#and they’re pretty accurate and surprisingly correct

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Ok this is mostly going to be rambling about Tears of the Kingdom, but I'll at least briefly mention a couple other things I keep meaning to say something about and not getting around to.

Pixel Puzzle Makeout League was surprisingly good and deserves its own post because it does some unexpected things.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is still mixed but overall more good than bad and generally has similar positives and negatives to the previous Theatrhythm games and Melody of Memory (which is better as a game than any of the Theatrhythm games even if it still has some issues too).

The Outer Worlds is...a game. I totally forgot I started it at some point, and it hasn’t made a huge impression on me in the first five hours or however long.

Cadence of Hyrule is great for a while and does a lot of things right, but there’s a kind of frustrating spike in difficulty near the end, and I’m not sure if I’ll bother finishing it.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed is already GOTY 2023 for me, even if 99% of other people will say it’s TotK. Some day I’ll get around to that XC3 post...

Anyway, as someone who liked a bunch of things about Breath of the Wild but found enough frustrating about it that it took four attempts at playing the game to make it past a single Divine Beast and then give up forever, Tears of the Kingdom brings almost all the same problems along with it but mitigates them enough that I’ve finished a temple without giving up on the game and stopping playing for several months a single time so far.

The really short version is that I think everything in Steph Sterling’s soon-to-be infamous review is true and accurate, and the main thing I disagree with is that at least based on my enjoyment of actually playing the two games I’d have to give BotW an even lower score. Come at me, haters please don’t actually and go do something more fun like playing the game you like so much because I’m glad you’re enjoying it

Yes I’m 100% one of those people who thinks weapon durability has never been a positive thing in any game I’ve played (with the possible exception of certain Fire Emblem games) and Skyward Sword introducing a stamina meter to Zelda was a mistake. I’m happy for people who think they add something to the game for them, but for me they're actively anti-fun and constantly interrupt me when I’m trying to engage with all the neat systems the game has. Please just incentivize me to try new things by rewarding me positively for doing it (see: XC3 and in particular Future Redeemed) instead of punishing me for not playing the game the way you want me to.

Thankfully new additions like weapon fusion and ascend go a decent way to mitigate the frustration I have from stuff like that. I can skip a lot of the tedious climbing, and between avoiding most combat and gooping items together I’ve never had a shortage of actually decent weapons since like halfway through the tutorial.

Another positive is the ability set this time around. It’s a bit weirder on the surface, but they complement each other well and feel a lot less janky to me. Half the time with stuff like stasis I felt like I was fighting against the game trying to get the correct angle and momentum, but the new set of abilities pretty much always does what I want it to and lets me do all sorts of silly things in ways that don’t even seem like they should work at first. The game is at its best when I’m just messing around with that stuff to invent and solve problems in unusual ways.

And then the game is at its worst when I have to do combat of any kind. I can tolerate it better than in the previous game, but I’m still not a fan. I’m still reluctant to use my best weapons or any items I don’t have a reliable supply of, and the controls are still wack. You cannot convince me that run on B and jump on X isn’t crazy or that not being able to remap them is a good idea. I’m also still not a fan of the half dozen popup menus for changing weapons or selecting items or whatever because while they do technically work they’re so awkward to use and would really benefit from a third hand. Finally the N64 controller’s true purpose is revealed.

And speaking of menus, the menus still kinda suck too. Why is every food ingredient and every rock and every bug and every plant and 7000 other things dumped into a single tab instead of having sub-categories? Why is every single one of them available in the popup menu for attaching them to arrows or throwing them or whatever with apparently no way to at least favorite things? Why are there no options in the options menu like changing the volume (ideally with music/voice/sound effects separately adjustable)?

And why is the map? Why can’t I reveal stuff on the map just by going there? Why after the map is revealed is there no way to tell which parts of it I’ve been to already and which ones I haven’t (especially annoying so far for tiny random sky islands)? Why do I have to mark every stupid little thing on it by hand? I am playing the game on a computer, and my map exists on an in-game computer. Computers are supposed to deal with this crap for me so I can do something fun instead. And this is coming from someone who drew their own maps for the NES/SNES games on graph paper and actually enjoyed it.

A lot of these things aren’t huge deals on their own, but I’ve been spoiled by the vast number of quality of life features in XC3 and its DLC recently, and the little things add up. And I know there are people at Nintendo who know how to address these things because literally people from Monolith worked on both BotW and TotK, just not on those specific parts of them as far as I understand (mainly with building the open worlds because they already had previous experience doing that).

On the plus side, even if I’m a little underwhelmed by the story and storytelling (thanks again for ruining everything for me, Monolith), it was immediately much more engaging to me than BotW’s was. Wow, there are actual characters with motivations and stuff right off the bat. Neat! No offense to anyone who liked Calamity Ganon and the Calamity in general, but that was the least compelling antagonist in a Zelda game since probably the NES for me, and I’m glad they’ve taken a bit of a different approach this time. We’ll see what I think if/when I get further through it, but so far it’s at least better even if I don’t entirely love it.

I dunno, it’s something I guess. There’s just enough there for me that I’m still going, but it sure is good at discouraging me from doing stuff that would be lots of fun for me with minor tweaks. But hey, at least locking on to enemies actually follows them with the camera again now, so that’s nice. You know, that feature they literally invented for Ocarina of Time and nearly every 3D game anyone’s made has used since then but then they decided not to in BotW because...reasons?

In conclusion, it seems to be a great game for many other people and a decent but frequently frustrating one for me, but shifted a bit more toward decent and a bit less toward frustrating than the previous game. I’m still not convinced either one of them is a Zelda game though. They feel like something totally different to me with a vague Zelda theme overlaid on them. Oh also the puzzles are much better this time around so far. So that’s nice and more Zelda-y. And maybe we’ll get a Musou game out of it again in a couple years like we did last time, which would be nice because Age of Calamity was the best Zelda game since A Link Between Worlds (not counting remakes and stuff).

#tears of the kingdom #future redeemed #cadence of hyrule #the outer worlds #theatrhythm final bar line #pixel puzzle makeout league #zelda #theatrhythm #final fantasy

[mageofmindfr]

Thoughts on The Heir of Hope? I could really use an outside perspective right now. (Thank you)

Hallo! I have not been active on the internets from my computer in multiple days because my internet died and I wanted to give you a proper answer with correct grammars :33

... Ok so I really am sorry for not answering my internet has been spotty at best for like a week but it’s pretty good now so I can finally actually answer!

Well, heir of hope... let’s start with heirs, shall we?

Heirs, as far as I interpret them, are more literal versions of pages; while a page would channel the spirit of their aspect as part of their personality, a heir would become their aspect physically (which is a fact that’s supported by canon! I love having theories and then remembering that they’re actually entirely canon ^^”). So heirs’ personalities tend to reflect their aspect more literally as well, being almost archetypes for “this is what being X aspect means”.

I’d say they’re a simpler class, but that might not be entirely accurate, because aspects have a lot in them, if you’re willing to look. Like how void may be about mysteries and things hidden in shadows, but also includes contradictoriness (is that a word? It feels like it should be a word), or how breath can be wind but also scatterbraininess (never let a breath player build their own schedule, it’s like a hurricane went in and messed all their meetings up... which, I suppose it is.. but that’s a tangent for another post, maybe). There’s a lot of room for exploration there, finding where you fit into your own aspect, and whether there’s traits there that you wish to change, or improve upon, and whether you’re willing to put in the work (you’ll find that, if you’re willing, it may come easier than you expected to start the change you want to see in yourself, though it’s still bound to be difficult.. as is any change one should make. The key is being truly, actually willing and eager to better yourself, and know that sometimes you should ask for help, and that regardless, things take time...)

So. If a heir’s personality is built on existing within the space of their aspect... what about hope?

... You know, hope is surprisingly hard to figure out. Though, the same can be true for rage, since both of them have two players that destroy their aspect, making them act inherently unlike said element... so we literally only have Jake to go off of and saying “you’re like Jake English but your personality is more hope” wouldn’t be particularly helpful... not to say kind of inaccurate.

I found (through two hours of research, god, apparently I’ve been sitting here trying to not get confirmation bias over theories for two hours... Then again I have been thinking about heirs for a while anyways, so it would’ve been longer if I had been putting off answering any longer...) that hope is one of those aspects that are dreadfully unclear. It’s pretty difficult to take hope literally, as even in its literal sense it’s not tangible like void and breath are, so, how do you become hope?

Well... I’m sorry to disappoint, but I believe that’s up to you. Hope’s one of those aspects that are, in essence, whatever the player makes of them. Like most others, actually, I just find that the players we follow happen to be wholly uncreative in their use of their aspects... Except those that use it subconsciously, in which case it’s more that the game looked at them and probably said something like “wouldn’t it be really funny if I made Dirk Strider a Prince of Heart?” which, well. I’d say “sad” is a better word, but the game’s got a weird sense of humor and is also wholly irrelevant to right now!

Hope can mean a lot of things, but literally it’s more... well, the way my brain tried to put it together is kind of like how determination works in Undertale (… without the space-time shenanigans, since those are both elements in actual Homestuck). You don’t give up, and there lies your power. By believing in yourself, you have power. By trying hard you can do.. whatever you want. At least, that’s the literal way to see it (which is the only way we see it in actual Homestuck, but, again, aspects contain so much more than just their literal definitions, and the players we meet during our time reading are dreadfully unimaginative). We never see any other definition, though I’ve seen some people mention that hope may also have to do with the literal definition of light, or holiness, because.. magic. Or something. Not sure I buy that, but also visualizing “hope”, which is a wonderfully grand concept is probably hard, so, glowing it is, I suppose.

What all of this ends up meaning is.. Well, the Heir of Hope is someone who is embodied by their hope. I usually suggest stuff like a horoscope but it’s getting pretty late here and it’s also 10 degree weather, and saying “don’t give up” feels awfully tacky of me... So I’ll say this, instead; stay true to who you are. I’m not implying you’re perfect, or anything, but more that your true self is a wonderful person who, had I not been a Mage of Mind who dreams on derse’s moon and therefore an expert in overanalyzing social interactions before I even know the other party’s name, I’d love to talk to. I feel like you can be an uplifting person, if you let yourself be, and that you’re an inspiration to be around once you start talking about stuff you’re passionate about. A presence to light up a room, maybe, or at least one that people notice when it’s missing (because you only notice the absence of light in the darkness).

Again, sorry this came out late, I hope me working on this post for... three hours (yeesh, how the time flies when you double check against confirmation bias that the third heir we meet is, indeed, Mituna Captor, and that he did indeed “become” doom by accidental brain deletion) makes up for the three days where I was looking at this question from my phone and going “I should start writing” and then instead made my trollsona art and also read fics I have memorized because I tend to procrastinate (and also I spent 10 minutes just now trying to remember the word for procrastination and googled it as “word for not doing thing”. It was not there. I'm in agony/j).

Hope (hah) you still enjoy it even if it’s late? ^^”

#heir of hope #heir of hope analysis #hope aspect #classpect #classpect analysis #homestuck classpect #Homestuck #heir analysis #this is not edited whatsoever but Im so tired and Im not waiting another day so here you go

[ordon-shield]

TotK Liveblog Part 8

Part 7

Day 4! I’ll be playing a lot less after this, since tomorrow I have a training day for the job I start the day after, so I’ll be a lot busier. Pretty major spoilers here, so if you haven’t beaten the first four dungeons, look away!

- Messing around in the Depths a bit

- KOHGA IS BACK

- Ok so it seems they do know Ganondorf as this ‘Magnificent One’

- Ok so Ganondorf has been building a weapon and they’re making charges to power it? Neat

- Please let it be a spaceship <3

- Got the shrine sensor!

- IT TELLS YOU IF ITS ABOVE OR BELOW??

- Huh that’s interesting

- When you talk to the Goddess Statue at the Spring of Power she implies that each statue is a connected but independent entity

- Horses can swim now???

- Trying to find the Light Dragon again to upgrade my armour and it’s taking a while

- Almost had Queen Gibdo and died :(

- Got her!

- Ok now what’s up with Hyrule Castle

- Where did Impa go?

- Idk if it’s for everyone or I just got lucky but the lightning around Hyrule Castle is very atmospheric

- Hyrule Castle is a great dungeon for equipment upgrades

- Was my theory about a bossfight in the throne room accurate?

- Oh this is CREEPY

- Ganondorf in his Zelda cosplay: hey do you remember when you destroyed my brand new body here Link?

- MUMMYDORF

- Phantom Ganon! :D

- Was my half-way point theory correct?

- I think it was!

- Got him first try!

- THE SAGES!!!

- Ascension? Yeah we’re going to fight him as a dragon aren’t we

- He has a cool horse :D

- Ganondorf @ the Sages: I’m going to kill all of you and everyone you know :D

- TULIN <3

- Also the fake Zelda plot looses a lot of the oomph when you do the geoglyphs first

- The cost of making it open world I suppose

- SMART RIJU <3

- The fight was surprisingly easy using attack up meals

- Paya is the sixth sage, isn’t she?

- I know it’s just a game thing but I’m choosing to interpret Link not telling others about what happened to Zelda as him not wanting to

- As long as she’s still ‘missing’ there’s still hope, right?

- Or is the sage Tauro?

- I think the third eye thing points towards the Sheikah more

- Good thing I already found a shrine up on the lightning storm islands or this would be a lot harder

#totk spoilers #totk #tears of the kingdom #major totk spoilers #totk liveblog

[aeoki]

Fist of the Shangri-la Idol - Movie Actor: Chapter 6

Location: Studio Characters: Touri, Hokuto, Makoto, Mao, Yuzuru, Eichi & Wataru Season: Spring

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< Ten or so minutes later. Next audition. >

Mao: Alright, then I’ll play the role of the “heroine’s childhood friend”!

(We weren’t given a script so we have no idea what kind of character they are, though…)

(Well, they’re probably saying we need to make a guess while we act it out.)

(Judging by the lines on the board, the “childhood friend” must be the protagonist’s rival in love!)

(They’re someone who gives the kung fu movie a sprinkle of romance – something that will make the audiences’ hearts race.)

“Hey… I’ve got something important I gotta tell you. Could I come over to your place after I’m done with work today?”

Touri: He sounds kinda gross.

Mao: Don’t say that, Touri! I feel pretty hurt hearing that from you for some reason…!

Wataru: No, giving off a gross vibe is correct. The character is a man who uses his position as the childhood friend to get closer to the heroine.

It’s not exactly elegant but he’s supposed to make the audience laugh with his awkward and ridiculous behaviour.

To think you were able to accurately grasp the character just from the name of the role and their short lines… One wouldn’t do well to underestimate your abilities, Mr “Jack of All Trades But Master of None”.

Mao: No no, I was actually trying to show my feelings of love for the heroine…!

Eichi: Is that the extent of your love for your childhood friend?

Mao: I don’t really understand but I don’t think I wanna hear that from you!

Yuzuru: Hehe. We still have other auditions to see, so New President-sama– I mean, Isara-sama, please exit the room. Thank you for your audition.

Mao: Uuu~... Okay, thanks.

I had a feeling it would be hard since I’m not used to auditions. It’s nice that I know the judges so it feels easier, but that still made me feel oddly nervous.

Eichi: Hehe. That’s what life is about – You should get used to it, “Student Council President” ♪

Hokuto: …It appears you’re all idly chatting but can I come in now?

Mao: Oh, you’re next, huh, Hokuto? I know you’ll probably be fine but do your best. This is surprisingly difficult.

Hokuto: Right. I’m aware, seeing as Hibiki-senpai is one of the judges, things aren’t bound to be simple.

He won’t be lenient when it comes to acting. I’ve been acting alongside him for a long time now, but I’ve hardly ever received any words of praise from him.

But that’s also why it makes me want to see his face light up in admiration.

Mao: That’s the spirit. Haha, you’re more motivated than usual, Hokuto. It made me realise once more that you have the blood of an actor running through your veins.

See ya later, good luck.

Hokuto: Right. I’ll do my best.

Eichi: Welcome. Hehe, the favourite has made an appearance. It’s time to test Wataru’s beloved disciple that he has personally brought up himself.

Wataru: Hehehe. You’ll make my heart race if you put it like that.

Alright, Hokuto-kun, please look at the board. Your role and the accompanying lines will be displayed there.

Oh, this is a difficult one! Your role is the “protagonist” and your lines are “to be decided”.

Hokuto: “To be decided…☆”

Wataru: Sorry to burst your bubble after that shout, but the words “to be decided” is not really your line, you see.

Eichi: It’s actually left blank in the script.

To tell the truth, the first draft of the movie script was only completed this morning. There are still blanks and other parts left unfinished.

It’ll be polished and refined into the complete script that will be used in the actual filming later on.

Wataru: Hehehe. Scripts tend to be revised during the production as situational changes crop up here and there.

The same can be said for stage plays, so I’m sure you already know that, Hokuto-kun.

Hokuto: It’s rare for the script to be revised on the day of the performance. 

You used to add new things whenever you thought of them, but normally that’s not possible, right?

Well, nevermind. But what should I do? I wouldn’t have a clue even if you tell me to act it out without the lines. What is this supposed to be, a Buddhist riddle?

Wataru: Err, the context is finished, but it seems we’re missing the perfect lines capable of encapsulating the character.

This is the climax scene in the movie as well. The screenwriter must be looking for impactful lines that will leave a lasting effect on the audience.

The deadline came before the lines were created, so they decided to submit the script with the main character’s lines as “to be decided”. Or so it’s presumed.

Hokuto: Why would they send in a script that’s unfinished? That’s not very professional at all.

Wataru: To think of all people, it would be you to use that word.

Eichi: Hehe. This is what you’ll do.

We’ll tell you the setting for the scene as an exception, so come up with the appropriate lines as you deem fit.

No, please act it out. It’s a climatic scene that’s supposed to make the audience shed emotional tears.

Hokuto: Hmm. Alright. So this is improv. I do have experience so it should be possible.

Wataru: Hehehe. We sure did a lot of improv at the Yumenosaki Drama Club, didn’t we~? ♪

Hokuto: Indeed. Tomoya was surprisingly good at it. He could fully immerse himself into his role.

Wataru: While you were absolutely awful on the other hand. You weren’t flexible at all…

But I’d like to think that you, too, have grown after spending all those days at the Drama Club.

We’ll give you the setting now: Your dearest heroine has been kidnapped by your hateful rival and you’re here to take her back.

Hokuto: Understood.

Wataru: The poor heroine is in tears as she is stabbed with a knife and although you were calm the entire time, you let out your voice in a burst of rage for the first time there.

The protagonist then awakens his hidden powers and challenges his arch-enemy to a one-on-one battle in order to retrieve the heroine – to retrieve his love.

Please come up with suitable lines for that scene and act it out!

Hokuto: Alright. Watch me, “Club President”, I’ve grown since the first time we met.

*Inhales*

Hokuto: “Heh… Fret not now that I have arrived. Don’t cry – I love you most when you smile.”

Wataru: Nope~! You haven’t changed at all…!

Touri: Wait, that wasn’t a joke…? It’s supposed to be a kung fu movie, so it felt a bit weird when he was acting like a prince.

Yuzuru: Indeed, I was even able to see beautiful flower petals fluttering about.

Wataru: That, I cannot call growth!

That very action you make will change the entire genre of the movie! Please learn to act out other roles aside from a “prince”...!

Eichi: Hmm. Maybe you’re lacking in imagination? Is that all you can come up with in a scene where you have to “save the heroine”?

Hokuto: Hm? That’s harsh – I did my best there…

Makoto: (...S–Sounds like something’s going on. Hidaka-kun’s auditioning right now, isn’t he?)

(Hidaka-kun has a lot of experience acting in plays for the Drama Club, but if he’s also getting chewed out then…)

(What’s gonna happen to an amateur like me~!?)

(I’m scared! This reminds me of the first time I was in front of a camera as a kids model!)

(It’s fun challenging myself with new things, but I can never get used to this anxiety and nervousness~!)

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

#shangri-la

[gloria-gloom]

wtf trump wanted to stop vote counting so he can win?

#that’s like ridiculous and fucked up #the united states makes no sense #at least here we have electronic ballots #and they’re pretty accurate and surprisingly correct

[aceofspadegrass]

Now It's an Entire Swap

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Chishiya Shuntaro, Kuina Hikari, Mira Kano (Briefly), Hatter, Morizono Aguni

Genre: Crack. Somehow even worse (better?) than the last one. They're really going for it now.

1.4k words

AKA Part 2 of Hair Day. It's just gotten way more weirder than ever, and it was just on my mind the entire time. Just.... ' How far would these two get?'

Well apparently it meant stealing each other's clothes and being them for a day. There were probably a whole lot more interactions I could have done for the day, but alas.

Niragi watches as Chishiya approaches him, carrying a bag in his left hand. Since two days ago, Niragi’s been keeping an eye on the man as Chishiya went around with his old hairstyle, his own still delightfully bleached blond and kept in the same style as Chishiya’s usual hair. People still did double takes upon seeing him, and maybe it held true for Chishiya as well, but Niragi didn’t care what anyone thought of the sudden change. All he cared about was making sure Chishiya didn’t go ahead and re-dye his hair so soon, keeping a careful eye on him.

Sure, it was a little stalkerish, but it was for a good reason.

Chishiya dumps the bag at Niragi’s feet, Niragi looking down to look at the small opening the bag allowed. “ What’s this?”

“ Well if you’re going to steal my hair, I might as well steal your life for a day.” Chishiya briefly explains, and he walks away without any further explanation, Niragi raising an eyebrow. He kneels down and opens the opaque bag some more, his lips curling at the white mass chilling inside.

“ Is this a joke…?” Niragi reaches in and pulls out the outfit, recognizing it as Chishiya’s favourite jacket, or at the very least copy of it, as well as swimming shorts that matched Chishiya’s. Niragi looks back towards where Chishiya had disappeared towards, and scoffs. “ So be it then.”

He puts the clothes back inside the bag and stands up, taking it and heading back up to his room. He starts stripping once he gets inside, unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it aside. Next came his shoes and pants, and he pulls out the two articles of clothing back out of the bag. There were sandals included inside, Niragi leaving those for last as he slips on the shorts. They were somehow a perfect fit on him, not at all as small as Niragi was expecting them to be. “ So the mayo man got me accurately fitting clothing, hm?” Niragi pulls on the jacket and quickly retracts his earlier statement, staring at his exposed wrist. Curse him for not bothering to get a proper jacket for him.

Still, Niragi wasn’t about to back down from the supposed life swap challenge, slipping on the other sleeve and zipping it up. It definitely was just some spare jacket, the bottom barely meeting with the shorts with his arms extending outwards. Niragi drops his arms and tugs the jacket down as far as he could before moving to the sandals and sliding them on. They were also about the correct size, if not just slightly smaller but still manageable. Humming, Niragi walks around to make sure, catching sight of his rifle.

“ Well…. as much as I’d like to….” Niragi sighs, and tucks the thing into his bed. “ If Chishiya wants whatever this weird role-play shit, then he’s gonna get it.”

Niragi spots Chishiya by the militants a few minutes later, a few loudly questioning and gesturing to Chishiya. Or, from the back, a much smaller him. Niragi couldn’t help but snort at the obvious sheer size of his shirt on Chishiya’s much smaller frame, or the fact that Chishiya was toting around a massive super soaker instead of the real deal, as if he was still semi-aware that he could be killed despite taking on Niragi’s aesthetics.

Niragi didn’t think this was much of a punishment for his hair thievery in the slightest, sauntering away. Just his face still kept people from coming too close, and the talk about him was near pleasurable for him. His reputation continues to precede him at least.

“ Hey! You, slow down, geez-“ A female voice catches Niragi’s attention, and he turns his head to see that lady Chishiya was occasionally by every so often, although Niragi didn’t bother with her too much, down to her name. She catches up to him, her eyes quickly scanning him before she lets out a sigh. “ I really can’t believe you agreed.”

“ Yeah? What’s it to you, huh?”

The lady folds her arms, letting out a sigh and chews on the stick hanging out of her mouth for a bit. Niragi was about to turn and leave her there when her hand reaches out and grabs him by the shoulder, Niragi whipping around and slapping the hand off. She recoils, but otherwise was unperturbed, looking at him with a hint of displeasure. “ Okay listen. Chishiya told me that since you stole his hair he was going to….. apparently take over a day of just being you, saying that…” She pauses. “ Well, that’s not important right now. What is important is to ’sell’ this, is that I have to follow you.”

Niragi blinks, raising his eyebrow and unconsciously flicking his tongue across his lips, leaning onto one leg. “ Why, does the toilet bowl not trust me?”

“ I wouldn’t trust you with a barrel of green tea left in your care, so you can figure out what Chishiya’s opinion is. Look, we can do this peacefully, no violence required, okay?” She extends a hand as if it were a peace offering, Niragi staring down at the hand.

“ Yeah, uh….. no. I do what I want, cinnamon stick.” He turns and walks away, said cinnamon stick’s footsteps coming up behind him.

“ Rude, but I really can’t expect anything else from you, wig snatcher.”

Niragi ignores her, although he didn’t bother to push her away today either. She was at least mindful of their positions, and kept her distance as she should.

It wasn’t long until she invited him to at least watch a movie with her, Niragi agreeing since he was technically absolved from doing his patrols for the day.

( Niragi wasn’t allowed to in any way touch her, and the one time he tried he got his toes crushed by her foot, so he had to behave the rest of the movie. Not worth it, in his opinion.)

Even at the meeting nobody really mentioned the sudden switch, although Niragi swore he thought he saw Mira’s smile become a little wider, and her eyes glitter in interest at the two. Hatter had to do a double take at the two, before sidetracking into what they were up to this time. Chishiya, surprisingly enough, just sticks his tongue out at Hatter like Niragi would’ve done, and Niragi had to suppress a laugh when he caught a glimpse of a stain on Chishiya’s tongue.

“ Oh my fucking goodness, did you seriously eat a fruit roll-up with those tongue tattoos before this?!” Niragi howls, bursting into uncontrolled laughter. Chishiya slips his tongue back in and just smirks. Aguni shakes his head slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose, Hatter just watching and waiting with amusement.

It takes a while before Niragi finally reins in his laugh, and that was only because one of Hatter’s pretty boy kimono men handed him water to calm the fuck down. Hatter grins, clapping his hands together.

“ Well, either way, this is an absolute rollercoaster that we’re all seeing today, aren’t we. One day I’m greeted with a hair swap, and the next you two are becoming each other! Aren’t you just… two peas in a pod?”

“ Tch, no. I’d rather burn.”

Chishiya glances at Niragi for a second, his lips curling ever so slightly in disgust. “ Not to be rude, but I decline that as well. I’d rather be shot instead. This is merely payback.”

“… How though.” Aguni questions. Chishiya turns his attention to the man, and leans back casually.

“ Because it leaves him practically defenceless in order to be me. Me, on the other hand….” Chishiya gestures to the super soaker lain on the table. “ Have temporary access. Even if this is merely a substitute.”

“ I will strangle you in your sleep anyways, you naked chicken nugget.”

Chishiya doesn’t react to the threat, Niragi glaring at him. Hatter looks between the two of them, then smacks his hand against the table a few times to get the meeting back to focus on him.

“ Like I said last time, grab a martini or something you two. Now, as much as I love a good drama and an enemies to lovers trope, we have to get back to real matters-“

Niragi huffs, leaning back slightly as Hatter starts his usual spiel. His glances couldn’t help but look towards Chishiya every so often, just glaring him down. Occasionally he’d lock eyes with him, Niragi smirking and miming random ways that Niragi could murder him with his bare hands.

If anyone else was watching their little act, they certainly didn’t bring it up. At the very least it kept Niragi occupied long enough.

The moment it was done, Hatter simply watches the two leave the meeting with a little more haste than he’s ever seen, and he leans towards Aguni. “ Think they’re gonna fuck it out with a nice martini?”

“…. Beats me.”

#aib #alice in borderland #aib fanfic #alice in borderland fanfic #niragi suguru #chishiya shuntaro #kuina hikari #hatter #takeru danma #mira kano #morizono aguni #sorry kuina you don't even get a name in this #that last interaction sentence is ness' fault you got me thinking about them doing the do #yes somehow hair swap evolved into a whole outfit swap it's just how it progressed #everyone just has to roll with whatever bullshit happens there every day this is tame really- #yes they specifically are wearing each others tops the other pieces are sized up correctly to a point but the shirt and jacket? Swapped. #yes chishiya ate one of those candies that stained his tongue just to mock niragi's tongue piercing #he also stuck rhinestones on his face I just don't mention them

[longitudinalwaveme]

DC Comics’ Portrayal of Mental Illness

 As you can probably ascertain from the general contents of this blog, I am a huge fan of DC comics (and, more specifically, of the Flash). I am also a psychology major who is on the autism spectrum and has struggled with Social Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. As such, I have a...complicated relationship with comic books that discuss mental illness. 

Of course, of all the comics that deal with mental illness, Batman is undoubtedly the most prominent, and, as such, is the easiest target for criticism. The more a comic book talks about mental illness, the more opportunities it has to get stuff wrong. Since there are literally thousands of Batman comics out there and I don’t have the time to research them all, I will be using a 2001 Batman guidebook to give you a few examples of the things that it gets wrong about mental health (and psychology in general). 

To start, let’s talk about Arkham Asylum. Not only is its name anachronistic (virtually no mental heath facilities are called asylums anymore), but its depiction usually is as well: even a psychiatric hospital that doubled as a penal facility probably would not be located in an old Gothic-looking building that looks like it came straight out of a horror movie. It’s also worth noting that Arkham Asylum didn’t exist in the Batman mythos prior to 1974, and that originally, Two-Face and the Joker were the only two villains who went there. Prior to that point, everyone, even the Joker, just went to prison when they were caught (which, as we shall see, is actually probably more accurate for everyone except maaaybe modern Two-Face and the Mad Hatter). My suspicion is that it was introduced to capitalize on the popularity of the 1962 novel (and, once it was released, the 1975 movie) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which was about a psychiatric institution, but there were probably other factors involved, such as the popularity of works by H.P. Lovecraft (which is where the name Arkham came from). Whatever the reason, though, Arkham Asylum is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the misrepresentation of mental illness and mental health in Batman fiction. 

The introduction of Arkham Asylum led, increasingly, to the idea that all Batman villains were mentally ill, which, in turn, led to some...um....very inaccurate portrayals and depictions of what mental illness is and how it works. 

For example, the 2001 guidebook I am using incorrectly describes the Joker as “certifiably psychotic”. He’s not. While there are individual exceptions (we are talking about comic books, after all), in most appearances, the Joker is not psychotic. He has no apparent hallucinations and does not seem to display signs of delusions, either. He is not out of touch with reality in any meaningful way, he’s just horrifically violent. Describing him as “certifiably psychopathic” would have been much more appropriate (although you can’t technically diagnose someone with psychopathy; the condition he would be diagnosed with would be Antisocial Personality Disorder). 

In the same book, Two-Face is described as “schizoid” and “schizophrenic”, both of which are not even remotely correct. What the modern Two-Face is supposed to suffer from is Dissociative Identity Disorder (what used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder), although it’s not always portrayed terribly accurately. Schizoid Personality Disorder is not DID, and it’s not Schizophrenia, either; it’s a personality disorder characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships-basically people who are extreme loners. Similarly, Schizophrenia is not DID. While it is hypothetically possible for the two conditions to be comorbid, they are not at all the same thing. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations, which Two-Face almost never displays in fiction. DID is a dissociative disorder. Most people with DID do not experience delusions or hallucinations; their condition is typified by the presence of more than one personality and is thought to usually only occur as a reaction to severe childhood trauma. (Credit where credit is due: modern Two-Face is correctly shown as having experienced trauma as a child.) The fact that the term schizophrenia literally translates into “split mind” is probably the source of some of this confusion, but with schizophrenia, the split is between the mind and reality, not between the mind and itself. 

Also from this guidebook, the Riddler is, confusingly, described as having “an obsessive-compulsive desire for attention”, which, from a psychological perspective, is pretty much nonsense. Desire for attention is one thing; obsessive-compulsive disorder is another. The “obsessions” in OCD refer to intrusive, recurring thoughts, not to something that a person strongly desires and spends a lot of time pursuing. Additionally, the Riddler is described as “pondering the unsolvable riddle of his own psychosis”, which is not accurate. The Riddler consistently displays signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and less consistently displays signs of OCD, but neither one of these conditions is a psychotic disorder, as neither involves hallucinations or delusions. When the Riddler says he’s not psychotic, and that he’s perfectly sane, he’s completely right on both counts. He’s never displayed any evidence of a break from reality, so he’s not psychotic, and he’s almost always aware that what he’s doing is a crime, so he’s not insane, either. In fact, with the possible exceptions of the Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, and Two-Face, none of the Batman villains are insane, since they are all aware that what they’re doing is illegal when they do it. 

What makes the earlier mistakes in this particular guidebook even more mystifying to me is the fact that their description of Scarecrow, and, more impressively yet, Scarecrow’s fear toxin, is pretty much accurate. They don’t call him psychotic or label him with conditions he doesn’t have and they accurately identify his on-again off-again phobia of bats (Chiropteraphobia). It also describes his fear gas thusly: “a toxic mix of adreno-cortical secretions and strong hallucinogens...it prompts neuromuscular spasms, cardiac arrhythmia, and panic attacks”. This is an astonishingly accurate description of what his fear toxin would need to be made of and what it does to his victims’ bodies. I don’t know who wrote this section, but they deserve some serious credit for doing their homework! (It makes no sense to put the Scarecrow in Arkham. Not only is he neither psychotic nor insane, but putting an evil ex-psychologist in a psychiatric institution is a REALLY bad idea, as he has the know-how to easily manipulate both the doctors and the patients.) 

Also from the 2001 Guidebook: The Ventriloquist is described as having multiple personalities, and is NOT described as schizophrenic or schizoid. While the term Multiple Personality Disorder is no longer used by psychologists for diagnosis, it is at least describing the same condition as DID. Modern Firefly is described as a pyromaniac; this is accurate from what I know of the character. Mr. Zsasz is described as a “sociopath”; again, this is mostly accurate. 

I also decided to use a few other DC guidebooks and see if there were any other egregious mistakes: 

2015 Guidebook:

 Haha, “Lenny Snart”. (That has nothing to do with mental illness, I just thought it was funny.) 

 Dr. Polaris is described as suffering from “a split personality disorder”; they mean DID. It’s also worth noting that most people with DID do not have a “good” alter and an “evil” alter; having DID does not make you Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

The Joker is described as “crazy” and “insane”; while the former is up for debate, I can say with confidence that the Joker meets no real-world definition of insanity that I know about. 

Riddler is not described as insane, yay!  

Two-Face is described as having Multiple Personality Disorder; this should be DID but is otherwise broadly correct. That being said, the idea that getting acid thrown in your face would cause you to develop a split personality, as this book seems to imply, is unlikely. DID doesn’t develop that suddenly. 

2016 Guidebook: 

While Doctor Polaris may very well have a personality disorder, the emergence of a second personality would indicate the development of DID, not  a personality disorder. An adult man couldn’t “develop’ a personality disorder anyway; they’re developed in childhood and are usually lifelong afflictions. 

Harley Quinn is a weird case; to call her psychotic isn’t completely inaccurate, as she has displayed signs of hallucinations and delusions in the past. That being said, the way her condition is depicted is inconsistent and confusing, and doesn’t seem to line up perfectly with any actual real-world condition. 

Modern Heat Wave is absolutely a pyromaniac; Johns in particular was surprisingly good at writing a realistic case of the condition. 

The Joker is not insane. Neither is the modern Joker’s daughter. Both understand what they’re doing is wrong. 

Lex Luthor is indeed a sociopath, as is the New 52 version of Mr. Freeze (BTAS Freeze is not). 

Two-Face’s condition should be described as DID, not MPD; otherwise things are about as accurate as one can expect from Two-Face. 

2008 Guidebook:

Calling Abra Kadabra narcissistic is accurate. 

The Black Manta autism thing is icky on multiple levels. Ewww.

The first Cheetah probably would not have suddenly developed a second personality as an adult. 

Dr. Polaris. You know the drill. Split personality should be DID. A “good” and “evil” alter are pretty unlikely. Usually DID would show up before adulthood. 

Firefly and Heat Wave do both seem to have pyromania. It’s also accurate to describe Heat Wave as cryophobic. 

The Joker cannot be “certifiably crazed”; crazed is not an official psychiatric term. And again, he isn’t insane, so he shouldn’t be in Arkham. 

Killer Croc has never displayed any noticeable signs of psychosis. 

Magenta having DID is actually more realistic than most of the other characters I’ve talked about; she’s got the necessary childhood trauma and her alters developed when she was still quite young. Furthermore, her more violent alter isn’t manically evil. 

Whoever wrote the Scarecrow piece in the 2001 Batman Guidebook must’ve also helped to write this one, since the shockingly-accurate fear gas description is the same. 

Professor Strange is not insane in the legal sense of the word. 

Arnold Wesker has DID; MPD is the condition’s original name but is no longer used by professional psychologists. 

Zoom (Hunter Zolomon, not Eobard)... I think there’s an argument to be made that Zolomon actually is psychotic. While he’s never displayed hallucinations, he is clearly delusional in the most literal sense and does seem to have lost touch with reality. As such, this book is not wholly inaccurate in calling him psychotic.

You get the idea....

Looking specifically at the Flash, things improve slightly simply because writers who don’t understand psychology aren’t constantly talking about it. That being said, that doesn’t mean it never gets brought up. 

Golden Glider was intended to receive a psychiatric evaluation in the late 1970s. It’s interesting that she actually protested this, pointing out that the male criminals never received psychological evaluations (and indeed, they always went to prison rather than to an institution). She was indeed motivated by something other than profit, and I can understand why they wanted to have her evaluated given her lack of earlier criminal activity, but I don’t know if she was actually mentally ill per se...and she definitely wasn’t insane. 

In the early 1980s during the twilight hours of Barry Allen’s first run on the Flash, it seemed that the writers were trying to take a page out of Batman’s book by arguing that Barry’s costumed criminals were insane (even though they usually didn’t display any behavior that would indicate this). As such, Barry stated to imply that his Rogues were mentally ill in some fashion despite the fact that their behavior really hadn’t changed appreciably since their earliest appearances. That being said, the Pied Piper did appear to suffer some sort of nervous breakdown during the “Trial of the Flash” arc; what exactly this was is difficult to explain, since we didn’t get to see a whole lot of him after this point, but he did go to an actual psychiatric hospital (that was referred to as such rather than being called an asylum) and he did recover, relapsed, then recovered again, making this one of the more accurate portrayals of how mental illness works despite the limited information we have about his actual condition. They even showed him slowly deteriorating over a period of time before the actual collapse!

Big Sir, who made his debut in the same storyline, was rather more poorly handled....but at least he was explicitly manipulated into villainy rather than becoming evil simply because of his condition. 

Wally West went to therapy early in his run; given the context I’d say it was reasonable that he was suffering from both anxiety and depression (his uncle had just died and he was really struggling to fill his shoes as the new Flash). Going to therapy did actually help him, which was nice to see, and his therapist did not become evil, which was also nice to see. (I’m not going to talk about Heroes in Crisis, as I prefer to pretend that that never happened.) Yay for protagonists discussing their mental health problems in productive ways! 

In the early-to-mid 1990s, Mark Waid wrote a story in which Lisa stated that she’d faked insanity in order to be sent to a psychiatric hospital rather than to prison, but the story seemed to be implying that she was actually insane. Not only is successfully being declared not guilty by reason of insanity incredibly difficult, but Lisa displayed no signs of not recognizing that her behavior was wrong, so she wasn’t insane. She was, however, displaying strong signs of paranoia, which could perhaps be attributed to a paranoid delusion of some sort. It’s especailly weird since this was never really a characteristic of hers before or since, and it just kind of came out of nowhere. 

The Trickster (specifically the first one, James Jesse) is often mistakenly believed to be mentally ill by casual fans. While he is indeed mentally ill, possibly even psychotic, in the DCAU,  and he’s a remorseless psychopath in both live-action Flash shows, in the comics themselves he displays no real signs of mental illness. That being said, I LOVE the interactions between DCAU Wally and DCAU Trickster. They’re made of adorable.

The Pied Piper went through a second bout of mental problems in the mid-to-late 2000s, being tricked into believing that he’d murdered his parents, going to prison, being beaten regularly by the warden, escaping from prison, going through the stress of fighting in the Rogue War, having his mind messed with by the Top, accidentally becoming involved in the murder of Bart Allen (another thing I like to pretend never happened), having to go on the run, watching the Trickster get shot in front of him, having to drag his corpse around a desert, almost dying, getting transported to Apocalypse, blowing it up with Queen music, and then being left basically all alone. He really went through a trauma conga line, so it’s not surprising that he was starting to display some odd behavior. Poor guy probably had PTSD. 

And then there’s the Top. Beyond the speculation of @gorogues that he’s on the autism spectrum (a  theory I find to be quite persuasive), I also think it’s likely that he suffers from another mental illness (most likely bipolar I disorder, also as suggested by @gorogues). He was clearly mentally ill for most of Geoff Johns’ run, and his behavior in his very first appearance was decidedly odd as well. Intense mania and depression can sometimes induce psychosis (as we seemed to see during Geoff Johns’ run), and his “threatening to blow up half the world to become its ruler while I’m somehow safe on the other side of the planet” plan from his first appearance, which he clearly expected to work perfectly, is so overconfident and over-the-top that it fits well as a particularly exaggerated manic episode. While it’s not conclusive by any means, I think it’s a distinct possibility.

#dc comics #mental illness #flash comics #batman comics #flash rogues

[sylkhi]

Let's review: parenting from the pjo olympians! (Specifically: what do they do when their children have breakdowns?)

[I'll refer to them by their Greek aspect for the headings, and Roman aspect WHEN I'm speaking of their Roman aspect. The only exceptions are gods exclusive to one or the other. Also, I'm only dealing with gods who have children (there's a technicality on this though). Sorry, kymopoleia and Hestia stans.]

Zeus

The worst of the parents BY FAR. He's neglectful, and unresponsive. He only really cares when it (the subject of his child's breakdown) threatens his image, thus his power and position.

He tells his children "Get your shit together or else..." (Apollo) and then makes a big show of being a good dad in front of others, but that's rare (Thalia's "death").

You're only in his good graces for a very short while after doing something that bolsters his image. He's never really impressed by anything you do (Jason).

He only helps you when there's something big to gain from it, but otherwise, you don't exist (everyone, with 2 exceptions).

He has favourites, and only because they make them look good. He treats them like trophies (Athena, Artemis).

Poseidon

Terrible. Second only to Zeus, really.

The true kind of neglectful; distant and makes no effort.

He only ever shows care sporadically (look at how he interacts with Percy).

He wouldn't even know if his child were having a breakdown.

Triton probably can't stand the man, but there's a power dynamic bigger than father/son between them and he can't really do anything about it.

Amphitrite, in the brief amount of time she interacted with Percy, was probably a better parental figure than Poseidon. She doesn't particularly like him. Let that sink in.

Hades

Him, Demeter, and Persephone tie for best parents.

While he clearly favoured Bianca over Nico at the start, he's grown as a parent due to actively seeking improvement.

He's willing to die on a hill with his children, and will correct them when they are wrong.

I head-canon that he and Demeter regularly get together to discuss parenting tips.

If any of his children were to have a breakdown, he'd carefully analyse the situation and very awkwardly offer heartfelt words + doing some form of activity together (he's socially awkward, happens when you're ostracised).

Gold star for Hades.

Demeter

Definitely parents the same as Hades in the significant ways.

When her child has a breakdown, she brings them loads of food, especially whole-grain stuff. They talk. They hit the farm afterwards.

She's very sure of herself.

Athena

She rarely does emotions.

If her children were to have a breakdown, she'd have a sit-down with them at the table and she'd logic through the problem.

She'd be at odds with her children who feel more deeply, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't try to meet them halfway.

Bellona

Same energy as Athena, a bit more fierce in her approach.

Aphrodite

Sometimes she feels really hard to reach for her children. She tries her hardest to compensate whenever that happens. It creates a sort of hot-cold, but that's not really accurate.

While she's not the best at parenting, I'd argue she's the best at dealing with her children's breakdowns.

She knows how to handle each one. She'll sit in a heap of blankets and watch a movie with Drew as they eat a tub of icecream.

She'll give Piper plenty of space to work on her feelings on her own, then take her out window shopping afterwards.

She's so-so.

Hephaestus

He has a hard time expressing his emotions, and isn't the most willing to do it. For his children, though, he tries.

He isn't the greatest at understanding a breakdown from the get-go, and a machine-related analogy might be needed, but once he has a grasp on the situation his advice is VERY solid.

Dependable.

Ares

Say what you're saying bluntly, no hesitation.

Are you having a breakdown? He'll take you to the shooting range, or paint-balling, or to a rageroom, just to do a (somewhat) safe violent activity. After observing how his children went about the activity, he offers advice. The subject of the breakdown normally isn't even mentioned unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.

Prefers action over words; speaks the language of the body with more finesse than he does spoken ones. A solid dad for people who have a hard time verbally expressing themselves.

Hermes

He's seen a lot, and has a pretty good grasp on a lot as a result.

He also works a lot, but he makes a great effort to be there. He's somehow always there when he's needed.

He never lacks advice for a situation, but said advice can depend on the person receiving it being at least a little hardy.

He also uses a lot of doublespeak, so you have to think over the true meaning of his words sometimes.

A great parent to pretty much any child.

Hera

Surprise, her bovine majesty appears. I know she doesn't have children of her own blood, but Riordan does give use a glimpse of how she raises someone (Leo) and how she'd treat a demigod child of her own (Jason) and I think that's more than enough.

She seems pretty strict, but that stems from being in one of the most loveless and miserable marriages of the ages. That will never change.

Surprisingly, she still manages to get her love and care across. While the relationship between her and her children might be slightly antagonistic, she does love them.

She's a firm believer in letting her children find their own path, and being there to help them when they think they're lost or defeated.

If her child were to have a breakdown, I believe she'd be super gentle and do stuff to get their spirits back up, but still give them space.

She'd also give really good advice, but always with an undertone of bitterness (again, the marriage)

Cross her child and you will be trampled by cows and smothered in goat skin.

A dependable parent, even though her marriage makes her a bit bitter.

Anddddddd I'm done. I know I left out Apollo, but that's because I can't help but think of him as a demi-demigod cause of ToA. He'd parent almost the same as Ares, but swap violence for a non-violent art of your choice.

I also wanted to discuss Janus, Hestia, Iris, and Boreas, but you know what? I'm tired. Maybe later.

Is there any other god you want me to discuss? Cause I can, just ask.

#pjo #hoo #zeus #poseidon #hades #demeter #aphrodite #hephaestus #hera #apollo #hermes #a discussiom on parenting in pjo #what is going on with me and these weird ideas in my head #athena #bellona #percy jackson

[siren-virus]

There's some stuff that has been going around in my head regarding Luckuboy!AU, so I'll just dump everything here and see how you might adapt/change/evolve some of these ideas, or don't use any of them since that's perfectly valid too and it's your au, not mine :3 anyways, this is a long idea that can be divided, so I'll do just that and make a paragraph for each sub-idea.

1) Ben's daily schedule: Ben most likely has a morning schedule in the coffee shop, and as such he would get to work early, now idk how they work, but I imagine Ben's day to day life would go something like this: Ben's alarm goes off at 7:00, he wakes up and leaves bed at 7:15, breakfast and shower before arriving at work at 8:00 (do shops open at 8:00? 8:30? idk :V), keep working until 16:00 with lunchtime tucked in the middle, hang out with friends/relax/naps until 20:00, start his own vigilante work until 2:00, where he goes to sleep and repeats. If his patrol is slow then he would go home earlier to sleep more, if it's hectic and he doesn't get enough sleep, then the afternoon/evening would be used in powernaps.

2) Ben the info brooker, I imagine that Ben would eventually get to know a lot, and I mean A LOT, of information about everyone and everything important that's going on in Undertown (which, considering the situation of Earth and the Plumbers, is probably the only alien world center, would be everything), and when he hears of someone having some kind of trouble, he gives them a nudge in a certain direction for them. Eventually word gets out that there's a new information brooker in town that has scarily accurate info, he works at a coffee shop and you better give him a big tip if you don't want some of your info to get out fast (how real this info is nobody knows, and since Ben hasn't heard of it he can't correct them)

2.5) One day Argit appears and asks for a coffee under a different name, when it's ready Ben calls for him (he used a fake name) and writes with an alcohol marker on the cup "Argit", scaring the hell out of him. "How did you know?" "I'd be shitty at what I do if I couldn't recognize you *wink*", then he tells him that as long as they do nothing dangerous near him he won't tattle him and Kevin to the Plumbers, or worse, Gwen. "Don't you dare" says Argit aghast, "Try me bitch" answers Ben grinning, almost double daring him into doing something dangerous only so he can call his cousin and set up a date

3) The coffee made in the shop is delicious, caters to every species needs, alergies, likes and dislikes, and everyone agrees that the place is the best of the best in the whole world for these reasons and more; thus the shop has been a tentative neutral zone for years, however the lack of "people" (idk what word to use that captures everyone, human or alien) that knows how to fight there has severly dampened the opportunity of it becoming one. Cue Ben beggining to work there, in the beggining it's nothing special, he's just a human who makes good coffee and is surprisingly charming, come a few weeks and months and everyone starts noticing how he's the infamous information brooker that has been the talk of Undertown, thus gathering a bit more attention. Eventually someone (Plumber, civilian, villain, whatever you choose) is more rude to him than needed and tries to get some info from him, even if it's by force... Ben decks him, like, he kicks their ass, defenestrates them, break a chair on them and hands them unconcious to the closest Plumber, bleeding and all while still being intact himself. Everyone glares in awe at the show of badassery and oficially the coffee shop becomes the new true neutral zone, where everyone can get coffee, exchange information and form unlikely friendships. Whenever someone tries to mess with the shop, if Ben isn't present, is busy or it's too much for him, everyone else, Plumber, villain and civilian joins him in defending the shop and getting rid of the nuisancess that mess with the shop.

4) With all the info that Ben gets both as a barista and as a vigilante, one would think that he would give everything out as long as you paid the prize, but surprisingly he has a strong code that he never breaks. If he EVER learns that a piece of information he has with himself is considered confidential, then he'll never speak about it with anyone, no matter how much they offer to pay him. He can't answer for the ones who talks about this info in the shop without saying in any moment that the info is supposed to be confidential, he can't read minds, but everyone catches on fast on this, and some say the keyword when talking in the coffee shop. However many still forget about it once in a while, since the calm atmosphere of the shop is too powerful and slip up often happen. Still Ben can't be blamed, how is he supposed to know if some piece of info is confidential if no one ever says it is? Again, he's not a mindreader nor a telepath.

5) Any info on his vigilante persona he never gives out, however it's not because of not wanting to give out any of that info, but rather because another part of his code is "If I haven't heard people talk about something, then I don't know information about it. All my info is second hand, so unless someone else already knows about it, I won't know about it". That can come in very handy considering the surprisingly little info there is about his vigilante persona out there, despite how famous he kinda is. This more often than not drives Jimmy mad.

Love brainstorms, hate the alien.

1) Most cafes open at 7am from my knowledge, 9am if you're in a sleepy town, so it'd be more like a 6am wake up, optional breakfast- (who eats breakfast these days?), straight to the cafe around 7ish to help with cleaning and setting up for the day.

This cafe is more of a 24/7 place. With 24/7 breakfast! (don't you hate it when places stop doing breakfast at a certain hour?)

Apart from that love what ya got there.

As for the vigilante side, he starts whenever is easiest, it's all dependent if things are hectic or not. Sun goes down roughly 7PM (pretty late I know, but where I live (during summer at least), sun won't go down til 9PM). Sometimes he finishes at 2AM, sometimes a few minutes before work (Incoming animatic!)

2) Love everything about that too! I'd like to think Ben has no idea about it at first, he just notices some days the tip jar is fuller than others. He chocks it up to his charming personality. But eventually he catches on.

Another thing to add, at some point if people wanted to get info from Ben they'd order a "whipped caramel latte with icing sugar, honey, and salt" (gross) Ben has no idea of this, but the weird amount of customers ordering that and asking for intel, kinda makes him think about it.

2.5) This!! good shit right here! Except, you can't call a customer a bitch, trust me... Karen's and Kevin's exist in all shapes, sizes and forms. So Ben uses the kill them with kindness, customer service attitude.

Additionally, sometimes Kevin, although rarely, comes by, hovers around the counter. He'll order a coffee and glare at Ben until, he gets his attention.

"You staring at me for a reason?"

"I need to know about Gwen 10."

Of course, at this Ben would grin devilishly and respond with, "Oh, you wanna take her on date? She loves sappy romance movies, she's also a nerd, so get her a math book instead of flowers."

That always shuts Kevin up, makes him leave most occasions.

3) Everything about this is just!!! Love it. Wouldn't change a thing.

4) Yes yes!!Sometimes, a customer will demand classified info (those that aren't initiated to how the cafe works). When Ben refuses to squawk this can lead to some shouting from a customer sometimes, which leads to a coworker, or a regular shoeing the nasty customer away. Ben can hold his own against most people, as a human, but sometimes they're just a little too big or a little too tough to be able to defend himself against.

5) I like that a lot too.

I also like to think that sometimes, if Ben wants to mess with someone, especially Jimmy. He'll slip a piece of information out that no one else knows.

"I heard from a plumber, that the vigilante guy likes smoothies- specifically [insert favourite smoothie flavour of the week]"

Cue Jimmy buying several of that smoothie to try and lure Luckyboy (still haven't thought of a namee!!!) out. It works, and Ben gets free smoothies almost every week.

This could backfire immensely though.

Woo, sorry about the delay there, been working a few shifts. Work is kicking my ass as usual...

#ben 10 #lucky boy! au #answer

[meyerlansky]

since I watched u play thru marble nest and you had all those withheld Thoughts and Opinions can I ask ur thoughts on one aspect of the story: the way everyone in town seems to disagree on what kind of person dankovsky is, what he wants to do, etc.? it feels to me like it's meaningful on a story and meta level that he's so built up by others to be whatever they want to see?

admittedly most of those went unsaid because i’m inarticulate as shit when i can’t write my thoughts out and i lost my train of thought talking to npcs, and also all of them basically just end in "godDAMN i love him"

BUT YES oh man i definitely agree, daniil is on the receiving end of a TON of projection and assumptions, and i think the thing is, he sort of... cultivates it? like artemy gets people's assumptions projected on him too, but he's MUCH more vocal about correcting it when someone's expectations of him don't match up with how he sees himself. daniil, on the other hand, tends to wear people's perceptions of him like a second skin, and doesn't push back nearly as hard or as often when those perceptions don't sync up. i will be nice to my dash and put my rambly bullshit under a cut, but tl;dr i think daniil finds value in finding out how people see him and utilizing that perception to get what he really wants, and he's willing to play the villain in particular because a. negative perception is as useful as positive perception if you're clever enough to use it to your advantage, and b. based on some stuff in artemy's route but especially based on the particular circumstances of marble nest, he thinks that, to some degree, he deserves to be thought badly of.

so i realized halfway through writing this you probably meant marble nest's story specifically, but i think it's relevant to his characterization in artemy's route too, because... marble nest daniil is not that different from artemy route daniil, as far as i'm concerned—he's just more desperate and more beaten down. as for the actual question, overall i get the vibe that daniil's used to leveraging how he's perceived to get what he needs out of a situation, and he's waaay more comfortable playing the villain than, say, artemy is, if that's what people are putting on him from jump. it's less work, right? correcting people's assumptions is a waste of valuable time and energy, and people are hard to convince once they've set their mind to something. why bother when you can just play along and, if you're clever enough about it, get what you need out of the interaction anyway? he gets built up into so many different versions of himself by different characters because he's willing to be different things to different people without it eroding his goals or his sense of self. he has a flair for the dramatic, obviously, but i don't know how much of it is innate and how much of it is cultivated in service of that kind of perception leveraging. like, prime example, the day 1 conversation with artemy reads as EXTREMELY performative—from his word choice to his demeanor to the exclamation points in the dialogue to the fucking LIGHTING, he comes off like he's playing a role, and not a new one. and when the conversation's over, he's learned some things about what kind of person artemy is, what kinds of things get a rise out of him, all without really revealing too much of his own hand. but the front sloughs off the closer he gets to artemy, and it sloughs off QUICK, to the point that A DAY AND A HALF LATER he's gone from saying "you owe me" in the most facetious way possible to "i need your help" and "if this goes badly, i'll take the consequences" completely unselfconsciously, and subsequent conversations with artemy are complete turnarounds from how he approaches artemy and their relationship on day 1. on the whole, i think he cares way less about his reputation than he does about Getting Shit Done, and he's surprisingly willing to be the scapegoat for other people's fears and other negative emotions, as long as the end result doesn't hamper his goals. which makes some sense considering his corpus of research involves spitting directly in the face of natural law and the people who consider themselves responsible for enforcing it. you don't do that kind of shit if you care about being well-liked. so i think 99% of the time, daniil gets read multiple ways—often incorrectly—because he finds more value in utilizing those perceptions than he finds in correcting them and Being Known. as far as characters we see in the game go, artemy's the exception, which might change once daniil's route is out, but every comment everyone else makes to artemy about daniil leans on their assumptions about him, which means he's not going around showing anyone else what he really thinks.

i also think daniil has sort of... internalized that he's Unlikable, on a personal level. he doesn't walk into a single situation in p2 expecting to be liked, or willingly helped, or for his presence to be wanted beyond the utility he can provide. he relies almost entirely on his ability to deliver solutions [with, uh, declining success as the game goes on], the respect his reputation and his status as the kains' guest confers, and on the rumor that he's willing to get violent if things don't go his way. i think he's utterly convinced his ultimate goals will benefit humanity as a whole and therefore are fundamentally good, but i don't think he thinks HE'S good. there's a couple of moments in marble nest where he can pretty explicitly shoot down people saying nice things about him, and the "i guess i had to prove them right" and "do you condemn me?" lines in the shelter convo do not read to me like the words of a man who thinks he's 100% in the right in the way he's gone about achieving his goals. so like as much as i think he does have a very solid sense of Who He Is, i don't think it's a very generous self-image, and i don't think it's entirely accurate either, because i do think he's fundamentally a good person, despite people [in the game and out of it] not really bothering to push past whatever front he's put on. artemy pushes through it, and the kids in marble nest push through it, and i think it's somewhat telling that the kids in marble nest are... the only real people IN marble nest. georgiy undermining his authority as soon as he's indisposed is part of the fever dream; the soldiers and orderlies believing he's the one giving the okay to kill kids and civilians are part of the fever dream; the clerk assuming daniil will agree with his racist bullshit is part of the fever dream. all these negative images of himself are in his head—based on previous conversations with the real people, but at the time of marble nest, in his head. they're all things he, somewhere in his mind, expects people to think of him or expect of him, and to me, that's not the kind of stuff someone as arrogant and convinced of his own awesomeness as people seem to think daniil is would think about himself. but the kids worrying about his health and taking care of him while he's infected are real, and for whatever reason they think he's worth trying to save. THAT'S the reality, THAT'S who he really is, even if he can't see it himself, and i don't think he can.

so ANYWAY i think the multiplicity of daniils in marble nest in particular is to some degree a manifestation of the fact that he IS willing to be different things to different people, that he knows this about himself, and that he has SOME level of anxiety over the thought of the various masks becoming the reality, and him losing control over who he ACTUALLY is, not just how he's perceived. i think this bothers him in artemy's route as well—the last thing he says to artemy translates to "the greatest power is to have power over oneself" and i do not think he's talking about himself. i think he's talking about artemy, and the fact that, ESPECIALLY from daniil's perspective in artemy's route, artemy very much controls not only his own narrative, but at the very least strongly influences daniil's and everyone else's too. [there are also layers and layers with that line and the doll narrative but i am too tired to get into it right now and also the doll narrative fucks my feelings up in so many ways.] i have no idea if any of this makes any sense, but here it is /gestures weakly at All This

#permian tropos #asks #pathologic #pathologic 2 #daniil dankovsky #kara plays pathologic 2 #/SHRUGS #Daniil Liker On Main

[trash-but-respectable-trash]

The brothers + Diavolo reacting to vines/tik toks compilations you’ve made of them

I’ve seen a lot of obey me! as vines/tik toks on youtube and I think they’re HILARIOUS, so I decided to make the reactions of the boys if you did one yourself (pretend they have the human version of youtube in the Devildom).

Lucifer:

- First of all, what the fuck is a vine or tik tok?

- He’s defensive at first, thinking you filmed them without them knowing

- When you explained to him that these are videos of other people and you just edited their name in them, he relax

- He’s impressed that you manage to do this in your free time and as long as it doesn’t reflect on your grades he’s fine with you doing more of them

- Even if your compilations are super accurate and funny, the best reaction you’ll get from him is a chuckle

- He probably finds the one where people get hurt the funniest, especially when they’re supposed to represent Mammon

- The one with the toddler going “daddy” at her mom is probably his favorite since you put him as the mom and put yourself as the toddler

- After that, he might ask you to call him daddy in more private settings

Mammon:

- At first he’s flattered that you spend time making edits including him

- “You made me look good didn’t ya?”

- Let’s just say he’s a bit disappointed when he sees that he’s been put in all the videos with someone injuring themselves or doing something stupid

- Like the one of the guy who throws himself in a pit ball at Walmart

- Or the “Zach stop” where the guy gets arrested for kicking too much, yep that would totally happen to Mammon

- He won’t say it, but he does find them very funny

- His favorites are the ones where you’re both in it

- Will asked you to make more, but he doesn’t want his brothers to be in it, just you and him

- Try to make him look cool next time please, he’s already getting teased enough by his brothers

Leviathan:

- Obviously already knows what vines and tik toks are

- Tells you that vines are dead and calls you a normie for doing compilations

- But deep time he’s super excited to see which ones you chose for him

- Already knows you put him as the guy saying: “I HAVE THE POWER OF GOD AND ANIME ON MY SIDE... AAAAHHHH”

- He predicted pretty much every vines/tik toks that he’s in

- He doesn’t laugh only because he already saw all of them before

- Propose to help you next time you’re doing a compilation and already has tons of ideas (mostly involving Mammon)

Satan:

- He is familiar with the terms vines and tik toks because he once caught Levi watching tik toks of people cosplaying as Ruri-Chan and lip-syncing to her

- He’s curious to see how you portrayed him

- He’s pleasantly surprised when he sees they’re none referencing to his wrath

- He LOVES the one including cats, he 100% approves them

- He takes the one with the guy saying: “that is not correct... because according to the encyclopedia of sjfieidgherdhdh” (you know which one I’m talking about) surprisingly well

- He also like the one of the guy saying “you know what’s better than pussy? A real good book” he might even use this quote in the future

Asmo:

- You did compilations of them? How cute!

- He’s probably the less mentioned in your compilation because they’re not a lot that reflects his personality well without it being repetitive

- He’s not mad about it though, of course you would have trouble finding videos that reflects his inner and outer beauty

- He’ll just have to create tik toks of himself

- But the ones he’s in are super accurate

- Like the one with the guy going “this chicken is almost as juicy as my ass”

- 100% something Asmo would say in the middle of dinner

- After you’re all done watching it, he’ll drag you to his room to start filming tik toks of the both of you, he wants to make you both big tik toks stars, good luck

Beelzebub:

- He’s more preoccupied by the popcorn you made then the videos

- When he’s all set though, he’ll pay attention since you’re the one who made the compilations

- At first he doesn’t really understand the concept of their names edited on someone that isn’t him, but when he understands, he starts enjoying them

- You obviously included him in everything related to food and it makes him even more hungry

- He’ll smile at the ones including him and Belphie like the one with the little girl taking a nap in the sand, he definitely can see that happening with Belphie

- He also relates to the “I GOT TWO FREE TACOS”, but now he wants to eat tacos

- He appreciates the efforts you made and will ask you to show him your future compilations if you do any

Belphegor:

- He fell asleep before the video even started

- He’s actually curious so he stays awake to watch it

- Just like Beel, he enjoys the one with him and Beel

- He really likes the one with the guy coming home and throwing his backpack out the window while simultaneously jumping on his bed

- He would prefer if you were taking your free time napping with him instead of making compilations, but he did enjoy it

Diavolo:

- It’s no surprise, he’s the most excited about it even if you didn’t included him in any of them

- Laughs at every singe one of them, especially the ones with Lucifer in it

- He will memorize them and quote them at the most random times, much to Lucifer’s despair

- He’s really interested in human culture so he will definitely ask you to show him more vines/tik toks and will quote at least one of them every time he sees you or Solomon

- If you ever do a compilation including him, he’ll be super excited and will immediately show it to Barbatos

- He would take no offensive in whatever vines or tik toks you would use him in

#obey me #obey me! #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #obey me headcanons #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me diavolo

[advena87]

Kaer Morhen shenanigans (but mostly Lambert’s) part 9

Here is: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10 and Daily Lambert

also Keira & Lambert’s love story, Aiden & Lambert’s love story and… this.

This time I will give you tired Papa Vesemir and bring closer the relationship of Berengar and Lambert as the oldest and youngest brother (don't judge me, I love both of these salty&bitter witchers).

this one is dedicated to @queenxxxsupreme

.

Vesemir: I hope you're not doing anything foolish.

Lambert: I hope you're not hoping to hard.

Vesemir: Minus 5 points

Lambert: What?

Vesemir: I began to score your behavior. When you're on 100 points, I'll make you a witcher.

Lambert: Cool, whats my score?

Vesemir: -1298

***

Lambert: Do you think sand is called 'sand' because it's in between the sea and land?

Berengar: Lambert, it's fucking 3 am. Can we please just go to sleep?

*silence*

Lambert: *starts laughing for no reason*

*Geralt and Eskel start laughing*

Berengar: Why are you all like this?

Lambert: Can I ask you a weird question?

Berengar: Oh fuck, here we go again.

Lambert: Don’t you think “DO NOT TOUCH” is one of the scariest things to read in Braille?

Berengar: Okay, what the HELL goes on in your head?

***

Eskel: Who knew getting in trouble would be so hard?

Berengar: I gotta give you credit, Lambert. You make it look easy.

Lambert: Years of practice.

***

Lambert: I saved your life! Twice!

Geralt: Because you put it in danger! Twice!

***

Lambert: Sorry I'm late.

Eskel: What happened?

Lambert: Nothing happened. I just didn't want to come.

***

Berengar: What's this on your search history?

Lambert: Porn?

Berengar: No, no, above that.

Lambert:...

Lambert: Tutorial how to boil water...

Berengar: You fucking moron.

***

Eskel: Has your dream always been raising a new generation of witchers?

Vesemir: It doesn’t really matter now, my dreams were shattered years ago.

Eskel: Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. How many years ago?

Vesemir: How old is Lambert again?

***

Geralt: Lambert, we decided that if Vesemir's ever in a coma, you're the one who has to decide to pull the plug.

Lambert: Pull.

Geralt & Eskel: ...

Berengar: See? I told you he would do his job.

***

Eskel: Do you believe me?

Vesemir: Eskel, you’re the last good person on this planet. I’d believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning.

Geralt: Oh my god, that's enough! Vesemir, why do you always favor Eskel?

Vesemir: I will explain it to you by example. Tell me boys, what do you consider your best quality?

Eskel: I'm a real people person.

Berengar: I don't answer stupid questions.

Lambert: I can speak bullshit.

Geralt: My profile. Oh, and I guess my butt, too.

Vesemir: …

Vesemir, sighing: So next question: where do you see yourself in five years?

Eskel: On the Path

Geralt: Brothel.

Berengar: Dead.

Lambert: Prison.

Vesemir: And you have the audacity to ask me why Eskel is my favorite?

***

Vesemir: Berengar, for the last time, when someone threatens to kill you, the correct response is not, ‘Then do it, pussy.’

Berengar: Old man, with all due respect, I’m gonna completely ignore everything you just said.

***

Eskel: Lambert, are you sure this is safe?

Lambert: I never said that.

Lambert: But, you know what they say - go big or go home.

Eskel: For once, please, I’m begging you, go home.

Lambert: I’m going big.

***

Lambert: Geralt, what's the signal for "Vesemir’s coming?"

Geralt: Uh... Dippity-doo.

Lambert: DIPPITY-DOO!

***

Lambert: So, we go inside, beat the crap out of them and-

Geralt: I don't know, don't you think we should stop using violence as a way to solve our problems?

Lambert: ...

Geralt: ...

*both burst out laughing*

Lambert: Oh my God, Geralt. Don't scare me like that. For a moment I thought you were actually serious.

Geralt: *still laughing* Yeah, sorry.

***

Vesemir, holding up two photos: Here are two pictures. One is your room, the other one is a garbage dump. Can you guess which is which?

Lambert, pointing at one photo: That one's the dump?

Vesemir, slamming photos on table: They're BOTH your room!

***

Berengar: Everyone has a gay ‘cousin’ in family.

Lambert: I don't have a gay cousin.

Berengar: I'm gonna give you a minute to think about that.

Lambert: *gasp* I AM the gay cousin!

Lambert: But wait.

Lambert: I’ve been thinking…

Berengar: That sounds dangerous, but continue.

Lambert: What's your sexuality?

Berengar: Money.

***

Vesemir: So Lambert is gay-

Lambert: Bisexual.

Vesemir: -Eskel likes goats-

Eskel: Succubi.

Vesemir: -and Berengar is dead inside.

Berengar: Well, that’s true, but it's not related to my sexuality, old man.

Vesemir: So Geralt, tell me please, do you have any lady you like?

Geralt: Oh, no, I just like to date around.

Lambert: *coughs* Slut! *coughs*

Berengar: Bless you :>

Lambert: Thanks :>

Vesemir: ...

***

Vesemir: How could you do this?

Lambert: I don't know. It's like bad things always happen to me, like I have bad luck or something.

Vesemi: Lambert, you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass!

Berengar: Lambert, you're like an Alzheimer's victim in a whorehouse.

Vesemir: What?

Lambert: Excuse me, what the fuck?

Berengar: You're constantly surprised that you've been screwed and you don't want to pay for it.

Vesemir: It's a vulgar analogy but surprisingly accurate.

***

Eskel: You know, it wouldn't kill you to talk to Vesemir once in a while.

Lambert: We don't know that.

Berengar: Lambert, you can't quit being related to somebody. Believe me, I've tried. But I also wish there were a better way to deal with Vesemir.

Lambert: There is, but we're both too pretty for jail.

***

Vesemir: From now on we have a no-swearing policy in Kaer Morhen. You will have to pay for every swearword.

Lambert: Seriously, Vesemir, what the fuck?

Vesemir: Aaand you have to put a oren in the swear jar. You said "fuck."

Lambert: ...

Lambert: Tell you what... here's twenty. That should cover me until lunch.

Vesemir: Lunch is in half an hour! And you have to follow the rules like everyone else!

Lambert: Berengar, can you get me out of this shit?

Berengar: That depends. Are you willing to live in Zerrikania for a few years?

Lambert: Yeá.

***

Geralt: OK, I don't mind the good-natured brotherly punching, but you didn’t have to twist my nipples.

Lambert: You're lucky I didn't rip them off and feed them to you!

***

Vesemir, about Lambert: Look at him. How is it that he can kill eight people in a minute with four sword blows, but he can't pee without hitting the shower curtain?

Berengar: Fortunately, killing is a job skill and peeing is not.

Lambert, laughing: Dude, I love you!

Vesemir: How did you come to be his authority?

Berengar: I’m depressed, demotivated, bitter pessimist, without hope and prospects, but even I see something good in him. Unlike you. Do the math, old man. We are what you have made us.

Vesemir: Excuse me, I didn't hear any complaints when I was raising you when you’re kid.

Berengar: Really, the teenage drinking and constant running away wasn't a slight tipoff?

Vesemir: Oh, you were just a little drama queen, Berengar. And let's not forget, you always came back.

Berengar: Kinda hard to get steady work when you're nine.

Lambert, sobbing:  Dude, I love you!

***

Sometimes it stops being funny. It's not like I think Vesemir was a bad father to them deliberately, but if we think about what homes these kids came from, that they were forced to become witchers, that they were mainly brutally trained and subjected to Trials (which were extremely difficult and painful. It’s pure trauma), it's hard to talk about happy childhood. I'm afraid there was pathology in Kaer Morhen. These children were raised by witchers who focused only on making killing machines from them. Looking at Berengar and Lambert, we can see what wounds he left on them. Geralt is also hard to call a ray of sunshine. I believe Vesemir loved these boys, looked after them as much as he could, but I can't believe he was a good father. How was he supposed to be, how could he know, since he was shaped in the same way. I think we can use the term Adult Children of Witchers here.

.

#witcher #witcher 3 #tw3 #kaer morhen shenaningans #geralt of rivia #geralt z rivii #witcher lambert #witcher eskel #witcher berengar #witcher vesemir #vesemir #papa vesemir #lambert #eskel #berengar #witcher brothers #wiedźmin #incorrect witcher quotes #incorrect quotes #incorrect witcher

[prose-for-hire]

I know what you did last Halloween...

Part Two // Part Three // Part Four

Pairing: Scooby gang x reader (platonic)

This is a platonic story with the reader as part of the Scooby gang. Set season 3. It’s going to be a small multi-parted serial killer/slasher fic for Halloween. Reader lives with Giles, but is not related. The deaths in this part are not described in much detail. 

Not sure how popular it’ll be with you guys, but I’ve enjoyed writing it so far !! 🖤🦇

Warning: It is a serial killer fic, main characters are going to die (I’m sorry, it’s Halloween). Violence. Blood mention. Threat.

Sunnydale Scare? Scythe-wielding killer strikes again

Sunnydale Express, October 1999.

Sunnydale High school, not used to such horror inflicted on their student body since Principal Flutie’s unfortunate death in office [His memorial will be on the 31st as his family reveal it was his favorite time of year].

The scythe-wielding killer, who was seen wearing all-black with a festive mask, has claimed his most recent victims. Two members of the swim team found themselves in hot water after they were found with brutal and fatal injuries. The wounds matched the scythe that is commonly associated with the widely termed ‘Sunnydale slasher’.

It makes us wonder at the Sunnydale Express, why and how this idyllic town has managed to create such a monster?

You and the Scoobies were good friends. You helped save the world more than once whilst fighting algebra homework and Principal Snyder. You had moved from your hometown to Sunnydale at the same time as Buffy, meeting her on your first day and becoming best friends since that day. You had moved into Giles’ spare room after your parents had wanted to move on again. You had been sucked into the slaying and you couldn’t leave the others. Giles had been very accommodating and very much like a parental figure. Things had been going well, you were close to graduating and finally getting the hell out of there until one life-changing event that would forever be ingrained in your minds.

You and your friends were sat around the school canteen. The mood was pretty low and you were collectively checking over your shoulders every so often. You had been discussing the latest spate of murders. Surprisingly, it was widely covered by various news outlets and hadn’t been brushed under the rug as the usual demon relating killings were.

Buffy and Faith had been doing double patrolling, making sure there was always someone out after dark. Giles had been pleased but he wasn’t aware of the real reason. Although he had noted a difference in your mood in the past year. Despite the extra patrolling, no matter how many demon-snitches they beat up and threatened, there was no changing the answer they didn’t want to hear.

“So this… slasher? He’s-it’s-she’s-?” Xander spluttered through the pronouns in his disbelief.

“Yep. Human” Buffy shrugged, sighing and staring down at her food. Nobody had eaten anything. The lunch you all had set out in front of you was just for show. None of you could stomach much at the moment.

“Shouldn’t we have found them by now?” Willow wondered, her brow furrowing in frustration.

“It could be anyone. And I’m guessing they’re not exactly wearing their ‘I’m a killer come catch me’ sweater”

“Yeah, Giles says he’s gonna look into it, but unless it says ‘Scythe killer was here’ in one of those big old books…” You tail off as Buffy picks up your sentence.

“We’ve got zip. Nothing” Buffy nodded again. Conversation then turned. You had been in a deep discussion of something in low murmurs, that was until your best friends boyfriend walked in. A dead silence blanketed your table.

“The blank stares and silence make me feel at home” oz deadpanned and you all laughed slightly too loud at this. He squinted around the room, shrugged and then kissed Willow’s forehead before staring around at the odd vibe. He had noticed that none of you had been the same for at least a year, but anytime he tried to talk to Willow about it she just shook her head vigorously and locked herself in a different room until he dropped it.

“Well, I have some place to be that’s else. Or about three tables that way” He gestured with his head to where one of his bandmates were sat. Willow assured him she would come over and sit with them in a minute. After you finished a very important conversation.

“I can’t do this anymore, lying to him hurts my heart” Willow said sadly, shifting uncomfortably as if her heart was physically aching her, “I have to tell him”

“And how’re you gonna do that exactly, Will? Oh, hey there Oz remember last Halloween, well we-” Xander cut in harshly, trying to make Will be realistic.

“Stop it! We can’t talk about this here. Anyone could overhear, they already suspect I’m a slayer” Buffy said firmly.

“We have big mouths, sorry” You shrug, smiling tightly.

“This isn’t funny!” She snapped, the events of last year had her wound even more tightly than usual. She had more responsibility than she could handle on her shoulders as it was, let alone this secret weighing down on her like a

“I’m not laughing, Buff… I’m sorry” You whisper. You did feel guilty. You felt horrible. Some nights you barely slept, and when you did you had these horrible nightmares.

Oh, right. That guy that you killed. Well, it was a total accident and you were all very sorry at the time. I mean, you still are. But, thing is, you just didn’t happen to tell anyone or alert the correct authorities. Must have slipped your mind.

Let me paint the picture in case you managed to forget…

Last Halloween, you and your friends had been attending a Halloween party. Your collective night off from saving the world. Oz, who didn’t appear to be wearing a costume, had explained it was a shindig and you had all enjoyed the live music and spooky theme. Even Buffy had managed to relax.

Buffy had chosen little red riding hood and Willow was dressed as a knight in historically accurate chainmail. Cordelia was a cat, it was the back-up she always had in case her first choice fell through. She had shrugged, at least she looked good in it. You had decided on a werewolf, after apologising profusely to Oz who didn’t appear phased.

Xander was walking around in a karate outfit, something about being inspired by the copious violence he enjoyed on screen. Every so often he did a karate chop in mid-air and you and your friends would share a collective eye roll. Especially when he chopped some jock guy that he spent the rest of the evening hiding from. Whereas Faith was wearing as little as possible and appeared to be dressed as herself.

The band was playing decent music and the atmosphere was electric. You and Buffy had danced together while Willow and Xander laughed by the punch bowl. Out of nowhere, Faith joined the both of you and muscled you out of the way to dance with Buffy. You rolled your eyes, but knew better than to make a fuss so you went back to your other friends and joined them in conversation.

Buffy had borrowed her Mom’s car and had sneaked out while Joyce was sleeping. Joyce had been feeling a little under the weather and hadn’t noticed. When it was time to leave, she drove (badly) through the streets to drop everyone home. Oz was doing another set and would get a ride with the rest of his band.

You were squished in the back with Cordy, Xander and Willow. Faith had called shotgun. There were more people than there should be, with Cordy sitting precariously on Xander’s lap. It meant you and Willow were crushed together sharing an annoyed look as the pair continued to kiss.

Buffy looked out of the side window for a nicer view and managed to hit something in the road. You all screamed as she broke suddenly. You had hit something. Something big. You all got out to investigate and saw that it was a man. You went and shook his shoulder and he immediately sat up and grabbed at you. His grip tight and strong. You screamed as you looked at his face, there were fangs and his face looked bumpy. The others saw it too and Buffy pulled you away as Faith moved in and staked him.

The man struggled for a moment before going still. Blood had started to run from his heart and the stake that had been stabbed through it. You all just stared.

“W-why isn’t he going poof?” Willow whispered as you all just stared in horror. He had been human after all.

“It was a costume!” You shrieked in horror. Everyone’s blood turned cold. 

“We’ll have to bury him” Faith said quickly. Xander stayed silent, his eyes glazed in fear.

“We can’t!” Buffy said firmly.

“Look, it’s that or another stint in juvey and I’m not goin’ back there” Faith muttered and you all frowned, having not realised she had ever been.

“I think we should see if he has any ID, maybe we could-” You started, Willow nodding along.

“No, Faith’s right. We bury him” Xander said suddenly.

“Who made you decision-gal?” Buffy said, her usual fun language lost on the moment as she stared through Faith.

“I’m a slayer too, B. You’re not the boss” Faith tilted her head to the side and shrugged. You paused, thinking it over for a while.

“Buff, we can’t risk it. You and Faith are needed here – we can’t go to prison” You sigh, not sure if you fully believed what you were saying.

“Th-that’s actually true…” Willow said eventually, not looking anyone in the eye. It was hurting her conscience.

But that’s what you decided. For better or worse. You were all complicit now as you put him in the trunk and buried him in the graveyard in the early hours of the morning.

Nobody spoke as the sun started to rise and the plot you had chosen was no longer vacant. It had been hard to come to terms with ever since.

Missing – have you seen this man?

Sunnydale Express, 1998. November 2nd.

Mr Bates of Sunnydale California has been missing since Halloween night. Last seen leaving a party in the early hours. His wife and children are anticipating his return, although with the current rate of people vanishing often with no trace the Express, with their condolences, fears that Mr Bates may be one of a hundred Sunnydale citizens on Halloween night that will never return to their families.

This begs the question, where are all the missing going? Sunnydale has one of the largest cases of missing persons never being found in the state of California and statistics suggest it has the highest number compared to towns in neighboring states.

It had been a few days and something had shifted. Your friend’s mood was lower than ever and you were really worried about her. The guilt was eating away at her. It was so bad she finally had to talk to someone about it. Buffy was the most outwardly guilty one of you all. Covering for this went against everything she believed in. Fought for. Which is why she was probably being targeted the most.

You closed your locker and jumped, she had been standing behind it, waiting for you to notice her. She gave you an apologetic glance but still asked, “Hey, y/n, can we talk?”

“Sure, I didn’t wanna go to English anyway” You smile at her as you walk to the usual place under the stairwell you would hide when you needed to talk. She pressed a note into your hand which you unfolded and read:

‘I know what you did last Halloween…’

You gasped, looking around before looking back at her for some kind of explanation, “It was in my history textbook, so, it might have been there for at least a month” Buffy said “Did you get one?” she whispered. You shook your head, nobody had left anything for you. You would remember. Buffy’s note struck a sense of fear you hadn’t felt since that night. A bubbling guilt that was squeezing your insides and threatening to spill them out. You had felt numb since then, unable to cry or even think about the events.

“We need to tell someone. Maybe Giles? I can see how much this is killing you, Buff…”  You say, trying to comfort your friend the best way you knew how.

“I know, I try and I try but I can’t tell him. He’ll get all moral and Giles-y”

“Maybe we need that. What we did was stupid, but still an accident. I wish I had never agreed with Faith” You muttered as Buffy nodded along silently. She wished you hadn’t agreed with Faith too, you had been the type people came with for answers. Advice. So you agreeing with Faith was probably the deciding vote. She told you she would meet you later and appeared to be in deep thought as she walked away.

Willow and Cordy looked spooked, sitting down silently during the break between classes. Their notes had fallen out of their lockers and they were afraid they had been seen picking them up. Buffy revealed to the others hers had said the same thing just as Xander ran in, very visibly panicking and checking behind him with every step he took.

He just slammed the note in the middle of the table without comment. He had nothing he could say. No jokes could mask the horror that came with

“That settles it. We go to Giles” Buffy said firmly. 

“No-” Xander tried to assert, but he was outvoted this time.

“We have to. He’ll help us, I know he will” You confirmed, “Walk home with me tonight, we’ll tell him then” This was to give you some time. None of you could face going to the library for the rest of the day.

The bell rang and it felt as if it were tolling for a funeral march. The walk to Giles’ house was slow. You had swung by Faith’s motel on your way, taking a detour as you explained you would have to tell him. She surprisingly didn’t put much of an argument against.

The door creaked open and you shouted to announce your presence. But when you get there, you felt it instantly. You dropped your bags and walked into the living room. Every step felt heavy and echoed around the room. 

There he was. On the floor. Surrounded in his own blood.

Your knees buckled and you had to steady yourself against the sofa. The blood-stained sofa. Someone’s arms held you up. There were gasps and mutters but your ears were ringing, you felt very far away. He was cold, his body mutilated.

It took you longer than the others to see the new centrepiece of the room. 

‘I know what you did last Halloween’ was written in what could only have been Giles’ blood smeared across the wall of his living room. It was your warning. Your note.

A warning that turned your stomach. Knocked you all sick. He was one of you and he was gone. You tuned back into the conversation around you after having stared at the words. The words meant for you. Every time you blinked, those words were now stamped into your vision.

“It’s the same thing that was written on the notes”

“Oh, I got one of those but I threw it in the trash” Faith shrugged, but she wavered. This was hard to look at.

“We’ll have to clean it up” Xander said flatly. Gesturing at the writing.

“What?! We can’t-”

“Xander Harris, your brain is barely functional anyway - but this is totally the worst thing that’s come out of your mouth!” She shouted, her voice getting higher as she continued, “I am not cleaning the bloody writing off our dead librarians wall!” She warned. They had broken up since everything had happened. Everyone collectively winced as she said Giles was dead. It hurt. It sliced too close to the bone. At least when it had been a stranger, there was some degree of separation. But now it was even worse. 

“They’ll know or start to look into it - we gotta do it” 

You stayed silent this time, every time someone’s eyes looked at you you kept your expression blank. Until you were handed a cloth and some bleach and you grimaced but followed the others. Cordy joined you, nodding her understanding at your blank look. She took the cloth and the liquid from your shaking hands and started to help with the clean up.

Teen scream

Sunnydale Express, October 1999.

Reports of a large number of young people are now rejecting the upcoming holiday in an attempt to preserve their lives. Many say that this is a kneejerk reaction and that many will lose out of the best years of their lives to fear – which is what the killer will want.

Despite this, there has been a curfew agreed amongst the young people of the town and the Mayor’s office, reports suggest. Time will tell if this will be kept or if it another attempt by those cautious to get a re-election rather than improving the spate of missing persons that has only doubled since the year previous.

You were all waking in a group. You couldn’t face staying at Giles’ place so you were going to stay over at Buffy’s for the night. There was still an argument going on around you that you weren’t listening to. Faith had lit up a cigarette and kept telling everyone to calm down. That nobody could know or people would be hauling you all off to jail. That you had chosen the right thing.

“I’m sick of you all, I’m going out. There’s a party down the block. Anyone coming?” She looks around. This, you had heard. You shrug, resigning yourself to it. You made plans based on alibis now. With this cynical thought, you manage to convince everyone else to come too. You never know, it might relax them.

...Or not. 

You and the others all sat around in silence as the bass, and Faith, jumped around you. You barely spoke, you just stared into your cups. There had been some hugging when you first left the house but since then you all felt so alone. So disconnected despite being in this together. What you had chosen to do didn’t feel right and without your constant, your compass that had been Giles you didn’t know what to do.

 “Hey, man, it’s not Halloween yet!” Someone shouted. It caught all of your attention. A collective feeling of dread. That had been before all of the screaming had started.

The figure loomed over you. Everything about him screamed menacing. He frightened you more than any demon. He was stood in a Grim reaper costume, complete with blood stained scythe. He turned, spotting you finally. He had been slicing kids down as he walked. He wasn’t aiming, just wildly enjoying the chaos he caused.

He stopped in the centre of the room, facing the group of you that had just risen to your feet. He pointed. He stood still and pointed at you all. The Scooby gang.

In that moment, you knew. You knew he was the one that was taunting you. And so did every one else.

“Well, one of us has a brief scythe of life” Buffy stated, “…and it isn’t me” She ran at him, her fists raised as Faith came up behind her. In the chaos it was hard to see what was happening, all you could feel was this descending feeling of foreboding. You knew it had happened before you saw it.

To be continued…

#a very buffy halloween #btvs x reader #btvs #btvs imagine #btvs x you #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer imagines #Buffy Summers #Willow Rosenberg #Xander Harris #Cordelia Chase #Faith Lehane #Rupert Giles #ats #angel the series #Cordy #Buffy #Halloween fic #slasher #serial killer #kinda au #Halloween #multi parted fic #scooby gang #scooby gang x reader #scooby gang imagine #Scoobies

[summonerscenarios]

If you do angst, can you do hcs on Ophion, Oniwaka, and Zabiniyya in this scenario. They get kidnapped. The 3 guys are then shown loops of them and MC falling in love, but it shows that those loops end with them betraying and killing MC. Luckily, they get saved by MC and Co. How would they feel toward MC after being shown all of that?

ooooooh okay so this one has been a long time coming but I think it finally came out okay!!! Apologies it may have come off a bit more serious than intended but I do  hope that it’s okay~!

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Ophion

The kidnappers have definitely got either extremely accurate Intel or got extremely lucky to have managed to find the great Ophion in a moment of supposed weakness. Inevitably his overconfidence in his own abilities that gets him captured — he underestimated his opponents by assuming that their strength was merely in their numbers. And it is because of this that he’s unable to see the incoming onslaught of attacks, forcing his guard down long enough for them to charge in and bring him to his knees.

Ophion’s kidnappers make no attempts to hide their location — their movements would seem sloppy to anyone else as they transport him back to their destination, however by the time they arrive at the location in question it’s clear that it’s on purpose. They want someone to come for him, meaning that they plan to make this quick and that’s a dangerous game to be involved in. His restraints may keep him bound for now but he’s already testing them for weaknesses, waiting for the right moment to snap them off as he’s tied down in one of the building's many rooms.

Though he’s enraged over his capture he’s smarter than to waste his breath angering his kidnappers; instead he tries to get as much information out of them as he could, and surprisingly they’re more open to his questions than he’d first thought. They let slip about an orb and memories and it is then that they seem to decide that they have waited long enough. The orb comes into view, cradled in the leader’s arms as it is presented to Ophion, however the dragon has little time to observe the weird sphere before something begins to force its way into his thoughts.

The memories that begin to seep out of the crevices within his mind are new, or so he thinks — he recognizes the places and faces of those he’s seen before, and knows somewhere deep within himself that these memories are his own, and yet they couldn’t feel more foreign to him even as they click into place. Many come and go through this bizarre slideshow, but the one who shines above them all is of course you, his beloved spouse. He watches these moments that have passed yet don’t exist; of taking you into his arms, hearing you laugh as you relax against his broad chest, a content look of pure adoration on your face. Your skin feels real beneath his hand and lips as he relieves these memories of intimate moments you’ve shared together, recalling the eager smiles, the long nights and the quiet times of mutual understanding between you - it’s more than what he could have ever desired...

Your first death comes without warning. The moments leading up to it are lost under a sheer wave of memories as they filter through the correct ones to show him, and suddenly Ophion is now acutely aware of their intentions as he looks down at you unmoving form from his own eyes. You’re curled up as though mid crawl at his feet, one hand wrapped around his ankles and nails digging into the scales unwilling to release even in death. If it wasn’t for the pain he would have cast it aside as a lie, a mere illusion to wear away his spirit, but as the memories begging to pour in, further and further burrowing into his mind he realizes this is not a one time occurrence.

 More and more blood is spilt, it stains his golden scales a burning scarlet and his claws still hold remains of your flesh; every battle ends in a similarly brutal fashion seeing through to your demise at his own hands. You put up a fight till the very end, even mortally wounded you don’t give up, a testament to your devotion to a better future; in any other circumstance seeing you fight would light the fire of pride deep within his heart, but now? As he hears you cry and scream and beg and fight? It pierces deeper than any blade could hope to touch and it twists.

Ophion is appalled at his own actions - what could possibly have deluded this old self of his into believing that your death was just? What could it have possibly fixed? He isn’t privy to such answers, a move that he knows is intentional and suddenly the rage within him bubbles once again at the thought of his kidnappers. It is this that finally breaks him out of this death cycle, and he comes to alone in that same room, but not for long. 

You’re the one to find him first, and at the sound of your voice calling out to him Ophion’s head snaps up to meet your own; it only takes a few tries at his restraints before he’s free and almost immediately he takes you into his arms, ignoring the squeak of surprise it pulls out of you in favor of holding you impossibly close. Of course you laugh it off as his usual eccentric tricks however this time it’s anything but - his hold is firm but now keenly aware of how fragile you can be and his main focus is hearing your heartbeat, feeling your pulse and watching the rise and fall of your chest to assure himself that the you before him is truly alive — alive and unharmed.

He does his best to take these new memories to heart — they are valuable lessons of the errors which he was foolish enough to make and they are not ones that he will allow to take place again so long as there is breath in his lungs. However he does not come out of the experience mentally unscathed. In moments of silence his mind brings back these memories, the voices and screams being the most prevalent to worm into his thoughts. Ophion also finds himself hesitating to touch you; it’s as though your very body is glass beneath his claws, cracks blossoming across your skin visible to none but himself in his mind’s eye. It angers him more than anything to realize this hesitation, but he’s unable to shake it long after this event, as though his body waits for those memories to repeat themselves once again...

Oniwaka

Oniwaka is pissed. He’d barely even let his guard down for a minute and look where it gets him! He’s been in his fair share of scraps and knows that anyone with the balls to try and corner him in an alleyway is looking for a fight. The trouble is he’s so sure that he can take them on no problem that he doesn’t even realize just how badly they’ve got him pinned until he’s surrounded with his back to the wall. Obviously he’s not going to take getting kidnapped lying down and quite literally fights tooth and nail, dealing out some pretty heavy damage against his attackers before they finally manage to knock him down and out cold. 

By the time he comes to it’s clear he’s been moved somewhere else. He’s bound tightly enough that each attempt at deep breaths hurts and he doesn’t recognize the area; though it’s so suspiciously clean, sterile and well kept that it sets red flags off in his head almost immediately. It also doesn’t take him long to notice that he’s not alone in the room. The only other person in the room is looking at him without saying a word, which is even more unnerving than if they’d been openly mocking him about the situation. There’s a few minutes where there’s only silence. That damn, stretching silence that’s long enough that he’s on the defensive the moment that his kidnapper finally stands up.

He’s fully preparing himself for some kind of interrogation, waiting for the weapons to be drawn and blood to be spilt. He’s snarling at them trying to get them to back off when they reach back for something, pulling out some kind of black orb and before he can even snap at them asking what the fuck that is it just hits him.

Something’s tugging at the back of his mind, unlocking an empty space in his head and filling it up with information that feels like it should have been there all along. Oniwaka sees you. He remembers times spent together with you that he shouldn’t, times where you’re smiling and holding hands and pressed impossibly close where all he could touch and breathe was you - they’re times of love. And he remembers none of it. He knows that these are his memories but he can’t wrap his head around what he’s seeing - the two of you were together, in love even, and watching this all play out makes something in his chest swell that he can’t describe...it almost feels nice to know that you shared this kind of relationship, and could even share it again this time around.

The pleasant memories don’t last for long however, they’re all too soon ripped away from his mind and suddenly there’s betrayal and blood scarring his every thought when he realizes the outcome of this loop. You die, cut down by his very own blade and bleeding out right in front of him and he watches himself...do absolutely nothing. The ...other Oniwaka just watches you as your breathing slows and then your chest stops rising...your tears stop falling...the whimpers grow quiet...and just like that he’s alone...until it resets.

And that’s not the only time either. He sees it again and again, your death played out in so many different ways and places that he loses track, but all of them end with one glaring similarity - your death is his fault. It tears him apart from the inside out seeing the replays. He can feel your flesh breaking open beneath his weapon, feel you clawing at the hands wrapped around your throat, see the look of utter betrayal begging him for answers —Why? Why are you doing this?! Maybe it’s the kidnappers’ intentions all along or just pure misfortune but those answers don't come with these memories and this is probably worse than any other pain they could have inflicted on him- and the whole time this is happening that’s all he can ask himself. 

Why? What led to this point? Why did he betray you? Ruin your trust? Kill you?!

There’s no telling how much time passes between the first wave of memories and his rescue. By the time that you and the Summoners find out where he is and come to save him the kidnappers are long gone and his head is still reeling from the relentless assault of new(old?) memories. Oniwaka is uncharacteristically quiet, tuning out most of what is being said as he’s cut free; he’s glad that he can breathe easier now but the room still feels stifling with the weight of what happened there. When Oniwaka sees you approach him he tenses up and immediately steps around you, stating bluntly that they need to get out of here and walking right on ahead, much to the concern of you and the other Summoners.

You try to talk to him but you’ll get nothing aside from one worded answers and the occasional grunt. All attempts at conversation end up at dead ends and even though it kills him to see the hurt look on your face he knows that he’ll probably end up snapping at you if he tries to answer.

He completely cuts contact with you all for a long while after that, but checks on you from time to time when you don’t notice him. Oniwaka’s going to try and work through the memories that he’s got to deal with on his own and is torn between his promise of protecting you and the worry over what he could do to you if he gets too close. He’s seen it first hand what getting attached to you can lead to and he doesn’t even know what triggers it. Every time that he looks at his hands he can see your blood staining them no matter how many times he’s tried to scrub it away. The only thing he really hopes is that those Summoners can protect you more than he can, because he’s struggling to even trust himself around you from this point onwards. 

Zabaniyya 

Out of the three of them Zabaniyya would very likely be the hardest to capture. The flames he commands and the strength of his rule is perfectly tailored to his days of being a torturer and it would take many enemies, time and sheer luck to wear him down enough to be able to take him. He had only stepped away from the Aoyama guilds territory for a short while, having just seen you off from your visit and was on his way to return back when they had accosted him, swarming in abruptly and keeping him cornered off in a space small enough where his flames would not be as effective.Clearly they were waiting for this moment and had timed it carefully to leave room for little error, however he could not afford to let these people do as they pleased.

Zabaniyya doesn’t feel the hit that takes him out — and finds himself waking up chained down and restrained in a place unfamiliar to him some time later. It’s crude work but strong enough that his limbs are stiff and beginning to numb. There’s little time to wonder over the kidnapper’s purpose for taking him when the door on the far end of the room opens up and someone walks in - though from his position anything from the waist up is hard to make out. Their footsteps are calm but cautious; they’re smart enough to realize that even restrained he’s still very much a danger to them, yet the fact that they still continue to approach as though confident in their safety causes an unusual feeling to settle within him...apprehension perhaps? 

There’s a moment where the transient wonders if this is how those tortured by his flames had felt - waiting for an inevitable blow to come no matter how prepared they allow themselves to believe they are. Surely the reason for his capture has to do with his ties to you, as few would go through this length to use him as leverage against his own guild when there were many others easier to take. It is with this mindset that he resolves himself that he will not break no matter the pain that these captors intend to inflict on him. The only words he hears his captors speak is the hushed words of “Gotta make this one quick” before the orb comes into view.

The memories come suddenly. There is no warning, no command that starts the presentation of past loops but nonetheless they are there, worming their way through his mind and weaving into the missing gaps until the memories start to take shape. Feelings, touch, taste, noise - they all come along with the images of forgotten moments, and many things begin to click into place watching them play out before him. He’s surprised to find you so tightly woven into these sets of memories, and it jarrs him further upon realizing that it is clear the two of you have a relationship far deeper than a tool and a summoner. These newfound moments of intimacy stir up something within him; it’s greedy and fiery and it makes his fingertips ache to recreate what he sees before him. Seeing you smile and weave your fingers between his own, watching your mere presence that can light up an entire room focus directly upon his previous self as though he is the only one on your mind. It’s selfish but it’s something he finds himself wanting desperately.

However it is then that this train of thought is all but shattered once the endings begin to play. There is no happy ending, no pleasant outcome to allow him to fantasize about your perceived future together. The first time he held your dying body in his arms felt too horrific to be real; you were scorched, beaten and every breath is a struggle and yet you were still kind to him. You’d looked up into his eyes and told him you understood, even though you were hurting, scarred and scared. His previous self had enough decency to prevent you from suffering any further, but it was only the beginning of many. 

Each betrayal followed a similar pattern - the periods of bliss between them fluctuate from days, to weeks to mere hours before an event triggers the fight that sparks between you.It appears as though you are the only one caught in the crossfire, the other Summoners fortunately spared yet seemingly absent when you would need them most. Your deaths were almost always swift which he finds a twisted blessing, but the cumulative pain that you must have experienced over and over again at his very own hands no less destroys Zabaniyya more than any form of torture these kidnappers could have subjected him to.  

Zabaniyya only comes back to his senses once he hears voices, knocking him out of whatever stupor the orb had left him in. He recognizes it as Toji and Ryota, hearing them getting closer right as they open the door to find him, surprise washing over their faces before Ryota rushes forward to check on him and Toji calls out to the others that they’d found him. While still trying to gain his bearings he’s able to shuck off what’s left of his shackles and get to his feet by the time the other Summoners make it inside the room. He’s attempting to ease Ryota’s worries about being hurt as the boy swarms him in near tears when he feels a comforting hand pressing against his shoulder. There’s a single moment where he forgets what he’s witnessed as he looks up to meet your gaze, but as he watches your face melt from concern to relief it’s as though that warm hand scorches his very flesh and he tears away as though burned.

He’s failed you, that much is clear to him. Even if he were to argue that those versions of himself aren’t the person that he is now the fact that it happened in the first place is irredeemable enough in his eyes. He isn’t able to look you in the eyes the whole time; every time he looks at you he’s haunted by the stench of your charred flesh and those warm eyes looking at him in worry only aid in sickening him further remembering them hollow and void. The moment that you go your separate ways he’s steeled himself in the resolve that he refuses to allow these loops to ever repeat themselves. He still desires to be your spear, and devotes himself to the role of a tool for your use should you ever need it, but in every other sense he is completely closed off from anything beyond that. The reasoning of ‘if he doesn’t allow himself to fall prey to his own emotions then he will be able to keep you safe’ is the only way of thinking that he allows himself to entertain and in this he isn’t going to waver.

In the end he doesn’t tell you or the Summoners what he saw — he knows that he should, you deserve the right to know what exactly happened in those past loops, and yet every time he considers confessing to you his chest tightens at the thought of you looking at him as some kind of monster when you inevitably learn that he killed you. Surely you could never forgive him? Even if you did he’d never forgive himself; and so he keeps it from you as his own sin to bear, one that he will never stop punishing himself for.

#housamo #tokyo afterschool summoners #housamo imagine #housamo headcanon #headcanons #ophion #housamo ophion #oniwaka #housamo oniwaka #housamo zabaniyya #zabaniyya #request #anon #ask #angst

[juniorgman187]

Little Prince (Spencer Reid Drabble)

Summary: As Spencer’s condition worsens, he loses the fondest memories of his life. Renee must retell her little prince of the fondest memory they share - how they met.

Couple: Spencer Reid x Female Reader Category: PURE FLUFF Content Warning: allusions to Alzheimer’s Word Count: 1.5k

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

An elderly woman comes into her living room to find her husband on the couch staring absentmindedly. With a loving touch, she puts her hand on his shoulder as she slides into a spot next to him.

“Hello, Little Prince.”

The husband stares at her blankly, trying to place a memory of her. 

“Who are you?” He grouchily asks. 

“I’m your wife, dear.” 

His face showed scorn until she said those words. Now, he seemed almost sympathetic.

“How did we meet?”

50 YEARS AGO . . .

JJ and Will. Hotch and Beth. Morgan and Garcia. Rossi and Prentiss. 

Each pair slow dances underneath the fairy lights and starry night sky. Meanwhile, Reid stands on the sidelines, leaning against a table nursing a drink. He admires the newly married couple and his coworkers on the dance floor. Seeing JJ so happily married to Will is enough to snuff out the flame he had for her. For the first time, he could actually see himself without her. 

“Now I won’t tell Mommy and Daddy you had another cupcake, as long as you promise you won’t tell them I gave it to you.” 

Reid peels his eyes away from the beautiful bride to look at the source of the voice. It doesn’t take him long to find it’s a fellow guest talking to Henry. Reid doesn’t recognize her. But he’d never forget her - or that dress. 

After Henry pinky promises to never tell, he runs freely onto the dance floor and she draws back, hugging herself to keep warm. She watches him to make sure he gets to his parents safely, before walking to the sidelines. This is when she notices Spencer. 

“Oh, hey, I didn’t see you there. I don’t suppose we could keep that cupcake thing between us.” She jokes. 

Reid grins widely. “It’ll be our little secret.” 

The delivery of his statement is so subtly seductive that the woman is even more interested to keep talking to him. 

“Renee Perez.”

She extends her hand for a handshake, that surprisingly, Spencer accepts. 

“Spencer Reid.” 

Their handshake lingers a little longer than it should, so Renee pulls away first. 

“I recognize that name. You’re the doctor, right?” Spencer nods. “I’m a longtime friend of Will’s and Henry’s babysitter. I remember one time I couldn’t watch Henry and Will told me not to worry because a “Dr. Spencer Reid” could.”

Hearing that she’s a babysitter now makes sense as to why she was tending to him earlier. 

“So, Perez - is that Spanish or Filipino? ” He asks. 

“Both technically. My dad’s Mexican and my mom is Filipino.” 

Yet again, Spencer Reid’s educated guess is correct. No surprise there. 

“You know, Spain and the Philippines share a common history. In fact, the Philippines was part of the Spanish empire for three hundred years and was the sole Spanish colony in Asia. That’s why, if you notice, some Spanish and Filipino dialects have shared the same words and meanings, just different spellings. Additionally, Filipino last names are primarily Spanish. Santos, Reyes, or in your case, Perez.” He states matter-of-factly. Renee isn’t sure how to respond, so Spencer gingerly pivots from the topic. “So are you trilingual?”

“Polylingual actually. English is my first language, then I learned Tagalog because my mom was monolingual when I was younger, and then Spanish for my dad. But I was enrolled in French immersion for elementary and middle school.” 

This girl’s impressing Spencer by the minute. 

“Which one’s your favorite?”

Renee thinks about it for a while. “Mmm, French definitely French. It’s just so beautiful.” 

Secretly, Spencer wants to hear her speak French, because even just hearing her speak English - he’s enamored. And almost like she read his mind, Spencer’s wish is her command. “Le petit prince.” She says, out of the blue. 

Spencer knits his brows together. “Hmm?”

“Let petit prince.”

“Oh, The Little Prince. The French and English language versions were published in 1943, but the book didn’t appear in France until 1946. Did you know that book was actually translated into more than 250 languages?”

How adorable is he when he rambles nervously?

“I only brought it up because you actually remind me of him. Young and wise.” She adds.

This compliment makes Spencer’s heart accelerate. He even laughs a little because he is so giddy. 

“Have you read it?” She questions. 

Duh, of course, he has.

“My mom read it to me when I was younger. The English version, obviously.”

“Same here. But my mom read the French version. You should read it someday.”

Spencer makes a mental note to pick up the French version on his way home.

He slips out of his delightful trance when a breeze passes and makes her shiver.

“Oh, here. Take this.” Spencer shrugs off his blazer, and despite her protests not to, he drapes it around her. When she looks up at him through her eyelashes, Spencer looks back at her with a soulful gaze. 

There’s something in the air that surrounds them. They both feel it. 

Their moment is interrupted when they hear, “Spence! Ren!” It’s JJ yelling from the center of the dance floor, motioning for them to come over.  

Spencer takes one last sip of his drink and sets it on the table, before leaning forward away from the table. In one swift motion, he goes from standing next to Renee to standing in front of her. He extends his hand for her to take. 

“Shall we?”

She takes his hand eagerly. 

The last dance of the night is a slow one. The music changes and each couple pairs up again. Like a true gentleman, Spencer bows to her. “May I have this dance?”

Renee curtsies and pulls at the sides of her copper dress to imitate a princess. 

Timidly, Spencer takes her one hand and extends his arm and places the other hand high under her arm. But with no hesitation, Renee slides his hand down her back and onto its rightful place at her hip. She places her hand on his shoulder and surprisingly, Spencer leads. And he leads well. This catches her off guard. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

Spencer laughs at her question. “There’s a lot I can’t do.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“I, um, I can’t seem to find the right series of words to accurately explain how beautiful I think you are.”

It would be a gross understatement to say that Renee swooned at his words. She felt like her heart was glowing - like she was glowing. If Spencer Reid thought her to be beautiful, she was beautiful, because he’d never lie. 

No more words are shared throughout the dance, but there didn’t need to be. They said much in their silence. 

The song ends, and couples slowly begin to exit the gazebo. 

“Thank you, Little Prince.” She says, before shrugging Reid’s suit coat off of her. Spencer watches as the fabric cascades down her arms, revealing that dress he loves so much. Renee holds the jacket in front of her for him to take. When he grabs it, she gently places her hand on his chest and tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek. Her token of appreciation leaves Spencer with a red lipstick stain. Renee’s hand lingers on Reid’s chest until she finally pulls away, leaving him to his own devices. 

Instinctively, he turns his head to peer behind him and finds Hotch, JJ, Prentiss, Garcia, Morgan, and Rossi all smiling and staring. It didn’t take an IQ of 187 to realize they’d watched the entire exchange between Renee and Reid unfold. But the look on all of their faces tells him exactly what he should do. Reid gets the message.

An uproar of cheers and encouragement comes from the team as they watch Reid chase after her. 

“Wait! Renee! Renee!” He fumbles through the crowd to reach her. He stumbles out the door and through the driveway, finally catching her at her car. She’s about to open the door when a hand shuts it back closed. She looks back in confusion, to see Spencer is the culprit of her closed door.

“Go out with me.” His voice is unwavering, despite his breathlessness. 

Nonchalantly, Renee replies, “Okay.” 

He knits his brows together. “Okay? That���s it? You’ll go out with me?”

“Yes,” She says with a little laugh. “Yeah, why not? I had a good time tonight.” 

Reid sighs in relief. “I did, too.” 

“So when should I expect to see you again? I only ask because the total amount of hours I’ve spent babysitting Henry is a pretty good indicator of how little free time you have. When aren’t you busy?”

Spencer ponders for a moment, scrunching his nose cutely. 

“What about right now?”

Renee laughs, unaware that he’s not joking. “Oh, you’re being serious?”

“I know the entire geography of D.C. so I know all the good places, and my memory guarantees we won’t get lost.” 

That’s all the convincing it took. “Alright. I’m in. But can you drive? My feet are killing me.” 

Reid runs to the passenger side of the door and opens it for her kindly, and jogs back to hop in the passenger seat.

“Cool car, by the way.” He adds. 

These are the last words they speak for a while until they’re in the heart of D.C.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid x reader #one shot #mgg #matthew gray gubler

[pokemonswshbutionlyplayedsword]

Wut do u think the gym leaders would dress up as for Halloween?

I like Halloween asks a lot because it can be either goofy or metaphorical. We’ll see where this one goes. Also, this’ll just be for a Halloween that has happened. This will also take place at a Halloween party that Rose throws because then I force myself to give everyone a costume by preventing myself from being able to say someone didn’t go. Also, of course, Rose would.

Milo:

-Honestly, I can see him not being a huge fan of Halloween. As a farm boy, he’s not a huge fan of candy. He also does not like being scared and dislikes horror content.

-However, he tries to get with the spirits and puts together a pretty neat minotaur costume. He wants to incorporate animals, but he doesn’t want to look cliche. It’s really impressive actually, and it works because he’s beefy. He gets a lot of compliments, but he wishes Rose’s lame Halloween party would end because the clip-on nose ring is starting to get sore. Halloween costumes are not meant to be comfortable. They are meant to be cool and don’t ever forget it. It’s about the aesthetic.

Nessa:

-Classic cute witch. Not an ugly one with a long nose. She wants to keep it simple and classy. Short black dress, green and black tights and black heels with green puffs at the ankle. A big witch hat and maybe a prop broom if she’s feeling bold.

-She has killer pictures for her social media. She looks so good and she knows it. Although it’s simple, Nessa has one of the best costumes out of the league. She was one of the few to enjoy Rose’s annual Halloween part because she got so many compliments and a lot of attention and also she won the costume competition again.

-She considered mermaid, but she didn’t know how to make it look good and also be able to walk, so that was over quickly.

Kabu:

-Kabu is not a big Halloween person. He doesn’t really want to go to the party, but he stays on brand and chooses a fire type pokemon to dress up as. He puts together a pretty classy Pyroar costume. It’s subtle, more like an inspired outfit, but it works well enough for people to know what he means.

-He strays away from traditional costumes because that’s not really his tradition. He usually always throws on an outfit that resembles what he’s trying to portray. Fortunately, he’s skillful enough to do it tastefully.

Bea:

-Ninja. Haha. Martial arts. She doesn’t hide her face with a mask, but her outfit is clear enough. While ninjas don’t really do martial arts, as she has to correct people all night, it was pretty fun anyway. She doesn’t like candy, but she does like dressing up.

-She doesn’t like Rose’s party, though. No one really does, but she dislikes it for different reasons. Every guest is so ignorant and she spend the night explaining to everyone why ninjas don’t do martial arts and what they actually are. She wishes she was old enough to drink so she could have something to pass the time with.

Allister:

-A spooky skeleton. He’s got an all black suit with bones on it. He also swaps his mask out with one that looks like a skull. He’s a bit bored at Rose’s party, though, because he’s the only kid there, other than Marnie, Hop and Bede, since they had to be there as well, but they’re still a bit older. They entertain him, though, at least Hop and Marnie do.

-He likes Halloween a lot. Spooky. Ghosties. Candy. It’s his favorite day of the year. Even more than his birthday. Rose’s party goes by with people talking to him about how much he loves Halloween and how fitting it is for the ghost type specialist.

Opal:

-A fairy. What else, though? Maybe even Queen Mab. She’s really elegant. She has big long wings draped behind her and a stunning old gown. She also made herself a crown of sticks and flowers to really fit the faerie aesthetic. She got second in the costume competition.

-She spends most of the time sitting and chatting, so people didn’t really get a good look at her costume until the end of the evening, but oh boy, did she shine.

Gordie:

-An ogre. He paints his face green and gets fake teeth to put on, as well as pointy ears. The teeth make it a bit hard to talk, and he unfortunately has to forgo the sunglasses to make it a good costume.

-A lot of compliments. A lot of people asked why he didn’t dress as a rock monster and all he can say is he would never glue a bunch of rocks to his body for a costume. Which is fair but also unnecessary.

Melony:

-Ice queen. Not Elsa, though. Just a queen with icy powers. She puts her hair up in an elaborate bun and has an “icicle” crown and a long blue dress. She looks very nice, like formal, but that doesn’t stop people from coming up and being casual, which is something she was worried about.

-Her dress had a bunch of fake fur and stuff like that to fit the theme, but Melony had to take the overcoat off every once in a while because Rose’s mansion (which is where the party takes place) is like a furnace to her. It was worth it, though.

Piers:

-A vampire. This is one of the few things that Piers is enthusiastic about because he really likes Halloween. He’s got a great costume for it, too, since he can find the perfect style for it so easily in Spikemuth. So maybe he’s worn the same costume three years in a row, but he also got third place in the costume contest for three years in a row, so sue him.

-He spent the day before the party putting his hair in an elaborate braid for the Aesthetic. Maybe a little bit of makeup and fake fangs to really get into it, but he couldn’t spend too much time. As per usual, he also had to help Marnie get ready, because she had to come with him. Close family of gym leaders and those that were invited are also welcome, and Piers doesn’t want to leave her alone on Halloween.

Raihan:

-A knight. It’s a sick costume, and... Wait, no, Raihan. You’re wearing actual armor. Like, metal armor. Isn’t that hot? Yeah, it really is, but anything for the look. He’s been trying to beat Piers in the costume contest since last year, but he can’t. Because he has to take it off halfway through the party because it gets too hot. When will he learn?

-To be fair, it looks really good. He’s got enough knowledge in history and money to make an accurate suit of armor. Fortunately, he makes the sword fake, so he can get in, though. He’s stopped and searched by security a few times, just to make sure the sword’s a handle glued to the scabbard.

Leon:

-I’m sure this is pretty obvious, but a king. He’s got a big crown, and he swaps out his usual cape for an even bigger one, because of course he does. Some people are confused why Leon’s the kind and not Rose, but no one asks. Leon doesn’t get a lot of time to work on it, since he’s so busy, but he comes through with a solid costume anyway.

-In fact, as Champion, he gets a throne anyway at the end of the night, when everyone sits down and awards/prizes/ect. are handed out. So it fits. He wishes he could put a crown on Charizard, too, but his buddy just isn’t having any of it.

I’ve got some bonuses for you, anon, since I like this prompt so much.

Rose:

-Rose is a Copperajah. He wears an intricate mask and suit to keep it classy. It’s a nice costume, but you can tell not a lot of effort and thought went into it.

-Oleana made it for the most part. Well, she bought it. Rose didn’t even know what his costume was until he got ready for the party.

Oleana:

-She didn’t want to dress up, but she had to. She went with a devil. She knows this doesn’t bode well for her, but she doesn’t care. It’s not like anyone’s bold enough to say anything to her face anyways.

-She has a red suit, little horns, a tail on the back of her belt and a plastic pitchfork. It doesn’t get in the way much, since she sticks close to Rose anyway. Some of the gym leaders joke to each other when she’s not around. Nothing mean, usually lighthearted. They’re not jerks.

Hop:

-Being Leon’s little brother, Hop is invited. He’s pretty happy. It beats trick or treating because he gets to hang out with Marnie. Unfortunately, Bede’s not in the friend group yet because this is before the game. Anyway, Hop is an elf.

-He has a pretty simple costume, but it works. Pointed ears, a simple, elvish outfit and a fake bow to wear over his shoulder. No arrows, though, but he knew that already.

Marnie:

-She goes with Piers to a) keep him sane b) prevent herself from being alone on Halloween and c) to hang out with Hop. She’s a vampire, much like her brother. In fact, they’re pretty much matching. A bunch of people think it’s cute that brother and sister match each other, but really, Marnie did it because it was easy.

-She does take the fake fangs out pretty early, though. Not that it’s a big deal, but bobbing for apples is, surprisingly, harder with sharp elongated fake teeth. Also, she bit her tongue and it’s just not worth it. She loves Halloween, but what good is it if she tears her tongue of before she gets to eat any candy.

Bede:

-Bede is a mummy. Wrapped up in a mummy costume and stuff. He goes because he’s with Rose. He doesn’t do much, though. Hop and Marnie try to invite him to join them, but he doesn’t associate with rubbish like them. Oh, you sweet summer child. Soon, you’ll learn the value of these two.

-He ends up being pretty bored and wishing a little bit that he’d accepted their offer because they looked like they were having fun. Allister comes and talks to him for a little bit, though, so it’s not all bad. And he gets candy, too, so that’s cool.

#pokemon swsh #pokemon milo #pokemon nessa #pokemon kabu #pokemon bea #pokemon allister #pokemon opal #pokemon gordie #pokemon melony #pokemon piers #pokemon raihan #pokemon leon #pokemon rose #pokemon oleana #pokemon hop #pokemon marnie #pokemon bede #ask #animals