Tumgik
#I just immediately found the parallels & thought they were funny
voidfishbitch · 1 year
Text
So excited to meet the Steeplechase PC’s
- Amber Gris but a Guy
- Technomagical Ned Chicane
- Devo if he decided to work at Nermal’s full time
199 notes · View notes
zvmz · 5 months
Text
A few Briar Beauty HCs <3
super common hc but briar has narcolepsy
which is funny because its not even a side effect of her destiny. it just coincidentally runs in the family
her mom and one of her brothers have it as well
she speaks spanish and french, along with the rest of her family
besides her mother, shes the only one in her immediate family who speaks english
def chronically online
nobody understands at least half her references
takes oct 3 (mean girls day) VERY SERIOUSLY
NOTHING will prevent her from having a mean girls watch party
says "swag", "slay", and "yolo" way too much
can only actually get along with faybelle when they are both drunk
otherwise its constant old married couple bickering
has a tiktok with over a million followers where she posts all the crazy stuff she does
faybelle will never admit it but every time briar does one of said crazy, potentially dangerous things, she will usually go keep an eye on her from a distance to make sure shes okay
her body is littered with small scars either from the crazy stuff she does or from falling asleep at bad times
she actually likes some of the scars though because they "tell stories" and show all the adventures shes had
she calls everything sexy. even if it doesnt make sense
like if shes eating an amazing burger she'll say "this is the sexiest burger ever"
has fist-fighted faybelle in a mcdonalds parking lot at 2 am
she loathed headmaster grimm since the moment she met him
has a shopping and caffeine addiction
hasnt even worn half the things in her closet before
occasionally invites some of the less well-off students to come go through her closet and take a few things
after her rebellion when she found out the smell of coffee makes raven nauseous she made the effort to stop drinking it around her
a huge sacrifice on her part
is always the passenger princess (shes a horrible driver)
never once successfully parallel parked (real)
almost never gets to hangout with ashlynn outside of school/dorm because ashlynns always working
sometimes she just goes and does her thronework in the glass slipper while ashlynns working
frequently brings ashlynn a hocus latte while shes working
is NOT a fan of blondie
complains about her daily
once blondie tried to interview her briar just said "absolutely not" and walked away
she didnt agree with ravens rebellious actions at first
but the more she questioned her destiny, the more she came the sympthasize with her and admire her
after she rebelled she went to personally thank raven for taking the first step and giving her courage
she always thought it would be fun to become friends with maddie, lizzie, and kitty, even though the whole school thought they were crazy
in her words "crazy is just another word for fun"
she just never got the opportunity to actually hang out with them
since her narcolepsy causes her to just collapse wherever with little warning, it can be very dangerous for her to go anywhere alone
on more than one occasion ashlynn and several others would have to go our searching for briar after she fell asleep while running errands alone
after the second time she forbade briar from going out alone
briar has listened to her (for the most part) cus she felt bad she was putting her friends through that
what character should i do next?
108 notes · View notes
bloodgulchblog · 14 days
Note
Have you seen that YouTube video where some guy reads every Halo novel back to back and then reviews them? If so what did you think
The Brian David Gilbert one? Oh yeah, all my friends showed me it when it came out. (It was honestly kind of cute seeing how many people thought of me immediately.)
Rewatching it to refresh myself because it's been a couple years and a full-novel reread for me since the last time...
youtube
High fiving BDG because the Master Chief parts of The Flood were definitely the most boring parts.
He didn't have anything to say about First Strike which I think is a shame because I think it's better than The Fall of Reach and actually has A Theme I Find Interesting.
Rightful recognition of Contact Harvest as pretty damn good.
Rightful recognition of the Forerunner Trilogy as dense oldschool-style SF with deep worldbuilding. (Also the San'Shyuum thing.)
I disagree with him about, and have significant problems with, Kilo Five. He is correct that Kilo Five actually delves into some of the dark places in Halo in a way it really needed, and I would even say that its writing is extremely engaging by Halo novel standards. However, while he does notice the obvious parallels between what ONI is doing post-war and the kind of shit the CIA has pulled again and again irl, I think he misses some of the subtext I see where it feels like it justifies some shit a liiiiittle too much if you know the author's irl politics re: the military. He also doesn't seem to notice the character assassinations (particularly of Catherine Halsey) that I and a lot of other fans see/object to in those books. I kind of gaze into the middle distance with a haunted expression at the suggestion that these are the ones to read if you don't touch any of the others just because they are, ironically, so heavy-handed and feel like they treat certain kinds of evil as inevitable in a way that actually feels way worse to me than the excuse plot offered by the earlier/lighter Halo novels. (But idk, that's me? Nobody is committing a crime if they disagree with my frenzied insane person red string diagrams about Kilo Five.)
I'd swap Pariah for Dirt in the Evolutions anthology if it were me, but I think these are solid standouts.
Tumblr media
Broken Circle is neat but really nonessential he's not wrong.
A one-sentence review of New Blood is probably not enough space to get into how fucked up the Spartan-IV program is, but yeah. New Blood is fun if you don't find Buck's first person narration annoying. (It comes and goes for me in that one.)
Tumblr media
BDG you're an absolute sweetheart, I think Hunters in the Dark is kind of goofy in a way I cannot in good conscience ignore if I'm gonna review it. But it really really is so much fun and I love that one a lot anyway. The "it's like Halo 3... 2" observation is solid.
High fiving him again because I also found Last Light disappointing. And it is also a me problem.
Fractures!
Tumblr media
Hell yeah these are all good pulls from Fractures, I would say Shadow of Intent is the pick of the litter in that anthology for me. Interesting that as a Kilo Five enjoyer he didn't single out Rossbach's World, which is the last we've heard about Osman and Black Box. (Also, that one is good.) I think Oasis is worth an honorable mention because I'm an Envoy stan, and the Forerunner stories are interesting but I wouldn't go for them if you don't already have a healthy interest in the trilogy.
This tangent is so fucking funny now that we know more things:
Tumblr media
Oh BDG, oh buddy, it's really not for the people like you and me huh. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if BDG likes the Halo tv show or not and I have no desire to dig up evidence about it.)
Also, while you're here, this is the bloodgulchblog origin story:
Tumblr media
Smoke and Shadow is fun so it's a little sad that when he ends that sentence with "whatever," I can't actually say he's wrong to. (Sorry Rion your part of the lore just.... hasn't... touched anything that touches anything else anymore.)
ENVOY IS GOOD AND EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT okay okay I'm cool I'm normal, anyway. Envoy is the Halo novel that restored my faith in reading Halo novels and reminded me that authors can care and know how to do nuanced, interesting themes in this space. It's great. Everyone in this book has war refugee trauma (except the Spartans which have Spartan trauma) and that's incredible to me. Please care about Envoy if you have spare room in your heart for Halo side characters.
I am cheered to see someone indifferent to the Veta Lopis stories, but I still feel petty for feeling it.
I don't have a lot to say about Legacy of Onyx here but it's always so fun seeing someone else suffer and care.
Bad Blood, the Blood is Bad now is a fun joke but lol yeah. It does have this very vital moment where Chief and Arbiter talk, though. For the first and only time in years.
PROPS FOR NOTICING THE YA NOVELS they're actually pretty nice.
"The Master Chief is the protagonist and boy does he shoot some people" is most of how I feel about Silent Storm and Oblivion too, I know they have their fans but Troy Denning's Chief books don't do much for me personally.
Renegades hadn't had its followup Point of Light yet but yeah, Spark stuff is interesting.
I had to remember that oh yeah, there are multiple books now that didn't exist when this was made. I wonder if he read them?
OKAY I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY as always if y'all want specific book opinions, I might have a tag for them. Or just yell in my ask box, I'm sure I can scrounge up some thoughts.
19 notes · View notes
tamamita · 1 year
Note
Hi, i tried to lookup this info online but I don’t want to be too misinformed about this religion. Since you’re a professor in religious studies, I figured I could ask you. There is a religion based in the Philippines called Iglesia ni Cristo, founded in 1914 i believe. By all accounts from what i read, it sounds like a form of Christian religion, but under guise also seems like a cult. Have you heard of this religion? I could be misinformed, however I looked up this religion after an acquaintance mentioned that they attend twice a week masses(a requirement to stay in the church, otherwise you will be visited by church authority), have a certain % of their salary donated to the church (acquaintance also volunteered to document and tally up who “donated” what for the church), are required to marry within the church only, & they mentioned the church is exclusive and claims its the only true religion. My acquaintance was apprehensive about going into detail when i asked why they were doing all this, and were even avoiding telling me the name of their church until just recently. I had a funny feeling about it, but I dont want to immediately assume. So I figured I ask you if you heard if this religion and your thoughts?
I've heard about Iglesia ni Cristo. Indeed, there are a lot of theological parallels between Islam and this Church because it denies the divinity of Christ and believes in unitarian monotheism. From an Islamc perspective, they're closer to Tawhid (Islamic monotheism) than their trinitarian counterparts.
Regardless, Iglesia ni Cristo is a cult in the sense that it attempts to be exclusive and closed, controlling the members of the Church in their everyday life by suppressing and brainwashing members, shunning any form of individuality in order to have them submit to the will of the Church. The NC has a reputation for swindling members out of their money, seeing it as a religious duty. There have been cases where members were publicly shamed and persecuted by the Church if you miss church services on a regular basis. Ex-members, in particular, face danger as they are constantly harassed by the Church.
I can't say I have much experience with this cult, but I do know for certain that one should avoid them at all cost.
70 notes · View notes
lycheeloving · 13 hours
Text
ANOTHER MULTIVERSE FIC because I can't stop myself, apparently. An injustice!Superman one, this time. I imagine you were a small-time hero/vigilante in this one, so Superman knew (and liked) you before he turned bad, but you weren't super close, before.
-You wake up in an unfamiliar room, tied to a chair, not knowing how you got there. Kal doesn't ever let you leave the fortress. But you don't know how anyone else could have gotten in to take you here, wherever here is. Maybe it was Kal? But why would he do that?
-You spot a woman tied up in another chair next to you, it seems like she also just woke up. She reminds you of someone, but you can't remember who exactly... You want to ask her if she knows more about what's going on, when you realize you're both gagged. Shit. You can't even communicate with her!
-A man comes in, rambling something about how he's glad you're finally awake and about his plan finally taking shape. You feel like you should know this guy, but can't quite put a finger on it...
-Being unsure if you know who he is, as you're "not from here", he introduces himself. He's Lex Luthor.
-Wait. Lex Luthor? The Lex Luthor? The dead one, who was killed by Superman? Is this a prank? Because if so, it isn't funny at all. And quite dangerous for everyone involved.
-Luthor (if that is his real name) then focuses on the woman next to you. He addresses her as "Mrs. Lane".
-Lane as in Lois Lane? Like, Lois Lane from the Daily Planet? Clark Kent's, Superman's wife? Now you know something is extremely wrong. She's dead, too, and everyone knows not to mention her name unless they want to face Superman's wrath... You make a few muffled sounds beneath your gag, itching to ask about just what is going on here.
-Luthor says he's going to explain everything, don't be so impatient! He has a machine that can open portals to parallel universes, which is how he got you here. His plan includes kidnapping the person that is most important to Superman in his own universe (Lois Lane), the person most important to Superman in a second universe (You!) and then making the Supermen fight each other by threatening your lives. The only way to save you is if one Superman dies. This room is Superman proof, he can't hear or see anything that's happening in here, so they can't just swoop in and save you. After the fight, he's going to let the winning Superman enter this room, promising him that he can rescue Lois or you. Except not really, because he's going to try to kill the winner too, because that should be easier after he just fought another Superman, right? He hasn't opened a portal to let the Superman from your universe know about how he can save you, yet. He closed the portal he got you through immediately after kidnapping you, so he had more time to prepare everything. How he found you? Something about being able to detect kryptonian dna residue on you. And you were in Superman's fortress. Easy to combine that you must be important to him.
-That's... actually not a terrible plan! Sure, it might not work out exactly the way that Luthor is planning, but beating Superman with Superman is a great idea! Actually it'd be great if Luthor got a third one here. Two Supermen should definitely be able to defeat one Superman, right? Unfortunately you can't communicate any of this through your gag. Damn, you'd love to help him improve his plan...
-You wonder if he chose your universe completely randomly, or if he chose an evil Superman on purpose. You don't think he did, he didn't mention the regime with one word, and if it existed in this universe he wouldn't be working on this stupid plan. And Lois wouldn't be alive, probably.
-Before you can let your thoughts spiral even more, Luthor falls over. Huh? Is he unconscious? You spot Batman coming towards you. Ah. That explains that, then. Man, you haven't seen Batman in such a long time...
-"Are you two alright?" He quickly cuts through the ropes tying you to the chairs, freeing you. "Good thing you used your bat emergency-signal, Lois. I was able to get to you before Superman could fall for Luthor's trap." Wait, why would Lois contact Batman? Oh, right, sometimes you forget that he and Superman used to be friends, so obviously his wife would trust him too.
-He takes off both of your gags and then turns to you. "We figured out you're from a parallel universe, but don't worry, Nightwing is currently working on a way to get in contact with the Superman from your dimension, so-"
-"NO!", you scream, making Batman look at you in confusion. You quickly tell him to contact Nightwing, to make him stop trying to open a portal or god forbid, contact Kal!! Noticing the urgency in your voice, Batman quickly complies and lets Nightwing know to stop what he's doing, before asking you to elaborate. Phew! The last thing you need is an angry Superman wreaking havoc in a second universe.
-You start explaining to Batman about how your Superman started changing for the worse after Lois died (sparing the details, as she's kind of sitting right next to you), started to get darker, kill villains, everyone who did something bad, people who disagreed with him. Other heroes, even. People he used to be friends with. How everyone who didn't agree with him and join his regime, including you and Batman, had to go into hiding, trying to find a way to stop him. Clark, no KAL-EL found you at some point, but instead of killing you, he unexpectedly took you, basically imprisoned you. Kept you like a pet who's not smart enough to make their own decisions. (You never even knew he liked you like that at all, before that. Sure, he was always nice to you, but he had Lois!)
-Lois seems visibly shocked, whereas Batman just listens to you stoically. "All this to say, it's good to see you alive, Lois!" You smile weakly. She tries to smile back, but before she can respond, Batman cuts her off. "We should leave this place. I doubt it's very safe here. We should return to the Batcave, think of a plan." You spare one last glance at Luthor, who's still lying on the floor (Are we just going to leave him here? Huh. Ok.), then follow Batman outside.
-As soon as you're out of the building, something rushes past you. "Lois! Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Not something. Someone. You try not to flinch as he fusses over her, while she reassures him that she's fine multiple times.
-After he's convinced she's not hurt, he turns to you with a gentle smile. "Hello! So you're close to the Superman in another dimension, then?" As he takes a step towards you, you instinctively take a step back towards Batman. Clark frowns at him quizzically. It's funny, he almost looks like a confused puppy. You would smile if you didn't know that this is all a facade to distract from his god-like, destructive powers.
-"Turns out the other version of you is some kind of evil dictator." Well, leave it to Batman to get straight to the point. Clark opens and closes his mouth a few times, thinking about what to say. "Well, I can assure you that I'm not like the Superman you know. I promise you, I'm a good person! At least I try my best to be one. You don't have to be scared." His voice is getting increasingly gentle, trying to reassure you.
-"Oh yeah? That's exactly what the Superman from my dimension would have said, before..." You don't mention his wife's death, not wanting to anger him. "The same thing could happen to you. You might be nice now, but who knows what the future holds?" As you're saying this, you slowly move slightly behind Batman. Just in case. He should have some kryptonite on him, right?
-Superman just frowns harder, then turns to Lois. "We should go home." He picks her up and turns to Batman. "Contact me as soon as you have plans for... handling the other me." With that, he takes off.
-Batman ushers you into the Batmobile, where Nightwing (another ghost, to you) is already waiting. You keep turning to look at him during the drive to the Batcave, while Bruce explains the situation to him. If they notice your weird looks, they don't mention it.
-You allow yourself to feel some hope. Maybe you can contact your Bruce? Help him out! Send a few still good Supermen! Your head is spinning with ideas, and you're sure Batman can come up with even better ones. You can't help but smile, your nightmare might finally be over...
12 notes · View notes
Text
favourite act 3 dialogues so far, a collection
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
(i love this mainly bc im like. ah. the 'looking back after killing cazador as a spawn and realising you were acting not dissimilarly to the man you hate so much and that you could have become just like him all over again if you'd gone through with it' is just delicious)
Tumblr media
Lae'zel is just so tired, she's really going 'for fuck sake we have withers, a selunite demigod and her wife, scratch and the owl bear. must we take in *more?*'
Tumblr media Tumblr media
CASSANDRA! YOU'VE KNOWN YOU WERE A CHILD OF BHAAL FOR A FUCKING DAY! STOP TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE! ALSO??? Babes im trying to redeem you so hard why are you making it so difficult for me to *not* pick 'recently unemployed, i quite like murders?' bc your intelligence stats make that so in-character
--
(honorary bloodweave 'and they were bunkmates' setup)
Tumblr media
--
(back to quotes)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(i love Orin. I love the relationship she has with Durge. She'll kill them, want them dead and to take over their life from their position in life to their room to *everything* that could be them because she needs to know what made her the lesser choice; why did Bhaal have to *make* another bhaalspawn when she was right there?
But it's the inflection when she says he's been whispering in their ears; it's the anger, the indignity. I like to take it not as a 'you are shameful for falling for it' even though she obviously references that he could twist them when they had their memories, i take it as aimed *at* Gortash. He's taken her sibling, her rival, and twisted them against what Father wanted to the point she found she had to and then was able to usurp them! And then, then he dares to take advantage of their amnesia and try and turn them against Bhaal once again. Anyway. Love this gal, she's a hoot.)
(also i forgot to screenshot but what do you MEAN Orin thought that the best way to impersonate Gale (who i had be the companion who got taken from camp - which i immediately reloaded to avoid bc im trying to do stuff for his character quest rn damnnit and it isn't time to go straight to the temple!) was to imply he ran away and that she castrated him??? that's so funny)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(Orin being described as a sulky child has got the brainworms (ha!) wriggling ngl)
(also it's always lae'zel. she's at max approval each time as well!! like couldn't it be Yenna or smthing? like have a whole 'look at the murder-kin thinking it can *protect* life? Trying to make up for all those you've cut shorter than this one?? Also i kind of need Lae'zel for heavy hitter stuff as well but we can push through for now!)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
(Us in general is my fave part of this game. What do you mean that technically to the outside world my durge looks like she's wandering around with a dog, a cute kitten/cat and a raven (from the He Who Was reward gloves) trailing after her!? AHHH.)
Tumblr media
DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT-
Tumblr media
Durge why are you like this.
Tumblr media
Is there truly anything bouncing between their tadpoles that isn't some form of sarcastic comment?
Tumblr media
WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS KICKING MY FEET AND GIGGLING.
Tumblr media
Like. Durge. this is so funny, you've known you were a bhaalspawn for like a *week* what do you MEAN you've already figured out appropriate blasphemes?"
Tumblr media
THIS LINE RIGHT HERE IS WHAT INSPIRED MY ENTIRE FUCKING TAKE ON DURGE IN SCION ON SCION VIOLENCE. THIS IS THE FOUNDATION FOR MY INTERPRETATION OF 'THE URGES'
Tumblr media
Literally i am not kidding when I say this is one of my fave lines. The context, of Karlach seeing her friend (maybe even her best friend, her fucking *sibling* in all but blood) getting to fix themselves, getting to choose to live knowing she can't, she's fucked it isn't going to work. And yet, she can only be proud. Makes everything hurt so bad-
Tumblr media
*stares in that one playthrough where i didn't realise letting her kill the nightsong was her bad route and was like 'yeah lets let her become a justiciar* Yeah babes. It'd be a real shame wouldn't it. (also love her just as much as Karlach, like parallels)
Tumblr media
look. I'm an astarion simp through and through and I DO NOT CARE THIS LINE GETS ME EACH TIME!! He's like. This is great and all but since we're not questioning what the fuck withers is im going to focus on the sickening sweetness and BLEH too much. Too much emotional trauma yet to be resolved this is a little nauseating ' i love him. so much.
7 notes · View notes
ernstiggroteadelaar · 3 months
Text
SPOILERS for Doctor Who christmas special The Church on Ruby Road
very glad i told some friends this would be a great episode to start watching DW, because to me it's just that. Now here are some random thoughts about the episode:
yesss the foundling story of Ruby got paralleled with The Doctor's, like I expected. Now hoping this will result in an interesting storyline out of the timeless child backstory
earlier this week I actually almost tweeted "someone asked the goblins how many ropes they wanted on their ship and they said: yes." because I already found it such a unique ship with the rope theme, and it's so funny how that turned out to be a part of the plot
the fact we already had the time to listen to the goblin song before the episode so that it was already stuck in my head made the bit were The Doctor and Ruby started singing to it too even better
he had a Hot Summer with HOUDINI and i agree with everyone saying it must have been Eight #whodini
mavity
The Doctor liking Lulubelle's name unlike everyone else is a great bit because that is not only so alien but also sooo 'someone who doesn't like their own birthname' core to like a terrible yet unique name
I just love Ruby's family and how they immediately made us care for them, so that they could then for a second show us a terrible alternative which made us and the Doctor cry before saving baby Ruby majestically, great christmas episode 10/10
14 notes · View notes
bengiyo · 11 months
Text
A Boss and a Babe Ep 10 Stray Thoughts
Last week we experienced probably our choppiest episode yet. It’s a real bummer, because I continue to root for New Siwaj, but the final act conflicts always cause confusion. Gun and Cher were outed at work, but that was quickly squashed by Gun’s mom. Cher found out that another colleague had planted the evidence about Thyme stealing the game and decided to take the fall for it to protect her job…for reasons that just don’t track for me. Gun and Cher broke up as a result and both were very sad about it. Gun got drunk at a bar and so the bar called Cher who was his most active contact, and the two were able to reconcile for the second time in the episode. Now, Thoop has been arrested. At the very least, we had a Gay Boy Cuddle Pile.
Trigger Warning: rape mention and a rapist showing up on screen, along with mention and discussion of suicide in part [3/4]
Thoop, are you really mad that the police didn’t believe you? Where’s the shut the fuck up video?
Real shit, it is sometimes useful to have a Super Gay like Gun in your queer circle for when we have problems that only money can solve. Sometimes folks like Gun can keep a program running quietly for years.
I completely get Tub and Jack. Three and Zo would get tiresome after a while.
The gamer boys care a lot about each other, and are careful about how they talk to each other. It’s refreshing.
I do still love Gun. This man understands commitment and showing up when it’s important.
Gun pulled out his stern voice when Cher pushed too far with the old jokes. Surprisingly funny to see Cher retreat.
So if Gun has known about Cher taking the blame all this time, what the hell was most of the last episode for? I hate when they do all this testing nonsense and then waive it off.
I like that these two have good apologies. I just hope that we don’t immediately contrive another conflict five minutes from now.
I feel like this one guy plays a cop in every GMMTV show.
I knew this was going to eventually be the reveal about what happened to Tian, but it’s still upsetting and gross.
Gun is solid. Maybe I’m being influenced by how much I’m enjoying Jeng on Step by Step, but I do like having characters who can manage a crisis and don’t overreact to someone’s emotional outbursts at them.
Jack is correct. Thoop being arrested for possession is a big deal.
And of course someone saw them sitting outside of a police station all night. Now the mom is demanding they break up AGAIN.
Was one of them watching Star in My Mind before Cher showed up to tell them the news? Joong is paused on YouTube in the background.
I enjoy the parallel from earlier with Cher showing up at Gun’s place this time.
Oh hell yeah! It’s 2023 and we all verse now!
There’s a lot of threads active in this show. I don’t necessarily dislike them, but the timing isn’t really satisfying. I also feel like the mole plot was kind of a letdown.
24 notes · View notes
thelivingautomaton · 6 months
Text
hello time of wheelies, i am still livetweeting the books but i am now done with book 2 and figured you all might want an update, the most important being: y'all were right about the religious freaks with coffee, good god
yeah so let's start there with the seanchan because hooooooooly fuck
literally every time any of the seanchan are on the page i just sat there open-mouthed going "oh my god these guys are such FREAKS". but it's also so galaxy brained of robert jordan to introduce another antagonistic faction but have them be completely unconnected to the ongoing battle of dark vs light + unrelated to all the other factions in the setting?
and all the insane details about their culture. the nails! the blood! the insect-like armor! THE GROLM? (they're dimension-hopping colonizers????) also i only picked up on it b/c i was on the lookout but when lord turak is talking about "caf" and saying that the aroma is almost better than the taste, i literally sat up and yelled THOSE FUCKS HAVE COFFEE
for real though it is so unbelievably funny/based for rj to be like, okay, the prophesied last battle between the forces of good and evil is about to take place, world-shattering apocalypse, make or break. meanwhile, some guys from across the ocean are gonna invade and Do A Colonialism.
also, the damane? UNBELIEVABLY fucked on every conceptual level. special shoutout to renna's cloyingly patronizing treatment of egwene though, that shit actually made my stomach churn. (also also, shoutout to nynaeve for immediately seeing the damane/sul'dam/a'dam for what they are and reacting with the extremest revulsion when she has to put the bracelet on, love u bb girl <3)
kinda wanted at least one comedic interaction in the battle of falme where a bunch of seanchan soldiers run into The Actual Ghost Of Artur Hawkwing and lose their shit though. actually i thought it was soooooo funny as a narrative choice to have the horn blown but you barely see what happens in the big clash on the ground cos you're in rand's pov and he's too busy fighting ba'alzamon in a giant laser light show in the sky
(i still. don't really understand how that worked exactly but WHATEVER, it's fine. sad about the heron blade though ;-; but at least rand got to "prove" he has/had the right to it beforehand when he defeated turak. without channeling, even! which makes it 5x more badass)
also i thought it was interesting that by around the midway point of the book you have the pov characters dealing with three different factions whose way of doing things seems strange and alien: the seanchan, the aiel, and the cairhien nobles with the great game. just thought it was an interesting parallel
also, rand trying his best to Not Participate in the great game and just getting pulled in deeper was never not funny, sorry not sorry. rand and co infiltrating barthanes's mansion to try and grab the horn and the dagger was Peak D&D Heist energy and i loved it
the other big thing that had me losing my shit was surprise! parallel dimensions
LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK. the moment that the realization hit that the washed-out otherworld that rand/hurin/loial found themselves in was an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE where artur hawkwing didn't defeat the trollocs, i fucking went crazy. and then loial talking about the excerpt from "mirrors of the wheel" and going on about worlds that are shadows of the real world! i was hooting and hollering and going "this is just like chronicles of amber" (which i highly recommend for y'all, VERY different vibe compared to wheel of time but they're super fun and you'll love them if you like the whack-ass stealthy sci-fi/genre blends in WOT)
and then the escalation to rand actively trying to use the stone and flickering through countless permutations of his own life? utterly fucking bananas. also: unbearably tragic! literally what if you lived out hundreds of versions of your life but despite the seemingly-infinite choices open to you, they all really boil down to one choice: play the role that's meant for you and be doomed by the narrative, or don't play and be doomed anyways. like. FUCK
robert jordan i am begging you to give me more insane alternate realities for your made up fantasy universe, i am begging you for more insane creepy shit like the otherworld being devoid of people and all the color washed out since it's a "weak reflection", it is SO GOOD
this is tangentially related but: i knew who """selene""" really was going in, but i did NOT know her introduction in the books was this fucking batshit, and also that she comes across as literally the shadiest motherfucker alive. "oooh, here i am in my pretty white dress being attacked by a beast, come save me! no i don't know how i got here, i was just riding! don't mind how i know a surprisingly specific amount about the portal stones! you're my hero! you can blow the horn and be a great man!" unironically i love her so much for this scheme, and how it plays off so well vs rand's insistence that he's just a shepherd + his starting to settle into the position of "lord" and/or "dragon"
but fr though i think this conflict is sooooo interesting as a central narrative theme, i.e. the choice to seek out glory and heroism for its own sake vs taking it upon yourself as your duty because there's no one else who can vs running away from that duty and responsibility. "We may be a poor pair of heroes, but we are what there is." "It was not what I was made for, but all was breaking apart, and they were alone, and I was all they had." everything with rand feeling the "threads" of his duties and "death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain" and the idea of choosing to sheathe the blade in yourself when the moment comes. and how that ties in with ingtar's final choice and his sacrifice!
it's all about the CHOICE!!! this is literally me irl rn:
Tumblr media
oh my god what else. i loved getting so much more detail on the aes sedai (who are basically underfunded academics constantly squabbling among their respective departments, i have decided) and how channeling works/feels. (the parallel between the girls imagining saidar as a flower vs rand feeling saidin as the flame and void with a sickly light in it. chef's kiss!!! but also, rand simultaneously craving saidin and being sickened by it? chewing glass about it, nbd) verin mathwin aka The Aes Sedai Ever is unbelievably great. a lot of this book felt like buildup so i'm hype for things to start popping off, especially now that rand has apparently accepted the mantle of dragon. these books are crazy and i love them
19 notes · View notes
ultramarine-spirit · 1 year
Note
About your post about Athy's name in other languages ​​(which I loved) it reminded me that when I started reading the manhwa I always confused the name of Athanasia with Anastasia to the point that I went to find out if they were the same and found that both they have the same meaning and that they come from Greece but I did not find any page that will confirm that it is the same but different variants. I also couldn't help but notice how Athanasia's name resembles Anastacious (which is technically the male version of Anastasia) and yes, the fact that both names have the same meaning may be why these two names sound so similar but Aeternitas also means Immortality and it doesn't look alike beyond the fact that it starts with A.
I found it interesting how Athy's name and Anas are similar and it made me wonder if at some point Claude must have had a deja vu hearing Athy's name (not only does she look like the woman he loved but also her name sounds similar to of the brother who killed lol)
I also mixed up "Athanasia" with "Anastasia" the first time I read WMMAP, but now I do the opposite. I have to remind myself all the time that no, it's not Athanasia Nikolaevna-
Funny thing about Aety's name is that it's the name of a goddess, and it doesn't really have a male form. I guess finding so many different greek names that mean immortality was hard for Plutus(?
That's an interesting thought! Athy and Ana's names are really close, so indeed I think she must have reminded Claude of his brother. There's also the fact that only the current emperor can give an immortal name to their heir, which draws an immediate parallel between them. As a side note, Diana was very daring naming Athy, as Claude himself notes, not only because of the name itself but also because Athy is a girl. His wording implied women aren't usually rulers in Obelia ("and a girl at that"). This is curious to me, since Obelia's first monarch, back when it was a kingdom and not an empire, was queen Ambrose. But I digress.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Athy speculates that Claude must have some sort of complex over the immortal names. Since he wasn't the empress' son he could only take the throne by force, but "he would never be granted the name of an emperor", unlike Anastasius and Athy. And well, there's also the fact that Claude means "the one who limps", "limping" or "crippled" (from the Latin “claudus”). Which makes one wonder if Aevum hated Claude that much to name him as an insult or what. Note that this is just one of Claude's meanings, but it's explicitly the one that Plutus used, as Athy refers to this plot point in the novel. Myself and others have theorized that Plutus based Ana and Claude's characters on real Roman emperors, and emperor Claudius indeed suffered from a limp and deafness, being ostracized by his family as a child. WMMAP Claude wasn't sickly as far as we know, but the ostracized thing definitely rings a bell.
Tumblr media
Now, as far as I remember, it was never confirmed that Claude indeed felt inferior because of his name compared to Ana's (and Athy's), but I can definitely see how he could have felt like that, at least in his youth when Ana was the crown prince and Claude was treated so badly.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
One thing I find rather sweet is that Claude remembered the bond he used to have with Ana when he spent time with Athy. It's because Athy melted Claude's heart and gave him something dear to him again that he started to remember Ana and to question their turbulent relationship. I adore how Athy's love and kindness had that effect on him (even though it wasn't enough for Claude to not want to execute Ana but shhh he still saved his ass because Athy asked him to. Small steps, you know?).
39 notes · View notes
Text
Doctor Who: The Ultimate Speedrun Marathon - Series 2 (2006)
Woah. I mean, what a Series! I didn’t know how Tennant and Piper would follow up Series 1, but they did a great job, not just in carrying over aspects from Series 1, but doing new things and carving out a new niche for the 10th Doctor. A lot of fun from all angles.
Tumblr media
General Thoughts
I’ve always really loved David Tennant as an actor. Even before I properly started watching Doctor Who, he was my personal favorite Doctor (that might change over the course of this marathon, but that’ll come much later). Now having actually fully seen him in action as the 10th Doctor, I’m really happy that he met my expectations and more. He’s fun and snarky, same as McGann and Eccleston, but he brings this new sorta wide-eyed manic energy that one would probably expect from a 900+ year old time/space traveler. His look is also really fun and iconic, with pinstripe suits, long trench coats, and spiked-up hair. It compliments Tennant’s already tall and slim figure, giving 10 a lanky look reminiscent to a sort of alien Sherlock Holmes. The converse are a fun touch, too.
Tumblr media
He’s definitely different from his immediate predecessor, but in a good way that makes sense given his new found attachment to Rose after Series 1 (or at least that’s my reading of it). He’s got a bit less angst, although it does peer through in good dramatic moments. Overall, Tennant’s able to juggle what made the recent previous Doctor’s special and memorable with his own acting sensibilities and personality. He really lends himself well to a character like the Doctor.
Tumblr media
In companion news, Rose is just as strong and likable a character as ever. I knew new companions would show up eventually, so this whole Series I was just dreading the moment when it became clear that she’d be gone for good. Although I didn’t expect her departure to be THAT devastating! I mean holy fuck. Despite that ending though, Rose never stopped being an intensely compelling character, despite my assumption that her time as a companion was coming to an end.
Tumblr media
As for the other campions, we only see Mickey return in this Series. When the Cybermen return to the show in a parallel universe, Mickey decides to stay behind there and help fight their invasion. It was another welcome surprise moment of character development from Mickey, especially when he finally realizes that he has a life and agency outside of Rose. However, when he’s able to return and help Rose and the Doctor fight the invading Cybermen and Daleks, it feels really truly earned on his end.
Also, how cool was it to see Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) and K-9 (played by K-9) again?! That was a really cool and welcome surprise for me. It also avoids being a plot line of mere fan-service, since we get really cool insight into the life and mind of companions left behind by the Doctor decades before. However, they do eventually reconcile with the Doctor in their own bittersweet moments towards the episode’s end. Although, that reconciliation is a little bittersweet, given Rose’s fate at this Series’ end. I hope she gets something similar later in the show.
Tumblr media
Favorite Episodes
Tooth and Claw
New Earth
School Reunion
The Girl in the Fireplace
Love and Monsters
Favorite Moments
Queen Victoria’s hemophilia being explained as a strain of alien lycanthropy was very funny and very Doctor Who. The running gag about Rose trying to get her to say the supposed “We are not amused” line was funny as hell too.
The 10th Doctor meets alien Satan.
Cassandra returning was a shock. I know she got a bit of a redemption arc in this Series’ premiere but I don’t really care. fuck her
I felt so clever picking up on the little references to Torchwood before they were properly revealed towards the end teehee. Making up for not noticing most of the Bad Wolf hints in Series 1 ig.
Madame de Pompadour getting a whole episode to herself in order to fight against evil French masquerade nightmare robots from the future was a welcome surprise.
Alright, that about wraps up everything I wanted to say about Series 2. A great Series itself and an amazingly solid start to Tennant’s iconic tenure as the 10th Doctor. Now, onto Series 3.
5 notes · View notes
ouriran · 4 months
Text
Date: September 17, 2023 Time: 2:00 P.M Location: Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada
The bus ride to the Vancouver Art Gallery was mostly spent in silence after the argument with my friend. The tension had nestled itself in between us, spreading its legs comfortably and pushing us further away. We've been friends for decades, which made the sudden cruelty cause whiplash injuries. I could still feel the phantom pains of the whiplash in my neck. Her words kept echoing in my mind as we passed the Lions Gate bridge, "This isn't speed dating, freak. There's people being murdered. This is a protest!"; Each sentence a kick to swing my neck in the opposite direction. Sure, the initial joke, that was born out of my inability talk about subjects that deeply affect me seriously, was distasteful in retrospect. I'd made an off-hand comment along the lines of "I wonder if there'll be a any cute girls at the protest.." accompanied with a second hand embarrassment worthy eyebrow wiggle. But I'm supposed to be the funny guy. I'm supposed to be the comedic relief. Is that what she genuinely thought of me? That I was somehow using Mahsa Amini's murder as a dating opportunity? No, I know that she knew me better than that; That's why I was so angry.
She knew the stakes for me. She knew I hadn't been to Iran in over a decade after coming out as a lesbian. She was there when I denounced my heritage in an attempt to be accepted by the queer community in Vancouver. She knew that Woman Life Freedom was my lifeline to reclaim my own identity and fight for people that are like myself. She'd heard my screams of grief after my father had accused me of the same thing at the age of 15. The second I made the connection between my dad's and friend's words, my head was flooded with the memories of that night. He was standing at the foot of the stairs when he threatened, "I'll take you back to Iran if your grades continue to slip. If you're going to take Canada for granted, we're all going back. Your mom and I's lives were beautiful before we moved here as a sacrifice for you and you broth-". "You can't do that. I'm gay, dad. Please don't do that, they'll kill me. I'll do better." I sobbed; I was scared. That was the first time I told him. He snickered the way he always does when he thinks he's about to say something cruel and clever, "Is that so? You don't wanna go back home because you don't have any girls to fuck?" he laughed. I threw a chair at the wall, but I'm not sure why. I was only 15. I hadn't even had my first kiss. I know it wasn't a fair comparison for my friend, but I couldn't help it. The two sentences were mirroring each other in my head, telling the same story through parallel miming, only decades apart. I wanted to yell at her, I wanted to grab her shoulders and violently shake her until she understood. There was no time for that though.
The bus had arrived in front of the art gallery. Neither of us could take the second step once we took the first one to get off the bus. The square in front of the gallery was packed with a sea of Iranian people. I immediately felt like everyone's eyes on me, which is a tiny bit narcissistic in retrospect. I just felt like they could tell. They could tell that I had infiltrated into their space. I could only imagine what they would say if they found out; Probably something along the lines of "Thank you for coming, but we are advocating for women. The inclusion of non-heterosexual identities in our cause will prove to the Islamic Regime that we're protesting for sexual promiscuity". I didn't want the cause of Woman Life Freedom to be derailed, I didn't want people to forget about Mahsa. Sure, I was a woman for all intents and purposes in this context, but this movement wasn't for queer women. It was for women. I just couldn't stop thinking about Ali Fazeli Monfared. He was murdered for loving a man, his name deserved to be chanted as well. I wanted to chant his name until my vocal chords gave in.
I was once again yanked violently out of my thoughts; this time by a poster board being shoved against my chest. I wasn't planning on holding a sign, I didn't want to draw any attention to myself. It was my friend again, who was sporting a mischievous yet proud smile this time around. I opened my mouth to question her before I caught a glimpse of what the sign had written on it. She did understand. She did understand the reason I was doing this was "FOR ALL THE GAY MEN + WOMEN THAT NEVER GOT TO FREELY LOVE", the sign read in all capital letters. As much as I was in awe of my friend and the sign, I was equally confused. "How did you write this so quickly? Where did you get a poster board from?" I questioned her eagerly.
"No, idiot, I didn't make a protest poster in the thirty seconds that you were dissociating. I asked someone if I could hold it and they said yes!"
Her response was better than any other one I could've imagined because I knew what this meant; I belong here too. This wasn't just an attempt by my friend to help me feel better.That's when I decided to look around; To really look around at my people. That's when I saw them; The giant pride flags held up all across the square. I think I would've burst into tears if it weren't for the shock.
I held the sign as high as my height of 5 foot nothing would allow. All the judgements, disappointments, scares, were all leading up to me holding this sign, that I hadn't written, in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. I was doing this for Mahsa, I was was holding the sign for Nika, I was holding the sign for Alireza, I was holding the sign for you and for me.
The sign that I held, and continued to hold every Saturday at 2 p.m for an entire year, sits idly on my record player now. It hurts when I looked at it because we lost the battle. They killed another teenage girl after we gave up on protesting, that's why I keep the sign visible at all times as a reminder of who I'm doing this For all the gay men and women that never got to freely love.
2 notes · View notes
mikesbasementbeets · 2 years
Text
ok i've started rewatching dawson's creek to look for will/el/mike paralells in pacey/dawson/joey (and i think i'm actually finding some max stuff too with jen???)
going in, my thought was that joey is mike, pacey is will, and dawson is el (which i still think is true in the series overall), but just in the pilot i'm seeing byler in a LOT of the joey/dawson dynamic: childhood best friends who start getting weird around each other as they grow up and into their fledgling sexualities. this is a bit of the first interaction in the series and i think it weirdly sums up mike(joey)'s relationships with both will and el (dawson) in slightly different ways
Joey (trying to leave in order to avoid sleeping over (in Dawson's bed), which is something they've done since they were kids): "I just think our emerging hormones are destined to alter our relationship, and I'm trying to limit the fallout."
Dawson: "Your emerging hormones aren't developing a thang for me, are they?"
Joey: "A 'thing?' No, I'm not getting a 'thing' for you, Dawson... we're changing and we have to adjust or else the male-female thing will get in the way."
joey and mike both associate growing up with relationships inevitably changing, and cling to the idea that at a certain age (around puberty) boys and girls can't be "just friends" anymore. we see lucas plant this idea in mike's head in season one
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
mike is a boy and el is a girl, and mike is being kind and protective over her, so mike's friends (and family) assume he 'likes' her... and therefore so does he
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
(literally staring directly into her eyes as he leans in to kiss her.... ok)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
anyway
as for will, joey is obviously lying in this scene - she does have a 'thing' for dawson (whether it be a product of the above idea or not) but dawson has always been her best friend and she's finding herself having feelings that would complicate that friendship... so she represses it and tries to put distance between them instead (without really being able to escape the feelings) and THAT becomes the thing that strains their friendship
some other things from the pilot i took note of:
dawson is trying to impress jen, so he invites her to the movies with himself and pacey, then begs joey to come along so it won't be weird for jen... which puts joey feeling like she's on a weird sort of double date with pacey (which isn't really relevant at this point, pacey's off in his own plotline, but i found it funny...she thinks she likes dawson but ends up paired with pacey a lot....hmm)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
joey and dawson then have a confrontation about dawson's infatuation with this girl he's just met, which ends with joey telling him to grow up
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
(also this scene with the four of them walking to the movie and pacey in the back laughing at them)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
joey's initial reaction to jen reminds me a lot of mike's dynamic with max... and actually everyone's sort of dynamic with max (jen just reminds me a lot of max tbh). pacey and dawson are both immediately infatuated, but pacey moves on quickly (i'm not gonna talk about his storyline this season lmao it sucks), and joey is immediately jealous of the boys' attraction to her. (their relationship is pretty antagonistic for a while, but in later seasons they become a lot closer and/bc they're a lot more alike than they like to admit (madwheeler anyone??))
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
jen actually really stuck out to me with the max parallels (although she's a little more in the el role at first, being sort of a source of conflict between the main "just friends" love interests): she starts off by moving to a new town and becoming friends with dawson, joey, and pacey, who have all been friends since they were kids. her family dynamics are... messy. a lot of her emotional arc over the first season has to do with her comatose grandfather and dealing with the grief of losing him while living with her grandmother who disapproves of her in every single way... and finding and trying to fit in with a group of friends whose dynamic is already established (and Complicated) and getting hurt in the crossfire (thinking s2 max)... also something about both of these characters just resonates the same chord with me idk
and a couple more random things:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(yes dawson is obsessed with spielburg so they're all there but these two shots in particular... and he also has the film posters he's less proud of.... in his closet.....)
also
Tumblr media Tumblr media
anyway, this is probably gonna be a slow analysis, (they're really very different shows and dynamics and again i'm only on the pilot lol) but maybe i'll post more thoughts if i have them
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
20 notes · View notes
alamwamal · 2 years
Text
Thoughts on Levi’s feelings for Petra
An analysis of Levi and Mikasa's interaction in chapter 30, and how Mikasa's feelings parallel Levi's.
Warnings: mentioning of Eremika and mediocre English.
1) Mikasa’s feelings for Eren are romantic: I think that at this point it’s been established that Mikasa’s feelings for Eren are romantic. But what matters here is that it’s also obvious to other characters even strangers. We will just need Ian’s example.
Tumblr media
When Mikasa glares daggers at Ian and nearly attacks his team for wanting to abandon Eren and end the mission, Ian deduces that Mikasa is not just a comrade of Eren’s and that he might be her "lover” (Koibito), to which Mikasa denies saying he’s family. * It’s funny how Ian says don’t thank me, I was just scared of you.😂
2) Mikasa showing the same face -death glares- towards Levi, twice! One for beating up Eren at the court, the other one in this chapter!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Although Levi refers to her as Eren’s friend (najimi), I think that Levi realized that to Mikasa, Eren is not just a friend, not only as it’s the second time, but also because he adds "I see.. " after a passing thought.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
3) Levi’s following expression: as you can see we're shown a shocked and sorrowful expression from Levi. It's understandable since his comrades just died. However, I think that by tying this to the previous point, one could assume that realizing Mikasa's motives put the salt on the new wound that is losing Petra. especially if you consider:
a) the context: Levi’s reaction came after he recalled Mikasa’s lashing out in court and realizing her true motive. I think it’s noteworthy that his face changes while he was facing her.
b) Mikasa's resistance and desperate hope that Eren is alive is parallels Levi’s panic earlier, when he was racing between the trees towards his team’s bodies, hoping that anyone -perhaps, someone- will be alive, until he finally reaches Petra’s body.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
c) Mikasa’s reaction: after seeing Levi’s expression, Mikasa’s face immediately softens and changes from her outrage at Levi into a concerned or perhaps sympathizing one, if only for a moment.
Tumblr media
4) This is pure hypothetic but we have the scene with Petra’s father reading between the lines in his daughter’s message and considering the possibility of marriage. Levi would still feel guilty about the death of anyone from his team that had faith in him, so its completely unnecessary to bring the topic of marriage to Levi. Her father could have just said that he’s worried about her safety as she’s still young and stubborn, and Levi would still feel guilty, only with a less shocked face perhaps.
Still, it's worth mentioning that Levi made three horrified expressions this chapter, two of them concerned Petra. The first when he found her body and the other when her father talked to him. I don't think it's a stretch to assume that the the expression he made in front of Mikasa was also about Petra.
Tumblr media
**************
Finally, I want to make it clear that in no way I’m saying that they were in a relationship, I have a theory on the romances in SnK being chaste, so if someone likes a girl. They will ask for her hand and marry her -something both are not ready for considering their jobs. I think this theory lines up with the way romance is handled in SnK.
So all in all, I find it plausible that their feelings were mutual, unfortunately, Petra left so soon. And she deserved better. 🧡
30 notes · View notes
sky-is-torn · 1 year
Note
sky!! i’ve been thinking about your ask about midnights and i want to know all your first impressions/current thoughts on the albums.
what lyrics have you been thinking about? what songs stand out? have your song rankings/opinions of songs changed since your first listen?
tell me whatever you’d like, you don’t even need to answer this questions.
hiii lovely!!
when i first discovered the album, i was *so* surprised by the first few beats of "Lavender haze", i was expecting something way calmer i think😂 my instant favourites were anti-hero, labyrinth & sweet nothing
btw i found it so funny to see everyone hating on the sexy baby line when i loved it, especially because of what follows it, "i'm a monster on the hill too big to hang out slowly lurching toward your favourite city pierced through the heart but never killed" like !!! that was the first time i had to rewind because these lyrics!!! made me lose my mind a lil bit
ohh and the 'everybody agrees, everybody agreessss' made me think of the way Lorde sometimes sings? i can't think of a particular song but it gave the same vibe and anyway i loved it
i'm sorry to say that after the incredible, genius, heart-breaking lyrics of you're on your own kid, i jumped out of my skin with the beginning of midnight rain lol, not the best experience with the song at first
labyrinth was an instant favourite, the way her voice sounds so vulnerable, the lyrics... also the fact that i'm always taking the stairs to avoid the elevators because i literally don't trust them... like i know it's a metaphor but literally i related both to the metaphor & the irl situation i really felt psychoanalysed on that one lol
on first listen of the 3AM tracks, i... fell asleep lol (i wanted to wait until it was 3AM for me to have the real experience & ended up falling asleep i think i was only conscious for the great war xD)
on second listen i loooved the great war, i kept seeing metaphors for the book i had just finished reading ("this is how you lose the time war"), the lyrics were so clever and the song is exactly the kind of catchy song i love to listen to while power-walking lol
high infidelity was also an immediate favourite, wow!! the parallels to champagne problems made me go a lil bit insane, also the way she enunciates "storm coming, good husband, bad omen" is just... *chef's kiss* wish i could inject this shit directly into my veins xD
would've could've should've is such a good song, when i first listened to it i loved it, but the more i listen the more it grows on me it's sooo good ("now that i'm grown i'm scared of ghosts"??? "the tomb won't close"??? "stained glass windows in my mind"??? "living for the thrill of keeping where it hurts"????) that at the end of it i never know what to listen to next (dear reader seems like a weird choice tbh) so i keep it on a loop ^^
when i first listened to the album i was a bit disappointed by maroon because i was expecting something totally different (i think it was the problem with having these track titles for so long before the album, i had theories & hopes whereas usually i go in blind) and since then the song has grown on me so much, her voice sounds so *gorgeous* in it and the lyrics are very good too
anyway i'm gonna wrap this up because otherwise this will turn into a literal novel, if you've read thus far you're already a hero <3
2 notes · View notes
Text
Rest in Pieces || Ari & Sloane
TIMING: Before Silas was RIP  PARTIES: @faetedwill & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Ari is snooping around a mausoleum for some clues and Sloane finds her. CONTENT: Vomit
There were a number of things that Sloane could have been doing. But instead, she sat near a freshly dug grave, the backs of her jeans wet from the earlier rainfall. This was somebody she knew – a woman who worked at her high school. Somebody she’d been close to, or at least felt like she had been. There’d been mourning, and of course contemplation, but then her mother asked her to analyze, to dissect the way it made her feel, to understand why it was necessary. Fate had a funny way of showing its face, and though Sloane knew the ways in which its ember threads intertwined and grew parallel to every being that had ever existed, sometimes she felt it unfair. 
 But there was little time to stare at the lilies pressed against the granite. The sound of scraping, or what Sloane thought was scraping cut through the silence. Interested, but not without caution, she got to her feet. The flashlight she held in her hand had enough weight that if she needed to chuck it at someone’s head and run, she could very well do that and possibly escape. It was stupid, venturing through the cemetery after sundown and she knew it. The moon barely provided any light, the crescent a mere fold in the darkness. However, because she was there, half past 10 o’clock, she felt it was her duty, as silly as it was. As Sloane neared the source, footsteps careful, she noticed the flicker of light, as well as a hushed whisper. Her own flashlight in hand, Sloane jumped sideways, shining the light towards them, only dropping it immediately as recognition hit. “Ariana Bennett, what the fuck?” 
Knee deep in research wasn’t somewhere Ari ever thought she would find herself. Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, it seemed as good a way as any to occupy her time. With how worried she was about Emilio, it only made sense to find what she could on Leviathan and spells that would help restore its body. It required searching the darker parts of Amity Road, but she had found a few books that she’d dove right into. Even if Emilio didn’t want Levi to get its body back, Ari would find a way just in case. She wasn’t sure she could trust the demon, but she wanted Emilio to be free, to not have to worry about people he loved constantly being threatened. It was late in the night in one of the spellcaster books that she found one had a grimoire on demons. The exact location wasn’t there, but it did mention a mausoleum at one of the local cemeteries. 
 It was why she found herself inside a somehow chilly mausoleum in the dark with only the light from her cell phone as she tried to make out the different symbols carved along the witch’s resting place. Ari had no idea who Marcie was in the big scheme of things, but she jotted down everything she could make out on the stone coffin. Normally, she’d be more alert, but months of little sleep and her own hushed whispers as she wrote things down drowned out her surroundings, a fact she was sure Emilio would get on her for considering she was in a cemetery in the middle of the night. When she heard her name, she threw the notebook out of her hands and jumped up ready to fight on instinct. There was a gasp when she did so only to immediately relax when she saw Sloane. “Oh,” she sighed tiredly, “It’s just you. Uh, hey.” She found her hands clasping behind her back as she was unsure of what she should be saying response to the well earned ‘what the fuck’ that had been thrown her way. “Uh,” she stammered, “I was just taking some notes. There’s uh–” She gestured at the symbols that lined the coffin. 
Let it be known, Sloane’s astonishment isn’t because she thinks she’s better than Ariana for not being found inside of a mausoleum. Truthfully, Sloane expected to see a vampire, or some kind of ghoulish creature. Not somebody she spent the last two years of high school with. Whatever it was that Ari had been holding was now on the ground, spine lifted towards the cobwebbed ceiling. She glanced towards the gate, lock broken slightly and laid askew against the small hinge. “It’s just me.” Maybe she wasn’t supposed to be here either, and maybe she got too caught up in the inevitable, but at least she hadn’t been caught in the same position as Ariana. Though, if their positions were switched, something told her that Ariana wouldn’t be as surprised as Sloane was. 
 Sloane’s gaze swept over Ariana, taking note of the way she stood against the stone. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Honestly, you scared me.” Tempted by curiosity, Sloane stepped into the mausoleum and knelt down, picking up the notebook that had flopped onto the ground. Careful to keep her gaze on Ari’s, she held it between herself and Ari. When Ari gestured towards the stone, Sloane’s brow arched in response as she took in the way symbols had been scrawled into the mahogany. “Well, that’s strange.” Sloane tilted her flashlight towards the text. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this.” Not that she would have, as the only languages she was interested in were Fae languages as well as Gaelic, and even then, her knowledge was at the baseline. “What do you need it for?” Sloane asked as she leaned back, turning the flashlight this way and that as if in an attempt to gather more of the text forward. 
At the sight of Sloane and the reassurance, Ari was only able to relax slightly. The mausoleum had a spooky vibe to it, which was weird considering she wasn’t usually creeped out by cemeteries. Maybe there was some sort of magic in here, that wouldn’t be too far off given a witch’s body called this place home. “Yeah, sorry, hey Sloane,” she greeted, still a bit off canter as she looked behind her friend. It was just Sloane. That was it. She let out a breath and willed herself to relax. This was far from the worse case scenario. The stony tomb still possessed a chill to the air, but it was only them. 
 As if on cue, the moment Ari immediately tensed again as she saw reaching for the notebook she’d been writing in. “Oh, wait I,” started before trailing off defeatedly as the notebook was picked up off the ground. Hopefully most of it was nonsense. Ari sure as hell couldn’t make out any of what she was copying down. She sighed and responded, “Neither have I.” She looked over Sloane’s shoulder into her notebook and back at the engraved symbols in front of them. She didn’t know enough about magic to know what language they even were, but she trusted she could find some sort of book on Amity. The next question made her hand raise to the back of her neck and she stroked it nervously. Because definitely wasn’t sus as hell. “Oh, uh, it should be something magic-related. Trying to find out information on a demon and this witch apparently knew a lot about them. Or spells about them. Don’t really know, the grimoire I was looking for wasn’t actually here.” She held out her hand to take her notebook back. “I’d say I promise it’s less sketch than it sounds, but the whole situation is pretty fucking shady. Uh, not that I’m the shady part of it. It’s a long, probably unbelievable story.” 
 Sloane was the type to be curious, but if somebody seemed as though they were distressed about their spilt milk, the last thing Sloane was going to do was help shed tears over it. She doesn’t wonder what was inside of the notebook, because soon enough, Ari spilled the reason as to why she was creeping around in the dark. “Magic-related? Demon?” Sloane was no mystery. While some might not know exactly what she was, or if she was anything at all, there were those who came across her that thought she might believe, even if just a little. Whether that belief was in the oddities of White Crest, or even the things she spoke about in class – her reputation preceded her as the girl digging bones in the corner of the field at recess while simultaneously sketching them out on the pages before her in art class. So in a way, it makes sense that Ari is so open with her. 
 “Color me interested.” Sloane doesn’t know that’s not the saying, nor does she care. She looked from the intricately designed coffin back to Ari. “You were here to steal something from the dead?” She let out a low whistle, “well I’m all for long, probably unbelievable stories.” Sloane thought that was obvious from her choice of major, but it hadn’t dawned on her that not everyone would realize that’s what she had chosen after high school. “You say you’re not the shady part, and I believe you.” Sloane folded her arms across her chest, flashlight shining awkwardly towards the cobwebs in the upper corner of the cramped place. “There is a list of records in my dad’s office from when the last exhumation was requested, and it’s a legal thing– having to give your name. Maybe that’s who took the grimoire you’re trying to steal.” 
“I wasn’t here to steal the grimoire,” Ari huffed out with her arms folded over her chest, “That’s why I have the notebook, I was gonna jot down notes on anything relevant.” Which was hardly her idea of fun, but she had some standards. After all, it wasn’t the witch who had Emilio’s life currently turned upside down. Not that Sloane really seemed all that upset about her snooping around. The other girl did have a reputation for being a bit strange back at school, not that Ari ever bothered listening to those rumors. Plus, strange was better in her book anyway. Normal meant she had to hide parts of herself and even if Ari hadn’t explicitly told Sloane what she was, she didn’t feel the need to cover up her own oddities. Though she wasn’t sure how to dive into said long and unbelievable stories, especially as it wasn’t entirely hers to tell. She could just not mention Emilio, she couldn’t give less of a fuck if someone uncovered Levi and made its life a living hell. 
 “Long and unbelievable version it is,” Ari responded as she closed her notebook and put her pen in the spine, “Have you ever heard of the Leviathan?” Given Sloane seemed to be into that kinda stuff, she was almost certain her friend had at least heard of it. Somewhat defeatedly, she continued, “It is causing some trouble, even from the human body its been stuffed in. Not that I know who did that, just know it’s an asshole and would rather it fuck off back to its own dimension.” It was nice that Sloane believed her not being the shady one in this situation. She wasn’t sure how to explain her way out of. “Tha- I appreciate you believing me,” she responded genuinely with a look of relief on her face. Her eyes lit up at the mention of a list, that was helpful, hopefully. She wasn’t entirely sure that whoever did take the grimoire did so legally. “Oh, that’s a good idea. Hopefully whoever took it had permission. Would hate to have a ghost of a pissed off witch haunting me. Lead the way.” 
“Oh. Okay. That makes sense. I guess the notebook wasn’t just a translation tool then.” Sloane could trust Ariana– could take her word for it, but the voice in the back of her head told her to not trust humans, even the ones that she’d known for years now. Not that this would have, or could have been a Fae grave, but Sloane half-wondered if the offense she held very briefly would have only grown in size. Instead, it was a spellcaster who had fallen to their knees and held open palms to Fate, and while Sloane cared very little for human magic, she knew that in some capacities, their magic was useful. It was clear that whatever this person had known was sorely needed, and by Sloane’s friend no less. 
 As Sloane listened to Ari, recognition flitted across her features, but only briefly. She’d heard the name, had seen it in writings, both in books her mom had, as well as ones provided to her by the school’s library. It was obvious that if all of these things existed, then something like the Leviathan would, too. She knew the bare minimum, bottom of the barrel– the kind of research that was done out of interest, but not for the consumption of information. It hadn’t held her attention as Fae history had. “So a Leviathan is controlling some… body, and is able to actually do real, physical harm to people?” Sloane blinked at Ari slowly, then nodded as if it made all the sense in the world – of course Ari was at this specific casket to get the information she needed to put a stop to whatever this was. Of course. “Well, shit. Your life sure didn’t slow down, did it?” With a sigh, Sloane turned on her heel and walked towards the small structure that housed her dad’s office. She’d been here a few weeks ago with Poe, though that’d been on a completely different mission. “It’s probable that they also tried to steal it– or sorry, they tried to steal it, you were just taking notes, but still disturbing a resting place.” She says it with a lilt of humor, no actual irritation to be found. “So when you get this information… what are you going to do with it?” 
 “Nope, for note-taking unfortunately,” Ari responded with a shrug. Even now that she was no longer in school, she still hated the note-taking process and reading… and pretty much anything that could look like studying at first glance. It seemed like Sloane was fairly familiar with this stuff though, which checked out. She’d heard the whispers, but she shrugged them off. Calling someone the weird girl was just fucking rude and she’d never been one to give into peer pressure. Still, even as a werewolf Ari had been shocked by the existence of some biblical demon. Not that she believed that they had the details all right, but it was something. Sloane’s look of recognition was even better. “So you don’t think I’m totally crazy,” she responded, “That’s cool.” 
 “Wait,” Ari started, unable to contain her curiosity, “Why don’t you think I’m crazy? Do you believe in like werewolves and stuff, too?” She kind of hoped the answer was yes and not an ‘I hate werewolves’ yes, but she couldn’t be too sure. She’d always liked Sloane well and they got along. Unlike most of their other classmates, Ari had always been able to speak a bit more freely with her. She nodded along confirming Sloane’s questions as they walked through the quiet cemetery. “That’s about the gist of it. It’s also a real asshole… with nicer hair than someone who is that big of a dick should be allowed,” she added bitterly. Sloane was right about one thing, her life definitely hadn’t slowed down yet somehow still felt unbearably long in the absence of the ones she loved the most. “Yeah, really only sped up, I guess,” she answered with as much of a laugh as she could muster, “What about you?” A frown crossed her face at the mention of disturbing the resting place. She hadn’t really thought of it like that, not that anyone she loved got any sort of resting place. They got ashes spread around trees or buried in an unmarked grave. “I didn’t realize that it was disturbing,” she replied with a grimace, “I– I guess none of my loved ones got a proper– I didn’t know there was etiquette.” 
 The next question was a little bit heavy. The truth was, Ari didn’t know what she was looking for or what she would actually do when she found it. If she found something that helped the Leviathan get its body back, Emilio would be free, but possibly also hate her for it. It felt like such a helpless situation. She chewed on her bottom lip as they walked before she finally said, “I’m not really sure yet. If I find anything, I like to think the right thing to do will be obvious, but— Nothing’s ever really that simple. So, stick to the whole fuck around and find out thing I guess.” 
“I don’t mean to come across as…” Sloane thought of the word, then decided that it didn’t match up with what she was trying to get across, “I mean– you know where we live, right?” Even if she weren’t fae– hadn’t learned from her mother firsthand of what this world offered, she was almost positive she wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye to what White Crest was. There were so many humans who turned their nose at the very idea that it wasn’t just them, and that was more grating than anything else. Humans were… selfish, as it were, and there’d be no changing that. But it was clear that Ari was not like them– those humans. “I’m sure something else will make me think you’re a bit…” Sloane shrugged, “crazy, as you put it, but not this.” 
 “Werewolves.” She wondered, very briefly, why Ari would ask such a thing? Was she on the hunt for them? Sloane tensed slightly, only because if that were the case, then wasn’t it possible that Wardens had somehow come into the mix, too? She didn’t clarify that she remembered a story her mother had told her about a fling she had with a wolf when she visited Ireland before she’d met Sloane’s father. Instead, Sloane nodded. “‘Course. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, whatever else exists– whether I know it’s here or not, I’m sure it exists, or existed at some point.” There had been a point, though, where she wondered if what she read in the mythology texts for school were just stories, and what actually crept and lurked in these corners. “Now you know. Not really any use worrying about it now.” Sloane cast a glance over her shoulder, and though she should maybe feel bad for the comment, she couldn’t bring herself to. But she decided to try and amend anyway. “If you give them the thought of a resting place, then isn’t that in part something for them to call as such?” That’s what her mom had said, when it came to those who met Death and Fate at the crossroads, how sometimes it wasn’t fair, but in some capacity, they would fulfill what had been in store for them, and in thought, those who remembered them would only help fuel the purpose by mentally putting them to rest. Or maybe Sloane had gotten it wrong. It didn’t matter. She could tell it had bugged Ari.
 “That sounds a little depressing.” Sloane watched Ari carefully, curiosity piqued by the mere mention of werewolves. “Hey, when you asked about werewolves, what were you asking for? Do you know one?” If she was on the hunt for the leviathan, what was the chance that she wasn’t on the hunt for other things too? There was a brief thunk! Sloane’s brows pulled together. “Hey, did you hear that?” 
“Alright, fair enough,” Ari relented, for all the humans that turned a blind eye to the happenings in White Crest, every so often there was one with eyes wide open, “When things like raining fish happen, hard to ignore.” Especially considering the smell was unbearable. She did subconsciously take in Sloane’s scent and didn’t notice anything nonhuman and she could hear her heart beating. That didn’t eliminate everything, but it wasn’t her business even if she had questions bursting at the seams. She laughed and agreed, “You’re probably not wrong. Guess I’ll have to keep you on your toes with that one.” 
 The question answered hadn’t been exactly what Ari meant. It was one thing to believe in werewolves and vampires and all that other stuff, but another entirely to be accepting of them enough to be cool with hanging out with one. Maybe after being found taking notes in a resting place wasn’t the best time to throw out the ‘oh by the, I’m a werewolf!’ thing. She chewed her lip as they walked side by side unsure of what she should say to close up the can of worms she happened to open. “Yeah, too many stories for them to just not be real, right,” she asked as if she was more a spectator than an actual wolf, “Kinda cool to think we could just be talking to one in everyday life.” Maybe that would give her more of an answer on where Sloane stood without flat out asking. It was actually pretty clever and she had to give herself credit for that one. 
 “Yeah, now I know,” Ari agreed somewhat vacantly. The feeling that she hadn’t been able to give anyone she loved that much sat heavy on her shoulders. It left her stomach feeling unsettled and she found herself simply nodding along idly as Slone explained. “Yeah, I guess it kinda is.” 
 The solemn feeling was quickly replaced by nerves when Sloane mentioned the werewolf thing again and Ari looked to her more flustered than she would have liked to. “Oh, well, it’s just that I’m a we–” The sound of something shuffling along the ground cut her off and she whispered, “Yeah I heard it.” She had stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air. There was the subtle smell of death that could indicate a good number of things. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with a a fucking spawn, but as her head followed the sound, a low growl rumbled in her throat. It was no spawn, it looked more like some sort of unwrapped mummy. 
 “Stay back,” Ari directed as she let her bag fall to the ground and placed herself firmly in the path of, whatever that was. It was coming at her faster than it had any business being able to. As a reflex, she pulled one of the knives out of her jacket and charged toward it before it could get too close and risk hurting Sloane. The knife was gripped firmly in her hand as she ran up on it and plunged it into the things neck. It shuddered briefly before the wound all but disappeared and it gave her a slap that sent her flying backwards. She yelped in pain and felt the shift of her bones under her skin. Any thought of trying to stop it fled as its head shifted to look at Sloane. Before she could think better of it, she shifted into her wolf form and tackled the walking corpse to the ground before it could get anywhere near Sloane. 
“Oh yeah, how could I ever forget about the raining fish.” Sloane remembered the week after, her mom had booked them a trip to Dublin to visit family. It’d been a nice trip, but she had missed all of the commotion and had ended up reading about it on social media instead of experiencing it firsthand. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. About like, weird or freaky things in the future.” She wondered what Ari would think about her being fae, but thought better of it than to ask her outright, even if the question was do you believe in pixies? Surely Ari had to, right? 
 Sloane kicked the toe of her shoe against the ground which in turn sent a rock flying towards a neighboring gate that separated the grounds office from the actual graveyard. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It is kind of cool, thinking about how your neighbor could be like, howling at the moon the next night after they decided to… I don’t know, bring you a pie.” She knew that wasn’t necessarily an accurate description of werewolves, but the thought of such a thing occurring was humorous enough for Sloane to bring it up. “But no, yeah— I think pretty much anything is possible. I mean, I’m not majoring in mythology because I want to prove people wrong, you know?” It’s actually to make people who think Tinkerbell is an accurate description of a pixie to feel extremely dumb. 
 I’m a we— Sloane hung onto the word that Ari was about to say. Given their earlier topic, she had a fair idea of what it could’ve been. But instead, they were interrupted. The figure— the creature— the thing that stood ahead of them was terrifying, to say the least. Sloane had never seen anything like it, not in real life, and not in the books she’d read a dozen times over. Though, she guessed a version of it could’ve been seen in history books, but this … this was different, this was wrong. Sloane inhaled sharply and splayed her hand through the hair, making a grab for Ari’s arm, but instead was met with Ari telling her to back up. 
 “What— Ari—“ Sloane stared wide-eyed as Ari took out a knife. She shined the flashlight ahead, catching her friend as she surged forward, blade glinting dangerously beneath the torchlight. “Ariana!” Sloane yelled, wincing at the sound of her own voice being so loud. She’d been told to stay quiet, to train herself not to get too loud so that she would be prepared later on, but she was no banshee yet, she would not shatter glass or pop eardrums. Before Sloane could call on her friend to retreat again, the knife was digging into the neck of the creature. It made no sound, and instead, Ari was sent backwards onto the ground. 
 “Ari!” Sloane screamed again, torn between backing up and running to her friend. However, before she could make a decision, Ari shifted before her. Sloane stared as Ariana disappeared, clothing tearing to shreds beneath the way her form expanded, tufts of fur appearing in addition to sharp, elongated claws sprouting from where her hands had just been wrapped around the knife. It was left forgotten on the ground as the wolf— no, Ariana, sprang forth. Sloane was frozen, unsure of what to do. Ariana had barely— Ariana was a werewolf. Holy— “Ohhhh— Oh, fuck!” Sloane gasped as she backed away. 
Normally, Ari wouldn’t have chosen to shift in front of someone who had no idea what she was, but given she’d been about to admit it anyway, it seemed better to just go with what would actually work. It sure as hell beat risking not changing on her own terms, at least this way, she was the one driving the action. The sound of her name faded away as she focused on her not so delicious prey. The wolf honed in on the walking corpse, knowing that in absence of fire, decapitation was the next best thing. Working for a slayer did come with some perks and even if they were educational. Well, and many times physical because they both liked fighting shit. 
 Now, her snout centered in on the smell of death and tackled it to the ground before it could get too close to Sloane. The thing was a lug and was harder than she anticipated to push over. It gripped her fur tightly enough for her to let out a pained howl, but she shoved her jaws into the thing’s neck and ignored the rotten taste that filled her mouth. She’d made a good bite into its neck and if she could just keep going, she’d have its head off. Much to her dismay it pushed her off and sent her crashing into the back of a headstone. 
 The wolf snarled as she leapt back onto her feet and felt the rip of pain going through her back legs. There was no time for that, she needed to get this thing before her original bite had too much time to heal. At full speed, she ran toward it again, this time a bit more erratically to confuse the corpse in question. Her force brought them both down to the ground again and began taking chunks out of its neck as quickly as she could. Its hands wrapped tightly around her neck, pull out tufts of fur as it tried to rip her away, but for every pull, her teeth sunk in deeper, refusing to let go. 
 Even with the putrid taste, the wolf refused to relent. Tufts of fur flow through the air, but she was almost there. It regenerated fast, but she wouldn’t stop, even as it pulled on her tail which hurt like hell only caused her to whine as she took her final bites. She was pretty sure it dislocated something, but that didn’t matter if they both ended up dead. Another bite and the head was finally detached from the neck. Ari remained over it a moment longer to ensure it didn’t start moving again so she limped away from it and gagged up some of the remaining bites still in her mouth. If she could go the rest of her life without ever having to eat something undead again, she’d be grateful. 
 Ari kept away from Sloane a few moments longer as she let the adrenaline fade away. Bone creaked and shifted back into her more human-like form. Red splotches where fur was ripped out painted her skin and she could see some bruises already forming. Her back was sore from her tail being pulled on and being thrown against marble. She brought her palm to her mouth to wipe away some of the dead flesh that clung to her chin before looking sheepishly back at Sloane. She shrugged with an awkward smile, “That may have been why I asked about… werewolves, but uh, I’m gonna come back that way to grab my bag. I have extra clothes in there.”
In the moments that followed Ariana’s shift, Sloane was left behind to simply stand there, infuriatingly human-like. She had managed to stagger back against a headstone at the opposite end. She should run, and she knew she should run, but there was a fascination that burrowed, rooting her to the spot. The flashlight in her hand felt useless, but maybe if the creature got too close, she could blind them in a moment of desperation and escape. But she didn’t even know what was in front of her, nor did she know how to get rid of it. It was undead, that much she could tell, but anything beyond that– she was fucking clueless. It was not a good feeling. Nor was it a good feeling watching Ari go up against it, even if it seemed as though she were able to handle herself. 
 Teeth, flesh, and claws– Aside from those things, it was all a blur, and it had Sloane’s heart in her throat. If Ari were to actually get injured, what would she be able to do for her other than drag her to safety? What if this thing somehow bested the wolf? In their scuffle, the dagger that Ariana had been holding got kicked towards her. Sloane grabbed it off of the ground and held it, hilt digging into her abdomen as she pointed the blade forward. Maybe if whatever the fuck that was decided to come her way, she could plunge it upwards. 
 A headstone broke beneath Ariana’s weight and Sloane flinched, raising her arms to shield her face as pieces of it scattered. She was far enough away from them now– Ariana was seemingly pushing the mummified corpse in the opposite direction. The howls and half-screams that filled the air were enough to send chills down her spine. This had been the first time she’d ever seen a wolf in action, and she silently hoped it would be the last, especially if it was her friend. 
 The feeling of helplessness washed over Sloane once more as she watched the wolf’s jaws close around the creature’s neck. Blood and bits of flesh sprayed outwards and Sloane covered her mouth out of reflex. The stench of death hung in the air, and it had never been anything that bothered her before, but seeing the way that Ariana tore into the mummy, it made her stomach churn. 
 As soon as the fight had begun, it was over. Sloane watched as the head of the creature rolled towards a headstone, cloth unraveling in a way that, if she weren’t so terrified, she would find quite comical. Sloane watched Ari, half-anticipating being beneath the wolf’s jaws next, but instead, Ariana’s form shrank down to reveal the very human-like appearance that Sloane had known for the past few years. The hilt of Ari’s dagger had begun to imprint into the palm of Sloane’s hand from how tightly she had held it during the fight. At first, Sloane hadn’t registered Ari’s words, but after a moment, she cleared her throat. 
“That was some way to fucking ask me.” Sloane looked down at Ariana’s dagger and twisted it around, hilt side pointed towards her friend. “It’s okay, you uh–” There was still fear written across Sloane’s face and she scrubbed a hand against her forehead. “You don’t need to apologize. You just saved my life.” Ariana’s naked body didn’t bother Slaone. It was just a body, but she was sure it was uncomfortable being naked in a cemetery, so Sloane simply nodded. “I uh– Maybe I need to sit down.” It was silly, saying such a thing, especially when she hadn’t done a damn thing but stood there and gawk at the wolf that tore the undead’s throat out. 
That was one hell of a way for her friend to find out she was a werewolf and Ari knew as much. In her defense, that thing didn’t look like the breed of undead that a stake to the heart would take out. She guessed she could have tried, but her initial stab told her that thing was fucking strong. The ache in her back only reiterated that point. That was gonna be a nasty bruise, but she’d live. Her smile essentially had “oops” written across it as she answered, “My bad?” 
 When the pace of Sloane’s heart registered and Ari finally read the look on her face, the werewolf chewed on her lip. From a point of view that wasn’t hers, that had to look pretty fucking scary. It was easy to forget that most people weren’t used to fighting the way she was. Being a wolf was enough reason to have a fight in her, but being raised by a hunter and working for a hunter only multiplied that fight. Her own deep need to help keep others safe after all her losses didn’t hurt. “Yeah,” she breathed, “Go ahead I’m just gonna… clean up a bit.” 
 Ari grabbed the torn jacket on the ground and used it to wipe some of the flesh and blood off of her before she went fishing in her backpack for baby wipes to completely remove it, or as much as she could save taking a proper shower. She was quick to throw on the bike shorts and spare t-shirt she had in her bag. The only shoes she had now were some water-trekking sandals which was good enough. She didn’t even mind being barefoot that much, but with her luck, she’d step on something sketchy. 
 Once dressed, she looked back over at where the walking corpse had come from and saw another body. “Huh,” Ari questioned out loud as she walked closer to it, “It looks like there’s another body over here.” Her eyes flickered shut and she made sure there wasn’t a heartbeat before crouching down beside it. Next to it, there was a bloody and torn book that had a cover with inscriptions similar to those on the coffin she had originally been copying. “Well, that fucking checks out,” she grumbled, “I think we have our answer on whether it was ex…. Whatever the word you said was or stolen.”
“Yeah– Yeah, go ahead.” Sloane glanced towards the undead’s body. Even though maybe it should have, that didn’t bother her as much as watching Ari rip its head off. She smoothed a shaky hand through her hair as she leaned against a tombstone. Sloane tightened her hands into fists and looked down at her feet, using the grounding technique that her mother had taught her for when she became overwhelmed or scared. 
 The sound of Ari’s footsteps, a zipper– she focused on it all, even if it was hard to due to the pounding in her ears. It wasn’t until she heard Ari’s voice cut through the semi-silence that she looked up. “There’s another what?” Sloane asked, tone incredulous. After a moment, she finally managed to get up from her spot on the ground. She approached the body carefully, immediately taking note of the distinct smell of death. It was much different from what Ari had just killed. 
 “Oh, shit.” Sloane leaned down next to it, careful not to touch it. “What do we do?” She looked towards Ari. She sure as hell didn’t want to call the police. How the fuck would they explain the undead creature, and the fact that its head had been forcibly removed? She could call her mom, but what good would that do? “So this is… the person that took what you needed.” She looked at the book, barely recognizable, save for the inscriptions written across the cover. Bits of the pages were scattered around where they knelt, and Sloane frowned. “This is one hell of a way to go out.” She inhaled sharply, the smell of death flattening against her tongue. She’d been used to it– the smell, the way it tasted in the air. Even if she couldn’t yet sense it or feel it prickling against her skin, she had to come to an understanding of it, even if it was scary. 
 “Doesn’t look like the– uh, the book.” Sloane pointed at it, “in any condition to get information from.” The banshee frowned as she looked over the body once more. Adrenaline still coursed through her veins, and the fear that she had succumbed to after seeing Ari shift and tear the undead’s head off fell by the wayside now that they had a dead body on their hands. “Do you– Um, what… do we do about that.” 
When it came to the body of the undead, Ari hadn’t really given much of a thought of what to do about it. All she had known was that it was hurtling towards her and Sloane and there was no way in hell she was going to let Sloane get hurt. The body of another person who was decidedly not a walking corpse before it was killed also hadn’t been anticipated. There hadn’t been much thought behind Ari’s actions as much as there was instinct and impulse, which left them in a bit of a bind currently. “Shit,” she whispered under her breath. 
 “Uh, considering,” Ari sort of gestured around, “Does this kinda thing not happen a lot or is that just Gallows that has spawn running all over the damn place?” The good thing about spawn was they just turned to dust after you put a stake through their heart, no body to deal with after the fact. She’d never dealt with a body that wasn’t– No, she had to shove that thought down. It wasn’t the time although maybe it was an appropriate place to mourn the dead. “I don’t really know, I wasn’t expecting there to be a body of– well, not something that wasn’t already a corpse. I have way too many weapons on me to not immediately be suspicious to the cops and a werewolf in jail with the full moon coming up doesn’t sound like a good idea.” 
 Ari frowned down at the book. It had been a long shot, sure, but the grimoire of a witch who specialized in working with demons might have something useful. Not that it’s what Emilio would have wanted, but with how little care he put into his own wellbeing, she didn’t really care all that much about what he wanted if it kept him alive and free from Levi. “It’s fine,” she said, despite the fact her shoulders slumped with disappointment, “Don’t even know if there’d be anything useful in there. I can keep poking around Amity Road. I– appreciate the help anyway. But uh, I should help with whatever we’re doing here.” 
“I don’t know, I don’t exactly go looking for this kind of thing.” For the most part, there’d barely been any reports of undead at this specific cemetery. Sloane wrinkled her nose in distaste as she got to her feet, carefully taking a step back as to not disturb the corpse that laid at their feet. She had seen a dead body before, but that’d been at the hospital, and it wasn’t like this, out in the open, cause of death unknown. 
 Sloane let out a pained laugh at Ariana’s words. She was right, and even though the last thing Sloane wanted to do was call the police, it was definitive that that was not what they would be doing tonight. The last thing that she needed was for the police officer to turn out to be a warden and for her mom to come and bail her out of jail. Then they’d all be screwed. Or worse, if whoever pulled up was the kind of hunter that went after wolves. Sloane flexed her fingers, hopeful that any sort of movement would spark an idea. She began to pace back and forth in small, tight circles, far enough away from the body. 
 “Yeah– Yeah, we should focus on this first.” Sloane bit into the inside of her cheek. “We could leave it? I can– I can get rid of the CCTV footage, I have keys to my dad’s office. Um… maybe they’ll just find it, call it in– on a thing later, we don’t… have to be involved.” Fate had already crossed through, a red thread strung to this person. It was clear that whatever the fuck had attacked herself and Ari had been what got to this person, and though Sloane knew that respecting the dead and death itself was first and foremost a purpose pulled from what she was, there was no chance in hell she was going to mill around and get caught here. 
“Fair enough,” Ari responded as she kept an eye on the body for any sign of movement. It didn’t seem like this was the kind of monster that made new ones, but she wasn’t going to take her chances when someone else’s life could be on the line. She nodded along and wasn’t sure if she wished she didn’t seek this kind of thing out. The feel of chilly night air flowing through headstones was far from unfamiliar. Usually it held a more dusty smell by the time she was leaving, but it was something she knew all too well. She swallowed back that realization about herself and turned to Sloane, “Yeah, good idea. We should probably get away before one of ‘em wakes up for round 2. That thing tasted like shit, so I’d rather skip whatever the hell the next course is.” 
 It was lucky that Sloane worked here so they could get rid of the CCTV footage. Ari made a mental note to be a bit more careful with this shit. “Yeah, right, that’s a good idea.” She slung her bag back over her shoulder and refrained from wincing as it hit her already bruising back. “Next time we catch, it’s gonna be over something normal like milkshakes and not… whatever the fuck that was. Deal?” 
“Ha– Round 2?” Sloane smoothed a stray curl behind her ear, flattening it down with the palm of her hand. She knew that Ariana was right, and while she had questions about why she knew all of this, the answer truly could be summed up in what Ari was. A wolf. She wasn’t sure how she’d gone these past few years without knowing that about her friend. It wasn’t as if it was easy to hide as Sloane being a banshee. Though, she guessed that came with the territory of not yet being activated and not having to watch her tone. “But yeah, you’re… you’re right.” 
 Sloane
chewed on the inside of her cheek as she looked at the corpse. She swallowed thickly and looked over at Ariana. “A milkshake does sound really good right now.” Sloane let out another laugh, this time less distressed as she motioned for Ari to follow her towards the shack that was about 50 feet from where they now stood. “But yeah, I think that’s a fair enough ask, especially because I don’t plan to get caught up in whatever the
fuck
that was again.” She made a mental note to do research on what she had seen tonight. The inscriptions and the discussion of the demon was interesting in itself, but the undead creature that’d been hanging around hung at the back of her mind, too. “We can get you some ice for your shoulder, too. It looked like you went down pretty hard.” She didn’t know shit about werewolves and their healing abilities, but if it’d been like anything in the mythology texts she read about, then hopefully Ari would be right as rain in no time. 
6 notes · View notes