xmelodyx

Latest Posts by xmelodyx

Dawn Rising - Prologue

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

Memory loss, blood, death, deletion, angst, amnesia, body alternation, kidnapping mention, threatening, violence, bullying, torture, control, possession, tragic backstories.

Age rating: 13+

Sitting in the big empty classroom, he stared out into the water. It was calm and the sunlight hit it at just the right spot. Rainbows of colors reflected off the surface. It seemed so.... Beautiful.

He sighed, watching the other 5 kids in his class battle each other in the soft green grass below. All of them we having a great time. He sat alone.

The world seemed so bright and colorful. But for him... it could've been better. Like everywhere but his life was so beautiful.

That's when he heard Mallow's excited blabber.

"This is the Pokemon school!" She pointed. "That's Lana, she loves to fish. She's really nice, chill, awesome person. That's Lillie. She's extremely rich. Like- Rich-rich. But she's very scared of touching pokemon."

He watched her drag a boy around. Black hair and a hat. She didn't give him much time to respond or react in her excitement.

"That's Sophocles. He's really really smart with technology. And that's Kiawe. He's 16. The oldest. He's really strong. And can be very..... Passionate." She guiding the boy up the stairs. "This is our classroom."

Suddenly faced to face with Mallow and some other boy he never met, he pretended to be busy.

"And that's Helios. He... doesn't talk much." She laughed nervously. "He only really talks to Lillie. But none of us know why. Even Lillie herself. But he's a nice person."

"Hey, Helios." The black haired boy walked up to him. "I'm Ash. From Pallet Town." A pikachu rode on his shoulder.

". . ." He just stared at the boy.

"He won't respond to you, Ash." Mallow tried to get the boy to leave Helios alone.

"I'm home, professor." Helios called out.

Professor Kukui peaked his head out. "Welcome back."

The next morning hit Helios with rays of light to his face. Despite being blinded by the light, he went to the kitchen to fix himself some food.

"Hi." Ash sat there, smiling.

Something within Helios became annoyed by his reappearance.

"Professor Kukui said i could stay here."

". . ."

His eyebrow twitched.

Great. Now he had to deal with a blabbermouth that wouldn't leave him alone.

"Do you live here too? Why are you here with Professor Kukui? How old are you? Tell me about yourself. What's your favorite color? Do you have any pokemon? Hey, where'd you get that Z-ring? Oh! I got my Z-ring from this pokemon. Professor Kukui said he was called Tapu Koko."

Helios deadpanned in silence through it all. Until he heard the island guardian's name.

"Tapu Koko gave you a Z-ring?"

"You spoke! Yeah, he gave me the Z-ring. Hey, you've got some cool hair. Your eyes are cool! Why do you have those marks on your face? You seem cool"

From eating....

"I've been on some very cool adventures. Do you want to hear about them? I've been traveling with Pikachu. He's my partner. It started off with me oversleeping..."

... To sleeping ....

"... And we got attacked by sparrows ..."

... To walking to school ...

"... And we met Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, AND Giratina ..."

... To the supermarket ....

"... And then Team Galactic had their big plans ..."

... To training ...

"... And then i got kicked out of the first Kalos gym I went to ..."

... He wouldn't shut up ...

"... And then this whole bond phenomenon thing happened ..."

... No matter what ...

"... And then after fighting Alain, Team Flare attacked and we had to fight him and we got kidnapped at some point ..."

"Oh my god for the love of god please shut up and leave me alone!" Helios hissed.

Ash however, seemed persistent on making Helios his friend.

"Battle me."

"Wha?!" Helios quirked an eyebrow.

"I want to get to know you. 1v1 fight. Using your Z-move!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"If I battle you, will you shut up." Helios hissed, desperate for some peace and silence.

"Yep."

"Eevee, let'a get this over with." He tossed a pokeball in the air.

Helios didn't try too hard to win. He cast his Z-move and called it a day.

"Hey! You can't just call that a battle." He chased after Helios.

"Yeah, well, you got your battle."

And then Ash went back to yapping the next morning.

"For the love of Arceus." He muttered.

"... Professor Kukui told me a bit about you. Why do you have a z-crystal in you? How do you have a z-move in you? Can you use z-moves? Were you born with it? Do your z-moves become stronger? How did--"

"I don't know." Helios spat. "I don't know anything about it. I just woke up in a cave with it. That's all I know. I'm trying to figure out how it happened. There. Now please be quiet."

"Why did you tell him about the z-crystal?!" Helios nearly shouted.

Professor Kukui stayed calm. "He asked to know more about you and it... slipped. But don't worry, I didn't say anything more. I'm sorry about it."

"He won't shut up. And he won't leave me alone." Helios sighed. "Please tell him to stay away from me. I can't have a moment of peace around here."

"I think he might be good for you. You need at least some human interaction. And you can't say you talk with me. You need some human interaction with kids closer to your age."

"He's annoying."

"He's also trying really hard to become your friend."

"I have some friends. I have pokemon and I have Gladion. I don't need any other friends, alright?"

"Gladion can't be the only person you hang out with. That's not healthy."

"But at least he knows when to be quiet." Helios grumbled. "I'm going to loose my ears by the time Ash is done talking to me."

"Aww, c'mon. Try to talk with him. At least try to become friends with him. Who knows. He might one of your closest friends. He's also going to be staying a while, so it's better for you two to be friends."

"Fine. I'll try. But I can't guarantee anything.

Crossroads Emmet Masterpost 🚸🌌

no set au story or timeline really, just the "Emmet looking for Ingo" prerequisite and my love for Ultra Beasts and road signs

Crossroads Emmet Tag

Concept art/Alternate Outfit Art / Outfit details / Hood detail

Batteries for Stowaway part 1 / Batteries for Stowaway part 2 / Poke Stowaway / Miserable Joltik icons / Shamrock Shake for Emmet / hhhhbhbhbhbfjhbhgbhb animation

Emmet asks for your Fishing License

Stowaway learned Rain Dance 

Gaster Escape Attempt #17

Road Sign Weaponry

Look Both Ways / Watchog Lore

this is just art of Emmet blushing

A whole lot of detours (commission)

Crossing the Ultra Jungle Stowaway Again

Crossing the Ultra Plant Cover Art / Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 soon Height Chart / Happy Holidays!

Gasturday Cameo

Catboy Wednesday Cameo

(updated march 8)

When Eldritch & Divinity Meet (WE&DM) working title

Master post for additional story segments to my little DPxSPN ficlet inspired by vibe-howies’ amazing comic (see link to original).

Part 1, Encounter (DP)(original ficlet, inspiration post)

Part 1.5, Encounter (SPN)

Part 2, Immediate Aftermath (DP)

Part 2.5, Immediate Aftermath (SPN)

*Trigger warnings and word counts listed on individual posts. Feel free to point out missing warnings!

*Special thanks to my beta @ladyquestion for all their help (especially with the SPN elements)!

*Corrections & constructive criticism always welcome!

Summer 2024 Anime Overview: DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

A giant mothership is hovering over Tokyo. The aliens haven’t done anything or even made themselves known yet, but Japan and America are already trying to blow that UFO up, and show off who has the best weapons, causing many civilian casualties along the way. While all this happens, two girls are just casually living their lives. But are they as normal as they appear?

One thing I want to say is if you watch this anime and care about being intensely spoiled, do not watch "episode 0" until you've finished episode 16. It actually slots chronologically between episode 16 and 17, and that's where the episode took place in the manga, so I have no idea why they did that. Fortunately I had someone to warn me about that, so I will be that someone for you.

Dead Dead Demons DeDeDeDe Destruction or De x 8 as I will be calling it, can be really tough show to watch—not because it’s bad, it’s very good, but because of how depressing and visceral it is at times, and how devastatingly accurate it is to the shitshow of our world. This tends to be balanced a bit by the touching friendships (and possibly? More?) of the very likeable cast of teenagers…but you also feel a huge sense of dread about their safety as things ramp up and their stories deepen.

The anime goes hard on criticizing the military industrial complex, Japan’s government, America’s government, xenophobia, treatment of immigrants, rich people, and conspiracy theorists. All things I also hate, so that’s great. What hurts is how you could easily see the events happening—waging war on the aliens despite no provocation, people using an app to to hunt down and slaughter them...

It shows how even some of the protestors of the genocide use their movement to cover their own selfish motivations, meanwhile countries taking the situation as an opportunity to vie for power and dominance, rich government officials lie to their people and abandon them…obviously there's a lot of commentary here on how we dehumanize immigrants and minorities and enable genocides for capitalism and political power.

It's very bleak, and there were a lot of episode that had me just feeling sad, especially comparing it to current events. But there's also this interesting focus on normal people trying to live their lives during this alien "invasion", and the kids who still go through the dramas and upsets of everyday life. And especially the “I’d burn down the world for you” intense emotional relationship between Kadode and Ouran, the two teen girl leads.

Ouran is the main lead, and she’s a chuuni beyond chuuni, acting wacky and cheerful and spouting nonsense-- except if you pay attention, she's saying some pretty valid things—critiques of capitalism, war, government surveillance—but then following it up with something wild like “and that’s why I should rule the world”. You get the sense she’s cloaking an awareness of how shit the world is in humor, and as the show goes on and as her surprisingly intense and weird backstory unfolds, it becomes clear why that is.

The relationship between Ouran and Kadode is the center of everything--their bond IS the show. It's that kind of ride-or-die, I'd-kill-for-you, I'll-be-by-your-side-even-if-the-whole-world-is-against-you, in-every-life-i'd-find-you-and-love-you, soul-bonded, fiery devotion and love. They are the most important person in each other's lives, full stop. It's those kind of relationships that are so transcendent it goes beyond simple definitions of romantic and platonic. In other words, my kind of shit exactly.

But, as far as romance goes, Ouran, at least, is definitely queer and the depths of her determination to keep Kadode safe in a world that wants to destroy her girl that would make Homura Madoka Magica blush. (Kadode is more ambiguous, but she’s definitely soul bonded with Ouran. And honestly should just date Ouran because god she needs to be rescued).

There’s also a gentle empathy for marginalized people underneath all the horror—the girls befriend an alien trying to survive in the guise of a human, and it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the first person our alien tells absolutely everything to is the gnc/potentially trans person of the group, Makoto (To be specific, they seem to still be figuring out their identity, but they definitely present feminine and specifically came to Tokyo because their small town wouldn’t be okay with how they like to dress). The way Makoto immediately shields their alien friend from others when they make the reveal that they saying “Don’t let them see, it’s not safe” and how it’s followed up by the alien reassuring Makoto that their friends will be okay with it if they take their wig off to swim...it makes the metaphor extremely clear, and it’s always nice when a series can explore marginalized characters both textually and metaphorically.

Through the kids, we get kernels of hope in this story, a reassurance there are kinder people in this world, and a hope that kindness will endure.

As depressing as the story can be, what it has to say is important and it doesn’t hold back in making you see what it’s going for—from the “Cool Japan” logo flashing right before the  Japanese government gives a weapons demonstration that will later kill citizens and destroy innocents...

...to the Trump-alike American President (and let me tell you it’s startling to be watching a show in Japanese and suddenly Donald Trump impression in perfect English) *(had to use the manga here because Crunchyroll didn't close-caption this part :/)

Then there's the American tourists, who were clearly va’d by someone really good at English, potentially a native speaker, and it’s incredibly funny how much of their dialogue has “fuck” in it and seeing the subtitles skip over that. Also much of their dialogue is treating the devastated Japan as a tourist attraction and saying how funny it all is to them. Logan Paul has entered the chat.

De x 8 very clearly hates America and recognizes it as a blood thirsty colonial power, which is correct, but the show is just as hard on it’s own country, saying the Japanese government would happily get back on the colonizing horse if they had an excuse, and many citizwns would mindlessly support them.

A small thing I appreciate is far from the usual anime aesthetic where everyone is blandly cute, the anime gives a ton of people ridiculously cartoony features that make everyone distinct—and being goofy looking is not meant to indicate a character is stupid or ugly—Makoto’s a super sympathetic character with giant cartoon buck teeth and one character that’s even pointed out as pretty has like, a pig snout nose. (It also makes it so the character noted as being drop dead gorgeous...actually is, instead of coming off as just as conventionally attractive as the rest)

Soooo a lot of good stuff going into this story. Let’s talk about some caveats.

There’s a continuing storyline between Kadode and her adult teacher, who takes her to his place to have sex with her. When he does, she ends up ditching him because of her feels for Ouran (gay) and I thought that would be the end of it, but nooope he’s a groomer, they pick up dating again when she’s in college, literally months after the previous encounter. The dude is presented as a scumbag, he cheats on his girlfriend, he seems generally apathetic, his clear discomfort with Kadode calling him “sensei” shows that he knows what he’s doing is wrong …and ultimately the relationship is shown to be unfulfilling, with Kadode directly stating so and acknowledging he’s just advantage. That doesn’t stop it from being uncomfortable though, especially since it’s confirmed he and Kadode have sex eventually (offscreen, thank god) and honestly, I felt it dragged on way too long. The first encounter pretty much demonstrated everything we needed to know about the whole thing in my view.

And of course there’s a ton of potentially triggering content in a story like this—from genocide to suicide to child murder to almost anything you can think of. Also like, one character has a sister complex, but on the milder side for anime. One where it’s conceivably platonic, and it’s not like he goes after her boyfriend Yuri Forger style, so it doesn’t bother me too much. There's also a good dose of fatphobia. And finally moment where a woman reveals she has ADHD (which I've never actually heard anyone say in anime so I actually got a little excited the more fool me) and then is almost immediately shown to be faking it.

The ending…is another big sticking point for me. It feels disconnected from the rest of the series, mainly focusing on a character we barely know and likely don’t care about and spending very little time with the characters we do, presenting an interesting status quo and immediately abandoning it, and while earlier episodes of the series presented "actions have consequences and we gotta live with them" as a major theme, it was suddenly like, actually they don’t!

The ultimate ending, again, hinges on a decision from a character we don’t care about and honestly feels like a deus ex machina. It felt almost like the author really wanted a happier ending but knew that wasn’t in line with the story he’s told so far, so he just tacked it on. Or maybe it was an editorial mandate, who knows. I think the most satisfying way to see watch episode 1-16 as its own pretty satisfying complete story (which works really well), and then treat episodes 0 and 17 as their own separate thing, a potential additional ending but not the definitive one. At least that’s what I did.

Overall, De x 8 is a show with a lot to say and it gives you plenty to chew on. While it is often depressing, it is very rewarding. The unbreakable bond between two messy girls, as well as the moments of ordinary joy and small human/alien journeys are the core of the show, and what makes it shine. I definitely encourage you to give it a watch. It's being really slept on, and it shouldn't be.

*claps hands together* So I'm awake super early. I'm only up right now because I absolutely have to tell the world about the dream I had. I'm having one of those "oh my god, I'm going to go fucking insane if I don't tell someone" moments.

I had a dream that the Goro spin-off game was happening, and that I played a demo of it.

It was about an older Goro becoming a Dexter style anti-hero serial killer who only killed other serial killers and corrupt politicians and shit. The gameplay came from him investigating his targets with his detective cover to confirm they were guilty of the crimes, to make sure he wasn't killing people who were innocent.

It played kinda like GTA? With an open sandbox world and you could tackle cases in any order (but the demo only let you start one). I remember walking around the city as Goro with a long beige tenchcoat on. The style of the city still looked like P5, with bright colors and it being lively. At one point, you go into a corner shop and buy snacks. Goro was actually investigating the shopkeep, and went in as a customer as a ploy to watch him.

For some reason there was a candybar with Joker's face and Arsène on it, and I was so hype to read the flavor text about why it was there and how it even existed, only to be disappointed that it was the only piece of text that wasn't translated from Japanese.

It ended up being a front for selling illegal firearms, and Goro used his ability to make people have mental breakdowns to have the guy go insane and kill himself.

It was wild and I kinda want it to happen tbh. I wouldn't expect a series aimed at teenagers to ever get THAT edgy. But damn...imagine a game like that where you play as a PI that serial kills killers? That'd be dope.

Switched!AU  part 1

start / next  read the whole comic here

updates on p/treon

part one is finally done :’) ! i have a big plan for the entire thing so hopefully im able to finish it!

Heroes of Millennium (HoM) AU

Act 1: What was left behind. - Part 1 (page 1-5) -here- -> Part 2

Left and Returned: Definitely Nothing Wrong

Ao3

Danny Phantom x Supernatural Crossover

Chapter 2

Dean orders the largest burger on the menu, Bobby orders something with potatoes that will absolutely have him commenting that he could make a better one himself. Sam orders a salad. Danny orders chocolate chip pancakes off the breakfast menu and Dean looses any reservations he had about refering to the young man as 'kid'. Realistically he's probably not much younger than Sam, but if he has a problem with it he can start acting like an adult.

No. Dean isn't huffy about the handstand thing. Why do you ask?

"So it's following you, but you haven't seen it. Like haven't seen it like, invisible or like being watched from afar or what?" Then again, the kid was asking good questions.

"Like its invisible, but can't hide its presence, realizes its making a mess then pisses off."

"Because its afraid of being noticed or because it doesn't want to do harm?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Vibes."

"Gut instinct," Sam adds, which makes more sense than 'vibes'.

"It shattered every window in the place. I don't think its scared."

"Fair."

"I know a psychic, a couple hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking." Bobby suggested.

"Hell, yeah. Its worth a shot."

"A psychic..." Danny tapped the table, "Okay, sure. Why not?"

---

"What the hell is this?"

"An ipod jack... It's been my car for a year, Dean."

And what could he say to that? Instead Dean points sout the part that is far worse than douching up his car with modern niceties. "Its pink."

"Yeah... well, it's not mine, it's Jazz's. She left it in here and if I move it I'll forget to bring it back to her."

"Huh," Dean had no idea what he expected. Maybe some comment about how pink wasn't that bad? He turned the key and some girly romance song filled the compartment. "Really?"

Sam smiled a little at the song, and Dean hit pause on the device instead of throwing it into the back seat.

"Soo, she your girlfriend or what"

"That's complicated."

"Of course it is, the hunting making things weird?"

"No, actually. Her family hunts."

"But not her?"

"Only when necessary, she's in medical school."

"I'm, uh, noticing some parallels, Sammy."

Sam laughs. "Thats part of why its complicated."

"Just part, huh?"

"Yeah,"

"What about Ruby? She still around?"

"Probably. She shows up when she thinks she can make a case for wanting the greater good or whatever... there was a whole thing. When I was still convinced I could bring you back..." Sam trails off, clearly deciding how much to say. Sam had tried to bring him back?And failed? Did Bobby know about any of this? "That's done now.”

"Huh...You been using your freaky E.S.P. stuff?"

"Every time I think its behind me something weird happens."

"What?"

"It shows up at weird times, stressful situations. Afterwards its hard to tell if it was real or not."

"Sam..."

"I know, look, one thing at a time okay? We worry about this for now."

---

"I am curious... why aren't you doing this yourself?" Pamela asks Danny.

"You're a psychic?" Bobby asks.

"...I guess I could count? I tend to only talk to the dead when they're right in front of me."

This, of course, meant Pamela forgot she had been flirting in favor of talking shop with Danny. Which meant he didn't get a chance to chat with the lovely lady, instead got to listen to her quiz him on ‘'energies'' and 'conduits' and other psychic mumbo-jumbo. Like really, he just got outta jail, why can’t he enjoy it? It's probably for the best though, the kid, in his own words, "knew enough to do some incredibly stupid things." So, Dean figured letting Pamela explain the basics of a safe seance was probably saving someone a whole mess.

Not that he thought Danny would intentionally be stupid about it. They'd have done this four hours ago in the back of the kid's van, if he'd thought he could, and who knows how that would've ended.

He's less willing to accept it when Pam decides Danny should be the one touching Dean's shoulder.

"Jesus, kid! You been holding ice cubes?!"

"Don't judge my hobbies." Kid quips, settling his hand back over the handprint. "Just poor circulation, chillax."

Dean immediately regrets glancing at his brother. At least Sammy has the decency to stifle his smirk, but really, taking your not-actually-brother-in-law-because-its-complicated's side over your own flesh and blood: Rude! Just rude.

"Okay." Pam begins, her tone both sharp and comforting. The unspoken command is heard and they somber, close their eyes.

"I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle." She begins, her voice clear and authoritative.

"I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle." She repeats, energy runs between their circle linked hands. Dean couldn't let go even if he tried. What was this?

"I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle." Something turns on, a television or a radio, Dean doesn't know. He's a link in a chain meant to bind, every sense is dull except the feeling of clasping hands and the brand on his shoulders. Accept the single sound that rings in perfect clarity.

"I invoke, conjure, and command... Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy."

"Castiel?" Dean repeats, how he says it, he isn't quite sure, chainlinks don't have mouths.

"Its name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back."

"Warning, not threatening." Gasps the link that connects Pamela to this link. The static grows, the space beneath them shakes. The world itself wants to tear the links free from the chain, but they hold. Power runs freely between them, they are as much a conduit as they are a chain. They will not break, they cannot break, keeping hands linked is effortless.

"I conjure and command you, show me your face." Pamela chants. The cacophony around them grows louder and more hazy, her voice is clear through each repetition.

Another link says something. This link does not hear it.

"I almost got it. I command you, show me your face! Show me your face n—"

"No," The link between them breathes.

The link in the chain is a body. The body is Dean. The burn on Dean's shoulder ache's with the absence of a relieving cold removed.

Dean crashes backwards. The impact of his back on the floor knocks the wind from his lungs. Sound returns. Breaking glass and splintering furniture, someone is screaming. He gasps. Three, four, five breaths before he's aware of the broken chair beneath him. He grabs a leg of it, and holds it like a weapon as he scrambles to his feet.

Bobby has already gotten to Pamela, she's covering her face and muttering about sight. Dean catches a glimpse and turns to Danny as Bobby shouts to call 9-1-1.

He can hear Sam stumble over scattered items in the direction of the phone. He kneels in front of his brother's friend.

Danny's eyes are closed, but he has eyelids, so Dean thinks that's a good sign for now. Blood is gushing from the kid's nose.

"He's beautiful." The kid whispers, clearly dazed.

"You okay, kid?"

" 'm not'a kid, 'm 24, plus all that time that didn't happen, so I'm even older than I am."

"Right, Sammy's calling the 9-1-1, you're gonna be—"

Danny jerked away like someone had soaked their hands in ice water before grabbing his shoulder. "No hospitals."

Dean remembered that the kid was also a hunter, but a lot more vivid than that, was the image of Pam's eyes seared out. "Okay, okay, let me see your eyes, then we'll decide what to do."

Danny obeyed. He blinked his eyes open, and while bright green irises' surrounded with angry red lines, they were like, normal levels of bloodshot and not 'stared into eye gouging power' bloodshot. So that was good, better than Dean had hoped. "Okay, you come with us while Bobby handles the EMT's."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, promise."

Danny nods. "He's beautiful, Dean. Like something past hoping, like the things that live in the silver."

"Um." Dean regretted his choices.

"Neverborn and Neverdead for sure. But not the embodiment of a concept I dont think. Maybe something like a wisp? If wisps liked to burn your corneas off."

"I don't think it was a wisp, buddy."

"No, Castiel isn't a wisp name. Wisps have names like:" Danny whistled a few notes.

"Are you sure you don't need a hospital?"

He wiped his nose with his sleeve. This succeeded only in smearing the blood around his face and getting his sleeve dirty. . "Yeah'm sure. Don't ask me to do anything with depth perception though."

"Danny, I don't think—"

"You promised." And Dean had promised.

---

"What'd Bobby say?"

"Pam's stable. And out of I.C.U." Sam returned to their table.

"And blind, because of us."

"No, it looked a lot worse than it is, she should retain some eyesight, but we still have no clue who we're dealing with."

"We're dealing with Castiel." Danny muttered from where he was hiding his face from the "oppressive concept of LED lights". Dean was pretty sure the lights in here were normal, but he wasn't gonna argue with the kid who might be concussed about if the diner lights were a reasonable brightness.

"That doesn't exactly help us, though."

"Sure it does, With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us."

"You're crazy. Absolutely not."

"We'll work him over. I mean, after what he did?"

"Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, Danny's..." Sam looks at Danny, who may as well be a sweatshirt artfully arranged on the table. "You want to have a face to face?"

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. I looked, there are signs of Demons in town."

"Okay." Dean doesn't like where this is going, but he's aware of how strongly he doesn't want this to be a demonic plot, so he keeps his mouth shut.

"So, we go find them. Someone's gotta know something about something."

Dean opens his mouth, then shuts it again as the waitress approaches. Ah the awkward silence of 'don't freak out the locals.' They didn't have that in Hell, he doesn't miss it.

Three plates, each with a perfect slice of pie, makes their way to the table. They didn't have this in Hell either, this, Dean missed a lot. The sweatshirt on the table must agree, because it revives into a human person and pulls his plate to himself. It's the first thing the kid did since the seance that doesn't make Dean regret letting him skip the hospital.

Then, before Dean can dig into his own slice with the same intense focus, their waitress joins them at the table.

"You angling for a tip?"

"I'm sorry. Thought you were looking for us." She smiles as her eyes go absent of light. Then the man behind her does the same, then the cook in the kitchen. The front door locks with a resounding click.

"Oh, you will not." Danny hisses. And Dean tenses, for a moment, just a silly, ridiculous moment, he thought the kid was going to throw himself across the table, attack the demon with tooth and claw. Dean tenses, ready to drag the kid off the demon, because not even it deserves his full wrath. But Danny doesn't move, because that would be insane. The kid is not that insane, Dean has seen 0 behavior that would make him expect such a ridiculous action.

The demon locks eyes with the kid, several seconds pass, then moment is gone, and only Danny's half-given threat hangs in the air. The kid goes back to his pie. The demon turns to Dean as if nothing had happened.

"Dean. To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck." She tries to play it cool, to pretend that she wasn't just as rattled by... whatever Danny had done— and rest assured Dean will find out what that was— but she was rattled, and the threat of her backup did nothing to help her regain control.

She tells him nothing they didn't already know. Dean tells her nothing she didn't already know. Dean doesn't bluff, because for some reason they don't need to bluff. They finish their pie, pay and leave.

A block down the road, when the feeling of being watched by a predator fades, he turns to the kid.

"What. Was. That?"

"Uh... the demons? I thought you guys dealt with those semi-regularly?"

"No. What you did."

"Ate pie?" Dean pushes the kid against the wall.

"Dean, what's going on?"

"You're telling me you didn't feel that, Sammy?!"

"Feel what?"

Dean searched his brother's face, it was pure worry not a trace that he was hiding something. Danny however, held not a trace of concern, not even the slightest fear that Dean might hit him. Cold blue eyes watch him with morbid detachment.

"Dean, what is it?"

"Nothing." Dean lies. Releasing the kid as his brother tried to pry answers out of him.

There is something wrong with Danny, and Dean is going to figure out what.

---

Dean's plans for investigation are stalled slightly. Because Danny's plan, apparently, was to sleep in the back of his van. As the kid still looked like a walking corpse, and his nose had started bleeding again, Sam had taken pity and insisted he stay in the motel with them.

Dean, now half convinced Danny was in league with the demons from earlier, (yeah the theory didn't make sense but Dean didn't have a better idea at the moment. It had been a long day.) was not thrilled with this plan. Did he have an argument that would stop Sam from being protective of his girlfriend's little brother? No. No, he did not. And to be fair, the kid did pass out the instant his head hit the pillow, so he probably wasn't an immediate threat.

Dean took the other bed so Sam would have to live with the consequences of his actions. He falls asleep thinking of jokes to make for either sleeping arrangement his brother chooses.

---

Dean is shaken awake. He swings the moment he realizes the dark figure is too short to be Sam.

Danny blocks him easily. He grabs Dean's arm to pin him for exactly the time it takes to look him in the eyes and say. "He's here. Castiel's here."

Then he lets him go, but Dean is still frozen, still pinned by the younger man's gaze. Green eyes almost glow in the beam of an outside streetlamp. It is not the same as a shapeshifter's ‘lazer-eyes'

but it is something.

But there's no time to think about it, the television flicks on with familiar static and the radio follows. There is too much glass in here. Between windows and mirrors and why on earth did they choose a motel with a mirror on the ceiling when the thing chasing them shattered glass? He shouts a warning and barely has enough time to throw the comforter over them both before the world explodes.

They huddle between the beds in a haphazard blanket fort that does nothing to stop the whistling scream. It feels too thin to be real protection against the glass either, but it holds, and the kid's eyes are definitely glowing but it's the least of his concerns.

It's not so different from hell. The noise, the danger, the cramping in his muscles as he tries in vain to protect himself. He can't tell the difference between a few seconds and a few centuries. But he's breathing, so he counts his breaths and loses count twice.

Neither of them move the blanket when things seem to calm. Another century that is actually six breaths, and Bobby is rushing through the door, shouting for them.

The glass heavy blanket is pulled away and then they're both being checked over.

"Where's Sam?" Dean demands.

"I don't know, he wasn't here when I woke." Its probably stupid, but Dean believes him.

They have no new cuts or bruises, though Danny's ears are bleeding a little.

They have the hospital argument again, Danny is feeling better(or worse) than before, because he threatens to spit on all of their socks. When that doesn't work, he threatens to not tell them what Castiel said. That does work.

"He says to meet him at the church on south street. He didn't give a time, but he promised he'd be in a form we can handle."

Bobby and Dean share a look, yeah, they're not doing that.

But the idea that it could be a trap seems foreign to the younger hunter. Danny argues that the spirit might be offended and that "A summoning might cause him to lose concrete form, then we'll just repeat the glass nightmare."

Well that was a good point: building with no windows it was then.

Needless to say Danny loses this argument.

---

So Sam is lying to him, they're in some old building marking it up with every religion known to man and Danny's claimed a whole section of wall for the doodles not known to man. Bobby gets sidetracked by it every fifteen minutes, but Danny must have credible sources for the marks because Bobby tells the kid to copy them down for later study.

Dean really needs to decide what to do about the kid. He's been helpful so far... but that was how things started with Ruby.

"This is still a bad idea." Bobby tells him. They're ready.

"I second!" Danny shouts from where he's copying his symbols into Bobby's notebook.

"Yeah, Bobby, I heard you the first ten times. What do you say we ring the dinner bell?"

Bobby sighs, but begins.

---

Castiel tries to knock the kid out, just like he already did to Bobby. It takes everything in Dean to not panic.

"Yeah, no. Not doing that." Danny deadpans to the man-shaped thing.

"I need to talk to Dean. Alone."

"Well, you could've just asked. Going all sleepy magic on a guy is kinda rude. Dean? Want me to sit in the car?"

"Are you nuts?!" He checked Bobby's pulse.

"Your friend's alive." Bobby's pulse is even and strong.

"Who are you?"

"Castiel." "He's Castiel." Both human shaped things say. This conversation was going to be painful.

"Obviously, I mean what are you?"

"I'm an Angel of the Lord."

"Which Lord?" Danny asks before Dean can say something dumb like 'nun-uh.' Danny's question definitely offends Castiel more than any denial Dean could've come up with. The guy actually staggers a bit.

"The One True God."

"You realize like 40% of the gods I've met say that, right?" What? And with that the kid has rendered the angel speechless with indignation, Dean's not gonna lie, he's kinda impressed.

"Quit pulling our legs, angel's aren't real."

"Dean, this is your problem, you have no faith."

Dean's not sure how to describe the fact that he was suddenly aware of Castiel's wings. Not that he saw them exactly, or felt, or heard them, he just suddenly knew where they were, how they unfurled from Castiel's body and were held out in proud display. Then the moment passed and they were gone.

Danny clapped politely. It ruined the rising feel of awe inspired dread and Dean hated how much he was starting to like this kid.

"You burned out that poor woman's eyes." Dean started. He wasn't letting this guy off the hook so easy.

Stickers AU Master Post

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As always, direct linking on the mobile app takes out the readmore cuts. If you would like to read without spoiling the surprise stickers, please click my blog name after using the link to go to the original post.

Parts 1-5 (long post)

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

how to draw batman..

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy

UH OH! Pokémon TV is shutting down! It would be a shame if some guy on Tumblr shared a link to every season of AniPoke from Indigo Leauge to the last batch of episodes with Ash in it along with some movies, that would be a shame!

The Robiniad, Issue 1

next

The title page for Issue 1 of The Robiniad, a batman fancomic I'm drawing. Issues will probably be fairly short stories all set in the same continuity. Pick and choose canon, set in a time where everyone is alive (so after Spyral and Damian's resurrection), and Jason is edging closer to them, but not everyone in the family is that close to each other yet. In terms of superhero identities: Dick is Nightwing, based in Bludhaven, and in Gotham, Damian is Robin, Steph is Spoiler, Tim is Red Robin, Cass is Black Bat, Jason is the Red Hood, Duke is the Signal, and Babs is Oracle. Panels will be uploaded weekly for this issue.

Also, disclaimer: I am generally of the opinion (to borrow a quote from Red of Overly Sarcastic Productions) that "Can you imagine your Batman comforting a scared child? If yes, congratulations, that’s a genuine Batman! If no, you haven’t written Batman, you’ve just written Punisher in a funny hat." So I'm leaving out a lot of the more baffling depictions of batman over the years--and this comic will definitely be much more on the "Bruce Wayne is a good parent" side of things, even if he does struggle with communication.

(I didn't know about the "We are Robin" movement when I started this, and didn't count Duke as having been Robin, although I probably will, at least somewhat, in future issues)

~Katie

Disgraced apple pie

“Can you go anywhere else?” Hero turns around to see the Villain in one of the booths of their favorite diner. “It’s my favorite diner to go to after getting my ass kicked by you and your friends,” they answer, trying to keep the conversation light. Hero recognizes Villain as one of Supervillain's closest allies. They know from multiple meetings that they are one of, if not the most dangerous villain in the city. After Supervillain, of course. They also know Villain won't attack without any provocation unlike Other Villain.

“They’re not my friends,” Villain sighs, stabbing their pie with a fork. "Colleagues at best.” Hero slides into the seat in front of Villain. “Colleagues then. Why aren’t you celebrating your victory?” “Why would I celebrate something when it’s a daily occurrence?” Villain says, looking at them with a deadly glare.

“Ouch, no need to rub it in like that,” They react almost theatrically. Hero takes a sip from their strawberry milkshake as they look at Villain’s diner. A ripped apart apple pie and a black coffee. Villain keeps stabbing the perfectly crafted pie but doesn't take a single bite. “Not hungry?” Hero asks with their sweetest voice, trying not to sound hostile. It's still a dangerous, superpowered villain in front of them.

“Why do you care?” Villain says while continuing to massacre the pie. “I don't. I was just wondering,” Hero smiles. They felt the familiar knot in their stomach known as anxiety settle. Did that anger them? Did they go too far?

“You're not eating much either,” Villain points at their milkshake. “It's more than enough.” they answer, feeling their hungry stomach growl. Their paychecks have been less and less ever since the amount of villain attacks increased. The Agency wants them to pay for the property damage, like they can do anything about it. Well, it was either their salary or their dorm provided by the Agency. They would much rather have a roof over their head than a full stomach.

“I can hear your stomach,” The voice brings them back to reality. “Oh, it's fine. Don't worry,” they reply, taking another sip from the milkshake. “Want mine?” Villain asks as they push forward the murdered pie. “No, thanks,” Hero says as they push the pie back. It still looks good, even in its destroyed state. “I have food at home.”

“You're lying. I don't like liars,” Villain says with the hint of a threat in their voice. They pull the plate back towards them and stand up. “ Hey, where are you goi-” “Shut up, I am getting you some food” Villain interrupts.

Hero watches as the tall figure walks over to the counter. Their shadow attached innocently at their feet. They make some small talk with the lady behind the counter while waiting for the pie. While they are paying, their shadow makes an unnatural twitch. A twitch that Hero knows is just innocent against what it looks like when unleashed.

Villain turns around and sits back down, accompanied by a cherry pie. They push it towards Hero, alongside a fork. “Eat up,” they say, picking up their own fork. “I can't pay you back,” Hero says, placing the fork back on the table. “No need. Consider it an apology for the property damage.” They answer nonchalantly.

“How do you know about that?” Hero asks. The Agency is very secretive about their financial decisions. There is no way they heard it somewhere. “I have my sources,” Villain smiles. It's not a threatening or condescending smile as they would expect. It's rather playfull, like they are challenging them. “I will find out how you know,” Hero says, trying to sound confident. “I am sure you will,” Villain challenges them, a hint of sarcasm in their voice. As Hero opens their mouth to respond, they see a message appear on Villain’s phone. Villain quickly takes it and reads it.

“Looks like I am going to have to leave you alone with your pie,” Villain says, grabbing their jacket. “See you next time, Hero.” Before Hero could answer, the villain was out the door into the night. They looked back at the pies and pulls the disgraced apple pie towards them. More for them, they guess.

~

Villain sighs as they turn into an alley. They walk straight to the supervillain's lair, not so far from the city center. The text from Supervillain makes their stomach turn.

‘Caught one of their little sidekicks. Wanna play?”

They better be quick before Supervillain loses their patience and takes it out on the poor thing.

Next part

I'm thinking about making this a series, but i am not sure yet. It's currently 3 am so it's probably full of mistakes (sorry, if you find any) but i just wanted to finish this.