#baron zero imagine

[funnyexel]

Intruders

Baron Zemo Imagine

“You need to be careful, even if you’re in the house.” His accent stays thick in his words. 

You adored when he spoke like this and you were comprehending his warnings although they started tuning out. Your mind occupied with a detailed memory. Your thighs pressing together, yearning for his touch. Aching to feel his calloused hands rubbing up against your hip dips and stretch marks as you beg and plead for him to fuck you harder. Your eyes stare straight at the phone, dazed yet still trying to focus. His calloused hands pushing the back of your thighs up as he pounds into your cervix so he can hear your soft lips let out loud, lewd sounds.

“yes baby.” You respond softly, snapping yourself out the daze you were in. Not sure what you responded to.

“Wipe the drool off your lip.” 

The dry monotone of his voice proves you are testing his patience. Seeing your indecency, he doesn’t need to ask what you’ve been thinking about. He can’t help but feel less restrained every time he looks at you, with those live eyes and full lips. Roughly wiping the spit slithering down the corner of your lip, you give him a small awkward smile. Feeling a bit apologetic but not wholly sorry for your thoughts.

“Soon.”

He utters vaguely, rarely expressing himself. Especially on business.

“Goodbye, my dear.”

He hung up. Not even giving you the chance to respond back. Sighing to yourself, you find something to occupy your mind. Not wanting to guess what he meant by soon. Descending to the first floor of your home, you feel an eerie feeling follow you around even when it was lively with more souls other than you.

That familiar ache in your thighs came back when you sit down on the couch. A chill crawling up your spine but the heat of lust for your husband is keeping you ignorant to the scary feeling. Purposely letting your nightgown ride up against your wide hips, you pull your panties to the side and hesitantly rub your clit. Your breath hitching as you lick your index and middle finger before smoothing soft circles over the sensitive bud. Allowing soft desperate moans escape your lips as you throw your head back in tainted desire. At the very fact that he hates when you touch yourself.

With your mind clouded with horny motives you allow yourself to ignore the prominent tapping. A clear danger in the comfort of your own home that you purposefully ignore until you’re in danger. Life threatening danger.

Clenching your jaw tightly to suppress the sounds of chittering teeth as you hide in one of many closets. Keeping silent, you hear the muffled sounds of two men outside the door. They continuously pace back and forth around the house, their constant movements not letting your heart get a rest. Your heartbeats sitting at a permanently high rate with these intruders in your space.

Parting your lips in a silent scream as you are dragged out by the roots of your hair. Your hands fly to your hair to loosen the inhumane grip on your scalp. Tears manifest to the borders of your eyes as the two men eye you with infatuation. The bad kind. Grunting in this mans hold, you can feel their eyes on your body, crawling up your legs and over your nightgown like a parasite. Degrading your very being and depleting the very confidence you fought so hard to build up. Throwing your fragile body against the wall, you stay slumped against the drywall. Seeing how they frantically look around the home for an item. 

They’ve seem to forgotten about you as they venture into your house. Ascending the stairs to the master bedroom and the many other rooms, along with darting down few of the many hallways. Sure that both of them are occupied before shakily moving to your feet. Taking one slow step after the other, you suck in a sharp breath while a sick slug of a feeling tickles your legs. You mocked a sheep, soft, innocent, cute and helpless.

He likes that. He loves that. Being able to throw you and swing you every which way he pleases because he can. So, when the moment comes and he can be your hero, he seizes the moment and takes advantage of your cold and shivering body. Distracting your mind from the bodies he recently discarded as he leads you up to the comfort of your bedroom. He could see the safety in your eyes, the relaxation in your shoulders as he shut the door behind you. 

Your unsuspecting frame in front of him as he takes off his gloves steadily, watchfully observing you. Wondering how stupid you have to be to let a man of his nature get you so easily. 

Feeling the biting sting of his finger on the strap of your nightgown, he tugs effortlessly. Spinning on your heels to face him and he wants to devour you. Your features are still shaken up from the invasion, your jaw exhausted from biting down on your own teeth for so long. Poor thing. Using his thumb to pull down the second strap, you let the silk nightgown drop down. Your full hips stopping the fabric from touching the floor, you cannot help the reflex of covering your breasts with your palms.

“I know what you did.” 

His voice drops critically low as he leans down into your ear. Lips parted to utter a silent moan. Dropping your hands to your sides, you look up to him shamefully. His index and thumb, rubbing and pinching the sensitive bud on your breast. A stunted rumble leaving his chest as he sees your bodily reaction to his touch. Goosebumps erupting from your chest to your arms and legs. Gripping the sides of your dress, he roughly tugs them down your thighs and grabs you by the back of your neck. Making sure to squeeze the sides of your airways to slowly cut down your air supply.

Shoving your face down on the bed, you attempt to push yourself up with your palms flat on the mattress but he knocks you back onto the sheets. Pulling up your hips for your knees to dig into the plush comfort of the bed. His thick finger coated with saliva invades your tight hole, coming out dipped in your wet arousal.  

“Say it. You waited for me.” 

You are hysterical, feeling his curved cock abusing the ceiling of your stomach. Your legs fighting to keep your ass up for him without collapsing. He’s teasing you. Speaking to you, knowing you don’t have the mental capacity to answer. Halting his movement to grab you by the hair and drag you higher onto the bed, you moan loudly. Your vocalized pleasure ending in broken pleads as he holds the backs of your thighs.

“Say it to me.” 

Widening your dazed eyes, you try to rise up off the bed but he forces you back down. It’s laughable in his eyes the way you want to resist him, knowing it’s all the embarrassment of being caught in your little act.

“I- I waited..” 

Your soft and hoarse voice croaks out an answer, in hopes to satisfy him in some twisted way. But no. The only satisfaction he can get it from you writhing under him with every powerful thrust to your cervix. The burning in your core when he bullies his way into your tight cunt and continues to ram into you until he sees those salty tears run down those tinted cheeks. He wants to squeeze onto your meaty thighs as he uses way too much force to keep your lower half in the desired position. His nails imprinted onto the sides of your skin and muscle lined femurs.

Even when your legs are shaking violently against his chest and the sides of his head, he won’t be near satisfied until he feels the bump of him in your lower abdomen. Your shattered breaths forcing air in and out of your lungs to keep you from falling into a delirium. Constantly driving his cock into you to feel you squeeze the skin off his dick when you cum. And even when he fills your womb with a fiery white substance, he even now will not be satisfied. 

kinktober list

writing list

#suggestive cw #marvel smut #baron zero imagine #baron zemo #marvel imagine #freaktober #horror #intrusive thoughts #fanfiction #smut #marvel cinematic universe #mcu fandom #mcu imagine #mcu villian #zemo x reader #baron helmut zemo #zemo x you #zemo x y/n

[aconflagrationofmyown]

You’ve definitely become one of my favorite Elvis writers on here, Marina.

And I wanted to ask you, are you planning to do more Elvis series? Like a series of Hollywood!Elvis, where he fights to be a serious actor and falls in love with one his co-stars. Or more Elvis AU, since we already have Pirate!Elvis. For example Cowboy!Elvis. Spy!Elvis like a James Bond or Agent Elvis. Mafia!Elvis. Even a Superhero!Elvis.

I think you’d do such a good job bringing all those concepts to life 🤭

My sweet anon, thank you so much, what a kind thing to say, I’m so glad my writing has brought you joy. 💋🌸💋 As for AU’s I did start a series about Hollywood E, yet never finished it. And for now I’ve got riverboat Captain E and father figure E to chew and that’s a lot on its own…but never say never. I think this would be something I’d have to have pitched to me and see if it resonates? So far I’ve not fully cooked up anything else original that hasn’t been done better by others. I’m always happy to dish out recs, fyi.

BUT THAT SAID…I’m messing around with little snippets, a filthy fairytale in collaboration with @elvisabutler and this demented Regency Elvis headcanon below that “my sexy secretary” @ab4eva took down from a chat. Enjoy…

I Bet on Losing Dogs -🥀 A Regency Elvis Blurb

18+ blurb, warning sexual content ahead, arranged marriage, romance novella style stuff

Imagine this: Regency Elvis whose wife has recently left him for a foreigner, taking with her his only child -a daughter who cannot inherit. He needs an heir.

Zero promises of love or fidelity or even bare respect for his new wife but…there’ll be position and status and jewels so long as you perform your wifely duties without complaint.

Jaded and lonely, I need freshly betrayed Elvis buying off a nobleman for his daughter, a Baron who’s mortgaged his estate for debts, Mr. Presley gets the association with your family’s nobility and you get the much needed wealth that new money brings.

And so your new husband comes in nightly in an embroidered robe and a solitary lit candle to consummate your union. He’s got all that chest hair displayed and a lil ponch of a belly showing out his robe as he slowly undoes the tie every night, never rushed, and you can feel the jitters down to your toes every time as you hug the sheet to your chin.

*Let go, Darlin,* he’s always murmuring as he pulls the sheet from your grip, *must do what needs done*

He fucks you hard and fast for such a delicate woman and then tosses you spending money to make up for it.

Reminds you after each visit to yoru chambers that you have a job to do. One single job.

*Gimme that son and maybe you’ll get that sea bathin’ ya been hankerin’ for*

(Elvis is from Yorkshire if he was ever transported to an English Setting AU, ok? No question, unless the question is Irish versus Yorkish)

Each time, when he finishes and pants into the humid crook of your neck, his hand blindly strokes away your tears and he whispers in gravelly apology, *I’ll leave ya alone, moment ya start to swell, I swear it, I’ll leave ya alone lil girl*

But that’s not why you’re crying, you wish he’d stay, he doesn’t know how cold you get when he leaves you and his sweat and spend cools on your skin and leaves you shivering.

You could curse the woman who laid here before you, who broke his heart and still haunts this place, like the wall opposite the bed with its outline of a portrait missing on the sun-bleached wall.

You wonder what she looked like, this missing wife.

You wonder if she secretly craved the burning stretch of him like you do, possibly not if she left for someone more…continental. Was he too voracious for her? Or was it the loneliness that finally ate her through like the moths who try the same with the bed canopy.

One night, Mr. Presley’s hand slips from your shoulder down to your breast, very rarely does he maul you there except in his direst paroxysms of pleasure, but tonight he slips and grabs and it’s so sore you nearly cry aloud from the ache.

*I swear I’ll leave ya be* he had said and you bite your lip savagely, cinch your corsets cruelly and wonder how to make him love you, tolerate you even. Anything so that you’re not left alone like he promises.

Are your breasts sore from being with child? You worry so.

So the next night you scheme, and when he shakes atop you and catches his breath and makes to roll away, you grab hold of him and keep him close.

*Six months* you murmur, and he seems confused by your meaning, *six month’s you’ve visited me nightly save for menses and Lent, and no child to show for it. Won’t you stay? Nurse says if the man remains…after…the chances are greater.*

Ensuing cockwarming between two people who’ve barely spoken outside of bed…little chats…because neither can sleep and in fact, he doesn’t really sleep that much at all, he admits.

*what do you do then? At nights?* you ask.

He reads a lot, he tells you and he’s got a telescope, and you tentatively ask if he’ll read to you.

He agrees with a shy *i-if ya want that, I will*

About the books. You asks if he will tonight instead of leaving and he says yes.

Then he hesitates and asks lowly, *can we…once more?…before?*

He asks if he can do it again, before he grabs the books, because he firmed up again while acting as a stopper in your warm cunt.

You’re already a wet mess down there and perhaps he moves you around, spoons you.

Puts himself back in and you’re so wet from what he gave you before and your excitement at the intimacy you feel in this movement.

And due to the difference in angle, for the first time, you actually come from the feeling of your husband inside you. His flaming hot body behind you, his thick arms wrapped around your body, the delicious rub of him in your womb.

And you’re quite sure you’ve already made a child but he doesn’t need to know. Not yet.

Anything to keep him coming back.

#elvis presley #regency Elvis #elvis fanfiction #Elvis blurb #elvis fanfic #Elvis smut #regency #bridgerton #elvis imagine #elvis x reader #elvis #mine

[sorry-i-like-romantic-fabriz]

This post here lists everything that makes Riz "canonically AroAce". OP refuses to listen to anyone who doesn't agree with them, so I'm responding to it separately with my own post. This post isn't about denying his possible/potential aromanticism, this post is about debunking the "canon" everyone insists makes Riz irrefutably AroAce. As always, I'm not here to tell anyone Riz cannot possibly be aromantic. I'm just trying to push back against the concept that Riz can only be interpreted one way and one way only. Here we go!

"He doesn't want relationships. That is canon." He's disinterested in them, that is not the same as being against them entirely. He doesn't relate to his friends obsession with them, but moreover he specifically doesn't relate to being horny 24/7.

"He made up Baron because he wasn't dating anyone and felt pressured." He was feeling (unintentionally) alienated by his friends and didn't wanna seem "different". They were saying he'd understand the obsession specifically with sex, once he was in a relationship. They weren't saying he HAD to be in one.

"His entire nightmare forest experience was 'you are different from your loved ones because you don’t want romantic relationships like they do'. " That was by absolutely no means the entirety of his nightmare experience. His fear was being abandoned by his friends, something Kalina antagonizes him about throughout the ENTIRE SEASON. Yes his disinterest in relationships (which he clearly equates with sex) was part of his fear, but not the entirety of it.

"Baron is literally part of his imagination telling him that he does not experience romantic attraction." Baron appears for less than twenty minutes throughout the entirety of the season. While Baron is his "Roemaence Partener", and while yes Baron also antagonizes Riz about his disinterest in relationships, Baron is more a representation of Riz desperately trying to fit in rather than one saying "you don't experience romantic attraction".

"Everybody uses asexual to mean aro/ace, because they are not aware of the term aromantic." That's just straight up untrue. While it is a frequent misconception, insisting that that is what people ALWAYS mean is ridiculous. Which connects with your next statement:

"Brennan isn't exactly deeply entrenched in queer labels." While I can't argue about Brennan's knowledge of anything queer, Brennan knows about: sexuality being a spectrum, gender being a construct, polyamory (which I feel means he knows relationships are complicated), and he did a whole fucking campaign with drag queens of various labels.

I feel like insisting Brennan has absolutely zero concept of there being a difference between Ace and Aro is just to fit your belief that there's absolutely no way Riz could be anything but AroAce.

"Him using the word asexual does not and should not erase the explicit aromanticism of riz's character." There is no clear, canon information of Riz's romantic identity. Only his sexuality. Tbh if Murph made the conscious decision to make Riz asexual, I feel like he also knows Ace and Aro are not one in the same.

Look, I'm not denying that Riz could be AroAce. There's canon to support that interpretation along with the canon that states he's asexual. I'm not saying your interpretation is wrong, what I'm saying is your interpretation is not the only correct one.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

#fabriz #man I would love to tag the character #this entire post is about #but I don't feel like having my notifications #flooded with messages about people wanting to kill me with hammers

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki, Uchiyama Koki, and Kino Hina

Interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki, Uchiyama Koki, and Kino Hina (voice actors for Kurusu Kazuki, Suwa Rei, and Unasaka Miri)

[Translator's note: This interview contains spoilers for the entire series.]

Interviewer: In the final arc of "Buddy Daddies", some disturbing developments unfold in the lives of Kurusu Kazuki, Suwa Rei, and Unasaka Miri. How did that make you feel?

Kino: Kazuki, Rei, and Miri seemed to have become a real family, but once Miri's mother reappeared, I wondered just how things would progress towards the climax. Since it's an original series, I really was going ahead with zero idea of what was in store. I hoped no one would die, but in the end, Miri's mother did, and Kazuki and Rei took Miri in - that was a bit of a surprise. I was imagining all sorts of things, like, "I wonder if Rei's going to die..."

Uchiyama: Huh? Really?! (laughs)

Toyonaga: Even in the recording studio, we were chatting about "is someone gonna die..."

Kino: My father was also one of the viewers, and as he watched Rei's speedy evolution, he said, "I sure hope he doesn't die." (laughs)

Uchiyama: Come to think of it, him shouting, "Go for it!" at sports day really feels like a death flag.

Toyonaga: When it comes down to it, Miri-chan is in the most tragic situation of all - she's gone through the disaster of losing both her real parents. It's just Miri-chan's age that keeps her from fully understanding her circumstances; when we were recording live, I kept thinking that this must be so tough for Kino-san, who understands everything, but instead has to keep up that pure innocence the whole time.

Kino: The storyline and character backgrounds are rather dark, so I figured surely Miri would be heartbroken and burst into tears, sometime in the final arc. But there was no scene like that, all the way to the very end. Her only crying scenes were when she was throwing tantrums, so throughout the whole series, she stands out being as a girl with a bright smile. But I feel like the reason why Miri can stay ignorant of all this is because Kazuki-papa and Rei-papa take such good care of her. So I also tried to play the role without letting any stray thoughts get into my head.

Toyonaga: Her papas might have stayed a "comedian" and an "oil baron" until the very end. (laughs)

Interviewer: Kazuki and Rei's feelings towards Miri also underwent major changes, compared to how they started out.

Toyonaga: The entire plot was structured around the idea that the assassin job would hinder them in being parents; eventually, as a result of them being subordinates to the organisation, their ties - to Rei's father and so on - would get in the way. If so, what decision would the two of them make regarding Miri-chan? That was how things played out. And they did exchange blows with Ogino (Ryo) after all. In episode 10, they thought, "We can't change," and temporarily decided to return Miri to her mother - but in episode 11, both of them were incredibly hung up on this, and they ultimately couldn't let go. I think that's just how indispensable Miri-chan's presence had become to Kazuki and Rei, over the course of those 11 episodes.

Uchiyama: In the episode 10 ferris wheel scene, Rei expresses some lingering reluctance, with a melancholy look we've never seen from him before. That's where you can really see his emotional development. Another striking moment is in episode 11, where Rei confirms that Miri is unhurt, and brings up wanting to adopt her. It's quite a bold change for Rei to say something like that, even though Kazuki is saying it'd be better to step aside. He's voicing his feelings, in the longest lines of dialogue he's ever had, in order to change Kazuki's mind; it really has such a climactic feeling to it. I was wondering exactly how I myself should play this, in order to sway Kazuki emotionally.

Toyonaga: You really never talked so much before episode 11.

Uchiyama: In episode 12, there's also a scene where he's giving his father a long speech; when I saw the script, I went, "That's a lot..."

Toyonaga: Yeah, that was me all the time, up to episode 10. (laughs)

Uchiyama: Sorry! (laughs) Anyway, Rei's dialogue increases drastically in the second half of the show, and he displays a side you haven't seen at all in the first half. It leaves quite an impact.  

Toyonaga: The fact that he can say so much to his father - that's new too.

Interviewer: After all that, in the final episode, we're shown how the trio's future plays out. 

Uchiyama: That was a real surprise. If Miri's a high school student now, that means about ten years have passed. I was totally in the dark about that ending until I saw the script. I incorporated quite an adult tone into my voice whenever I was voicing Rei, so I thought, "If you're going to jump ahead into the future, give me a heads-up first!" (laughs) He's a dark character who's lived as an assassin this whole time, so I was already pulling out all the stops to make him as adult as I could manage. "I can't make him any older than this!" I thought.

Toyonaga: I was right next to him in the studio, and he told me, "No, I can't go any lower than this." (laughs)

Uchiyama: Actually, they didn't ask for any major changes. They weren't going for a simplistic sense of ageing - they just wanted him to seem like he'd matured somewhat emotionally. I appreciated that. Kazuki is 39 years old, I think. 

Toyonaga: Yeah, he grew a beard and all.

Uchiyama: And Rei being 36 was a shock.

Toyonaga: Likewise, rather than "Kazuki's gotten older", it was more like we should simply be aware of the passage of time. And when you think about it rationally, the 39-year-old Kazuki is around the same age as me now. I turn 39 this year. So I thought it'd be nice if I could portray a certain age-appropriate composure. Kino-san, I bet you were even more surprised?

Kino: That's right. When I received the script for episode 12, there was a drawing of a grown-up Miri on the back cover, and it gave me such a shock. Then I checked the footage and saw that she really had grown up; I was so taken aback! I usually play a lot of little kids, so I went into the studio thinking, "Will this really work out?" During rehearsals, I was keeping her age increase in mind, so I tried to give a pretty subdued performance. But I was told that the bubbliness was "very Miri", and it would be best to keep that. So I course-corrected for the actual performance. I think Miri's total emotional stability must be the result of Kazuki and Rei's trial-and-error parenting, and that's why all of them were able to find their happy ending. You can sense that they've become a real family.

Toyonaga: I once asked Director Asai, just in passing, how it would all turn out in the end. He said something like, "For a story like this, a tragic ending is also a real possibility..." So I was also on tenterhooks, wondering if they'd all die. I think the director fretted over it a lot too, but in the end, shouldering their various burdens, they moved forward together and became a family. I feel like it's an incredibly heartwarming ending, don't you?

Interviewer: Now that Miri is a high school girl, what will happen if she gets a sweetheart...?

Toyonaga: I think it'll be really tough to win Kazuki and Rei over.

Kino: I agree. In Kazuki's fantasy scenes, he said something like, "I'll kill you!"

Uchiyama: Right, he had fantasies of the future too.

Kino: There were scenes of Miri as a gyaru. And some predictions of a future with Taiga-kun.

Toyonaga: I wonder how Taiga-kun's doing in the future. Are they still in touch?

Kino: If so, Taiga-kun might be in danger. (laugh)

Interviewer: Looking back at all twelve episodes, which scenes or incidents left the strongest impression on you?

Uchiyama: Miri sang a lot. At the beginning of that episode, and at the end too.

Kino: She did. I practised once I got the scripts, but for her mother’s song, I received a demo song beforehand. Since Miri's mother was a singer, Miri loves singing; that's part of the whole setup, which was rather nervewracking. As for the kids' TV programme, I listened to the music through headphones and sang along on the spot - I went like "aaa-aaa-aaa~ ♪"

Uchiyama: It's not like Miri is in a musical - the songs contain different fluctuating emotions, and the point isn't to just sing them as beautifully as possible. It has to be a more varied portrayal. Also, Kazuki is a great cook, so I remember them eating lots of delicious-looking food.

Toyonaga: But you guys only ever grumbled about it. (laughs)

Kino: There really were quite a few scenes of "Miri hates this!"

Uchiyama: Rei has the same palate as Miri - he can't handle anything too elaborate. As for Miri, the taste of premade meals reminds her of her mother.

Toyonaga: When Rei was helping to make bento, he stuffed gummies in the onigiri.

Uchiyama: But it went over well with the children. All that food content was fun.

Toyonaga: Besides that - basically, Miri-chan's always a cutie.

Uchiyama: The thing about Miri-chan is that she doesn't just have cute or charming faces. There are plenty of "meanie Miri" expressions.

Kino: There really are. She seriously has such a rich range of expressions; as we went into the second half of the show, I kept thinking, "Wow, we get to see faces like that too?" It made me feel like my vocal performance had no restrictions either - like, "I can just let myself loose."

Toyonaga: How are you so good at playing a four-year-old?

All: (laugh)

Uchiyama: You make an incredibly realistic four-year-old.

Kino: Really? Thank you!

Toyonaga: Amazing, isn't it? When did you get this good?

Kino: When, huh... There are little kids who are naturally quiet, and there are those, like Miri, who scream "Boring!" and kick up a fuss. But starting from the audition, I figured I'd express my emotions innocently, just as they were. I wailed "Aaahh!" so much, things probably got really loud. When I was overdoing it, I was directed to dial it down a bit, and I adjusted accordingly.

Toyonaga: Whenever Miri-chan was happy or excited, she let out this incredibly high-pitched "Aaaahh!" I loved that. Kids really do react just like that.

Kino: Thank you very much. (laughs)

Interviewer: Can you tell us your personal favourite episodes?

Kino: The sports day scenes in episode 9 almost made me cry when I watched them. Kazuki was actually bawling, but it was such an incredibly warm and fluffy episode. I love it.

Uchiyama: Sports day was very exciting.

Toyonaga: It's fluffy and feel-good, but it makes you want to cry.

Kino: Rei cheering for Miri and regretting it afterwards was also very cute.

Uchiyama: It's true that Rei yelling like that totally threw Miri off. As for me, I'll say episode 10. It feels like a turning point in the story, plus it made me want to go to an amusement park. (laughs) There's something very appealing about a place like a ferris wheel. Out of all the various attractions, a ferris wheel feels most like a private room - it's an enclosed space where sound is cut off. I think it's a very special kind of space. After having fun all day, deep conversations can naturally arise within that sort of atmosphere. It was the perfect match for those story developments. You can really feel the misery of the final arc setting in; it's very memorable.

Toyonaga: And I'll go with episodes 7 and 8, which are standout episodes for Kazuki and Rei respectively. In episode 7, Kazuki talks to (Izumi) Karin-chan, his late wife's younger sister, and I kept all that incredible dramatic weight in mind when playing that scene. Approaching that material was a real challenge to me as an actor, so in that sense, it left an impression on me. And as for episode 8, when Rei is interacting with the boss of the organisation, you can really see the chains he's been shouldering this whole time, and everything that's made Rei the way he is now. Getting to learn about these things was definitely memorable.  

Interviewer: Once again, what do you think is the appeal of "Buddy Daddies"?

Kino: Kazuki, Rei, and Miri all bear their own heavy burdens from their past. Miri is separated from her mother, Rei's father has only ever taught him to live as an assassin, and Kazuki is also shackled by a tragic history. If you look at it that way, it's a dark story, but when the three of them are together, there are so many comical scenes that make you laugh, or upbeat flashy scenes. It's an exquisitely maintained balance, and you really can't get enough of watching it. There are scenes that will warm your heart, and scenes that will make you cry. That wide variety means this show can reach all sorts of people, and I think that's what makes it so wonderful.

Toyonaga: I think that different people who watch this series find different things to connect with emotionally. It can be enjoyed and judged in totally contrasting ways, depending on the viewer's individual experiences, lifestyles, and circumstances. That makes it a very fascinating show. People who are relatively young might relate to Miri-chan, and may project Kazuki and Rei onto their own parents. And that could lead to a lot of diverse opinions and reactions being exchanged - to me, that's one of the most appealing things about this show.

Uchiyama: The atmosphere of the series turns on a dime from comedic to serious, changing between one scene and the next, so you can barrel right through each episode without it ever feeling stale. I find that very enjoyable. And it ends with a timeskip to the future - that came as a real surprise to us too. All in all, the colourful plot twists and unpredictability really set this show apart. There's the unique sense of awe you only get from an original story.

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to all the fans who have enjoyed "Buddy Daddies".

Kino: Through recording this one-cour story with a total of twelve episodes, I feel like I've gotten a glimpse of the sheer depths of human experience. I'm truly happy I could work on a series like this. As Toyonaga-san also said, it's a show which people can enjoy from many different perspectives, but since I played Miri, there were so many scenes which reminded me of my parents. The delicious cornflakes I ate as a child, being cheered on at sports day - all sorts of memories came back to me. I really hope this show also reawakened some warm memories for everyone in the audience. Thank you so much for watching to the very end.

Uchiyama: "Buddy Daddies" is an original series, so in a sense, it has plenty of blank spaces left. Kazuki and Rei's pasts, the details of the organisation, Kyu-chan's (Kugi Kyutaro's) private life... there are still some things we don't know. Also, what happened in the missing years during the finale's sudden timeskip? What sort of conversations took place as Miri was growing up? How did they end up at the diner? I think it's a lot of fun to fill in those gaps with your imagination. The anime is over, but I hope you will continue to enjoy yourselves in those blank spaces. Thank you very much for watching every episode.

Toyonaga: To everyone who watched all twelve episodes, thank you from the bottom of my heart. "Buddy Daddies" presented me, the actor Toyonaga Toshiyuki, with so many opportunities to challenge myself, and it really has been a delight. I'm also a father of one - I'm raising a daughter around Miri's age. Through playing this role and mapping it on to my own circumstances, I've learnt a lot in this one cour - both as an actor, and as father to a child. The series ended in an incredibly beautiful way, so rather than a sequel, I feel like it would lend itself well to occasional standalone spinoff episodes. I also look forward to being able to meet Kazuki, Rei, and Miri-chan again, and in the meantime, I will do my best as a real papa. Thank you so much.

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies interview #toyonaga toshiyuki #uchiyama kouki #kino hina #and NOW my watch is actually ended

[short-black-diamond]

The greatest estate developer x female!witch!reader Chapter one, Chapter two:

Word count: 5.8 k

I did not proofread.

---

After you guys helped the sand and steel tribe with their resource and workout problem, the men and you gathered around. you didn't know why though, but you'd soon find out.

"We, the sand and steel tribe, feel a deep gratitude to you, Lloyd the human, and ____ the witch, oink.", Akush, Arosh's father, exclaimed.

And as good as he could act, Lloyd humbly replied: "You are too kind... I was merely fulfilling the terms of our contract."

"It was actually rather fun to make the ice.", you stated. you mostly enjoyed playing with Lloyd with the water as you two splashed each other and you guys even being able to make snow, which resulted in a snowball fight. Javier surprisingly joined in the fun. You thought you caught him having a little smile as well.

"We orcs are different from you humans, oink. We do not just take things for granted because of a contract, oink.

When we are grateful, we show it, oink. Therefore, I, Akush of the sand and steel tribe, will make a vow to you, Lloyd, oink.", the leader started and a 'FWOOSH' sound erupted.

You knew what that meant and you grinned like the perv you were.

"From this moment, I declare the family of Lloyd Frontera and the sand and steel tribe...", and he struck a body-builder pose, his underlings behind him along, "...blood brothers, oink!"

'God, this is so much better than any explicit book I've read so far!', you thought excitedly as you zeroed on every single muscle and handsome face you could muster in front of you.

However, you flinched when the 120 orcs behind you, Javier and Lloyd struck the same pose as the orcs in front of you. "Blood brothers!", they chanted.

and you couldn't help from giggling like an idiot as you were salivating when Arosh's father flexed his right arm to you guys, right in front of you, just six feet away. "The Fronteras are our friends! An enemy of the Fronteras is an enemy of our tribe! If anyone should cause you trouble, we will be at your side!"

While you were busy ogling at the hundreds of men with a heavy blush and imagining all the dirty things they could do to you, and Javier deadpanning at the many men but also noticing your face and deadpanning at you as well, Lloyd was busy staring ahead.

"Long live the sand and steel tribe!", he then yelled, while flexing his arm. When you took notice of him, you only stared at his less-toned arm. "...what?"

You just turned to the orcs again and started to smirk. He deadpanned at you as well. "Really?", but you didn't listen.

...

as you guys were arriving back to town, the townspeople were frightened. meanwhile, you were asking Arosh about his workout routine. you were just a little pervy shit, with the way you blinked at him with your big doe eyes in faux wonder, and also asked to see his muscles. You also took notice of his heavy gulp and sweet, pink blush when you caressed his biceps as you muttered something along the lines of his hard work paying off. But, it didn't look like the Orc was against your special attention to his body. If anything, he relished the way you touched and gazed at him.

and seeing you being so close to the leader's son...made Lloyd...jealous? He never felt that. He never had a girlfriend in his past life. But for all he knew is that he didn't like that feeling. And he liked even less how you touched the pushover Orc.

As for Javier, he watched you with an unreadable expression, as always actually. But also Javier Asrahan felt something uncomfortable inside him when he saw you with that Orc.

Now you guys were in one of the baron's chambers as you examined the many magical objects. Some of them were actually rather new to you. "Where did you get these from?"

"A dark sorcerer." "What? Did you guys fight him?"

"Kinda."

However, you felt the scene in front of you rather cute; Lloyd sitting around and looking through stuff reminded you of a child, rummaging through its many presents and toys.

He held a big orange circle, then a crystallised skull, and now, he held a grey book. Javier went closer to him and stealing glances of what stood in the book while you sat down and leaned closer to Lloyd. He blushed a little when your thighs touched his.

"Is there anything of monetary value?", the knight asked. Javier also felt a pang of pain here again when you put your hands on Lloyd's hand to stop changing the pages. Lloyd flinched and looked at you with big eyes, but yours were concentrated on the content. You must've caught something interesting. As you snatched the book from the young Frontera-to which Lloyd protested with a 'hmpf!'-, Lloyd answered: "I'm not sure...I'm looking first to see if there is anything we can use before seeling it..."

"Wow, this book teaches you how to let a corpse work for you!", you laughed, but Lloyd turned serious. "...Really?"

"...Yeah? can't you read what it says?", you asked, confused as to why Lloyd asked you that. He took a look at the page where you stopped him. Then he snatched the book back and and quickly took his jacket.

"____! Come with me! Javier! I need to head ot the mine! I'll leave you to tidy up the rest!"

And as if on reflex, you pulled him to your broom where he sat behind you and you two dashed ahead. "Leave the books here though and put everything else in my room!", you yelled before you two left the room.

Javier sighed as he looked at the mess.

...

"Tordes! Where's Tordes?!", Lloyd called as soon as he landed on safe grounds. You kept sitting on your broom and looked around. 'Whoah, here are many workers...!'

"Who's Tordes?", you asked while looking around. Also here, you took notice rather quickly of the building muscles of the men around here. You were growing a little dizzy by the lack of oxygen and more by the amount of sweat which 'sexily flows down their arms and necks! Aahhh~-', so you made a bubble with many holes which let air out. The air was much better now, and it also seemed like the workers had noticed as they thanked you. You smiled. And you blushed.

Pervy little piece of shit.

"You were looking for me, my lord?", a meek looking young lad asked, eyes lost from life, cheeks hollow and the big nose making him appear pathetic. (Nothing against big nosed ppl, like Doja Cat said, she'd like to sit on ppl w/ big noses. also love y'all <3)

He had green hair which was disshelved, and his pickaxe was resting on his back. However, a heavy blush settled on his cheeks when he saw you. You, who sat so gracefully on a broom, your thighs spilling from the sides which got cut off your dress and thigh highs making your thighs appear more thick. you little belly pudge was also to die for. Your deep cleavage with your rather larger than average chest made Tordes gulp. And your face was also the one's of an angel...!

"Ah, there you are! I have some good news!", Lloyd exclaimed as he felt the poor guy's strong stare at you. Lloyd'd wipe the sparkle of the young pervert's eyes away in an instant. You just waved with a small smile.

Tordes blushed more. 'Was Lloyd bringing me a woman? If yes, then-'

"You remember the terms of your contract? The bit about working for 520 years.", to which Tordes affirmed with a "ah...yes...".

"If you think about it...that was ridiculous, right? That clause was a bit of a joke. But now you don't have to worry anymore!", the baron's son smiled as he took out the book.

you frowned. 'what did he want to show Tordes? And what contract-'

"Here, there's a spell that can turn a corpse into a ghoul I can control!"

"Lloyd!? Why would you do that?!", you yelped. You were outraged. "Don't you have any pity on him?!"

But the Frontera son wasn't listening. "That means you can work the whole 520 years! Isn't that exciting?! Sounds fun, right?!"

while you were looking from one man to the other with a panicked expression, to Tordes, who just looked at Lloyd, and Lloyd, who then turned serious.

"Hey...am I the only one excited about this?

...Smile."

Tordes cried while mustering up a crooked smile.

"Lloyd, how dare you do that?! ...H-How about we make another deal?! You take off 480 years off the debt he has to work for you- which I will cover- and just let him work for forty years?! There, he could work for you until he gets old! Wouldn't that be better?! Please leave the poor Tordes be!"

Lloyd gave you one of his devillish grins and you didn't fight the urge to slap him this time.

"STOP IT WITH THE GRIMACE!!! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE GONNA STAY SINGLE FOREVER!", you yelled after you gave him a bitch slap.

And that seemed to pull him back to his senses. Albeit a little only. But still. The thought behind it counted.

"...Fine, I'm not gonna turn you into a worker even after you're dead. You're lucky ____ was here to rescue you, even though she showed me this page-" "I didn't know that you'd come to such evil thoughts!-"

"So keep up the great work. You can do it.", he "encouraged", as he lead you away from Tordes with one of his hands on your back. You noticed that his large hand reached from one end of your waist to the other and you felt your cheeks warming up when his thumb carresed the back of your spine.

"Bye Tordes, and sorry for bothering you with that!", you called back as you waved. Tordes waved back with a happy smile and rosy cheeks now.

...

You tucked your broom away while following Lloyd who was looking for his parents. You still had to recover from the fact that the townspeople here didn't look at you weirdly. You were a witch, after all. Maybe it's because you didn't look like an Orc? No, Orcs were even prettier than you, if anything.

You were for sure happy when the mine-workers thanked you for making oxygen-bubbles which allowed them to breathe more air and also help them cool off.

"Pardon me...The Baron is in the reception room. He has some guests..."

"Huh? Which guests?"

"Um...Mr. Shiloh and Mr. Meatloaf."

Lloyd stayed solent for a moment before he turned around to go to the reception room while his face was about to form more unnatural-

But you slapped him again. This time more hard. "WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT!?!?!? The poor maid here is scared by the faces you pull off!"

Lloyd ignored the harsh sting of your slap and pulled you towards said room. Now in front of it, you made a spell which allowed you and Lloyd to listen to the conversation. Suddenly, Arosh appeared and asked you in a hushed whisper what you two were doing.

"Lloyd's dad's collegues seem to be not so nice to him.", you spoke easily, having already understood that Arosh wouldn't understand anything else you'd say when you asked about anything other than meat and workouts or muscles. So baby talk it was.

"Why are they not nice to him? Do I have to interfere?", he asked, but you gently pulled him down. "No, we'll wait a little longer.", and right after you ended your sentence did you hear the first words of the conversation.

"So, Baron, you already know...our policy is to receive the principal of the loan in a single repayment. However, just this once, we will make a special arrangement so you can repay 10% of the principal", Sir Meatloaf, Lloyd guessed, said.

Then, Sir Meatloaf spoke again. "That is, if you hand over the rights to the mine.", and that made you and Lloyd frown at each other.

Lloyd's father remained mute. This time, Mr. Shiloh raised his voice. "Why are you not answering us, Baron? It will reduce your interest payment. This would be good for you, would it not?"

And now, it seemed that Lloyd didn't want to hear anymore of their crap and knocked while you whooshed away your spell. After knocking on the door a few times, Lloyd spoke: "My lord, it's Llyod, may I enter?"

"Oh, yes, please come in!", the father answered.

As Lloyd and you came in, you unfortunately didn't miss the way the two grown men were ogling at your figure which made you a little self conscious and also uncomfortable, but luckily, Lloyd went in front of you to grab their attention. With a sugarsweet smile and a bittersweet voice, Lloyd asked them about their well-being.

but you were annoyed by how little they seemed to respect the baron's son. "If you think about threatening us again, you can buzz off. Here, we have an official invitation.", the fatso spoke who must've been undoubtedly Mr Meatloaf.

But the shown paper didn't seem to draw your partner's attention in the slightest. "Oh, of course you do. You are intellectuals after all, haha. I couldn't help but overhear the amaaaazing offer you were giving us. May I be so bold to suggest an offer of my own?"

'Why is Mr. Meatloaf answering all the questions? Shiloh over there seems to be mute...', you thought when you heard the brash voice of Meatloaf declining the offer halfheartedly, but got interrupted by Lloyd again.

"Going forward, we will repay our depths in smaller tranches. You will of course lower the interest accordingly."

"I said I did not want to hear it! How dare you!", to which the Frontera son only 'Hmm?'ed.

"so you two can spit out crappy offers but I can't? Well, that makes me angry.", and as if on cue, Arosh appeared.

"Who dares....", Arosh started, as he stepped in, and glaring at the two men in front of him with an ice cold glare -to which you blushed heavily-, "...to anger my Frontera brother, oink?"

Lloyd only smiled next to him innocently. You wanted to laugh at them, but you burst out laughing when you looked at the two men who were sitting in front of the Baron. They looked like they'd shit their pants any moment now.

Arosh didn't seem to be finished, as he repeated what his father said in his own words. "Anyone who causes trouble to the Fronteras...will be destroyed with the full force of the sand and steel tribe, oink."

Lloyd punched Arosh's left 'juicy, hot, big!' pectoral lightly and you bit your tongue not to whimper when it jiggled. 'Damn you Lloyd, that hand of yours should be my hand!'

"Come on, my friend. Who's angering who? No, no."

"No, oink. It sounded like they were shouting at Lloyd, oink."

"No, he just has a loud voice. Now, about my offer... what do you think? Should you refuse it...you might hurt my feelings.", he spoke calmly, but his face said otherwise.

"If you hurt Frontera's feelings, I'll tear you to pieces, oink.", Arosh growled and you whimpered quietly. It was a miracle how nobody seemed to pay attention to you, really.

Sadly, you had to refrain yourself to bitch-slap him across the room. 'wait, if I slap Lloyd, will Arosh slap me? That would be a cost I'd be willing to take...!'

But before anything else could happen, the two idiots signed a new contract and ran away.

Now, you were praising Arosh for standing up for Lloyd, and Arosh was blushing furiously while thanking you while averting his eyes and stuttering. After Lloyd deadpanned at you two, he faced his "dad".

"If I would have things my way, I would cancel the debt completely, but that would be a crime, so we will have to make do with these changes."

"Ah...y-yes. Thank you.", The Baron sweatdropped.

"the ondol construction business is gradually expanding, and the mining of soft coal is going smoothly. We'll be able to pay off the debths in no time."

With the rolled paper in hand, Lloyd went over to the baron and handed it over to him. The baron hesitantly took the paper. Your attention was brought to Lloyd, and Arosh pouted cutely at your loss of attention to him.

"As the one named on the contract, please keep it safe."

"Sure..."

You watched the baron with curiousity. 'The father seems to be pretty chill, but also clueless at times. Otherwise he looks like a good man.'

Lloyd had, as always, something else to say.

"However...we do have one big problem. If we don't solve this, it will be serious.", the Frontera son started before pointing his thumb back to Arosh. "These guys eat ten times more than normal humans. The cost of feeding them is huge, so if this continues we may gain more debt, heh heh..."

You frowned when you heard of this. 'Why isn't he asking me? I have the perfect spell for that!'

"I can help with that, Lloyd.", you interfered, and effectively stopping the poor father from having a nervous breakdown. "You can? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you never asked?"

"I-...oh wait I thought I asked you...huh, what kind of spell could you do?"

"Well, for one, I can duplicate an animal twenty times its size, but I need to brew a potion for that. Or I could play an instrument, which would make more animals. Hmmm....for other spells, I'll have to look in one of my books..."

"Really? Then that's good! Wonderful! Jeez, ____, what can't you do?"

"Raise people from the dead?...at least, not yet."

And you two broke out laughing. Arosh and Lloyd's father only looked at you with a bewildered expression.

...

Again, you had to follow Lloyd to the mine, because the workers couldn't drag an Orc away who was working more than a day.

"Where!? Where is it?!"

"It's that Orc over there! He's been working for 24 hours non-stop!", a nameless worker informed, pointing to another good-looking Orc.

"...____?", he asked -for you to do your magic- but you only stared at the Orc in shock. However, you felt a deep rush of blood going up your head that you became dizzy.

"Wow...what a .... hardworking man...", you mumbled as you gently took the Orc in the air. As the orc was fumbling around, obviously not used to flying in the air, you had a heavy blush.

"ARRGH! I DON'T WANT TO REST, OINK! I WANT TO WORK OUT, OINK! MY MUSCLES, OOOINK!", the Orc screamed as he flew behind you who had to bring him out to the open. You also renewed your spell on the oxygen bubbles.

'I...I won't be able to last any longer when I see more of those muscles and handsome faces...!', you thought as you walked with Lloyd towards Arosh.

He gave you a questioning look but you only smiled with your eyes closed. Good thing that you could still sense their individual core-manas. 'Don't open your eyes, ____! Don't you dare open your eyes!'

"Wages? You mean money, oink? We Orcs have no need for money, oink. Us Ocs only ask that our bellies are full, oink.", the leader's son of the sand and steel tribe answered to one of Lloyd's questions.

After you brought out the overworking Orc and casting him with a sleeping spell, you turned to Lloyd. "I didn't eat anything all day, is it okay if I grab a bite?" "Sure, no problem."

"Would you like something as well? I can only cook half as good as I can do magic, but I think I'll manage for an apple pie.", you asked after you and Lloyd went around a bit, taking a walk. And as always, the path lead to his father's house.

"I'd love to eat something sweet later. But I do have one question. How did you stop the lava Bangul shot when it was only mere inches away from you? Didn't you say that you didn't have any mana?"

You pondered for a moment. "You're right, I've never thought about that to be honest... maybe it's because witches have hundreds of more mana hearts than humans. I have my core-mana, spirit-mana, sould-mana, ghost-mana, mind-mana, and many more. But, It seems like I've only reached ten so far. The one that I unlocked when the lava shot me must've been my reflex-mana."

"Reflex-mana?"

"This mana allows the body to use magic, but only in a life-or-death situation. That's why I could stop the lava. If you don't understand what I mean then I can gladly explain it once you're done talking to your father."

He gave you a perplexed expression. "How did you know that I was going to my father?"

You smiled at him. "Because whenever there is trouble, you talk to him and Javier. It's actually nice having a father who listens to you, isn't it?", and Lloyd saw you for the first time with a sad smile.

"Please cherish each relationship with the people here. Especially the one's whom you feel closest with."

And you had a hardened expression again.

You two walked for a moment, and then Lloyd spoke again. "You know...you never actually told me anything about you. Where are you from? Is it far away? How are your parents? Did you have many friends from where you came from?"

You chuckled. "I'm from the west, Lloyd. I can't tell you how far away my hometown is, but I can tell you that it took me three years from there to here. Without magic, that is. The witches in my town were just...arrogant pricks, to be honest. My parents...wanted me to get married to an older man with much wealth and he was also a high-ranking sorcerer. I didn't have many friends back there, actually. I also had a cat, Seseg...but she died. And you know whose foult that was? The mother of the man I should have been betrothed to. Can you believe it? Killing an innocent creature?

And that's when I lost it. My parents then blamed me for Seseg's death, the townspeople looked down on me, the girls I thought were my friends turned against me as well, and I thought that I had no other choice but to leave.

However, it was the best decision I could make, even when I lost my core mana in the process."

"Because you met me, Javier and Arosh?"

"Mainly because I met you, Lloyd."

You gave him a look of gratitude, which made the young Frontera blush. And you didn't stop there.

"When I first met you, I thought you were just another one of those greedy bastard-humans, who only wanted money and would do anything, even dirty tricks, to achieve what you wanted.

But you're so so sooo much nicer than that. Even though it might look like you're robbing the people of their coins, you're worrying about their well-being as well, and you only trick the ones who really deserve it and you're a great listener, I noticed now.

It's...a nice exchange from what I've been through, actually. And thank you for not ordering me to pay up, ahahhhaahahahaha.

....But really, Llyod, ...thank you."

"J-jeez, no need to thank me!"

"Stop being so humble and accept my gratitude, Lloyd. Even just this once."

You gave him another look and he blushed a little more.

"F-fine...You're welcome, ____."

...

'So...let's look at these little treasures...', you thought as you examined the many objects you instructed Javier to place into your room. 'A little look at the artefacts and then an apple pie of gratitude for Lloyd! ...maybe Javier would like some too? I'll just bake two pies...!'

As you looked through the books, you were surprised by the amount of new knowledge you got. But there was also a book which resembled a diary. You were really confused when you looked at the chronical notes the person took. 'Why are there so many animal skulls? And in an abandoned place? What is this??'

And then, that familiar symbol. You shrieked.

'I HAVE TO TELL LLOYD!', cue to you quickly riding on your broom to tell the young Frontera. But you stopped. 'Maybe I can take care of this myself...? But I'm scared! Oh, what should I do? Maybe keep researching? I could just...look around? Yeah, a quick check on that place and then I'm done!'

But you changed the direction, back to your room. 'What if there's more?'

Now, you were feeling helpless. there were like, fifty other books, and the notes taken last were a few weeks ago. You had to look at all the books to make an announcement, otherwise: 'Lloyd would either make fun of me or scold me when I would say something that might not even be based on true events...I sure hope this is a lie...!'

And after you speed-read a few of the books which looked similar to the diary, but without the same contents, you called it an hour. 'After I bake those pies, my brain will be fresh!...still, I should at least tell Lloyd what I found out...but why can't he read that language? It's written in the basic language here! Or maybe they have some sort of...other way of writing it? I'll need to check for myself.'

It was a nice day, given that it was past noon and you were enjoying the gentle breezes.

"____? What brings you here?", the familiar voice of Lloyd's father asked. "Oh, Mr. Frontera, what a surprise! I was just about to look for some apple seeds."

"Apple seeds? For what?"

"So that I can grow my own trees. I wanted to bake an apple pie for Lloyd as gratitude for welcoming me with open arms and offering me to be of help for him. Back in my hometown, something such as gratitude didn't exist, so I'd like to try it out."

That made the older man laugh. "That's nice to hear. Do you have other stories of your hometown which you'd like to share? Also, why don't you join me and my wife for afternoon tea? We could bake the pies together as well and then drink it together!"

You were touched by his kind words. "I would love that, Mr. Frontera."

...

"Simply. Amazing.", Mr. Frontera's wife said as she watched you place the apple seeds to the ground, heard you casting a spell, and 'plop!' a tree grew!

"And can you do that with other fruits as well?!", she asked enthusiasticly (<-is this how it's spelled?) as you nodded. "give me the seed of the fruit you like and see how many trees are carrying your lovely fruits."

"Please let me adopt you."

"Wha-"

"Ahahahahahah! My love, please! Don't hit her with that question!"

After half an hour later, the pies were fresh and you left two for Lloyd and Javier. The pies themselved tasted utterly delicious.

But what you loved the most was the black tea they served. "This...is the best tea I've drank so far! Do you know how many times I had to redo my tea for it to lead to such a close taste to this perfection?!", you exclaimed outraged, but swooning at the nice taste.

The parents exchanged knowing looks. "Well, you can drink tea any time of day you want. Under one condition...", she spoke, giving you a serious look.

"Can't I just make some more herbs for the tea?"

"No."

"Oh, well-"

"We have a few questions about you and our son, Lloyd. Then we'll give you the herbs."

"Oh, then ask ahead!"

They exchanged another look and you grew a little suspicious. "The thing is...we'd like to know if you like him."

"Of course I do! He was one of the first humans who actually welcomed me with open arms-albeit threatening me with fees at first-but still!-"

"And what if we look at it from a romantic perspective?", the mother chimed in. She coquettishly smiled at you.

That made you halt. 'Romantic? Me? With Lloyd?', you blushed a little at the thought of being together with him, but you didn't even know him that well.

"With all my respect, I can only give you my greatest gratitude for your hospitality towards me and treating me accordingly nice.

However, I only know you and him for a few days. Although Lloyd is handsome and has a brain for estates and robbing the bad guys off their money, as well as fighting evil, I suppose, I cannot help but wonder more about him.

If I'd like to look at him in a romantic way, I would ask him about everything he likes, help him when needed, and give him my unconditional love. But as I said before, I don't know him enough to actually fall in love with him. for us to have a romantic relationshio, I'd like to know him more than just the basic information I got from him.

And to be completely honest with you, Mrs. and Mr. Frontera, I've ran away from home for that exact reason. I fled from my hometown because of an unhappy arranged marriage to an older man whom I couldn't imagine spending even a second with, let alone the rest of my life. And so, I've never experienced love.

So I'm sorry, but I can not tell you more than that."

"...you fled because of an arranged marriage?...oh my...", the woman spoke, looking at you with utmost pity.

"I am sorry that we, uh, pressed you to that topic, miss ____. I truly am. Please forgive us."

"It is alright. I can for sure say though that Lloyd is a great man and an even greater friend."

"You know, a few months ago, he was not like that. He drank and drank and drank. He was a tyran. He gambled away his life and we had our concerns with him. But then, after one night where he was completely drunk, and when he woke up, he was a complete other person!", the father spoke now in a hushed whisper.

"What? Really?"

"Yes! He- he did all those crazy things with this-these odol houses, and building a mine? And now you taught him to make ice and snow!", the mother continued, to which you laughed sheepishly.

"ahah, you saw us play with the snow, right?"

"At least Javier found it funny enough to join, even if you started making him your target with the snowballs and he had to flee from you guys."

You three laughed at that. "Yeah, it was really fun...we should do it again, sometime.", you spoke, and the couple could see the fondness in your eyes. This time, they exchanged a smile while you looked into your cup with a smile and a small blush.

"And now, he helped me with that contract, and you can make more animals. And Lloyd is somewhere out there in our small town, and wants to grow food in the old wasteland. I wonder how long it will take him to grow it."

'what a great father. Not questioning if he'll make it, but when. I wish my dad was like that...'

"With my help, it wouldn't take long, Mr. Frontera. Also, if you have any other concerns, I'm always going to do my best to aid you as well. We witches may be arrogant, but we hold our promises."

"You are anything but arrogant, miss ____!"

"Yes! You are by far the only woman who stayed close to Lloyd this far! And I mean it as a compliment, given the grimaces he seems to form now!"

"Ugh, everytime he does that, I just want to-to slap it out of his face. Doesn't he know that if he makes that grimace too long or too deep, his handsome face will be ruined?"

'"Handsome"?', the married couple thought as they listened to you ramble about Lloyd and what you didn't like about him, which wasn't much, actually.

"...and so, I made another deal with him to leave poor Tordes alone. But what about that wasteland you two talked about? Is it far away?"

"Not really, just a long walk, maybe two or three hours?"

"Yes, I think so too-"

"Hello, mother, father.", their 'son''s voice called as he entered after a short knock. You stood up. "Oh, hey ____!"

"Hey Lloyd, your parents told me about a wasteland you were about to turn into a food-garden? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Lloyd didn't mean to eavesdrop when he was about to knock on the door, but when he heard your voice, he stopped before his knuckles could touch the wood.

You were complaining about his handsome face getting ruined by the grimace-

Wait.

'Did you just say "handsome"?!'

And that's how Lloyd came in with a blush. 'You really think I'm handsome?!', was all he could think of when he saw your pouty lips and your furrowed brows.

'Cute.'

"well, I wanted it to be a-a surprise! Yep! And, well, you just haaad to ask, didn't cha?"

"A surprise? For me? For what?"

"For helping me, of course!"

"I actually must help you and work for you to decrease the debt of my own and the 480 years of Tordes."

"Psshhhh, who'd think of that?! C'mon, take your broom and I'll lead you there and I'll show you-"

"Wait. There is something important I found out about the sorcerer. It'd be best if I told you now, but I also baked you and Javier some pie- where's he, anyways?", you interrupted and asked as you looked behind Lloyd. No Javier.

"Huh, I swore I've seen him- oh, there he is.", Lloyd said and you and his parents looked over to the knight who was standing by the pies you baked.

"Oh, Javier, there you are!", you called and made your way over there-but not wihtout pulling Lloyd by his hand towards the cloudy-haired man. He gulped.

'her hands are so small compared to mine...and...they're soft...!'

"There are two- where's the second one?"

"...I ate it."

"Did you bake us pies?", Lloyd asked. He knew where you where by the smell of fresh baked apples, but no pie.

"Yeah...", you answered, looking at Javier, who was mustering up his best innocent puppy dog eyes for you to not be mad at him.

"You bake extraordinary well, ____-", Javier praised, but got interrupted by an angry Lloyd.

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT, JAVIER!!! ONE PIE WAS MADE FOR ME!!!", Lloyd yelled and grabbed Javier, who was putting the last piece as slowly as possible into his mouth, and thus only angering his master further.

"I can bake more if-"

"YES PLEASE!!!", the two grown men yelled in unision at you.

You sighed. "Alrighty..."

Mr. Frontera exchanged concerned and pitying looks about you to his wife, who did the same.

'The info-dumping will have to wait. I'll also have to ask why Lloyd couldn't read the language...and when will I tell him about my personal secret?', you thought before you made new dough while Mrs. Frontera plucked new apples for you.

...

Hey hey hey~! How are my precious readers?! sorry for not bringing some requests, I just wanted to keep writing that story so bad, and now we're here!

also I hope you could read through the 5.8 k words ☠☠☠☠

Can you guess what ____'s personal secret is? And no, I didn't write it in the story, so there will be no spoiler about it.

Anyways, please write in the comments how you found it, reblog it, and leave a like pls!

Read you guys in the next post!

#tged spoilers #tged #javier asrahan #lloyd frontera #the greatest estate developer #tged x reader #tged x you #tged x female reader #i love you 🍰nom #i hope it was okay #send me more requests #javier asrahan x reader #javier x reader #lloyd frontera x reader #lloyd x reader #arosh x reader #sand and steel tribe #i love the greatest estate developer

[adarkrainbow]

Spooky season fairytales (5)

We have looked at movies (or additional material) exploring individual fairytales that could fit the spooky season. For the candy and the witchy, we looked at Hansel and Gretel. For the apples and the disguises, Snow White. For the monsters and horror, Little Red Riding Hood. But now let's take a look at those stories that are definitively dark, spooky, horrifying stories... But that use several fairytales together at once.

Let's start with...

Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm.

Aka probably the most disturbing fairytale movie you will have ever seen. And not even fully disturbing on purpose... I mean, there are many moments intended to be disturbing, but there's just as many that were disturbing by accident. But this movie marked an entire generation and gave nightmares to many, many people. Be ready... for disturbing stuff.

The plot of the story is quite simple to explain, but it hides deeper things. The story is basically an alternative history exploring a different incarnation of the brothers Grimm, now poor crooks trying to make a life in a Germany ravaged by the Napoleonian wars by being fake "ghost/witch/goblin" hunters, using their folkloric knowledge to play on the terror of villagers. It all backfires on them, however, when the French authorities send them to "investigate" a problem of missing girls in a remote village - a series of mysterious disappearances the villagers explain with a bunch of superstitions and folktales. The two brothers will then discover that some fairytales are real, and evil lurks within the woods...

Now, there is ONE thing, one VERY important thing to know to understand the nature of this movie. This movie was the result of a sterile and useless war that disappointed everyone - and this is why you have in effect a movie that could have been great, but is just... okay, alright, with some very good, some very bad... and a LOT of disturbingness. This movie is a Terry Gilliam product, a Terry Gilliam fantasy film, and if you know his other works, you'll recognize his brand. His exploration of the themes of dreams, belief, escapism, hope in front of corruption, despair, the death of the imagination and tyranny ; his style of oniric, surrealistic fantasy superposing creepy and dark creatures with extravagant and comical characters resulting in disturbing comedy and absurd horror and unsettling wonders. We are talking of the man behind Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchaunsen, Time Badits, The Zero Theorem, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, etc etc... And this movie still bears the mark of his imagination, mind and style, and you can see how he twisted fairytales into a horrifying nightmare. But it is only half of a Gilliam film.

Because the other half was the result of another man imposing with brute power, a lot of anger, and a lot of money, his own ideas upon the piece. Bob Weinstein, yes, of the Weinstein brothers. He was a producer of the movie, and the kind of producer that was going to direct, write and do everything with the movie. Weinstein's idea of the piece was basically what would later be known as "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters". This movie was that Weinstein wanted "The Brothers Grimm" to be. While Gilliam wanted a movie in line with his "Time Bandits", his "Brazil", his "Fisher King" and... well his Gilliam brand. But Weinstein wanted more action, more battle scenes, only big-name actors, he wanted all the women to be sexy... Heck, Bob Weinstein refused to have Gilliam's choice of Johnny Depp playing William Grimm, because he wasn't "commercial" enough, and when he was replaced by Matt Damon, Gilliam wanted Damon to wear a prosthetic nose so he looked more like the historical Grimm, only for Weinstein to refuse again because it would have ruined his "good looks". Similarly, for the main female role of Angelika Gilliam wanted Samantha Morton, but the Weinstein brothers (yes both of them) refused because she wasn't sexy, and insisted on having a sexy actress - in this case Lena Headey.

This movie was a constant, constant battle, feuds and struggles with no end - and it was so frustating that Terry Gilliam, out of spite and despair at seeing his project ruined, went on to make a separate movie while "The Brothers Grimm" was done (and this movie was the very disturbing and unfamous "Tideland", which is a good reflection of what Gilliam's state of mind was at the time). In the end, in Gilliam's own word, he managed to make a movie that wasn't what the Weinstein brothers wanted, and in such a way it was good... but he also couldn't make the movie he wanted either, and so nobody won here. And you can feel that indeed this movie is tugged between two directions, stuck between two roads, halfway between "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" and "The Company of Wolves", a monstrous hybrid between "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Pan's Labyrinth".

But it still has its own horror, its own charm, you can see the movie that was intended to be made, that was half-made - and it still marked the history of fairytale cinematic adaptatons with some of the creepiest, most nightmarish ideas and imageries that ever were. This movie is probably the most disturbed adaptation of "The Gingerbread Man" you'll have ever seen, and the HORSE! By all gosh, you think Little Red Riding Hood's wolf was bad, WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE BIG BAD HORSE! This is a nightmare-fuel movie, people. And I do not sugar-coat this.

Next on our list would be the 2015's "Tale of Tales" movie, an Italian product (with French and British help and participation). This movie is, to my knowledge, the only movie adaptation of Basile's Pentamerone, and since it couldn't possibly cover the hundred and so stories, three were selected and readapted to fit into a greater ensemble: The Enchanted Doe, The Flea, and The Flayed Old Lady.

Together, these three stories were reinterpreted and woven to focus on the Maiden-Mother-Crone archetype (the girl-princess in The Flea, the mother-queen in The Enchanted Doe, the old women of The Flayed Old Lady), and thus explore women's relationships to men in their most negative lights ; but moreso, the movie was designed around the themes of extreme and dangerous desires - the theme of obsession.

This movie is beautifully shot and designed, with incredible sets, excellent practical special effects and gorgeous costumes - but this movie is also very mature, very sad and very dark. One thing that needs to be known is that the original Pentamerone is a comedic work. Its fairytales are all pieces of vulgar humor and extravagant farces, filled with slapstick-gore scenes and lots of sexual jokes. It wasn't the oniric folk-wonder of the Grimms, it wasn't the refined and elegant terror interwoven with modern and delicate miracles of Perrault and d'Aulnoy - these were "laugh-out-loud" and "burst-your-gut" stories of old women pissing and ogres farting loudly and husbands cheating on their wives and bad people scamming idiots before being strongly beaten up...

What this movie did was take back the stories, and remove all the humor and extravagance of it. And as the saying goes, when you remove the laugh track of a sitcom, you get an uncomfortable tragedy. This movie still has the gore, the sex, the crazy or foolish characters, the caricatures and the bizarre... But without the humor and the jokes, it all becomes sadness and horror, it becomes distubring and grotesque. In a way, this movie at the same time works as the antithesis of Basile's original work, and yet as a very faithful adaptation since, while it betrays the original intentions, it brings to light what the stories are fundamentaly made of and the themes it was driven by.

It also helps understanding the aesthetic of the movie to know that one of the main inspirations for this piece were the drawings and paintings of Goya.

And the final piece of this post would be Adam Gidwitz's "A Tale Dark and Grimm".

Now, you might be aware of a certain Netflix animated adaptation that was released not so long ago. Aka this one:

But it will not appear on this list - or rather I will mention it by extension of the original book, which is the one I wanted featured on this list.

Because very simply - the original novel is actually "darker and grimmer" than the series adaptation. Gidwitz's novel and the Netflix series both begin with a a heavy dose of dark humor, creepy slapstick and child-level jokes - but the novel relied on a progression. Tale after tale, with each new chapter in Hansel and Gretel's life, as they grew from children to adulsts, the stories got gloomier and more serious, and the humor became scarse and more cynical. There was really a neat and clear evolution from a "big laughs" goofy-gory show in the first chapters to a teary tragedy/sinister epic in the end. But with the Netflix series? They decided to emphasize the humor and jokes a lot to give the story a truly "cartoony" feeling, and they kept jokes and humor all throughout stories which originally did not have any...

So overall, while everybody called the show "dark", in truth I found it much more light-hearted and kid-friendly than the original novel X) And for this spooky season, I truly advise you go read the ORIGINAL book.

[EDIT: My friend @lapluieellepleut warned me I might have been a bit misleading with this description so I will insist: the original novel is still aimed at kids and pre-teens. Aka... this is a children's novel. This is not an adult read, not even a full teenager one. It is still a simple, sweet, funny story, though with morbid humor and trying to highlight the brutality and darkness of the Brothers Grimm fairytales. But... don't expect a Stephen King novel or a Shakespearian tragedy. Its still a kid tale. If you want something more adult in tone, go look at The Book of Lost Things - "A Tale Dark and Grimm" would be for the age range below The Book of Lost Things.]

If you have read it already, the book had two sequels to form a trilogy. The first one is "In a Glass Grimmly", which is just as good as the original ; and the second sequel (third part of the trilogy) is "The Grimm Conclusion"... Which I did not read. I heard it isn't as good as the others and the quality drops, but I'll give you more info once I actually read it.

Oh, and if you are ever in France or able to read French, do yourself a favor and pick the French edition of this book, aka, this one:

"The terrifying tale and bloody fate of Hansel and Gretel". On top of having perfectly creepy shadow-puppet silhouettes full page illustrations, it also uses a color-code for the text (mixing night-black and blood-red) similar to what for example The Neverending Story used. Truly emphasizes the creepiness and darkness of the novel - while making it even more obvious the humoristic part and more jarring the jokes.

#spooky season fairytales #spooky season #dark fairytales #horror fairytales #fairytale movies #tale of tales #pentamerone #the brothers grimm #terry gilliam #a tale dark and grimm

[machinesonix]

The first Dune book is so narratively tight it makes me feel like I’m missing something with Dr. Yueh. First off, the Suk conditioning that’s supposed to make him incapable of harming the Atredies is introduced in the same breath that the Baron says Pieter has found a way to break it. Feyd-Rautha goes ‘Woah, no way, that’s impossible!’ to let us know this is impressive, but still, we are given zero time to consider Suk conditioning outside of a time where it’s not working. This is the Worf effect to the extreme. This is like if the first time Michael Douglas walks on camera Wesley Crusher beats him up for his lunch money. If you call that guy an unstoppable security officer, immediately inverting that is gonna seem like it’s a punchline. 

That’s not even the worst part. We’re told that it was the sick genius of the twisted mentat Pieter DeVries that managed to outwit the Suk conditioning. The thing is, instead of going the Lovecraft route and leaving the reader to imagine what horrors the Harkonnens are capable of, we’re told exactly how it was done. Any time Yueh is in the room he’s thinking about how much he doesn’t want to betray anybody, but the Harkonnens have his beloved Wanna and he really has no choice.

So in the thousands of years the Suk school has had this reputation, never before has there been a mastermind so devious and sick as to put a loved one under duress. That really makes it seems like the kids gloves are on for all this espionage and intrigue. Yeah, the Harkonnens will brick a dude into a wall to pilot a little stabby drone into your teenage son’s nervous system, but they need to bring in a guy with a doctorate in Fucked Up Shit before they can puzzle out extortion. 

Maybe I’m giving too much credit to Herbert here, but this just feels like such weirdly out of place sloppy writing I feel like I’m in the wrong here. Like maybe he’d just written himself into a corner needing a traitor when Paul and Jessica have preternatural truth-sight. If I’m being generous, Yueh is maybe a foil for Dr. Kynes, another scientist with a complicated relationship with loyalty, but I’m reaching there. I am half hoping there’s some sort of secret lore on this, because honestly I feel like I would be rolling my eyes less if this was some sort of secret Bene Gesserit conspiracy than how much I’m rolling them taking this at face value.

#dune #dune meta #a million deaths are not enough for yueh

[ystrike1]

Not Knowing The Betrayal Of That Day - By Honey Water (6.5/10)

Sometimes a mistake isn't something forgivable. Our protagonist here rushes into a decision hastily. It ruins her life, and her lover's life. He doesn't forgive her, but he also can't forget her, because she's a beautiful woman. He's been obsessed with her for years, and after a seven year separation he returns to restart the most toxic relationship ever.

I'm just gonna say it. The art is not great. I have cherry picked the best panels, and they aren't stellar. This is a cheap webtoon adaption of a novel. Nothing more.

This is Tesa. She is an incredible beauty who lives in an orphanage run by manipulative assholes. She has a lover named Hert. He wants to be a knight, and her dream is to become a respectable maid.

She receives a golden opportunity. There's a very peculiar noblewoman. She's looking for a maid with red hair. Red hair is very rare. Maids who work for nobles also get paid more. That noble family is also looking for knight apprentices, so Hert can go with her. They lure her in with that bait. Money, and a chance to live a stable life with Hert. Tesa is an orphan with no cash, so this is an incredible opportunity.

She signs a paper, but she cannot read.

Tesa is a foolish girl. A stupid, uneducated, peasant.

The noble woman in question needed a body double. There's a nearly senile baron that lives nearby. The red haired noblewoman is still young and beautiful. She doesn't want to end up with a weird madman, but he wants her. He keeps annoying her family. So she came up with a plot. The man is crazy and dumb as a stump. He'll accept any beautiful woman with red hair.

Thankfully there is a timeskip. The baron accepts her because she is pretty, but he thinks she is stupid. She doesn't get a teacher. After three years she still cannot read, and obviously she's in a non-consensual relationship with an unstable man. So, she's miserable.

She also thinks Hert is dead.

Hert was sold as a Gladiator Slave. This kind of slave is used as cannon fodder in war, and entertainment during peacetime. Tesa signed his life away by complete accident, but Hert believes she sold him to prove her loyalty to the Baron. After all, what woman wouldn't want to marry a Baron. Tesa no longer has to work, and she wears fine clothes every day because of her marriage. Hert was also sold to ensure that Tesa stays by the Barons side. She had no real friends in the orphanage. Hert was the only possible issue. The only person who would have questioned her disappearance. The noblewoman who planned all this is very clever. I hope she's a villain later!

Tesa hates every day of her life. She thinks Hert died, so she's listless. She has nothing to fight for. Nobody cares about her. She is just a pretty face that stands next to the Baron. The Baron also doesn't think she's good enough for him, so that leads to...yeah Tesa suffers. It's all offscreen but she's a very broken person. Her eyes have zero life left in them.

Ok so Hert returns??? He's alive and he has fancy armor. He massacres everyone in the Baron's castle. Even innocent people like the maids and cooks. Tesa is Hert's prey.

He wants to know why. Why did she betray him? They were best friends and sweet almost lovers. They adored eachother. Tesa claimed to want him, and he wanted her even more. He killed the Baron because he should be by her side. They were supposed to be together. He can't imagine her with someone else, despite her betrayal.

Tesa isn't mentally stable so she just cries. Hert almost rapes her, and she tells him to kill her. She just wants to die. It's all so stupid. She lost everything because she couldn't read a piece of paper. It's so...arbitrary. Her life was nothing to the people around her. She doesn't tell him the truth. She curls up in a ball and she cries. I think maybe Hert is taking over the Baron's land. He was completely incompetent after all. It's likely that this was Hert's plan all along. He was sweet in the beginning, but he's clearly obsessed with Tesa. She was supposed to be the prize at the end of his journey. He thought she was a spoiled noble wife...but then he finds her...and she's a shattered mess that can't even speak straight.

This is a really sad story. I would rate it higher if the art wasn't mass produced passionless junk...

#yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #webtoon #Not Knowing The Betrayal Of That Day

[dorminchu]

semi-organized impressions of dune, parts 1 and 2

below the cut. mild spoilers.

12/??/21

pt1

+ despite never reading the books and going in blind, I was very interested in the world and characters. could follow along pretty well despite the density of the plot.

+ favorite characters would be leto and lady atredies, and reverend mother mohiam. the baron is a good adversary too.

+ paul's perception of chani, and his fate/fates of others around him, changes multiple times over the course of the film. I love that scene where they finally meet for real, and she asks, something along the lines of if his visions of her were true, and he doesn't quite answer.

+ there's this air of both majesty and inescapable tragedy that permeates in this film.

- music, at times, felt like set dressing. I think toto's score compliments the vibe a bit better (the prologue/main theme certainly fits the trailer). which hurts to say, as I am a big fan of hans zimmer's work.

02/29/24

pt2

+ jessica is still a fantastic character.

+ chani and paul really grew up! both of them have excellent character arcs (and a very touching, bittersweet romance). I went through a complete 180 on my opinion of both characters (found her a little undercooked & him ambivalent to the point of vague in pt1, it feels more intentional by pt2). I've heard chiani is quite different in the books, but I can't imagine her character or their relationship being written another way.

+ paul's nutty cousin feyd was a lot of fun, as were the reverend mother(s).

+ the emperor's daughter might be my favorite character so far. paul might've met his match when it comes to strategy.

+ the zero gravity suits are so sick! guerilla warfare between the fremen & harkonen was interesting to watch unfold.

+ paul's duel with feyd is worth the price of admission.

+ riding sandworm scene(s) also worth price of admission.

- I almost wish this movie was 30-60 mins longer. could've fleshed out little bits here and there (the significance of the sand worms & loss of the temple? what/why is spice? what are the other houses like?) but at the same time, it was so much fun to be engrossed in the world and its mystery.

bonus: funniest scenes (to me):

pt 1:

during paul's duel with jamis, his mom decides NOW is a great time to chime in, "oh, paul's never been in a real duel before" or something to that effect.

pt 2:

paul explaining to chani about optimal sand-strafing technique, which was taught on the holobooks, and chani gives him a look that could either be interpreted as, "what's a holobook?" or, "okay nerd, you're still doing it wrong, let me show you how to do it properly so you don't get killed".

the baron clumsily attempting to clamber up the stairs while everyone else is busy apprehending paul. then paul looks over like, "oh hey, I haven't gotten to you have I?" and ignores EVERYONE else including THE EMPEROR just to put the baron out of his misery.

#dune #dune part one #dune part two #musings #dune spoilers

[funnyexel]

October Specials!

Past

Freaktober with Michael Myers Part 2

Ghostface & Michael Myers w/ Short Reader *Request*

Present

Do you like being chased?

Intruders

Phantom

Pov: You wear lingerie for them

imagine your ex is dark superman

bruce likes to be called daddy

imagine being on vacation with agent 47

autumn night

#fanfiction #y/n #smut #billy loomis #billy loomis x you #freaktober #horror #michael myers headcanons #michael myers x y/n #ghostface #jason vorhees imagine #billy Loomis imagine #kinktober #slasher smut #scream #michael myers imagine #michael myers x reader #baron zero imagine #baron helmut zemo #zemo x y/n #namor x reader #mcu namor #stu macher x you #pyramid head x reader #jason vorhees x you #brahms x y/n #danny johnson x reader #dark!superman x you #bruce banner imagine #bruce banner x reader

[bigdvmnhero]

summary:

Leo scrubbed the grime out of his shell, thinking about how this sucked, but like a movie. How the flop was always darkest before the slay. And what if he did kind of deserve this anyway? The thorn became a seed became a flower. And the glass beads on his bracelet bled from blue to black.

The disaster twins come of age, try to build a life, and wear fun matching bracelets that are definitely not haunted by yokai brothers with bad blood.

word count: 2647

chapter 1: spin you until the groove's gone

All year they were reigning champions of Hidden City’s dance hall until Donnie went and took that from Leo, too. 

So he was being a little dramatic. 

But one day Donnie put on the cloaking brooch and badda bing badda boom—there he was, Mr. College Boy in the making, and can you imagine all the conferences I can legally attend now, Nardo?  There went Leo’s dance partner and his street cred. Two birds, one mystic-enhanced stone. Rumor had it there was a new duo coming for the Hamato legacy, but Leo would bet an arm and leg they didn’t have anything on Bootyyyshaker9000’s musicality and his own general MCE (Main Character Energy). It was a twin thing; there was no competing with the twin thing.

Leo kept telling that to himself, anyway. 

He was going to be the backbone of the family, even when most days Raph was off supporting Casey on her new career in vigilantism, or when Mikey started mystic training with Draxum, and finally when Donnie disappeared on weekends to go topside, exploding beakers and bunsen burners with friends, as one does. 

Leo wasn’t invited, which was super fine. Again: super fine. Cooping himself in a library had zero appeal next to the wealth of odd jobs at the Hidden City’s community board, which he often took in exchange for coin, but mostly medic lessons at the city clinic. 

If it felt a little like penance after the whole Kraang situation, nobody had to know.

But Donnie was late to movie night again, and Leo wanted to tell him how he stitched some yokai’s stomach closed today, which was  subaramazing. 

“Penetrating abdominal trauma,” Dr. Masamune explained, teaching him to work the needle with mystic thread; steady hands now, steady. What could college teach that Leo couldn’t? Would college ever let Donnie do something as badass as touching a real liver? There was no way. 

Then came the giggling in the living room; Donnie and April were back, and they just had the most exciting road trip, just a spur-of-the-moment thing with the boys, and Leo should’ve seen it, did he know how cute turtle hatchlings were? Donnie built them forcefield backpacks to fend off the birds looking for a late-night snack, everyone loved it, and what was Leo doing here, all alone in the lair?

“Leo?” Donnie’s blissed out, almost tipsy grin began to slide off his face—Lou Jitsu’s face, if he was sixteen and had a little extra forehead. “Uh, you there, pal?”

“Leo?” someone repeated, and the scene changed; it was Raph, cocking his head at Leo while his birthday candles burned, and right, it was their eighteenth birthday. The room pulled back into focus. Leo stared at his cake, and that was how he realized that two years had passed, and while he’d spent them in a sort of cryogenic sleep, his family hadn’t. 

Raph said his name again. He was flanked by Casey—when did they get matching tattoos?—and Mikey, two of his yokai friends floating around his head, chattering with Baron Draxum, who stood at a concerningly intimate distance to Splinter. And Donnie—

“Leonardo? Leader in blue? Unequal sibling?” Donnie called; on his lap was a DIY Atomic Lass chest plate, a gift from his college nerd friends that April helped organize. The bracelet Leo prepared felt flimsy now. It burned a shameful hole in his pocket. 

“Sorry, I know it’s not much—" Leo fixed the clasp around Donnie’s wrist, purple to his blue one, and dodged his eyes, "but you always said you wanted some funky matching bling. So. Tried to find the exact shade of your bandana but—”

“I love it,” Donnie said, fingering the glass beads with soft eyes. “Genuinely. Thank you, Leo. Got you something, too.”

It’s a jacket with a failsafe feature. 

“Probably a jacket with a secret failsafe,” Leo echoed. Surprise broke open on Donnie's face. It would hit them later, what was happening, but until then there were candles to blow, twins to dunk into birthday cakes—Donnie, obvi, Leo would keep his streak up or die trying.

There was an ending to this story that Leo could predict. They were careening towards it; by the doorstep of the kitchen, Leo froze with his armful of plates and listened to his family laugh and laugh like they could hear it coming too: the inevitable crash, the moment when Leo’s family stopped being all his—and where would that leave him?  

full story on ao3

#rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt fic #disaster twins #rise leo #rise donnie #almost forgot posting this herejskdfjsdf #bigdamnher0

[dragons-hoard-of-fandoms]

Late to the party but making an entrance, Murder Drones Episode 5 is finally out so at long last I can stop with the memes (for now) and share my thoughts on Dragons Rising so far.

Okay, first things first, I'm gonna be 100% honest with y'all: I low-key do not care about any of the new characters. I know, I know, BURN THE HERETIC, I can't really explain it myself. Maybe I'm just too attached to the OGs or haven't gotten to know the newbies well enough yet, but so far all I'm seeing is Average Shonen-Esque Protagonist, Nya 2.0 Catgirl Edition, Cute and Easily Marketable Dog-That-Is-Not-A-Dog, The Only One With A Mildly Interesting Backstory, and a bunch of generic cookie-cutter villains. It's not gonna make me stop watching or anything, it's just that they could all randomly vanish by the next episode and never be brought up ever again and I'd be totally fine with it. Certainly wouldn't be the first time this franchise has completely dropped something out of nowhere and hoped no one would notice.

A'ight, got that out of the way, now to start nitpicking: I don't understand why they're pronouncing Riyu as "Rai-yu." I thought it would've been "Ree-yu," like the dude from Street Fighter, and I'm not gonna say it any other way. And why do they keep trying to convince us that Lloyd had to be trained for years when in reality he mastered Spinjitzu within, like, a month at most? I'm going to assume that either A) He's just blatantly lying to make Arin feel better, because there is literally zero chance that Season Two took place over the course of multiple years, or B) Lloyd himself has absolutely no concept of time and can't even remember that he's, like, an eighteen-year-old in the body of a twenty-three-year-old by this point.

BTW Lloyd please do not try to be like Wu, you of all people should know what being like Wu entails. You're already in the "training child soldiers" phase, you can not go further or else you are going to hit the "keeping way too many things to yourself" stage and you know what always happened when Wu didn't tell anybody jack squat until it was too late. Heck, there is still a very real possibility that the Merge wouldn't have happened in the first place if he'd just been like "hey so all the Realms might start trying to fuse together soon and as per usual you're the only ones with a chance at stopping it" instead of sticking to his "The Apocalypse™ is coming for like the seventh time and all I'm gonna do about it is be needlessly vague and cryptic for no real reason" schtick.

They should not have given Ras and Rapton such similar names, I'm going to inevitably mix them up. Also Rapton you will never be Iron Baron. I never thought I'd say anything positive about Iron Baron but I could actually tolerate him, whereas I just wanna see Rapton get run over by a bus. And not even in a cathartic "I want she-whose-name-we-do-not-speak-in-this-household to be brutally murdered onscreen in such a horrific and violent manner that it'd never be allowed anywhere if they weren't Legos" way, just in the most apathetic "please remove this character from existence" way you can imagine.

I'll give them this, tho, the show itself is gorgeous to look at, and the concept is pretty nifty. And while I may not be completely in love with Sora and Arin, I'm still glad they didn't go the braindead babymode easy route of making the "next gen" series revolve around the OG Ninja's kids (even if it is mostly because it completely avoids the possibility of being forced to endure the timeline where Lloyd actually thought getting with she-whose-name-we-do-not-speak-in-this-household was a good idea). I'm definitely gonna stay tuned for Part Two, even if I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of what we've got so far. Hopefully it's all uphill from here.

(More spoiler-y stuff under the cut)

Wow I can't believe they somehow managed to make a Cloud Kingdom character more punchable than Fenwick. The scrollworms are pretty cute, tho. Also, uh, Euthanasia or whatever your name was, Morro would like to know your location.

DING DONG, THE WU IS DEAD! BAGELS FOR EVERYONE!

So on the one hand it seems like we might be getting slightly more focus on Lloyd's dragon side this time around, but on the other hand we've already had multiple instances where it could've been brought up but just wasn't, which could mean that it's all just more of the same token Chosen One™ nonsense we're used to and this post got hit by Quanish's dodgeball of prophecy. (Seriously, surely at least one of the super-mega-ultra-powerful Source Dragons should've been like "Kid what is wrong with your blood," right?)

But, on the chance that the former is the case...

What if the Imperium finds out about it and decides the weird little Oni-dragon-human grandson of literal God is a far more valuable prize?

Also this is how we can still get Garmadon's dragon half to show up please I am begging on my hands and knees

#Ninjago #Ninjago Dragons Rising #Ninjago 2023 #Ninjago United #Ninjago Spoilers #Ninjago Dragons Rising Spoilers #Ninjago Arin #Ninjago Sora #Ninjago Riyu #Ninjago Rapton #Lord Ras #Lloyd Garmadon #Dragon Lloyd #Sensei Wu #Master Wu #Straight From the Dragon's Mouth

[wanderingbards]

If BeReal was in the Riptide universe, imagine some of these iconic moments:

Chip BeReal as they're running around Zero. Maybe taken while he's holding the baby on the barrel.

Gillion BeReal right as Niklaus knocks him tf out with his magic.

Lizzie BeReal pantsing Chip at the tournament.

La Alma showing off the Riptide Pirates beating the shit out of Baron

Clorton in the casino with Chip and Gillion about to be crushed by the roulette ball

(Someone on Twitter already said this one but) Jay during Chip and Gillion's duel

The young king of Edison when he's falling through the mail chute

The Riptide Pirates on the Edison rooftop

Gillion seconds before Jay shoots him

Jay shouting at Dugon to spit Chip out

Chip taking a photo of Price as he uses the orb of disintegrate

Chip takes a photo as Gillion pulls the donjon card

Blurry photos of Goobleck, cryptid style. Chip always has a look of terror.

Jay taking a photo of Chip shapeshifted and running from the amalgamation in the jungle

#just roll with it #jrwi riptide #gillion tidestrider #chip jrwi #jay ferin #bereal #if an artist drew these i'd cry #but also i'll def add to this list

[flyoverkushtaka]

It's gonna be too hot to breathe today But everybody is out here on the streets Somebody's opened up a fire hydrant Cold water rushing out in sheets

ESPRIT DE CALMAR — A memory or maybe a dream: You press your hands into water that should be freezing, but it's not. Not to you. The sound of waves crashing against the shore envelops you until it is your new silence.

Some kid in a Marcus Allen jersey Asks me for a cigarette BRER OTTER — Companionship is where you find it So I take what I can get

Hubcaps on the cars like funhouse mirrors Stick to the shadows when I can Lovecraft in Brooklyn

When the sun goes down, the armies of the voiceless Several hundred-thousand strong

APOSIOPESIS — A beautiful paradox, though all paradoxes are beautiful.

Come out without their bandages Their voices raised in song And when the streetlights sputter out COTTONMOUTH — They make this awful sizzling sound I cast my gaze toward the pavement Too many bloodstains on the ground

RhodeWhitemarsh Island drops into the ocean PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY — No place to call home anymore Lovecraft in Brooklyn

Head outside most everyday To try to keep the wolves away

INTERTEXT — Despair is the wolf that devours thought.

Imagine nice things I might say If company should come

BARON SAMEDI — Heya, kid, I thought I should remind you during this instrumental break that your big solo's coming up. You know the one. I know what you dream about, and it's not what you think you dream about. Now, I know you gotta lotta heart in ya, not to mention spunk, hoo boy!, so I want you to belt this out like the moon's falling and the tree's burning, you got that big shot?

BRER OTTER [Challenging: Failure] — . . . .

FORMALISM — Breaking the fourth wall peaked in the two thousands.

BARON SAMEDI — Nobody asked you, nerd. Alright, last two bars, I'll count you down. And a zero.

LYCANTHROPY [Godlike: Success] —

Woke up afraid of my own shadow Like genuinely afraid Headed for the pawnshop To buy myself a switchblade Someday something's coming From way out beyond the stars To kill us while we stand here It'll store our brains in Mason jars

And then the girl behind the counter She asks me how I feel today I feel like

LINGUISTICS — Toiquicommeuncoupdecouteaudansmoncœurplaintifesentréetoiquifortecommeuntroupeaudedémonsvinsfolleetparéedemonesprithumiliéfairetonlitettondomaininfâmeàquijesuisliécommeleforçatàlachaînecommeaujeulejoueurtêtucommeàlabouteillelivrognecommeauxvermineslacharognemauditemauditesoistujaipriéleglaiverapidedeconquérirmalibertéetjeditaupoisonperfidedesecourirmalâchetéhélaslepoisonetleglaivemontprisendédainetmontdittunespasdignequontenlèvedetonesclavagemauditimbéciledesonempiresinoseffortstedélivraienttesbaisersressusciteraientlecadavredetonvampire

#rechercher le sentiment #Youtube

[arlingtonpark]

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Prologue Review

To me, Gundam is just a show I watched as a kid because it was on. I only have some scattered memories of one of the shows, and, I think, a movie. I don’t even know their names.

This is all to say the newest Gundam wasn’t particularly on my radar. The title was the most enticing thing I saw about the series.

“The Witch from Mercury”.

It’s very reminiscent of the Red Baron. Very intriguing.

The fact it has a female main character, even more so.

And the fact the writer for this show is the mastermind behind Code Geass…also intriguing, but not in a good way.

It’s been two months since the premiere, and I’m completely engrossed in this series. The story being told is just so fascinating, I just had to write about it.

Where else to start but at zero?

…

…I am really worried about Eri.

No, not because her home was destroyed, and her family torn apart by armed conflict.

 And no, not because she’s seemingly being raised by a vaguely cultish research group.

I worried about the parallels that are drawn between Eri and the Gundam Lfrith.

In the very first scene we’re introduced to Elnora, Elnora’s surrogate mother, Dr. Cardo (-snickers-), and finally, Eri herself, Elnora’s toddler-aged daughter.

Except not finally, because there’s a second daughter we’re introduced to: the gundam. The Lfrith. The little sister to Eri’s big sister.

I get that the staff are just analogizing the gundam to an infant for Eri’s sake. They want to convey how they see the Lfrith to a toddler and teaching a baby to walk does a good job of that.

But that’s the thing. They’re making that analogy because they want to convey how they see the Lfrith. By comparing the Lfrith to an infant, they’re clearly indicating that they have a certain level of affection for it. Not exactly like what a mother would have to a daughter, but comparably so.

Which is concerning because this baby uses an experimental mind-machine interface that lets the pilot control the mobile suit with their mind.

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned this sooner, but the reason this tech is experimental is because it’s already proven to be deadly and they’re trying to develop a version that’s…actually useful.

“Useful” in the sense that it kills people while sparing the pilot.

Because the Lfrith, this thing they call their “baby”, is a war machine.

They are explicitly and knowingly trying to perfect a weapon of war under the delusion that it’ll pave the way for non-military applications. Apparently.

Yeah, I’m not pulling for the little guy here.

The tech the Lfrith uses is called the GUND format. It was developed mainly by the Vanadis Institute to compensate for the medical issues that come with extended time in space. But when Vanadis was bought out by another company called Ochs Earth, GUND was retooled as a weapons system.

The GUND format kills the pilot by overwhelming their neural capacity. Controlling cyborg prosthetics is doable, that’s what GUND was made for; controlling a giant robot suit is taxing to the point of death.

This is the machine the engineers at Ochs affectionately liken to an infant.

This is concerning, to say the least. The GUND format isn’t comparable to something like mustard gas, where unleashing it comes with the risk of backfiring on to you. Piloting with the GUND format will kill you.

Using the GUND format doesn’t even necessarily guarantee any gains on the battlefield. GUND format equipped mobile suits, called GUND-ARMs, are clearly superior to manually controlled mobile suits, but so what? Just using the GUND format kills you; all your enemy has to do is run out the clock. The enemy doesn’t even have to kill you. If they survive long enough, you’ll kill yourself eventually.

And literally dying is an onerous burden to bear in a fight. Imagine an army where every single soldier has to fight with an untreated broken rib. Now imagine if the soldiers are like this because the higher ups did it to them before the fight started.

The GUND format is more like a gun with a barrel that fires a bullet in opposite directions, one at your opponent, and maybe it hits them, and the other at you, and it definitely hits you.

The GUND format is like a crooked game of two-player Russian roulette. You pull the trigger, and your partner has an 83% chance of living, and you have a 100% chance of death.

The researchers at Ochs want to make the GUND format serviceable as a weapon, which…ok, humans gonna human, but it’s disturbing how much faith these people have that a weapon will be the foundation for a better future.

Humans, unfortunately, are often driven to make big innovations when under threat of war. But humans also don’t make big innovations in the art of killing outside of war. No normal person relishes war, and newer, better ways to kill people aren’t concocted for shits and giggles.

It’s crazy how enamored these scientists are with their robo-lovechild. What peaceful applications would a perfected Lfrith even have? The GUND format is already in wide usage in the medical field. Based on the prologue, it seems the GUND format only turns deadly when called upon to make intricate and fast movements. Simple, basic movements seem ok.

What peaceful purposes require you to maneuver a giant robot with the nimbleness of a ballerina?

Supposedly, a serviceable GUND-ARM will provide people with a more adaptable body. What use does an average person have for a 60 foot tall robot body?

This is the biggest question mark of the whole prologue: what exactly do the researchers at Ochs think they’re trying to accomplish?

Right now, my money’s on Eri’s parents and Ochs in general being a kooky club of transhumanist zealots. GUND-ARMS kill, but for the brief time before your mind implodes, you’re able to do things that aren’t possible with your biological body. It’s also something you can’t do with your mind either, see the mind implode-y part, but that’s apparently a minor detail.

I think that’s what Dr. Cardo is alluding to when she talks about the Lfrith giving people a more adaptable body. The GUND format already establishes a mind-machine connection, the only reason it’s deadly is because using it as a weapon calls for superhuman maneuverability.

The GUND format’s use is limited to prosthetics and lifesaving medical interventions, but when Dr. Cardo talks about the future a perfected GUND format will enable, she talks as though she envisions everyone using this new GUND format by default.

Why tho?

We see people living in space just fine; the GUND format is only needed to run the cybernetics necessary to treat freak accidents.

Dr. Cardo analogizes humanity to a baby and the earth to a cradle. Outer space is the world outside the cradle and the GUND format is the assorted accoutrement humans need to survive outside this cradle. This is nuts because the analogy contradicts itself. It treats the earth as both a cradle and a dangerous place requiring special protection from. But if the danger humans face in outer space is comparable to the dangers of everyday life, then why would the GUND format become ubiquitous?

So, looking at all the facts and circumstances, the implication is that the Lfrith is being developed to create what is basically a race of superhumans. Ochs is developing the GUND format for the superhuman abilities it could confer, not because it has any sort of practical application.

Perfected GUND-ARMs could serve as a vessel for the human mind, effectively granting the pilot the superhuman abilities that only a robot body could provide.

If Ochs’ ambitions are even remotely like this, then they’re all nuts and Delling wasn’t wrong to shitcan the whole project.

Ordering the assault team to shoot to kill from the start is questionable, but given how sus everything about Ochs Earth is, I’m half expecting a reveal that Delling had intel to the effect that Ochs would resort to violence to stop themselves from being shut down.

The Lfrith has no peacetime application outside of dazzling nighttime airshows, meanwhile the inevitable military deployment of serviceable GUND-ARMs is threatening to incite an arms race.

I cannot emphasize it enough. Whatever peacetime applications the technology could have, the Lfrith is a weapon of war. The GUND format will be used in combat. The scientists at Ochs are working on a military research project. And they know it. But in spite of it all, based on what we see, they are stunningly passe, even vindictive, about the broader societal implications of what they’re doing.

These people are convinced their project will revolutionize humanity for the better in the face of all evidence and logic. They’re delusional. at. best.

So yeah, not ruling out the possibility of Ochs being ready to use violence to protect their “child”.

Now for the truly disturbing part.

Eri is an innocent, helpless little girl.

Said girl is living with her parents in what appears to be a wacky shack of deluded, transhumanism-obsessed dreamers.

Said dreamers are attempting to pioneer a form of mind-machine interface that will allow people to perform superhuman feats of endurance, speed, agility, &c.

In the prologue, Eri expresses jealousy of how much attention her “little sister,” (the robot battle suit) gets at her own expense.

I’m sure every sibling knows how Eri feels.

Your parents gave you so much attention, but then your little sister entered the picture and now your parents are lavishing her with attention while ignoring you.

Didn’t you wish you were them?

That you could be your little sister?

And what’s more, didn’t you wish you could do something that would make your momma proud?

That would make them notice you?

The first we see of Elnora is her trying to force a breakthrough with the GUND format in a test. When getting a callback from layer 33 didn’t work, she tried to force it by upping the permet score even after the computer warned her not to. Elnora apparently doesn’t handle pressure very well. When faced with opposition, she tries to force her way through recklessly.

I don’t trust her to ultimately say no to Eri volunteering herself.  

I think she’d say no at first, but if it starts looking like using her own daughter as a guinea pig is the easiest way to make progress, I think she would do it.

And that’s horrifying to think about.

#gundam witch from mercury #g witch #the witch from mercury

[forgedroyalseal]

My Reputation’s Never Been Worse

Chapter Five:

For a moment, they just stared. All eyes on Will. But Will’s flitted across from face to face. Crowley’s face had thinned, and there were more wrinkles in his forehead than Will had remembered being there. Gilan’s hair had grown out more than he had ever let it before. And Halt looked… tired. Face weighted down and eyes sunken in. Hair grayer and messier. They all looked different. Older. Sadder. Will wondered what he must look like to them. He knew that his appearance was closer to the fashions of a rouge or a pirate (that’s what a year on a ship will do to you) than the clean cut, boyish look they had been used to. He unconsciously rubbed at the rings on his right hand, an anxious habit. Gilan’s eyes dropped down, catching the motion. Will let his hands drop when he realized. He didn’t want to show weakness. He had to remind in control, on guard.

“Will.” Halt’s voice was hardly more than a whisper, but in the thick silence, it might as well have a shout. His hand reached up to touch Will’s cheek, as if to prove to himself that he was real and not a figment of his grieving imagination. Like with the king, Will leaned away. Hurt cut across Halt’s face but Will remind unaffected.

Let him hurt. The words flashed in his mind, fast and hot, like a bolt of lighting. They surprised him. He hadn’t realized just how much resentment he had been feeling towards Halt until he was finally standing face to face with him.

“I am here to speak with Crowley. In private.”

“What? Will you can’t just appear out of thin air after five years and then ask us to leave.” Gilan said aghast.

Will crossed his arms. “I am not here to play catch up. I have information that I need to brief Crowley on before we meet with the king later.”

“We are all rangers Will. There’s no reason Gilan and Halt should have to leave.” Crowley said calmly.

Will’s nose scrunched at the word rangers, “Fine if they refuse to leave then I have no other option.”And then without skipping a beat, Will dove into explaining the situation, not giving the rangers even a moment to adjust to the sudden turn of events. Crowley and Gilan listened intently, but Halt couldn’t hear a word Will was saying. His mind was completely focused on the fact that the grown, intense, angry man standing in front of him was the boy he had trained and raised. His apprentice. Who looked and acted more like a criminal than a ranger. What happened to him?

When Will finished speaking, Gilan and Crowley looked at each other in disbelief.

“So, you are here to ask Duncan to interfere?” Crowley clarified. Will nodded.

“This is the kind of thing the local ranger should have taken care of.” Gilan furrowed his brow. “Why isn’t he doing his job?”

“He’s on the Baron’s payroll. A bit of silver in his pocket is apparently all it takes to get him to turn a blind eye.”

“This is unacceptable. He’s a king’s ranger! His duty is to the throne, not some random baron!” Gilan huffed.

Will rolled his eyes, “This is typical behavior of rangers. They do whatever the hell they want with zero consequences.”

Crowley looked at Will, “You know that rangers like this are few and far between Will. We are rangers. You are friends with many rangers. You are a ranger.”

Will scoffed, “For the past five years rangers have chased me up and down the country like a rabid dog they need to put down. Harrison forced me out of Norgate, after he threaten Malcolm and his people. Bernard tried to kill me when he found me holed up at an inn in Coledale. Conway actually caught me in Greenfield. He put an arrow through my hip and tied me up after I fell. I’m not sure what his plan was, but he left me in the stable overnight and I slipped out of the binds by dislocating my thumb. I had to run for miles on my injured leg, that’s why it’s busted now, I put too much strain on it before it could heal. I am not a ranger Crowley. I haven’t been one since you forced me out of my home and tried to have me killed.

Crowley’s face lost it’s color. “I-“ He took a deep breath before starting again, “I sent letters to every ranger explaining your innocence. They shouldn’t have-“

“But they did.”Will interrupted coldly. “After they way you took me? Dragged my name through the mud and publicly torn my oak leaf from my neck? I was the big bad wolf who betrayed his King and got away with it because he was good at making the right kind of friends.” Running a hand through his hair he said, “This was a massive waste of time. I should have just taken matters into my own hands weeks ago. I’m going back to Eisel. I want something done, so I’m going to do it myself.”

“Will, what are you going to do?” Crowley called after him.

“I’m going to cleanse the streets of Eisel. Even if I have to do it with blood.”

______________________________

Horace and Gilan chased after Will.

“Wait, Will let’s talk about this. Duncan and Crowley will help. Just wait!” Gilan called. Will spun on his heel.

“Why should I trust what they say? For all we know, they were both already well aware of the situation and were just letting it happen.”

“You knew that’s not true, the would never have allowed-“ Horace started.

“They would have never have allowed me to be hung? To be humiliated? To be imprisoned for a crime I didn’t commit? They proved years ago that we cannot trust them.”

“What they did to you sucked. Okay? It was a nightmare. They know they were wrong and they will have to live with their actions for the rest of their lives. But don’t let the people of Eisel suffer because you had to. Let Crowley and Duncan fix this. Even though they couldn’t fix what happened to you.” Gilan begged.

“Listen to him Will. If you can’t trust them, trust us. We are your brothers Will. No matter how much you try to push us away, you aren’t going to lose you again. So stay, let Crowley and the king clean up this mess.” Horace’s voice was rough with emotion.

Will sighed. “I don’t know how to be here, with everyone.”

“I can’t imagine how difficult this is. But please don’t run away from us again. If you don’t want to stay in the Castle, then we can go somewhere else. We can stay at the Inn, or we can go to Redmont. It’s your call, you are in control. Just know though, Horace and I will follow you to the ends of the earth.” Gilan smiled and Will knew that despite the joking tone, he was dead serious.

“Okay. Okay. I will give Crowley a chance to fix this. But if I think for even a moment that he is going to let it go then-“

“Then the three of us will take matters into our own hands.” Horace promised.

“Now that we have that settled,” Gilan pulled Will into to a bear hug. “I’ve missed you little brother.” He said softly. Unable to resist a good hug, Horace joined in, wrapping his arms around both of them.

Will flinched slightly when Gilan reached for him, but immediately sunk into the embrace. He had missed Gilan. He had missed how safe he had always felt with him. Ever since he had been fifteen, Gilan had felt like a safety net, ready to catch him if he fell. It had been a long time since Will had felt safe, but here, with Gilan and Horace now both surrounding him, he felt as if he could finally stop looking over his shoulder. For just a moment, Will let himself let go of the pain and fear and anger he had been consumed by for so long and allowed himself to feel safe and loved.

#rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #ranger’s apprentice fanfiction #rangers apprentice fanfiction #guilty until proven innocent #my reputations never been worse