#dinosaurs count as dragons right

[fushipurro]

In the Shadows of Love

Chapter 6 - Vega

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☆ Content: 18+ MDNI, heavy angst, depression, suicidal ideation, implied/reference ED, mentions of blood (nosebleed), emotional hurt/comfort, insecure/intrusive thoughts

☆ Word Count: 7.8k

After your little “diner date” as Shoko and the gang started calling it, you found yourself hanging out with Toji more often than not, much to your surprise. You had your worries that the opposite would occur during said “date”, but it appears now to have brought you closer together.

Meals between the three of you ─ Megumi included of course ─ became a common occurrence, along with shared trips to the store. With winter settling in now, Toji stated he felt more comfortable with having you in his car instead of letting you carry bags home in the snow.

“Don’t need you freezin’ to death out here,” he’d say in an effort to convince you.

Other times, he would invite you over so Megumi could share some quality time with you to make up for all the times it’s just you and his dad. And who are you to deny the sweet boy?

Tonight is one of those nights.

The day began (early afternoon for you) with some games before dinner, enjoying said meal in front of the TV while watching a movie together. Megumi loves anything that features talking animals, so you thought it best to put on Kung Fu Panda, to which he fell in love. Hard.

He tired himself out trying to replicate all the moves, leading to Toji having to carry him off to his room to sleep. Turns out in this one-bedroom apartment, the two share the same king-sized bed. Toji had said before to you that because he’s out all night working, Megumi has the bed all to himself and vice versa during the day. He even took Megumi into consideration as far as bedroom décor went, stating his only preference is the happiness of his son, even if that means his sheets have dinosaur print all over them.

“Kid’s finally asleep,” Toji tells you upon his return, sinking back down into his spot on the couch with a thump. He laughs with a simpering expression, “Now we can watch something with a little more excitement for two adults.” His eyes fall on you from the side.

You jokingly gasp. “How can you say that movie wasn’t fun?” You place your hand over your heart to exaggerate the feeling of shock. “I’m telling you now, he’s going to be doing kung fu all week and have you in the Wuxi finger hold.”

“I can fight better,” he snorts, and you giggle. “I bet I could give any dragon warrior a run for their money.” Toji raises the sleeve of his ivory-colored sweater upwards. The veins and muscles bulge as he flexes with that same annoying grin stretched across his face looking for your approval.

“Okay, Tai Lung,” you tease, your voice coy sounding. “Whatever you say.” Your eyes roll away from him and back to the TV.

Toji laughs, snagging the remote before you can even think about it. “Just for that, I’m picking the next one,” he declares.

He pans through the options, debating what might be a good choice. He has a few ideas, but his primary goal like always is to get a reaction out of you. So, when he lands on a classic you know and love, he wastes no time putting it on.

Bride of Chucky.

“Perfect.” The words roll out like a purr. Or maybe a warning growl? Either way, he puts the remote down, leaning back against the couch and draping his arm over the back.

The movie picks up right away with an introduction to the main characters as you remember quite well. Rob Zombie’s “Living Dead Girl” playing while the one and only Tiffany Valentine makes off after the first kill of the movie.

Toji had thought the combination of blood and murderous dolls would have you leaning into him for protection, but to his surprise ─ and disappointment ─ you don’t. The most he gets out of you so far is a recoil during the first murder committed by Chucky himself.

“That’s what gets a reaction out of you?” His question comes out with a pout he doesn’t even hide.

You laugh through your nose, “Hey, the stabbings are one thing, but piercings getting ripped out?” You shudder. “No thank you.”

“Not even a little afraid of some creepy ass doll running around, killing people with a knife…” He goes silent for a minute as the bathtub scene occurs. “Or…a TV?”

“If we’re talking about Slappy from Goosebumps, then yeah,” you huff. “That guy was nightmare fuel for me, but Chucky I can enjoy.” You reach out for some popcorn, ever so quietly humming to “Call Me” by Blondie as it plays.

Toji takes his own handful before speaking, “You’re one odd girl, I’ll give you that.”

It’s funny the things that can affect you. Meeting new people turns you into a stuttering mess, yet you watch horror movies without a care in the world. As if the blood and guts doesn’t do anything to you unlike the words or actions of others do.

To others, you’re that of an iceberg. The image of you that others see is only a mere glimpse with the rest hiding below the surface. All it takes to reveal that side of you is time to warm up, something Toji is finally starting to see as you grow comfortable with him in your presence. No alcohol needed.

Throughout the rest of the movie, even if you weren’t clinging to him in order to shield your eyes, he still had his ways of keeping the distance close. There’s the brushing of fingers reaching for popcorn that seemed like more than accidents or the arm he has resting behind you this entire time for you to lean your head against.

It's like the awkward theater date you never had as a teen, except you’re the only one feeling awkward about it now. But at the same time, it’s endearing because you’re going through this milestone event in your life.

Except… you still aren’t aware if he’s single or not.

All signs point to yes since you’ve never once heard of another woman, or Megumi even talking about a mother. But she could just not live here, or they’re going through something, or she’s working abroad. The fact is, until you mount the courage to ask, or he tells you, you don’t know.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t hoping he’s single. You’re enjoying this too much to think about this crush of yours falling apart.

Toji is sweet as could be and he makes you laugh every time you’re together. He continues to treat you and while you can’t return the favor financially, you’ve been trying with the little things like bringing baked goods over with the excuse that you made too many to cover up your nerves.

It's all you could ever hope to have with a friend or even a significant other, even if all it must be is platonic. It’s something you haven’t had in a long time, and one thing you don’t want to ruin by desiring more.

The movie ends and Toji stands up to stretch, collecting the leftover dishes to clean. You take a few, following him into the kitchen area.

“I would say let’s watch another, but I can’t be late for work tonight,” he groans, and you swear you can hear him pouting even with his back facing you.

“There’s always another night,” you reassure.

“I think we should just start the kid now with the good stuff.” His head turns in your direction flashing a mischeavous grin. “What do you think about watching Alien next time?”

“And scar him for the rest of his life over the spaghetti scene?” you reply with a sarcastic tone. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Hey, I saw much worse at an earlier age and look how I turned out.” He raises both his hands and shrugs all nice and proud.

“And it’s a miracle you’re sane.” He rolls his eyes with a laugh. “I vote that we watch Finding Nemo next time. I’m sure he’d love that one especially with how similar one of the characters is to you.”

He looks to you dumbfounded. “In what way could I possibly resemble a fish?” he says with disbelief lacing his words.

You giggle, “Personality for one; Gill is tough, smart, and cares a lot almost like a dad.” You extend your hand, gesturing to the man. “And two, you share similar features, like the color black, how you glare at others, scowl, even having a facial scar.”

You bite your tongue, eyes widening at what you just said. Another piece of info Toji hasn’t told you about yet is how he even got the scar on his lip. You know more than anyone that it may not be the easiest thing to talk about, mainly if there’s trauma tied to it versus something mundane like getting cut by a sticker bush.

It doesn’t help that he’s facing away from you so you’re unable to read his current expression. “I’m sorry, I–“

“You think I’m all that, huh?” He interrupts with a huff, appearing unbothered. “Bet I’m tougher than any fish in the sea,” he tells you again, with another flex of both his arms this time around.

You sigh in relief, “What about an orca?” you ask, and he flashes you a toothy smile.

“Now that’s a better comparison for someone like me over some stinkin’ fish.”

You both laugh and continue to chat for a little while longer. While Toji is cleaning the dishware, you’re occupying yourself with Megumi’s toys, helping to tidy up. When all is said and done, he walks you out, hanging back in the threshold of his home and the hallway.

“I’ll see you later then, hope you have an easy time at work.”

“Thanks, sweetheart. Try not to have any nightmares later.” He winks, and you laugh.

“If I do, then I know who to blame,” you scoff. “Goodnight, Toji.”

“Sleep tight, and don’t let the cursed dolls bite.” You roll your eyes, calmy walking into your home. Once inside, you’re anything but calm. You practically skip your way over to your couch, throwing yourself onto the cushions to pet Tsumiki.

Sweetheart.

He calls you that from time to time, and the butterflies you feel are something else. It takes a few breaths to relax from such giddy feelings. It’s been far too long since you had someone like Toji in your life, and you crave this kind of attention. This closeness. For the first time in what’s most likely been years, you feel as though nothing could possibly go wrong.

You eventually pick up your phone that you haven’t bothered to look at in the hours spent next-door, and there were several notifications to greet you.

The first dozen were some cheers from work, namely from Kento regarding the publication of the magazine you modeled for.

The second bunch were the obligatory Instagram mentions, the most important being the one from Satoru’s post alongside a series of his choice photos from that day with you.

That’s when you remember things can and will go wrong, as the third set are all various notifications of strangers blowing up your account. The majority falls under Satoru’s post, a bunch of his followers spitting venom your way to target you.

Who’s this nobody he’s with?

Can she get any closer to him? I bet she’s just using him for clout

Must’ve been torture for him :( she’s not even that pretty lmao

Would look so much better with only Satoru.

You want to look away, you really do. You’d love nothing more than to shut your phone off and throw it at the wall, but you can’t bring yourself to do it.

It’s nothing new for you to be hated on like this. The sad reality is that it’s to be expected, no thanks to the anonymity of the internet. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

They’re jealous.

You know that.

Just obsessed fans taking out their anger on you because they wish it was them at his side.

You know that too, but it doesn’t stop the dark cloud that hangs over you wherever you go.

Why don’t you just stay in your lane? Be a flower on the wall?

You should’ve turned the project down, given it to someone else. You don’t deserve the recognition it brings.

This is your fault, you know. You should’ve listened to your parents when they said you weren’t going to succeed in life.

You sit up properly on the couch, tucking your knees to your chest. For a while, all you can bring yourself to do is stare blankly at the screen, watching all the new messages come through every passing minute. It’s a given, considering Satoru’s astonishingly high following. It isn’t until your phone shuts down from a low battery that you throw it aside and fall to your side, letting the tears come cascading down.

You wake up later, still lying on your side with a damp feeling against your face. The light that comes through your apartment is soft, no doubt earlier in the day compared to when you normally choose to wake up. Begrudgingly, you push yourself off the couch, listening to every creak your bones make like dated wood.

The first thing you do is plug your phone in to charge, followed by feeding Tsumiki her breakfast. You ponder whether you want anything, but even if your stomach was growling, you don’t feel all that deserving to eat. Not only does your depression take away your appetite at times, but it also puts a strain on the relationship you have with food and other things pertaining to your day-to-day life.

A shower helps. At least there you can attempt to drown out your thoughts with the water that rains down. Even when physically after you’re clean and smell nice, you still don’t feel all that great. Against your better judgement, you go to see how things were looking today on your phone.

The answer?

Worse.

More of the same shit fills your feed, but with the added bonus now of threats and other hate in your DMs, and all over your own posts that had nothing to do with the magazine. All are a courtesy from the people with nothing better to do than wish harm upon you for breathing the same air as their celebrity crush.

Speaking of, there’s a new message from him.

Satoru Gojoheyyy so sugu, sho, and I are going out to star plasma later to celebrate, you wanna meet up???

You Sorry, I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on :( hope you guys have fun though!

Satoru Gojo boooo :( well if you change your mind, we’ll be there <3

You wonder if he’s seen the same hate you have, or maybe he’s just that good at ignoring it for his own sanity. That, or maybe he just doesn’t care what they’re saying. Not everyone is like you.

Oh, how you wish you could be like that. You also wish you didn’t feel the need to lie to him about having work. The thought of the gang seeing you in this state fills you with disgust, not to mention if Toji’s working tonight.

You place your phone back down on your nightstand, eyes drifting across to your bed. Most of the time, it’s the only place you want to be in, all wrapped up nice and tight under lays of blankets.

Other times it feels like a prison.

All the fabric acting like chains, keeping you bound to your mattress with no hope to escape. It’s during these times that everything outside the walls of your apartment frighten you to no end. And like always, you give in to the call of your damnation.

Sinking down into the cold sheets, you stare now up at the blank, white ceiling. The various scuffs and spots act like sheep for you to count as you make a mental note to clean them later. That will have to wait for a day you feel capable. A day you feel better if that day ever comes before it’s too late.

Why does it seem so easy for others to ignore all the drama of life and intrusive thoughts? They make it sound so easy, that being a normal, functional being is easy but here you are, wallowing in your own misery. You long to feel happy in life rather than the sorrow you feel now.

But will that ever happen?

A few unremarkable days have gone by since then, and you still bear no signs of feeling better.

You’ve stopped crying now, but the emptiness took over. Somehow you manage to get out of bed, only to mindlessly complete your work and anything else you have to do. Tsumiki’s been hanging close-by, as if she senses how distraught you are. Her meows and cuddles are the only thing bringing a ghost of a smile to your face as you shut out the rest of the world.

Food has been minimal, most of it not even having a taste when it hits your tongue. Your appetite is lacking either for anything more than a few bites. All in all, you’re just passing time until you can fall asleep, letting time go by that you later hate yourself for missing.

Depression is an awful cycle.

Today you decided you needed to head to the store. You tell yourself it’s to get Tsumiki more food or toys for putting up with you, but the truth is that your fridge is looking scarce. Your meals have mainly consisted of whatever is easy to make, jokingly referring to it as “girl dinners” to try and make yourself laugh.

You don’t put much thought into your outfit, choosing to wear something easy to keep you warm in this December month. Sometimes it’s nice to try and look pretty to help your confidence and all, but right now you’d rather hide under bulky fabrics. There doesn’t feel like much of a point to care, either way. What does it matter?

It's a quick trip in the end, only coming back with a few bags. You keep your eyes low to the ground, counting the concrete tiles to keep your mind at bay. It works, up until you notice your neighbor hunched over an idled car out front of your building.

Something’s off, you notice, and it makes the hairs stand straight up on your neck.

Never once have you seen Toji express an emotion like the one you’re seeing ─ the death stare he’s giving whoever is sitting in the car. For someone so typically calm, this apparent anger is so much scarier than any cursed doll could hope to achieve.

Who is he talking to?

You want to know, but at the same time you don’t if they’re upsetting Toji this much. Your breathing stills as you walk by, hoping to slip into the front door without being noticed. You make it as far as a few steps up before you’re stopped short from a voice.

“Hey.”

Your body tenses up. You’ve been avoiding contact with anyone outside of work for a few days, and you especially don’t want to be near whatever was going on outside just moments ago. He doesn’t need to be burdened by you.

“Hey, Toji.” You turn your head slowly to the man, weakly smiling.

He makes a few steps up to where you are, a silent urge to continue heading up to your floor together. The fire you previously saw raging in his eyes no longer appears present, instead replaced with his normal scowl.

“I saw your friends the other night at the bar, was hoping you’d be with ‘em.”

You exhale quietly, swallowing thickly. “Yeah, I– wasn’t feeling it that day,” you mutter.

Toji’s eyes narrow with furrowed brows to match but he continues with your pace.

“I’ve got some time before my shift if you wanted to watch that fish movie or somethin’ else,” he asks. You bite your lip as you think of your response.

“I’m sorry, I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on.” You go silent for a moment, save for the tapping of shoes against the tiled floor. “Some other night?”

He raises his hand sheepishly to his neck. “Yeah, no problem,” he says with the hint of disappointment in his words.

Fuck, you don’t want to hurt him. Especially with another lie to someone close to you.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble, turning the key in your front door. “See you later.”

“See yo–“ The door shuts before Toji can even finish responding.

The guilt settles in like a knife to your heart. Enough so that you slide your back down the door to sit with your head between your knees.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” Disgust drips off your words.

Tsumiki comes right up to you purring away. For several minutes, you remain there on the ground petting her before finally getting up to put the groceries away. Shortly after, you return to your bed, indulging yourself with some good old blue-light exposure therapy. Tsumiki joins you, bringing in one of the new toys you bought for her.

Later, a soft knocking startles you from your sleep, not even realizing you had fallen asleep in the first place. The time on your phone shows that it’s after midnight, so who in their right mind needs you at this hour?

Cautiously, you approach the door, peering through to the peephole only to reveal…no one?

Huh, wrong house?

You turn away from the door, only for there to be another knock, but still nothing through the peephole. You end up opening the door without even thinking, and now you realize why you couldn’t see anything.

“Megumi?” He stands there teary-eyed, clutching his frog plush tightly in his arms. “What’s wrong, did something happen?” you ask with a gentle voice.

“I had a bad dream.” He sniffles, his lip starting to quiver with oncoming sobs.

“Come here, ‘Gumi.” You take him into your arms, lifting him up, and closing the door behind you as you take him to the couch. With one hand, you rub soft shapes over his back as you sit him down with you. “There, there,” you coo.

Megumi holds on to you tightly like a baby koala. There’s a damp feeling sticking to your chest from the tears falling from his eyes. In this moment, you put aside whatever troubles you might have. He needs you right now.

You give him a minute to relax and calm down, waiting to ask, “Do you want to talk about it?” But he shakes his head in response. “That’s alright, you don’t have to,” you tell him softly, further adding, “I’m right here with you, you’re safe now.”

Toji must be at work for Megumi to have come knocking, so you pull up his number on your phone, texting to let him know about the situation.

“Hey, ‘Gumi? You want to try going back to sleep?” He whines into your shirt, doing everything he can with his tiny hands to stay fixed to you.

“Don’t leave me, please…” He sniffles, and your heart breaks. There are those words again, you think, remembering the time in the bathroom with him once before.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you reassure.

You give him some time to calm down, humming a familiar lullaby to whisk him away to sleep. He grumbles when you place him down into your bed, the spot still warm from your earlier rest, but he finds that he can’t fight his heavy eyelids. Between your song and the fingers running through his hair, he has no choice but to fall asleep once again.

“Ma..ma…” he murmurs, and you feel a tear fall from your eye.

Tsumiki joins you now, curling right up to Megumi’s side like the comforting angel she is. You send another message to Toji to let him know he’s still with you, to which he replies that he’ll be right over after his shift ends.

So much for avoiding contact with others, but it’s for Megumi’s sake right now.

It feels like déjà vu the next time you hear the knocking at your front door.

“Hey Toji,” you greet, parting the door for him to enter. He looks around with a confused look at first. He’s thrown off by the lack of lit candles, ambient light, or anything else. Instead, it’s just you, illuminated only by the moonlight peeking through the apartment.

“Did I wake you?” he asks, meeting your eyes. It’s a good thing it’s dark, so he hopefully can’t see the evidence of your tears.

“No, I haven’t slept yet,” you admit, and it only serves to puzzle him further. There’s a lot he wants to ask, but you’re already motioning towards your bedroom. He sighs, moving to catch up with you.

“He looks right at home,” Toji remarks, brushing Megumi’s hair back to better see his face. He gives Tsumiki some attention, careful not to disturb his son’s sleep in the process. Once Megumi is up into his arms, the two of you head back towards your door. He stops, turning to look you in the eyes again. “Thanks for watching him.” He doesn’t move from his spot, though his brows begin to furrow in thought. “About earlier…is everything okay? Did I do something to upset you?”

You feel your stomach dropping. The guilt you felt earlier comes crawling back up with razor-sharp claws. “Oh. No, no ─ I’m…sorry about that,” you stammer out, feeling your chest tighten. “You didn’t do anything, I promise.”

“What’s up then, you’ve been actin’ weir–“ Megumi interrupts with some slight stirring in his sleep from Toji’s raised voice.

“I’m okay, Toji. Really,” you try and convince, despite feeling the exact opposite. Another lie that stains your soul, but you remind yourself that it’s not his problem. You’re not his burden to bear.

You’re not sure if even bought it, especially after the noncommittal grunt he makes with eyes that stare intently, as if peering into your soul despite the darkness.

“Alright,” he says after a minute, his voice noticeably calmer, but still unsure. “If there is something, you can talk to me, okay?”

“I will, thanks.” You open the door to let him out. “Goodnight.”

His head dips to you before the door shuts completely. “Goodnight,” he replies, with your name punctuating.

For some reason it hurts to hear your actual name for once instead of a pet name.

With your apartment empty once again, it feels colder than ever. Lately you’ve been feeling that way a lot. It’s only when Toji is there that your house truly feels like a home.

You meander your way back into bed, curling up into a ball facing the window. You can’t shake the cold you’re feeling, no matter the number of blankets overtop your body. Even the dimly lit skies seem to relate with you.

When was the last time you could see the stars shining so beautifully?

There was a time you yourself felt like a bright star once, one that floated easily through the cold expanse of the universe without any issue. Unlike the other stars that met their fate, there was no spectacular supernova at the end of it all. No rainbow plumes of stardust to vividly show all of existence how good of a life you’ve lived.

It was more like a flip of a switch when it came to you. Shining one day like normal and the next, a bleak void of what you once were, absent of any light.

You roll away to face the wall opposite of your room, moving your hands to clasp either shoulder in a self-embrace.

I miss the warmth.

You wake up alone for once, with Tsumiki nowhere to be found from where you lay. It’s nothing you worry about quite yet, as you figure she’s out in the living room watching birds. You get up to investigate, but to your dismay, she isn’t out there either.

You don’t see her anywhere.

Strange, you think. Maybe she’ll come out for breakfast…?

You try that next. Heading to the kitchen to prepare her usual pampered meal, making noise as you call for her.

“Tsumi!” you croon, adding a pspsps after, but again, nothing.

There’s no way she could’ve gotten out of the house, so she must be around here somewhere. Your heart beats a mile a minute as you’re scouring in and around every piece of furniture you have looking for her. Eventually, you do find her, all tucked away inside your closet on a pile of your clothes.

“There you are!” you exhale in relief. “Do you know how worried I was?” you coo. You then move to pick her up and she doesn’t protest, but she also doesn’t start purring or mewling either.

You bring her out the kitchen, placing her down with her bowl. Your heart sinks again when she sniffs the dish and ultimately turns her nose up.

Tears weld up at the edge of your eyes. “Fuck, Tsumi’, don’t do this to me.” You start to pace, chewing anxiously on your lip as you watch her huddle up in another corner of your apartment. “What’s the matter, baby?”

Fuck, fuck, what do I do?

Searching the internet is your first idea, but the results are anything but helpful. Half the results are akin to that of WebMD (read: you’re already dead). By this point, you’re hysterical now, fixing to hyperventilate as the last bit of control you have slips away.

Of all the times for something like this to happen, it has to happen to Tsumiki. You’d give anything to swap places because you love her more than life itself. But when it rains, it pours, and right now it feels like a hurricane is hanging overhead.

She needs a vet, but you can’t possibly run with her across town. Waiting for a taxi will only prolong whatever she’s suffering from. Fuck, if only you could afford your own car, this wouldn’t be an issue!

But then you remember one thing.

Toji has a car.

Toji.

With no time to waste, you sprint out the door of your apartment, frantically knocking on his all while desperately hoping he’s even home to answer. Your prayers are answered when the door opens, revealing the man himself, half-asleep and shirtless.

“Toji, I-I-I–“ your voice cracks between sobs.

“Woah, woah, slow down,” he interrupts, placing his hands on both ends of your shoulders. He lowers his head to your level. Seeing you in distress snaps him awake. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Tsumiki ─ I-I don’t know, I think she’s sick!” you stammer out, “I need to get her to a vet but–“

“Go get her; I’ll get my keys.” His voice is calm as he tries to reassure you, bringing his thumb up your cheek, wiping away a tear with the rough padding of his thumb. “Breathe, okay?” You nod, but you’re still trembling.

Toji releases his hands from you, allowing you to run back inside to grab Tsumiki. You place her gently into her transport while at the same time, Toji enters your apartment, taking the crate from your unsteady hands.

The two of you exit the building as quickly as you can, letting Toji settle her into the backseat while you situate yourself right there at her side, cooing to ease your baby’s scared hollers. Toji wastes no time pulling out on the main road for the directions you gave him, putting on his seatbelt as he went.

From time to time, he looks back at you through the mirror, seeing you hunched over in tears over the crate. You’re trying to be calm for her, you really are, but it’s so hard.

You arrive in record time at the emergency clinic, Toji once again carrying the crate inside the building while you briskly make your way to the receptionist. You tell them your name, and everything else they need to know while they work on all the check-in procedures, eventually handing you a clipboard and pen to fill out with further information to fill out.

Toji guides you with a steady hand to the waiting area which includes several benches and tables to take advantage of. He places Tsumiki’s crate on a spot directly in front of you, pulling you down to sit instead of letting you pace the room. Both your legs and hands are shaking uncontrollably with fear, teardrops dotting the paper and ink as you try to write out what they need.

“Hey.” Toji cups your dominant hand with his own, bringing the movement to a standstill. “Breathe,” he calmly requests. “I know it’s tough, but you gotta try and relax for Tsumiki. You aren’t gonna be helpful to her if you suddenly drop over,” he tells you, and he’s right.

“I can’t let anything happen to her,” you mutter with a hoarse voice. You lean forward in your seat, moving your hands to the back of your head.

Toji slings his arm around your shoulder, pulling you against him. “I know.” His words are low, only for you to hear as he speaks into your ear.

“I don’t know what I’d do if something h-happened to her, she’s–“ A hiccup interrupts you. “she’s all I have left. Without her, I…I can’t.”

Toji takes the clipboard from you, putting it next to Tsumiki so he can fully embrace you with both arms. Your head is pulled against his chest and the fabric of his shirt helps to muffle your shattering heart.

“That’s not true,” he begins, his tone of voice calm, but equally stern, “You have me, Megs, those other three friends, even that boss of yours. You said it all yourself to me.” He pauses, bringing his hand up through your hair. His grip is tight yet offers indescribable comfort. The bottom of his jaw settles on the crown of your head. “You are not alone. Not anymore,” he promises.

If you could put a pin on when you start to fall in love in with someone, this would be one of those moments. Even if all he’s doing is reassuring you as any good friend would, it means the world to you and more. A moment in time you’ll never forget for as long as you live.

“Toji, I–“ You lift your head from his chest, taking one sniffle before you catch that metallic scent. You move fast to clutch your nose, but it’s too late. “Shit!” you hiss.

Toji leans back to see what happened. His eyes widen upon seeing the blood trickling down the palm of your hand, hitting his shirt in the process. Thankfully, there’s plenty of tissues given the environment, so he grabs a handful to hold under your nose.

“Fuck,” you cry out, “I’m so sorry, Toji.”

“Don’t be,” he huffs with some underlying amusement. “A bit of blood is nothing, I couldn’t care less.” You swap places with his hand holding the tissues. “Are you okay?” he asks, helping to clean the area around your hand.

“I’m sorry, Toji,” you mumble, lowering your head. “I’m such a mess right now, I don’t mean to burden you.”

“Don’t say that,” he replies, resting his palm on the apex of your head, teasing your hair in the process like he does to Megumi. “You have nothing to be sorry for, and you’re not a burden. Let your ‘knight in shining armor’ be here for you.” He winks.

His helpful teasing earns the hint of a smile on your face and a short-lived laugh, but it’s enough to begin to lighten the mood. At least until you hear a voice calling out your name.

You stand up, reaching out for Tsumiki’s carrier but then you hesitate. “Hey Toji?” He hums in acknowledgement. “Do you mind coming with me for this, please?”

He smiles. “Not at all, princess.”

When all is said and done, Toji drives you back home, walking you back up into your apartment. There, he places the carrier down gently, allowing Tsumiki to roam free.

“I feel, so stupid,” you sigh, kneeling down and hiding your face with your hands out of embarrassment. “All of that for a simple tummy ache.”

Toji chuckles, “Hey, it shows how much you love her. You can’t fault yourself there.”

You turn your head to look at him with a soft smile. “I’m sorry I took so much time out of your day.” Your mind flashes back to when he opened the door earlier in his sleeping form and you can feel the heat reawakening in your body. “I woke you up for it too,” you breathe out a laugh.

“What did I say about the apologies, princess?” He crouches down in front of you causing his denim jeans to bunch up. One of his knees bumps against yours given how close he is. “I’d like to know what else is bothering you though,” he suddenly inquires, and you feel the same guilt you felt the last time creep back up like bile in your throat.

Once again, you border on the crossroads of what to say. It’s a huge step to trust someone else enough to share your vulnerabilities ─ but if it’s Toji… maybe you can? You did it before and it worked out better than expected.

You remain quiet as you stand from your spot, moving towards the couch. While you’re busy pulling your phone out, he rises and makes his way over to your side.

“Look, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he says, trying to meet your eyes. “But we’re friends. I want to help you if you’ll let me.”

It’s a lot coming from Toji.

You’ve learned over the course of knowing him that feelings don’t come easy. He does what he can, and what he feels is the best course of action. It’s a big reason as to why you struggle to pay him back for all his moments of kindness. You’ve come to realize that that’s how he best expresses himself, not only through teasing, but also through acts of service.

Being not only a bartender, but also more importantly a father, it’s forced him to open up more to others and to himself. To reflect on his own feelings and shortcomings so he can be better for Megumi. It’s not easy and he certainly doesn’t do all this effort for others, but for you, he will.

You pass him the device silently, pulling your knees to your chest. You let one knee rest against your cheek as you look his way, and at the same time you avoid eye contact. Toji’s expression softens, and there’s the slightest hint of red on his ears, but mainly there’s some confusion in his features.

“These are beautiful ─ you’re beautiful,” he tells you, looking back your way. “What’s the problem with ‘em?”

You want to smile. It’s hard not to let alone the blush trying to come alive. There’s just one issue.

“This,” you proclaim, scrolling down to expand the comment section with your finger. “This,” you repeat, “is the problem.” You wrap your arms around your legs, hugging them to you with an empty expression.

He looks back and his face immediately darkens into a scowl. “You know they’re just spewing shit out of their asses, right? Bunch of dumb fucks that don’t have anything better to do,” he grumbles, more curses following under his breath.

“They’re not all wrong though,” you let out a dry chuckle.

“No, uh uh.” He shakes his head, the words spilling out fast and like that of a growl, “Do not do that to yourself. Don’t think for a second this shit means anything.”

“I can’t stop thinking about it!” you exclaim, drawing out each word. Your fears have come alive as the dam breaks. The tears that fall from your eyes are hot and heavy, flooding down your cheeks. “Every single thing they say sticks with me, and I hear it all the time in my head!”

He moves to sit in front of you, placing one hand down on your knee. “You shouldn’t listen to anything on here,” he says more calmly this time, scrolling further down the post. “It’s all garbage, they’re garbage.”

“I wish I could, but I can’t,” you mumble, tightening your grip around yourself to the point your nails are digging into the fabric of your pants to reach your skin. “I hate it so much,” you drawl, “and I hate mys–“

“No.”

His tone makes you flinch, stopping you from continuing. The only noises shared between you two is that of the sobs you try and hold back to not make a sound. To not let another hear you sob.

“Look at me,” he almost whispers to you. “Please?” he insists when you don’t respond.

You eventually do, keeping half your face hidden beneath your forearms, but your eyes finally meet his own and you see the worry behind them.

“No matter what anyone says, you deserved to be on that magazine. Satoru didn’t make you the model you are, that was all you, do you understand?” He pauses, waiting for you to nod before he continues, “Listen to me when I tell you that you are beautiful. These assholes don’t mean shit, and even he agrees,” he finishes by handing you your phone back.

You’re puzzled until you see what Toji is referring to ─ a recent update on Satoru’s page where he expresses how disgusted he is by the comments. He goes on to bash the people spewing hate at someone he deems his friend and how you deserve none of it. The words bring more tears to your eyes, but not all of them are sourced from a well of sorrow this time around.

Toji goes on to say, “You should post your own pics too from that day. Be proud of yourself and the work you put in.”

You still can’t help but scoff, “Yeah, and give them more fuel? It’s bad enough they’re under all my other photos too.”

“So?” he scoffs back. “Fuck whatever they have to say. Remember what I told you.”

“Okay,” you sigh, wiping your tears. “I’ll do it.”

His lips upturn into a wolfish grin. “Good girl. Show ‘em who’s boss.” He pats your knee a few times before returning it to his side. “Now what do you say about ordering in some food? We can watch that fish thing too with Megs if you’re up for it.”

Your eyes widen, darting to the clock on your phone to see how late it is. “Oh my god, Megumi! I’m so sorry, is he–“

“Relax, he’s fine,” he states, appeasing your worries. “I had his sitter pick him up from school.”

“Oh, thank god,” you sigh again. “I was so caught up with my own shit, I completely forgot.”

“No harm done, so quit apologizing already,” he teases.

“I’m sorry ─ fuck, sorr–“ You clasp your hand over your mouth to shut yourself up. Toji gives you a blank stare with his mouth stretched in a fine line before your stomach breaks the silence with a loud growl. You hide yourself behind your legs from the humiliation, meanwhile Toji breaks out laughing.

Funny how the tables have turned.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” He stands up, pulling his phone out from his back pocket. “Speaking of the kid though, his birthday is coming up.” His hand meets the back of his neck. “It’d mean a lot to him if you’re there for it, we’re havin’ a small party.”

“I’d love to,” you reply with a bright smile ─ the first and most genuine one you’ve made in several days.

“Thanks.” He returns your smile. “I’ll go get the kid then and order your favorite, so get comfortable while I’m gone.”

As he leaves, you go back to some of the latest posts on your profile. To your surprise, a lot of the hate and threats you saw were no longer there. Even the threats in your DMs disappeared or their accounts suspended. You have a feeling Kento has something to do with this, to which you’ll have to thank him later.

You pan through the official photos from the shoot, choosing all your favorites. With a shaky hand, you remember Toji’s words and hit the button to upload your post. Moments later, a new message comes through from your group chat.

Satoru Gojo oi oi, you’re posting again! are you okay??? we miss you :(

You I’m okay now, I’m sorry for worrying you guys.

Suguru Geto Don’t be, you have every right to want your own space. We’re just happy to hear from you again.

Shoko Ieiri next time though you should tell us so we can help you feel better 💕

Satoru Gojo yeah^^^ I was this 🤏 close to getting that double D DILF you like to drive us to your place so we could see you

You oh my god, don’t even start

Satoru Gojo hehehe I can see you blushing through the screen >:3 Shoko Ieiri no need to deny the obvious :)

Suguru Geto I’m with them on this. :)

You wipe the happy tears off your face just in time for Megumi to come running in. He throws himself into you for a nice big hug, with Toji following closely behind.

“Food’s on its way, you feelin’ better?”

“Yeah.” You nod in response. “And thank you, Toji. I’m glad we’re friends,” you tell him with a sincere sounding voice.

“Me too, sweetheart.” He plops down next to you, pulling Megumi into his lap to bounce on his knee. “Now let’s get this movie going then so we can watch Alien later.” He gives you a devious grin.

You scoff, rolling your eyes. “Yeah, funny joke.”

“We’ll see about that,” he teases.

Megumi ends up thoroughly enjoying Finding Nemo, reciting Dory’s iconic line “just keep swimming” over and over to the amusement of you both. Toji on the other hand tries his best to deny the Gill allegations, but it proves to be an impossible battle once Megumi began to point it out and back you up on the claim.

After dinner, Tsumiki ends up joining you three on the couch as well, feeling better than ever now that she has the laps of three people to choose from for love. But between all the laughing and combined joy, you can safely say that in this moment, you feel a whole lot warmer than you did before.

☆ Notes: I will self-indulge myself with movie and song titles that I know and love unapologetically. It’s my way of giving recommendations in a self-insert fic where I try and make the reader as inclusive as I can within the realm of what I’m trying to achieve. jennifer tilly is my celebrity crush <3

also I don’t know about you all, but when I get super stressed out and cry, my nose starts bleeding like hell which is why I wanted to add that scene in specific to add to the depth of the reader's anxieties

revising this chapter makes me realize how much dialogue is hard to do for me. I get so stuck on whether or not I believe a character would actually say what I’m making them say, but then I try to remind myself that there’s some wildly outlandish stuff I’ve seen in other fics that’s still enjoyable to read even their personalities are crazy OOC. Hope that isn’t too much the case here, as soft!toji is something I really try to focus on given all the shit he’s been through.

Here's a fun toji edit by the way >:)

#jjk #toji fushiguro #jjk toji #jujutsu kaisen #toji zenin #toji x female reader #toji fushiguro x reader #toji x reader #jjk au #toji x you #model!reader #megumi fushiguro #shoko ieiri #gojo satoru #geto suguru #nanami kento

[sirowsky-stories]

The Old Prince

Part 2

Author's Note: While the first part of this series was intended to be a one shot for a competition, this has already taken on a life of its own. I'm not sure if it's gonna be a mini-series or more, I'm figuring it out as I go.

Description: After a terrifying trip into the castle's basement, Oberyn tells you more about why he's abducted you, and who he is.

Rating: Mature 18+ONLY Warnings: Monster Oberyn Martell x Female Reader, AU fic, eventual romance, obviously Halloween themed, reader cusses, description of foul smells and generally nasty things. 'Tis the season! Word Count: 4346 Author's Masterlist

   Suddenly fighting panic once more, you stumble backwards away from the window, grasping at thin air and trying to remind yourself to breathe through the tightening sensation in your chest.    You’re losing your mind. That’s what this is. He drugged you, or something, there’s no fucking way you just saw a dragon, they don’t exist. It was just a green streak against the white snow, it could’ve been anything.

   But for all the logic in the world, you can’t rationalize this away, for one simple reason: you’ve seen it before.    The dark body that had come at you so fast in those woods, much too big to be any ordinary animal, and with that strange shine to its skin… reflecting even the tiniest of light being refracted off the thick clouds in the night.

   Scales. It had to be. Nothing else that you’ve ever heard of could’ve created that shine.    And then there’s the bite.    Fumbling with your own trembling hands, you struggle to pull your shirt out of the top of your riding jeans, and then yank it over your head to fully inspect both the garment and your shoulder.

   There are perfectly symmetrical punctures in the shape of a long snout over both the back and the front of the short-sleeved polo shirt. Narrowest where it reaches all the way down to your waist but so wide at the top that the creature must’ve bitten into your arm below the sleeve, engulfing not just your shoulder, but everything from the base of your neck out to your entire upper arm.

   It looks much like you’d expect a carnivorous dinosaur bite to look, which is probably as close as you’ll get to a comparison with a dragon. And that’s a difficult sentence to digest having to consider in a factual manner, rather than just playing around with in a hypothetical sense.    But there isn’t a scratch or bruise in your skin, at least not from what you can see.    How is that possible?

   And then a different thought occurs to you, and your fear morphs into something less acute and more chilling.    If the creature left this place, does that mean it lives here, or does it mean that it happened upon this place and decided to check it for edibles?    To your own surprise, your mind immediately goes to Oberyn, imagining him half eaten or torn apart down there, and you’re quite stunned at how that imagery affects you.

   Pulling the shirt back on as you move to the stairs, you don’t bother bringing the candle holder, taking the steps two at a time as you rush down, down, down, round and round from one staircase to the next, cursing the labyrinthian floorplan of the castle and your own lack of spatial perception, until you’re suddenly outside his office again, and grind to a halt.    The door is still open and there’s a fire crackling in there yet, so you step over the threshold and look around.

   There’s no sign of him, which leaves a heavy lump somewhere in your gut. But just as you’re about to leave to keep searching, your eyes fall on something on his desk.    You’d seen it earlier too, not realizing what it was, but now that you take a closer look, you recognize the Egyptian hieroglyphs.    You’re no expert, but the stone tablet looks like a genuine article, which would make it thousands of years old.

   It’s interesting, but not relevant at the moment, so you leave the room and pick a direction, heading right, back towards the stairs but this time you run past them.    You sprint around, whispering his name, looking for other rooms where there might be lights burning or fires lit, but you encounter nothing but closed doors and dark hallways.    Until you decide to try opening a particularly eye-catching door, at the bottom of a narrow and steep staircase.

   There’s no clear reasoning behind why you chose to even head down there, because even the staircase feels ominous. Then again, perhaps that’s exactly why.    Perhaps it’s the fact that the black steel door with the decorative golden embellishments of leaves, vines and grapes, seems entirely out of place in the dark and damp underground setting.

   Oberyn’s voice, warning you to stay away from the basement, rings through your being as you grab the handle and twist it, before gently swinging the door away from you.    It whines briefly as it falls open, and once the corridor behind it is revealed to you, the only thing in the castle you’ve thus far seen to be lit by electric light, you find yourself hesitating to move forward.

   There’s a smell seeping towards you that speaks of filth. Rotting things, blood and other secretions, but also things like mold and sour mud. Something seems to linger in the air beyond the threshold, not wafting out through the open door but strangely contained. You can sense it. Like the shifting pressures of an approaching storm.    And just like the allure of seeing a hurricane with your own eyes might draw you closer to it, the unknown entity you sense tonight, silently beckons you to come.

   You’re halfway through the corridor when you hear it. It sounds like thousands of beetles crawling over each other, and then something growls while another thing snarls. All of which should make you stop, but you keep going.    He’d said that there are cages down here and that the creatures are locked inside. But what creatures?

   There’s a ninety degree turn at the end of the corridor, and the smell that hits you once you round that corner, instantly makes you dry-heave.    The lights are sparse and the few bulbs along the walls aren’t nearly enough to illuminate the entire space, and that’s probably for the best.    Standing halfway bent over at the corner, you turn your head to the side and try to make out what’s causing this retched stench, and then you regret it.

   There are indeed cages lining the walls, all of the same size, roughly the same as most dog kennel cages these days, except that these are cast iron and literally cemented to the floor. Only about half of them are occupied, but to describe the things that occupy them…    Morbid curiosity draws you another few steps further into the room, and then they all seem to notice you at once.

   Suddenly, teeth are scraping against those iron bars, claws are tearing grooves into the floors, and heavy bodies are throwing themselves at the walls of their confines, making the bars sing with vibrations.    The sounds only seem to escalate further the longer you stand there, until you almost need to cover your ears.

   Need drives these mutated and unnatural beings to such extremes that within moments, they’re actually tearing their own skin off against the rough surface of the cages. Then the sickening crunch of teeth breaking away from jaws and bouncing against the floor in front of your feet, is finally too much for your ears, and you cover them.    But the metal-tinged scent of fresh blood still finds your nostrils, as the creatures tear themselves to shreds in their efforts to get to you. And even so, you just stand there, unable to look away.

   Just when you think you might faint from this absolute assault on your senses, someone grabs you and pulls you back towards the corridor.    It seems to take less than a second before you’re back on the other side of the black door, and suddenly, it’s like a spell has been lifted from your mind and body.    No longer drawn by the unseen entity that seemed to beckon you to step into her domain, you feel like a mist has cleared from your brain, allowing you to think and act of your own will once more.

   And the first thing your body does when it’s been freed of this mist, is try and rid itself of the stench that you feel like you’ve somehow absorbed just by being within it. Your stomach turns, but since it’s empty, all that comes out is bile.    Trembling, you fall to your hands and knees, only now realizing that you’re covered in cold sweat.

   “I told you not to go down there after nightfall. The hidden sun somehow makes them… hungrier.”

   His voice seems so soft to your ears after the punishing noise down there. It soothes you, slows your heart and eases your breathing.    You’d been searching for him when you’d ended up going to the basement, for fear that the dragon might’ve harmed him, and it’s a surprisingly massive relief to see that he’s apparently perfectly fine. Not so much as a crease bothering his elegant coat.

   “You’re okay…” you gasp, calmer but still far from calm. “I was looking for you. Something… uh… some thing ran out of the castle, and I didn’t know where you were…”

   You’re busy clambering back up to your feet and trying to wrap your sweat-soaked clothes closer around you, even though it does nothing to warm you, so you only catch glimpses of his expression, but he looks surprised.

   “You were worried about me?” he asks, and he sounds utterly disbelieving.

   And no wonder. He’s your captor, you shouldn’t care about him at all.

   “It looked like…” you start, then pause and shake your head at yourself, knowing how this is gonna sound. “Okay, don’t laugh… but it looked like a dragon.    You know, the Asian kind, all thin and serpentli-…”

   You cut yourself off as the word registers in your brain.

   “A serpent… That’s what you called it. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?” you deduce, stepping closer to him, and he nods slowly.

   But there’s something in is expression that sets off warning bells inside of you. Something almost undetectably evasive.

   “Wait…” you breathe, starting to back away again. “It was running out of here, so, what was it doing here?    Those things in the basement, you’re the one that locked them in there, and you’re keeping them alive. And now there’s a fucking dragon.    Does it come and go as it pleases? Is it bringing you these creatures? What the hell is going on?”

   The hallway is cold and with the dampness of your clothes, you’re shivering like a leaf now. But there’s also a fear in your gut, adding to the unpleasant feeling.    You’ve backed far enough away that he has to follow to be able to talk to you, and for some reason, that kicks your self-preservation instinct on, making you want to flee.    But you don’t, because none of this adds up.

   “The dragon is responsible for what has happened to those mutated beings down there, but I’m not the one keeping them alive. They just keep on living, no matter how badly they injure themselves or how long they go without food or water.    I keep them here because out in the world, they would wreak a havoc unlike anything man has ever seen.    You felt it yourself. The pull.”

   He’s not asking, he knows that you did because he had to drag you away from it.    You stop walking, less frightened now that he’s offering answers.

   “What are they?” you whisper, your voice weakened by the mere imagery of them as it plays back on the insides of your eyes.

   “I don’t know. But I do know what causes the mutation. I’ll tell you, but first you need to warm up and perhaps change out of those clothes.”

   You don’t argue with him on that, your entire body is shaking with the cold sweat that covers your skin. So, he gestures for you to follow him as he leads you through the maze of hallways and random open spaces. He stops after a while and indicates for you to turn into the next opening on your left, and when you do, you find a wide corridor with one white door on each side.

   “The door on your right is a bath. I’ll leave some clean clothes for you just outside the door, and when you’re done, you’ll find me in my study.”

   “I don’t remember how to get there,” you admit, but he doesn’t seem concerned.

   “I’ll leave you a trail to follow. This castle has been partially destroyed and rebuilt countless times over centuries, leaving it with the terrible fate of an incomprehensible floorplan.    I shall have to rebuild it myself should I ever get the notion to try and sell it…”

   He trails off then, seemingly lost in thought, before he catches himself. And you’d swear that he looks a bit embarrassed as he nods and quickly disappears down the hall.    The bathroom is a lot bigger than you’d imagined. There’s no tub, but instead, an entire frickin pool has been built into the floor in the middle of the room, circular and large enough to fit twenty people. It’s already full when you walk in, so you reach down to check the temperature, finding it nice and hot, which is surprising.

   Then again, everything in this place is.

   You check that there are towels available in the closet standing against the opposite wall, delighted to find not only a full stack of them, but dozens of bars of soap as well. You bring one with you, along with a large towel, before you undress, letting your dirty clothes drop into a pile which you then kick away as far as you can.    And then you finally sink into the soothing warmth of the water.

   The disgusting smell of that basement seems to linger on your skin, so you lather up repeatedly, scrubbing yourself as best you can with just your hands, until you’re forced to accept that the hideous odor must’ve infested your nose.    Once you’re clean, you just sit there in the water, warming yourself, but it takes longer than you’d expected before you finally stop feeling cold.    You get out, wrapping the towel securely around yourself before cracking the door open to check if he’s left you any clothes.

   There’s a whole stack of garments out there, so you grab them and bring them to a bench, where you start looking through them.    As far as you can tell, they’re not old, which begs the question: why does he have modern women’s clothing in this ancient castle where there isn’t a hint of a woman’s touch anywhere? Except in the tower. But those clothes really are very old, so that doesn’t track either.

   You pick a pair of black cargo pants that fit you perfectly and are very comfortable. They’re the kind that hikers use, not tight enough to restrict movement but tight enough to sit securely against the skin and not risk getting snagged on things, with strong zippers on all six pockets.    And for your upper body, you dress to stay warm. A long-sleeved t-shirt underneath a microfiber sports jacket with a water-resistant outer layer.

   Of course, you are also thinking of the prospect of escape and the need for good clothes before you can even consider it. But you’re also just not fit enough, or knowledgeable enough about how to survive in the wild, to realistically attempt it.    You’d have to be truly desperate first, and you’re not. Yet.

   Leaving the bath, you find that he has indeed left you a trail to follow, in the shape of small branches of a young fir, which are wide at one end and narrowing towards the other, creating natural arrows, pointing you in the correct direction.    You reach his study after a short walk, finding that you do now recognize the corridor where it is, and how to get to the staircase, which leads back to your tower, from here.

   “Feel better?” your captor asks when you step into the room.

   He’s sitting in the same armchair as before, looking better than any man has a right to while merely occupying a piece of furniture, leaving the sofa to you, so you answer him as you’re moving over to it and taking a seat.

   “Yeah. Thanks. I am curious as to how that water was already warm, though. And where these clothes came from.”

   “I suspected that you might want to clean up tomorrow at the latest, so I’ve had the boiler running ever since this morning. And I bought the clothes for someone else a while back, but she never ended up using them,” he explains, and while you’re tempted to ask about who that other person was, you decide not to.

   “There’s a boiler? Then why’s the whole castle freezing cold?”

   “Because the boiler only heats the bathwater. To heat this entire place would take a small powerplant, not to mention that there’s only electricity in certain places, let alone any built-in heaters or climate control systems.”

   “Right. Sorry,” you say, feeling stupid for not realizing that yourself.

   “There’s no need to apologize, young one. I’m sure that this is all very confusing for you, so let me try and help you make some more sense of it,” he offers, and you feel yourself squaring your shoulders, as if preparing for something.

   But nothing in this world could’ve prepared you for what you’re about to learn.

   “I promised you that I would tell you what I know of the creatures within these walls, and I will. But let me warn you: most of what you’re about to hear, you will not want to believe,” he cautions, and something about his words and his tone makes your throat go dry.

   But you just sit quietly and wait for him to continue.

   “We must start with the dragon, because he is the cause of all this,” he begins, and his voice is soft, but also cautious. “Normally, he will hunt other predators in the woods around the world, eat them, and then remain out of sight until his hunger grows once more. And if he doesn’t exert himself too much, a single meal will keep him strong for as much as three months, so he doesn’t need to hunt very often.”

   “Is that why there are rarely any predators around the seven hills?” you ask before you can stop yourself, but he doesn’t seem bothered by the interruption.

   “Yes. He likes to hunt there because of the terrain. It keeps most humans away except for the trails, which he can easily avoid, and it’s low enough over the ocean that there’s plenty of greenery to conceal him, even around the peaks.”

   “The dragon avoids humans?” you question. “Why? We’re the worst predators there are.”

   “Indeed, but you’re also intelligent pack animals, which means that you will gather and avenge your dead if possible, and that’s a risk he cannot take.”

   “So, he fears humans?”

   “No, not at all. He fears himself, and what he will do to those who provoke him.    You see, the dragon is also intelligent. Moreso than any other animal. And he’s lived for long enough to understand human behavior, for the most part. He knows what happens when he clashes with them, and the outcome is never good for either side.”

   “How do you know all this?”

   He doesn’t answer that at first. He looks away, into the dancing flames within the fireplace and then down on his own shoes for a moment. To your eyes, he looks fearful, which seems strange. Surely, he can’t have anything to fear from you.

   “When I call you young…” he begins after another few beats of silence. “It’s because I am very old in comparison. I have been a companion of this beast for longer than you can imagine.”

   You just stare at him, while his gaze remains on the floor, waiting for your judgement. For you to tell him that you don’t believe him, because why would you?    But while a part of you certainly wants this to be a joke, another part remembers the strange details you’ve seen over the course of this day.

   “The Egyptian stone tablet on your desk,” you start, and he looks up again, meeting your eyes. “It’s not a replica. Is it?”

   He stares at you with an unreadable expression for another several seconds, then he shakes his head.

   “It was all that was left after my home was destroyed.”

   “And… how long ago was that?” you quietly ask, somehow expecting him to lose his temper at any moment.

   “I don’t remember anymore.    There is not much I do remember from that time,” he admits, before closing his eyes and bowing his head slightly. “I know that I was a prince in the lands that you now call Egypt, but I have long since forgotten our name for it. I can still recall my mother’s face, but not her name or the sound of her voice.    I know that a conflict destroyed our home and that our enemy killed her, but I no longer remember the events themselves. The imagery has faded from my mind.”

   You don’t know that much about ancient Egypt, but you know that the civilization is around eight thousand years old, and you’re pretty sure that the hieroglyphs on that tablet are on the older end of that spectrum.    But he can’t possibly be that old.

   “Oberyn?” you call softly, trying to bring him back to the room because he seems to have gotten lost in his memories.

   He opens his eyes and meets yours, and there are tears in his now.

   “My apologies. I do my best to avoid these thoughts most of the time, as they only serve to remind me of my many torments,” he answers, and he sounds as tortured as his words suggest.

   “That’s alright. But what do you mean when you say that you’re the dragon’s companion? What was it doing here?”

   “His life is tethered to mine, and mine to his. That’s as much as I can say about it at this time. However, I can explain how he relates to the creatures in the basement.”

   “I’m listening,” you assure him, and his features soften somewhat, but only for a moment, before they grow tense.

   “The dragon is intelligent, but he is also a beast, and therefor, he has the instincts of one. Much like a bear, a running prey will trigger him to pursue. To hunt. Which is how he’s killed plenty of humans in his lifetime, and why he does all he can to avoid them.”

   “Oh, god… I was running after Casper. He must’ve been nearby.”

   “Yes. He was probably there the entire day, hiding and waiting for the search party to leave, because he knew that there was a bear travelling through the area.”

   “You don’t think that he was the reason for that missing person?”

   “No, I don’t. You are right to question this, though. It’s not at all an impossible scenario. But on this occasion, I believe the beast was innocent, for the simple reason that if he had killed that person, he would not have stuck around afterwards.    Where you’re concerned, I think that he originally went after the horse, but circled back to you since you’re slower and therefor an easier meal.    Like I said, he always tries to expend the least amount of energy he can, to avoid having to feed more often.”

   “Okay, but then, why am I still alive?”

   “Well, that’s the mystery. When the dragon begins to hunt something, he goes into a nearly frantic state of mind, unable to calm himself even if he wants to. Ordinarily, he will never let his prey go.    With one exception.”

   Again, his expression makes you feel like you’re not gonna like where this goes.

   “Sometimes, the initial bite seems to trigger some sort of accelerated genetic reaction within the thing being bitten. The saliva enters the blood of the prey and instead of a neutral reaction, the blood-cells attempt to bond with the foreign substance. But since that’s impossible, what happens instead is an unnatural and damaging mutation.    I keep the creatures that are the results of these reactions, because I’m trying to understand how and why they happen.”

   You do your best to keep your stomach from flipping over again, but you can’t hold back the fear that his words spark within you.

   “Are you telling me that I’m gonna end up like th-…” you can’t even finish the sentence before the horror within your being forces you to your feet.

   Suddenly your skin feels like there’s a thousand bugs crawling inside of it and you pace around the small open area in the center of the room, scratching at your arms and neck, while attempting to fight off a rapidly building panic attack.

   “No, no, please listen to me,” he begs as he rises to his feet and halts you by putting his hands over your upper arms. “If that was going to happen, it already would have. The mutation instantly begins to break down the cellular structure of the prey, leaving them deformed and unrecognizable within a few hours.    You… for some inexplicable reason, are either immune to this mutation, or your body has managed to merge seamlessly with the foreign DNA.    Either way, I cannot let you leave until I know what’s happened to you.”

   “Okay, then test me,” you blurt out, stretching your arms out towards him with the insides of your elbows angled forwards, exposing your veins. “Do whatever you need to, just tell me I’m not gonna end up like those horrible things!”

   Desperation has finally overtaken you, but instead of wanting to run away, you find yourself stepping closer to your captor, pleading without words for him to help you. Tears are suddenly pouring down your cheeks, and painful sobs constrict your chest while strange, half-strangled sounds are clawing past the lump in your throat.    You wrap your arms around him without a single thought inside your head. All you know right now is this crippling feeling, and you need it to go away.

Part 3

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! If you wish to be notified when this story is updated, follow @sirowsky-stories and turn on notifications, or just ask nicely, and I'll tag you.

#oberyn martell fanfiction #oberyn martell x female reader #oberyn x reader #game of thrones fanfiction #game of thrones au #modern!au #halloween writing #spooky season fic #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal character fanfiction #sirowsky stories #pedrostories

[foap-enjoyer]

2023 Halloween funny moments.

Bit of a different kind of post than normal, but I just wanted to share with the world.

I answer my door each year on Halloween (In the UK) with my many, many animals (snakes, lizards, spiders, ect), and these are some of the best responses I've gotten to each animal this specific year:

With pictures!

So trigger warning for snakes/lizards/cockroaches/tarantulas.

Lizard (Bearded dragon) (adult) - Is that a gecko? - Oh mum look, it's a... it's... a dinosaur? - Oh wow, that's cool. It's a Komodo lizard thing, right? - Mum! Mum look! He has an armadillo-thingy! - Oh my teacher used to have one of those. It died, I think. - It licked me IT LICKED ME I'M GOING TO DIE - Oh my God it's ACE, HI ACE I KNOW YOU (People know my lizard more than me..)

~

Snake (Royal 'ball' Python) (adult) - Holy SHIT - Get that thing away FROM MEEEE - Why would you own one of those. Respectfully, Mr.. snake.. owner, sir? - That's one wicked worm my guy - Is it a boa constrictor? I know snakes really well. - I WANNA HOLD IT MUM CAN I HOLD IT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - I like snakes. They like violence, like me. ("Oh, actually he's very shy and gentle...") I don't like this snake. - MUM IT'S THE SNAKE MAN! (I'm well known in these parts as the 'reptile man' haha)

~ Snake (Hognose snake) (adult) - Why can't I hold this snake? ("Because he's very mean. He eats children") *cries* ("Only bad children, I promise!") *cries harder* - He's ginger! Ewwww! - He's very small... But it's the personality that counts, hey mate? - It's a cornsnake! With a.. oh. It's nose is deformed. Was it inbred?

~ Tarantula (Nhandu Chromatus/Brazillian Red 'n' white) (adult) - FUCK NO. FUCK. NO. - PISS OF YA DAFT CUNT (To the spider, not me... I think?) - Is it fluffy? Like a dog, I mean. It looks spiky, like a hedgehog. - Can I hold it? ("No, I'm sorry, they're fragile) Wow I've been lied to I thought they were tough as hell. - You, yeah both of you, you've got issues. - It looks like a Tony or something. Is it called Tony? - That fuckers bigger than my face, you feed him fingers or something?

~ Tarantula (Brachypelma hamorii/Mexican red knee) (baby) - Oh my God... You know what? That's kind of cute. - Mum, can we get one? "Fuck no, Tyler." - It's... what exactly does it do ("Nothing?") well that's boring. - It at least looks cuter than the house-spider I let stay in the corner of my room. He's called Terry.

~ Madagascan hissing cockroaches (adults) - Why would you own these. - Oh these are those hissing ones... Why aren't they hissing? - It bit me ("It's just her legs holding on") damn gurl you got some daggers on your feet - Can I steal them - Can I eat them - Can I take a selfie with them? - What are their names? ("Oh they're named after Mario princesses-") DAMN where's Princess Peach? PEACH?? PEACH WHERE ARE YOU?! (Don't worry, he found Peach, Peach is the third one. Yes, I can tell them apart)

~

Just a small reminder that I am an actual professional with these animals and I don't recommend doing this for Halloween unless you know what you're doing and, more importantly, know your animal (especially with tarantulas!). I did not let any child or adult hold my tarantulas nor my hognose (They're venomous, even if it's a small dose, allergic reactions may occur), and I know my python well enough to know he'll never strike, same with my beardie.

These are, also, not the only animals I have. I have thirteen in total :)

Just a lil notice! All fun though! Hope you enjoyed!

#reptile #reptiles #lizard #snake #tarantula #madagascar hissing cockroach #ball python #royal python #bearded dragon #mexican red knee #Brazilian red and white #brachypelma hamorii #nhandu chromatus #tw cockroaches #insects #halloween #happy halloweeeeeeen #spooky #all hallows eve #animals #cool #lizards #snakes

[bouncydragon]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @amidnight--dreary!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

Currently 46. No doubt there will be more to come, once I manage to actually finish any of my WIPs.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

234.084. I'm a little disappointed in myself right now.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The bulk of my AO3 fics are for the MCU but I have moved on from that and I'm mostly writing for Peaky Blinders right now (and possibly in the future as well). I have two unfinished MCU fics that I will eventually finish, I swear. There's also a few fics written for other fandoms but it's usually single fics.

4. Top five fics by kudos

In order: The King Is Dead, Long Live The King, Winter Butterfly, A Simple Act, Early Bird, and Sleepy Head.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes. Though I'm sure I have missed some...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh, hm. I think it would be Dead Boy's Poem, which in my not so humble opinion is a great story, it's just that it ends very badly.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm sure there's a few that qualify... At the top of my head I'd pick there goes my mind racing, just because it's a story that's very dear to me and one I actually love to reread. But honestly, there's probably a few fics that qualify, A Simple Act would be one of them for example. Winter Butterfly might fall in that category once it's actually finished...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I remember getting some way back when but I can't remember what it was about, not that it even matters. I do recall having a brief argument with the person, I just deleted the comment thread. Nothing since then I think... I hope it remains that way.

9. Do you write smut?

Ah, well, not really. I have tried my hand at it but it wasn't anything explicit, basically everything but, so right leading up to the steamy stuff. I felt a bit awkward writing that, so I probably stick to hinting at stuff etc. But who knows, perhaps in the future...

10. Craziest crossover?

Well, I don't think I've written crossovers. As far as crazy stories go though, it's definitely the two stories involving the Avengers and resurrected dinosaurs. (Don't ask.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so, which is good. Hopefully it won't ever happen.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Sadly not. I have translated my own shit though. Well, one. I wrote it in my native language and later translated it to English to post it. That's also one of the first fics I ever posted on AO3, way back in 2019.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Winter Butterfly is a project of the wonderful @worstloki and me, which we really have to finish at some point... I recall that we talked about it at the end of last year, and I forgot to check on the fic since then... Sorry.

14. All time favorite ship?

Ah damn. I have to say that it's probably Tofie (Tommy and Alfie from Peaky Blinders). It's the ship I write mostly for now and also the ship that kind of has stolen my heart, so to speak. I just live bisexual disaster gangsters. It used to be Frostiron. It's the one I've written most for and it still is dear to me but unfortunately it has been dethroned.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Oh. At the top of my head it's a fic called "When Dragons Cry", which I haven't posted and it just sits in my docs and judges me. It's Frostiron and Loki is a dragon and his egg has been stolen. There's convoluted lore to it as well.

But also a fic/series called "here I am alone between the heavens and the embers" which is about Tommy from Peaky and ghosts. Do ask me about that. Maybe if I talk about it, I will actually fucking work on it. It's so ambitious in my opinion, and I don't know if I am confident enough in my abilities to actually write it. I mean, I have started it and I do like what I've written, but damn...

There's probably more... Now I feel awful for all the abandoned projects... Anyway!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I cannot answer this because I don't know. Even if I think longer about it, I probably won't be able to come up with a satisfactory answer. It's probably something others are more capable of answering for me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Honestly, same answer as 16. Though I guess I could say smut because it's just something I haven't practiced as much.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I think it's good. Though my language knowledge is very limited. I have used some in the past but it's usually very simple phrases that even a translator cannot fuck up.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

I've had that question recently and my answer is still not any more definite. It's probably Naruto, NCIS or Warriors. Though the more I think about it, the more I believe it was Warriors. But can't remember honestly.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

There's a bunch but if I have to pick, I'm gonna pick Lest We Forget again because it's a fic I'm very, very proud of and which deserves more attention in my not so humble opinion.

Tagging some writers, hope you don't mind, also no pressure obviously... @poormeowmeowcollector @justhallucinating @rabentochter @whentommymetalfie @justrainandcoffee @andtherewerefireworks

#writer asks #peaky blinders #tommy x alfie #marvel #frostiron

[fuckabledragonoftheday]

do hyperintelligent dinosaurs count as dragons 🤔 i mean they’re close right

Hm. I mean... Hm. I don't think so, but...

Let's put it to vote.

#see you in a week #poll #mod post #anonymous

[class-1b-bull]

Class 1b and their ideal date!

Not proofread we die like men

Awase - he prefers simple dates like walking around in a park or going to an arcade maybe but hes pretty chill with anything

Sen - his ideal date is the both of you in the middle of nowhere having a silly little photo shoot. Bonus points if you bring multiple outfits!

Kamakiri - bro really cares about presentation. He will wake you up in the middle of the night, take you to the middle of nowhere just so you can have a picnic under the stars <3

Kuroiro - what do you mean playing dungeons and dragons for 7 hours straight doesn't count as a date? He prefers just staying home and watching a movie and cuddling for dates

Kendo - she loves going to any type of festival for dates. Amusement parks, fairs, random renaissance festival that she didnt know existed til 5 minutes ago, things like that

Kodai - any kind of date where she gets to listen to you tell stories about random things. She doesn't care whats going on around her she just wants to hear you talk

Komori - going to random wooded areas just to walk around and look at mushrooms and moss and stuff.

Shiozaki - ya know those nature reserves or plant parks that have tons of different plants and flowers that you can just walk around and look at? Thats where she wants to be.

Shishida - all he wants in life is to hold your hand and take a nice walk through the park <3

Shoda - his ideal date is just hanging out with you at a small cafe that no one really knows about while you both share some silly life stories <3

Pony - she wants to dress nice and go eat at a restaurant honestly. It doesnt matter where yall eat as long as she gets to dress up and feel pretty! Let her wear her prom dress to taco bell!

Tsubaraba - ideal date is honestly staying up all night together and just building pillow forts and playing videogames

Tetsutetsu - he wants to find something you both like to do and just hang out with you for the day <3

Tokage - does her ranting to you about dinosaurs for an hour and a half count as a date? Because thats her ideal <3

Manga - bros a hopeless romantic ngl. He wants a candle lit dinner in a dimly lit room while you both eat pasta

Honenuki - he prefers things more on the simple side. He just wants to sit in a garden with you and talk over tea <3

Bondo - anything calm and casual is what he prefers. From simply eating out at a hole in the wall type cafe or even staying home and watching a movie. Ykyk

Monoma - hes taking you to some lavish five star restaurant where the food is made by Gordon Ramsay himself (idk if I spelt his name right lol) he will refuse to let you pay btw. (Even if you wanted to)

Reiko - imagine you and her just laying on a pile of pillows inside of a pillow fort and just talking over tea <3 she likes small hole in the wall cafes as well

Rin - ideally he goes out and spends all day doing something fun (like bowling or hanging at an arcade or stuff like that) then he goes home with you and the two of you just snuggle while wrapped in a warm blanket <3

Rin could beat my ass if he so wanted but that wont stop me from calling him a cutie patootie

#bnha headcannons #bnha headcanons #class 1b #mha headcanons #awase yousetsu #sen kaibara #togaru kamakiri #shihai kuroiro #itsuka kendou #yui kodai #kinoko komori #ibara shiozaki #jurota shishida #nirengeki shoda #pony tsunotori #kosei tsuburaba #tetsutetsu tetsutetsu #setsuna tokage #manga fukidashi #juzo honenuki #kojiro bondo #reiko yanagi #rin hiryu #neito monoma #rin is so cute omggggg #i love him #cutie patootie

[axewchao]

Your name is Luigi. You've been living a pretty simple life, all things considered. You did pretty well in school, have a stable job, have loving parents, and are blessed with a twin brother that you can always count on, no matter what gets thrown at you.

You were pretty content with your life. Too bad aliens (which, apparently, are real) had to come along and snatch you away from it all.

You had trouble processing it at first. For a while, you figured the light that damn near blinded you and your brother was from a car, and now you were having some weird dream. Even when you awoke to find your hands bound and Mario angrily ranting in Italian at what you could only describe as a turtle clinging to a mini UFO, you initially wrote it off as a dream.

But then you heard whimpering from behind you. And when you turned to look, your heart practically dropped.

You and Mario weren't alone in the cell. There were two others; a teenage boy and what you assume was his dog. That was enough to throw your little dream theory out the window because really, what reason would you ever have to dream about some random kid and their pet?

Mario continued to rant and shout, and you had to call out to him a few times to get him to stop. Seeing the kid was enough to revert him to his trademark Big Brother Mode, and you both tried your best to reassure the younger boy that you both meant no harm.

The boy, who introduced himself as Dalex, explained that he and his dog Viridi have been held in this cell for several days. Like you and Mario, he'd seen a bright light before waking up here, unable to understand the creatures outside. Occasionally he would be brought into what he assumed was an examination room, poked and prodded a bit, and then sent back into the cell. Dalex didn't want to risk himself or Viridi getting hurt, so he just went along with whatever happened.

As Dalex told his tale, something began to well up inside you. You don't get angry often; that's always been Mario's thing. Even now you could see Mario start to glare again, the boy's words adding fuel to your brother's fire.

You really, really don't get angry often. But seeing this innocent kid in tears, scared and confused, held prisoner by beings you thought only existed in fantasy for reasons you can't fathom...

To put it lightly, you were furious.

Unlike Mario, you didn't show your ire. The last thing you wanted was to upset the kid even more; right now he needed a form of security. You made your way to his side, giving him the most awkward shoulder pat in the world (what with your bound hands and all), and told him that you and your brother would help him escape.

You didn't have an answer when Dalex asked "How?" but you were determined to find one, more than you'd ever been in your life.

Several hours later, all four of you were pulled from your cell, likely for an 'examination' as Dalex described earlier. You could hear the creatures talking between themselves, casting glances at the three of you before continuing. For some reason, some of them have a trace of... nervousness(?) cross their face, only for it to be gone as soon as it came. Most of those looks were directed at Mario, whose silent glare seemed to be enough to rattle these... things.

You all turn a corner and hear Dalex's breathing become more erratic. You hear him mumble that this isn't the way to the examination room. His dog whines, and you hear the poor boy sniffle.

Something in the back of your mind sparks. Like a lightning bolt just hit your brain.

You didn't know what awaited you at the end of this walk, and you were not going to find out.

You eye the creature leading the line. A large dinosaur (or maybe a dragon? what with the wings and all-) has what looks like a set of keys on its hip, all in different colors. Three of them match the colors of the weird sparkling handcuffs you've all been wearing this whole time.

You're well aware that the dino-dragon-thing is much larger than you. Much stronger. Taking it on would be the dumbest thing you've ever done in your life. The craziest, even.

But considering how crazy the situation is already, what's a little more to add to the pile?

One of these days, I need to get into making comics or writing entire stories instead of little bitty itty bitty snippets. Because this idea has been sitting pretty in my head from the moment it was presented to me, and even now I still feel that I haven't done it justice. =w="

@tallestnull, I whole-heartedly agree; Luigi going apeshit in this situation would be AWESOME.

#Super Mario #Mario Space Orcs AU #Mario #Luigi #Real Worlder!Dal #Dalex Rathmore #Viridi Rathmore #in which Luigi mentally prepares himself to go all Smash Bros on a buncha aliens- #axewchaoscribbles

[overfedvenison]

From a 2019 Deltarune interview... https://nintendosoup.com/toby-fox-speaks-about-deltarunes-development-shares-new-concept-art/ Note that this implies Susie's healing will get better, which... I mean, obvious, but still notable

More interestingly, was a character was supposed to have Fireshock? The terminology "For now" is also curious.

Who in Chapter 1 would have Fireshock? It's gotta be Ralsei, right? Since he is some kind of parallel to the Boss Monsters, who also use fire. On the other hand, Susie... It's sort of implied she is more of a dragon than a dinosaur. She might have at one point had a Fire Breath spell. I guess it could be either of them, though I see Susie as less likely. We can count Kris out, at least. (Unless Kris was at one point considered to be a "Hero" kind of RPG protagonist with Fire magic and Cure spells, instead of a "Non-magical Shin Megai Tensei 1" kind of protagonist. But I don't really envision that...)

This is interesting. The existence of Fireshock is 100% on my Deltarune bingo card, and probably one of the concepts I'm most sure is going to happen. So if Ralsei gets it...

Hrm

#deltarune

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Animation Face-Offs

I find it amusing that the first real major animated movie box office show-off is occurring some 35 years after the one that arguably started it all...

November 18, 1988... Walt Disney Feature Animation's celebrity-loaded modern musical OLIVER & COMPANY from first-time director George Scribner, and Universal's release of the Steven Spielberg/George Lucas-produced ex-Disney director Don Bluth adventure THE LAND BEFORE TIME...

This wasn't the first time two animated pictures opened next to each other.

In fall 1982, Hanna-Barbera's HEIDI'S SONG opened opposite a Looney Tunes clipshow anthology movie called 1001 RABBIT TALES. Combined, they made $5m at the domestic box office... Not great times to open an animated feature that wasn't Disney, and not that their distributors probably even cared at the time anyways.

Sometimes, there are around two animated features a month. It's not uncommon for two studios to share. Off the top of my head, you had - in November 2010 - MEGAMIND at the beginning of the month, and TANGLED before Thanksgiving. In the early summer of 2013, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY only opened about a few weeks before DESPICABLE ME 2. TROLLS and MOANA shared November 2016. Again, just random examples off the top of my head.

But usually, they're spaced out... TROLLS BAND TOGETHER and WISH are five days apart...

TROLLS 3 is projected to take in around $20-25m this weekend, which is significantly less than what TROLLS took in back in 2016, but still alright for this kind of movie. WISH is set to out-open it, with over $50m for the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend stretch. For a $200m-costing movie, it's going to need all the legs in the world to get by. TROLLS 3 will need to pull some good weight too to more than double its much more modest $95m budget. (Wild to think that $95m seems *low*... There was a time when a DreamWorks/PDI movie cost $75m... And for a good while, roughly $135m!)

I'm curious to see how each film affects one another. Families aren't made of money, and there's gotta be a kind of adult pull to really make big bucks, and I'm not sure if either of these films have that. Plus you have stuff like WONKA right around the corner... Thankfully no Marvel, Star Wars, or Avatar movie to counter with. Although, PUSS IN BOOTS Dos last year, woooooow. That cat held his own against the blue cat aliens.

But yeah, if you think about it... This is a rare head-to-head race.

One could argue we saw this in late winter of 2021 when Warner Bros. released their live-action TOM & JERRY, and then Disney Animation had RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON out a week later. But that was before vaccines got out for all age groups (they were distributed to the elderly first, I - who was 28 at the time - couldn't get my first shot until April.), and the films had simultaneous streaming debuts, so I don't really count that. Plus, Cinemark theaters refused to show RAYA over a disagreement on who got most of the earnings. (That would've been my return trip to the movies after a year-long hiatus, my return ended up being A QUIET PLACE: PART II two months later.)

It's funny how TROLLS 3 is Universal and WISH is Disney... Just like how LAND BEFORE TIME was Universal, and OLIVER was Disney.

The Disney-Universal race was successful for both. OLIVER took home $53m domestically (the $71m figure you often see comes from the film's 1996 re-release), LAND BEFORE TIME took home $48m. Worldwide is up the air, because Disney never released OLIVER's numbers, Universal reported that LAND made around $84m. Winner is unknown, but it was always assumed to be LAND. Maybe because dinosaurs are more Universal than a modern-day New York comedy? Who knows!

Perhaps greatly inspired by that double-whammy of animated hits, MGM/United Artists wanted to try that for themselves. Don Bluth split with Spielberg and Lucas due to creative disagreements during production of both LAND BEFORE TIME and his other Spielberg collab AN AMERICAN TAIL, and set up ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN with the lion. MGM/UA released ALL DOGS the same day as THE LITTLE MERMAID...

Bluth's movie got left to sink by the Ron Clements and John Musker-directed musical sleeper hit... It wasn't even close. $27m domestic vs. $84m domestic, and in addition that, MERMAID's worldwide figures put it at roughly $183m. (Again, in 1989-90, without the 1997 re-release counted.) ALL DOG's worldwide total is unknown.

This didn't entirely scare distributors away from trying again.

The fall of 1990 was originally set to see another Bluth vs. Disney face-off. If plans had held, MGM-Pathe would've released Bluth's ROCK-A-DOODLE on the same day as Disney's sequel THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER. MGM-Pathe ran into financial and legal problems, putting Bluth's film in limbo for a bit...

Instead, Warner Bros. went toe to toe with Disney, releasing an animated feature that wasn't a Looney Tunes clipshow: THE NUTCRACKER PRINCE... Suffice to say, it barely scrounged up $1m domestically, and Disney's sequel had troubles of its own, stalling at $29m domestically, $47m worldwide.

Two films fled from the autumn of 1991, as BEAUTY AND THE BEAST looked to not be a repeat of RESCUERS DOWN UNDER, but a repeat of LITTLE MERMAID and OLIVER's successes... 20th Century Fox - who had FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST - and The Samuel Goldwyn Company - who picked up ROCK-A-DOODLE - chickened, literally in the latter's case...

Only Universal had the guts to take on the beast... By releasing AN AMERICAN TAIL: FIEVEL GOES WEST the same day. The Don Bluth-less sequel made only $22m domestically, while BEAUTY AND THE BEAST made... $145m in North America alone, and blew up with $331m around the world...

After FERNGULLY and ROCK-A-DOODLE wisely fled from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, they duked it out in April 1992. DOODLE opened the first weekend of the month, with FERNGULLY following. FERNGULLY won with $24m domestically, DOODLE struggled with $11m. (It's worth noting that DOODLE first came out in the UK in August of 1991.)

Universal initially thought they'd have WE'RE BACK! A DINOSAUR'S STORY ready to compete with ALADDIN, but they likely realized that that was not a great idea... WE'RE BACK! opened over a full year after ALADDIN and still flopped hard. It opened nearby BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, which also made a paltry amount.

From there on out, things were typically spaced out. Sometimes the smaller efforts opened close to each other.

And now here we are, Thanksgiving week of 2023... We have trolls vs. wishing stars. Universal vs. Disney. It'll be fun to watch, but I hope the two film crews of both get to put food on their tables once more.

[void-the-bear]

OK but why does Black Garlic Cookie have a fang?

Let's look at this very crude collection of cookies with sharp teeth

Devil has sharp teeth because he's a devil

Vampire a sharp tooth because he's a vampire

Werewolf doesn't show teeth in cookie form but in wolf form he has sharp teeth

The dragons all have sharp teeth (except Lotus who never opens their mouth in the sprites given. And Longan is a maybe. Snakefruit is also a maybe but they have sharp teeth because they're a snake.)

Dino-sour, and by extension Sour Belt due to being family, has something to do with dinosaurs, so they have sharp teeth

and Sorbet has sharp teeth because they're a shark.

Also Goblin has sharp teeth because they're a goblin but they're kinda up in the air on whether they count. Sorry Goblin.

The point is: Black Garlic has something going on. Everyone with sharp teeth has a reason behind it. So why does Black Garlic have a fang? One thing I noticed is with the dragons their fang is on our left side, while with Vamp and Black Garlic, the fang is on our right side. Then again Sour Belt does have that one tooth on our right, but, again, I'm only giving her the light pass because she's related to Dino Sour.

This could just be me connecting dots that don't exist again, though. I'll let you guys think what this post is about.

#cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak fanart #black garlic cookie #devil cookie #vampire cookie #werewolf cookie #dino sour cookie #sour belt cookie #sorbet shark cookie

[imaginarycyberpunk2023]

ᴜɴᴜꜱᴜᴀʟ ᴏᴄ ᴀꜱꜱᴏᴄɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ

ᴛᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ʙʏ @katsigian - I wanna do this for Vinnie too, bc it's fun! Thank you again for tagging me 💚

Also got tagged by @theviridianbunny - thank you doll 😘

--

Vinnie: "What is this?"

Macha: "It's just a fun little associations game. Indulge me by playing along."

Vinnie: (sighs) "Okay, Kitten, let's hear it"

-------- ✵ --------

ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴɪɴɢ: What? Like salt? Yes, salt.

ᴡᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ: I don't mind any weather. Do you? (Yes, like icy rain?) Then I'll just stay inside, problem solved.

ᴄᴏʟᴏʀ: Love me some gold lately.

ꜱᴋʏ: Yes! It's up above!

ᴍᴀɢɪᴄᴀʟ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ: My sexually prowess. Right? Right!

ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴛ: You can have plants? Inside the house?

ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ: Katana, knives, and my own guns (flexes)

ꜱᴜʙᴊᴇᴄᴛ: Do motorcycles count?

ꜱᴏᴄɪᴀʟ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ: No, I like personal contact.

ᴍᴀᴋᴇᴜᴘ ᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴛ: Yes! See! I can say yes here. Whatever that' stuff is called I put around my eyes.

ᴄᴀɴᴅʏ: All of the candy! And your sweet butt.

ꜰᴇᴀʀ: You'll publish that? Then no, I'm not telling.

ɪᴄᴇ ᴄᴜʙᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴘᴇ: There are different shapes? (You like crushed eyes in your drinks, right?) Yes, but that's not a shape, Macha.

ᴍᴇᴛʜᴏᴅ ᴏꜰ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟʟɪɴɢ: Never go faster than a motorcycle can go. That's my motto. Doesn't matter how long it takes, I'll make time.

ᴀʀᴛ ꜱᴛʏʟᴇ: I like that stuff you showed me the other day, that colorful stuff. (That’s called Pop Art) Yeah, I like the sound of that.

ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢɪᴄᴀʟ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ: Dinosaur! (That’s not a mythological creature, they were real!) Well they're pretty fucking cool though. (Say Dragon, it's similar.) No!

ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʀʏ: I have a paper box over there.

3 ᴇᴍᴏᴊɪꜱ: 🙂🙂🙂

ᴄᴇʟᴇꜱᴛɪᴀʟ ʙᴏᴅʏ: Saturn, the flashiest of them all, with the rings and stuff.

--

Macha: "Thank you Vinnie, that was fun!"

Vinnie: "Anything for you, Kitten."

------- ✵ -------

Tagging (no pressure as always)

@cyberpunkaddict (tagging you bc I want you to see Vinnies emoji answer lol)

@miyokovektor

@miss--river

@maimaiapologist

@itzsassha

@fly-amanitaa

@bnbc

@wanderingaldecaldo

@chevvy-yates

@kittenchrissy

@morganlefaye79

@jaymber

@gloryride

@noirapocalypto (I know you did it for SVALEM already. Maybe you wanna do it for another one of your OCs?)

#oc: vinnie #vinnie energy #cyberpunk tag game #tag game #imaginary cyberpunk #can you tell that i love this dude? #i love this dude #he the best #he's game always #vinnie lore #that was so fun to write #oc: vinnie gallo

[whathorselegs]

Do you have a favorite character (or characters, if you feel like listing multiple) of all time from any media?

Some of my all time favourite characters are:

Nightwing or Dick Grayson (DC comics)

Poison Ivy or Dr Pamela Isley (DC comics)

Robin or Damian Wayne (DC comics)

Mako Mori (Pacific Rim)

Stacker Pentecost (Pacfic Rim)

Jonathan Sims (Magnus Archives)

Micheal Shelley (Magnus Archives)

Dr Ellie Sattler (Jurassic Park)

Spinosaurus (Jurassic Park, yes I'm counting the dinosaurs)

Kayla Watts (Whilst I don't like the Jurassic World movies, Kayla was a really fun character and should have been in it from the first movie, she was the only good thing about the third movie for me)

Regina Mills (Once Upon a Time, did I watch most of Once Upon a Time solely because I was in love with her, maybe so)

Rumpelstiltskin (Once Upon a Time)

Misty Quigley (Yellow Jackets, all of the main team in Yellow Jackets tbh)

Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice)

Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

Literally everyone from the movie 'Princess Bride' except Humperdinck and the 5 fingered man.

Thane Krios (Mass Effect)

Zevran Arainai (Dragon Age)

Lelouch (Code Geass)

Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Maki Zenin (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Gaara (Naruto)

Most of the characters from Yuri on Ice

And many many more I can't think of right now, I like a lot of characters

#ask #rambling #I said I was only going to write like five characters but I just kept adding #Not including my BSD faves because I've already talked about them

[sterlester]

#DoctorDonnathon Part 2 - A Tangential Talk On Expectations

    Today is Thursday 2nd November. Tales from the TARDIS debuted yesterday, alongside nearly all of classic Who on iPlayer for the first time, and the latest SFX magazine has really got my excitement bubbling. Not that I haven't been actively counting down to November 23rd all year - I don't have a lot going on clearly. Or maybe Doctor Who just means that much to people. Either way, excitement is going from a consistent simmer towards boiling point. Part of my enthusiasm is driving me to believe there may be more to expect at this #DoctorDonnathon, maybe a recorded message from RTD or a preview of the Blu Ray exclusive conversation between DT and RTD, but I feel I'm getting ahead of myself. This screening will be of Series Four (plus The Runaway Bride), and that is more than enough. 

    I tend to get ahead of myself often. Always anticipating something truly extraordinary out of the ordinary. I went to see the Pixar Orchestra nearly 10 years ago at the Eden Project here in Cornwall, and there was talk of dinosaurs featuring - I interpreted this as possibility of a preview of the music from the then-upcoming The Good Dinosaur, only to be humbled at the visuals of Rex from Toy Story being shown on screen. Likewise with the release of hashtags alongside the public filming of these upcoming specials, I (alongside a few enthusiastic fans) wrongly suspected that on the heels of DT & CT's announcement to expect two hearts and a bowtie to be shared, only for the equally humbling yet intriguing reveals of NPH and YF as players in the episodes. This instinct to hope for the best is not a bad thing, but I'm learning it can lessen the impact of genuine surprises and maybe should be averted. I had a very recent example of this last week.

    One of my other non-Whovian interests is Dungeons and Dragons - I run a Star Wars-themed game and play in a fantasy game regularly (my notes for this campaign just crossed 100,000 words last night!) Part and parcel with this interest is following the adventures of the nerdy voice actors of Critical Role, whose live-streamed ongoing campaigns have lead to the creation of two Amazon animated shows to name but a few of their incredible accomplishments. I was lucky enough to secure tickets for me and my D&D party to see them live in London last week, and the show was amazing. I went in with a great sense of mystery, with no knowledge of the show's content other than knowing the characters and the rough situational context, and was blown away by the story that unravelled before us. But that was not the event that shattered my expectations of the trip - I was walking through London with my friends the day after the show, still reeling from the revelations as we went shopping for jelly beans and trinkets. We'd humoured the idea that we may bump into one of the cast members in the city, being naive little Cornish folk who see everywhere through the lens of Cornish village life where you can't go a minute without being stopped by someone who knows you or your family. So consider our shock when we bumped directly into DM extraordinaire and the incredible player Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray. I thank my lucky stars that not only did my poor navigational skills accidentally put us in the right place at the right time, but also that my best mate was a lot more present and composed that I was. Thankfully the two were humble, generous, kind and simply as wonderful a people as you could hope for, and took the time to talk to us and even offer to have a photo with us. We apologised for inconveniencing them before letting them go (and before we crumpled into a messy pile of sweat and disbelief). 

    This was exactly a week ago as of this writing, and I still genuinely don't believe that it happened. And this is the point of this ramble - I went in with the mildest expectation, humouring the possibility but only in jest, and when the fates aligned and decided to bless me and my friends with a cartoonish accidental bumping into our heroes, the fact it was so unreal and unexpected made it so much more worth it. With that in mind, I need to go into this knowing what to expect. I have seen every episode I'm about to watch on Saturday many, many times. I've thought about this Series so much, holding it as a benchmark for other series' to aspirationally meet and exceed. By expecting more, I feel I will tarnish this experience - and why would I want that when I know how much of a joy it will be to watch with my fellow fans?

    Long story short - I am excited for this month of Who mania, ready to revisit this incredible series in this viewing, and ready to begin this journey as soon as- HOLD ON TOMORROW IS THE 3RD?! OH GOD I NEED TO GET PACKING!!!

Cornish TARDIS #DoctorDonnathon

(Picture from last week bumping into Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray - thank you so much for your kindness, taking the time to speak with us and have a photo! And apologies for my inability to speak or react beyond shaking hands and being completely incoherent.)

#doctordonnathon #doctor who #critical role #matthew mercer #marisha ray

[the-keep-under-gresit]

Get to know the blogger

Many thankies for the tag, @ruiniel

:D :D :D :D

Share your wallpaper:

I too be a simp-le person. 😜 (Normally go with whatever I'm currently hyper fixating on, but at the moment I'm not entirely certain what that is... so, Al it stays for now 😁)

Last song you listened to: Allstar - Smash Mouth (Ah, catchy nostalgia on loop)

Currently reading: Trying to catch up on fanfics... Brain making it arduous. 😵

Last movie: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Had to cut it short cause I started nodding off - long day 😴)

Last TV show: Pokemon Ultimate Journeys (have to wait for the next episodes to be dubbed)

Craving: Busy eyeing the Tex chocolate next to me. 👀

What are you wearing right now: Long navy and turquoise pyjama top (it has unicorns on eet 🦄), white tracksuit pants, and light blue socks with 'lil penguins on dem. Ultra comfort clothes FTW!

How tall are you: 5'1'' ft (Yes, I'm short)

Piercings: None.

Tattoos: None.

Glasses or contacts: Neither.

Last drink: Rooibos tea.

Last thing you ate: Cheesy Doritos and rice cakes with butter. (Ah, so healthy 😋)

Favorite color: Blue. All shades.

Current obsession: Hard to say at the moment. Maybe Pokemon, but with a sprinkling of Beyblade and Castlevania here and there too. It's weird, and honestly contributing to the current state of feeling lost and almost depressive. I need to obsess over something or else I die inside. 😵

Any pets:

*Clears throat*

Cosmo. African Grey Parrot. Presumably male. Age 5 years. Always up to no good. Good talker. My baby.

Gringo. Blue-crowned conure. Presumably male. Around 20 years. LOUD! Full of bull. Loves to call everyone an ass. Also my baby.

Neera. Leopard gecko. Female. Around 15 years. Can do no wrong, just a 'lil gal. Also baby. ALL MY BABIES!

And for whatever reason, my phone does not want to show the photos of the others, but also have a male yellow cockatiel (Rango) aged 15 yrs, and 3 lady doggos (Misty, Kelsey and Roxy) all Border collie x's, ages 16, 13 and 4 yrs.

Favorite fictional character: Let's make that characters cause you can't have just one: 😁

Anime~

Shiron, Ranshiin, Greedo (Legendz: Tale of the Dragon Kings)

Kai, Tala, Bryan (Beyblade [2000/Bakuten Shoot])

Kyuzo (Samurai 7)

Ponyta/Rapidash, Mewtwo, Lugia, Treecko/Grovyle/Sceptile, Riolu/Lucario (Pokemon) [Throwing in Lance as fav human character]

Sebastian (Black Butler)

Levi (Attack on Titan)

Hisoka (Hunter x Hunter)

Toons/Animated Series~

Alucard (Castlevania [Netflix])

Leonardo (TMNT [2003/2007/Bayverse])

Ripster (Street Sharks)

Ridge, Haxx, Bullseye (Extreme Dinosaurs)

Allo (Dinosaucers)

Cheetor, Dinobot (Transformers: Beast Wars/Beast Machines)

Aaaaand we'll cut it off there, or else I'll be here all night. 😅

The last place you traveled: Bathurst, for their yearly Agricultural show on Friday. Literally a fifteen drive away, but I'm counting it. 😋

And now I shall tag.... @hellovivirose and @fuckiecheeses if you want to do it. 😄No pressure whatsoever.

#Tumblr game #Get to know the blogger #Tag #The Tex was delish 😋

[loominggaia]

1: viendo cómo están algunas bestia de este mundo (dragones de asedio, krakens, los reyes escudo) me hace preguntarme que carajo pasaba en la looming gaia prehistorica

2: ¿Cómo hacen las parejas de distintas especies (como un humano y un centauro, osea con gran diferencia de tamaño) para tener sexo?

(Translated via Google Translate)

1: Seeing how some beasts of this world are doing (siege dragons, krakens, shield kings) makes me wonder what the hell was going on in prehistoric looming Gaia 2: How do couples of different species (like a human and a centaur, that is, with a large difference in size) have sex?

1 ) That's a fun thought! Unlike peoples, beasts were not created by Gaia. They have always been part of Her, evolving from bacteria similar to the beasts in the real world. I'm sure there have been many different eras throughout Gaia's ancient history, each with its own unique creatures and ecosystems. The beasts we see today are just the descendants of those that survived Her great rampage, in which she tore her one continent into many pieces.

Personally I think dragons are some of the oldest creatures, not having changed much from their ancient ancestors. They are living dinosaurs. The continent of Lorrowey in particular has a lot of dinosaur-like animals on it. Also the seas still contain many ancient beasts, like the kraken for example, which has looked the same for millions of years. You can't improve on perfection!

2 ) This may be a potentially NSFW answer, so I'll place it under a cut just in case.

I think in these cases, couples have to adjust their ideas about what sex is. Some people say it's not "real" sex unless penetration happens, while others believe you can have sex without even touching eachother.

So, in cases with extreme size differences between species, people just have to get a little creative about pleasing eachother. This is a world of magic, and magic makes anything possible. But even without magic, people on Gaia make do just fine. Where there's a will, there's a way!

A gnome can do a sexy striptease for their centaur lover. An ogre can use their hands or mouth to please their elven lover. Not everything has to involve penetration to "count" in my opinion.

I will also mention that different species are attracted to different qualities and have different erogenous zones. For example, goblins have incredibly sensitive ears, and just touching their ears in the right way can sexually satisfy them. The same applies to sirenes and their scalps; massaging their heads and combing their hair a certain way can satisfy them too. Female fauns are so attuned to sound that singing or music can bring them to orgasm. Male satyrs are so visual that just looking at someone they're attracted to can make them pop off...

Even cecaelia, who normally can't feel sexual pleasure, can use telepathy to feel whatever their lover does and experience it that way. Like I said, magic makes anything possible! It can even be used to temporarily make small species larger while they do the deed with their bigger lover, or maybe shrink their lover down to their size instead. Stuff like this is limited only by creativity.

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

#ask #askhistory #askbeast #askgaia #asknsfw #asksexuality

[awesomefroggy]

The Mighty Nein's MtG Decks

Because apparently my current niche is oddly specific headcanons and also @fluffmonger asked. These are all gonna be commander decks because that's what I play. @qumulox helped too.

Fjord- Galea, Kindler of Hope. Equipment tribal to the max, with all kinds of Hexproof this and Protection from [COLOR] that. He has strong feelings on deck composition and ratios, and he's very meticulous about it. He keeps everything in Dragon Shield sleeves and Boulder boxes color coordinated with the deck's colors, and he's had the one same UltraPro playmat for years and doesn't see why people change them.

Beau- Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. Just to be rude as hell. You'd think she'd have a monk deck, but they're too slow and don't pack enough oomph. Beau will claim she just tossed it together, but in reality she spent hours on EDHRec and Reddit pulling together an optimized list. She's got one of the schmancy premuim leather mats that's cobalt blue, but she balances out the bougie by using $3 UltraPro sleeves.

Caleb- Yes. That isn't a card name, Caleb is just 100% your deck brewing buddy who never keeps a deck longer than two meetups and is constantly noodling with something new. Sometimes it's aggressively potent. Sometimes it's trash. Sometimes he makes a Group Huh?? deck just for shits and giggles. But you can always count on him playing on a pristine cat themed playmat, and his Satin Towers are somehow always immediately damaged.

Veth- Grenzo, Dungeon Warden. Full aggressive red/black that is just mean (and she thinks it's funny to use the Goblin Rogue). Flood the board with dudes, and as many sacrifice spells as needed. She throws Treasure mechanics in there for funsies and uses buttons as the tokens. She doesn't sleeve her deck or use a playmat, if only to watch Caleb wince as she riffle shuffles.

Jester- Toski, Bearer of Secrets. Jester has a squirrels deck because of course she does. She also makes decks based on the art, and they're much better than they have any right to be. The sleeves? Custom printed with Traveler art. The playmat? She did her own rendition of the cover of Tusk Love and got that custom printed too. Jester also paints custom card alters.

Molly- Nymris, Oona's Trickster. His whole theme is just stacking his deck and doing card tricks with anything that has Flash. The whole deck is either foil, Secret Lairs, and/or whatever he finds the prettiest, but also he keeps the whole thing in Pokémon sleeves he traded a kid for and he plays on a Vanguard mat that got left behind at a shop. The deck is in a sandwich bag and he never bothered to get a tube for the mat. Side note, Molly is 100% the type of person who has a very nicely proxied Black Lotus in a penny sleeve with a staple through it just to fuck with people.

Caduceus- The Gitrog Monster. This firbolg can play so much Golgari. It's all life, death, the land, pulling things from the graveyard, building from what you sacrifice. Caduceus keeps his cards neatly in nice mint Dragon Shields and a pretty wood and resin box he found on Etsy. He plays on a cloth playmat he found there too.

Kingsley- Zacama, Primal Calamity. Kingsley made a dinosaur deck in Ixalan and was set for life. He also threw a treasure subtheme into his just for giggles. Kingsley picked some anime sleeves for something he'd never heard of before because he thought it was hilarious, and his playmat was swiped from a freebie bag of Playmats Long Lost at a game shop. A habit that goes across souls? Keeping decks in a sandwich bag.

Yasha- Oloro, Ageless Aescetic. It's just a numbers game. Yasha really only plays because her friends do, so she just gains life until she gets bored and starts slamming people with Aetherflux Reservoir. She's got a beautiful mat that is a print of Jester’s flower mural, and she's got awesome lighting bolt sleeves.

Essek- Sen Triplets This man is not here to fuck around. It's just hard control all the way down. He's got a Grand Arbiter Augustin IV in there "because it's synergistic." Listen man. Essek Thelyss is that rude bitch who rolls up with a leather gaming bag, a vermaloc purple heart deck box and a purple leather playmat and custom sleeves and has the nerve to turn his nose up at your UltraPro mat.

#cr meta #Mighty Nein #Oddly specific headcanons #But I do love them #mtg