#yes the white character outline is missing

[annes-andromeda]

Wish Rewrite

I have this tendency for rewriting material I either don’t like or think had wasted potential. At the time of writing this, Wish hasn’t come out in theaters but I did pirate it as there was an early screening. I also read the junior novelization and bought the concept art book. Needless to say, I was disappointed by what I read/saw.

I feel like Wish could’ve been better. Granted, the story and characters are not terrible, but they certainly leave much to be desired. This is literally Disney’s 100th anniversary, yet it doesn’t really feel like it. Not only that, but the movie felt incredibly rushed. Yeah I know that most Disney movies try have a run time of 90-100+ minutes, but I think a few more minutes could’ve been added to this film.

So, I decided to indulge myself and outline some changes that I think could’ve made the story slightly better. These ideas are by no means perfect, and in the end, this is all in good fun.

Spoilers ahead btw

The main story of Wish is essentially that Asha wants to get a job as Magnifico’s apprentice so that her grandfather’s wish is granted. But Asha finds out about the King’s true nature, and after questioning him, doesn’t get the job, and Magnifico vows to never grant Sabino or Sakina’s wishes.

Asha makes a wish on a star, and the star comes down, Magnifico tries to hunt down the two of them, he uses an evil spell book to create a staff, Magnifico destroys some wishes, Asha gets help from her friends, they sing a song to defeat Magnifico (I ‘wish’ i was joking), Star gives Asha a magic wand, and all is well.

Oh, and Amaya is… there.

It’s nothing complex, pretty cut and dry. And I don’t have a problem with a simple story! But this feels like it’s… missing something.

Firstly, I’d change the title. Disney already has a boat called Wish, and not every movie needs to be one word like Tangled, Frozen, and Brave (amongst others), so the story could be renamed “Asha and the Wishing Star” or “Asha and the Kingdom of Wishes”. Idk, something that evokes a classic fairytale book feel (or that does confuse people with a boat).

((Side note #1: I honestly enjoy that the story started off with a book, as a nod to classic disney movies, especially Snow White. That was cute))

Secondly, and I know I sound like a broken record at this point…

AMAYA👏🏼SHOULDVE👏🏼BEEN👏🏼A👏🏼VILLAIN👏🏼ALONGSIDE👏🏼HER👏🏼HUSBAND👏🏼

The original plan, according to the concept art book, was to have Magnifico and Amaya to be a villain couple who were partners in crime and owned a black sphinx cat named Charo. However for… reasons, the creators took the ‘safe’ route and made Amaya the good one out of the two.

But the problem is, by erasing Amaya’s evilness, the creators of Wish essentially removed any purpose or personality she may have had and thus, she was left to become a literal ‘supporting’ character. First supporting both Magnifico and Asha, then leaving Magnifico to prop up solely Asha.

Deadass, you can literally remove Amaya from the story and nothing would change. Which is probably why she was exempt from much of the promotional stuff minus the dolls. Because she literally serves no purpose but to be… there.

So, in my version of Wish, Amaya would be a co-conspirator to her husband and yes, I’m adding Charo too. Her personality would be inspired by classic female villains such as the Evil Queen from Snow White, Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.

Vain, glamorous, cunning, and unabashedly evil, Amaya would be the Morticia to Magnifico’s Gomez, the brains to his brawn. She’s the girlboss, he’s the wife instigator. Magnifico spoils Amaya rotten with countless gifts and praises, whilst Amaya is the more calm and collected evil compared to her husband’s ever-growing temper.

While she starts the story with no magic, Magnifico just can’t leave his wife hanging and shares the power of the evil spell-book with Amaya. And yes, even Charo gets in on the fun, turning from a small house cat, to a massive shape-shifting beast who breaths blue fire similarly to a dragon (shut up i think it’d be cool)

Magnifico and Amaya essentially keep the wishes of Rosas locked in the castle as a form of obedience. By giving the citizens false hope, it makes them more dependent on the royal couple, and the two have more power over everyone.

Anyways, let’s get to the main characters: Asha and Star.

I don’t have much of an issue with Asha’s character, more so her design. I already made a post showing my redesign of her, so that’s out of the way. Tbh tho, I also have an issue with the rest of the costume design of Wish, being a big costume nerd myself. The movie’s supposed to take inspiration from the Mediterranean, primarily places such as Spain and Morocco (and the Amazigh people for Asha), but the fashion feels like generic European medieval fashion.

I feel like the whole storyline of Asha’s interview with Magnifico was pretty pointless, so I would have it that she just starts off as the kings apprentice, whilst also working as Amaya’s scullery maid.

The couple took Asha in when the girl lost her father at the age of 12 (according to the film), and she’s been working for them for five years. Asha works not only to support herself, her family, and her community, but also as a way to distract from the grief of losing her father. Which is no issue, as Amaya always bombards the girl with chores, and Magnifico only teaches Asha the most basic of magic for fear of her growing more powerful than him.

I made Asha work as a scullery maid not only as a reference to princesses such as Snow White and Cinderella starting off their respective stories as maids, but also because scullery maids acted as assistants to the kitchen maids. Dahlia works in the kitchen, Asha and Dahlia are best friends, I figured it made sense.

But anyways, on the day of Sabino’s 100th birthday, Sakina tells Asha to take a break and return home, as she hardly visits anymore due to work. Asha says she’ll try asking the king and queen to get off early, but that she can’t make any promises.

Asha meets with Magnifico and asks for the day off, but the king refuses. However, wanting to keep her loyalty, Magnifico finally shows Asha the wish chamber, and even allows her to witness the wish ceremony that night. But once Asha starts questioning the king on his methods, any goodwill between them begins to fade.

Another thing I’m disappointed in, is that originally Star was going to be a shapeshifting humanoid inspired by the Genie and Peter Pan, and may have even had a romance with Asha. But, the idea was scrapped for the more cutesy, ‘marketable’, version of Star.

In my retelling, I’d choose to do this human shapeshifter version of Star, but I’d name him something else. The star Earendel was mentioned in the concept art book, which is the farthest known star from Earth and not only means ‘morning star’ in Old English, but is also named after the Tolkien character, Eärendil.

I would call this shapeshifter Star Earen, and because Disney loves their animal/cute sidekicks, Earen can have the ‘Kirby’ Star as a companion, just like how Asha has Valentino and Magnifico and Amaya have Charo.

((Side #2: Anybody else notice that Star lowkey looks and sounds like Kirby😶))

Earen and Star journey down to Rosas once they hear Asha’s pleas for guidance. Once Asha tells of Magnifico and Amaya’s lies, Earen reveals that he actually met Magnifico decades ago. The amount of years shocks Asha, as she realizes that the King and Queen might be far older than what they are.

((Side note #3: I didn’t realize this till someone mentioned it, but if Sabino is 100 and he gave Magnifico his wish at 18, then he’s been waiting 82 years for his wish to be granted. Which means it’s likely that Magnifico might be immortal. That, or Disney didn’t think this shit through (most likely)))

Anyways, Earen actually attempted to stop Magnifico and Amaya’s ploy to keep the wishes of Rosas locked away, but he was sealed within the heavens until he and Star heard Asha make her wish.

We can have it that the king and queen spun the story so that Earen was made out to be an evil that once threatened Rosas, but Magnifico banished him and saved everyone, essentially making himself out to be the good guy and manipulating the narrative.

Asha and Earen must now work together to expose the lies of the royal couple, and along the way, the two begin to fall in love. Earen disguises himself as a peasant boy so as to remain inconspicuous, while Asha tries to go about her job as if nothing happened, evading the King and Queen’s suspicions.

Star gives Asha a stick infused with stardust once finding out she is, quite literally, the sorcerers apprentice. It is also so that she may defend herself, as Earen has his powers and a sword (similarly to Peter Pan).

Unlike Magnifico, Earen and Star teach Asha the wonders of magic and the potential she wields, showing that there is no need for her to hold back when her gift can help so many, including those she loves.

The three manage to sneak into the kings study, but only have time to retrieve Sabino’s wish and return it to him. However, Magnifico and Amaya, now strengthened by the powers of dark magic, find Asha and Earen and threaten to destroy all the wishes should Earen not surrender to them.

And as a way to ensure that Asha doesn’t foil their plans, Magnifico destroys both Asha and Sakina’s wishes, despite Asha not being eighteen yet. However, the evil magic allows him to do so. This act weakens the two women, and infuriates Earen.

Earen then willingly complies despite Asha’s opposition, and Sabino takes Asha and Sabina to the seven (well six) teens for aid, who are in hiding after Simon ratted them out and who now serves as a puppet to the king and queen.

Despite loosing her wish, Asha finds the strength to carry on through the memory of her late father, enlisting the help of her friends and Star, who managed to evade the royal couple’s grasp. The team must work together to save Earen, whose power will be drained by Magnifico and Amaya. And if such a feat were to happen, then Earen would die and Rosas would be lost.

The five teens go into the woods to distract one of the royals, with the aid of the forest fauna and Star. Amaya chases the group alongside Charo while Magnifico tortures Earen and begins stealing his power. With the help of Dahlia, Asha sneaks into the castle to confront her former mentor and save Earen before it’s too late.

At first, it seems that the heroes have the upper hand with Magnifico neutralized, but then, Amaya swoops in riding Charo, who now takes the form of a giant dragon. Earen transforms into a dragon himself and battles Charo and Amaya, while Asha continues battling Magnifico. Star even comes to help after the original plan fails.

However, the unholy trio have the upper hand, and Amaya strikes down Earen, giving Magnifico enough time to not only drain Earen’s power, but to trap Star within his staff. With their combined powers, Magnifico and Amaya gather all of the peoples wishes, even stealing the wishes of those not yet of age, which includes the teens.

With all the wishes gathered, the couple and their pet destroy all the wishes, taking their energy for themselves.

Asha falls into despair as she watched her friends, love ones, and community succumb to the grief of loosing their wishes. The king and queen force Asha to apologize to the people, mocking her and making her feel even more guilty.

However, Earen comforts Asha despite his weak state, telling her it’s alright and that she shouldn’t be ashamed of wishing on Star, as he brought the two of them together. The two kiss, the strength of their newfound love and hope shining through the darkness and inspiring the people of Rosas to rise up.

As the sky and stars become alive, Magnifico’s staff is destroyed, releasing Star in the process. All the evil magic he, Amaya, and Charo used is sucked out of them and vanquished, and Earen is restored to full vitality.

Think of this as the transformation scene from Princess and the Frog. Asha and Earen get new outfits, with Asha even gaining a crown and a new wand from Star.

((Side Note #4: The “transformation” in the finale of the film is so stupid. Asha could’ve literally gotten a new dress once she becomes a fairy godmother, but instead, Star just made her sparkly. How magical🙄))

Rosas rejoices, as they realize they don’t need the king to make their wishes come true, and they can pursue them themselves. With Magnífico and Amaya banished from Rosas, Asha and Earen become the new rulers, being names Prince and Princess respectively.

And that’s basically how I would’ve done Wish. It’s not perfect, but it’s just an idea. I’m just disappointed that Disney do something better for their 100th anniversary.

#disney #my writing #disney wish #wish 2023 #king magnifico #queen amaya #magnifico x amaya #princess asha #asha wish #star wish

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Detour 6

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Thor

Summary: You find yourself stranded in a small village.

Part of the Backwoods AU

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

You refuse to spend your vacation pent up, especially in this place. You put on your most walkable shoes, felt boots with a low heel, and clothes suitable for walking. Cigarette pants and a sleeveless turtleneck. You grab your purse and call down to the front desk to request a taxi.

As you come down to the lobby, you see the preparations for the ridiculous event in full tilt. Ugh. This place is backwards. How can a grown man plan a part akin to that of one half his age. If you were to guess, that cretin is like pushing forty, and that’s being generous.

You roll your eyes and strut down the steps. You tap your heel at the bottom as you wait, hip pushed out with one leg at an angle. Finally, a minivan rolls up and the driver reaches over to the crank down the window.

“You call for a cab?” The man asks.

“Yes, sir,” you hesitate, thinking he might have the decency to open the door for you. When he remains as he is, you do it yourself, sliding open the back and climbing inside. 

“Where are we going, miss?” He prompts as you roll the door shut.

“Hm, I saw in the hotel itinerary there is a bakery in town. They have coffee?”

“Sure do, all those fancy foams and flavours,” he chirps as he shifts into gear, “didn’t know anyone was visiting town.”

“A brief detour,” you assure him and turn your gaze out the window.

“Ah, well, you can call me Paulie. I’m the only taxi in the village.”

You don’t offer your name in return. You aren’t paying for conversation. He’s a driver, not a therapist. You sit in the buzz of the radio, the outdated tunes static as the signal wanes and waxes.

“Just up here,” he announces as he comes to flat ground, steering between the only dense line of buildings, “one with the red sign.”

“Sir,” you pull out a bill and adequate tip for his trouble.

“You have a good one, ma’am. If ya need a ride back, you just call,” he calls after you.

You step out and shove the door closed, quickly marching onto the pavement. You peer up at the bakery, eyeing the facade. It isn’t as nice as your preferred cafe but there are no alternatives. How can people live like this? Is variety not the spice of life?

You’re aware of the looks you get from the village elders on the street. You ignore their sideways glances and enter the bakery. You approach the counter as you browse the menu, chin set. You are dying for a latte.

“Hello, I’d like an oat latte, half pump of vanilla, a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, and a touch of honey,” you outline your typical order.

“Uh, okay, that was a latte–”

“Oat latte,” you correct, “latte with oat milk…” the girl behind the counter squints and keys in the order, “with cinnamon–”

“Half a teaspoon, don’t cake it on,” you demand.

“Um, alright,” she stops and rips off a piece of blank receipt paper, making a note on it.

“With honey,” you enunciate clearly.

“Honey,” she mumbles as she writes, “anything else, ma’am?”

You sniff and lean back on your heel, looking up and down the display case, “are any of these vegan?”

“Sorry, I don’t think so.”

“Gluten free?” 

“No, I don’t–”

“I might do with the raspberry white chocolate scone,” you step back up to the counter.

“Sure,” she taps the buttons and reads out your total. You pay with your card and cross your arms as you strut to wait at the other end of the counter.

You look around dully. There’s a man sitting by the window. He has frosting on his fingertips as he picks at a cinnamon bun. He gives a goofy grin and wipes his hand on a napkin, several others sticking to him as he tries to tidy himself up. You shake your head and return your attention to the counter.

Your scone is served first on a small plate. It takes some time for the latte. You taste it and suck your teeth. You look at the employee as she watches you nervously. Even if you tell her she added too much cinnamon, you doubt she’ll get it right on a second try. Like everything around here, you’ll settle for it.

You take your order and sit in the corner. You slide out your phone. No bars. This wretched place threatens to bore you to tears. 

A chair scrapes and a throat clears. You narrow your eyes in the messy man’s direction as he approaches you. He’s tall with sandy brownish blond hair and a trim of overgrown stubble along his jaw and cheeks. He wears plaid under a tan vest with too many pockets. Backwoods chic, how gauche.

“Uh, hey, you new in town?”

“Passing through,” you utter tersely.

“Really? You staying up at the B&B? Odinsons are good people.” He nervously plays with the zipper on his vest, “I’m Cole–”

“I don’t want to know your name. The moment I’m free of this place, I hope to forget everything about it,” you spit.

He blanches, “uh, sorry, miss–”

“You will be if you keep bothering me.”

“I was just being friendly,” he begins.

“Let me tell you something, I run circles around friendly men like you. In fact, men like you, beg me to step on them,” you sneer hotly. “And trust me, you can’t handle me, so go on and finish your snack, little boy.”

He stutters and looks around. He nods and backs off, a dumb look on his face. He turns and walks stiffly back to his table. He stares ahead and slowly drops his head into his hands. You scoff.

Does every man in this forsaken place store their brains below their belt? You pick at the scone as your eyes drift over to the barista. She watches the man with a worried look then glances at you and winces, quickly hiding behind the display case.

You turn and peer out the window. This must be purgatory. It is possible you crashed your car and now must wait out your eternity in this hellscape.

#thor #dark thor #dark!thor #thor x reader #character cameo #au #backwoods au #drabble #series #the detour #avengers #marvel #mcu

[binniebakery]

Thornless Rose (2/3)

♡ Prince!Yeonjun x Princess!Fem!Reader, strangers (one sided enemies??) to lovers, fluff (slightly suggestive at some points teehee)

♡ Summary: marrying oranada's "evil" prince was not on your bingo card for the year but hey we thug it out (im not good at summaries) ♡ Warnings: arranged marriage, mentions of minor character deaths, mentions of attempted assassination (i swear the fic is just a lil bit of angst, pure fluff), yeonjun is also the cutest thing alive, yeonjun is a tease

♡ A/N: i know im late for today as its already valentines for me but i literally spent all day being busy!! i promise i will upload the final part later <3 once again ty for reading and enjoy! lmk if theres anything i should change/work on! ♡ Read: 1/3 here! 3/3 here! ♡

You couldn’t quite wrap your head around the situation, the entire trip to Oranada felt like an eternity. Your chest felt heavy with anxiety as you rested your head on your lady-in-waiting’s shoulder. Yuri currently was preoccupied with knitting herself a shawl, humming a soft tune that was so warm and inviting in contrast to the harsh cold winter outside. Your body was immensely tense and soon enough you were lulled to sleep. You were in a slightly foggy garden. Hundreds of white roses surrounded you and the soft scent of moist greenery filled your senses. It was the most beautiful garden you had ever seen. It’s bushes shaped to perfection, hedges surrounding you in an ethereal maze. Despite the peaceful atmosphere, sounds of thunder could be heard in the distance.

You looked up from your reflection in the water to see the world around you develop a greyish hue. Despite the oncoming storm and the smell of rain, you felt no fear. If anything you felt a strange peace, you didn’t want to leave this place, even with the incoming weather.A taller figure walks before you. You couldn’t make out the figure’s face, with features blurred out in the fog. You couldn’t even see the color of their hair. Your eyes squinted in an attempt to see clearer but the fog grew thicker and the storm grew closer. You stared at the figure with confidence. You weren’t afraid.

A soft melody begins to play in the distance, a romantic, soft tune. The figure in front of you stops about a foot in front of you and offers their hand, reluctantly, you reach out. “M’lady, are you awake?”

The sound of a sweet voice had awoken you from your slumber. “Miss y/n, we’re here.” Yuri’s soft voice softly echoed in your ears as you slowly opened your eyes. “Pardon me, I seemed to have slept longer than anticipated.” You smile sheepishly, your senses awakening as you stretch out your arms. “Don’t apologize, you hadn’t slept a wink the night prior so I didn't want to wake you so soon unless it was necessary” she spoke softly as her fingers ran through your slightly messy hair. You closed your eyes and for once let out a genuine smile at the gesture. Yuri always knew how to keep you relaxed. “They’re waiting for you, the king and queen are currently in an audience but for now we shall have you taken to where you will be staying and have you get properly arranged for breakfast with the prince”. Right, your fiance, the man that you would be soon spending the rest of your life with. You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed. “Yes, of course, let us get going then shall we?” You mustered the brightest smile you could but even a stranger could tell that it was with full irritation. As your father’s assistant spoke with the royal guards in plans and details for the week, one had approached you and Yuri and offered to carry your luggage as he showed you to your guest rooms. The prominent tenseness you radiated could be felt by everyone near despite the warm smile you wore. “This way, your majesty” the guard bowed and the three of you took off. The castle was beautiful. It was large and held a very monotone color scheme. Soft greys and blues decorated the exterior as pine trees outlined the entire area. It matched perfectly with the winter atmosphere. Your heart once again felt the intense anxiety that you shoved away, just as sharp as the cold wind that stung your soft skin.

Yuri’s room was right next to yours for convenience, which was a wonderful surprise to you. You thanked the guard and as he spoke with Yuri in the hallway outside your room, you began to unpack. Your room was magnificent, with intricate paintings on each wall, and the wallpaper a beautiful cream color with black detailing. Two large windows showcased the beautiful winter cold outside with the grey laced curtains drawn. You couldn’t get your mind off of that dream you had. Normally, you had odd dreams all the time but this one felt so different. You could barely remember what you had dreamt about. A few light knocks on your door shook you from your thoughts as Yuri asked to come in. She had already been freshened up and dressed and had offered to help you herself which you accepted with a wide smile. Once you had properly showered and changed, your lady-in-waiting began to pamper and attend to your locks. “You have to make a good impression y/n. I trust that you’ll be as sweet and as lovely as you normally are but despite how the prince acts please try to keep proper composure and patience”. You sighed as you longingly gazed out the window, watching the clouds above the castle’s garden. “Yes, of course, I’ve come to terms with my fate. Can we please head to breakfast now so that I may meet my lovely betrothed?” You responded sarcastically. Yuri nodded and held a small mirror to your face. “You look so beautiful, just like your mother” she sighed as you stood from your seat. As Yuri walked over to your bedroom’s door you took a double take out the window. In the garden, a tall figure stood, back facing the castle. A young man with black hair could be seen crouching down, admiring the flora. Could that be the prince? You pondered as you approached the doors. Almost as quickly as he appeared, the young man disappeared. Shrugging it off you let Yuri guide you down the hall to breakfast. The dining room was large and like every other part of the castle, intricately decorated with the utmost depressing colors. It was a huge contrast to your home, with its main colors involving deep reds and oak browns. As you sat, you noted three other chairs on the other side of the long dining table. At least we won't be sitting so closely, you sighed to yourself. After what minutes that felt like hours, voices could now be heard approaching from the hallway, your heartbeat couldn’t be any louder with fear. You sat straighter, hands properly placed on your lap, chin held up with a smile. You had to make a good impression no matter what.

“Good morning, Princess y/n”. A velvety woman’s voice spoke to you as the doors swung open. To say the queen was a beautiful lady would be an understatement. She presented herself in a way you could only imagine to be, adorned in all black, lipstick a deep cherry red almost even looking like blood. Despite the intense vibe she gave off that sent chills down your spine, her face was soft and kind. “G- good morning, your majesties, it’s a pleasure to meet you”! You stood from your chair and bowed, mentally slapping yourself for stuttering. “The pleasure is all ours, your father has spoken very highly of you.” The king smiled, he too was dressed in all black, with navy embellishments to his uniform. His black hair was slicked back but you could easily see the slight grey hairs forming from his old age. “This is our son, Yeonjun. He is our only son and the one you have been selected to be betrothed to”. The king motioned as he stepped aside for you to see the same young man you saw in the garden earlier. Your mouth could have dropped the moment you saw him. It took everything within your power to not blush as for the first time, you felt the gaze of a male your age. He was alluring. His lips were the softest pink, plush and beautiful. His hair split in a way that his forehead was shown, said soft black hair highlighting his cheekbones. His uniform was almost identical to his father's, the only exception being he had very few medallions compared to the king. He was a sight to see and for a minute you forgot that this was a man that people rumored to be a future tyrant. “It’s a pleasure to meet you m’lady” Yeonjun spoke as he approached you slowly hand reaching out for yours. You nodded and offered your hand. Softly and as gentle as he could,, Yeonjun pulled your small hand to his lips and pressed them against it. “Y- yes of course. I- ah yes thank you I’m forever grateful” you stumbled out. Since when did you have such trouble speaking to other royals? You wanted to just run away and slam your head into the wall, head back to your kingdom, and pretend none of this ever happened. As much as you wanted to avoid his gaze, you didn’t want to be rude. Nonetheless, you couldn’t get yourself to look away. He had such an interesting aura that made you want to know more. What made things worse is that Yeonjun had the softest smile and the most beautiful eyes you’ve ever seen. This was not the prince that everyone spoke ill of, this had to be a different person. He had the intensity of his mother yet the way he spoke to you, even the way he held your hand, made you feel like he was nothing more than a delicate flower. A rose without thorns. “Shall we eat? I have something lovely prepared for us this morning” the queen interrupted, noticing the tension between you and Yeonjun. Ever so gratefully, you nodded as Yeonjun quickly pulled your chair further out for you to sit, causing you to once again feel your face warm up. Maybe the dress you were wearing had too many layers. Surely that had to be it. Breakfast went by quickly, Yeonjun didn’t speak a word as he simply watched you in silence. The king and queen were easy to converse with as they led the conversations. As breakfast came to an end both the king and queen excused themselves as they had matters to attend to, leaving you and Yeonjun alone for the rest of the day. “I’d like to take you for a walk if you’d allow me miss y/n” Yeonjun smiled as he offered his arm to you. This is it, he’s going to take you to a nearby forest and murder you, disposing you of your body. You mentally prepared for the worst as you took his arm, allowing Yeonjun to guide you to wherever location he had in mind. Though you had to admit, he was charming and this persona he was showing you definitely could have you fooled.

To your surprise, Yeonjun had taken you to the castle’s garden. Your eyes widened as you felt a wave of deja vu hit you. This garden reminded you of the one you saw in your dream. It was just as beautiful, white roses were everywhere the eye could catch, there was a fountain in the middle and a marble gazebo sitting not too far off. “This truly is beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like this” you whispered to yourself. “You’re beautiful as well” Yeonjun stated bluntly with a smile.

You turned to him, eyes wide and face turning a soft pink. “I- I beg your pardon? Could you repeat that?” Yeonjun blurted out a laugh in response to your flustered face. “I said you’re beautiful as well. I’m sure you heard me the first time miss y/n”. Why was he being so kind to you? You didn’t appreciate this fake personality he was giving you. Where was the rudeness? The snarky remarks? The selfish persona? Was this really the prince that everyone spoke so lowly of?

“Well.. thank you.. I suppose..ah..” you began, looking away as Yeonjun tilted his head awaiting your full response. “You suppose?” he quirked an eyebrow. “I suppose.. You’re also someone I find beautiful. You- you’re very handsome.” You mumbled, unable to still meet his eyes. Yeonjun chuckled and reached for your chin, pulling it upwards for you to look at him properly. “Why thank you, I know.” You would’ve blushed at the sudden contact but it then hit you.I know? You thought. What an odd response to a compliment. It was slightly… conceited? You blinked in confusion but then reminded yourself that you were speaking to the prince of Oranada. Right. You almost let yourself get fooled into thinking this was a dreamy prince from one of the fairy tales you read as a child. This is no man of your dreams.

Frowning as you pulled away, you huffed and looked towards the gazebo on the other side of the garden. “I should have known you were as narcissistic as they say” you spat, then instantly covering your mouth in shock. You hadn’t realized that you were thinking out loud. You looked over to Yeonjun in fear. Was he going to punish you? Was he going to call off the engagement? Was he upset? Yeonjun blinked and gave you a blank look as if he were still processing what you had just said. “You.. think I'm a narcissist?” he pointed to himself, his eyes growing large like a child getting accused of lying. Guilt began to slowly wash over you. Sure he could’ve been a jerk but what if he was just confident? Did you really have to say that to him? “I- I’m sorry! Please don’t be mad, I just- look! I may already have my thoughts about you based on what I’ve heard. I apologize for what I said but I’m scared okay? The world says the man I just met is crazy and a horrible person! Nobody knew you existed until a decade ago!” You exclaimed as you felt tears welt in your eyes. “I don’t know what you’re really like as a person! How can you expect me to not assume the worst..” you looked at the sky in an attempt to stop your tears from completely falling, the clouds were slowly rolling in. Yeonjun sighed and softly reached for your hand. You looked at him as he let out a weak smile. “Let’s sit over there, I want to show you something.” Not knowing what to say or do, you let him guide you to the gazebo and you both sat down. Your eyes searched around the garden in fear. Was he going to yell at you? “My parents knew the dangers of having me. When my mother was pregnant, rumors about the war were starting and they knew that if anyone found out about me, I would have a target on my head.” Yeonjun spoke softly as he looked down at his fidgeting hands. The personality he was showing you now was different from the confident and flirty one he was portraying earlier.

“My people sort of knew I existed, but no one was allowed to speak of my presence. When the war finally reached our kingdom, my parents had their hands tied, I studied a lot and begged them to allow me to help them. So I was presented to the world, and hardly even a day after an assassination attempt was made on my family and I.” Yeonjun’s voice was stern and quiet, you looked at him and could see he was still fidgeting in his chair. You reached over to place your hand over his and nodded for him to continue. “It was my first day on duty, luckily, I was able to apprehend the traitor myself. It was a spy who had been living amongst the people for a while, waiting for the perfect time to strike. My parents were right, he had caught wind of the king and queen having a son and tried to kill me himself.” Yeonjun sighed shakily and you held his hand tighter.

“I was angry, irrational even, before I could even discuss proper punishment with my parents, I simply sentenced the man to death.” Your eyes widened. Was Yeonjun telling the truth? This whole time everyone assumed the young prince had simply let the power go to his head, but he was just a young boy. “My parents found out after it all happened. After a long discussion, we immediately put the entire kingdom on lockdown. For our safety and most importantly the safety of our citizens. We chose not to explain the situation to anyone for fear that we would just invite more danger in our borders. Since then, we haven’t given much thought to the opinions of others.” He bit his lip and looked into your eyes, searching for understanding.

“Yeonjun.. If I may call you that-” He nodded. “I.. I apologize, sincerely. I realize my actions and words were harsh. If you really are telling the truth-  which I assume you are-  I just want to say that despite all those rumors, I want to get to know you more. If you’re willing to accept my apology.. I hope you’re willing to start over with me. Allow me to know you for who you really are, not the person that everyone else talks about.” You held his hands to your chest as you spoke, heart beating so intensely that he could feel it. He swallowed and nodded, releasing a weak smile. “Y/n.. although this marriage is already set in stone, I’m simply enamored by the thought of getting to court you.” As Yeonjun looked down at the stone floor beneath him, you could see that through his black strands his face was pure red. “Of course, I’m more than willing to offer you that chance Prince Yeonjun” you replied, and for the first time in a while, you genuinely smiled. Once you both returned inside, Yeonjun excused himself as he had matters to attend to. Thus, for the rest of the day, you were left with paperwork and your own duties as a princess. Just because you were away from home doesn’t mean you didn’t have work to do. So there you were in your room, Yuri currently organizing your clothes and you writing away at your desk. “So, you’re going to allow him to court you then? Willingly?” Yuri looked at you with hopeful eyes. “Yes! And although he won’t be making it to dinner tonight as he has to go into town, he promised he would meet me tonight in the garden” you smiled dreamily as you stretched out your arms. “Well, I’m glad everything turned out at least alright and he’s not insane.” Yuri chuckled as she placed the last pair of socks away. You placed your hands on your cheeks smiling. This was your first date with Yeonjun and you couldn’t be anymore pleased. You found yourself daydreaming of what could happen. Things finally seemed to be looking up for you, and Yeonjun was starting to seem more like the proper storybook prince you had always read about in your childhood story books.

#txt scenarios #txt imagines #txt fluff #txt x reader #yeonjun x reader #yeonjun fluff #BakeryTreat♡

[skz-streamer]

Forever Young

Simptober Romance Tropes M-list

Pairing: Felix (skz) x fem!reader

Genre: Fluff

Notes: did I use a Blackpink song? Yes.

-please read responsibly, and remember that this work is fiction and meant strictly for imaginative fun. the idols used in fics are more accurately face claims and personality outlines for imaginary characters, and should not be interpreted as factual representations of existing people

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had known each other through a mutual friend

you met together at a cafe w some other friends

you and your friend were planning to go on a camping trip but you needed at least 6 people for the trip

your friend said she had some other people she could rope in so you said yes

so you were sitting in a cafe with your friend waiting for the newcomers to arrive

one girl and and three boys walk in together in a group

your friend waves to them and you smile shyly

they all turn out to be really nice, especially one guy. Felix

as you plan the trip you set the date for next week

As the week approached you had previously swapped some phone numbers with the new people that came

while you texted some of them you mostly texted Felix

in fact he was the one to text you first

you ended up texting him day and night, it was like the two of you had an instant click

and just over a weeks time you two had gotten insanely close

by the time the trip came a round the two of you spent literally every-moment together

it was like you had immediately spotted your missing piece

almost like a soulmate...

it felt weird to catch feelings so quick but in a months time you were head over heels for him

and he was too

From the moment Felix saw you he thought you were cute

that's why he eagerly asked you for your number and texted you literally the same day he had gotten it

he had hoped to get close to you in a quick matter of time, gosh you were just so pretty to him

after the trip it was like he was such a heartthrob for you

there literally wasn't a moment in his day when he didn't think about you

texting calling, holding, kissing, cuddling

he just wanted you

he hoped you wanted him back

About 2 ish weeks after the camping trip you got a text from Felix asking if you wanted to meet up somewhere for lunch

was he asking you out? no way,,,,right?

You decided to meet at a small restaurant

you decided to dress nice, I mean why not right?

it wasn't like he was gonna ask you out or anything.....

you sprayed you favorite perfume before running out of the door and rushing to your car

you reached the restaurant a little late but gladly there was a small wait time

you spotted Felix sitting outside

he looked good

he was wearing pale beige cargo pants and a lightblue hoodie with the words Seaside on it

cute you thought

somehow your white sundress seemed to match his outfit perfectly

you sat down next to him and made some small talk

when the waiter came to lead you to the table you linked you arms in Felix's to get up

he hugged you into him

once you sat at the table Felix immediately broke the silence

I like you.

you were bit shocked but flustered at his words

you held you hand out form on top of the table

me too... you said trailing off your words

you felt like a kid who was just told they could get any toy they wanted

so is this our first date? he asked

you giggled and you giggle turned into a laugh as the two of you burst. out laughing from the awkward tension

the waiter walked up to your table, asking what you would like to drink

you cleared your throat and smiled

I'll just have a water, and my boyfriend,... uhh

what do you want lixie?

he smiled back at you, a blush creeping up on his cheeks

uhh yea, a water works for me too he said back

lixe? he asked you

yea, thought it was cute, you said pouting a little

he smiled and grabbed your hand from under the table

I know its too early, heck its kinda weird to say,,, but I love you.

you squeezed his hand back you knew you loved him, something inside you just clicked with him

I love you too lixie, I knew it from the moment I saw you

and with that he lifted you hand from under the table and gave it a light kiss

@anny-bah@eee5533@mixtape-racha@weedforthoughtz@ren0325@felixvsp@hwangrimi @sanriiolino @painstakingly-juno@herarcadewasteland@dabiscrustyfeet@kai-jilee@sungiesoonie@slvtty4channiee@revelaffee@buckys-pillow, @staygirl86 @chlodavids@jinnie-ret@bbygrlhannie@rebecca-johnson-28 @turtledove824@interstellarairwaves@yearofthetiger25@minhos4thkitty@fiqire@kpopmenace143@liknws@tinyelfperson@aaasia111@yangbbokari@hafsah-ali@sleepyleeji@skzhoes@yamaguchiwestad@leonswifesstuff@nappynapnaps

#felix x reader #felix fanfic #felix fic #skz felix x reader #felix x you #felix x y/n #skz felix fluff #felix skz #stray kids Felix #stray kids yongbok #lee yongbok #skz yongbok #felix yongbok #skz felix #lee felix #yongbok fluff #yongbok x reader

[head-of-sea-foam-the-system]

In-System Relationships

Sorry this took so long. We’ve been really excited about this one. Next comic will be about signs that were missed. Bonus points if you can guess the sources of any of our fictives (I think one is pretty obvious if you know the source).

Unrelated to DID: My Very Good Friend @petticoatedmouse made a Discord server for people who like sewing. No particular level of experience required.

Here is the link:

[Image description:

Note: Their identities are listed because they are holding their flags in the comic.

First image, panel 1: A grey background with two people, Jenny (she/her), a fictive, who is demisexual and pansexual, and Omara (ze/zir), who isn’t an introject, but based parts of their appearance on a video game character. Omara is sapphic and has an unlabeled gender. The caption reads “In-system relationships… …quite a complex phenomenon.”

Panel 2: A pink background with the outline of a red heart and the captions, “So complex, in fact, that we can even feel the attraction on the outside. But only if the alter experiencing attraction is fronting or co-conscious.”

Panel 3: A grey background showing Worlds (she/they), a lesbian introject (who is also a vampire), and Kelly (she/her), a bisexual factive, holding hands. The caption says, “Sometimes, there are very much like out-of-system relationships.”

Panel 4: Worlds, whose bat wings are now visible, is flying through space with Kelly on their back. The captions are in white boxes and they read, “Other times, not so much” and “Yeah, I don’t think singlets typically fly through space (our innerworld is in space) on their partner’s back.”

Second image, panel 1: A sea foam green background with the words, “Of course, not every headmate wants this. We just have a lot of in-system relationships.”

Panel 2: A stage with a keyboard, microphone, and part of a drum set visible with a grey background is shown. Two alters are standing on it, Bay (she/her), a fictive who is ambiamorous and omnisexual, is standing by the piano looking at Sodium, and Sodium (she/her), an ambiamorous lesbian, is standing by the mic looking at Bay. The caption says: “They can be just as complex as out of system relationships… (yes, we have a stage in headspace where we perform whatever we’re listening to IRL).”

Panel 3: Captions say, “…and just as full of love.” and “While we have several polyamorous and ambiamorous headmatss, we don’t have any throuples or other with more than two partners. Systems that do have these are absolutely valid though.” Sodium is shown sitting on a grey bench on a grey background with another factive, Radium (she/her), who is demiromantic, demisexual, and trixensexual.

Panel 4: A sea foam green background with the caption, “They are very important in our system. When partners spend time together, it improves our overall mental health.”

Third image, panel 1: A sea foam green background with the caption, “This gets more complicated with introjects. Sodium and Radium are factives from the same source, but they aren’t dating IRL, which is a bit awkward. And yes, it’s valid to have factives who are dating IRL. We just don’t have any.”

Panel 2: Caption: “With fictives, it’s a little different. You may be fan favorites or even canon. Or you may be an unpopular ship or not canon (valid as long as there are no problematic elements) (no, they’re not getting married, this is how they dress in source).” It shows Jules (he/they), a bi demiboy, and Alicia (she/they), a pan girl (both fictives) on a grey background, looking at each other.

Panel 3: Caption: “And yes, it’s also valid to have fictives who aren’t dating their source-partner. Whether that’s because you don’t have an introject of them…” Cristina (she/they), who is pan, is shown on a grey background, saying, “If we had an introject of him, and he asked me out, I’d say yes.”

Panel 4: Caption: “…or because they’re simply not attracted to them (although in this case, we don’t have an introject of him either- thank goodness).” Eugenia (she/any), who is pan, and Mercedes (she/they/he), who is non-binary and straight (we chose to include that because they aren’t cis), are shown on a gray background saying, “Ewwwwww!”

Fourth image, panel 1: A sea foam green background with the caption: “Of course, in-system relationships aren’t for everyone.”

Panel 2: Rhombus (they/them), who is gendervoid, agender, and aroace, is shown on a grey background, with a caption and arrow next to them that reads, “Not interested in any kind of relationship.”

Panel 3: Three alters, Inflexible (they/them) (introject), who is lesbian, oriented aroace, and bellusaroace, Grey (they/he) (introject), who is non-binary and aroace, and Jayde (they/them), who is oriented aroace, pomosexual, and liagender, are shown on a grey background. Caption: “All three are interested in QPRs, and all three have experienced tertiary attraction towards people in the outerworld, but they are not interested in each other.”

Panel 4: A sea foam green background with the caption, “Especially when what you want is on the outside.”

Panel 5: The hosts, Ao (ey/eir) and Ruby (she/her) (captions say to check our first comic for their labels because there are a lot of them)!are shown on a grey background. The caption next to Ao has an arrow and says, “Has feelings for a singlet.” The caption next to Ruby has an arrow and says, “Has feelings for a different singlet.”

End image description]

#did/osdd #traumagenic system #did #did comics #did/osdd comics #sewing #in system relationship #in-system relationship

[dailycass-cain]

The Lost Tales of Cassandra Cain

With every comic book character there are stories that aren’t approved or slipped thru the cracks of being published. Here are the ones that involve Cass.

The Lost Batgirl Vol. 1 Story

- We’ll start with the most “finished” lost tale involving Cassandra Cain is one that was meant to be in her ongoing (probably #38 given the context of the story). has several official pages finished and inked. Not only that but the script was published online (it was written by Paul Storrie).

Here’s what we know the plot involves Charaxes (the post-Crisis Killer Moth  Drury Walker who went by this particular name after the “Underworld Unleashed” event when he sold his soul to become a moth creature), him targeting a child who’s deaf, and is Cass’s only confrontation with Killer Moth (until Batgirls #9-12. I mean we sort of got that in Tec Knights, but Basil crashed Killer Moth’s plan in that, not Cass. Plus she wasn’t Batgirl then).  

Not only does the story delve into the history between Batgirl/Killer Moth it also tackles Cass learning ASL. An angle not touched upon until Young Justice Targets #3 recently. 

Several pages of the script by Storrie were drawn by artist Javier Saltares (Ghost Rider, G.I. Joe) and inked by Rob Leigh. It’s unknown how much of trhe story Saitares/Leigh drew and inked. What is known, is that in the early 2010s Saitares put a bunch of these pages up on eBay for auction. I personally bought a page but here are the ones I could find as well:

You’ve probably seen this story elsewhere too, because in 2010 artist Lynne Yoshii used the script and redrew the whole story.  Lynn did an amazing job basically filling the portions that were missing: Here are a few:

The Missing Filler Detective Comics Issue

- Our next “lost” tale takes place probably around early 2009 and was meant to be a filler issue in Paul Dini’s Detective Comics run.  This one was written by Chuck Dixon and would’ve tied into his Batman & the Outsiders run at the time. Not much is fully known of the story save it was announced by Dixon on the Word Balloon podcast (from December 2008). 

For Cassandra, it would bridge the gap to Batman & the Outsiders Vol. 2 #2 of that series and her last prior appearance, Robin #162. Explaining Bruce's renewed trust in Cassandra, after you know-- the heel turn, getting injected with Slade juice, and--  a rather bad time for Cassandra Cain. 🙃🙃 🙃🙃

Six months later though, Dixon would leave Robin and Batman & the Outsiders. Now, this is where it relates to Tim/Stephanie. Robin #177 of Robin would have originally dealt with Cluemaster finding out she was alive (a lost tale in itself). This however, got a cover (and there’s probably art of that floating too if this much got thru) by then series artist Freddie Williams II:

Of course, you know the rest of the story. We instead got Batgirl Vol. 2 aka Batgirl: Redemption Road and Cassandra was given a set-up arc in B&O to establish "the Network" which would later become Batman Inc. Then get utterly forgotten when the series relaunched to just "the Outsiders".

It’s possible Dixon does have an outline to this saved. But given how crazy he’s become. I’m not one to ask him, but if anyone is brave. Be my guest.

The meeting we wanted but never got. - Robin #-183

- However this leads us into our next “lost tale” that would’ve been in Robin ongoing series. The writer who replaced Dixon, Fabian Nicieza, confirmed that had Robin lasted beyond #175-183 (the series’ final issue), he would’ve had Cass guest star and find out Stephanie Brown was alive. 

But.. the series ended at #183 and Tim would become Red Robin. Cass would meet Stephanie, but it was extremely MEH reunion in Batman & the Outsiders Vol. 2 #13.

Now, if you want to see a fan version of this. Well, I wrote a script that artist Eileen Widjaja captured to perfection just this year:

Failed Pitches

White Canary series by Billy Tucci. 

- Yes, there was an ongoing series by Tucci that would’ve starred Cass. For those who are unware of the identity. The White Canary was introduced at the main antagonist of the first arc of “Brightest Day” Gail Simone’s relaunched Birds of Prey #1:

After the arc ended rumors began to swirl that Cassandra Cain would be getting the identity and enter Tucci writing a spinoff series as well (covered by Bleeding Cool). 

Cue Heroes Con 2010 and at a DC panel the question was asked with Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler and Billy Tucci himself attending the panel (sadly the Newsarama link I originally found is down but if someone can find it I’d be grateful). Here’s a clip of the quote though:

"They are also holding off on using Cassandra right now. Misfit will be seen later down the line. An audience member wanted to see more Cassandra, but Sattler insisted that they didn't want to rush her into the story and just want to time it right.”

Cue C2E2 2011 a year later. The prelude to Black Bat as it were. Tucci was a guest and I had to ask the question myself. He did confirm there was a series pitched.

He'd keep Cass basic, using her skills as a fighter and no real tech at all save the standard grapple gun, which is standard in all vigilante equipment. Why would she need gadgets? When SHE IS THE WEAPON.

And if you don’t believe me, here’s the commission I got from him at said convention of Cass:

So, accidentally given how many have asked him to draw Barbara, Tucci had screwed up the pose (hence why Cass is on her tip-toes as he was drawing Babs in the high-heels). He did course-correct the art.

Not just a day later, it was then announced that Gates of Gotham #1 would feature the return of Cassandra Cain. Though as we now know how it all played what happened. 

So what really happened? My theory? A mixture of The New 52 and her becoming Black Bat more than likely scuttled the idea. Or DC being DC when it comes to Cassandra. We will never know the answer. At the very least, I can fully confirm that Billy Tucci was pitching a Cass ongoing at the time. Oh what could’ve been (or maybe not given Tucci has gone equally crazy like Dixon):

Angel of the Bat

- You know this one by heart at this point. 

This was Gail Simone’s 2006 pitch after Batgirl Vol. 1 was about to end. We didn’t get that, and instead we got well... this for “Robin OYL”:

🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

There are a few more story pitches that I know but haven’t dug deep enough or asked about the stories at conventions. Nor do I want to reopen old wounds as most of these ideas were prior or during the “New 52″ era.

Gail Simone had a few (but they more or less materialized into Future’s End: Batgirl #1). Kyle Higgins wanted Cass to appear in Nightwing during his run (instead all he could do was be allowed to put in a deleted fight scene he wanted to put in Gates of Gotham but instead used in the “Court of Owls” x-over). We all know Scott Snyder wanted to use Cass and was spited numerous times over during his Batman run.

Fabian Nicieza had a few ideas involving Cass that would’ve focused against Cricket (the villain he introduced in Red Robin #25), Bryan Q. Miller wanted Cass to be featured in the second half to Batgirl Vol. 3 if it had continued Cass would’ve appeared as both Black Bat and a time displaced version of herself as Batgirl (along with Barbara) teaming up with the Blackhawks and Skeets in World War II. We saw this idea teased at the end of Batgirl Vol. 3 #24:

Finally, there is Grant Morrison, who wanted to use Cass when Batman Inc Vol. 2 launched. It’s unknown what they had in mind but they and artist Chris Burnham did poke fun at DC replacing Steph with Babs in their second run:

Not only that but Mad Dog (Cass’s evil brother) did appear in this run as well. But that’s a story for another time... 

Black Bat Ongoing (late-2012 or 2013)

- So we have an entry to this list that has recently come to light. Artist Dean Zachary has revealed that there was a Black Bat ongoing pitched during the “dark era” of when Cass was listed as “toxic” between 2011-2013. 

Zachary has several concept sketches of this ongoing pitch posted of Cass, Shivasaurus, Batman, and Bronze Tiger. 

So the first arc of this ongoing was going to be this, per Zachary himself: 

“The drawing was meant to suggest that Cass defeated Shiva so badly that she took the villain's Mask as a trophy. The League of Assassins were taking the streets from law enforcement and only Cass and Ben could stand against them.  Shiva sent her Prize Student, Richard Dragon, to either convert or remove Cass and Ben as defenders of Gotham.  Mayhem ensued.  Editors at DC had "other plans" for Cass and company at the time. ”

Course any Cass fan knows that “other plans” lingo of DC all too well. Now how was I able to pinpoint the exact time when this pitch was given? Well, with help from a good friend (and Lady Shiva expert). We can pin point this pitch was made in 2013 (or earlier). 

The reason we can is because that’s when Ben Turner was walking around in his New 52 design in 2013:

The design would be used for an Red Hood & the Outlaws arc that would infamously tie with Shivasaurus getting K.O.ed by Jason Todd easily in it for that year. 

So I find this story pitch fascinating for several reasons because there were some creative folk STILL actively trying to keep Cass canon at DC even with the New 52 going on (which said otherwise).

I find the whole concept of a Ben/Cass team truly some potential as the two were retconned to be master/student  before Batgirl Vol. 1 ended. Which gave us this panel: 

It’s also curious how this would’ve led into a villainous New 52 Richard Dragon which again did occur but in the Green Arrow comics under Jeff Lemire’s Green Arrow run:

Zachary still found a job elsewhere so there was no skin off his back for the pitch failing. But still expresses interest in a Cass solo. 

- Another LOST Cass story slipped under my radar in July until today. Former series artist Rich Leonardi tweeted back in early July several unpublished drawings he did and two feature Cass in them. 

Given the focus of the story is Nightwing it does feel like a continuation writer Devin Grayson at that time was using Cass to further her sibling bond with Dick (aka #81 of that series). 

However, it could be a lost Batgirl story as Dylan Horrocks did leave much on the table (a lot of pent up tension between the two due to Babs/Dick breaking up around this run) when he exited the ongoing due to “War Games” event. Whatever the case, let’s just take in the glorious Leonardi Cass art:

#cassandra cain #dc comics

[animehouse-moe]

Heavenly Delusion Opening: Innocent Arrogance

Yes yes, I know. Late to the party. But I wasn't really feeling it before and I've been watching it a good bit over the last few days so I figured now or never since I've not got much else going on today. A wonderful opening, incredibly expressive and fluid and ridiculously dense, it centers around a few key aspects and themes. Religion, connection, branching and reaching out. There's a lot to get into with it so I guess I'll just get started.

As soon as the opening starts, the symbolism and story does too. Two birds circling above, one white, one black. It's easy to see the Yin and Yang association as they go around each other, but beneath it we get a character who puts their hand over their eyes to transition to the next scene. You might be able to say that it's saying something about death in that regard, but it's a rather large stretch considering the more apt symbolism that precedes it.

Next up is this incredibly well animated spider's web. While it does set the tone for the overall style of ethereal animation that seems to almost escape you, it also begins to chip away at that theme of connections. A literal spider's web of them, to be exact. Though of course, it doubles up to symbolize the danger of the story, how Kiruko and Maru are prey rather than predator of the world.

Following that up, we have this two step shot of background shifting to foreground. The background objects being pillars of a bridge that survived into the post era of the apocalypse, while the foreground is a cutout of a young boy sporting a similar uniform to the ones that the children wear at the institution. The former image of course making use of the pillars to compare them to Tori gates (based on their shapes), while the cutout is meant to link that religious symbol towards the institution. It's a very quick and aesthetically pleasing one-two punch that leaves viewers with a vague sense of something.

We transfer very smoothly over to a shot of overhead powerlines in the next scene, which flows very well in terms of repetition, as it has a similar appeal as the "tori gate" pillars. What we see with the power lines though is the connections made between them, what brings them into contact with one another. It's a rather fluffy and vague use of the symbolism to liken it to the overall theme, but with follow-up shots it works well in establishing the overall explicit story of the opening.

With the follow-up scenes to this cut, we get a grasp of what this opening is. The journey of Kiruko and Maru. The two are trekking across Japan in search of Heaven in this opening. Not exactly a revelation, but it serves to be a great way to tie together the vague and sometimes loose pieces within.

Also, I love the approach to line art within the opening, which you can really see in scenes like this. The characters don't have that hard outline, they're not well defined in the slightest. Incredibly fluid and open, it's a really unique and beautiful style that they make full use of through all sorts of pieces. Even take the pieces of paper fluttering in the wind, they're rather transparent and don't feel incredibly well defined.

After this, we get a breakdown that matches the timing of the song. There's not really much to say? It's almost sort of self-explanatory. An explosion of creativity at almost random, with a strong line on literal "misdirection". Maps and signs that twist and turn and become undecipherable. It's cool, though maybe a bit out of touch compared to other sequences, but gets the point across about how difficult and winding and confusing the path of the story is. All the foreshadowing and mishaps and challenges that occur, they're all summed up in one messy billboard.

What's really impressive is how much is going on. There's scenes and layouts you'll completely miss if you're not playing the opening back over and over again and slowing things down and pausing in the right spots. Ridiculous how densely animated and detailed this opening is.

Now, for the keen eyed anime-onlies I'll leave a single hint within this sequence: order of events. Have fun haha.

Now, one last blink and you'll miss it bit, this one. The text says "welcome to hell!", as the sun shines above and countless hands make a peace sign at the bottom. Interestingly enough, a dog or some other similar animal paw appears at the top of the screen. What's most interesting here is the sun, which I think viewers of episode 3 will associate with a certain scene.

So, following that we get the title card and some scenes of the pair wandering around on their journey. Very well animated, very well expressed. Lovely little bits that add to it. But, we get some nice foreshadowing. Some yet to come, others that have appeared. Obviously, I'll only talk about the latter. First though, this frame of Maru kicking a can. The direction does wonders in these literal scenes to stay true to Hirotaka's vision of a more voyeuristic and outside-looking-in style.

Anyways, onto the first foreshadowing/symbolism: Maru's ability. It's a very strong sequence that speaks to a lot about what anime viewers suspect and understand about Hiruko. His ability starts as a flower that blossoms into a technological branch that reaches out, before transforming into an actual one. The best I can describe it is almost something like "human intervention". Something natural is intervened with, changed, altered by humanity, before returning to a natural state.

Following that we've got this breathtaking sequence for Kiruko. I was stunned when I first saw it in episode 2, knowing where the anime was headed for the third episode. Incredible work to show the separation between mind and body as Kiruko's outline lags behind their actual body. And then there's the whole out of focus piece that blurs the lines between Kiruko's outline and their actual body to even further the symbolism. Really, really incredible work for such an important detail in the opening that ties in with the early foreshadowing of the reveal.

And that's about where the opening ends. It's very intense, and has an incredibly strong vision that brings it all together. The opening is a story of Kiruko and Maru, but runs deeper and wider than just their journey to Heaven. It's stippled by references to religion and restriction, expression and evolution, and confusion and misdirection. It branches out and changes shape and form to find the perfect ways to tell its stories, to show viewers what lies ahead and what's to come, dropping subtle and not-so-subtle hints and bits of foreshadowing.

Just all around incredible work that essentially puts it neck and neck with MAD's OP for this season. I can, and have, picked a favorite between them just because of expectations placed upon both, but from an objective viewpoint there's no way you can call either "better" than the other. It's just incredible work that sets the bar painfully high for the rest of the year. Endlessly impressive that between this and MAD we're looking at not only the OPs of the season, but damn near shoe-ins for the year at large. Beautiful, beautiful work done on them.

#heavenly delusion #tengoku daimakyou #天国大魔境 #production i.g #mori hirotaka #weilin zhang #kiruko #maru #anime recommendation #anime review #anime and manga #anime #horror anime

[thatscarletflycatcher]

A Jane Eyre fancast

(Because I have enablers that let me rant about these things)

Bella Ramsey as Jane Eyre

I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer; I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, stately, and finely developed in figure; I felt it a misfortune that I was so little, so pale, and had features so irregular and so marked.

Sam Riley as Mr Rochester

I knew my traveller with his broad and jetty eyebrows; his square forehead, made squarer by the horizontal sweep of his black hair. I recognised his decisive nose, more remarkable for character than beauty; his full nostrils, denoting, I thought, choler; his grim mouth, chin, and jaw—yes, all three were very grim, and no mistake. His shape, now divested of cloak, I perceived harmonised in squareness with his physiognomy: I suppose it was a good figure in the athletic sense of the term—broad chested and thin flanked, though neither tall nor graceful.

Robbie Kay as St John Rivers

Had he been a statue instead of a man, he could not have been easier. He was young—perhaps from twenty-eight to thirty—tall, slender; his face riveted the eye; it was like a Greek face, very pure in outline: quite a straight, classic nose; quite an Athenian mouth and chin. It is seldom, indeed, an English face comes so near the antique models as did his. He might well be a little shocked at the irregularity of my lineaments, his own being so harmonious. His eyes were large and blue, with brown lashes; his high forehead, colourless as ivory, was partially streaked over by careless locks of fair hair.

Synnove Karlsen as Blanche Ingram

“Tall, fine bust, sloping shoulders; long, graceful neck: olive complexion, dark and clear; noble features; eyes rather like Mr. Rochester’s: large and black, and as brilliant as her jewels. And then she had such a fine head of hair; raven-black and so becomingly arranged: a crown of thick plaits behind, and in front the longest, the glossiest curls I ever saw. She was dressed in pure white; an amber-coloured scarf was passed over her shoulder and across her breast, tied at the side, and descending in long, fringed ends below her knee. She wore an amber-coloured flower, too, in her hair: it contrasted well with the jetty mass of her curls.”

Olivia Cooke as Miss Temple

she looked tall, fair, and shapely; brown eyes with a benignant light in their irids, and a fine pencilling of long lashes round, relieved the whiteness of her large front; on each of her temples her hair, of a very dark brown, was clustered in round curls, according to the fashion of those times, when neither smooth bands nor long ringlets were in vogue; her dress, also in the mode of the day, was of purple cloth, relieved by a sort of Spanish trimming of black velvet; a gold watch (watches were not so common then as now) shone at her girdle. Let the reader add, to complete the picture, refined features; a complexion, if pale, clear; and a stately air and carriage, and he will have, at least, as clearly as words can give it, a correct idea of the exterior of Miss Temple—Maria Temple, as I afterwards saw the name written in a prayer-book intrusted to me to carry to church.

Emily Watson as Mrs Fairfax

A snug small room; a round table by a cheerful fire; an arm-chair high-backed and old-fashioned, wherein sat the neatest imaginable little elderly lady, in widow’s cap, black silk gown, and snowy muslin apron; exactly like what I had fancied Mrs. Fairfax, only less stately and milder looking. She was occupied in knitting; a large cat sat demurely at her feet; nothing in short was wanting to complete the beau-ideal of domestic comfort.

Kate Winslet as Mrs Reed

Mrs. Reed might be at that time some six or seven and thirty; she was a woman of robust frame, square-shouldered and strong-limbed, not tall, and, though stout, not obese: she had a somewhat large face, the under jaw being much developed and very solid; her brow was low, her chin large and prominent, mouth and nose sufficiently regular; under her light eyebrows glimmered an eye devoid of ruth; her skin was dark and opaque, her hair nearly flaxen; her constitution was sound as a bell—illness never came near her; she was an exact, clever manager; her household and tenantry were thoroughly under her control; her children only at times defied her authority and laughed it to scorn; she dressed well, and had a presence and port calculated to set off handsome attire.

Dakota and Elle Fanning as Eliza and Georgiana Reed

Two young ladies appeared before me; one very tall, almost as tall as Miss Ingram—very thin too, with a sallow face and severe mien. There was something ascetic in her look, which was augmented by the extreme plainness of a straight-skirted, black, stuff dress, a starched linen collar, hair combed away from the temples, and the nun-like ornament of a string of ebony beads and a crucifix. This I felt sure was Eliza, though I could trace little resemblance to her former self in that elongated and colourless visage.

The other was as certainly Georgiana: but not the Georgiana I remembered—the slim and fairy-like girl of eleven. This was a full-blown, very plump damsel, fair as waxwork, with handsome and regular features, languishing blue eyes, and ringleted yellow hair. The hue of her dress was black too; but its fashion was so different from her sister’s—so much more flowing and becoming—it looked as stylish as the other’s looked puritanical.

Emma Mackie and Margot Robbie as Diana and Mary Rivers

I thought them so similar I could not tell where the old servant (for such I now concluded her to be) saw the difference. Both were fair complexioned and slenderly made; both possessed faces full of distinction and intelligence. One, to be sure, had hair a shade darker than the other, and there was a difference in their style of wearing it; Mary’s pale brown locks were parted and braided smooth: Diana’s duskier tresses covered her neck with thick curls.

#Jane Eyre #fancast #Bella Ramsey #Sam Riley #Robbie Kay #Synnove Karlsen #olivia cooke #Emily Watson #Kate Winslet #dakota Fanning #Elle Fanning #Emma Mackie #Margot Robbie #don't shoot me #I couldn't find anyone I liked for Mason and Mr Brockelhurst #and I'm not casting Bertha Mason #so

[read-and-write-]

20 fic writer questions

Thanks to @daisymae-12 @inexplicablymine @suseagull04 for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Nineteen! Really spiked this year

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

40,581

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Red, White and Royal Blue currently and actively. I have written for All for the Game, Shadowhunters (Books), and Hispanic MCYT roleplay server

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

las formas de llamarte amor (Red, White and Royal Blue) My first fic in this fandom, written on a whim two days after joining tbs, and I still love it as much you are an idiot (i missed you) (All for the Game) This fic is the definition of "write the fic you want to see in the world" Minyard-Josten rivalry my beloved i don't want you to be a secret (but i want them to shut up) (All for the Game) the sequel to the one above, another instance of write the fic you want to see in the world really i am ignoring the next one arbitrarily sue me a train of thought (of things not to forget) (Red, White and Royal Blue) This fic There's something so special about projecting things about yourself in a fictional character, the Alex child of divorce fic that I pulled from the depths of my soul and every song reminds me of you (Red, White and Royal Blue) a 3 + 1, an ode to Alex and the music that reminds him of Henry.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try, that's the keyword here. I love getting comments and I try to respond as much as I can but I am extremely slow, so if you comment know you will get an answer someday and that I really really appreciate you

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

I am a softie at heart so most of my fics have at least hopeful endings but with that being said I wrote a MCD for Karmaland that it's still the saddest thing I've written.

there's also a train of thought (of things not to forget) that seems to have brought back some memories from other children of divorce and Rhys did call it emo (love you Rhys)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think most of my fics have a happy ending, if I could point to a happiest it'd probably be Y hace falta que te diga que me muero (por tener algo contigo) High School AU and a declaration of love that really is just fluff

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, and thank God because I would cry

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. My dabble into smut is limited to one fic I will not mention and a drabble that Jamie helped me write because I am just not built for it. That being said it doesn't keep me from trying and failing

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

PJO x RWRB??? maybe. I really don't write crossovers

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Two of my AFTG fics where translated into Russian! I was very honoured to see someone wanted to translate one of my fics

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

Yes, I have before and that one time was awful BUT I am currently co-writing Super Six and the Siren's Call aka the most amazing pjo au with @inexplicablymine and @happiness-of-the-pursuit and this is the most fun thing ever

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

This really changes every time, it's a mystery but Firstprince is my current favourite

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

I have two Six of Crows WIPs that I really want to finish, I had very solid ideas that just ~dissapeared~

and a Henry character study of his relationship with his identity and coming out that's been sitting in my docs since march-ish

16. What are your writing strengths?

Outlines. There really isn't anything I take so much care of than a carefully crafted outline that works as a map for me, so much so that I gave a fun little masterclass in the brownstone server yesterday ashdgdf

And when it comes to writing dialogues come very easy to me, and feelings™ I pride myself on having made people cry with my writing before and I'll do it again

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actions. Actions are the death of me, I leave a lot of [something something x happens] as I write because otherwise I get stuck. This paired with dialogue tags, I just can't find enough synonyms for "said"

Can English be a weakness? hdhgdshjsz I think I get stuck a lot in vocabulary sometimes, and just general grammar, i am getting better at it tho practice really does make perfect but very much inevitable since I write in a second language

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I will not let an opportunity to write dialogue in Spanish in a fic, if it fits within the context I am adding it. RWRB really has me living my best life with this. Now, for other languages I don't add anything beyond words I might be familiar with.

I love reading fics with lines in Spanish, even if they are not perfect, they make me happy and I love clocking out other hispanics in fandom. Also I love helping people if they need help with Spanish, at any point for anything just ask and I'll run

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Violetta, argentinian telenovela, I have mentioned this before and even if the writing was awful I am glad I started

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

This is like the hardest question because I have different favourites for different reasons, but I do think this is my favourite one for now un hilo de pensamientos (de cosas que no se deben olvidar) the Spanish version, because it just feels closer to me

No pressure tags but I'd love to see your answers! @raysletters @happiness-of-the-pursuit @heybuddy-drabbles @14carrotghoul @sherryvalli @affectionatelyrs @littlemisskittentoes

#ask game #fanfiction #this was fun

[omori-aus-archive]

OMORI OC: Eriko/Erika

FINALLY got around to making an OC. Ref is by @shrimperini.

PERSONAL

Her name is Eriko, nicknamed Erika. Eri is made from the kanji for blessing and reason. Ko is from the kanji for child. Erika, depending on the kanji, means "Blessed village/country of flowers".

She’s the older sister of Mari and Sunny. She’s approximately a year to three years older than Mari (so at most 22 years old) and has a variant of albinism (hence the eyes and hair).

She’s much taller than Hero and Artist (approximately 8 feet, because queens deserve to be tall), athletic, tattooed, and her defining trait is her rebellious nature.

She’s also a huge fan of Nightwish and Within Temptation and the most likely to commit an actual crime.

She is FASCINATED by zombies, witchcraft, and horror films, especially cosmic ones. She’d pay a lot of money to be learn witchcraft….

In regards to her size, it’s abnormally large for someone her age and heritage.

REGARDING THE SIBLINGS AND MARI'S DEATH

-Pre-canon-

Erika gives Sunny and Mari each a wash-off tattoo of their choice every single birthday. For Sunny, she also buys comics and plays games with him. For Mari, she will cook with her and bring her to concerts.

-During Canon-

She’s well aware that Mari died of an accident and that Sunny was somehow involved. She doesn’t blame Sunny. Instead, she blames her parents for their treatment of the two and herself for not being able to help her siblings enough.

She would take it upon herself to take care of Sunny, even though she was unemployed and currently going through some college.

Technically, she DOES have a Headspace counterpart. But she’s a fusion with Mari, based on the beta character Inko, and solely in Black Space as a representation of their shared remorse and sorrow.

With the mask, Inko looks more or less identical to Mari (just in a white kimono). Without the mask, she's more or less identical to Erika, though outlines of Mari and Erika appear along side her in pain (Left, purple, and emotional for Mari. Right, red, and physical for Erika).

-Post-game-

Her sibling relationship with Sunny is honestly tighter, because she’s desperate to make sure the past doesn’t repeat itself.

Her relationship with Mari though is…complicated. She still loves her and misses her, but…after finding out about the truth of the accident, she’s…disappointed that Mari and Sunny never told her what was going on.

She’s frustrated that Mari let her perfectionism blind her and didn’t let her help combat said perfectionism.

In remembrance of the pain and trauma Sunny and the group went through…and to remind her to never let Sunny bear the pain by his lonesome, Erika has Sunny and Basil’s SOMETHINGS tattooed on her.

-The Bad Ends-

Erika feels like she’s failed Sunny and Mari, having lost Mari to a preventable accident and Sunny to a preventable suicide. She did her best and yet it did nothing to stop these tragedies.

Erika unleashes her anger and sorrow at the group, truly believing that all of them and herself share a portion of the blame. And her parents? She makes sure that they regret treating their own children poorly.

-Mari and Sunny Live-

If both siblings survive, Erika tries her best to help Sunny calm down, before eventually talking to Mari. She’s honest with her emotions and explains that she’s disappointed and sad more than anything.

Erika explains that Mari shouldn’t be going after perfection, as it doesn’t exist, instead saying that her life is already “perfect” thanks to Sunny and her friends. Needless to say, this is a huge wake-up call for Mari. Unintentionally, this makes the guilt hurt a bit more.

Erika does her best to pull Mari and Sunny away from depressing thoughts and runs away with them, finally fed up with their parents’ treatment of them.

I’m not gonna go over #omari AUs as I think that Erika would be exactly the same with Mari as she is with Sunny.

RELATIONSHIPS

Love Interest: Artist (yes, Artist's an adult, as she's Angel's legal guardian).

Friends: Mincy, the Bread Twins, Polly, and other few individuals.

Acquaintances: Kel, Aubrey, and the Hooligans. She is, at best, okay with them. She’s also chill with Vix (@donuqx-art's OC).

Dislikes: Hero and Basil. She stopped Basil from falsifying Mari’s death.

Hates: Her parents, Kel’s parents, Aubrey’s parents, and Basil’s parents. From what she can tell, Faraway is cursed with AWFUL parenting. Which is why she has been trying to raise Mari and Sunny herself.

#omori #mari omori #omori mari #omori sunny #sunny omori #omori oc #Erika Omori

[faithfulpuppy]

Serious Thoughts About Jod (Nona spoilers)

Alright fine. I don’t really want Jod discourse to be the focal point of my locked tomb experience but since at least one person cares enough about what I think post-Nona to send me anons, I’ve collected my thoughts here. [Keep in mind that I was raised an atheist so I don’t have either happy religious context or religious trauma context for this series, and I’m aware that because of that I’m missing nuances. We’re all just going to have to live with that.]

Apologies in advance that this is a long one. Nobody’s under any obligation to read any of it. Saying that, I’m not going to be engaging with comments about or by: anyone who clearly didn’t read this post properly; viewpoints that are already set in stone; anyone who thinks that John is incapable of telling the truth in any way or form; the baby finger flower crown. Save your energy.

Alright: have my feelings about John changed since reading Nona? Well, not a huge amount. Bear with me. When I made a controversial shitpost outlining my enjoyment of John as a character, I wasn’t trying to make out that he was blameless or even a good guy. I said "I have to face the fact he might be a bad guy" which apparently did not land as a joke, my bad; however I do see a distinction between ‘bad guy for the sake of evil muahaha’ and ‘bad guy with sympathetic or understandable reasons’. Is John a bad guy? Yes, obviously he’s one of the villains in this story. But it’s not that simple. Casting it as black and white feels like a disservice to Tamsyn Muir’s writing.

My read of Jod’s story during Nona is the tragic fall of a good person to evil. [I’m taking his account to Alecto/Harrow as fact, because I feel that it was very deliberately set in a dream in order to let him speak freely and honestly.] Jod starts out as just some biologist in New Zealand trying to save the planet and as much of humanity as he can ("Nobody knowingly left behind"). That’s one point for Good Guy. Pretty much everything he does from there to the fall is a logical step, at least on some level. Should he have done some things differently? 100%. But I don’t think at any point leading up to the Resurrection he truly made a decision in the spirit of evil. (Later, yep, evil things were done. But I'm looking at the period from cryo project to Resurrection era specifically.)

Let’s take things one at a time. 1) John Gets Granted The Power Of Necromancy. None of this would have happened if he’d walked away from necromancy there and then: the billionaires would have left with no warning, humanity would have burned itself out or not… who’s to say? But could he have walked away? If he had tried to ignore it, would he still have been able to sense death? I’m not sure that was a possibility once the power was in him. He felt that he could use it to fix what was wrong, he was planning to use it for good. He started going a bit mad pretty much immediately, and that makes sense. The huge shock of the project getting shut down and then the utter strangeness of being able to sense the bodies. I think I’d start to go a bit strange too.

2) They Stream The Necromancy. Lots of people came to see John for miracles and he cured everything he could (+1 good guy point). It was the nun/Cristabel who told him he had to limit it or charge for it or whatever. (I wonder how differently would things have turned out if he had continued to spend 20 hours a day curing fibro and cancer?) She said it would bring the heat down if he kept doing it, but it was a bit late by then, wasn't it? The government asked them to come in, as they’d been dreading. Should they have given themselves up? It didn’t seem like anyone else had the means to save the planet. I don’t think it was wrong to resist. They would have arrested his friends and put him in a lab underground to study. I don’t think it’s wrong to try and avoid that. Any genuine hero would.

3) Magical Inside-Out Animal-Shield Man. This one is always going to cause arguments. Do I like that he built a wall out of animals? No. Do I think it was evil? Also no. As he points out, it was quicker and more painless than slaughter for eating, and since a lot of them were destined for eating and I’m not vegetarian I can’t really fault that. I understand that any vegans reading this series are going to be pretty unmovable on this specific point. I respect that. It would definitely be bad guy points if he was nasty about it, but he was ashamed and acknowledged that it sucked. I think "extenuating circumstances" is a fair defence here. [It drives me kind of nuts that people reading this series use ‘cows have best friends’ as serious condemnation. You’re agreeing with the scumbag billionaires, guys!]

4) They Realise The Billionaires Are Running. In all honesty everyone got a little too obsessed with this. It sucked that they were going to take the ships that were supposed to be used for cryo, but aside from that, so? Good riddance, right? I think it was something for them to focus on when they didn’t know what else to do. They all seemed to conflate stopping the ships from leaving with fixing things. Cassiopeia asked if they should be focusing on the ships when they could be focusing on saving the planet instead, but nobody listened to her. It was Pyrrha who told John to ‘be a bad wizard’! Honestly I feel like most of the bad decisions John made were under peer pressure from his friends.

5) John Agrees to Puppet A World Leader. Mostly he did it because they offered so much money, and that sounds like bad guy points but they were out of options for saving the planet without money. When he realised it was – the president of the US or something – he didn’t want to do it but the others pushed him to keep going. And he didn’t want the nuke (+1 good guy points)! That’s very important. Mercy and Augustine pressured him into that too (premeditated).

6) John Kills A Bunch Of People. Okay, this one seems like it should be easy bad guy points, but I hesitate. He finally sees something that might be The Soul when those five people die outside the dome and describes it as crack cocaine, or what he imagines crack cocaine would be like. I’ve never done cocaine, but from what I understand about it I’m not sure I can entirely hold John responsible for what he did next. Yes, killing all those people was Bad and Wrong and Murder and Illegal and any number of other synonyms – but he was high. He was like a shark in a blood frenzy. He was not in control of his senses. That doesn’t make the killing less wrong, but was it something he chose to do? Not… exactly? He admits that it wasn’t an accident but if we’re going to hold him fully responsible for that we have to condemn every coke addict for their actions while high as if they were sober and in their right minds. (I’m sure some of you will. Drugs and addiction are a mental health issue. Those people need rehab, not prison time.) John is very sick by this stage.

7) They Spook The Trillionaires. Talking to the government sends the FTL crew into a rush to get out. John’s team, especially Mercy, desperately want to stop them, I think so they can use the same ships to get everyone out in cryo instead? (Meanwhile the only thing John really cares about is working out the missing link between alive and dead. He’s consumed by needing to understand necromancy. I think I would be too, to be fair. Can you imagine being given awesome and terrible power that nobody else has ever had and being expected to focus on anything else?) Anyway that’s when they decide to use the nuke as a threat (+1 bad guy points, but not entirely his idea). He still doesn’t want to use it, but he arms it without telling the others (+1 bad guy points, though I think it’s a little unfair of the others to be mad when they forced him to have it in the first place). At this point John threatens nuclear war through his Leader Puppet (+1 bad guy points), which the others really are mad about (fair). I don’t know if he still thinks he is saving the world at this point. Cassiopeia doesn’t think so. He’s become an environmental terrorist.

8) Necromancy Cultists Change Their Minds And Take Hostages. Let’s tally up problems. G1deon-with-nuke is sniper bait in Australia while John tries to negotiate. He has his puppet’s finger hovering over the button on the really big nukes. It’s mere hours until the ships launch. The cultists are threatening to gun them all down. What do you do in this situation? The right answer is obviously don’t nuke anyone – but then the ships escape and you probably all die by cultist unless you’re willing to remotely murder them (and John says that he didn’t because he was proving a point, not because it’s morally wrong at this stage (+1 bad guy points?). I’d say let the stupid ships go, once they’re gone you can use the money they left behind to build more, right? But the ships aren’t taking all the politicians who still want to arrest John and co, so it doesn’t really solve his problem. John’s biggest fear at this point was that he’d lost his friends. That’s important, remember that for later. He offers to give himself up to save the hostages (+1 good guy points?) and the others won’t let him so he sends skeletons instead and that’s when the cultists manage to break into the facility. He wants to kill everyone nearby so he has space to think (+1 bad guy points) but doesn’t (+1 good guy points?). Ironically it probably would all have worked out a lot better if he’d just accepted the cost and killed the cultists so he could focus on all the negotiations and maybe find a solution (or at least enough presence of mind to think ‘what the fuck’ and back down from the nukes).

9) Cristabel Kills Herself. John thought she was there to kill him and he was going to let her. Instead she shot herself to try to help him find The Soul and it worked. He found the key to the soul, but he also found Alecto. He couldn’t hear anything over the sound of her screaming. All he had wanted from the beginning was to save the planet and he could suddenly see her soul and how much pain she was in. From this point on (until the end of his account) I don’t think John really made any decisions, per se. This next part is written like a dream within a dream. There was gunfire inside the facility and everyone was dying – he could probably have caught their souls and put them back in, but what would the point have been if they’d just immediately get shot again? I don’t even know if he could have when all he could hear was Alecto. So he set off all the nukes because he couldn’t concentrate on everything anymore (+1 big bad guy points) and everyone else died. He killed as many as he could before the nukes got to them, painlessly like the cows (+1 good guy points?). He was still obsessed with stopping the ships. I don’t even think it was his own obsession at this point. It was the last human thing he had to cling to, the memory of fear and anger that the ships were abandoning everyone.

I don’t think this can be compared to anything real. Nobody has ever faced something like this. I can’t say what I would have done in his position because I have never had to deal with the pain and fear and noise of a whole planet screaming in my ears while staggering with godlike magical power. Neither have you. You can’t say you would have done better.

10) John Eats Alecto. Again, the cocaine hit. Again, the blood frenzy. Once he started eating souls he couldn’t stop. That’s bad guy points, but almost by proxy. He wasn’t in control. He was barely human. He wanted Alecto to take him but she didn’t, so he took her instead. He wanted her to stop being in pain. He went about it badly. He should have left her to scream herself out and then lick her wounds and recover. But I don’t think stopping was an option for him, by that point. I think he’d have had to kill himself to avoid the pain of her screams and I’m sure a lot of people think he definitely should have, but I’m not into encouraging people to commit suicide even if they’re a bad person, so. [Everyone’s obsessed with him making her look like Barbie and how yuck that is, but he also says he tried to make her look like a Renaissance angel. I think he was trying to be respectful to her by conjuring the best image of beauty he could in the midst of madness and panic. Based on the way she ‘kisses’ Harrow later I don’t think there’s anything remotely sexual between them or even romantic, so I don’t think it’s that weird to try to make her beautiful.] Anyway he can’t reach the ships so he also eats the sun and the other planets (+1 bad guy points but Alecto’s just as keen as him so only half blame) and then he does his best to kill everyone on the ships (+1 bad guy points) but mostly fails as they’ve already hit FTL. He should have given up on the billionaires, at least later after he’d had time to calm down and get used to sharing two bodies with Alecto. He should have just let them go. But of course it’s not just his anger, he’s sharing Alecto’s pain and betrayal toward them. He might not be able to stop hating them as long as she’s alive.

11) The Resurrection. It’s good guy points that he brings people back, but bad guy points that he’s choosy about it. He should have resurrected everyone and let them start over since he was wiping memories anyway. I understand why he wiped the memories. In general, how could he try to build a better world if everyone was clinging to the past? It doesn’t make it right, but I see the logic. Regarding his friends specifically, partly it’s that fear from earlier that he’d lose them because of what he did, but partly it’s also pity. Mercy and Augustine in particular, but all of them, share responsibility for what happened. They pushed him to keep going. They developed the obsession with the ships. They got him the nukes. He didn’t want them to carry the same guilt. I’m not saying it was right to wipe their memories. But I understand it. Some people think he doesn’t care about the people around him, but I think John cares too much. He’s willing to do very bad things because he cares too much about his loved ones. It’s bordering on obsession which is toxic, but it was born from real love. (Why did he change their names? Did he even change them? I don’t know. That’s one of the missing pieces. I don’t feel a need to speculate on it at this stage.)

He knew the RBs were coming and didn’t tell his Lyctors initially (+1 bad guy points, buuuut he hasn’t explained why). Or that he couldn’t be killed by them. Why does he run from them? Send his favourite companions to die? I hope we’ll find out.

He let his friends get the Lyctoral process wrong (+1 bad guy points) and kill their other halves – I’ve seen a theory that it’s because he was jealous of Mercy, Augustine, G1deon, Cassiopeia loving anyone else, but he seemed to love Pyrrha so much too. Maybe that’s why she’s the one that kind of survived.

He tried to build a society that was better than the one he left behind – no cars, no nuclear, no homophobia, no internet – and in some ways he probably succeeded (good guy points?). It’s an imperialist society (I think fascist is a stretch – it’s not very different to most conquering nations in earth’s history and to call them all fascist because they wanted to expand just seems kind of pointless) and the Cohort stuff is bad – child soldiers are big bad guy points – but a lot of that was G1deon and Pyrrha (John obviously has final say on everything but I’m saying it wasn’t necessarily his idea). The people living in the Houses seem reasonably happy, at least outside the Eighth and Ninth Houses. [I don’t think ‘he’s the leader of a death cult’ is reasonable grounds to condemn – I don’t think necromancy is inherently evil, in general, compared to a lot of other kinds of magic. That’s a wholeass conversation on its own, though.]

He locked Alecto away (+1 bad guy points) because he was afraid she was a vulnerability (and because the others kept begging him to kill her because she’s a ‘monster’). This is honestly one of his worst moments for me because it’s a definite Bad Choice he made with time to think it through and consider his options. I could argue that he was protecting her because Harrow says "You’re afraid of so many things, but she’s only afraid to die" and maybe it was a kindness to put her to sleep where she was safe – but he didn’t do it to alleviate her fear, he did it to protect himself. No moral high ground there.

He can’t let go of his need to punish the billionaires/BoE (+1 bad guy points, though as I’ve discussed I’m not sure that’s all him) – funnily enough wiping the memories really screws himself over in this case, as he tells Augustine the man he was before the Resurrection would have been disgusted at the idea of letting them go and it’s probably true. Billionaires/BoE are undeniably bad guys too (discussion for another post) but that doesn’t mean it’s good guy points to keep going after them.

There’s a ‘discrepancy’ in the numbers of souls Resurrected which is a puzzle I’m hoping will be solved in AtN – I have no idea what’s going on there so I’m not counting it as good or bad right now.

He thinks about killing everyone and starting over again with another Resurrection (+1 bad guy points). I almost wonder if he’s done it before. Ten thousand years is such a long time. He’s so calm and thoughtful about it and that’s horrifying. John is thoroughly insane. Grief, guilt, sharing Alecto’s soul, and the sheer weight of time have stripped away his humanity. He was barely human when he merged with Alecto and he is something else entirely by now. Once again I don’t think it’s useful to compare to real-life scenarios. There has never been and never will be anyone like him. We cannot comprehend what the inside of his head is like. I think it must be awful to be him. He’s insane and he’s alone and he’s very traumatized and I think the only remotely human emotions he has left are the fear that his friends will leave him and the anger that the billionaires abandoned earth. He completely falls apart after he loses Mercy and Augustine and G1deon – yeah yeah, he deserved it in the end blah blah- but isn’t that sad? Fear and anger and terrible numbness for ten thousand years. I pity him. I pity those he’s hurt too, but those feelings can co-exist.

[I don’t know what’s going on with him and Gideon/Kiriona. I do think he was genuinely pleased and excited to find out he had a child, but the timing bombed. I don’t know why he didn’t Resurrect her properly (can he even still do that with Alecto locked away?). I don’t know why he changed her name. The situation is not a good look. +1 bad guy points.]

John is absolutely a villain as the series stands, but I don’t think he started out with selfish or evil intentions. His story is the perfect example of ‘you either die, or live long enough to become the villain’. It’s a classic trope in fantasy. He knows that he was awful and calls what he did 'a damned thing' - he cries, he rages, he carries so much regret and guilt for it: that says tragic fall to me. Another thing that strikes me: I live with a lot of mental illnesses and to me this is the story of someone who is very unwell. Tamsyn Muir has been reasonably open about her own struggles with mental illness; so much of this series is about mental illness in various forms. I think that’s an important lens to view John’s story through. He’s a wretched character and it doesn’t excuse the sins he’s committed and continues to commit, but I think it certainly explains them. I think he made more mistakes than evil choices. I can condemn some of his actions and the way he lives now, but I feel pity too. He wanted to save the world and nobody listened to him and everyone vilified him and he was living with the burden of necromancy and he was racing against the clock and he snapped and I think that’s realistic. It doesn’t make him right but it makes him human and very very sad.

#the locked tomb #locked tomb spoilers #nona the ninth #nona the ninth spoilers #john gaius #god #gideon the ninth #discourse #tragic villain #mental illness #g9 #tamsyn muir #this post will probably get 8 notes and no discourse at all but eh

[marenwithanm]

OK SO EPISODE 11: TRAUMA GOT ME LOSING MY MIND TONIGHT READ BELOW TO SEE MY THOUGHTS

Shou and touichiro seemed pretty much the same except for two things. 1) touichiro's vision of Shou and his wife which was just... So good... The way that the coloring paralleled his vision of his wife in season 2 has me 😭 2) the other one I noticed was the double charge bomb they did together. This could have been in the manga and I just didn't remember it, but I'm pretty sure that's anime original and I am LIVING for it. Shou's trump card which he originally used to try and bring down his dad is now being used in tandem with his dad to help someone. It's so so good. (What's NOT so good is Shou's outfit, why is bones so determined to slander his sense of fashion?? But that's a post for another day lol)

(for an episode titled "trauma" it was rather hopeful in the end. Wonder if that has any sort of thematic meaning)

first, all the changes. I really adored all the build up they gave ritsu. His arrival was a bit abrupt in the manga, and I will forever love bones for not only having ritsu find the crash sight, but also find and take care of Teru. Literally yesterday I was thinking about how sad it is that Teru just gets left naked and hurt in the middle of the road, so that was very very nice.

Back to more Ritsu changes since I'm following the episode's progression of scenes! I really miss the "man this is overkill" line. I know it doesn't fit the tone but it was just really funny ok?

But for some bigger changes, I noticed they took out the rhubarb wire that Ritsu saved a body improvement club member from. Which is interesting, I wonder if that's because of change of setting or censorship concerns.

They also took out a lot of the implications of Ritsu's plan later in the fight. In the anime, he said something along the lines of "a big shock might stop nii-san" whereas in the manga...

Yeah, he basically flat out says "maybe if I get hurt nii-san will snap out of it" which hoooo boy sure is a line of dialogue.

The final change I noticed was between the two "Mob" and "Shigeo", mainly in the art. I LOVE how they're doing it, with Shigeo being a blank white outline and Mob having blue lineart. It really helps differentiate them and make them pop. Super cool.

Now, do I miss some of the manga content and am I sad to see it go? Yes. But did bones do an utterly incredible job at adapting this? YES!!! so even if i don't like some of the changes, I like some of the other changes, and I love it overall.

As for overall hype:

OH MY GOSH 100% RITSU IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT AND BOY DID IT DELIVER I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS

Also all of the parallels to previous things like having their fight on the bridge where mogami world Ritsu ignored him is spectacular. And the whole "I'm your little brother so let me help you" paralleling mobs "in your older brother, so I have to take care of you". And the music being the same as their original fight in the alleyway. I can't even...

SHOU CONTENT!!!! YES!!!! I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE HOW HYPED I AM TO SEE MY BELOVED

Studio bones really just adores the super five huh? Hatori is still here lol and Joseph too

REIGEN AND SERIZAWA JUST SPRINTING PAST THE POLICE AKFJSKFKR YES THAT WAS SO GOOD

Tsubomi please move out of the way of the active tornado this is not a safe place my girl (and what an interesting character choice for her to wait, Tsubomi is such an enigma in all the best ways)

Oh rip to sakuri and koyama, you did your best. (Side note, imagine your ex CEO falling from the sky to duke it out with a magic middle schooler who just destroyed your workplace. Seasoning city is so wild lol)

Random side characters getting one frame my beloved! Minori moment!! Tokugawa and Shinji moment!!

In conclusion, episode 11 makes me lose my marbles and it was 100% worth the wait!

#mp100 #long post #mp100 season 3 #mob Psycho 10p #season three #ritsu kageyama #shigeo kageyama #shou suzuki #touichiro suzuki #teruku hanazawa #writing #text post #analysis #shinji kamuro #minori asagiri #tokugawa #no idea what his first name js lol #tsubomi takane #reigen arataka #serizawa katsuya #??? #???% #sakurai #koyama #hatori #joseph #mob psycho 100

[rjalker]

Here's my Flatland self insert character in a humanoid design. still making the canon-compliant version since it's not symetrical and also the power keeps flickering.

Editing the draft to say wow. Okay. This image description has now taken six hours to write because the power went out for five of them and my keyboard kept being messed up before that. Lol.

Enjoy. Assuming the power doesn't go out again before I can hit the post button.

Please tell me if the ID is missing any details, I've spent too long reading it to catch mistakes.

And yes, it picked its name itself.

[ID: An MS Paint character reference showing a Flatland style original character. The image has a white background and thin black border, with the date of "August 29th 2023" written in the lower right corner. Black text scattered around the image provides extra info for the things displayed, in an old-fashioned looking font with all caps letters and sharply curved lettering. The character's name is Hauntlight, and it uses it/its/itself pronouns.

"Literal", which is a black forked like with many small zig-zags making it crooked rather than straight, and "Humanoid", showing a stick figure with three legs, two arms, a round head, and another line straight on top of the head.

A small bullet point list in the bottom left corner reads: "Class: Criminal Job: Herbalist Age: 28 Orientation: Aroace Gender: Nunya" The character is vaguely humanoid in shape, with ink black skin with dark brown stripes on the ankles and elbows, a brown heart shape in the center of its chest, and three pairs of matching brown, stripes under the heart to form a rib cage, with the top pair of stripes overlapping with the heart on their points. Hauntlight has two arms and three legs, each bent slightly at the knee as though floating in the air. Its head is topped with a sharp point with a swooping, narrow base over its onion-shaped face, with a single large orange eye with a brown slit pupil in the center. It is first shown facing the camera, then turned to show its back, which matches the front. White cracks are visible on its hip, ankle, foot, shoulders, chest, and wrist. With its hands behind its back, Hauntlight holds a bright orange and yellow offset walking cane, which is labeled, "mobility aids required to be flourescent to aid persecution by higher classes". Two slightly smaller copies of its head show it first squinting, making it appear angry, with a question mark next to its face, labeled, "squinting because it's not allowed to wear eyeglass and it can't see". The next shows it with its eye widened again to normal, now looking off to the side. Around its eye are two circles of black and yellow, held onto its head by a bright orange diagonal strap, forming a giant monocular or single-lensed goggle. This is labeled, "Breaking the law, breaking the law".

In the top right corner, the different colors used in the drawing--black, brown, orange, and yellow--are arrayed in circles and rectangles. Two copies have been made of its three legs, with the copy for each showing the third leg recolored blue so that it is easier to see, because its skin is so dark it almost matches the black outlines. End ID.]

anyways can you believe they literally refer to disabled people as the Criminal Class™. And can you further believe there are people who read this book's blatant criticism of fascism and think the fascism is correct?!?!?!

Edit: Feel free to draw :)

#described images #Rjalker does art #Rjalker's OCs #Flatland #Flatland OCs #Rjalker reads Flatland a Romance of Many Dimensions #long post #? #Hauntlight the Irregular Line #Humanoid flatlanders

[becauseplot]

staring at you with my big wet eyes. please ramble about poa I am so very intrigued and would love to hear more

okay, only because you ~insist~ <-explicitly asked for this and visibly vibrating with excitement

(i feel this should go without saying but spoilers ahead for this incomplete series!) (also im running on not enough hours of sleep so apologies if this is incoherent)

Philza of Azraelin is (supposed to be) a series following 26-year-old Philza Minecraft Watson who had a mental breakdown in his flat one night so he ran away to go get lost in the mysterious, monster-infested Azraelin Forest outside his hometown. You know, like you do. While out there, Phil unwittingly befriends the local flock of white-eyed crows, who turn out to be spirits that belong to a giant, ancient being trapped in a nearby mountain who goes by the mortal name "Kristin".

Phil carries on living in the woods, spending more time with Kristin, visiting her in the mountain, chatting and getting to know her better. She's good company. She's a good friend. Maybe he likes her more than a friend. Maybe he's just lonely. He isn't sure, but man, does he love to spend time with her.

He continues exploring the woods as well. As time goes on, he gets increasingly familiar with the abandoned little towns reclaimed by the forest. But he starts to wonder: no one really knows why the people of the Azraelin Forest disappeared. Most have assumed that the monster hordes drove them out. But as Phil becomes more and more acquainted with the forest, with the ruins, discovering ancient statues and structures, thinking about the few scattered stories of the Azraelin Forest that he knows...

There is an alarming amount of evidence pointing to some sort of catastrophe. And there are some things that Kristin doesn't like to talk about. And there are some things that Kristin tells him that don't add up. And Phil realizes that he doesn't know why Kristin is trapped in the mountain---chained up, alone, bound---in the first place.

...But he starts to think that Kristin might not be as trustworthy as she seems.

And that's the basic outline of what would be the first major arc! Some more little details:

This series is mostly just Phil flying solo in the woods. Like, the crows are there, but besides them and Kristin, it's pretty much just Phil for a majority of the story. (Other characters and settings would come into play much much later.)

The crows all have names and personalities! The third installment is supposed to be a retelling of the first installment from the crows’ perspective (with some extra Lore added in of course). Fun fact, the first crow that Phil encounters is named Bidmoss, and they’ve got a sailor’s mouth on ‘em!! >:)

I came up with this idea when I was brainrotting a FUCK load of old-immortal!philza fic ideas (like so many holy shit). But, I kind of started to miss philza aus where he was more susceptible to common threats like monsters and cold and hunger, where he didn’t know so much about the magic of the world around him, where he wasn’t so invincible, so I was like “hey what if I wrote a philza au where he’s literally Just Some Guy fucking around in the woods” and thus this was born. For the record, he is fully, completely human. Not an ounce of magic, divinity, or otherworldliness in him.

The spark for this au is this animatic! Idk it was just so silly and really played into the "he's Just Some Guy" idea that was rattling around in my head. poa!Phil and the crows would definitely do something goofy like this to cheer up Kristin when she's having a bad day. This animatic was also a source of inspiration!!

There are songs that go with this au, all from The Oh-Hellos: In The Blue Hours of Morning, Thus Always To Tyrants, Bitter Water, Exunt, This Will End (yes in this particular order; for the most part, the male voice is Phil and the female voice is Kristin, especially in Bitter Water; parents duo my beloved <3)

I affectionately refer to this au as AHH! au (ex: AHH!Phil) because it's the acronym of the first installment and because he does a lot of screaming in the second installment lol

Okay that's enough of that for now. Tbh there are probably details I'm forgetting because it's just been so long and I never write any of my shit down (wails), but the story doesn't end with what I've told you. I can talk more about plot, Phil's whole deal, the crows, Kristin, and the general setting, but I think this is enough word vomiting for this ask <3

Ty for letting me ramble, poa!philza my beloved <333

#i will still answer asks on this au!! #lord knows when i'll have time to work on actually writing this but i'd love to!! #PoA AU #asks for curly

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Day 7: Needles

(Disclaimer: three of the characters in this story belong to me. You can find more information about Azalea here. For more information about Caliban, go here.  For more information about K.O., go here.  For my personal headcanons on Murdock, who belongs to the Markiplier Cinematic Universe, go here. And if you’d like to learn more about the mob these guys all work for, go here.)

(Additional Note: I got some partial inspiration for this story from this lovely drawing by the extremely talented @rebar2042. Please go give them a follow and share their awesome art!!!) 

(Trigger Warnings: descriptions of illegal business, physical violence, abduction, blood, syringes, poisonous substances, torture, implied dismemberment, implied cannibalism, implied murder, talk of death/dying, strong language. Please let me know if I missed anything.)

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3   Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13

Unless you counted his tinted glasses, Murdock looked absolutely nothing like himself right now. 

In the place of his currant-colored turtleneck and black overcoat was a pale button-up and a half-zipped fleece jacket that was the same shade as a cornflower, complete with a screen-printed logo (an orange circle outlined with white) to match the cap resting atop his head. His raven hair was hidden, tied-back and pulled-up, though some of his bangs peeked out from beneath the rim. 

Murdock understood the importance of disguises; any hitman who didn’t was a moron who could look forward to a career that would last a couple years at most before ending in humiliation rather than mystery. 

Yes, he was more attached to his usual work clothes, but he took satisfaction in that particular sentimentality being more fucked-up than one would probably expect. Aside from that and the business angle of things, costumes really were just a fun concept to play around with. Even now, as he pulled into the cul-de-sac and parked near the curb, the adrenaline that’d already been slithering around his lungs spiked when he glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror. 

He hopped out, stepping around the decoy mail truck to hoist the back door up. After pulling out the dolly and loading a larger-than-average box onto it, he tucked a much smaller package and a clipboard under his arm and strolled up the driveway of the nearest house.  

Murdock rolled his shoulders, taking a quick, deep breath. He went over the script in his head for what was probably the eighth time today, then reached out and rapped his knuckles against the front door. 

Five seconds or so passed, and then the telltale sound of muffled footsteps approached from the other side. 

Murdock put on a polite, well-rehearsed smile as the door was pulled open.

He immediately had to bite his tongue to keep that smile in place as he registered the man now hovering in the threshold. 

He was the same height as Murdock, appearing a bit older. . .well, that was Murdock’s best guess, at least. The amount of tattoos on his skin was truly shocking. Only a few patches of his natural skin were left in between each of them. 

For the most part, Murdock didn’t really have an opinion on tattoos. He was aware of how painful the process tended to be: therefore, when any of his victims happened to be inked, he tended to take that as something of a personal challenge for interrogation and the like. He knew it was best to avoid getting any himself, and he knew whatever body art anyone else decided to get was none of his business.

But he also knew how the lines between good body art and bad body art were not fine.

At all. 

It seemed his latest target didn’t have that same understanding.

“Delivery for Mr. Abbott Tudye?” Murdock announced, willing his tone to sound lighter than usual. 

“Right on time,” the target replied with a nod. Glancing at the larger package, he backed up a few paces, holding the door open. Murdock took the invitation, dragging the dolly along and leaning it against the nearest wall as the door was closed behind him. 

“I’ll need—” Murdock cut himself off, just barely managing not to swear in surprise at the discovery that his target was among the ranks of people who’d gotten famous online for having actual pictures of faces permanently drawn on the backs of their heads.

The target turned to face him, casually raising an eyebrow. 

Murdock cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, need a signature for both packages, please,” he amended, holding the clipboard aloft. 

The target blinked at this, but simply shrugged and took the offering into his hands. “. . .Y’know you don’t have to keep that act up in here, right? Suppliers are the last people to tattle on in my book.” He then outstretched his free hand, patronizingly gesturing for Murdock to fork over the smaller package

“Look, those papers are part of the contract. I just want to be thorough” Murdock reported, giving up the box like a good little boy and biting back a grimace at the sight of the back of the target’s hand.

(Was that tattoo seriously supposed to be depicting a lion’s head? If so, then it was proof of miracles, because it would’ve made the damn Gripsholm Lion look natural!)

His sudden surge of disbelief and disappointment was quickly calmed by smugness. He could tell when he was being lied to, but that didn’t really bother him right now. The pack of lies he’d personally help to set up for this job were much more clever. 

“Besides,” he added, ever-so-slightly raising his voice, “you can never really tell when there’s some extra eyes or ears around. Not until it’s too late, I mean.” 

The target snorted, rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a smirk. “Okay, calm down with the conspiracy, buddy.” He walked past Murdock to set the clipboard and pen down on his coffee table, his focus now consumed by the package. He fished a small knife out of his pocket, pushing the blade toward the thick line of tape. “Since you bring up eyes and ears, though. . .have you heard anything about my trigger? It’s been a good while since I sent him out, and he hasn’t reported back to me at all.” 

“I’m afraid not. I did try to ask around, though,” Murdock answered, his expression flickering. 

On one hand, the target had his back to him yet again; Murdock knew he had acting skills, but just how little this guy thought things through almost made his performance way too easy. 

On the other hand, the target turning his back to Murdock meant he had to look at that second stupid fucking face again. 

Oh, well.

He kept speaking, making sure the sound of his voice drowned out the way he carefully dragged one of his own knives down the length of the larger package. “But I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We’ve all gotta lay low after a job, don’t we? Your guy is probably a lot closer than you realize.”

The larger package silently twitched. A pair of brown eyes glinted at Murdock through the sliver of space between cardboard folds. The hitman smirked, raising a hand to count down on his fingers and mouthing along.

Three. . .two. . .

The scream that tore through the air was at an octave usually reserved for fire alarms, but neither Murdock nor his accomplice flinched at it. 

A small thump followed the distress call, which was now breaking apart into shorter wails as the target backed away from the box he’d just opened. Murdock copied those movements, making sure to stay behind him. The target turned around soon enough, of course, his face contorted in absolute horror at the fact that he’d gotten so close to a pale, dried-blood-covered human foot instead of the cocaine block he’d been expecting.

“Y-you. . !” The target cried, now charging forward, anger joining his fear. “What tHE FUCK IS—”

His words suddenly wilted into unintelligible sputters of pain. He’d been a mere inch from Murdock when a blurry shape came jettisoning out of the larger package to collide with his neck, forcing him to double over.

“Haven’t you heard to not blame the messanger?” A new voice inquired, sounding like a casual lacing of venom in sugar. A petite woman emerged from the package, holding an unusually large packing tape dispenser and narrowing her eyes at the target in a way that should’ve turned him to stone. “I mean, this whole thing was my idea, so. . .”

“I’m not denying that,” Murdock promised, jokingly doffing his delivery cap to Azalea.

Azalea, in turn, nodded, her expression shifting from composed fury to maniacal at lightspeed. The target tried to regain his bearings, tried to keep shouting, but she had other ideas. In a single, fluid movement, she stepped closer and bashed the tape dispenser against his nose. She repeated this action until the target was on the floor, and even then she kept swinging the strange choice of weapon up and down onto his head again, and again, and again, and again. 

Murdock was prepared to step in, but his instincts told him that wouldn’t be necessary. His expression grew more curious than sinister as he watched his colleague convince the target that he could be a phrenologist’s dream come true. Sure, the tape dispenser had some solid weight to it, but. . .wow.

“Impressive,” Murdock mused once the target finally when still and Azalea finally paused for breath. “And I thought I’d end up having to knock him out.” 

“What, am I supposed to just let you take all the credit?” Azalea huffed a laugh, rising to her feet to look up into her accomplice’s dark eyes. “This is a half-and-half job.”

“It sure is.” Murdock knelt down beside the target’s unconscious form, fishing a few zip-ties as well as a bundle of thick cloth out of his disguise jacket’s interior pockets. Once the target was properly bound and gagged, Murdock crammed him into the same package that Azalea had previously been hiding in, not being the least bit gentle. He held the panels closed so Azalea could reseal them (which was a bit awkward, since the tape dispenser was now broken due to being used as a makeshift hammer).

“I’m a little surprised Cal let me take this,” Murdock mentioned as he strolled across the target’s living room, leaning down to stuff the severed foot back into the small package. 

Azalea shrugged. “Feet are mostly just skin and bones. Plus, from what he’s told me, they just sell better on some markets than others.” 

“. . .I mean, do the connoisseurs of those ‘other markets’ really know if the feet they’re looking up are still attached to people?” Murdock pondered, cackling when Azalea rolled her eyes and lightly punched him in the side. 

“I texted the cleaning crew while I was in there,” Azalea pronounced, nodding to the larger package and its new cargo. “They should be here in thirty minutes or so.”

“Great!” Murdock nodded, remembering that The Pentas Family’s chop-shop was in need of a new car. “And we’re still set on the site you picked out?” 

At his cohort’s affirmative hum, he bared his teeth in a patented, dangerous grin. He grabbed the dolly’s handle, then gestured to the front door. “Shall we, then?”

Azalea’s smile was a bit more lively, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t frightening. “Let’s.” 

___

Reilpi Woods was a quaint place. It was only a fifteen-minute drive from the Cove Port Inlets, stretching for miles and miles and miles; a good portion of it grew near the beaches and along the seaside cliffs. Sure, its title kind of sounded like the beginning of a drunk madman’s attempt at a prophecy, but it really was a nice place. A convenient place, too.

With how deep it went, it could be plausible for someone to, hypothetically, get lost on a camping trip and never come back. That also made up for many of the hardships that came with burying a body (after tricking the authorities into digging up untouched soil in a specific location with a false report, of course). 

The branches on the majority of its trees intertwined with one another, forming more than enough of a shield from both the sun or the odd camera-equipped drone piloted by some background character whose life could potentially be changed for the worse.

The trees in question came in varying heights: some were as towering as houses, and others were short enough to be scaled quite easily. 

Murdock had chosen a tree that seemed to be right in the middle of those categories. It didn’t take too much effort to aim and toss the long end of the rope coil over a thick, sturdy branch. He gave the line an experimental tug, just to be certain it was secure, then began pulling it hand-over-fist. 

“HMPE. Nice,” Azalea complimented, watching her accomplice work as she retrieved the small, pink-stained wooden chest she’d previously hidden in the decoy mail truck’s glove compartment. 

“I only work with the best,” Murdock replied cheerfully. “The hardware store had a great sale earlier this week.” 

Once his and Azalea’s target had been hoisted a few inches, just able to stand upright with bound wrists suspended over his head, Murdock strode over to a smaller tree nearby, tying the end of the rope into a tight knot around its trunk.

When exactly the target had regained consciousness, neither of them could be sure. By the time he’d started making noise, they’d already driven a good, long way into the heart of the forest. He’d tried to start running as soon as Murdock reopened that package, only to collapse on his face about three seconds afterwards. Even now, strung up and shirtless, he apparently still thought there was some use in writhing. He kicked and swayed, eyes bulging, chest heaving. His attempts to hurl obscenities at his captors were well-muffled by the gag that’d been tied around his mouth. 

Azalea dragged a collapsable table out of the trunk, unfolded it a few feet away from where the target stood, and set the aforementioned pink chest on top of it. 

“So,” Murdock pronounced as he walked past her, carrying a long leather case he’d produced from under the driver’s seat. “How much time do you think you’ll need?”

Azalea hummed as she pried the little chest open: five empty syringes had been organized into a little pyramid, kept in balance by the line of five glass vials sitting right beside them. “Well, each dosage will need at least a few minutes to take effect. I already have some pretty good estimates, so maybe. . .twenty-five minutes? At most?” 

“Yeah, that’ll be just fine.” Murdock nodded. “Becky’s a fast worker.” 

Though Azalea didn’t pause as she pushed a needle into a rubber stopper, she still couldn’t help but chuckle.

Murdock refused to stop his movements as well. While opening up the leather case and lifting a shovel out, he raised an eyebrow at his colleague’s laughter. “What’s so funny?” 

Azalea tilted her head, flicking at the now full syringe before setting it down to prepare one of the others. “You always give the others flack for naming their equipment, but you don’t have any room to talk.” 

“Excuse you, I’ve got tons of room,” Murdock protested. “Becky is special. She’s been there for me ever since I started out.”  He hugged the shovel close, some brief yet total adoration worming its way onto his face. He then spun Becky in his hands and brought her tip down into the soil about ten feet from where the target was hanging. 

“Good for her,” Azalea replied. “Still, are you sure you’ll be done around the same time I am? I wouldn’t want to just keep you out here for hours.”

Slight hypocrite or not, Murdock did have a bit of a point. The blades of Becky’s cutting tip were ridged, implying that she was capable of slicing through more than just dirt. There were black grips along the socket and handle. She truly had a polish to her, one that would seem more appropriate on a blessed and/or cursed weapon of yore. 

“Hours?” Murdock barked a sarcastic laugh, glancing back and forth between Azalea and the ground. He worked himself into a pattern of movement, the little pile of loose dirt beside him growing bit by bit. “Becky and I will race you, Aza!”

Azalea blinked, placing a hand on her hip. “That hole’s gonna have to be six feet deep, at least.”

“And it will be!” Murdock insisted. Nodding at the target, he added, “Plus, we’ll be putting him in vertically.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Azalea retorted. She fidgeted in place. “. . .Aren’t longer holes harder to dig out than wider holes?”

There was no response from Murdock this time. He just kept digging, though he peered up at her over his glasses. His eyes were just barely visible, but that expectant, daring look was obvious.

“Okay, then.” Azalea offered a polite shrug before turning on her heel and approaching the target. 

The target snarled at her, raised a leg to try and kick her. But as she gracefully sidestepped out of the way, she saw how he finally seemed to notice what was now in her hand. His scowl wavered, his muffled insults came to an abrupt halt, the patches of skin unmarked by tattoos turned pale as the needle caught a stray beam of light peeking through the canopy above. 

Azalea rolled the first syringe between her fingers, thoughtful as she paced around the soon-to-be sentient pincushion. She had the experience to know which areas were most sensitive to injections: hands, the soles of the feet, palates, that little groove between the upper lip and the nose. 

She couldn’t really go for any of those areas right now, but that wouldn’t be a problem. Run-of-the-mill muscles could always make getting a shot more of a struggle than strictly necessary. 

With that in mind, Azalea halted in her tracks just behind the target. He tried to turn himself around to keep facing her, but he wasn’t fast enough. He didn’t even have time to recoil as she stabbed the needle deep into his lumbar, effectively piercing the tattooed eye of a snake that had bent fangs and looked more drunk than menacing. 

Azalea pressed the plunger down with enough force to almost risk crushing it. She held onto it for a few long seconds, just to be sure, then stepped back. The syringe stayed in place when she let go of it, well and truly stuck in the target’s skin. 

Slowly but surely, a dark red bead rose up around where the needle met the syringe’s hub. And as it began to trickle down, leaving a thin, red streak to disrupt the tattoos below that embarrassing snake, the target started bellowing. 

The cries were low at first, but they grew louder in no time, broken up by the target’s gasps for air. The skin around the injection site was already swelling—it couldn’t really be compared to an allergic reaction or the like, but it was still horribly noticeable.

From what Azalea had heard, Gila monster venom caused an intense burning sensation, as well as dizziness, a rapid heart rate, and sometimes even a decrease in blood pressure.  Cases of being bitten by the lizard in question were rarely ever fatal, but that was just fine.

A dosage of something fatal would’ve been too good for the target.

About a week had passed since the incident.

That one spot on Azalea’s arm still ached and stung like no other, but she didn’t have to wrap a new set of bandages around it anymore. The dull red mark still stuck out against the rest of her skin, but it seemed to be getting a little smaller every day. Hell, by now it could’ve been mistaken for a simple scrape, as though Azalea just had a disagreement with the sidewalk pavement. 

The tranquilizer gun fit shockingly well in the pocket of her vest. The weapon was a lot like Azalea, actually; it was small enough to underestimate, and it packed way more than enough of a punch to make whoever was doing the underestimating regret all the choices they’d made to get to that point.  

Azalea didn’t need to use it very often—remember, her way of work was all about stealth and cunning and HAHA YOU FOOL, YOU’LL NEVER LOOK AT A COOKIE THE SAME WAY AGAIN BECAUSE YOU’RE DEAD NOW!—but ever since that fateful evening, she’d made a point to carry it every moment she wasn’t in the public eye. Once she and her peers all made sure that the threat was truly gone, she’d return it to that innocent-looking little safebox in her cabinet. 

The Pentas Family wasn’t on total lockdown; just lying low for a bit. There’d been no complaints about The Boss’ orders, of course. Just like there was no doubting that they’d come out on top. But that impromptu emergency meeting had still been so tense. . .

Azalea gave the Gila monster venom about three minutes to work its magic. The target had yet to vomit, but the nausea in his eyes was painful just to look at. 

She checked in on Becky and Murdock, who were still preparing the grave.

The mound of dirt had definitely grown, but the bottom of the hole was still very much shallow. 

Murdock glanced up as his accomplice approached. He stayed just as silent as Becky, but the sheer amount of excited determination on his face spoke volumes. 

Azalea didn’t really have anything to say either, so she just gave him a curt nod before retreating to start the next phase of the session. 

Warrior wasp venom wasn’t lethal, but it could almost make you wish it was. The insect in question was aggressive and territorial, so encounters with it weren’t exactly uncommon in certain parts of South America. 

Some victims likened the sting to boiling oil being poured over your skin. Others compared it to being chained down in front of an active volcano, right in the path of all that flowing lava. Perhaps no two victims could describe it in the exact same way? 

Azalea wasn’t certain, and she probably never would be. It wasn’t like the target had a chance to give her a description.

Or. . .maybe he did, in a way.

Because just a moment after she stabbed the second syringe into his right deltoid, he confirmed the rumor that warrior wasp venom made people sound absolutely insane when they screamed. 

Azalea lightly shook her head, drumming her nails against the box she was carrying in time with her footsteps. Aforementioned box was full of sweets, but unlike many of its predecessors, none of those sweets would end up killing whoever decided to help themself. 

K.O. deserved a reward for being so quick and so efficient with the bullet graze, after all. Yes, he’d already gotten paid for taking on the last-minute assignments, but Azalea couldn’t just not thank him personally. 

Due to his walnut allergy, K.O. had to be very, very careful about the treats he consumed. Anything involving chocolate was almost always too risky, but Azalea had plenty of recipes for different types of candy. She knew this gift wasn’t much, but she also knew that K.O. would still be happy with it. 

As if on cue, K.O. popped up right as Azalea rounded the corner. He was halfway leaning through the door to his den, light streaming across the old platform. What a coincidence: Azalea hadn’t told him about her plan to stop by, but she’d still predicted that he’d be down here. 

What she hadn’t predicted was for Caliban to be down here, too. Last she’d heard, her brother was running his own errands around town. But, sure enough, here he was, doubled-over and gritting his teeth as he trudged onto the old platform from the opposite direction. 

That was what made Azalea stop short before she could call out to either of them. 

Something was wrong.

Caliban always kept his back straight unless. . .

An awful type of energy slithered along Azalea’s neck as she quickened her pace, nearly dropping her cargo.

A panicked shout caught in her throat, making both Caliban and K.O. flinch as they finally looked over and realized she was here with wide eyes. 

Even with the dark blue shade of the fabric, it was easy to see a stain blooming through the lower half of Caliban’s button-down. 

Even in the dim lighting, it was easy to see how the hand Caliban pressed against his stomach was covered in glistening red.

Even through the immediate cacophony of questions on Azalea’s part and instructions on K.O.’s part, it was easy to hear droplets of blood plopping against concrete as they trickled out between Caliban’s fingers. 

Yet another wasp’s venom was next on Azalea’s list for the session, so the syringe containing it would go in the target’s left deltoid. To compliment the other, see?

Not immediately, though.

“The guy you sent is dead,” Azalea announced, speaking to the target for the first time since she’d knocked him unconscious. Her voice was soft, and muffled, agonized, unintelligible groans were still leaking out of his mouth. But she knew that he could hear her. 

“. . .Or, I’m pretty sure he is, at least. He was kept alive for a few days after his little stunt, but there’s no saving him now,” she continued. 

Visible shivers had been wracking their way up and down the target’s body all this time. Azalea knew that they were involuntary, that they were just more side-effects of the poisons she’d given him so far.

Now, however, he froze in place.

Azalea smirked, practically able to see her words registering in his mind. “Nobody’s going to find either of you, y’know. Even if someone actually tries to look, they won’t get any leads.”

She resumed her pacing, never taking her eyes off the target, watching as his ragged breathing stuttered. 

“I know, I know. Scenarios like that are pretty underwhelming, but that’s more on you for springing this on us the way you did.” Azalea shrugged as she passed the syringe from one hand to the other. 

Her smile widened a bit. “Don’t worry, though! We’ll try to make things more interesting for your other cronies. I bet one of them will end up being found again and again for a month or so. It’ll have to happen in a different city, but that’s not too big of a problem.”

Tarantula hawks got their name from their frightening diet, but that most certainly wasn’t the only thing they were infamous for. By some terrifying miracle, their stings truly felt similar to an active hair dryer after it was dropped into someone’s bathtub. They were described as explosive

The toxin was apparently explosive enough to give the impression of electric currents literally tearing their way through your bloodstream. 

“This is like a weird variation of sibling ESP,” K.O. blurted as he carefully prodded at the puncture site with gloved hands. “Really, I’m surprised some cosmic imbalance hasn’t been triggered.”

“Don’t remind me,” Azalea replied, wringing her hands. She’d just returned from washing them for the third time. The skin around her knuckles almost felt a little dry. 

“Hey, if I had to be jumped, at least it was by an amateur,” Caliban mused, chewing his lip while staring at the ceiling. A good few minutes had passed since he'd stopped shaking and choking on air. It seemed the sheer awkwardness of having to lay across someone else’s workout equipment with his shirt half-unbuttoned was balancing out his stress. 

“Good point,” K.O. agreed as he soaked yet another washcloth into the bucket of cold, clean water he’d brought from upstairs.“I don’t really work with knives, and I can still see how that idiot should’ve used a drill if he wanted to cause some real penetration.”

The resulting fit of snickers on Caliban’s part were so sudden and loud that he lurched forward. Said snickers automatically had to compete with the way Caliban sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth as K.O. swept the washcloth over the latest wound.

“. . .I should’ve seen that coming.” The mental image of a person’s guts getting all twisted around a drill bit wasn’t pretty, but Azalea still clicked her tongue and fondly rolled her eyes as she carried over a thick roll of gauze.“If Murdock isn’t around to make jokes like that, then someone else always will. Always.” 

“We’ve all gotta do our part.”  K.O. took the bandages, offering a proud, smug grin in return. “Okay, Cal: sit up slowly but don’t move your feet too much. And keep your arms above your stomach.” 

Caliban was still giggling at the semi-dirty quip as he complied with the other mobster’s instructions. His face fell, however, as he looked down at the new gash on the left side of his abdomen. Sure, the bleeding had stopped, and sure, it was actively being hidden by layers of fresh heavy-duty bandages. 

But even with the knowledge that it hadn’t gone deep enough to cause any serious infections, Azalea could tell that it hurt much more than Caliban was letting on. She sidled around K.O., careful to give him enough space as she stood beside her brother. She quietly rested one of her hands on his shoulder, trying to help him stay steady. 

Despite the initial panic, things had moved nice and quickly. Time hadn’t even seemed to slow down and make everything feel worse for once.

It hadn’t exactly been pleasant to feel her brother’s blood spill onto her hands while K.O. rushed to get something more effective for applying pressure, but Azalea knew how much of a tough cookie he was. This wasn’t the first time Caliban had gotten stabbed; this wasn’t even the worst example out of all the other scars decorating his torso. If he could heal up from all those other cases, then this one would be a cakewalk. He was going to be fine.

Azalea stared into her brother’s eyes, hoping to somehow filter all those little reminders into his brain without speaking. 

Caliban stared right back at her. And, judging by the way his features seemed to relax a bit more, her efforts were successful. “That’s the thing about stabbing,” he finally continued, the usual grin back on his face. “You have to know where just the right spots are if you want to be effective. Otherwise you’ll just make the rest of us look bad.” 

“Well, I’m sure you can give that moron a proper demonstration once we track him down,” Azalea promised, madness flickering along her otherwise gentle expression. 

The tired look returned to Caliban’s eyes. He let out a melodramatic sigh, shaking his head sulkily. “No, I really can’t.”

“Why not?” K.O. asked as he secured the last layer of padding.

“Because the guy was covered in tattoos!” Caliban threw his hands up in frustration, eyes growing wider and just a bit more wild than before. “And when I say covered, I mean COVERED! Ink like that just completely ruins the meat! Makes it taste horrible!” He made the mistake of ever-so-slightly stretching his stomach, which prompted him to grind his jaw, screw his eyes shut and fall back with yet another hiss. 

“. . .So, you’re saying other types of ink could make people taste better?” K.O. wondered with a smirk. 

“Yes, K.O. That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Caliban deadpanned, craning his neck to raise an eyebrow at his colleague, who held up his hands in mock surrender. 

Azalea, meanwhile, kept drawing circles on Caliban’s shoulder, all the ideas on what to do to her brother’s attacker quickly forming a maze in her mind.

“. . .They weren’t even flattering tattoos,” Caliban murmured, gingerly folding his arms across his chest. “Seriously, there was a pinup girl on one of his arms and she looked like a random stranger just offered to share a toilet seat with her.” 

“Did you seriously not see this coming?” Azalea inquired, halting right in front of the target. “That’s hard to believe.”

The fourth and final syringe was ready. It was almost as long as a pencil, wider than the three that had been used before it. Its needle was thicker, shinier, sharper, the meanest-looking thing in Azalea’s collection. But even if it wasn’t, that wouldn’t have mattered.

When you were handling a dosage of fresh, pure, unadulterated bullet ant venom—a substance that was infamous for literally being described as “walking over flaming charcoal with three-inch nails in your heels”—nothing really mattered.

“Turning the art festival into a gun range wasn’t enough, huh? You just couldn’t resist going after my brother yourself.”

The target’s head had been hanging. He must’ve been tired from shaking it side-to-side as if that would somehow convince his brain to magically alleviate the torment. But it suddenly jerked up like that of a marionette puppet.

Like a new, foreign weight had just settled around his shoulders, encouraging the tiny rivers of blood to keep trickling down his chest and back. Not chasing all the pain away, but somehow managing to distract him from it, if only for a moment. His bloodshot, watery eyes seemed to grow even wider than before as he stared at his torturer. 

“What, couldn’t you tell?” A sarcastic chuckle bubbled up in Azalea’s throat. “I know he’s a lot taller than me, but still: isn’t the resemblance obvious?”

She pretended to mull the question over for a few long seconds, then snapped her fingers.

“Oh wait, that’s right! There really is no way you could’ve known about that.”

She rested her thumb on the syringe’s plunger. Her knuckles were turning white as she kept the barrel pinned between her index and middle finger.

“You probably didn’t even know I was there for your first little rendezvous. . .” she continued, drawing even nearer, now holding her little weapon aloft. 

The target attempted to stagger back, attempted to turn his head away.

Azalea, in response, reached up and gripped his chin, digging her nails into the skin of his jaw as she forced him to face her. Her other hand was a blur, the syringe glinting hungrily.

“. . .Because you’re just a bottom-feeding coward.”

The needle sank into the target’s flesh; the left side of his abdomen, to be specific. 

There was still half of the venom left in the syringe when the target started screaming. His legs gave out from under him as though his bones had dissolved into his blood. As his knees couldn’t touch the ground, he swayed to and fro in a very unnatural manner with such violent convulsions that he could’ve been mistaken for having a seizure. 

He’d been screaming for the majority of the session, of course, but this scream was. . .something else. It was like nothing Azalea had ever heard before; and this wasn’t even the first time she’d used bullet ant venom.

Eh, what else could be expected from the brilliant, intense, undeniable crown queen of pain?

Even with the new ache in her ears, Azalea felt a smile etch its way across her face. It wasn’t calm just yet, but it would get there eventually. She’d reached her goal: there was no way in hell that this target wasn’t regretting his choice to screw around with her, Caliban, and the rest of their family. 

“Looks like I’m done over here,” Azalea pronounced, wiping her hands as she turned to look at Murdock. “Sorry if all this noise has been bothering you.”

“Oh, not at all,” Murdock reassured, his voice suspiciously more chipper than tired. 

Azalea was about to jokingly ask if he’d brought a second shovel along so she could help him finish digging out the grave.

She was about to. . .but she couldn’t.

Surprisingly enough, the way her jaw hit the ground didn’t disrupt the pile of dirt beside Murdock, which had transformed from an improvised molehill to a small mountain. It even seemed to be a couple inches taller than he was! The hole that’d been excavated was just wide enough to put an adult human in feet-first. It also seemed to go much, much deeper than six feet; a sunray was shining down into it, and yet the bottom was still shrouded in darkness!

“H-how—HOW—?!” Azalea stammered, glancing back and forth between Murdock and the pit.

“Like I said, Aza: Becky works fast,” Murdock explained without really explaining, smirking like a bastard as he rested his arms on his beloved shovel’s handle. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGH!” The target tried to add. 

Azalea blinked, slowly raising her hands to massage her temples and reminding herself that she and Murdock had someone to bury. There wasn’t time to question the potential reality-bending powers of some tactical shovel. “Fine, okay, whatever. Could you just bring him down, please?”

Murdock nodded. “My pleasure.” He cradled Becky in his arms one last time before setting her back down in her leather case and returning it to the decoy mail truck. After that, he made his way over to where he’d tied the line. Azalea followed him, orbiting around the target one last time before the rope went loose.

Just because those four syringes were empty didn’t mean she wanted to waste them, after all.

@rebar2042 @sammys-magical-au

#the thirteen days of goretober 2023 #goretober 2023 #my writing #my stories #iswm murdock #murdock/murderplier #markiplier #mark fischbach #azalea/aza #rosanna pansino #nerdy nummies egos #caliban #caliban the cannibal #matpat #matthew patrick #egopats #k.o. #k.o./kaiser oasis #ethan nestor #crankgameplays #crankegos #fanmade egos #my characters #my fan egos #the pentas family #[the future mob project] #tw physical violence #tw abduction #tw syringes #tw poisoning

[publicdomaindisabledcharacters]

Hauntlight and Cenotaph, a pair of original, public domain characters created for the also public domain book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin Abbot Abbot.

This character reference sheet took like four days to make.

[ID: Two images, both compilations of drawings of two original characters, Hauntlight and Cenotaph.

The first drawing, which focuses on Hauntlight, is titled, "Hauntlight - it/its/itself pronouns only, yes, even in mundane, 'all-human' AUs. It's not human, only human-passing, even if born to human parents.

From top to bottom and left to right, the following drawings are labled:

"Daemon / aether / familiar is always a rabbit", showing a simple drawing of a tan rabbit, and a purple and grey shape with three lobes to represent a Flatland rabbit.

Next is a simple black line that has zig-zags and a fork at the end, with the same Flatland rabbit shape next to it for scale, showing it comes up to around where the back section forks.

Next to this is the same zig-zagged line, colored in orange, labled, "Can be thicker, though its exoskeleton is abnormally thin".

Next to this is a crude scribble drawing of a humanoid figure with ink-black skin, withd a dark brown heart shape in the center of its torso, with three stripes on either side like a rib cage. Each ankle and wrist, along with its spade-tipped tail, has two more brown stripes, one thin, one thick. It is missing one eye, with the other orange with a brown pupil. It has pointed ears, a tall asymetrical horn on one side of its head, and grey flopped over hair on the other.

It is labled, "Huamnoid! Asymetrical hair. Triped, cat face, animal ears, 1 horn, stylized grey hair, ink-black skin, 1 eye, needs glasses." Next to its right hand, which we see on the left, is a orange and yellow cane.

After this is a pale human seen from the knees up, labeled, "Human-passing! Earth (with daemons). 'Disguised' as a boy (not really, lol). Gets to have crutches!".

This version of the character is wearing a brown eye patch over its missing left eye, with its other eye black, wearing a grey-brown shirt under a dark brown vest, and warm brown pants with a dark belt. It has wooden forearm crutches, and wears a dark brown newsie cap.

After this is another version of the line from before, labled, "Most simplified! If drawn as a solid shape, should be black or orange", with a smiley face emoji. Next is a "Literal Line", purple with a grey outline, labled, "too short, ran out of paper. Grey exo, 2x repro organs, 1 set functional".

The last form is a humanoid form with three legs and two arms, with a single large cyclops eye in the center of its round head, which is tipped with a swooped arrow like a spear point. It has the same colors and pattern as the earlier humanoid, with ink-black skin and brown markings.

It has the same yellow and orange cane drawn over its right hand, which has an uncolored pencil drawing below it showing three rounded, "long webbed fingers". The rest of the labels are, "three legs", with an arrow pointing at its far left leg, which we see on the right, labeling it "worst leg: left leg", with its simple rounded feet "like hooves". Next to it is a separate spade-tipped tail, labled, "Can have spade tail [because] tails are cool, but not required. Finally, there is a drawing of a large, yellow and orange cyclops goggle labled, "could wear eyeglass if not living under The Current Regime".

The last part of text reads, "Black skin like pen ink, just light enough 2 differentiate from lines, or lineless.".

The second drawing shows three digital drawings on a black background, with white outlines, showing different styles of an original Flatland character, Cenotaph.

The first style is labeled, “Literal Line”, and shows an upward pointing arrow with a small box around the straight tail, with small curved lines coming off the sides, like cilia.

The second is labeled, “Speculative”, and shows a more detailed Flatland version as seen from above. In this form, Cenotaph has a grey exoskeleton, and a body with a rounded main section, and two long ear-shaped sections at the top, with its eye in the center. Its blood is purple, and its brain, lung, stomachs, heart, and reproductive organs are in different shades of pink and dark red.

Attached to the sides of its main body section are two cage-like contraptions with five points boring into Cenotaph’s exoskeleton, with the outside covered in the same short curved likes as the simplified version as cilia or fins. One side of the “swimmer” is colored gold to make it easier to see, the other is greyscale. Where the barbs are injected into Cenotaph’s exoskeleton, there are thick black lines of scar tissue around them.

The final drawing is labled, “Stylized”, and shows a three-dimensional cartoon rabbit walking on all fours, with an orange and yellow wheelchair holding its back legs up off the ground, with orange straps and yellow cushioning. The rabbit is dark brown, with three black stripes on its back, a black fluffy tail, and two stripes, one thick, the other thin, on its ankles and ears, with a single large orange eye with a brown slit pupil in the center of its face instead of a mouth.

End ID.]

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An original character / self insert created for the setting of Edwin Abbot Abbot's Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, which is public domain.

You can read or download it for free from Project Gutenberg here:

"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/201"

There's a great free audiobook on the web archive here:

"https://archive.org/details/Flatland_Book/01+1+-+Flatland.mp3"

My art (including many more than shown here!) of this character can be downloaded in HD from the web archive here:

"https://archive.org/details/hauntlight-the-irregular-line"

You can also check out the tags here on tumblr, "Hauntlight the Irregular Line", and "Cenotaph the rabbit aether".

#long post #very long post #character reference sheet #described images #public domain characters #public domain disabled characters #public domain trans characters #public domain nonbinary characters #public domain mobiliy aid user characters #trans characters #nonbinary characters #disabled characters #physically disabled characters #autistic characters #neurodivergent characters #Hauntlight the Irregular Line #Cenotaph the rabbit aether #Flatland #Flatland OCs #Flatland A Romance of Many Dimensions