]

I've been thinking up an AU where all the mains on the Flash are disabled and use aids and/or adaptive tech. Y'know, out of spite.

This concept is wonderful! Here’s my take on it - with headcanons for each character’s impairments and the assistive tech they use. (I got @stungunmilly2′s approval to do this, since it was their idea!) I’ve gone with canon-divergent or canon-relevant impairments for a lot of them - you could go WAY more diverse with disability types than this… but you know canon-friendly me.

Barry Allen - still mobility-impaired after his injury from Zoom. Even a speedster’s spine doesn’t fully heal from something like that (as Caitlin hinted in canon that it might not). For a year, he used a wheelchair. Now the injury causes him chronic pain, and he has to walk with a cane whenever he’s not tapping into the speed force. Even when he is, every second of running still hurts. He uses a wheelchair when he’s overdone it with the running - which is a lot. Oh, and he also has ADHD.

Iris West-Allen - is now visually impaired, due to a meta attack. She regularly reminds ableist bastards that “I’m not Daredevil” and that her other senses have not magically got stronger to ‘compensate’. She uses a white cane that Cisco’s rigged to give her complex tactile signals in advance of oncoming barriers or dangers. It took a long time for her to learn to use it, though, and there were many frustrations. She took them in stride because she’s Iris fucking West-Allen, but she still struggles, even if she’s not always good at talking about it. She co-runs Team Flash with Cisco now, since he’s often grounded by migraines. They’re both in Barry’s ear, with Cisco watching and Iris leading on strategy.

Cisco Ramon - has the migraines they’ve alluded to in canon (gets them at least weekly), plus other neurological damage caused by the use of his powers. He’s designed a machine he can sit in, for a couple of hours a week, that regenerates some of his neurology and takes the edge off (if he remembers to use it regularly) and allows him to continue to use his powers sometimes. He can’t be cured, though. Is a proud spoonie. Has a ‘chronic pain very gentle high five’ he does with Barry. He still goes out in the field as Vibe from time to time, but only when they really need him. He’s mostly busy coordinating with Iris now.

Hartley Rathaway - is Deaf (and an American Sign Language user). He’s a consultant to the team. Communicating with him is not easy, because most of them don’t know ASL. They’re all learning, but that takes a long time. Barry knows decent ASL because he has a Deaf cousin, but even he struggles with simultaneous translation, which is very challenging. Hartley doesn’t use hearing aids, these days - even the ones he’s designed himself bring many problems with them. Plus he’s an advocate of Deaf culture and just prefers not to use them. He uses a lightning-fast speech-to-text device that he designed himself, which produces spoken English. But he prefers not to, because “I don’t have to spend my life adapting to your language and culture, assholes - it’s way easier for you to adapt to mine. And you should, because Deaf culture is awesome. Also, multiple languages are the future. Learn some.” (Hartley is here because he’s my favourite sort-of disabled DC character, so there.)

Caitlin Snow - everyone in Team Flash would take seriously that she experiences DID and other mental health problems. (”Just because some of it was triggered by an evil science experiment, doesn’t make it any less neurodivergence,” is Caitlin’s statement on the matter.) They all also recognise that Killer Frost nonetheless has the right to be treated with respect, as an alter within the Caitlin-Frost system. Caitlin’s mix of mental health problems often come with a lot of fatigue, and she gets peopled-out. Barry and Cisco arranged a quiet room for her in the basement of STAR Labs - she goes there to sleep or meditate. Sometimes Hartley and Barry use it too. Every so often, someone will wander down to find all three of them asleep on the sofa. 

Harry Wells (e-2) - has PTSD. It was at his insistence that they established the STAR Labs trauma support group. As Caitlin puts it, “Given everything we’ve been through, is there a superhero among us who doesn’t have PTSD?” - and she’s not kidding. (Oliver Queen was the first non-Team Flash person to attend the group.)

Nora West-Allen - has ADHD and an autistic spectrum condition. She has a lot of meltdowns. A week after she joins the team, Cisco hands her a copy of the key to the STAR Labs quiet room and says, “You know, it might be time to set up a second one.” She grabs the key and says, “Oh, awesome! I’ve been hiding out in the time vault!” Cisco shudders loudly as he walks away…

Ralph Dibny - has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (connective tissue disorder that can make people… well, stretchy, but also brings a lot of other impairments.)* Dark matter may have made him even stretchier, but it didn’t take away his chronic pain or joint dislocations. Cisco designed him personalised splints (which hold his joints in place) and highly-engineered fibreglass crutches, on request. (Cisco may grumble about having to design assistive tech for everyone at STAR Labs, but he loves it really.) 

The people from the other teams: 

Felicity Smoak, who has used a wheelchair ever since her spinal cord injury, loves how accessible STAR Labs is. She visits often, wheeling in under the computer desk and logging on as Overwatch, especially when Cisco’s out in the field and Iris needs strategy team backup. “I’m the woman in the chair!” she says, and everyone pretends she’s never made that joke before. 

Oliver Queen hovers around STAR Labs like a shadow when he needs a support group meeting, and he never has to ask for it - most of Team Flash is suddenly available and interested, whenever he looks like he needs one. 

Curtis Holt often joins him, cheerfully reminding Barry and Nora to come along, and that neurodivergent people like them (and him) need to watch their mental health, especially under a lot of stress. 

Sara Lance (PTSD, bipolar) joins when she can. Each time she brings a different skeptical-looking Waverider crew member in tow. 

Speaking of the Waverider, it’s well-known as a haven for neurodivergent and disabled superheroes, who all love STAR Labs for its disability-positive atmosphere. Mick Rory is currently lobbying Sara Lance for a quiet room on the Waverider. He says it’s for Ray Palmer… Nate Heywood pops in to discuss haemophilia treatment options sometimes, since Gideon likes to try and persuade him to let her ‘cure’ him, and he thinks that sounds awful.

John Diggle is at the Labs a lot, too. He never recovered from his nerve damage, and Cisco and Caitlin put their heads together to develop an advanced treatment for chronic pain, delivered via an implant that needs regular maintaining by Caitlin. Barry and Cisco are always really encouraging and supportive about how you can still be a superhero in the field with chronic pain.

On occasion, Kara Danvers has even travelled from another universe just to hang out at the disability-positive STAR Labs. She hasn’t told many people on her earth that she has a sensory processing disorder (she can hear everything) and experiences long-term depression. She, Barry and Iris have had a lot of chats about workplace discrimination. Kara says she has two workplaces where she has to pretend to be a superhero – “even the one where I’m not officially one” – and never show any weakness or non-normalcy. “It could be catastrophic for people to lose faith in Supergirl, but it wouldn’t be much better for Kara Danvers if her bosses did.” Iris totally gets that, as a disabled woman - and she tells Kara about her different, specific experiences as a disabled woman of colour. And then the team all take Kara out for drinks in the more accessible parts of Central City. They all know the neurodivergent-friendly bars, and they don’t blink when she puts on very high-tech noise-cancelling headphones. (”Yeah,” Cisco sighs, “those are my designs, too.” And then Ray Palmer turns around to ask him what ideas he’s got for assistive tech for visual sensory overload and visual stress…)

*Credit for the Dibny headcanon goes to @bold-sartorial-statement. I wouldn’t love sharing an impairment with him, but it does make sense! She also reminded me that Cisco has been shown with migraines in canon. Thanks :)

Tagging people who might like… @pinkletterday @yesokayiknow @hiverforesteevee @arodrwho @wintertruffles @jewishgarygreen @zariadriannatomaz @lacommunarde @terrayoung …I know I will have forgotten someone - sorry! 

#stungunmilly2 #MAKE STAR LABS DISABILITY POSITIVE #out of spite #disability in media #the flash AU #legends of tomorrow AU #disability AU #arrow AU #notfic #my headcanons #stungunmilly's idea #and a few borrowed headcanons #incl harry's ptsd which I've seen from a few writers #long post

[calliecat93]

RvB Season 16 Commentary Masterpost

This post details the commentary from the RvB16 DvD. I tried to add as much and be as detailed as possible and I apologize if I misconstrued anything. This was 12 pages long BTW... I hope you all enjoy!

Commentators

All Episodes: Joe Nicolosi (writer/director)

Episodes 1-5: Kyle Taylor (machinima director), Josh Ornelas (senior machinimator)

Episodes 6-10: Jason Weight (co-writer), Greg Slagel (show producer), Billy Burson (Visual Supervisor/Lighter)

Episodes 11-15: Phillip Sparn (Audio Mixer/Sound Designer), Ian Sheppard (Lead Animator), David Levy (Audio/Music Composer)

Episode 1

The intro scene with the knights involved zero machinima (Kyle very much appreciated that), IDK if this was a joke, but Joe said that he wrote the intro three years ago and sent it to Miles, who was confused by it. He thought this would be a good place to finally use it.

The Grif knight is now Sir Gryffandor and the Simmons one Simmtarian XD

Joe use to be in a time traveled-theme band and many of the unused ideas it's where he got several of his ideas for this season.

Joe felt that it took far too long to get into the action in S15, so he tried to have it go faster this time around. Hence why he sped through the setup in this and Season 2.

Kyle and Joe talk about how there was a joke in S11 where Caboose responded to his echo in a cave. Joe wanted the echo to have been time travel Caboose, but when they decided on the slideshow format he couldn't. Miles confirmed at RTX that it is now canon so yay!

Joe had gone back through the show and made notes about where the characters could mess with their past. He also has a fan theory that Two Coffee Mug Guy from the Freelancer Saga is the cause of everything bad that happened since if he didn't show up, North wouldn't have gotten caught, the mission would have gone fine, etc. I am on board with this theory!

In one shot, they forgot to put Huggins and Muggins in as the headlights and it was too late to fix when the time came to air it. Oops. Kyle jokes that they have to blink off every one in a while due to their anatomy XD

The scene where Donut has... broke I guess was apparently a pain in the ass to do. For example when there's like eight of him in a row, they had to time the shot exactly right to machinimate it properly. It involved a LOT of coordination. They all agree that the bit where Donut glitches/contorts is the stuff of nightmares.

Speaking of that bit, you'd think that would be easy since it's essentially glitched out animation. But doing it apparently broke all the rendering machines and they had long talks with the tech department to get it rendered properly. It got to the point where it actually went up to Gray Haddock, the Head of Animation. Daaamn.

Joe's original vision for Episode 1 was to have a long conversation about food that triggered a series of horrific events as it was going on. Kind of like a one act play. Only the Caboose bit with Donut made it through however.

Grif's love of Sammie Raphaello's is based on Joe's feelings about a similarly named place in New York, including eating it for 100 days straight. It had been worth it.

Starseat, the Cosmic Gods base. Is one of the only maps that they hadn't used form Halo 5. They used the majority in S15 so they needed to use some of the alien locations for this one. Since S16 has the Cosmic Powers, it worked out for them.

Episode 2

The forest area was a custom map made by Josh. They used several custom maps this season.

Josh calls layering trees the 'Bob Ross effect' XD

There's this lightning effect in this map that had to me timed perfectly to not mess up the shot. Lets just say that they had to redo several shots because they got the timing wrong or it was too distracting.

When there is a joke that has an awkward pause or silence in it, Joe likes to add a bird effect to it. In the bit with Caboose's 'Your Mama' joke, he used an owl effect

It is canon that Caboose has shy tinkle and can't do his business with others around XD

Because the Halo 5 models have this bad tendency with their coloring (ie, Simmons sometimes looks too much like Sarge), they hired a colorist for the first time in the series history. So every Simmons scene (IDK if they mean just this one or every single one) had to be hand colored to keep him as maroon as possible.

Kyle asked about what was going in on Chorus. Joe says that this is NOT canon, but in his mind Locus got arrested when he brought Wash back to Chorus. They want to try Locus as a war criminal where he COUDL escape, but since he swore off killing people he cna't without doing so. Apparently his ship has an AI ready to split the planet with him Locus gone so Kimball, whose in the middle of an election, has the choice to either let Locus go and save the planet, or not and not get re-elected. This is strictly headcanon, but Joe considered using it as a subplot but since it had nothing to do with the time travel, he opted against it.

Donut is now God Jesus Donut. Something that Joe was very excited to do.

Kyle had no idea how they were going to have Donut walk across water. Apparently Halo 5 has these invisible blocks that they were able to use to pull off the effect.

The music used in this scene is a genre called 'monk-step', which is like Gregorian chanting mixed with ETM (from what I can gather, it's some kind of electro music). Apparently this is a real genre.

The city and destroyed Sammie Raphaello's was made by Austin Clark and Kyle Moran.

Conner, one fo the editors, edited the scene pretty tightly as with most RvB scenes. Joe then made him go back and add a punch of long. pauses

The cop was indeed voiced by Jeremy Dooley. Joe's direction to him was that he thought he was the main character of the story and to just go off with it. He did so for several minutes and Joe had to cut it down, but you can see the full thing in the blooper reel.

Joe didn't want to lock onto a specific place aside form 'somewhere in America' for the city location. But since Grif said he went to Harvard in a PSA, he guesses that it's somewhere in Massachusetts.

Joe has this pet peeve about a truck in the shot as the exact same model was also there when we the place again in Episode 4. Kyle makes a backstory for it about being driven by a dump truck driver who cheated on his wife and was caught, left the truck there, and went on to become president. The truck is now a monument. I am all for this!

They storyboarded Donut putting the guns on the ground... and Joe decided at the last second to just have them flash and appear to not waste time just having him lay down guns for 20 seconds.

Kyle calls Grif a coward for not taking the bullet for Sammie's. That's not nice Kyle!

“Donut uses his shield powers that... never come up again” Thanks Joe...

To get Sarge and Simmons properly on the ground when they land in Egypt, Kyle simply had Josh kill them in-game. They landed perfectly XD

Episode 3

The snow scene with Grif and Doc apparently shows the horizon for the first time in the series due to using very boxed in multiplayer maps. It is also a custom map with the horizon point, which was green-screened, blending into the snow.

Sister and Tucker were green-screened into Halo 3. Apparently it wasn't too bad here, but it was MUCH harder for Halo 2. They VERY much appreciated having a green-screen within Halo 5.

The desert scene with Sarge and Simmons apparently had a shadow in it, so they had to color correct it to make it look more desert-like. Simmons color apparently overlapped with Sarge's a lot.

The storylines were supposed to be about the characters all trying to fix their past mistakes, but only make it worst. This was meant to tie into the season's theme on how fucking up is a part of life. Them not learning it, of course, causes what happens in the end. Joe does mention that it doesn't seem like it worked for everyone watching, however but Kyle mentions how rewatching it can get people to pick up on it more.

The map they used for The Battle of Broken Ridge went through several iterations. They went with one they called White Dwarf which was very detailed tot he point where they fuzzied it up to make it look less so. The rock formations are underwater rocks and have coral textures to them to make them look more alien.

Present!Sarge is wielding a sniper rifle in this scene, not his shot gun. They imply that he shot the previous CO so that his past self would be given the position. GDI Sarge.

Apparently Halo characters do NOT like rough terrain, so recording the soldiers running across it was difficult to make it look natural.

For the PoV shot with Caboose, apparently you can't move the camera much in Halo 5 but you CAN have the character walk closer into it. So Austin and Kyle Moran did so to get the shot and was one of the first they did on their own.

Lopez couldn't be color corrected apparently. They had to go with a shade nearly identical to Grif's because otherwise he looked onto much like Master Chief. As such he looks different in every scene. Thanks Halo 5.

Episode 4

Joe wanted to use all the main locations (Blood Gulch, Valhalla) at least once. He was able to use Halos 2 and 3, but didn't get around to using Halo 4, so we didn't get Chorus aside form the one we saw last season.

The Tucker and Sister storyline was the most changed. Originally, it was going to be about Tucker trying to stop himself from getting laid with all the women that got him a lawsuit last season. He succeeded... but his present self got seduced anyways. This however created a bit of a paradox (I assume since it was clear that Tucker remembered it last season) so he decided he wanted to do something more personal between Tucker and Sister.

Joe wanted this, Episode 5, and Episode 6 to feel more episodic. Hence why he get a major focus on Tucker and Sister here, Sarge and Simmons in 5, and Grif and Doc in 6.

Joe apparently cockblocked himself once. Oops.

Kyle wants to use a time machine to go back and mess with himself when past!him was working in a check out line. Joe would use it to go see old movies and bands when they opened up.

The Broken Ridge map made all the visors green.

Hammerspace exists in the RvB verse due to all the weapon shifts.

The machinima team used the PC version of Halo 2 (the same one used for the Blood Gulch remaster) due to technical reasons. The problem is all the servers, services, etc that were available when doing the remaster no longer exist in 2018. While they have copies of the game, to do what they need they had to use fan hacks, a laptop, and Joe's home computer to make the scenes properly.

Lindsay Jones (VA for Kimball) plays one of the three kids using her Space Kid voice form Camp Camp. Kyle thought one of the actors was the VA for Qrow in RWBY (Vic Mignogna) but it wasn't.

They had a lot of fun macinimating Grif's freakout and Joe outright called Geoff's performance Oscar worthy. They considered submitting it XD

The guy left the truck (form Episode 2) on this very day XD

Tucker asking Sister if she turned off her radio was a reference to O'Malley since at this time, he was still around and going through different people's heads. It was important to make sure that he paid attention to continuity in the time he was going to mess with. Since he felt that this was a memorable event in Blood Gulch, he wanted to go back to it and make sure that he wasn't accidentally messing up anything.

This is the third time they've gone back to this in RvB's history as Josh previously directed a S14 episode written by Barbara Dunkleman (VA for Jensen) about O'Malley in different headspaces. Wow, they must love this scene XD

Joe made Nico (one of the composers and part of Trocadero) make porno music for the cave pond scene. He said “On it Joe!”

Joe liked making Tucker dense when it comes to sex, especially in this scene.

There were talks about if Tucker and Sister should still be in Halo 5 armor when time travleing or if it should change. They ultimately decided to stick to the Halo 5 armor, which Joe felt was the right choice since he was no real reason to have them in the game's default. RvB14 had a similar philosophy where whatever time period the story is taking place, ti had to match that version of Halo.

Episode 5

The map used at the very beginning was a user-made map that's meant to be reminiscent of a Halo 3 map.

Using John Wayne was apparently a pain in the ass. They couldn't refer to him as John Wayne and several other names like The Duke due to legal reasons. It was at the point where they had to have Gus and Matt frequently come in to do re-recordings due to all the changes. They finally settled on Private John... and they hope that they don't get sued for saying it in the commentary.

To remake Desert Gulch, they had to use all the characters at the same time and do several different shots for several reasons.

George Washington was voiced by Todd Womack, a Creative Producer for Broadcast at RT. He also voiced the Simmons knight in Episode 1.

Chris Kokkinos, a Lead Audio Engineer for RT Animation, played Alexander the Great. They did ten minutes of Google searches to put together a voice that sounded accurate enough to what Ancient Masadonian (I think) would sound like.

There's a radio effect in the movie filming scenes where, if you listen close enough, you can hear someone trying to find the bestboy. When I rewatch this with commentary off, I am ging to listen HARD to find those lines.

Kohan Wooter, the producer Jax torments, was voiced by RT's 3D Animation producer Koan Wooten. Joe jokes that he's a 'pathetic ball of anxiety' so he based the character on him. Don't worry, he actually loves Koen XD Koen produced Seasons 13, 14, and 15, but 16 has a new producer, Greg who we'll hear in Episodes 6-10 commentary.

Apparently in Halo 5 (Kyle isn't sure if this was an update or he just never saw it there's an option to max character speeds. So when Jax, Simmons, and Sarge are walking through the set, they were able to set all three to the same speed without it looking like they're sprinting, something that is normally difficult to do in machinima.

In S15, Joe wanted Jax to get successful at some point... and then fall back down off his horse due to his ego. So he did it here!

They wish that they showed Jax's version of S15, though we do get a sample in Episode 12.

Austin and Kyle Moran worked on the scene where Sarge and Private John are doing lines.

For this scene, Matt was late for a CEO meeting so he had to do all of his lines in one take in quick succession. He nailed every single one of them.

I think most know this, but just in case, Atlus is voiced by SungWon Cho aka ProZD. Joe was a big fan of him and was really excited to cast him.

All the Gods we see who aren't Atlus, Kali, Genkins, and Burnstorm are Minor Gods and this is the only time we get to see them all. Kyle says one is the God of Anxiety XD

Kyle made Atlus' throne and used spaceship parts to make it. It was also a chore to decide on all the Gods guns.

Episode 6

Jason wrote Episodes 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, and 14 (Joe confirmed the latter four on Twitter).

Joe says that Grif and Doc are somewhere in Calabria, Ancient Italy. It is known as 'The Boot of Italy'.

Greg previously on a 2D show at another company (I couldn't make out what he said it was) before arriving at RT and being put on RvB. Since machinima is treated more like live action when filming, it was a very different experience along with storyboarding the animation. He had to learn a lot about what can and can't be done in machinima.

Billy previously worked on a live action RvB short (I assume the RvB14 finale but they didn't specify) and before this worked on RWBY and RWBY Chibi. He works on both lighting and composition.

Billy really liked working on the lens flare shots XD Which are also apparently hard to render despite how easy it looked at first.

Jason wrote most of Sister's dialogue, which had to be cut down a bit. Apparently one line he wrote was Sister saying “I want Lancelot to slay my p***y like a Dragon”. This once got cut because Microsoft told them to, which is a VERY rare occurrence.

Genkins was the one going crazy with the airhorn during Atlus' intro. They used up all their airhorn budget for that one XD

Joe credited Jason for Atlus' portrayal. Jason feels that Atlus is very human and fragile on the inside and the kind of characters that he likes to write.

They all laughed at Tucker and Sister being blown up, which they tried to reuse form other stuff, but Joe refused. They joke that they just got it off the internet.

Joe feels that he could have done this episode better as he didn't feel anything for Doc at the end like he had intended.

They have an animator specifically for O'Malley's finger motions. He'll be in the 11-15 commentary and is reffered to as 'The Fingerer'

Episode 7

Since this is an episode that mixes live action, they started working on this even before Episode 1. They were excited at first... until they finally started doing it.

Gus Sorola (VA for Simmons) played the Cyclops as well as his wife.

Joe knows that some people weren't happy with this episode, but he still liked it cause Tucker and Sister got to fight a giant cyclops. They do admit it is one of the stupidest thing they've ever done though XD

They went over budget doing the scene and had to go all the way up to Matt to get more. At RTX, Matt said that he allowed it when they said that Gus was going to be uncomfortable for several hours. Best CEO XD Joe brought in Koen to convince help him.

Huggins had several different animators, but most of the credit goes to an animator named Owen for giving a glowing sphere so much energy with the animation.

Gus' scenes were shot in one day, but because they had to change the lighting so much to correspond with Halo, it took a LOOOOOT of hours.

When the cyclops bit into the Tucker armor, Joe had it in the script that Gus just pulled the head off. Gus asked if he could eat it, which Joe allowed. Joe had to paint it the day before the shoot after Greg went and got it. They used a toy since animating Tucker in Gus' hand would have been too much work to get right.

Joe did a lot of the work on the scenes while listening to an audiobook, so now he just hears it whenever watching the episode. Fortunately, he has a lot of work with green-screen XD

David Levy composed the music for the scene and Joe had him listen to stuff from Jason and the Arganots and such things to give him an idea of what to do.

Tucker jumping to hit the Cyclops'... privates...w as a reference to Independence Day apparently.

Joe wished that, when we see the location again in the finale, he just showed the Cyclops' corpse rotting away... so I guess that confirms that he's dead. He thought of it after the fact however so he couldn't.

Joe deliberately told the Art Department about the female cyclops at the last second so that they would buy a shitty costume for Gus to put on. Greg was confused. The shot later for Episode 15 was a surprise shot Joe did since he was writing the finale around this time, so he wanted it just in case he wanted to use it... which he did XD

Episode 8

The map with the Chorus towers were a Live Map. IDK what that means, but apparently they can't use. So the machinimators had to go around it and take various shots of the towers to put them in the opening scene. It got several accounts banned as a result XD

After the last episode used so many different things (animation, machinima, live action), the fact that they were able to get an animation sequence into this one had Joe feeling good about the production flow for the season since the previous one would normally go over deadlines. Fortunately, the production went through seemlessly.

The animation team is mostly from RWBY Chibi.

Originally Carolina and Dr. Grey's talk was in Grey's office. Miles said that it wasn't weird enough to fit Grey though, so Joe change the setting to a morgue. The dialogue stayed the same though! The feet of the body were apparently hard to render XD

Joe wished that Carolina was holding some guy's intestines to further show how creepy it is.

With the cyclops, Joe apparently wanted him to have a giant, hanging dong cause he things it would be Tucker's worst nightmare. Greg immediately shot that down since no amount if pixilation would be able to hide it.

Joe wanted to give Grif a magic fairy companion, ehnce why we got Huggins and the two would learn form each other.

Huggins is based off of her actress, Ashley Spillers, in terms of personality.

Apparently doing shots showing tall buildings like in Chorus is much easier than getting a dead guy's feet in properly. Huh...

Joe got obsessed with doing different shots to make shots of a character just talking interesting and he felt he went a little too crazy.

Joe felt bad that he couldn't use more of Dylan, but he learned last season that RvB has a TON of characters and he needs to break them up when it's necessary. This is part of why the Reds and Blues were split up this season.

Billy did a lot of work on the wrestling scene in the finale due to how much lighting was needed. It also involved a lot of comp due to the amount of shots.

Wash's cat, Loki, is based off a cat Joe had in RL. Many of the same things happened to it and lived for over 20 years. Wow...

Episode 9

Joe makes it clear that he loves Koen and he only made fun of him because he loves him. Greg felt much of Kohan's portrayal hit too close to home XD

Since they used most of the maps in S15, Joe knew that they were going to have to reuse some of them and the filmset plotline was done in order to do so. Considering Wash's state, he felt that it worked well for character.

The Female Frozen Freelancer was voiced by Minni Clark, their Animation Coordinator.

Joe considered what Wash and Carolina would do with a time machine. For a while, he considered having Carolina use it to go to the future, but he felt that could botch future storylines so he decided to not use the future at all.

They liked the campfire map and giving Huggins sparkles. The sparkles got added late into production. Luckily they emphasized that no one was harmed in the making of this production XD

Huggins will only swear when quoting Die Hard. The lens flare in the movie was also Joe's favorite lens flare in film XD

Joe was originally going to have Grif come across Lopez's head after he sank in the titanic. But since Grif was in Ancient Italy, that would not work so it was cut.

Joe also intended for Grif to use a boat to get over the English Channel, but since it would have been a hard set-piece to make and they already had an underwater map, they went with that instead.

The effect to make past!Simmons portal appear/green-screen was apparently fun XD Joe also liked having Sarge stab Achilles in the foot.

This season has the most green-screen used in any season.

Apparently there are a LOT of time travel stories out there with very complicated rules. Joe went with the ones that he felt were the most common.

Joe got very mad because The Covlerfield Paradox came out sometimes before the season starts. He also gets mad in the finale cause Infinity War did what he did essentially XD

Joe found using time travel to test free will interesting as he doesn't recall anyone doing it before.

Matt improved his lines regarding the back and forth on deciding to open the door. He does that a lot XD

They didn't want to add a shot of Simmons pressing the keypad, so they just showed the door opening.

Episode 10

To make Caboose's vacation easier, they decided to go with the slideshow and just use stills. Most were easy to comp, but some like the monkeys were more difficult. It was orignally going to be animated.

With the shot of the RT Founders, they originally had a Halo helmet in the photo. Joe changed it to a bowling ball.

Joe was counting down the days of production and told no one. Greg was very confused when he saw '100 Days' on Joe's calendar.

Jason wrote Camelto and voiced Lancelot/Sir Gryffandor. Joe used all of his first takes XD

Jason writes long scripts, so Joe had to cut them down and he felt bad about it. Jason said that he got rid of the garbage bits XD

There is some kind of cannon by Tucker's shoulder when he meets with Grif. Joe headcanosn that Tucker just demanded that they make a cannon.

Even Joe points out that Grif's trying to push the plot forward now. They joke that it's just so it an end faster.

The reason why Tucker started the war with France they decided was because they ate snails, hence his line “Those fancy f***s eat snails!”

Joe clarifies on what turning into a shisno means. I wrote about this already, but I'll do so again here. It is not a form of corruption or mind control, but people like Tucker giving more and more into temptation and as such, the worst part of them comes out. He felt that them trying to make the past better is a big convenience in time travel and decided that them screwing it up and therefore still trying was an effect of Chrovos. It's not direct mind control however, it just makes your darker impulses stronger.

Joe confirms that Genkins was the PA who lead Wash to the scene recreating where he got shot solely to make him worst and keep the plan going in the right direction.

Joe, having grown up on films like Evil Dead, really likes bloody shots and thinks that his seasons have had the most blood effects XD

They checked over Donut and O'Malley's scene a LOT due to a lot of screw ups and using a large white void.

Billy's favorite thing to have lighted was Chrovos. They were very happy with the gears design.

Joe really liked Chrovos' VA

Episode 11

Phillip played one of the guards that got crushed by the horse in the finale. It is his proudest moment.

Doing work for Huggins was painful since she required several swooshing effects and her animation turned out to be much more work due to Ian deciding to make her more energetic to not make it boring.

Muggins is less energetic due to being older

Joe had to get special permission from Miles and Kerry to use the RWBY moon and now calls it canon... which he honestly isn't all that wrong if you've watched RWBY V6...

Audio liked adding the effects to Atlus' voice, something that ProZD apparently does in his videos.

When he decided to use God sin RvB, Joe had wanted to have a wish granting scene and the one we got is one of his favorites. He also mentions how most Gods go to places, mess with younger races, so he felt like this fit.

The music for this was challenging for David as Joe instructed him to base it on Danny Elfman-esque scores. The guitar rift when Grif makes the sword wish was treated like a sound effect.

Apparently they used a laughing seagull effect to laugh at Tucker. I need to listen for these things more.

They used a sunset map for Tucker and Sister's talk, and while lighting is often difficult in RvB, Joe felt that this worked very well. Using Halo 5 in general was hard, but after last year they had a good grasp on what they could and couldn't do. They'll be us9ig a new Halo next year, which since Halo 6 isn't out I assume is referring to Halo 2 Anniversary

Okay... so this bit is probably gonna be the biggest part. So the whole scene with Tucker and Sister's talk? Originally in the outline, Joe simply had Sister go 'And I don't care!' when she and Tucker realize that their s*xventures were coming to an end. Then he sent it off to Jason, who expanded on it in the script to have Sister's verbal beatdown to Tucker. Joe let it stick, and we got what we got.

Episode 12

This is the first episode of RvB shot in 4K

You know the opening shot where Actor!Wash dips Actress!Carolina? The scene was mo-caped by Joe as Wash an an animator named Harley (she works primarily on RWBY) as Carolina. When they acted it out, Joe tried to catch Harley when she fell back... except that he had recently dislocated his arm. So he ended up just dropping her and he fell over and hit his head. The mocap for it looked really funny though XD

The reason why Joe used 4K for this episode was in order to do wide shots so that After Effects could put in the shaky cam. He did it in one weekend. He's not a fan of 4K however due to feeling it adds too much production time, so he used it for only this episode.

They joke about making an RvB Soap Opera where Church has a twina nd Sarge goes into a coma. I WANT THIS!

Joe had not seen The Office when he went with the interviews idea.

This, and the later episodes, were written during the production.

This episode was the RvB equivalent of a Beach Episode like you see in anime. But because of armor and stuff, he couldn't go all the way. Also apparently if Halo characters hit the water unless it's an underwater map, they die. Huh...

Joe continues to make it clear that he loves working with Koen. Good job on making sure you don't piss your boss off dude!

The Chinese Finger Trap gag with Caboose was improved by Joel. The trap was composed in and they used the Huggins rigs to help with the stretching.

Joe felt he went a little too strong with the color correction in this episode and that the colors came off too strong, especially with Donut.

Joe liked the audio cue used for when Wash has one of his memory blocks.

There was a lot of improve done with the actors for Jax's movie. Phillip also didn't get the Rodney Dangerfield reference. Joe put that specific one in because the Private John actor did one for funsies in his session.

According to Joe, after he gets hit by Atlus' hammer, he forgets all of his movie ideas and is now in the next stage of his life in trying to figure them out. They ask if this is autobiographical for Joe XD

The gold club is an actual weapon in Halo 5 (some kind of multiplayer mode), huh...

In the original take where everyone is saying titles, Joel had Caboose curse. Joe found it funny... but since Caboose doesn't swear to that level (I think in another interview Joe said he used the F word), he decided two days prior to cut it and edit several takes together to get what we got. They added it back in for the Blooper Reel, and I can confirm that it is hilarious.

Episode 13

David used wall to wall music for this episode.

The first drafts for the final three episodes were over 70 pages long. The average is around 12-18 pages, so... yeah... he had to cut it down to 54 within about three days.

Joe didn't get to work a lot with Genkins' VA (Ricco Fajardo since he forgot the name in the commentary) since Genkins had very few lines. He really enjoyed working with him and the other professional voice actors since he can really push them and they love going along with it.

Jason did the script for this episode.

This episode, along with 13, had very little animation due to the finale going crazy with it. So they cut down on it in these two to make up for that time.

Joe's not a fan of exposition scenes, but since Starseat was a unique set design, he felt like it was a good place to do it.

The Cosmic Powers are always green-screened so that they can look much larger.

David wanted to listen to his master work XD

Joe hadn't told mahcinima what swords to give everyone and is happy with the options that they went with.

Burnstorm's VA is a theater actor in Dallas

Joe regretted that he wasn't able to have the Gods in action much and wishes that he was able to fit in one God fight at least. But he had gone over the animation budget, so even if he wanted to he couldn't.

The Neanderthals hair in Caboose's slideshow apparently didn't work at all, so they photoshoped it in.

Joe really enjoyed doing Carolina and Wash's scene, especially with how well Jen and Shannon performed it. He felt so much regret for what he did to these characters XD

Joe did research on brain injuries to make sure that he portrayed Wash's condition as accurately as possible.

Machinima built the room that the Reds and Blues were teleported to. It was originally a hallway apparently.

Episode 14

The intention of the episode was to be a runway into the finale and to be a bit of a cool down after the last one.

Jason once more did the script for this one.

Halo 5 armor in multiplayer apparently can't be black, so in shadows it just glows. Huh, weird.

No one aside from Joe saw the shot of the Fates. Ian never saw them as he handed them to someone else while doing 15, and they did them all without him having to check them.

Joe wrote the demo for The Fates song to give to the singers who auditioned.

Joe thought a lot about Carolina time traveling prior to this, but felt that she was too responsible and smart to use it the same way the Reds and Blues did.

Phillip was kind of glad that Huggins got 'killed' (I'm still denying it) since it meant no more swoosh sounds

The buildup to the... death scene... dropped the ambiance to build up the creepiness factor.

Joe did the black hole effect and went on until it made him too sad and he kicked his computer. You have only yourself to blame.

They like how the Cosmic Powers just become more and more normal acting as time goes on XD

Joe had been very nervous about The Fates and considers it the weirdest sequence in the season. He suggested the orchestral tuning build-up.

Joe explains how The Fates work. The Cosmic Powers are AI/computers, and that includes The Fates. They are like a series of quantum supercomputers who scan the atoms around them to determine the outcome of the future. Their prophecies are mere projections.

Episode 15 (Season Finale)

They call this 'The Beast Episode'

David added 15 minutes of music with no stop. It continues to accelerate as it continues on.

The episode was done more like a music video. All the animation was done first, and then David composed it to the animation instead of before it. He used bits of previous cues and themes as well. It took him two weeks to do.

The room that Carolina and the others hid in had been very bright, so they had to darken it.

This was very tightly edited in order to stay matched up to the music.

The strategy for the Donut vs O'Malley was to treat the finale as two episodes. The fight was done by one team and all the other stuff was done by another.

They like the 'Use what you learned' advice.

Audio used a program called Vocaline to dot he effects for Chrovos' voice and the gear ticking effects.

The edit for the episode was very different from the script as Joe did a lot of re-arranging of scenes to improve the flow. He got advice form Connor, one of the editors, to pace them better.

The pizza is a photoshopped Home Slice Pizzal

If you watch the scene where Caboose hits the Red with his golf club in slow mo, the body flies off but his soul stays put in an extra frame. If you watch it frame by frame, you can see the soul dissolve. Will make a note to do so later.

David wrote three separate tracks for each storyline in the episode (Donut vs O'Malley, Grif vs Genkins, and the others saving Wash) which all blend together as they go on.

The cue playing when Genkins goes on his boredom rant is Joe and David's favorite cue.

Genkin's rant was also much longer and was pretty much Genkins breaking up with the universe. Joe felt that it was losing momentum as it went on however, so he cut it down.

Phillip had a ringing bell sound effect play when Donut hit the plane on the commentary track. All of them lost it XD

The longest scene to animate was Donut jumping after The Hammer.

Each bit of the fight went to different animators. Ian worked on the Blood Gulch part and reference show he's known for being good at finger animation. Hence why we got O'Malley's evil finger wiggling XD They were bummed that they didn't have more time, but with so much going on, they had no choice. Everything was mo-caped and hand framed due to the uniqueness of all the scenes, all of which used no machinima, which normally has to be in a specific view. Joe was happy since he could move the camera around more.

The city for the final part of the fight was stolen taken from Gen:Lock. It's meant to be New York.

Joe has no regrets regarding the fight scene and was very happy with how it all came together.

There's a ticking effect during the episode that accelerates, but during the final part where Grif is running and stuff, the ticking significantly slowed down.

Grif's running was machinimated and they used an after effects plugin to slow him down properly.

Again, Joe was very mad that Infinity War came out during this time XD This happened a lot this season apparently, such as Legion.

The final scene is done in Halo 2 Anniversary. Joe chose this because it looks familiar, yet is different. He did this specifically to not make people think that they were rebooting it... which happened anyways XD

Again, they confirm that they are NOT doing a reboot. Joe tried to put in as many clues as he could (like Church not being voiced by Burnie) to demonstrate that. There is a reason for why things are like this and why the final three shots are in reverse order from the events in Blood Gulch.

Joe watched all of Deep Space 9 while editing the season. All 6 seasons! Two he watched during the cyclops episode!

Apparently the Security part of the credits (which lists pets) hjust gets added onto without chances, so many of them are probably dead... ending on a morbid note then!

This took like... five hours to type up. But I always like listening to behind-the-scenes stuff and I had a lot of fun doing this! To all of those who actually made it through the entire post, thanks for reading! Looking forward to S17!

#rvb #red vs blue #rvb16

[sculptorofbeginningslibrary]

Black Eyes & Bloodlust - Chapter 10

THIS IS A RE-POST SINCE THIS CHAPTER WAS POSTED RIGHT BEFORE THE PURGE. FROM THIS CHAPTER FORWARD THIS STORY AND ALL MY FICS WILL BE POSTED FROM HERE AND REBLOGGED (POSSIBLY POINTLESSLY) TO MY MAIN BLOG UNTIL TUMBLR UN-BLURRIES ME.

My Masterlist

Black Eyes & Bloodlust Masterlist

Summary: Dean has never met his Omega, never even thought there could be one waiting for him–but she’s out there, and they’re connected in ways they could never have imagined.

Characters: DeanxReader, Sam, Cas, a few OC’s

Warnings: SMUT so typical A/B/O warnings, Slow burn (and I mean it. SLOW BURN GUYS.) Language, depictions of mental illness, Gore and Violence. (Warnings will apply to all chapters just to cover all the bases.)

Chapter Warning: This one has a bit that could be considered necrophilia. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.

Word Count: ~5600

A/N: There’s a decent amount of canon in this chapter. :)

Unbeta’d for reasons, if you find mistakes feel free to message me!

AS ALWAYS,

ENJOY!

__~*~__

“Oh my god…” Lane’s hand covered her mouth in shock as she opened the door to Y/N’s apartment. The escorting officer took one look at the blood on the floor and called for backup before producing his gun.

“Ma’am wait, please,” Officer Bishop called quietly as Lane took a step though, her foot landing right into a tiny puddle. “I need you to step back.” His voice was soft but urgent, catching her attention. As she looked up he placed his finger over his lips, silently shushing her.

“Wha–” Officer Bishop moved quickly, cutting her off as he maneuvered her into the hallway and stepped into the apartment in one movement.

“Colorado state police, is there anyone here?” Lane jumped slightly at his booming voice, so caring before, but now full of authority. He was met with silence and stepped into the living room,  carefully avoiding the mess of broken items scattered across the floor. “If there’s anyone here I need you to come out with your hands up!”

Again, silence was the only response and he backed his way out, pulling the door closed behind him.

“What are you doing? I need to go in there.”

“I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t let you do that.”  Officer Bishop had the decency to look remorseful as he shook his head. He planted himself in front of the doorway and produced a plastic bag. “I need you to put your shoes in here…you stepped in the…you stepped in some evidence.”

Lane cried noisily for a few minutes, standing in her socks and feeling as though everything good had been stripped from the world. The blood stains on her shoes glared at Lane from their plastic prison, mocking her until a team of officers and a forensic unit were clomping up the steps. They had no trouble herding Lane against the wall as they opened the door, immediately sweeping the apartment.

Y/N’s home was officially a crime scene.

After the initial sweep, a tech handed Lane a pair of plastic booties, signaling to Bishop that they were allowed to enter once she’d slipped them over her feet..  

Lane’s tears renewed as Officer Bishop escorted her through the rooms. Each space held as much damage as the last, as if a tiny tornado had had swept through upending everything her sister owned. The events of the past week tumbled into a harsh reality, .

Y/N had been pissed… maybe even hated her, because Lane had made an executive decision she’d known Y/N couldn’t make for herself…and now Y/N was missing while a serial killer was still on the loose.

Lane collapsed to the floor in her grief, a choked sob escaping as she buried her face in her hands and imagined all the terrible things that could be happening to her only sister. She pictured Y/N lost, mentally broken, and physically tortured…cut open and bled out like all those other Omegas. A soft hand caressed the span of her shoulders. It was Officer Bishop, awkwardly trying to offer comfort as she broke down. Each thud of booted feet traipsing through her sister’s house was a bullet to the gut, each broken item a remnant of their shattered trust, and suddenly it was all too much.

Lane shot to her feet, ignoring Officer Bishop’s pleas for her to stop as she raced toward the front door, zigzagging around small yellow evidence markers, broken glass and blood stains. She didn’t stop until she was halfway down the steps.

“Ma’am,” the young officer panted as he reached the landing, “Ma’am you can’t leave…we have to take you back and get your statement.” Lane stared up through watery eyes, trying to find some semblance of understanding in his earnest gaze. Instead, she found the worry he was trying to hide. The tears still hadn’t stopped, and she sniffled as she wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. Her gut told her something really bad had happened, never mind the mess in the apartment, and she contemplated calling Doctor Cameron. He’d been very understanding while dealing with Y/N so far, and she was his patient. He’d want to know…

“I’m not going anywhere…I just couldn’t be in there anymore.” The officer nodded, looking skeptical. Lane watched the struggle in his eyes. She could see his vain attempts to pretend like he didn’t already know where this was headed.

“How about I go ahead and take you to the station, you’ve seen enough here. The faster we get the paperwork done the faster we can find your sister.” Officer Bishop tried to smile reassuringly, but it fell flat in the face of her pain. He waited for Lane to head down the stairs before frowning, his real feelings making themselves known. He couldn’t tell her, but he had little to no hope of finding Y/N alive…the smell of death permeated every inch of her apartment. Officer Bishop was glad Lane had agreed to leave so quickly. His short experience in the force told him the team would find Y/N’s body soon, another victim of the brutal slaughter they couldn’t seem to stop…and he didn’t think it would be right for Lane to be there when that happened.

__~*~__

The long, concrete hallway was well-lit, save for the bulb that flashed out as you suddenly appeared. You had no control as your feet propelled you forward, lights overhead flicking into darkness one by one as you reached them. On either side, locked doors to what appeared to be cells moved by, your hands lightly rattling chains that held smaller doors shut like some kind of old-school ghost.

Each room seemed to be empty…until you found the one that wasn’t.

In a blink you were inside, and inwardly you screamed. It was always something nuts with these nightmares.

You were thrashing helplessly against the bindings of you body, furious that you were trapped yet again.

Before you stood Tommy Tolliver, dressed in his white prison uniform. You recognized him from the endless news cycles discussing his pending execution for the murders he’d committed.

You were disgusted with yourself, with your illness, and with the satisfaction warming your chest.

“Who the hell are you?” He demanded as he whipped around, obviously shocked at your sudden appearance. “How’d you get in here?”

It seemed Tommy wouldn’t be making it to his state scheduled execution as you started to speak.

“I’ve been called many things in this life. The father of murder is one of them.” What the fuck? Like always, you were left with more questions than answers as  the dream took you where it wanted. ”And by the State’s count, you’ve taken six lives yourself Tommy. Although by my count…it’s nine.”

The voice rumbling in your head and leaving your mouth was smooth, calm, and utterly terrifying. How you were even able to feel fear after everything you’d seen was a mystery, but it was there and you couldn’t escape it.

Tommy’s hand searched the desk behind him frantically, grasping for anything that would save him from you. Experience told you that wouldn’t happen.

“Oh come on, you aren’t one of those ‘it wasn’t me’ type fellas, are ya? Because i know you’re a killer…just like me.” You shuddered inside your foreign skin as Tommy’s fist balled up. He squared his shoulders and started to grin, his too large teeth making you cringe.

“Yeah, I did it,” he said, trying to appear like he wasn’t just as terrified as you.

“Honesty. That’s good.” You saw his move before he made it, catching Tommy’s fist before it collided with your face while growling, “That’s the spirit!” His hand was crushed as you twisted it downward. Tommy grunted in pain, but had enough sense to try again with his other hand.

Instead of grabbing it, your hand came up, thick fingers making a strange motion that forced his arm down without touching him.

Fuck. First a demon and now I’m magic?

“Now I bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here. Did I come to punish you, or save you?

Well…” Your hand slid under the coat, grasping the handle of a knife sticking out from it. You leaned forward to whisper into his face, gagging mentally at the smell of his fetid breath. “The truth is, Tommy…I’m here to do both.”

You plunged the long blade deep into his gut, a wave of satisfaction starting at the mark on your arm and traveling your veins like white lightning.

__

You shot awake, flailing around the back of your car as you rolled onto the floor. A loud groan escaped as you tried to work your way back up into the seat. Your arm brushed the scratchy material as you moved, making you cry out in pain. The rash had been aggravated since you left Biggerson’s, and it was only getting worse.

You figured it was just the fever you’d been fighting as a small but painful tremor ran through your midsection. As you climbed between the seats and into the front you thought about the day’s goals.

Meeting up with Tex, the sketchy guy you’d found online who claimed to know about the Winchesters, was task one. You turned the car on before fixing your hair into some semblance of respectability. The sun was high in the sky, warming the inside of your vehicle against the chill outside.

You’d driven for a day and a half to get to Iowa, the last known location of the elusive Winchester brothers. In every city you’d been desperately posting in the personals section on Craigslist when you stopped for gas or rest in the hopes that someone would know something. It was a long shot, but finally Tex had emailed you with some ominous message about knowing who they were, and even possibly where they might be and your heart had leapt into your throat.

Honestly, you’d never expected it to work and you still weren’t sure, so you’d bought a straight edge flip-knife from a dodgy convenience store just in case.

You rolled the windows down and sprayed pheromone covering body spray in the hopes of hiding your scent. An Omega on the cusp of a heat was like open season for any jackass Alpha without a sense of self control. You were praying that Tex wasn’t one of them, but it was a risk you were forced to take.

No amount of risk was too high when it came to finding your Alpha.

__~*~__

Dean grabbed his shotgun from the wall and frowned at it. “When he gave me the Mark, Cain said that this day would come…that after I killed Abaddon, I would have to come and put him down.” And he had been right. Cain was executing everyone in his bloodline, and it was up to them to stop him. Since Cas had actually found Cain, he knew he had to pause his pining over Y/N and get a move on…but that didn’t make it any easier.

“Great. So you’re taking orders from a madman.” Sam snorted.

“No,” Dean corrected stoically, “he wasn’t mad then.”

Castiel watched the hunters from the doorway, wondering if he should tell them he’d heard Y/N praying again. It had been faint, but the darkness swirling around her was so similar to Dean’s he couldn’t deny any longer that it was her. That she was real, and something had changed for her. He decided to keep it to himself for the moment, not wanting to take their attention from the deadly situation with Cain.

There was much to do, and they could sort out the issue of Dean’s Omega later.

“Cain resisted the Mark for a long time, then I came kicking up trouble about the Blade. I sent him down this path. This is on me.” Castiel inwardly sighed, hating how his friend always took so much on. How he made himself responsible for the actions of others, things he had no business blaming himself for.

“It doesn’t mean you have to be the one to go after him,” Sam cried. Dean rolled his eyes. Wasn’t this exactly what Sam had wanted? What they’d been searching for? The sooner they took care of Cain, the sooner his brother and Castiel would take him seriously and help him instead of hindering him.

“Yes, it does Sam. And there’s only one thing that can kill him.” Sam’s eyes widened at the suggestion.

“The Blade?” He was ready to protest when Castiel stepped in, stopping the brewing argument between the brothers.

“Dean’s right,” Castiel offered grudgingly. There was no way to kill Cain without the First Blade. It was a calculated risk they had to take.

“Dean, wielding the Blade against Cain himself…” Sam trailed off uncertainly, fear for his brother overtaking logic. His eyes followed as Dean’s hand came to rest over the Mark, a pained look crossing his face for a second. “…win or lose, you may never come back from that fight.” When Sam finished, his voice almost a whisper. He searched Dean’s eyes for any sign of hesitation, any sense that he would be able to talk his brother out of this…but he found nothing.

“I know.” Dean’s resolute tone turned Sam’s stomach into knots as he looked to Castiel for help. There was none to be found. The Angel was staring sadly at Dean, but there was stone in his gaze.

__~*~__

“What’s a sweet little Omega like you looking for the Winchesters for? You a hunter too?”

Tex turned out to be a middle-aged Beta more interested in your story than your body. He’d bought you to a hole in the wall bar and tucked the two of you into a secluded corner when he’d felt the waves of stress rolling off your body.

“A what?” you asked, wondering what hunting had to do with serial killers.

“Guess not…don’t worry about it sweetheart. The Winchesters, girl…they’re dangerous. What do you want with ‘em?” His warm eyes so full of concern pulled you right in, making you feel safer than you had in months. He was handsome even though he had quite a few years on you.

Your arm tingled as you pulled your long sleeve lower to cover it, suddenly self conscious of the growing redness.

“Well uh…” you peered around suspiciously. An odd sense of being watched had come over you after praying and you couldn’t shake it. “I’m writing a paper, and all of the websites I found are conflicting on whether or not they’re actually dead. I mean…serial killers who keep coming back? That’s the stuff of horror movies, I just wanted to find for myself if there’s more to the story.”

The well rehearsed story had Tex raising a brow has he sipped his beer, making you feel like he didn’t believe you.

He didn’t, but he wouldn’t tell you that. He could see by the haunted look in your eyes there was more to the story. Your body was withered under the large clothes you wore, and he hadn’t missed the rash you’d tried to hide. As a hunter himself, he knew more of the truth than most people and it didn’t take a skilled one to notice the signs of the supernatural. It was up to him now to keep you safe from whatever crazy mission you were really on.

“Well, last I heard they died at the police station down the road a few years ago. I don’t think anyone’s heard from ‘em since, but I wouldn’t put it past ‘em to have slipped away somehow. I’ve got some contacts, whadda’you say you come take a nice long shower at my motel room while I put some feelers out?”

Your eyes lit up at the suggestion, all caution thrown to the wind at the slightest chance of finding Dean and a shower.

“You’d do that for me? Help me find them?” Tears swam as Tex flashed red before your eyes, and you saw a vision of him slumped back against the seat, throat slit and blood leaking from the wound to soak his shirt.

Just as quick as it came the image was gone, and you wiped the tears away. They didn’t even bother you anymore, you just wanted to find your Alpha.

When he had you wrapped in his arms everything would be fine again.

“Sure thing little lady. But I’m gonna be with you the whole time if we find ‘em. Not lettin’ you around serial killer Alphas without protection or you’ll end up just another victim. You can get your story and we’ll get out…if they’re even still alive that is. Seen enough innocents get chewed up and spat out by this world. Especially Omegas.”

“I’m not your responsibility Tex,” you chuckled softly, “but thank you.”

__~*~__

Dean was nervous. It started with the soft music in his head like it always did, but now his heart was pounding to the beat of the symphony screaming in his skull.

After all this time…after everything, it was time to kill Cain. The man he’d destroyed as surely as the Mark was destroying him. Everything happening was his fault, and he was ready to accept the responsibilities that came with that.

His eyes lingered over Castiel and Crowley before landing on Sam.

Sweet Sammy, the boy who’d grown into a man under his watch. The man who’d had his back in a thousand situations and the little brother who just wanted his family to stay whole. Dean didn’t think staying whole was an option any longer as he felt the pull between the First Blade and the Mark coursing angrily through him.

Rage roiled against his resolve as he tried to hold himself calm enough to accept the cursed knife from Crowley without plunging it into the Demon King’s gut and ending him forever.

“Dean, look, we want to help–” Sam started, but Dean cut him off.

“No. No, with you in the ring, it’d just be a liability.”

“Dean?” Castiel frowned, stepping forward. This hadn’t been part of the plan. He didn’t want Dean to be alone.

“I’d be too worried about what he could do to you… Or what I could. Plus, I need you three out here to take out whatever comes out of there. And I’m serious, I mean whatever comes out.” Dean’s eyes implored them to understand, but he saw the struggle Castiel and Sam were having with his decision.

“Happily,” Crowley offered, an honestly solemn look on his face as he held up the First Blade. Dean steeled himself against the urge to rip it from Crowley’s hand. “What guarantee do I have that you’ll give it back when you’re done?” The King asked, wanting to hear the words. Wanting Dean to make the promise he’d return it instead of murdering them all.

“If I survive and I come out of there and I don’t give it back, you’ll all have a much bigger problem on your hands.” It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it was one Crowley could accept as he handed the blade over. He could see the waves of Dean’s curse wafting from his aura; knew how badly Dean was faring in his fight against the Mark…but Cain had to be killed, and Dean was the only one who could do it.

Dean’s eyes clenched shut as his fist closed around the bone handle. Everything in his head went silent, the only thing left being the primal drum-beat of his urge to kill something.

“Dean?” Sam asked uncertainly, snapping Dean out of his trance. The urge was still there, but with Sam looking at him like that, he knew he could hold on for a while longer.

Dean eyed the barn doors, inhaling deep. The smell of lemon and honeysuckle came from nowhere, coating his raw emotions like a salve and giving him the strength he needed to do what he had to. With a final glance at his assembled crew, he dipped his head. “I’m good.”

__~*~__

Showering had been amazing. You’d spent an hour and a half under the freezing spray, letting it wash away the grime of the road and the sweltering heat teasing under your skin.

After dressing you had sat down on the edge of Tex’s bed, adjusting the knife in your bra until it sat comfortably under you left breast. Talking to Tex was easy, and you found yourself opening up to him about the crazy dreams you’d been having for months, how they’d ruined your perfectly normal life and giving him the half-truth that they had inspired you to find the Winchesters so you could learn how to start a new life.

You could tell he thought you were full of shit, but you’d listened to him make the calls he’d promised to make, and even found a witch who claimed she knew how to get in touch with the Winchesters…for a fee.

A witch! You’d laughed heartily at that, almost unable to believe that he was playing into your insanity. Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he’d faked all of the calls and was really waiting on the police to come pick up the crazy girl he’d found searching for serial killers on Craigslist.

Something told you he was being honest, but that didn’t stop you from wondering anyways.

A witch. You snorted, shaking your head and eyeing the man that was being so helpful for no reason.

“Why are you helping me, Tex?” You asked softly. His soft brown eyes met yours from the chair as you stood, crossing the room to stand over him. As you walked, a small cramp locked in your gut and you collapsed.

He caught you under your arms and hauled you halfway into his lap. It was incredibly intimate for two strangers, but Tex didn’t feel like a stranger anymore. He hadn’t ridiculed or laughed at your dreams. He hadn’t called you crazy…

You were so tired of feeling crazy.

Your eyes glanced up and caught the lust in his. Your upper body was across his legs and you took advantage of that by twisting down and settling to your knees. He stopped your hands as they ran up his jeans towards his hips.

“Alright girl, that’s enough of that.” You pouted up at him, flinching as another cramp twinged and your arm pulsed with increasing intensity.

“I just want to thank you for being so helpful…” You couldn’t help the sudden lust clouding your thoughts as your temperature spiked again. “because now I need a different kind of help.”

He took a nervous breath in, scenting your heat in the air without all your body spray to cover it.

“I’ve been fighting it,” your hands slid up again as his hold loosened. “And the suppressants are barely working…maybe if you help me, I won’t be in so much danger when we find m–the Alphas I’m looking for. Don’t you want to help me?” The shift in your attitude didn’t go unnoticed by him, but he decided this might be okay. It would be okay to help you…wouldn’t it?

It was the right thing to do.

He wasn’t an Alpha by any means, but your scent was strong enough for him to be affected by it, for it to make him want you in a way that hadn’t crossed his mind before.

You couldn’t remember how it happened, but your next memory was of him under you, both of your upper bodies still clothed while his hard cock pounded into your pussy and his thumb circled your clit frantically.  His eyes were closed as you bounced on him, moaning like a porn star.

He felt good, but your body was demanding more. Demanding a knot. Your hips slammed down as you tried to pull him deeper, push yourself higher, rolling against his fingers and fighting the guilt of sleeping with someone who wasn’t Dean.

Your right arm was tingling as a deep drum started in your ears.

It felt like someone had cut a line from your rash to your palm as you bucked wildly against Tex’s ministrations. You were reaching desperately for an orgasm that was right there, but just out of reach when your palm started to burn.

Your hand clenched, and you expected your nails to bite into the skin, but they didn’t.

In place of that pain, you felt the satisfying contour of the bone blade that had been haunting you. It felt right, so perfect, as your thumb traced the surface. Your eyes squeezed tighter as your clit started to pulse and the drums raised in volume.

It was so close, but rage was building alongside the pressure of your climax and your right arm was arcing before you could stop it. Tex’s hand spasmed against you, finally sending you over the edge. You cried out as your eyes snapped open, letting the pleasure consume you even as you saw what you’d done.

Your left hand came down, grabbing his and pressing it back to your mound as you used it ride out the twitching bliss, reveling in Tex’s gurgles as the open gash across his throat stole his life.

__~*~__

The First Blade slid from Dean’s hand and straight under Cain’s foot as Dean watched from the floor.

How had he let that happen?

Flashes of Y/N fucking some stranger were distracting him from the deadliest fight of his life, that was how.

Dean’s heart pounded in his chest as he forced himself to focus, to ignore the visions and figure out a way to get the blade back.

“Oh, it’s been too long.” Cain’s reverent tone helped bring Dean back to the moment. “That old feeling makes me wonder how I ever had the strength to resist.”

Dean let his rage take over. He ran at Cain, but the man snatched him up by the throat easily, tossing him to the ground and knocking the air from his lungs.

“This may be hard to believe, in light of what I’m about to do to you, but I care about you, Dean. I truly do. But I know I’m doing you a favor. I’m saving you.” Dean glared from his spot on the ground, searching for his moment as blood roared in his ears.

“Saving me from what?”

“From your fate,” Cain stated, as if it were obvious. “Has it never occurred to you? Have you never mused upon the fact that you’re living my life in reverse? My story began when I killed my brother, and that’s where your story inevitably will end.”

“No. Never,” Dean growled. He wouldn’t let that happen. He would never hurt Sammy.

“It’s called the Mark of Cain for a reason!” Cain yelled, circling Dean slowly. “First … first, you’d kill Crowley. There’d be some strange, mixed feelings on that one, but you’d have your reasons. You’d get it done, no remorse. And then you’d kill the angel, Castiel. Now, that one…that I suspect would hurt something awful. And then your Omega!” Cain lunged to the ground, snagging Dean’s shoulder as he pinned him with the First Blade at the hunter’s throat. Dean felt the pull, he felt the blade singing to him, begging him to bleed for it.

“I can see her, you know…begging for you. Calling out for you. Shedding blood for you. When you find her, you’ll kill her too.” Cain grinned, no shred of mercy in his violently blue eyes. “You’d think that would destroy you but no, that just opens the door for the murder you’d never survive. The one that would finally turn you into as much of a savage as it did me.”

“No!” Dean struggled against Cain’s hold, the blade cutting slightly into his neck. His eyes fell to the knife sticking out from Cain’s coat as he fought the truth of Cain’s words, the confusion and hatred they brought. An idea formed as he stilled, fighting the tears of rage in his eyes.

“Your brother, Sam. The only thing standing between you and that destiny is this Blade. You’re welcome, my son.”

When Cain’s hand came up, Dean moved with all the swiftness the curse had given him. The knife slid easily from its hidden sheath, and in one swift movement Cain’s arm was gone, the First Blade clattering to the floor alongside the severed limb.

Dean stood on shaky legs as Cain cried out, staring at the place his arm had been. It had been a long time since he’d seen his own blood, and there was an oddly welcome sense of peace as he realized that, somehow, Dean had won. His now empty eyes followed Dean as he grabbed up the First Blade.

“What’s the matter?” Cain asked, dropping to his knees in defeat.

“Tell me I don’t have to do this. Tell me that you’ll stop. Tell me that you can stop!” Cain almost laughed at the hunter’s begging. They both needed this. He wouldn’t tell Dean otherwise.

Maybe Dean could survive after all. Maybe Dean would do what Cain couldn’t, and beat the Mark once he was gone.  Cain’s only regret was not getting to see how it all played out in the end.

“I will never stop.” Cain closed his eyes, welcoming the peace of death after a long, bloody, life.

Dean cried out in agony of his own as he plunged the blade down into the back of Cain’s neck, a surge of power racing through his arm and into his heart.

__~*~__

You sat completely still, straddling the dead body of a man who’d done nothing but try to help you. His soft cock had slipped out of you minutes ago, but you hadn’t moved. Your body was buzzing, power you didn’t understand ripping through flesh and into your soul.

There were no words to describe your emotions as you watched the blood flowing from Tex’s neck drizzle to a stop. You raised your right hand and were only mildly shocked to find the straight razor you’d bought clenched inside your shaking fist and coated with blood.

You’d killed him.

A sudden, random, fit of rage in the middle of an orgasm, and you’d killed him.

With a calm you didn’t feel inside, you removed yourself from his body and started cleaning. Somehow, you knew exactly what to do. It was automatic as you gathered a towel, soaked it with soap and water and cleaned his body anywhere your DNA would linger.

__~*~__

Dean’s hands shook as he handed the First Blade to a relieved Castiel. Crowley scowled at Dean’s blood spattered face.

“You lied to me.” Dean nodded with effort at Crowley’s betrayed tone.

“It’s not the first time today.” A sense of relief came over him at the feeling of telling Crowley the truth and showing him just exactly how the Winchester felt about him. “Cain’s list … you weren’t on it.”

In a blink Crowley and Castiel were gone, and Dean collapsed into Sam’s arms, exhausted beyond possibility as the rage from the Mark drained from him, leaving only her song softly tinkling in the back of his thoughts.

“Hey, hey, hey. You did it. Dean, you did it.” Dean closed his eyes at Sam’s words, wishing he could feel Sam’s relief. Wishing the darkness would stop trying to swallow him up.

__~*~__

Inside your head, you were screaming–panicking and raging–but outside, you moved with the precision of someone who had done this a dozen times before. Tex’s glassy eyes were locked to the ceiling, and you respectfully closed them before gathering the towels.

A dispassionate expression met you in the mirror along with pupils so large your eyes looked black, and you couldn’t figure out what was happening. You were in control, but you weren’t.

Your arm throbbed, a violent twitch rocking through it as your palm clenched around nothing even though it felt like the blade was still there. This felt like a nightmare, but you knew it wasn’t. Something terrible had happened to you, overcome who you were and made you into something new. Something you didn’t understand…

Maybe Dean would know.

You grabbed your things, Tex’s phone, and the trash bag of towels on your way out the door, and locked it behind you.

No one saw you slip into the night, and no one found Tex until the body started to stink.

__~*~__

“Dean, um, you know, what you did back there, it was incredible. You know, if you can do that without losing yourself…” Dean eyed Sam as he sipped his coffee feeling devoid of anything. Y/N’s face covered in blood was haunting him, and he couldn’t tell Sam or Castiel. They wouldn’t understand. They would lose the hope this event had given them. “…that’s cause for hope, even without a cure.” Dean smiled humorlessly.

“Yeah. Maybe.” His eyes shot to Castiel as the Angel entered. “So, where’s the Blade?”

“Somewhere safe,” Castiel said, knowing he couldn’t tell Dean. Not where the blade was, and certainly not the new information he had about Y/N.

“Good. Well, if you guys will excuse me, I think I’m gonna go sleep for about four days. Then, we find Y/N.” Dean patted Castiel’s shoulder as he walked by, not seeing the Angel’s concerned gaze.

“How is he?” Castiel asked once Dean was out of earshot. “Sam?”

“Cas…” Sam started, looking to his angelic friend with tears hiding behind his eyes. “Dean’s in trouble.”

“That’s not good…because I have news.”

“Not good news, I take it?” Sam’s voice cracked as he dropped his head into his hands over his coffee.

“It’s not…Sam, I, um…I think Y/N killed someone.”

__~*~___

Questions? Comments? Incoherent screaming?

Bring it on!

🖤

__~*~__

Story Tags:

@allaboutbailey @alligator210 @amarokofficial @antiscocialfanwarrior​ @bodhi-black @deanna-s-winchester @deliciouslydisturbed365 @edensparks​ @erinmcd1234 @faith901t-blog @fangirl-and-medstudent-help​ @fangirlanotherjust​ @flamencodiva @getnaildbyme @hennessy0274-blog @hotterthanfire-colderthanice @jodibullock1 @karouwinchester​ @katkit73 @kbl1313​ @kittenofdoomage​ @mannls​ @mbbevans @mistress-sassafras @ne-gans @pickleporkupine @rainbowkisses31 @secretlysage​ @shatteredabby @spnskinnyballs​ @starfirerules​ @tamtamlov @tgwge @thatrandomredheadchick @tumbler-tidbits @ultrahviolent @violentmommabear42 @weepingwillowphoenix @whisperingwillows @wildsageleon @winchesterprincessbride @witchyhoeski​

4ever&ever Tags:

@ain-t-bovvered @bamby0304 @curly-haired-disaster @dean-winchesters-bacon @ldyhawkeye @justcallmeasmodeus @maddiepants @mogaruke @mrs-meghan-winchester @stormy-skies-1997 @supernatural-teamfreewillpage @waywardbaby

Dean Tags:

@adoptdontshoppets @akshi8278 @bobasheebaby @paranoiadestroyah

#Black Eyes & Bloodlust #Series #Ch 10 #ABO #a/b/o #supernatural a/b/o #dean x reader #Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader #dark!fic #deanxreader #reader insert #MOC!Dean #fanfiction #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction

[puddeneen]

fic rec: the zukaang edition nobody asked for

aka don't rewatch this series, it WILL fuck you up (and then drive you up the wall searching for fic that has long since vanished off the face of the internet)

note: a good handful of these will be gen and/or pre-slash. also by "canon compliant" here i mean, well. "anything not directly contradicted by the show itself." there's ... a lot of canon for this 'verse, okay.

New Favorite Thing by suzukiblu (post-series; humour, drama, romance) wherein aang struggles with a ... development, and zuko has no idea what is going on (until he does) An Almost Intolerable Titillation by Mokuyoubi (post-series; drama, humour, romance) it's hard being a fire lord when your best friend is an airbender with time on his hands Art of Lightning by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon compliant; angst, drama, friendship, pre-slash) aang asks zuko to teach him how to make lightning. zuko tries, and fails, and has his world turned upside down - in that order

The Tongue of the Flame by The Writer Triumphant/soleluz (pre-sozin's comet; drama, pre-slash) what's a little platonic frenching between friends when it's all in aid of mastering firebending, anyways?? we could jump in the ocean and sink like stones by warmth (post-series, canon divergence, soulmates trope; drama, angst, romance) wherein being the avatar comes with the questionable bonus of knowing your soulmate from the get-go Epitaph by knittedace (post-western air temple; drama, friendship) zuko shows aang the grim discovery he made during his stop-off at the western air temple three years previous stop all the clocks by SongofHopeandHonor (post-atla, canon compliant, character death; friendship, grief, bittersweet) avatar aang passes away at a measly sixty-eight years old, and zuko supports katara through the immediate aftermath as best he can - he understands the particular flavour of her grief all too well, after all sparring prompt-fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; action, drama, romance) just a friendly tussle between friends, no latent attraction here at all hahah a,,,, The Idle Mind by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon divergence; friendship, drama) two young men with a lot on their minds and shoulders spend a quiet evening pushing each other's buttons cloudburst (devotion, chapter four) by SongofHopeandHonor (post-series, canon divergence; drama, domestic, romance) two men and a little airbaby Long Live The Prince by Julia451 (post-boiling rock, canon divergence, genfic; politics, drama, angst, friendship) when chit sang joins the group, he brings some rather troubling - if slightly outdated - news to the table Striking Balance by Victoria Hughes (post-series, canon compliant, genfic; politics, drama, friendship) in which the fire lord struggles to produce solutions, and to refrain from throttling his best friend Seriously, He Didn't by InformalSpoofer (post-series, canon compliant; drama, friendship, romance, ust) in which zuko is absolutely not a ball of repressed and deeply inappropriate feelings, okay, fuck you Antebellum by Min Daae (post-western air temple, canon compliant, genfic; angst, drama, friendship) helping each other in small ways, one night at the western air temple when sleep proves hard to find Meditating Angry by AJ Rayne (post-western air temple, canon compliant; drama, friendship, humour) in which aang has questions, and zuko has resting rage-face Burn Therapy by Cadence (post-boiling rock, canon compliant, genfic; drama, angst, friendship, humour) settling in at ember island, aang and zuko share some quality time together while talking shit out and burning offensive portraiture The most important thing by Blue-with-purple-polka-dots (post-firebending masters, canon compliant, genfic; drama, angst, friendship) wherein zuko needs to get some things off his chest after their journey to meet the masters If we knew each other back then by Lily Kalanoa (post-blind bandit, canon divergence, temporary amnesia trope; action, drama, angst) in a threeway altercation between azula, the avatar's group, and himself and iroh, zuko takes a hit with startling consequences The Soul-Binding Series by ranty_rie/notavodkashot (post-series, canon divergence; drama, friendship, pre-slash) the unorthodoxed relationship between once-enemies and almost-friends (and the perhaps-more) Oh My Friends, My Friends, Forgive Me by Obvious Ghost (post-western air temple, canon compliant; drama, angst, friendship, pre-slash) in which switching sides is no smooth transition, and butting heads is inevitable - especially when you're a gang of kids effectively spearheading a war Adaptation by aliwildgoose (post-western air temple, canon compliant, genfic; drama, humour) zuko has some very strong opinions about love amongst the dragons hurt/comfort prompt fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; grief, friendship, romance) after iroh's passing, aang offers what comfort he can All About the Frogs by Victoria Hughes (season one, canon compliant; drama, angst, introspective) aang and zuko and their alternating points of view before, during, and after their escape from the pouhuai stronghold patron saint of the lost causes by warmth (post-series, canon divergence, arranged marriage trope; drama, romance, angst, open-ended) what zuko wants and what his kingdom needs may, sadly, be mutually exclusive zuko seeing aang with hair for the first time prompt fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; humour, romance) in which the avatar has been off doing his avatar thing for a whiles, and there have been some ch-ch-changes since he and zuko last met After Atlas Shrugged by soleluz/The Writer Triumphant (post-series, canon divergence; angst, drama, grief, slow burn) wherein aang assumes care of zuko's daughter when mai's death rocks the axis of his entire world The Mixed Tape by hiza-chan (callunavulgari) (post-series, canon compliant; angst, drama, introspective, romance) a morning in bed and a quiet struggle with zuko's demons zukaang superhero au by avatarwindboy (alternate universe, superhero au; angst, drama, romance) in which zuko is sad and touch-starved and flammable and aang will not stand for it “aang, grown up and being the avatar in peace-time” prompt-fill by suzukiblu (post-series, canon compliant; drama, friendship) wherein the firelord has a surprise for an avatar (or two) kiyi and aang prompt-fill by avatarwindboy (post-series, canon compliant; fluff, friendship, romance) because putting little kids to bed isn't hard enough without your best friend being a horrible enabler with you all in tangles by kingdra (aroceu) (universe alteration, highschool au; humour, friendship, romance) homecoming looms, as does aang's hopeless crush on his chemistry partner. he's totally handling it. Five Times a Prom Invitation Almost Happened and One Time it Did by DracoMaleficium (alternate universe, highschool au; humour, angst, friendship, romance) in which aang and zuko don't so much dance around each other as stagger gracelessly about, trying to feel each other out, and katara is eventually forced to put her foot down Hard to Resist by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon compliant; romance) an overdue reunion gets a little out of hand "chrysanthemum" prompt fill by corsetcamellia (post-series, canon compliant; fluff, romance) a treatise on why you should never let your guard down around airbenders - no, zukes, not even the cute ones His Place in the Universe by ice_is_blue (season three, canon compliant; humour, angst, friendship) shooting the breeze with your enemy-turned-friend while stuck in an ancient booby trap waiting for help that's never gonna come, as you do Untitled by amiko_16 (post-series, canon compliant; drama, pre-slash) oh, that toph and her jokes Rites of Spring by inlovewithnight (post-series, canon compliant; humour, friendship) reinstating weird old traditions and putting up with avatars. #justfirelordthings Following Older Steps by BlackEyedGirl (post-series, canon compliant; drama, friendship) an unexpected, fire-breathing visitor shows up at his door, and zuko doesn't need to ask who's responsible Pressure by kanthia (post-series, canon compliant, genfic; angst, drama, friendship) in which aang struggles in the aftermath of ozai's defeat, and finally turns to a friend for help Degrees of Need by findmyantidrug (post-series, canon compliant; drama, romance) wherein aang helps zuko pass a sleepless night (and vice-versa)

#fic rec #atla #aang #zuko #zukaang #i thought smellershot was my otp for this series wtf #the narrative parallels got me guys. they got me good #also recommended but not listed: the promise by gene yang (post-series canon compliant; ooc pre-slash humour)