#*not really a shape shifter but her appearance does change at the hands of the magic

[abiteofhoney]

making tzipora a shape shifter type* was such a good idea. i don’t have to remember what color her eyes are. they’re whatever color i make them this chapter.

[tjodity]

Do you have any shape shifter headcanons for dsmp and why…

UMM!! My ideas for character designs are smooth and constantly shifting so let me think..

ok im putting this under a line i had more thoughts than i expected

I go back and forth on Tubbo being a shapeshifter. Yuker made a good comic on the idea. If not I think he's just a human guy who tends to change his appearance a lot, either based on people who have had a big impact on him or to chameleon. He mimics Tommy's appearance a lot in his early days out as transmasc, so he cuts his hair short and wears a lot of outdoor-oriented and kind of styleless clothing. Throughout the early SMP and L'Manburg he came into his own personality wise, but also slotted into the more formal environment. He grew his hair out more but kept it brushed and wore lots of button ups. During Manberg he completely bleached his hair and started wearing suits. He also lost a ton of weight and stopped styling his hair. As president he wore a cracked segment of Schlatt's face from a stone bust to obscure his scars and partial blindness. His suit coat is too big so he wears it like a cape. By the time of Snowchester he has sort of a crisis about looking like other people and dyes random patches of his hair pink and blood and wears almost entirely utilitarian clothing.

I could maybe see Dream as a shapeshifter? I think it could lead to some interesting things if he didn't literally have a mask, but was just always mimicking other people so no one knew what his actual face looked like. On the other hand I like making Dream a fairly normal guy before he started to take a turn during the elections, with any inhumanity being a conscious choice of presentation on his part.

I have some ideas about Niki but it's not quite shapeshifter. She was originally this sort of mechanical angel, like one of those automatons from the 1800s, with plating over internal engines and clockwork. She starts out looking like a very traditional christian angel, but paints herself and starts wearing clothes to appear more human-ish. She has a lot of fun messing with her appearance. This also has the effect of her appearance and humanity being kind of an exposed nerve when people insult her over it. When she's spiraling alone in the hidden city she sort of takes her entire shell off and just looks like if you took the guts of a grandfather clock and had it move around like a skeleton. She tries to make herself very menacing after joining the Syndicate, but it does not do great things for her sense of personhood. I think after she gets her shit together she'd whittle herself a new exterior.

(^^ she kinda starts out looking like these but made of gold and wrought iron)

I know people headcanon fundy as a shapeshifter a lot but I don't vibe with it. I really like anthro designs of him, and there's more canon backing, but I'm also infatuated with characters that are just. real furries. meaning humans who dress up and draw animals. There aren't enough of those as characters and I feel like with Fundy it could be poignant for his struggle to be viewed as an adult and then the struggle to really have any consistent relationships in his life and the distance he feels towards humanity do to his isolation feelings of abandonment and straying from even grounded time and space. To me he's a guy who got really into furries when he was younger, was mocked relentlessly for it, repressed it into complete denial by the time of L'Manberg onward, and then got back into it with encouragement from his girlfriend who wears a fursuit everyday in public for fun (also its absolutely a sex thing for H but she lets Fundy have it as a not sex thing. mostly)

I think there could be something to be said for Puffy being an anthro-to-human shapeshifter and how it relates to the building pressure she feels to sort of 'save' everyone around her, whether that's as an untrained therapist or the leader of a resistance against a god or the girlfriend of a very destructive woman. Maybe her sheep/monster form is her more comfortable form but she uses it increasingly less as she feels the need to sort of be 'perfect' and is more frequently human.

I think Mexican Dream was probably just some poor shapeshifting monster that felt bad for Tommy and worked with what was around. Maybe he was some kind of sea monster derivative of a siren that was just passing by. God sends his most helpful soldiers to be brutally murdered five minutes after their introduction.

The only main character I guess I could see as a shapeshifter is maybe Quackity? I think breaking down how that fits with his character is above my paygrade but I think generally with how much of his character is about presentation and a lot of his story is sort of trying to fit into different places before Las Nevadas. I imagine his shifting is pretty smooth, like an animation rather than something with blood and bones below skin shifting. But who knows maybe that's a performance in of itself. I think most of the forms he takes are pretty human but when he's in full Las Nevadas I-don't-care-about-people-quit-your-job-join-my-emo-country mode he does like a chimera thing. Lion mane around his neck like old royal fashion snakes coming out of his wrists dove wings everywhere. It's incredibly taxing so he usually just does it for commercials and threatening people.

[marinerainbow]

I have four official AU's for the WFRR universe. One of which I already posted about (The Toon Medic AU), but I got three more.

The last two are more horror related though, so unless someone asks I won't post them. This one however, is literally just changing the species of the characters. So, despite the fact that nobody asked, here is my

WFRR Monster AU

Tagging @wicked1will0sparkles so you can see ^^

Basically, instead of there being toons, there are different species of monsters. The humans are still humans, so it's monsters and humans coexisting. And it still takes place in the late forties. This barely does anything to the plot, I just love fantasy/monster AU's.

The monsters the toons would be are:

Roger Rabbit: Fairy. In fea folklore, there are all types of fairies, including more friendly fairies. Roger would be one of those. He's not the most powerful fairy, but he does have some magic, that he uses to bring happiness to people. Though if he's pushed to far, like his wife being kidnapped, he could easily use his magic to confront the offenders.

He's not Tinker Bell size, though he is still small. So even though he's not a toon rabbit anymore, he's still a shorty potorty. And yes, he's got wings (he's a cute and funny guy, the wings would help emphasize that).

Jessica Rabbit: Gorgon (I'm willing to bet my whole check that somebody thought that she was gonna be a siren or succubus). With the stories surrounding Medusa, especially with the slightly happier ending to how Medusa became the way she is, I think gorgon would fit Jessica more. Her poisonous snakes and petrifying gaze is her defense against groping men instead of booby traps and frying pans.

Jessica is still a gorgeous woman. Aside from the snakes in her hair, powers, and more reptilian eyes, she looks normal. I like to imagine that her snakes have hoods, like cobras, to make her hair more round, like how her hair ends are more curved in the movie. And yes, they all give Roger kisses too.

Baby Herman: Goblin. Don't let the tiny man fool you, Herman is still a bastard, and is not afraid at all to use his cute appearance to get what he wants. He is pretty old despite what his appearance may indicate, just like in the movie. He and Roger are still friends too.

Unlike other fea, he rarely bothers using his magic. He's a star, so nobody will be a threat to him- according to his ego. And like I said, he knows how to play cute, so he's got that going for him.

Benny the Cab: Mechanical Being. This one was pretty easy. Who knows how this machine was given life. All that we do know, is that he decided to serve the people as a smart-mouthed cab. There are rumors that it was actually Roger who gave Benny life, considering their strong bond. Though this hasn't been confirmed- or denied.

I'm not entirely sure if I want him to remain a car, or if he can shift his body to become something else like a transformer. I'm leaning more towards the first option though.

Judge Doom: Unknown. Nobody knows who, or what, the mysterious judge was. Obviously he is a shape-shifter, though that is the only clue to his true identity. After all, part of the mystery was who Doom really was in the movie, why not have it be the same in this AU?

Doom looks pretty much the same as he does in the movie. His transformations are less toony though.

Smartass Weasel: Werewolf. On the surface, the sergeant looks like any other human, and he's able to carry himself like one. However, Anyone who's been around him notices his oddly heightened senses and strength. If pushed too far, you might even see his eyes flash momentarily. But if he needs to, he can and will summon his more beastly side.

Smartass, as stated above, is able to pass as a human. As such, it makes him the most ideal to lead the Patrol, and interact with other humans. Just be sure to avoid him on the full moon.

Greasy Weasel: Incubus. Other than his overt sexual nature, this right-hand man might look normal too. However, if one were to look closely, one might notice his more hellish features through his glamor. Though most people just brush it off as a trick of the light.

Like Smartass, Greasy looks like a human, though he doesn't has as good of a handle on himself; the more lascivious he gets, the more obvious that he's not human (Also uses his Incubus powers to charm women into sleeping with him)

Wheezy Weasel: Ghoul. Not to be confused with a mindless zombie. He may be undead, but he still has his own will and mind after being mysteriously brought back to life. At least now he can smoke all he wants with no risk to his health. Though the stench you smell when he enters the room is a bit more than the cigarettes...

Wheezy has wrappings and stitches all over him, to cover and close all the wounds he's accumulated that won't heal. Other than that, he could look like any other human too... Just don't try to take his food away from him when he's eating.

Psycho Weasel: Poltergeist. With that scene in the end where, even after he died, he still managed to almost kill Jessica and Roger, I knew this was perfect for him. Even though he's dead, don't underestimate the absolute nightmare this loon can and will be for you. And since he's already dead-dead, he has no worries of being killed or re-killed like the others. As such, this ghost has very little reason to hold back.

Don't invite this little shit into your house. He will cause problems just because he can. From slyly placing objects in different places to making the exorcism movies look like a Disney franchise.

Stupid Weasel: Troll. Big, dumb, and brute strength all in one package. Pretty straightforward. No one knows why he follows Smarty around, he may not even know himself. Though the creature seems to have gotten attached to the werewolf somehow and will do what he says, and pretty much got adopted into the gang when he wouldn't go away.

In troll folklore, they turn to stone in the sun. So Stupid doesn't like going out at that time. If he has to, he'll bring something to cover himself like a huge blanket or a parasol. It's almost cute, until you remember this guy can squash you like a grape.

Eddie (and Teddy) Valient: Monster Hunter. To call him a hunter wouldn't entirely be accurate. He and Teddy protected humans from monsters, yes, but they also protected the monsters too. It wasn't until Teddy's death at the hands of a mysterious creature did Eddie swore to never work or help creatures again.

He doesn't actively hunt the creatures, but he doesn't step in when Judge Doom and the Monster Patrol take over Los Angeles either. It isn't until a certain fairy comes to him pleading for help that he's able to slowly come back.

Dolores: Monster Huntress. In the movie, the picture frame containing the picture of Eddie, Teddy, and Dolores says "Two Flatfoots and a Floozy enter a Business", heavily implying that Dolores was indeed a part of their business. The case would be the same in this AU. And just like in the movie, she branched off to become a bartender when the business started going under to try to help both herself and Eddie.

Like in the movie, Dolores is fearless and witty in this AU. She still cares for Eddie, but she's at her wit's end too. In the end, she just wants what's best for them both.

There are certain scenes from the movie I want to write out but in the Monster AU. This post is already pretty long, so I'll save the scene re-writes for another day.

That's that! I hope you guys like this. Any questions you guys have, I'll be more than happy to answer ^^

[bluepoodle7]

#TheAmazingWorldOfGumball#GumballOcs#MyOcs #GiftFanArt #PoodleArtMyArt

Verdron Variety is Zigearimorph Deluxe and is the father of 3 kids and is married to Vonra Vertigo who is a female flying purple people eater. Both are in their late 30's. Verdron works for a company where he uses his tablet for his job to stop glitches in Elmore.

Verdron is not effected by any time effect or time stopping also glitching. He helps characters from the void that have be disfigured. He and his three kids can shape shifting and but only the two girls have the counter pseudo tattoo marks on their back and barbs on his arms.

Maria and Bella has those traits from their dad but Polro has more of his mom's traits but can shapeshift and the phoenix revival thing.  But they both share this.> When a Zigearimorph dies they just gain a new body. (Kind of like a phoenix.)

The kids try to adapt to their environment and this weird world. Zigearimorph Deluxe's have the ability to touch a article of clothing or a person's hands to know a person more than the person knows themselves or to find lost items.

Zigearimorph Deluxes can be born without bones. If their mates find it weird not having bones they can make fake bones. But the father and Bella are born without bones. Polro and Maria  are born with half their fake bones.

Vonra Vertigo was the mom's real last name but changed to Variety when she married Verdron. The mom has a remote job online for a shopping company selling items and testing them. She wants to make her own business by herself one day. She mostly watches the kids with her mate.

Verdron is 39

Vonra is 38

Bella is 20

Polro is 14

Maria is 12

Zigearimorph Deluxe's have sharp spikes or barbs where the tips of the elbows are that if poked can cause a person to be paralyzed, sleep, or becoming shifter for a short time but it's randomized. Their bodies are not affected by poison or other Zigearimorph Deluxe's effects.

Maria is a new student that transferred from another school. She doesn't like being the center of attention and tends to blend more in the background but wants to be friends with Rob a she doesn't mind him crashing at her place.

Her favorite subject is Art and tends to draw art of some of the students if she has time. She has the ability to shapeshift but only for short periods of time she is still learning like her dad.

 Each Zigearmorph Deluxe is different in both personality and appearance so all of them will be unique. Her pseudo tattoo mark glows when she's in danger or in the dark but in danger it acts as a counter or a clone maker if the situation calls for it.

Even if her normal two eyes are blinded she has to depend on her ears and tail eyes. Her dad works and her mom mostly stays home and works at home. Her mom is very sassy while her dad is more chill. Her brother is really protective of her and will protect her.

Maria's friends: Rob, Wilson Bilson, Terri, and Alan

Polro's personality is Protective, Serious, Clumsy, Caring, Quirky. He is overprotective of his sister and would give up his life to protect her. And wasn't keen on having Rob stay at their house but soon got used to Rob like his brother that he never had.

Polro secretly likes Jamie Russo but is too scared to ask her.

Polro's friend group: Rob, Rachel, Gregor.

Bella works in a lab but does part time caring for animals at a shelter. She lost her left wing in a experiment. She doesn't have any pets with her. She is very smart and gifted and she went to college at age 17.

Friends: Her scientist worker buddies and the people that work at the animal shelter.

Once she starts on a project she works on it for a long period of time to get it right the first time that sometimes she forgets to eat.

If a Zigearmorph Deluxe is taking a test they can poof away the extra eyes on the tips of their ears and tail just in case to prevent cheating.

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In a Au rp Bella is married to another scientist named Dameinz.

He's the Gumball Penny looking hybrid oc.

Welcome To our research by garda32 on DeviantArt

messes with multiverse by garda32 on DeviantArt

This is Caper the gold goop alien poodle and he's was the villain in the Bella Au.

He's 28 and was trying to steal the barbs from Bella to sell to on the black market for money but had a change of heart.

The roleplay was weird.

This is in a Au roleplay where Maria Variety is 35 and is dating older version of Rob and later married him. They had two kids with him.

Rob jr.(male) and Vega(female with tan, blue, and lavender tri skin color.)

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Shoujo is Anime's sister and princess but this is her fake name her real name is (Zuki ) but Mimi is the tailmouth's real name. Anime or his real name (Andrew) was a space prince of his planet Zerkix but both are now is substitute teachers. Both are 35 years old.

Manga is the fake name for Andrew's tailmouth and the real name is Maguhas for his tailmouth. They are a reference to the doom tree aliens from sailor moon but are siblings instead of lovers.

Zuki finds Rocky Robinson interesting and wants to date him. It's because of his awkwardness and wonders how earthlings tick. Andrew doesn't like him and thinks he is not worthy but respects her choice.

Zerikai's are shifters that adapted to space and can have different skin colors.

Zerikai's eat meat, junk foods, fruits but get fat off of vegetables except celery. But if they drown it in dressing then that will work as a junk food.

Zerikai's can also teleport. Zerikai's never sleep but they can die from bones in them. Both wonder what sleep feels like.

Zerikai's are always hungry they also use the fuel from the food they eat to teleport. They can breath in space. They want both money and knowledge to know how this planet works to maybe conquer it.

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Her left ear and hair is pink with blue tip and her right ear and hair is blue with a pink tip. Her left horn is red on green while her right horn is green on red. Her tailmouth's name is Mimi.

Zuki clothes are revered color of Anime's which is silver on gold. Her skin is tan. Her left eye is silver and her right eye is gold.

Her tailmouth's eyes are silver (Left) and gold(Right). Her tongue mouth is blue green while her tailmouth's tongue is metallic yellow. Her sandals are silver then gold.  And her nails are light blue.

 Andrew has pink and blue hair with a ponytail with green and red tips, His ears are pink with blue tip (Left) and blue with pink tip(Right), his middle hair tip has a little blue on the pink, green on red and red on green horns, metallic purple claws, gold/silver outfit, blue and pink puffs on his wrists and on his feet.

He also has a tailmouth named manga he also has blue and pink puff on him. Manga also has a dark blue tongue while Anime has a raspberry mouth tongue. Manga or Maguhas a gold eye on the left and silver on the right like Anime's eyes are also gold on left and silver on right. Manga's horn is green with a red tip. Their skin color is light brown but Zerikai's can have different skin colors.

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Art of the princess.

Image not mine but link is there.

Art Trade: Shoujo and Mimi by Inkcess on DeviantArt

This is Bella, Polro, and Maria's cousin.

A blog about obscurity stuff, plushies and food. on Tumblr

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would change is Jacob never told Bella (or, I guess, if Bella never guessed) that he was a shape shifter? Would she have been eaten by Victoria?

I like it, anon, let's take this meandering path.

Bella is Never Told The Cold Ones Story

Well, Bella already knows the crux of it: Edward's not human, possesses inhuman strength and speed, seems to be able to read minds, and is also dangerous and specifically dangerous to her.

Before the beach, Bella had already put all of that together. She's just missing the "vampire" word.

Added to this, Edward was hinting at his true nature while also trying to skirt around the issue. He wanted to tell himself he was warning her away but also desperate that she did not lose interest (as she appeared to be doing during the week or so that he ignored her after the accident). He was dropping a lot of heavy handed hints that he was a demon.

I imagine either Bella would have her prophetic dream or she'd be so damn close to the truth anyway that Edward gives up and takes her to the meadow anywhere we he confesses he's a vampire.

From there, canon continues onward. She visits his house of demons, attends the baseball game, is hunted down by James for a weekend, and months later has a spectacularly awful birthday party.

Jacob Enters the Picture

I imagine, as in canon, Bella does approach Jacob as she did so initially with the idea of fixing the motorcycles and thus summoning Hallucination Edward. His telling her a tribal legend at this point was both a non-issue and almost completely forgotten in her depressed haze.

She and Jacob become fast friends over the course of a few weeks then Jacob gets sick. As in canon, she confronts him, and learns that he's abandoned her to join Sam Uley's cult. Bella is utterly devested, as is Jacob, for that matter.

Bella continues as in canon, finds the meadow, sees a bunch of giant wolves and thinks "weird" as they chase Laurent away. She continues life in her miserable, depressed, haze with the vague alarming thought that Victoria wants to eat her. Again. Huzzah.

And here's where things take a turn.

Jacob never told Bella the story. Thus he can't throw rocks at her window going "HINT HINT, WINK WINK" until she puts it together. I imagine he tries, says something cryptic of, "You always like dogs, right Bella?" And Bella goes, "What the fuck?" but he's unlikely to get through to her.

Bella may have yet another prophetic dream save her depressed ass but that's not really in the spirit of this ask.

So, instead, Bella and Jacob's friendship never recovers. She stops going to the res, never speaks to the wolves about what she knows about vampires, and likely seeks increasingly reckless ways to summon Hallucination Edward.

She's protected from Victoria unwittingly by the wolves, who are led on a merry chase, and not entirely sure what Victoria is after (per their legends, she's probably here to sack the entire town, not just after Bella Swan).

This likely still culminates in Bella's suicide attempt at the cliff (as Jake had pointed out the cliff before shifting). Jacob probably still saves her and rages that he couldn't be there for her, blames Sam, and just dies inside when Alice Cullen shows up at the door.

Alice, I imagine, does not tell Bella what Jacob is (per the treaty) but instead notes to Bella that it's best she keep her distance from Jake (due to being a young werewolf).

They go to rescue Edward, Bella wondering why Jacob even pretends to care about her wellbeing, and there Edward is very firm that they will not be telling Bella that Forks is apparently infested with werewolves.

It's when we get to Eclipse that things get... interesting.

The Cullens have no means to really communicate with the wolves, that was done primarily through Bella, who was able to rally the troops together and get them on speaking terms.

The Cullens realize what is happening and look for help. The Denali turn them down because the Cullens refuse to let them take revenge on the tribe for killing Laurent, the Volturi appear to be MIA, and other friends are too distant/too dangerous to ask for help.

In desperation, Carlisle may try to reach out to the wolves, but things are different than in canon. The tribe and the Cullens aren't talking already, it's unclear if they'll accept any conversation whatsoever, and the Cullens can't be sure this is a fight they'd be willing to accept (they're protecting the town, yes, but there is a very large risk people would die if they tried to take a newborn army head on). I also imagine the Cullens don't know exactly how many wolves there are (they didn't know exactly in canon either but they certainly knew there was a good amount through Bella).

I imagine the Cullens proceed to fight on their own, well aware this means the death of several family members. Without Seth to take on Riley, Edward probably loses his fight and dies, Bella with him. Against the newborns, some of the Cullens probably die, who it would be is up in the air as all it takes is a moment.

Jane then strolls in very late, the Cullens successfully culled, and if Carlisle is alive all he can do is stand there, seethe, and grieve.

Breaking Dawn does not happen because Bella is dead.

[darkshadow90]

Loki x Reader: He Transforms into Lady Loki and flirts with you

Summary: Loki notices you spend a lot of time around women. He becomes curious, and being the trickster he is, he transforms into a woman and flirts with you. When you see him the next day, you tell him about the mysterious woman and you’re in for shocking discovery.

A/N: Hey guys. I’ve had this idea for a very long time. Loki is a shape shifter and I know Lady Loki is a thing in the comics. So I wanted to give this a try. The reader’s sexuality isn’t specified, but she may be bisexual. There’s no sexual content, just flirting and Loki being a seductive little shit. I’ll refer to him by male pronouns when he first transforms to describe the difference in Lady Loki’s appearance. Warnings: Deception, reader being confused about her sexuality. Hope you like it :)

You had been on Asgard for quite some time. You spent a lot of time around the women. Something about being around them made you feel extremely comfortable and safe. Loki noticed this, and it made him curious. You got along with the men well enough, but you didn’t talk to them much. He decided to transform himself into a woman and see what he could find out. He thought it was a great idea and an opportunity to have a bit of fun with you. 

He transformed himself into a woman. He looked at the beautiful, elegant woman in the mirror. His Asgardian armor was now a beautiful green dress with bits of gold. His hair was now a longer, but still black. “This should get Y/N to open up to me. She’s normally so skittish around me as a man. This will be fun indeed.” Loki saw you in the galley talking with some of the women. She was content to watch the conversation awhile longer. When the women left, she made her move.

You were sitting in the corner reading the book you had brought along with you. “Well. this is rather interesting. I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. You must be Y/N.” Her voice was sultry bordering on seductive. You looked up at her. She was beautiful. She was wearing a beautiful green and gold dress. Her hair was long, black. Her eyes were green. There was something regal about her, almost like royalty. “Yes, that’s my name. How do you know my name?” “People talk about you. They seem to like you. You might say a certain someone is intrigued by you. I can see why. If you’re not seeing anyone, does that mean I have a chance with you?” You laughed. “That’s a good joke.” “I assure you it’s no jest. I quite adore you, little dove.” She put her hand on your shoulder. The look in her eyes was intense. They were mischievous. Something about them looked familiar. You looked away, blushing.

The way she carried herself seemed familiar to you. You couldn’t figure out why. It seemed almost like you knew her. She turned your head so you were facing her. “You don’t need to feel intimidated, love. These conversations only need to be between us. No one has to know if you don’t want them to.” “It’s not that. For some reason, I feel like I know you. I don’t know why. I don’t know how he would feel about it.” She nodded. “You mean Thor. Of course you like him, most of the women do.” “No, actually. It’s his brother. I’m intimidated by him and I don’t think he’s interested.” “Well, have you asked him?” “No, but--” “How can you be sure? I wouldn’t be so sure about that myself. I think he would love to have you around.” You blushed again. “Seeing you flustered is a sight to behold.” You still couldn’t say anything. “I wouldn’t worry about it, dove. Go talk to him. You might be surprised.” You still felt unsure. “I just don’t know how he would feel about this.” You hoped she wouldn’t hear you, but she did “Oh darling, you really are a delight. Trust me when I say the prince would find all of this delicious. Now go on. Talk to him.” She got up to leave. “Wait!” “Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll see each other again.” And she left.

The next day you went and sat at the large table. You couldn’t stop thinking about the mysterious woman. You never saw her before, but she looked so familiar. You couldn’t figure out why. Loki came in a few minutes later. He could tell you were deep in thought. He managed to keep a smirk to himself. He knew exactly what you were thinking about. “Something on your mind, dove?” Dove? Why would he call you that? “Hm? Oh nothing. I met a mysterious woman yesterday and we talked.” “Really?” “Yeah. I don’t remember seeing her until yesterday. I don’t know why but she seemed so familiar. She didn’t tell me her name.” “I believe I know who you’re talking about. The two of us are well acquainted.” Loki enveloped himself in a green light, and you were speechless. It was the woman you met the previous day. “Hello, my love!” You felt the color drain from your face. He changed back to his normal form. “Wait a minute. Loki?! The whole time it was you?! What the hell?” He thought it was hilarious. “Oh Y/N. You should see the look on your face. It’s a sight to behold.” “It’s not funny. God, you have some major issues, you know that?” “Darling, I’m the God of Mischief, remember? It was just a bit of fun. Besides I got you to open up. It’s still me I just took on a female form. You’ll come to understand in time. I don’t think you’re entirely opposed to it.” It all made sense why she was so familiar. Her facial expressions and mannerisms were exactly like Loki’s. You kicked yourself internally for not figuring it out sooner. And he wasn’t entirely wrong. You weren’t opposed to his female form.

@ohallthecrushes

[minerstatus]

Teyvat’s School for the Gifted

Summary: He's cruel, mean, and sadistic. Lumine cannot fathom why he has the followers he does, but she won't fall into his hands like the rest of them.  It was unknown to her at that time how such a stance would cause the biggest uproar the schools ever seen.

This is the silly drama filled high school/college parody AU nobody asked for filled with Lumine not giving a shit and Childe trying to buy his way out of problems.

Ship: Lumine/Childe

Tags: Highschool AU, Enemies to lovers, Slow burn, Jealousy, lots of side ships.

Status: 5/? on Ao3

Chapter 1

The school located on an island inside the neutral zones between nations is a blessing for anyone without a swimming pool filled with mora. Without money you have to be gifted a vision to attend. That is why Lumine thought she would never be accepted to such a place. Instead cursed to live her life on a small farm on the outskirts of Mondstadt, killing small monsters for money to aid her ailing mother.

She had become quite the prodigy around the area. Her sword work was nothing to be trifled with. Some would even gush about what it would be like if she did have a vision. Then it happened, a strange string of life changing events.

-

 She enjoyed spending her free time sitting under the statue of the seven in windrise. It gave her a reprieve from her day-to-day life of school, killing, then sleep. She polished her blade most days she sat there, enjoying the sounds of the wilderness around her.

 As she sheathed her blade, wistfully thinking about what it would be like to magically summon and desummon it as a vision user, a light began to shine behind her. There was a flash, she thought maybe a vision might appear in front of her. But this was no test or life changing event. It didn’t make sense.

 Wind surrounded her body, lifting her skit in the breeze. She turned, it followed with her. She lifted her hand as a power surged through her. A burst of wind jetted from her palm and sliced across the water. It trimmed the tops off the over grown grasses lining the ponds edge. The wind died down and left her for elsewhere as the light slowly faded out of existence.

 Befuddled, she stared at the palms of her hands. She felt a power emanating from her core. With a trembling arm she raised her palm again, calling forth on the energy. It darted from her as before. Shocked, she tried it again and again, smiling gleefully with each blast of wind. She twirled around, searching for her vision, but came up empty.

-

That is how the first visionless anemo user was born. At first people didn’t believe her. Delusions were not unknown to the common folk of Teyvat. They were a staple favorite of the mafia families across the regions. But she quickly smashed those theories to pieces. Not only was she a poor farm girl fighting to survive, but where on earth would she have the money to afford such a thing. She allowed an inspection of her things and a pat down to prove it.

After the authorities decided that she did not have a vision she was free to do as she wished. That was until the head master of Teyvat’s school for the gifted showed up on her doorstep. The scholarship she was offered would give more money to her mother per month than she could in six months of hunting. She took it without question.

That’s how she ended up here, gawking at the building in front of her. The school defied the rumors. Statues carved from marble, fountains that defied gravity, even the wood it was built from looked impossibly expensive. Heck, the wildlife looked like they ate from golden platters.

The only thing that held her from running right back to the boat was a woman pinning her down with a chemically assisted cheerful gaze. A shiver ran up her spine as she waved her over. She obliged only because her eyes looked a hair away from snapping into crazy land.

“Welcome to Teyvat’s finest Lumine!” She cheered and began to clap.

“Thanks,” She mumbled, intimidated by her nature. She looked like a robot. Sleek black hair, not a strand out of place. Perfectly pressed blazer and pencil skirt in matching shades. Her glasses glistening in the sunlight, even if they were just plain black frames. She hoped not everyone in this school looked or felt this way.

“Follow me and I'll take you to your dorm. Then it’s a trip around campus!” She quipped then turned on her heel. Even her footsteps were a perfect tempo.

They walked through the faculty building, which thankfully looked normal inside. The site quelled her turning stomach. It was into the garden next that, as expected, looked immaculate. They even had a massive sand garden. Back in Mondstadt something like that would be destroyed in seconds.

Eventually they came upon another wooden building with a large ‘girls’ over it. The woman stopped and spun so fast on her heel Lumine almost let out small scream.

“This is the girl's dorm; your roommates are waiting for you inside with your things. I'll be back in thirty minutes for the rest of the tour,” she said, smile never once faltering as she left Lumine to her own devices.

Her roommates were nice, they greeted her in the common room just as her guide stated. Amber was a bit too enthusiastic for just about anything. Barbara was a very cheerful girl but was more reserved. It was a breath of fresh air to see two friendly faces. They led her to their dorm to get settled.

“So, what do you think?” Amber asked as Lumine began to unpack her luggage. Placing her uniforms carefully into her small closet along with her own casual clothing. Her own things almost felt dirty comparted to the schools uniform she was provided. And the room was much bigger than what she expected from a dormitory.

“It's overwhelming,” She admitted.

“You'll get used to it,” Amber laughed.

“Are you?” Lumine began to ask.

“Scholarship,” Amber answered, holding up her vision, “They keep the poor kids together so we don’t infect the rich kids.” She laughed.

“Hey!” Barbara yelled at her. Lips pointing into a pout.

“Except for Barbara, she requested to room with me. She's the exception.” Amber smiled at her friend.

“So, it's exactly how I thought it would be,” Lumine grumbled. This school was probably dripping with rich kids causing trouble for the normal folk, like she expected.

“Some of the students are alright, indifferent you might say. But there are,” Amber held up her hands as air quotes, “those types.”

“Will you guys be in my classes?” She asked.

“Nope, third years!”

Lumine felt her insides twist. Great, now she would be alone on her first day. At least her dorm would be nice. Amber was warm and friendly and Barbara seemed sweet even if she wasn’t talking as much. The pair would only be a year below her so they were still close in age. Hopefully she wouldn’t be moved to another dorm with the ‘adults’ if she attends the next four years after this one.

“You don’t want to be in our year anyways,” Barbara laughed.

“Whys that?” Lumine felt a small smile form for the first time since she set foot on the island. Barbara wiggled her eyebrows and gleamed over at Amber. She turned red in response and threw a pillow at her.

“Stop! Its not my fault!” She shouted.

“It’s gross the way he drools over his desk for you,” Barbara added.

“Mind filling me in?” Lumine asked.

“No!” Amber shouted.

“She has this wolf boy that follows her around and causes trouble. Its adorable,” Barbara said anyways.

“I didn’t ask for it he just did it!” Amber defended herself.

“It's like a comedy slash horror show every day,” Barbara giggled.

“Stop teasing me,” Amber whined.

“Wolf boy?” Lumine asked. Mondstadt had a steady population of people descendant of shape shifters or animals, but she had never seen a wolf before. Most of them were cats. Granted, she did keep to herself and didn’t really mix with the town folk, even at school.

“Half werewolf, half human, grew up in the wild before coming here earlier in the year,” Amber explained.

“He can smell everything, it's awful,” Barbara moaned, “one time I tried to bring some leftovers from lunch and he almost ripped apart my bag looking for it.”

“Sounds like a nice boyfriend,” Lumine said, hiding her smile as she sorted items into her desk drawers. Amber gasped from behind her. She swallowed a laugh.

“H-he's not my boyfriend!” She yelled. Lumine busted and began to giggled along with Barbara. She was interested in seeing the exchanges between the two now.

“Very funny guys, I'll make sure to make fun of your pain in suffering next time I get the chance.” Amber crossed her arms.

“Alright I'll stop,” Barbara waved her hand at her. A sharp knock on the door quickly soured the cheerful mood. The door swung open and Lumine’s guide walked in.

“Fantastic, I'm so glad you are getting along with your new housemates. We must complete the tour now.” The woman said, still as cheerful as ever. Lumine noticed Barbara and Ambers shoulders fell on her entrance. “I'll be waiting out front,” she chirped and left.

“God, Mrs.Lee always gives me the creeps,” Amber said.

“Glad it's not just me,” Lumine laughed as she stood.

“Good luck! See you at dinner,” Amber waved as Lumine exited the room. She heard faint whispers of gossip as she left but knew it was nothing bad, those girls didn’t have a mean bone in them.

-

They walked around campus and Lumine slowly became accustomed to the wildly expensive taste. She was shown the inside of the year one through four buildings, for the fourteen-to-eighteen-year old's. Then the outside of the adult facilities. Mrs. Lee assured the only real difference between the two was the uniform requirement and some extra freedoms.

After taking the tour she felt less overwhelmed, but it was the final stop that really cemented the reality most of the students lived in. It was the cafeteria of the school, but should have been classified as a food court. There was the line for the scholarship students where they could use one of three free meal tickets per day, or a snack coupon, all loaded onto her school ID. Wich was normal, same thing that she had in Mondstadt, minus the dinner.

What was different was the restaurants lining the walls. Everything you could imagine from each region on tap. And the prices were nothing to scoff at. A Fishermans toast was going for ten thousand mora, she could make that for less than three hundred back home. Lines scaled out to the isles as students waited, eager to be robbed for food.

“Lumine!” A familiar voice shouted. She sighed in relief. A distraction to this insanity was required right about now. She carried her tray adorned with less appetizing food from the school over to the table Amber sat at.

“This place is crazy,” Lumine sighed in exhaustion.

“My first day I ran away,” Amber laughed. She placed a spoon full of mac and cheese into her mouth.

“Those prices are more than I make in three weeks back home,” She said as she began to eat. Pleasantly surprised that even the free food was delectable. The pasta was perfectly cooked, cheese sauce an ideal creamy texture. She moved on to nibble at her cookie, baked expertly with a crispy outside and a gooey center. “God,” she murmured, savoring the taste.

“I told you, you get used to it,” Amber smiled sweetly. A book bag slamming down on the table instantly cleared her face. She looked up to see what she assumed was the wolf boy from earlier discussions. Lumine wondered why Amber felt it was bad to have his attention. He was attractive, silver hair and red eyes, giving him an exotic look. His arms were coated in scars and a massive one gashed his face, not a bad look if your into that type. Some of the girls back home would swoon over the attention.

“Why,” She groaned as he pulled out a seat, pushing it right up against hers as he sat a plate of meat and potatoes down. It must have been one of the free creature meals from the school line. He sat, making sure he was as close as physically possible to her.

Okay, maybe that’s why. Lumine began to understand.

He tilted his head like a new puppy, “Why?” He asked, voice thick with an unknown accent.

“We talked about this,” She shoved his chair away. “This is Razor,” She sighed as he sunk into his chair to pout. Lumine nodded and greeted him with a smile.

“I bought brownies!” Barbara sang as she skipped over to the table, “For our new friend,” She handed out the sweets, “And beef jerky for you,” She said as she handed Razor a slim piece of dried meat. He perked up and took it, chewing on it greedily. After the experience with the cookie Lumine thought the food couldn’t get better. But the brownie was smooth decadent layers of velvet chocolate that melted in her mouth. She had to suppress a groan.

There was a pickup of chatter in the room that pulled her from her chocolate induced fantasy. She looked towards the entrance of the café where a group of boys walked in. They were followed by a gaggle of other students, mostly female, all adorned with an expensive accessory or more.

Lumine was an honest person and she did not deny to herself that these boys looked like royalty. They walked with an air of confidence even through the crowd, knowing that the sea of students would part for them. She counted each of their visions, anemo, geo, cryo and hydro. There was a distinct leader to the group out of the four. A redhead who wore his vision on his belt, showing it off by messily tucking in half of his unkept shirt. Like he wanted people to see it, unlike the rest of them that wore them on chains by their side, as did everyone else in the school.

“Don't stare,” Amber hissed. Lumine snapped her eyes to her friends.

“Who are they?” She asked. Amber eyed her wearily before divulging the information.

“Sons of the school's elite,” She glanced back at the group to ensure they were distracted with food or girls before continuing, “The shorter one with green hair is Xiao, the son of the wangshu inn owner. The geo looking guy is Zhongli from the Wangsheng funeral parlor. Blue hair is Kaeya, one of the sons from the dawn winery.” Amber stopped speaking as she got to the last subject. Lumine quirked a brow as both Barbara and Amber swiveled their heads to check on the group again.

“It's not really them you should be weary of though; besides Xiao they are nice. Xiao has always had a stick up his butt,” Barbara added to the conversation.

“Then what is it, why are we acting like we are defusing a bomb?” Lumine asked.

“It's Childe, the redhead,” Amber whispered.

“Childe? That’s a dumb name,” Lumine thought out loud. The girls hissed at her to keep her voice down.

“He smells mean,” Razor added. Amber pulled on his ear.

“I told you not to talk about him,” She growled at him. He grasped her hand in his, forcing her to release.

“But you are!” he argued.

“Thats because we are warning her!” Amber explained. Razors eyes darted from Ambers to Lumines and he resigned himself back to his half-eaten steak.

Amber rolled her eyes and turned back to Lumine, “It’s not his real name, no one even knows his real name.”

“Childe is an awful nickname,” She whispered back to her friend.

“He’s mean, and evil, once he has you in his sights there's no stopping it.” Amber warned her.

“What about his friends? Don’t they say something?” She asked.

“They are rich, us poor folk don’t matter to them even if they act cordial towards us,” Amber told her as she leaned back, “Besides you don’t have a vision, he will probably just ignore you.”

Lumine widened her eyes, “well...” She felt a tint come to her cheeks, “Actually...”

Amber slammed her fists on the table, “NO WAY! YOUR THAT GIRL!” she screamed. Drawing the attention of half the students.

“Show us!” Barbara insisted.

“Ah, I don’t think now is the best time.” Lumine tried to quell her friend's voices but both girls were oblivious to the attention they were attracting. She glanced over at the red head she was warned about to make sure he was still entranced at whatever activity he had chosen.

“Awh comon I wanna see!” Amber whined.

“First anemo user in history without a vision! Don’t hold out on us!” Barbara added.

“Fine! Just stop yelling at me,” Lumine finally conceded. She put her palm face up on the table and gathered a small amount of wind to it. It tinted green with her power as it swirled into a miniature tornado in her palm.

“This is so cool!” Amber gasped.

“It's the same as anyone else,” Lumine said, closing her hand to cease the wind. She was more than a bit tired of people going ballistic over her powers.

“Let's get back to the dorms,” Amber suggested, “We have much to talk about,” She smiled gleefully. Razor whimpered next to her, “fine you can come too,” She sighed. Razor looked up with a beaming smile.

“Boys are allowed in the girls dorms?” Lumine asked as they gathered their trays and bags.

“Only until eight with a strict open-door policy,” Barbara told her.

She hummed in response as the group made their way over to the trash bins. Eyes were on her now, some searching for a vision trinket she didn’t possess. She was the last one out the door when a chill tingled down her spin. She grabbed the back of her neck and turned, expecting a cryo user to be standing there with a smirk on their face.

Instead, she was greeted with sea blue eyes cutting through the crowd. He smirked when they made eye contact. The chill went down her entire body. She glared as the door to the building swung shut, cutting them off.

Shit.

[vitanitf]

BASIC QUESTIONS

First name? “Vitani.”

Surname? “Leu.”

Middle names? “Alala.”

Nicknames? “V.”

Date of birth? “August 20th, 1998.”

Age? “Twenty two.”

PHYSICAL / APPEARANCE

Height? “5′4.”

Weight? “121 pounds.”

Build? “Athletic.”

Hair color? “Pink right now.”

Hair style? “Buzzcut.”

Eye color? “Brown.”

Eye shape? “Shit, I don’t know. Deep set?”

Glasses or contact lenses? “I wasn’t born with no weak ass eyes.”

Distinguishing facial features? “Freckles.”

Which facial feature is most prominent? “My jawline.”

Which bodily feature is most prominent? “While I’d love to say my ass, I think it would be my arms.”

Other distinguishing features? “A shit ton of little scars.”

Skin? “Light.”

Hands? “Strong.”

Make up? “I do eyes and lips, that’s all. Eyeliner, lipstick. Eyeshadow and mascara if I’m feeling frisky.”

Scars? “Trust me, honey, someone like me has a lot of those.”

Birthmarks? “Wouldn’t you like to see?”

Tattoos? “None. Yet.”

Physical handicaps? “Non-existent.”

Type of clothes? “Depends on what kind of mood I’m in.”

How do you wear your clothes? “I’m guilty of a little tailoring if needed.”

What are your feet like? “What the fuck? Weirdo. Good enough, why? You want pictures?”

Race / Ethnicity? “Half black, half white.”

Mannerisms? “I’m a shifter. Always moving my weight from one leg to the other.”

Are you in good health? “Better be. I ain’t worked my ass off for nothing.”

Do you have any disabilities? “No.”

PERSONALITY

What words or phrases do you overuse? “Fuck, shit, Hell, ass, damn. Bitch too, if you catch me in a bad mood.”

Do you have a catchphrase? “What kind of cheesy ass bullshit would that be?”

Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? “Pessimistic.”

Are you introverted or extroverted? “Introverted.”

Do you ever put on airs? “Sometimes it’s necessary.”

What bad habits do you have? “Saying inappropriate things at inappropriate times. Wanting to punch something when I get pissed.”

What makes you laugh out loud? “People falling. Gets me every time.”

How do you display affection? “I don’t.”

Mental handicaps? “Listen, if I didn’t have any of those after my childhood, I’d be fucking unstoppable, huh?”

How do you want to be seen by others? “Important.”

How do you see yourself? “Lost.”

How are you seen by others? “Intimidating.”

Strongest character trait? “My independence.”

Weakest character trait? “My stubbornness.”

How competitive are you? “Hella.”

Do you make snap judgements or take time to consider? “I make snap judgements. I’m working on it, alright?”

How do you react to praise? “If I ever get any, I’ll let you know.”

How do you react to criticism? “I either get pissed or I try to do better. Or both. Usually both.”

What is your greatest fear? “That I can’t stop myself from turning into my mom.”

What are your biggest secrets? “I’ve done a lot of shit I’ll never repeat. I can’t.”

What is your philosophy of life? “I don’t know anymore. I’m just trying to go day by day.”

When was the last time you cried? “When I ended up at Kiara’s after beating the shit out of some poor girl in a club. First and last time I ever remember crying.”

What haunts you? “My past. A lot of it.”

What are your political views? “Anyone but Scar.”

What will you stand up for? “My beliefs, no matter how twisted or wrong or confused they may be. I think I’ve proved that point.”

Who do you quote? “No one.”

Are you indoorsy or outdoorsy? “Outdoorsy. I hate being inside too long. It feels like being a wild animal trapped in some tiny enclosure. I can’t stand it.”

What is your sinful little habit? “Oh, baby, I’ve got plenty of those.”

What sense do you most rely on? “You have to rely on all of them to get by. You can’t pick and choose. You have to keep them all sharp.”

How do you treat people better than them? “Excuse me? Who are you saying is better than me? At what?”

How do you treat people worse than them? “Depends what they’re worse at.”

What quality do you most value in a friend? “If I had friends, I assume it would be loyalty.”

What do you consider an overrated virtue? “Kindness.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? “I’d like to be content in my skin, not have to strive for approval anymore. It’s a hard habit o shake.”

What is your obsession? “Knives. God, I love knives.”

What are your pet peeves? “Hypocrites. Cutting in line. Loud ringers. Pop music. Too much traffic. Goody two shoes.”

What are your idiosyncrasies? “I lick my lips too damn much.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Is your family big or small? Who does it consist of? “As far as I’m concerned, there’s Nuka. That’s it.”

What is your perception of family? “It’s fucked up, it’s a trap, and you’re better off if you never have any.”

Do you have siblings? Older or younger? “Two brothers. I’m the middle child.”

Describe your best friend. “I don’t have one.”

Ideal best friend? “Someone that wouldn’t annoy the Hell out of me.”

Describe your other friends. “I don’t have friends.”

Describe your acquaintances. “Okay, those. They’re cool. I’d put Penelope, Sadie and my boss on that list.” 

Do you have any pets? “No.”

Who are your natural allies? “My brother.”

Who are your surprising allies? “I guess you could say Kiara.”

PAST AND FUTURE

What were you like as a baby? As a child? “Fucked up. I didn’t play with other kids. I wasn’t allowed to have friends. I went to school, I trained, I went to bed. A lot of times without dinner. I spent I don’t know how many nights listening to gunshots hoping we weren’t next. So, yeah. Fucked up.”

Did you grow up rich or poor? “Poor.”

Did you grow up nurtured or neglected? “What do you think?”

What is the most offensive thing you ever said? “How long do you got?”

What is your greatest achievement? “Making it out of that shithole alive.”

What was your first kiss like? “It wasn’t even a first kiss, it was a make out session during sex. I’ve never been kissed just to be kissed.”

What is the worst thing you did to someone you loved? “I let my family treat Nuka like shit, then I let him leave and I didn’t follow. I didn’t check up on him. I guess I thought… I guess I didn’t realize I had a choice, or how clear the right one was. There’s no excuse. I should’ve stood up for him.”

What are your ambitions? “I just want to do better.”

What advice would you give your younger self? “Run. As soon as you can, run as far as you can get. It has to be better than this.”

What smells remind you of your childhood? “Copper, mildew, sulfur and smoke.”

What was your childhood ambition? “To make mama and Scar proud.”

What is your best childhood memory? “You’re going to think I’m shitting you if I say I don’t have one, but I don’t have one.”

What is your worst childhood memory? “Oh, those, I’ve got a whole notebook of those.”

Did you have an imaginary childhood friend? “No.”

When was the last time you were crushed with disappointment? “When I was told to leave. Do you know what it feels like realizing your entire life was a goddamn lie? It’s maddening.”

What past act are you most ashamed of? “Thinking it was okay to live the way I was living.”

What past act are you most proud of? “Deciding I was going to move and move on. It took a push, but I decided to be a bigger person. I did that.”

Has anyone ever saved your life? “More than a few times. Where I grew up, if you’re not saving one another, you’re all fucked.”

Strongest childhood memory? “It was storming. We didn’t have any candles or lamps or nightlights. I remember wanting to run to Kovu’s room. I was so scared I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was just a kid… but I wasn’t allowed to be scared. So I laid there watching the lightning until I fell asleep.”

LOVE

Do you believe in love at first sight? “No.”

Are you in a relationship? “No.”

How do you behave in a relationship? “I wouldn’t know.”

When did you last have sex? “It’s been… what, a week?”

What sort of sex do you have? “I’m a little kinky. I’ll leave it at that.”

Have you ever been in love? “Hell no.”

Have you ever had your heart broken? “If you want to call it that.”

CONFLICT

How do you respond to a threat? “Threaten back.”

Are you most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue? “Fists, but I can multitask if you want to keep it interesting.”

What is your kryptonite? “A hot girl. I’m putty in her hands.”

If you could only save one thing from your burning house, what would it be? “I don’t have anything worth saving.”

How do you perceive strangers? “Threats until proven otherwise.”

What do you love to hate? “Cockiness. It can be pretty damn sexy.”

What are your phobias? “I don’t have any.”

What is your choice of weapon? “Guns are more effective, but I’m a knife kid through and through.”

What living person do you most despise? “Zira.”

Have you ever been bullied or teased? “Kids were too afraid of me to tease me.”

Where do you go when you’re angry? “I’m trying to remember to just go away. Take a deep breath, count to ten, chill the fuck out. It’s really fucking hard.”

Who are your enemies and why? “The outsiders. I wasted two decades fighting tooth and nail for them. I put my life on the line. I gave them everything I had and more, and they turned their back on me. They can all rot in Hell.”

WORK, EDUCATION AND HOBBIES

What is your current job? “I’m a bartender at the Pit Stop.”

What do you think about their current job? “It’s not a bad job. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills. The guy hired me on the spot. No experience. No nothing. I’ve got a lot of respect for Mr. McQueen.”

What are some of your past jobs? “You don’t wanna know.”

What are your hobbies? “It all revolves around combat training.”

Educational background? “High school GED.”

Intelligence level? “Higher than yours.”

Do you have any specialist training? “Twenty fucking years of it.”

Do you have a natural talent for something? “Yeah, martial arts and spear throwing.”

Do you play a sport? Are you any good? “I don’t play any sports, but trust me, I’d be good.”

What is your socioeconomic status? “I got too much other shit to worry about. Check back in a year or two.”

FAVORITES

What is your favorite animal? “Lions.”

Which animal do you dislike the most? “Giraffes. What do they even do with those long ass necks? Eat leaves? What a waste.”

What place would you most like to visit? “Africa.”

What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? “Don’t you dare laugh at me. I’ll fuck you up. There’s something about sunsets that always stops me in my tracks. I’m serious, not a giggle.”

What is your favorite song? “I don’t listen to music.”

Music, art, reading preferred? “Art.”

What is your favorite color? “Red.”

What is your password? “And why would I tell you that?” (576342rtsyssy572xlc2l)

Favorite food: “I’m partial to steak.”

What is your favorite work of art? “Dunno.”

Who is your favorite artist? “Dunno times two.”

What is your favorite day of the week? “There’s something about Thursdays that just feel right.”

POSSESSIONS

What is in your fridge? “I’m not gonna lie, it’s running low right now. I know there’s some strawberries and half a carton of milk left, probably not much else of mine.”

What is on your bedside table? “Glass of water, earbuds, phone charger, pocket knife, wallet. There’s a pistol in the drawer, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

What is in your car? “Don’t have one, but I left a spare charger in Nuka’s.”

What is in your bin? “It’s empty.”

What is in your purse or wallet? “ID. Fake ID, just in case. Cash. Debit card, credit card. Some grocery rewards card I got talked into signing up for. Oh, and a coupon for Fudge Stripes, I need to remember to get those before it expires.”

What is in your pockets? “A knife.”

What is your most treasured possession? “My most expensive sword. It’s not that expensive, I found it at a thrift store, but I fixed that baby up.”

SPIRITUALITY

Who or what is your guardian angel? “I’m not buying that I have one.”

Do you believe in the afterlife? “There’s gotta be something. There’s too many people I know that deserve to burn in Hell.”

What are your religious views? “Don’t really have any.”

What do you think heaven is? “Dunno.”

What do you think hell is? “A well deserved torture chamber.”

Are you superstitious? “Eh.”

What would you like to be reincarnated as? “Some big cat. That’d be really fucking cool. If not a lion, a tiger or a cougar or something. But not in a zoo. Hell no.”

How would you like to die? “I hope I go out in a blaze of glory.”

What is your spirit animal? “Lioness.”

What is your zodiac sign? “Leo.”

VALUES

What do you think is the worst thing that can be done to a person? “Taking everything from them.”

What is your view of ‘freedom’? “Not being forced to do anyone’s biding.”

When did you last lie? “It’s been awhile now.”

What’s your view of lying? “Don’t lie to me. Sometimes it’s gotta be done. But don’t you dare lie to me.”

When did you last make a promise? “I don’t make promises.”

Did you keep or break their last promise? “I’d probably break them. That’s why I don’t make promises.”

DAILY LIFE

What are your eating habits? “I have trouble remembering to eat, so sit’s a little sketchy, I’m working on it.”

Do you have any allergies? “Nope.”

Describe your home. “It’s not much, but it’s more than I’ve ever had.”

Are you a minimalist or a clutter hoarder? “I’m a minimalist.”

What do you do first thing on a weekday morning? “Look outside.”

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon? “Work, usually.”

What do you do on a Friday night? “Stay up too late.”

What is your soft drink of choice? “I don’t like soda.”

What is your alcoholic drink of choice? “I lack too much experience to choose.”

MISCELLANEOUS

What or who would you dress up as for Halloween? “Dressed up as a kickboxer once, I think that’s it.”

Are you comfortable with technology? “Yeah. I guess. What does that mean?”

If you could save one person, who would it be? “Nuka.”

If you could call one person for help, who would it be? “Nuka.”

What is your greatest extravagance? “Don’t have much of one.”

What is your greatest regret? “Wasting so much of my life to come out empty handed.”

What is your perception of redemption? “All I know is I’m trying.”

What would you do if you won the lottery? “Buy Nuka and I a real place instead of an apartment.”

What is your favorite fairytale? “Hansel and Gretel.”

What fairytale do you hate? “Jack and the Beanstalk. It’s fucking stupid.”

Do you believe in happy endings? “No.”

What is your idea of perfect happiness? “I don’t know if it exists.”

What would you ask a fortune teller? “Where do I end up?”

If you could travel through time, where would you go? “Back to the start. Redo it all. Right this time.”

What sport do you excel at? “Never played much sports.”

What sport do you suck at? “I don’t.”

If you could have a superpower, what would you choose? “Shapeshifting. That’d be fucking cool. Turn into a mouse, squeeze in a crack, turn into a bear and rip someone’s fucking face off if you need to.”

[hazzoranstories]

THE WHITE SUN AT MIDNIGHT | J.BLACK  Ch. 27

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or, in my case, a princess," Jessica said to the whole graduation class and parents. Paige sat next to her sister with tensed shoulders. Just the sight of Edward made her hold back a cringe. "When we were 10, they asked again. We answered rock star, cowboy, or, in my case, a gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how about this? Who the hell knows?" the brunette added with a broad grin. Everyone cheered while laughing immensely.

"This isn't the time to make hard-and-fast decisions. This is the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love . . . . a lot. Major in philosophy because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind, and change it again, because nothing's permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask what we want to be, we won't have to guess. We'll know," all three graduate's minds fell to something related to the supernatural world at that very moment. Bella and Edward were of Bella's soon-to-be transformation. In contrast, Paige went to her brutal assassination. The gym erupted in applauds as they began handing out diplomas.

Once they got to Bella, Charlie stood up in admiration at his daughter as she couldn't stop the blush appearing on her face. It eventually fell on Paige, and when her fingers touched the certification that she graduated high school, she heard loud whooping coming from the corner of the gym. Everyone turned around to see the entire Uley pack cheering obnoxiously, causing Paige to giggle and rush off stage.

~:*:~

"Come on, Paige! Just come!" Bella whined, but Paige shook her head.

"No! No way! Why would I want to go to a house full of vampires on purpose?" Paige argued.

"But you promised Alice!"

"I don't make promises to vamps. I only did that so she would get off my back, literally," the werewolf growled.

"Please, for me. Jake will be there too along with some friends, so why don't you just come. It is, after all, your graduation party too," the Swan stated, and Paige glared at her.

"You owe me for this," the blonde said through gritted teeth before slamming her bedroom door and going through her closet to find something acceptable to wear.

She finally settled with a sleeveless baby blue romper with a thin brown belt and white flats. Her makeup was simple, and she left her hair with one side braided while the other fell onto her shoulder. Her outfit reminded her of her dress at Kaimbe's wedding, and it almost made her switch, but she didn't get the chance before Bella dragged her over to the Cullen's house.

Once they arrived in Bella's truck, they sat there for a minute. "Now, please, Paige. Be nice," Bella hissed before hopping out of her truck with her sister grumbling something under her breath and following. They walked in to hear blasting music and tons of heels and dress shoes slamming against the floor.

Bella led Paige up the stairs to see Jessica and Angela running over to them. "Hey! You made it!" Angela exclaimed, and Paige took a step back as the two hugged Bella.

"What did you think of my speech? Too easy-breezy? Too self-helpful? You hated it?" Jesica blurted out.

"No. I think you pretty much nailed it," Bella exhaled.

"It's like I was born to lead, right?" Jessica grinned, and Paige hummed as a subtle way to show her annoyance.

"I love this song. Let's go," Angela said before racing away with Jessica. Paige rolled her eyes and went over to the punch table with Bella following. She poured herself a cup and chugged it.

"Now, where's Jake?" the wolf asked and set her cup down. Bella shrugged, and Paige groaned. The girls turned around to see three tan boys enter the house. Paige smiled once she saw Jacob, Quil, and Embry. The sisters walked up to him, and Paige greeted the boys much nicer than Bella did. She kissed Jacob's lips and hugged Quil and Embry.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked.

"You invited me, remember?" Jake fought back and wrapped his arm around Paige's waist.

"Was my right hook too subtle for you? That was me uninviting you," the Swan replied. Jake told Paige that he and Bella got into an argument while hanging out one day, and it ended up with her punching him in the face and breaking her hand. But he never told her what they were arguing about.

"Look, Bella, I'm sorry about, you know, the argument and your hand. I'd blame it on the whole inner animal thing, but it was really just me being an ass. I'm really sorry," the Black uttered almost like a plead to forgive him.

"But I brought you something. It's a graduation present. Made it myself," the shifter pulled out a small brown charm in the shape of a wolf. Both sisters smiled softly.

"You made this? - Jake nodded - "It's really pretty. Thanks," Bella's tone went quieter as she and Jake exchanged smiles. "I'll be right back," the human rushed out before walking away quickly.

"And your gift is at Emily's," Jake whispered in Paige's ear.

"We're gonna steal you for a bit if that's okay?" Embry questioned with a crooked grin.

"It's definitely okay; I can't stand this," Paige scoffed, and all the werewolves chuckled.

"Alice, what'd you see?" Bella asked the vampire who's eyes were wide in fear. The wolves heard this and ran over.

"The decision's been made," the black-haired girl muttered.

"What's going on?" Jake asked once he saw how nervous both girls were.

"You're not going to Seattle," Bella answered.

Alice shook her head and said, "No. They're coming here."

~:*:~

"They'll be here in four days," Alice announced to the group of vampires and werewolves.

"This could turn into a blood bath," Carlisle commented.

"Who'd behind it?" Edward cut in.

"I didn't see anyone I recognized. Maybe one," Alice mumbled.

"I know his face. He's local. Riley Biers. He didn't start this," Edward shook his head in denial.

"Whoever did is staying out of the action."

"They must be playing with the blind spot in your vision," Carlisle said.

"Either way, the army is coming, and there aren't enough of us to protect the town-" Jasper acknowledged.

"Hold up. What damn army?" Paige snapped.

"Newborns. Our kind," Carlisle replied.

"What are they after?" Jake asked.

"They were passing around Bella's scent. A red blouse," Alice whispered with a frown.

"They're after Bella? What the hell does this mean?"

"It means an ugly fight. With lives lost," Carlisle gloomed. Jake looked at Quil and Embry, then down at Paige.

"All right. We're in," Jacob declared.

"No. You'd get yourselves killed. No way," Bella interrupted.

"We weren't asking for permission," Paige sneered.

"Edward?"

"It means more protection for you," Edward sighed after a couple of moments of silence.

"Jacob, do you believe Sam would agree to an understanding?" Carlise inquired.

"As long as we get to kill some vampires," Jake smirked.

"And I can contact my friends in Montana; they'll help too," Paige added.

"Jasper?" Carlisle asked.

"They'll give us the numbers. Newborns won't know they even exist. That'll give us an edge," Jasper spoke through his clenched jaw.

"We'll need to coordinate-"

"Carlisle, they're gonna get hurt," Bella pleaded.

"We'll all need some training. Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has. You're welcome to join us," the blonde vampire soothed.

Jake thought for a bit before nodding. "All right. Name the time and place."

"Jake, you don't know what you're getting yourself into," Bella whimpered.

"Bella . . . . this is what we do. You should be happy. Look at us, working together. You are the one who wanted us to get along. Remember?" Paige sniggered. The wolves leered at the Cullens before walking out and back to Emily's.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

I send you a Thing over on Ao3 comment section on Heart of Thunder. Feel free to answer it here and delete it there afterwards! I hope you like my little idea on reversal of the selkie!au 😁💗

Delete it? Maybe. But here it is, so that people know what I’m answering to:

How about a reversal of the selkie!au? Galahd has legends of selkie. But those on the islands are like Fae. You have to be very careful to cook me out of meeting them more or less intact. So Galahkari treat them with due caution and keep the hell away.

On the other hand, in Lucis skin changers have a moderately benevolent history. Helpful, if you treat them well but break a contract or harm an innocent around them and YOU. ARE. DONE. There are many stories of a queen or two shedding feathers of a Swan (one black and one white, guess who was more beloved) to settle down with her beloved. Countless more romanticised versions among the literature - all of which the refugees from Galahd scoff at with derision. But most of Insomnia treats those like fairy tales or sth, believing it even less than the takes of the Astrals and their Messengers.

Wider Lucis is a different story. Ppl there still have the Shifters appear from time to time. Tales of ppl with slightly wilder look around them are common. They all try to exercise their hospitality and manners especially well around those individuals.

And if that annoying herd that keeps destroying crops suddenly moves away or the Thunderocs that try to nest on the antidemon lights disappear they keep it to themselves and just smile extra warmly at the stranger should he appear again. Cor is a skin changer. Not many (beyond the Retinue) are aware of that. Mors certainly was not despite using the feral child as a soldier/guard. He feels like a wolf or a bird of prey of some type.

Regis knows the lore, some of the skin changer blood flows through his veins, he understands the urges. (Hmm, maybe Ardyn's mother's ancestor had phoenix blood in their veins? Maybe Somnus was just his half brother?) and knows that Cor's instincts are much sharper. Trusts that whenever Cor deals away with a member of his court, there is something wrong. Hell, even his suspicions are usually enough to start an investigation.

(That's why Titus irks him so much. He has trouble finding evidence between being run ragged by the war, something just /itches/at him in that man's presence. Drautos on the other hand just does not believe in folk tales) And then come the Galahdians.

And Nyx Ulric.

And Cor's every instinct just screams at him to get close to the man. That he is Important. (Doesn't help that he smells nice beneath all the spices, Cor can smell the fragrance even hours after the Glaive finished Guard duty in Citadel. Regis just laughs at him and starts mercilessly teasing his friend. It's only because Cor considers him family that the King does not end up with his throat torn out.)

Unfortunately, the moment Cor gathers enough courage to actually try talking to the man, he stumbles upon a convo disparaging the Lucian naivete re. selkie and decides to stay away and pine from the distance.

Hi, I just wanted to clarify in case tumblr ate my reply to your question: you can absolutely feel free to post this on tumblr with your reply.

Have some more tiny pieces

Galahdians being a bit like the Irish, wary as hell about the fair folk but not selkie, still human.

On the other hand, Cor being able to put on feathers or fur and being *very specific* about how he goes about helping ppl (and only certain ppl) or solving problems Imagine them ranting about naive Lucians having romantic tales about selkie and having the image of bloodthirsty Eldrich sea creatures in mind.  While Lucians think about their Swan queens and maybe some furry Messenger like helpful creatures (as long as you don't offend them) Complete culture shock😜

.

Me:

Okay, first off: This is wonderful. And I love it very much. Also for everybody’s sanity I’ll put my answer under the cut.

Let’s say the term fae is used in Lucis to describe all magical beings that aren’t humans, animals, daemons, the Astrals or their messengers. When they say “A fae must have done it”, it means something very strange is afoot that shouldn’t bee too closely looked into.

Because benevolent or not, the fae like their privacy. Old children’s tales say that you should never tell anybody you saw a fae or that one helped you. Otherwise they will play cruel tricks and after they’ve had their fun you’ll never see them again.

Lucian tales go along the lines of helpful sprites that protect homes when milk and food are set out, of the Titan’s folk (read dwarves) that first taught humans how to mine, of the lindwurm that was blessed by Bahamut and gave the person who solved his tasks secret knowledge.

But the most popular tales are the ones about shape-shifters. Animal-walkers. It is said you can recognize them at the glint in their eyes, the sharpness of their teeth, the something that is different from what a human face should be. Their stories are most popular with hunters and people outside of Insomnia.

I really love how you describe them :D

On the swan queens: Maybe the white swan could actually be a human that got cursed, and the Lucian King (then prince) broke the curse. The black swan was a shape-shifter, and only shed her feathers permanently after her man who wanted her, solved three unsolveable tasks.

Let’s say the white swan queen was considered very imperious and hysteric and inconsiderate, while the black swan queen was very beloved for her generosity and benevolence.

Which is around the time romanticised tales about shape-shifters and humans crop up like weeds. And they keep being popular into the modern times.

Now for the Galahkari.

Their word for magical beings like that is fihrie. But they are far less benevolent. For them fae/fihrie are beings that dance in the twilight when sun and moon share the sky and their music and laughter drives people mad. They are the beings that twist trees into wrong forms and trap freshly departed souls in their dead bodies. They are the ones that ride on the winds of winter and steal the unwary. It’s also said that they steal the first breath of a newborn baby because that is the most precious thing to them, and if the child survives despite that, it stands with one leg in the fihrie world.

Their stories aren’t about beings that are nice.

But then there are the selkie. Stories tell that they once belonged to the fihrie until one of them once stole not the first breath of a newborn, but the second. And that changed them into something that was just tiny bit more human and less fihrie.

So when the Galahkari come to Insomnia and see all those romanticized tales of swan queens and the lindwurm and sprites and tiny people with butterfly wings?

They think they have lost their minds. And wonder why these people are still alive. Because those Insomnian stories would insult any fihrie down to their bone. Which literally means the offending party will die a slow and gruesome death.

A theory says that the Lucians are loosing the war because the fihrie are so unbelievably furious.

Which leads to a lot of strange behaviour from the Insomnian point of view, when sigils appear everwhere along with salt lines and talismans and flower/grain/grass wreaths.

There is more than one loud discussion of how none of the Lucians seem to realize just how dangerous the Other Folk is. How you give offerings when having to walk through their territory, and while there you don’t eat or drink anything that comes from there. How you make sure a newborn’s first breath is takes as close to a fire as possible, because in their mind it is better to belong to the fires (to Ifrit) than to the Others.

And Cor stumbles into one of those discussions without anyone noticing. Let’s say Nyx isn’t there for one reason or other.

What would Cor think about this?

He would obviously know from Nyx’ aura alone that Nyx is a fae. (Just like Nyx knows Cor is not human. But Nyx keeps his distance because this is not his territory and he has not been invited to Cor’s hearth. Normally Nyx would have to make the fist move and he tried to, but this is not Galahd and things are done differently.)

Now he also knows what the Galahkari think of fae. This would make Cor’s protective instinct go into overdrive. Because Nyx is fae - obviously the only one that came from Galahd - and he’s younger then Cor. Which makes him one of Cor’s now.

And this is how not only human cultures clash, but also fae/fihrie culture.

[mad-unit-alive]

@dp1250

Sure thing, sorry the list is a bit long.

My (DID) Claptrap OC is in all honesty a shape shifter but her most common forms are of Mettaton from Undertale or Claptrap from Borderlands.

Unlike others she is extremely shy at the beginning and is not one for partying, she is more of the careful, anxiety type.

Her name is Bontu but her friends sometimes call her Kere. She's a sweetheart but despite all of her caring kindness she has a terrible dark side or Different personality as it can be called by.

Backstory :

She was originally some secret project by Hyperion but all data on why and how she was built was lost and/or destroyed when Helios crashed. So Bontu doesn't even recall much of what happened before the base was gone, but she does remember some of the pain and torture she went through there and even after, due to her nonviolent nature Bontu never really fought back or rebelled. Only crying and begging for her terrible treatment to stop..... sadly it didn't. In result of this trauma and the magic or power contained with the crystal heart on her front side ended up creating a new personality that only becomes active when severally injured, sad, angry, or near death. This prevents her from dying but unfortunately Bontu is not the same once this change takes place.

This other side of her is called by Insanity, who is the exact opposite of Bontu's original personality. Insanity is extremely violent and shows little to no mercy on anyone who gets in her way or is posed as a threat. When she became active for the first time, Insanity murdered everyone in the building she was trapped in without sustaining any physical damage or remorse towards everyone she had killed.

Characteristics:

Bontu is in a way similar to other claptrap units except the fact that she's female and she's also a bit shorter than others. But that's just physical appearance, her color design still hasn't be completely picked out yet but her eye and crystal are a mix gradient effect of blue, green, and yellow. Bontu is like earlier said to be shy at the beginning but she's very friendly and emphasizes with everybody, she's also very artistic and tends to lose herself in her own head. If you leave her in a room is painting supplies or pencils and paper you'll most likely come back to see art of sunsets or night stars that she made within the short time period but the unit will be a mess.

Insanity on the other hand is opposite, she tall and has a terrifying monster like appearance but still has a steward bot body. She has four arms total and lots of sharp teeth. Her appearance changes due to the magic or power inside Bontu's body so her form can look very different. Insanity is a psychopath and is very scary to encounter, she always knows everyone's fears and guilt so she will use those against her targets. She's never phased by what she does or any attacks she takes have no health damage and whatever part of her is destroyed will regenerate back in moments, not hurting or scaring her the slightest.

Luckily this transformation rarely happens and Insanity will not attack anyone close to Bontu, she may even become overprotective or passive aggressive towards them, it's better than be tortured to death by her though. Once this other side of her is satisfied or calmed down she'll revert back to Bontu and she'll have no memory of what her other personality has done. (It is best if you don't tell her)

Besides all this Bontu will do her best to be your friend and help in anyway she could, she'll be the shoulder for you to cry on and will always listen to your problems in ways to comfort you despite her own terrible pain. She puts others before herself and will try to have fun sometimes. Other moments she will either be lazy or depressed so she'll be locked up in her room not wanting to deal with anybody, this doesn't last long but still give her time.

[geralehane]

Short Stories: Them

“I don’t know what they’re called,” Wendell tells her, grimly, while she’s driving further and further away from the campus. “Doppelgangers, shape shifters, skin walkers – take your pick. Some think they are demons. Whatever they are, it’s ancient and evil. I’ve been studying them for two years. I wanted to find them, and I did. Or – they found me, I guess.”

Raven has a hard time keeping her wild eyes on the road. Her grip on the steering wheel tightens as she tries to stop her hands from shaking. “I – fuck, I don’t even know where to begin. Why did you start studying them? How? Why did it come for me, and how did you know it was in my room? And where are we going?”

Wendell lets out a heavy breath. “This is going to take some time.”

patreon | ko-fi

The sharp knock on her door interrupts the steady, even monotone of the anchorman. Raven’s features twist in a displeased frown. For a second, she considers simply not opening the door.

But another knocks comes, and another – each one more urgent than the last. Still, she doesn’t move. It’s only when a familiar raspy voice joins in that she twitches, eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Rae, it’s me. I know you’re in here, please -- can you… Please open the door.”  

She honestly wishes she could ignore her, but she doubts that would ever be possible. With a sigh, she shoves her laptop off her lap and climbs off the bed, taking sharp, purposeful steps. Gripping the handle, she slowly inhales and exhales, as if preparing herself for battle – although the word war seems more appropriate.

Another loud knock, and she swings the door open, surveying the uninvited guest on the other side of it. Her mask of cool indifference quickly fades once she takes the sight before her in. “Jesus,” she breathes, concerned. “Wendell, are you okay?”

A brunette in dirty, disheveled clothes snorts. “Do I look okay?” Raven’s had enough experience with her to know this is a rhetoric question, so she doesn’t answer. And she’s too baffled – and concerned, as much as it pains her to admit – about her appearance to even protest when the girl enters her dorm room without an invitation and locks the door.

“What happened?” She doesn’t expect Wendell to answer right away, but she does. Of course, in typical Wendell fashion, she doesn’t actually reply.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her chair creaks when Wendell sits down on it, her gaze darting all over the place. There’s something -- off about her, Raven notes. Wendell’s never been the easiest person to read, or to deal with. Their history only made it worse. She’s never been a particularly cheerful person, either – but she’s never looked this… haunted.

Whatever went down – it was bad.

(Raven doesn’t know yet just how right she is; and how much she’ll wish she weren’t.)

“Wendell.” Green eyes meet hers for a fraction of a second. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on.”

“Yeah.” She watches her throat bob as she swallows. “It’s about… us.”

Well. That’s certainly not what she was expecting to hear. She carefully sits down on her bed, in front of Wendell who goes quiet. “What about us?”

Wendell starts to talk, but a knock on the door stops her mid-word. Raven frowns. This is already exceeding her weekly guest limit.

“Sorry, I should--” The door bursts open, and Raven gapes as Wendell walks in, just as disheveled and dirty as the one sitting in her chair, and there’s another Wendell sitting in her chair.

The Wendell that just showed up throws a concerned look Raven’s way before her eyes narrow at the sitting Wendell. “You sick fuck,” she growls. Raven’s gaze drops to the baseball bat she’s gripping in her left hand.

She blinks, looking between two identical girls. “I didn’t know you had a twin.”

“It’s not a twin,” Wendell calmly tells her. Right before lunging and smashing the bat against her clone’s skull.

Raven barely even processes the fact that she just saw her ex physically assault someone as she jumps up and grabs the second Wendell’s waist, dragging her back.

“What are you doing?!” She yells, shocked and outraged and completely lost. Wendell’s never been a violent person. Not something she can say now, as she struggles to restrain the girl who’s gone livid.

“Let me go!” Wendell screams, kicking and pushing her away. “Look at it, for fuck’s sake! Just look at it – look at it!”

Raven does. And immediately regrets that. The first Wendell – what’s left of her, anyway – snarls. Her – its – face is slowly melting off, revealing an ugly mug with way too many teeth.

A prank, Raven thinks, horrified. This has to be a pre-Halloween prank.

But this looks too real. And Wendell might be many things, but she’s not this demented.

She doesn’t object when Wendell proceeds to bash its skull in, making blood spray everywhere, before grabbing her hand and running out of the room.

//

“I don’t know what they’re called,” Wendell tells her, grimly, while she’s driving further and further away from the campus. “Doppelgangers, shape shifters, skin walkers – take your pick. Some think they are demons. Whatever they are, it’s ancient and evil. I’ve been studying them for two years. I wanted to find them, and I did. Or – they found me, I guess.”

Raven has a hard time keeping her wild eyes on the road. Her grip on the steering wheel tightens as she tries to stop her hands from shaking. “I – fuck, I don’t even know where to begin. Why did you start studying them? How? Why did it come for me, and how did you know it was in my room? And where are we going?”

Wendell lets out a heavy breath. “This is going to take some time.”

“I’m not exactly busy, if you couldn’t tell.” It’s snarky, but she notices Wendell’s small smile out of the corner of her eye. Perhaps that’s what Wendell craves. Some normalcy back in her life.

Why is she even thinking about something other than a literal fucking monster that’s just tried to kill her?

“After my dad died,” Wendell starts. Then pauses. Raven fights the instinct to reach over and grasp her hand. ‘That’s when I met one of them. I’m pretty sure they killed him, by the way.”

“They have some psychic powers,” she continues quietly, not looking at Raven. “They can get inside your head and make you think whatever they want. One of them came to me looking like my dad. One Saturday, I woke up and went downstairs. My dad was there, in the kitchen, making pancakes. We chatted, he asked me about school, about college applications. I spent an hour with him before…” Wendell trails off, thickly swallowing her tears. ��Before I noticed he wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. And he always wears his ring. Used to wear his ring. I was about to ask him if everything was okay – if he and mom were having problems. And that’s when I noticed he had six fingers on his right hand.”

Raven feels chills run down her spine, cold and dreadful. Perhaps, before tonight’s events, she would’ve brushed this off as a corny campfire story. But right now, the revelation is enough to make her break out in a cold sweat.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened if it weren’t for my mom,” Wendell continues. “She came back from work, and I told him I’m gonna go greet her before running out of the kitchen. When I saw my mom, everything came back. It wasn’t a Saturday morning – it was a Tuesday evening, and my dad couldn’t be there because he was dead. That was when I passed out.” She chuckles, but it’s humorless. “My mom was so scared. I didn’t tell her about any of it. I didn’t tell anyone; I just chalked it up to stress and grief.” She swallows again. “But then it just kept happening. With different people. Each time, I was lucky to get out before it was too late. I thought I was starting to go crazy. Then I started to look into it, and met others who had the same thing happen to them.”

Raven speaks when it’s clear Wendell’s not going to. “How did you know it was going to come to me?”

Wendell bites her lower lip. “It’s my fault,” she admits. Raven sends her an incredulous look, and she sighs. “I’m – sorry, okay? I couldn’t exactly control my thoughts.”

“Could you please give a more detailed explanation?”

Wendell let out another heavy breath.

“Tonight, one of them pretended to be Wane.”

Raven barely manages not to slam the brakes. Wane. She has no idea how Wendell is still able to function after a run-in with something that wore the face of her late lover.

“They really like to go for the dead ones,” Wendell’s smirk is wry and dark, as if reading her mind. “I quickly realized what was happening – had one too many encounters to know what was up. They actually aren’t that good at imitating us and changing our reality. Something always gives it away if you look closely enough. “Wane” had four pupils. Still, I followed him when he took me to the woods right behind our campus. I wanted to see if I could kill him. I was… I was tired, and angry and fucking done with all of it. I figured if I couldn’t kill it, at least it would finally be over.”

Raven sharply looks at Wendell, meeting her exhausted eyes with her own worried ones. She should say something. Anything. “Wendell,” she tries, softly, but the girl shakes her head, looking away and continuing as if she didn’t just admit to having a death wish.

“It turned out to be pretty fucking strong, but not strong enough. I did it. I killed it. It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen once it turned into its real form. You got a glimpse earlier. It was fucked up. It kept shifting back into Wane, and I…” Wendell pauses to take a deep breath. She suddenly looks… embarrassed. Raven blinks before looking back at the road. “I don’t know, I just had this thought – what if it turned into you? And that’s when another one of those fuckers shows up, not even trying to hide itself, and goes: who’s Raven? She sounds delicious.”

“They can read thoughts?”

Wendell nods. “Not every thought, but like, glimpses. So anyways. It ran before I could stop it, and I knew it was going to find you. You know the rest – you were there.”

“Jesus,” Raven breathes.

“I really hope he exists, too, because otherwise we’re fucked.” Wendell rolls her head, suddenly looking years older. “And we’re going to New Orleans. We need a witch.”

“Wendell, that’s a four-day drive. We have school tomorrow.”

Wendell laughs. The sound would be eerie in their situation if it weren’t so genuine. “Raven,” she barely manages through her laughter. “After everything I’ve just told you – after everything you saw, that’s the first thing you bring up?” For the first time today, she’s not wearing a smirk, but an easy smile. It widens when Raven blushes.

“I just…” she sighs and shakes her head. “Whatever. Can’t we take a plane?”

“No,” Wendell immediately replies. “What if the pilot is one of them? It’s too risky. I’d rather take my chances on the ground.”

Raven has to admit she’s right.

//

The diner’s lightning is as shitty as its food. Raven’s never been here, but she can safely assume after watching a cockroach run across the wall without a care in the world. Honestly, though, this establishment’s already exceeding her nonexistent expectations for a gas station café.  

“Rough night?” The bartender is a pretty young woman in her mid-twenties. Dark hair up in a loose bun, sharp cheekbones and sharper gaze, thick lashes framing her hazel eyes. She’s the perfect contradiction of innocence and sin, ready to star in yet another road trip drama as the pretty extra the main character hooks up with to forget the terrible event that caused them to aimlessly drive down the nameless road.

Except Raven’s not the main character and this isn’t a low-budget drama. This is Wendell’s horror story, and somehow she got tangled up right in the middle of it.

That’s why, instead of lighthearted flirting she would’ve gone for any other day, she only grunts and fishes out a crumpled up bill out of her back pocket, tossing it on the counter. “Two coffees. Black.”  

“Yeah,” the bartender doesn’t move a muscle, ignoring the money in favor of staring at Raven’s face. “You might wanna follow your friend’s example and go get cleaned up. You got some… ketchup right here,” she taps her own chin. The way she says ketchup is enough to let Raven know that she’s perfectly aware it’s blood; most likely not Raven’s; and that it’s definitely not the first time she saw a customer walk in with someone’s blood on their face and clothes. Probably not the last, either. The beauty of back roads.

Raven suppresses the urge to flinch as she remembers under what circumstances the blood ended up on her face. Remembers the sound Wendell’s bat made when it connected with the creature’s skull.

“Thanks,” she mutters and walks away, leaving the bills on the counter. It doesn’t take her too long to locate the bathroom given that she saw Wendell enter it. Just like she’s expected, the girl is there, standing at the sink. Her shirt is off, leaving her in a tank-top, and she’s using it to furiously scrub at her neck.

“We shouldn’t have stopped here,” are the first words she says as soon as Raven walks in.

Raven scowls. “We’re both exhausted and we need to eat.”

“Right.” Wendell smirks, but it’s void of any humor. “Because coffee is such a substantial meal.”

Raven blinks. Wendell’s still not looking at her, instead focusing all of her attention on her reflection while she continues to wipe the blood off her skin. “How did you--”

“You can’t eat when you’re stressed,” Wendell interrupts her, flippantly. “And you know I’m way too picky to eat anything here. So you got two black coffees.” She finally stops and looks at her, grabbing the edge of the sink with both hands. For a second, water running is the only sound. “Didn’t you?”

Raven locks her jaw. “Whatever. You shouldn’t have walked off like this. How do I know this is you and not one of those… things?”

Wendell has the decency to look mildly guilty. “You’ll know when I drink that disgusting diner coffee you got me. Or when I don’t drink it,” she lets out a nervous giggle. Raven doesn’t find it funny. She doubts Wendell does, either.

“Drink the tap water.”

Wendell looks at her as if she’s grown another head. Which, given their situation, isn’t entirely impossible. “Fuck off, I’m not doing that. Come on,” she rolls her eyes when Raven’s scowl becomes a frown and she takes a cautious step back. “I’ll prove it to you, let’s go.”

She scoffs when she tries to grab Raven’s arm and she recoils in reply. A softly uttered whatever and a quick walk to the table with two steaming cups later, they sit in front of each other, and Raven’s carefully watching her companion.

“Happy now?” Wendell cringes after swallowing a mouthful of outstandingly bad coffee. “God, this is awful. Thanks for nothing.”

Raven tries not to grind her teeth. Typical. So fucking typical. Even back when they were something, all Wendell did was expect things from her without giving back. “Nothing. Really. Because being here with you in this shit diner in the middle of nowhere, dealing with your mess, brings me so much joy.”

“I did save your life,” Wendell calmly points out. “And it’s not my mess. It’s just… a mess.” She glances at her cup with disgust. “Now that I’ve proven I’m me, can I not drink this?”

Raven pushes her own cup away instead of answering and stands up, motioning for Wendell to do the same.

“Anything else I should know about them besides the fact that they don’t eat or drink?” She asks as they walk to the car.

“They are pretty easy to fool. Once I was chatting with my roommate before remembering I don’t have one, and I literally said ding dong. Oh, I gotta go open the door. It wasn’t even a very convincing doorbell imitation. And for some reason they never follow once you get away.”

Raven shakes her head. “This is fucked up.”

“I know.”

//

They drive the whole night. And the whole day, too. It’s only when the sun starts to go down that Raven jerks in her seat after almost nodding off. She clutches the wheel, yawning.

Wendell’s napping next to her, her breathing deep and even as her chest rises and falls. She softly calls her name, but the girl doesn’t even stir.

“Wendell,” she says again, louder. Green eyes flutter open, slowly, before Wendell jolts up, rapidly blinking and looking around, her gaze wild and panicked.

“Hey, hey – it’s me,” Raven quickly says, gently grasping her arm. “Wendell. It’s me. Look at me. Try to find anything out of place.”

Wendell swallows and searches her face for a solid five minutes before giving her a thorough onceover. When she’s done, Raven nods. “It’s me.”

Wendell relaxes, slowly, almost grudgingly. “It’s you.” She yawns, then, lazily stretching. “Why did you wake me up? Do you need me to drive?”

“No. We need to get some actual sleep or one of us is going to crash the car.”

Wendell looks like she wants to argue, but her own yawn stops her. She huffs. “Fine. There’s a motel ahead.”

“I know. That’s why I woke you up.”

“Aw.” Wendell manages a small smile. “And here I thought you just missed me.

“Don’t push it.”

The motel, of course, makes the diner seem like – well, not exactly a Michelin-rated restaurant, but at the very least an average McDonald’s joint. But neither one of them in the position to choose, so Raven simply watches Wendell check them in, grabs the key, and silently follows her to their room. And tries not to wonder whether anyone’s ever been killed in it.

“How are we going to find a real witch?” That’s something she’s been thinking about on and off ever since Wendell announced their destination. “I mean, how do we know it’s a real witch? I know there are a lot of entertainers posing as them in New Orleans, but that’s all they are.”

“We don’t need to look for a witch. I already found one,” Wendell lets her know as she takes her top off. She sniffs at it and cringes. “Jesus. I need a shower. No offense, but so do you.”

“None taken,” Raven replies on autopilot. “What do you mean you found one?”

Wendell’s sigh is impatient. She busies herself with taking her jeans off while she answers, and Raven suppresses the urge to bashfully look away. Right now, this doesn’t matter. “I’ve been doing this for two years,” she says. “I told you I met people like us. One dude gave me her card. Told me she can teach me to recognize the doppelgangers right away. She charges a lot, though. I had to save up for a couple of months.”

“It could be a hoax,” Raven muses. “A scam.”

Wendell shrugs. “I’m willing to gamble,” she says, before grabbing her clothes and giving Raven a questioning look. “Why are you still dressed?”

No matter how much she tries not to, she still blushes. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I asked,” Wendell huffs. “I’m not leaving you here alone. As soon as I’m gone, they’ll come for you.”

She does have a point. It doesn’t stop her from gulping in a different kind of fear. “I can’t watch you shower.”

“Honestly, Raven,” Wendell sighs, “you can even shower with me, I don’t fucking care. I just want to keep you alive long enough to get you to Rada. The witch,” she explains when Raven shoots her a confused look.  “This is bigger than whatever’s going on between us, okay?”

Raven really wishes she could stop herself, but: “There’s something going on between us?”

“Seriously?” Wendell shakes her head. “I really, really want to say fuck it and storm off, just so you know. But I’m not leaving you here. Either you’re coming with me, or suffer through the night – we’re both pretty ripe, you know.”

Raven’s pretty willing to choose the second option, but Wendell looks like she’s craving some hot water, and so she sighs and climbs off the double bed. They are already about to share it. Why not the shower, as well?

//

The answer is pretty obvious, if you think about it.

“I’m sorry I kissed you.” Wendell’s voice is quiet, but in the dead silence of the motel room, it’s almost deafening. Raven can only swallow, thickly, as she plays it over in her head. As if she hasn’t been doing just that for the past half an hour. Her standing behind Wendell, waiting for her to finish rinsing her hair, feeling the most uncomfortable she’s ever felt. Wendell turning around, wet and naked and flushed, quietly whispering all yours. Trying to walk around each other in the ridiculously narrow space, and Wendell slipping, and then catching her purely out of reflex, and then – desperate breaths against desperate lips and…

She blinks and rolls over, coming face to face with a frowning Wendell. “I’m sorry I was so weird about it.” she whispers.

“I did ambush you,” Wendell smiles, self-deprecating. “You were just…”

Raven feels her throat tighten. “You don’t have to explain. I mean, I get it. Adrenaline and stress and all that.” And I was always very convenient.

Wendell’s lips are a tight, thin line. “That’s not why I kissed you. Just like alcohol’s not the reason I kissed you last time.”

Raven can’t help it. She snorts. “Well, we kind of did more than kiss last time.” She swallows again as she remembers last October. It was almost a year ago, she realizes. Then, she realizes Wendell’s already been dealing with this, all of this, for a year when they first met. No wonder she pushed her away. No wonder – fuck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, hotly, urgently. “I – I had no idea what you were going through, and I kept pushing you for more, and – I’m sorry, Wendell.”

Now it’s Wendell’s turn to give her a tentatively soft look. “It’s okay. Like you said, you had no idea. Just for the record,” she clears her throat, her gaze growing shy. “I… really liked you. I just didn’t want you to get hurt because of me, and that’s why I said it wasn’t anything serious.” She scoffs at herself. “Clearly, that worked out just great.”

They are silent for a while, carefully watching each other. Then, Raven’s lips twitch in a small, barely-there smile. “You liked me?”

“Oh, my God,” Wendell groans, rolling her eyes, but she doesn’t try to hide her own amused smirk. “Just go to sleep. We have to be up at dawn. I’ll wake you up.” She sobers up, her smile fading. “Don’t forget to look me over in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” Raven says quietly. She watches her sleep for about an hour before drifting off herself, and she doesn’t dream of anything.

//

In the morning, they drink from their water bottles in front of each other while their eyes carefully roam over the other’s form. Wendell doubts they could’ve manipulated the reality to this extent; more often than not, they need their victims to be alone. They are not that strong. They also don’t fully understand the laws of their world – that’s why it’s so easy to trick them and get away from them. The problem is, most people don’t pay enough attention to details. That’s how they get them. That’s how they got her dad.

“He was overworked the last couple of months. Nearly always exhausted. They probably pretended to be mom or me. I think, now, that he did realize something was wrong, but his heart couldn’t handle it when they revealed themselves. So it just stopped.”

“I’m sorry,” Raven quietly offers. There’s not much else she can do.

Wendell doesn’t pull away when her hand finds hers and gently squeezes. She doesn’t say anything when Raven doesn’t let go.

//

“What are we going to do after Rada helps us?”

Wendell shrugs and steals another one of Raven’s fries. “Go back to college. Kill more of those fuckers. Lead a double life, Buffy the Vampire Slayer style. Do more research. I don’t know. All I know is I’m not going to give up. Not anymore.”

Raven’s heart fills with relief at the renewed fire in Wendell’s eyes. “Good. I’m not, either. And – you know you’re not alone in this now, right? I’m not--” giving up on you, she wants to say, but it’s too close too soon, and so she settles for: “--ditching you. We’ll figure it out together. Besides,” she grins, “I’m actually trained in martial arts. No offense, but your bat game…”

Wendell’s eyes widen in indignation. “Excuse you? My bat game’s awesome. Did you see what I did to its head?”

Raven’s eyes widen, too, but with horrified realization. “Shit – Wendell, someone probably found the corpse in my room!”

“Nah,” Wendell shakes her head. She glances at Raven’s plate, and she wordlessly pushes it towards her. “It was still alive when we ran away. It got out of there.”

“What?” Raven glances around, feeling panic rise deep in her stomach. “It has to be angry as hell, didn’t you think it was something worth mentioning?”

“I did, but I didn’t want you to freak out, which is exactly what you’re doing right now.” Wendell calmly dips a fry in ketchup. “Chill out. I doubt it’s been following us. And even if it had – it’s too weak to control two minds at once, I told you. We just stick together for one more day, and then we’ll be able to see them. God,” she sighs. “That might be actual hell. But it’s gotta be better than this. Being on constant alert.”

“You’ll still have to be on constant alert,” Raven points out. “What if we’re surrounded by them all the time?”

“I don’t want to even consider it,” Wendell practically snaps, before taking a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m a little on edge.”

“Understandably,” Raven says softly. “I’m sorry. I’m – I guess I’m on edge, too. I’m sure it’ll be better than that.”

“I hope so. I really fucking do.”

//

“So,” Raven says, trying to sound as casual as she can. “I just saw you at the side of the road. Hitchhiking. While you were napping right next to me.”

“Christ.” Wendell shudders, glancing at Raven with sympathy. “Are you okay?”

“As okay as I can be,” Raven chuckles, nervously. “It was beyond creepy. When I saw it, I almost stopped. Suddenly, I wasn’t driving on this road. For a second, I was driving to campus, and I was supposed to pick you up. You texted me this morning asking me for a ride because your car broke down. And then you, the real you woke up and everything went back to normal.” She shivers, shaking her head. “This is fucked up,” she repeats for what feels like the thousandth time.

“It really is,” Wendell agrees. Her hand finds Raven’s, and she guesses it’s their thing now. Not that she minds the way Wendell’s thumb strokes across her knuckles. When she stops, Raven finds she misses that. “Shit.”

“What?”

“That means they can get inside your head even when you’re with someone as long as that someone is unconscious,” Wendell points out. “It sucks.”

Raven almost wants to smack herself for not realizing that herself. “You’re right. Well. Fuck. That seriously complicates things.”

“We’ve been fine so far. Just have to make sure to always check each other in the morning. And fall asleep together.”

“Right.” Right. Because that’s just a piece of cake.

//

Rada the witch turns out to be far younger and far prettier than either of them expected. “Why didn’t you come earlier?” She asks as soon as they tell her everything – but not before carefully examining their appearance. Luckily, she’s not weirded out by that. Must come with the occupation.

“Well,” Wendell exchanges glances with Raven, “I called your office and your assistant told me your prices and I didn’t have that kinda money at the time.”

Rada sighs. “Did you explain your problem to him?”

“Yeah.” Wendell nods. “Explicitly.”

“Huh. That does make me feel much better about firing him.” She gives them another quick onceover before standing up from her desk and nodding towards the door. “Come on. I’ll make you a couple of amulets. Free of charge,” she adds. “I don’t take money from people with the kinda problems you have.”

Raven decides against asking her how she manages to afford a nice office and a designer dress that’s the furthest thing from a knock-off if she doesn’t charge her customers. But Rada slows down, chuckling, and turns, locking her amused gaze with Raven’s ambushed one.

“I charge for simple, non-life-threatening stuff,” she answers her unasked question. “Saving people from those creatures is vastly different from helping someone get a promotion.”

“I’m sorry,” Raven makes herself say. “It’s none of my business, I shouldn’t have… thought that?” Does everyone read minds now?

Rada’s amused gaze turns curious for a fraction of a second before disappointment briefly flashes through her amber eyes. “It’s a pity you’re already in love,” she murmurs, glancing down at Raven’s lips before looking away and exiting her office. They don’t exactly have a choice but to follow. Raven tries not to look Wendell’s way. Every time she fails, she finds Wendell looking right back, her face unreadable.

//

Rada gives them rings that supposedly strip any supernatural beings within a three-meter radius of their glamor. She spends two days preparing them, and by the time she’s done, she looks absolutely drained. Raven feels so bad she practically begs her to take the money, planning to pay herself. But Rada declines. She does slip her a card. “Call me if something goes wrong.” Wendell pretends to study various trinkets on the shelf when the witch glances her way. “Or doesn’t work out.”

“Right. About the doppelgangers. I hope we won’t have to,” Raven says, pretending not to get what Rada’s hinting at and fully realizing all three of them know that’s what she’s doing. And passes the card to Wendell, who takes it with a barely concealed scowl.

Rada stifles a chuckle. “Right,” she says. Her voice is still weak, just like she is. She looks small curled on her sofa. “I hope so, too. But you’ll still have to let me know when you run out of the enchanted salt. Don’t forget to pour it across all the openings to your home. Windows, doors, anything that might be used as an entrance. You do that and you can rest at night. Carry some of it on you, too--” she cuts herself off with a sharp cough, her entire body jerking.

“Easy,” Wendell says. “We remember.” She smirks, and it’s wry. “I doubt I’ll ever forget any of this.”

“You’d be surprised how many people do,” Rada tells her, and there’s something grim, something heavy in her tone. “If, God forbid, you run out of my stuff, any salt will do. It will be much weaker, but it’ll buy you some time. Plus, you already know they are easy to fool, but only when they aren’t hungry. You’ve been extremely lucky this whole time. When you meet a starving one, you’ll know. It won’t be able to even pass for a human, but it will be much, much more impatient, and it will chase you.” She tries to say something else, but another coughing fit rips through her, wracking her body.

Raven gets up, but Wendell’s already ahead of her, kneeling before Rada and gently squeezing her shoulder. “We’ll be fine,” she tells her. “You really need to rest. And we gotta get back.” She glances at Raven, with that same unreadable expression in place, before looking back at Rada. “I… Thank you, Rada. So much. You saved us.”

“Not really.” The witch smirks, tiredly. “I gave you a means to save yourselves. It’s kind of up to you from here on out.”

“That is saving when it comes to something like this,” Wendell points out. “So – thank you.”

Rada takes a shuddering breath. “Just stay safe. Keep me updated. Now,” her weak smile grows wider. “Get out of my house.”

//

Just as Wendell’s predicted, there is no corpse when they get back to Raven’s dorm room. Only droplets of dried blood. Raven’s never been afraid of blood, but the sight still makes her feel a little sick.

“Well,” Wendell sounds a bit distressed, too, but Raven guesses it’s for a different reason. “We’re back. This is your room.”

“Uh. Yeah. It is.” She frowns. “What’s wrong?”

Wendell sighs. She practically deflates as she plops down onto Raven’s chair, shoulders sagging. “I’m – I don’t want to leave,” she confesses. “As much as it pains me to admit, I got used to you these past few days.”

“Wendell,” she smirks. “We already said we liked each other. The worst is over. You don’t have to pretend to hate me.”

“I never pretended to hate you,” Wendell immediately objects. “I just…”

“Ignored me for a year after two weeks of the best sex of my entire life?”

Wendell swallows. “Yeah. That. Wait – best sex--”

“Now you’re just fishing,” Raven interrupts her, but the smile doesn’t fade. Wendell’s answering one slowly makes an appearance, too. “I don’t want you to leave,” she continues before Wendell has a chance to say anything. “I’m still scared. Both for you and just – in general. Even with all of this,” she gestures at the salt bag and the ring on her finger. “Maybe even because of this. I’m not exactly thrilled at the prospect of seeing another one of those creatures in all of its glory. And, as we know, it only appears when you’re either alone or the only one awake.”

Wendell nods in agreement. “Yeah. Have I told you how sorry I am for dragging you into my mess?”

The words come easily. “It’s not your mess. And you saved my life, remember?”

“Yeah, but not before putting it in danger.”

Raven shrugs. “They could’ve found me with or without you. And if it was without you, I wouldn’t have made it out alive.”

“You don’t know that.” Wendell’s eyes are downcast as she says it, but Raven’s finger under her chin makes her look up and meet her gaze.

“I do,” she quietly tells her with all the conviction she can muster. “I wouldn’t have survived without you. Still doubt I will, going forward,” she gives her a muted grin that she tentatively returns. And Raven knows what to say. “Stay with me. Here. Until we figure out what to do next. And stay with me then, too.” Just stay.

Wendell’s voice is nothing more than a whisper. “Okay.” Her grin grows. “Shower with me?”

“Pretty sure I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life, and I mean it in the least romantic way possible,” Raven deadpans, and Wendell laughs, and laughs, and laughs till her lips are on Raven’s and her hand is gripping the back of her neck, and she can feel the cool metal of the ring on her skin.

[space-blue]

Artist and Hound

Iain Hund, former supernatural homicide detective, now mere magical vandalism inspector, feels the staleness of his car's air like a strangling hand upon his thoughts. He sends a last baleful glare at the wall he has pointlessly stalked for the past eight hours and starts his car to drive back to the station.

In all his years in the Sup-PD, Hund had never doubted his own righteousness. When the Harris case had come his way, he'd broken all the rules necessary to land the damn man behind bars and still felt like it was right. He had accepted his demotion as a cheap price to pay to save the public from the likes of Jack Harris. So when he put down his things on his new cramped desk at magical vandalism, and even after a year chasing Blues dealers, petty curse carvers, and weres doing their claws on public property, Iain Hund had remained serene. Regret bloomed in him when the Artist's case was made his top priority.

Tom, whom he shares his desk with, is a cold shoulder to cry on.

"No chance with this new stake-out then?" Met only by moody silence, Tom pushes a box of donut accross the desk. "You look like you need some."

"You eat donuts like a road cop."

"Well, those guys know what's up. Didn't you work with them, back in the day?"

"Yes," Iain sighs, dunking his hand in the proffered box, "and this case is the most pointless and disheartening task I've been given in my career, which includes these old patrols with the normal's police, writing tickets and shit."

"Come on, the Artist has been taunting us for years, but she can't be flawless. Guy with an ability like yours, what's that? Magikolour synaesthesia? Why go for stake-outs and CCTV? Why not make some traps? You've got more magical ability than this whole floor put together!"

"Tom, I'd need so many warrants for one trap, it's not ever happening. I think I got given this task as extra punishment. Something senseless to run after until I retire."

"What if they really think you can catch the vandal who's never been caught?"

"Why do they want that anyway? Because some loony normal might scrap some paint off a wall and somehow figue out there's something off with it? What am I to say to her if I catch her? 'You're under arrest for artistry. Your fingers will be broken... No, sorry, I mean, I need your address so we can send you fines!' Don't you think we'd all be better off with more art like hers in NY, and less wendigos or murderous weres I could put behind bars?"

"Hund, I don't wanna disappoint, but the world's been doing just fine without you. Also, moaning to me isn't getting you back into homicide and you know it. Artist is no murderer, maybe you've got to change your tactic, get original."

Iain, knowing good advice when he hears it, wonders about the changes he could make. The police, sup or normal's, has no name or face to put on the Artist. Even her gender is as good as the street word, rumours from the guy who knows a guy who's seen her.

Dusting donut crumbs from his notebooks, Iain peruses through weeks of drawings. When seen by normals or photographed, the Artist's work is static, if beautiful graffiti art. The drawings were to capture the details of what sups–anyone with a shred of magical ability–saw instead: myriads of images, sometimes a whole scene, with characters turning to the watcher, mouth opening in mute calls, sometimes the paint exploding out of the walls, pulling you in clouds of coruscant particles. In his book Iain has little boats on the calm waters of a lake, the face of a submerged god half hidden under lotuses; a pale man weeping liquid gold; a woman playing a sitar, each sound coming alive in the shape of a fantastical animal; a highway bridge pillar turned into an aquarium in which twirled a bigger-than-life mermaid; and many more. His notebook is far thicker than the case file ever was. In the last pages he finds the sketches made of a long mural of dancers. Their appearance changed depending on the angle you looked at it, a masquerade of shape-shifters. In it is a message for the man the Artist knows is on her trail, for hidden behind the legs of a dancer stands a black wolf-dog and though it has no collar, a golden tag gleams beneath its jaws, etched in the faintest strokes with the name Iain.

That's how she must see me: the law's dog on his invisible leash.

"Alright, let's get original."

"Mmh? Where are you going?"

"Hudson Heights. I'm gonna get friendlier with our local alchemists."

He leaves Tom to choke on his donut.

Alchemists have no claws or tooth to rend through you, but they don't need them. The power they wield, and their tendency for single minded obsession, makes them a prickly bunch, and the Sup-PD has a special unit for policing them. Iain's badge feels like a flimsy shield in his hand as he steps down from the sunny, all-American street and into the subterranean entrance to the alchemy quarters. The skills of the Artist and the finesse of her alchemical paints has already sent Iain deep inside those hidden galleries of shops and studios, where his questions revealed envy, admiration, and wholesalers of raw materials who did most business online and all proudly claimed her as a loyal customer, whilst unable or unwilling to prove anything.

The man at the entrance smiles at Hund.

"What do you want this time, cop?"

"Just visiting Toby Smith as a customer today." Iain grimaces. "Please."

The doorman grins sardonically, Smith being a famously irascible alchemist. He reaches for the door handle and applies his magic to it. To Iain it looks like a blue aura. A small displacement magic, that opens doors to other places. He nods his thanks and scuttles past and right into the maddening chaos of Toby Smith's shop.

"You again? What do you want now?" a disembodied voice asks from all corners.

Smith does business like this, never bothering to be present in the same room as his customers, his store guarded by an arsenal of curses that would make any hardened criminal as docile as a puppy.

"Paints."

"You're still after the Artist?"

"Ah, yes sir."

"You planning on defacing her work?"

"No sir. I–well, I like her work too. She caters to her fans though, and I thought, maybe, I can get to discuss with her somehow?"

Drawers open at invisible hands, glass jars and packets start drifting towards Iain.

"You're planning some sort of painting show-down? You've got guts Hund, I like it. Leave two hundred behind, follow the instructions on the packs, and work on your magic before mixing, unless you want blowing your moronic face off."

"Thanks sir."

"You're a better guy than I assumed."

"Sir?"

"Mixing paints to life is a tiny magic, but it's also very rare. The Artist has a unique gift. That someone with such a high grade magic as yours can appreciate her work is good. Maybe with you on her case she won't get wiped after all."

Iain mouth goes very dry.

"Wiped? Why would..."

His mind reels. It makes perfect sense now. Why bother with breaking fingers, indeed! Such a small gift, to breath life into a pot of already alchemical paint. It would take a tiny trap seal with her name on it to erase her magic as surely as if she were born a normal. He can picture his bosses, patting him on the shoulder. Good job Hund.

"Hund?"

"Thank you sir. For your honesty."

Iain goes home on autopilot, lost in his thoughts. He spends several evenings practising, and more building the final spell-works and paints before going out. He's mapped the Artist's work throughout Manhattan, and picked a wall she is likely to walk by. Finally he sits behind the wheel of his car and works a small shifting magic on his face. He has decided to go into the night to do what he's paid to stop. He feels shivers of anticipation and dread, a kinship and a respect stronger than ever before for the Artist who so inconspicuously prowls the nights.

He does her portrait, suggested, unfinished, broad strokes of paint revealing how little he knows of her. Sitting beside her stands a black hound with a golden tag, his muzzle resting in her lap, adoring eyes gazing up into her unpainted face waiting to be filled. Artist and Hound, he titles it.

A promise.

Two days later, Iain finds that the mouth of the Artist has been painted over in a slight smile.

~~ October 2018 – Theme : Small Magics

[maxineswritingcenter]

Take it on the Run - Dean Winchester x reader part 5

Read part 4 here!

Summary: After a month long, whirl-wind romance with the new guy in town (Dean), he ghosts, as if he never existed. You are devastated, eating plenty of ice cream, your friend decides to take you out for drinks and karaoke. Maybe something happens who knows  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Warnings: kidnapping, body Gore (?)

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Dean -

I kept going over what (Y/F/N) said, almost not paying attention to what Sam was saying.

"Are you listening?" He asked, looking up from his tablet.

"Forgive me, I'm a little worried about the fact that the person I lo-..." I paused and looked at Sam slightly. He had this amused look on his face that I would love to smack off.

"I love (Y/N), okay?!" He dropped the look and nodded, "I know."

He continued, "You love (Y/N). I get that. It's really great that you've found someone and you're not pushing away." I didn't say anything, just pressed my foot harder on the gas.

"Anyway, I looked up the recent newspapers from the last four days. Trevor Russel was found dead three days ago in his apartment. Darlene Williams was found dead last night. Both didn't show up to work and gave no notice. But the police can't find a connection."

I shook my head, "Trevor was (Y/N)'s coworker and Darlene was the waitress from the diner." I hit the steering wheel, "They were targeting (Y/N). Goddamit!"

Sam shook his head, "This doesn't make sense. We got the shifter who was doing all the kidnapping. She even took pride in what she had done."

I sighed, thinking it over, "Unless... Unless they took the blame because she didn't want us to think there was anyone else. She was hiding someone. And this someone is sloppy."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"(Y/N) said that Trevor didn't show up to work, called in sick but he gave her what she needed for the project and didn't tell her. That just tells me he wasn't expecting to not go to work. And Darlene," I scoffed, "Darlene wouldn't miss a day of work in her life. The shifter should have gotten that from the mental connection they make with the person they're imitating."

"You're saying that this time it's personal?" Sam asked, filling head with dead and my heart with anger.

"Yeah. And he's not gonna like what's comin' t'him."

-

Y/N-

I woke up slowly, whether it was the voice that was slowly rising or the wound on my head stinging. My stomach was sore from hunger and my throat begged for water.

"Good... Good... They'll see... See the dead people... Then they'll come and I'll show that Hunter what I'm really made of."

I slowly lifted my head up. I was tied to a beam. I had no idea where we were. It was humid and smelled like death. I could hear the distant sound of traffic above. The sewers?

"Oh you're awake!" The voice came closer, more clearer. When my vision finally cleared I saw a very familiar face.

"Trevor?" I whispered, my throat felt like it was barely open.

"Well, kind of." He laughed, "No uh... I'm wearing Trevor." He continued, each word he said made my head spin, "You ever been to Trevor's apartment? It's a pig sty. But I got my information. I would never tell a coworker where i was going to lunch with my boyfriend but you know, I'm different."

"What?" I asked, "What the hell are you talking about? Trevor, are you on drugs?" I looked down at my arms tied to the beam and started to struggle, panic setting it.

"Trevor, how long have I been here? What are you doing?" My voice was starting to shake.

"For the last time, I'm not Trevor-here, let me show you." He brought his hands up to his face and started to scratch. I was about to tell him to stop. Whatever drugs he was on were making him trip badly. But my voice got caught in my throat as I watched him start to peel away his skin. I could hear the skin crawling sound of the thick ripping sound as he ripped off the skin around his head. I could only watch in terror. My screams were silenced as I watched Trevor rip his own skin off. The skin landed on the concrete floor with a wet flop. It was a combination of skin and blood and fat. And in a sickening twist it started steaming. When I looked up, I screamed. My heart pounding in my chest. There in front of me was Dean's figure.

"You understand now?" He asked after my screaming stopped, I didn't have the strength. I looked away as Dean... Or whatever he was grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around his waist. This didn't make sense... None of this made any sense. It wasn't natural. He came and crouched down in front of me and smiled.

"Come on now, sweetheart, chin up," he reached out to lift my chin but I jerked away, "You boyfriend's coming. And when he does... He'll watch you die." He grabbed my face and made me look at him, his expression hardening, "Just like I watched my wife get murdered by you hunters."

"What's a hunter?" I asked, careful not to anger him.

He blinked and watched my face, "Wait a minute," He grinned, "You don't know? You have no idea who your boytoy is, do you?"

He stood and laughed loudly, "This is even better! Oh, (Y/N), you've really made light out of this dark situation." He went grabbed a water bottle from a nearby table and came over, sitting in front of me. He opened it and put it to my lips. I hesitated before taking a drink, if... If he wants to kill me, he'll do it in front of Dean. Not like this.

"So, where to start. Well, I guess we'll start with me. I'm what people like to call a shape shifter. I can change my appearance to anyone I want. Be whoever they are, know everything they know. Basically, take over their life. I thought I was alone." He crossed his legs, looking up at me. It was hard to see anyone but Dean because this thing had taken on Dean's appearance.

"I actually don't know what I really look like. I didn't know my parents. I thought if I could find them, I could find out what I would look like. I was dead set on it. And then I met Sherry. And she showed me that the parents that abandoned me didn't matter. What mattered was that I could be so much more than them. I could have anything I wanted. We took whatever we wanted and we loved it. I loved her. We came here for the last score. A couple of police officers down, we slide into the bank with ease. But then your boyfriend and that moose of a brother had to screw it up! I was gone and when I came back there was a silver dagger in my wife's heart!" He shouted, "That's what he does! He kills people! We weren't hurting anybody, we were just trying to stay off the streets. But now..." He looked at me, "But now... It's all going to change for him. Because I have something that he can't just forget." His smile turned into a wicked grin, "They're going to come down here... And Dean's going to watch as I stab you in the heart with his own knife."

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Sorry this one's so short. I want the ending to be very long and climatic.

Follow, reblog, and like if you liked it!

Read part 6 here!

Ask box is open so send in some requests, fandoms are listed in my bio.

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@happy-little-marvel

@hobby27

@lsrgekwhtvr

[coeurvrai]

Bryce complains about the matching tattoos that she and Danika got while she was drunk. She mentions that because Danika is a fully-blooded shifter or Vanir, she heals faster than her, who is half-Vanir because she’s half-Fae. I still don’t know why she’s using Vanir, of all the terms, but this is what the world is now.

Danika wants to use the showers downstairs in the archives. 

“What is that on you?”

Danika scowled, the angular planes of her face scrunching. “I had to break up a fight between a satyr and a nightstalker.” She bared her white teeth at the black substance crusting her hands. “Guess which one spewed its juices onto me.”

Bryce snorted and gestured to the archives door. “Shower’s yours. There are some clean clothes in the bottom drawer of the desk down there.”

I love how Maas has that whole glossary in the front and then just throws in more creatures because why include them when you can just- not. Like we haven’t even met half of the species on that list and now we’re gonna have to add more to it. Also, is a nightstalker something else or is a nightstalker slang for a vampire, or “vampyr” in this case?

Also okay, the oil-y ammonia liquid on her is like blood or saliva or something. Then what the hell is the streaks of sapphires, amethysts, and roses?

Danika has a tattoo on her neck of a horned, grinning wolf that signifies that she is apart of the “Pack of Devils”. I am rolling my eyes and I am so sorry to 10 year old me and my obsession with wolves and werewolves. Apparently the sword Danika carries is famous. Bryce makes unrelated comments about the gallery’s generator.

Bryce had always wondered why Jesiba bothered with an old-fashioned generator—until the citywide firstlight outage last week. When the power had failed, only the generator had kept the mechanical locks in place during the looting that followed, when creeps had rushed in from the Meat Market, bombarding the gallery’s front door with counterspells to break through the enchantments.

Also maybe it’s just me and also the fact that I don’t live in a world full of fantasy creatures but I haven’t heard of people looting during power outages. But hey, Jesiba seems like the type of witch to lean towards old-fashioned practical solutions. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken kind of deal.

Anyways, Bryce gets back on topic and infers that Danika is meeting with the people in charge of the city.

In the five years since they’d met as freshmen at Crescent City University, Bryce could count on one hand the number of times Danika had been called in for a meeting with the seven people important enough to merit a shower and change of clothes. Even while delivering reports to Danika’s grandfather, the Prime of the Valbaran wolves, and to Sabine, her mother, Danika usually wore that leather jacket, jeans, and whatever vintage band T-shirt wasn’t dirty.

Of course, it pissed off Sabine to no end, but everything about Danika—and Bryce—pissed off the Alpha of the Scythe Moon Pack, chief among the shifter units in the city’s Auxiliary.

Sabine or rather Sabina is a Roman name, I know that much. I am confused right now. She just mentioned that Danika is apart of “Pack of Devils”, is that just a nickname for the Scythe Moon pack or whatever? Also if Danika’s mum is the alpha, then what does that make her grandfather? What is a Prime? What are the Valbaran wolves? Is a Prime another word for city head? I am confusion.

Bryce goes on about Danika’s mother being her dad’s heir but Danika’s grandpa obviously favouring Danika by giving her the sword (that is a family heirloom) on her eighteenth birthday, over Danika’s mother. If you were wondering, Danika studied history with Bryce.

Danika turned, her caramel eyes shuttered. “Philip Briggs is being released today.”

Bryce started. “What?”

“They’re letting him go on some gods-damned technicality. Someone fucked up the paperwork. We’re getting the full update in the meeting.” She clenched her slim jaw, the glow from the firstlights in the glass sconces along the stairwell bouncing off her dirty hair. “It’s so fucked up.”

Bryce’s stomach churned. The human rebellion remained confined to the northern reaches of Pangera, the sprawling territory across the Haldren Sea, but Philip Briggs had done his best to bring it over to Valbara. “You and the pack busted him right in his little rebel bomb lab, though.”

There is something so comical to me about the phrase “she clenched her slim jaw”, like ah yes, it’s important that we know Danika has a slim jaw. But ofc we have humans rebelling because Maas lacks an original bone in her body. Also Valbara is the country/continent that they live on, I feel like that’s an important thing that should’ve been established in the map unless I’m just blind.

Danika tapped her booted foot on the green carpet. “Bureaucratic fucking nonsense.”

“He was going to blow up a club. You literally found his blueprints for blowing up the White Raven.” As one of the most popular nightclubs in the city, the loss of life would have been catastrophic. Briggs’s previous bombings had been smaller, but no less deadly, all designed to trigger a war between the humans and Vanir to match the one raging in Pangera’s colder climes. Briggs made no secret of his goal: a global conflict that would cost the lives of millions on either side. Lives that were expendable if it meant a possibility for humans to overthrow those who oppressed them—the magically gifted and long-lived Vanir and, above them, the Asteri, who ruled the planet Midgard from the Eternal City in Pangera.

But Danika and the Pack of Devils had stopped the plot. She’d busted Briggs and his top supporters, all part of the Keres rebels, and spared innocents from their brand of fanaticism.

THE HUMANS ARE OPPRESSED! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF ACOTAR’S WORLDBUILDING, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

Also I don’t trust Maas to write terrorists or terrorism with grace, tact, and a lot of respect. Like, literally look at ACOTAR and TOG.

And apparently there are something called the Asteri, which is completely different to the Vanir, and the Eternal City is not Crescent City but is also something completely different. Also climes is a word, Google tells me, and all I can think is just... there are so many other words you could’ve used.

As one of the most elite shifter units in Crescent City’s Auxiliary, the Pack of Devils patrolled the Old Square, making sure drunken, handsy tourists didn’t become drunken, dead tourists when they approached the wrong person. Making sure the bars and cafés and music halls and shops stayed safe from whatever lowlife had crawled into town that day. And making sure people like Briggs were in prison.

Jesus christ, this is like RWBY all over again, where the only Faunus shown fighting back against systematic oppression were terrorists or former terrorists. Also I don’t get what auxiliary means. Or rather, I know what auxiliary means, but I don’t know what it’s supposed to be. Is it supposed to be related to the Roman auxiliary? Or are they really backup support? Are they police?

Anyways, we get a HUGE exposition dumb right at the start of this page, and just holy fuck, there is such a thing as too much worldbuilding.

She would. Even if Danika had to snarl in Micah Domitus’s face, she’d get her point across. There weren’t many who’d dare piss off the Archangel of Crescent City, but Danika wouldn’t hesitate. And given that all seven Heads of the City would be at this meeting, the odds of that happening were high. Things tended to escalate swiftly when they were in one room. There was little love lost between the six lower Heads in Crescent City, the metropolis formally known as Lunathion. Each Head controlled a specific part of the city: the Prime of the wolves in Moonwood, the Fae Autumn King in Five Roses, the Under-King in the Bone Quarter, the Viper Queen in the Meat Market, the Oracle in the Old Square, and the River Queen—who very rarely made an appearance—representing the House of Many Waters and her Blue Court far beneath the Istros River’s turquoise surface. She seldom deigned to leave it.

The humans in Asphodel Meadows had no Head. No seat at the table. Philip Briggs had found more than a few sympathizers because of it.

But Micah, Head of the Central Business District, ruled over them all. Beyond his city titles, he was Archangel of Valbara. Ruler of this entire fucking territory, and answerable only to the six Asteri in the Eternal City, the capital and beating heart of Pangera. Of the entire planet of Midgard. If anyone could keep Briggs in prison, it would be him.

There’s so much to unpack here, I literally don’t know where to start. So Danika’s grandfather is in charge of all the wolf shifters in the country apparently. But what about all the other types of shifters? Are there only wolf shifters? Is it because wolf shifters are the most common? If there are only wolf shifters, why wouldn’t you just call them fucking werewolves or whatever? Especially when you’ve had shapeshifters in your previous series *cough* LYSANDRA *cough*

Also some of these sound like titles to be inherited, while others sound like epithets. Are all titles inherited or are some elected? Also Bryce sounds so unsympathetic towards the humans’ cause, when she herself is half-human. Does her being half human affect her in any shape or form? Is she discriminated against because of it? Does she feel othered by both humans and Fae? Is her being half-Human, half-Fae at all plot relevant?

And what the fuck are Asteri?

Anyways, assisting Lehabah in protecting the books in the archives downstairs is a chimera named Syrinx that Bryce’s boss purchased. Danika and Lehabah engage in some banter and Lehabah mentions that she doesn’t wear clothes because “they don’t pair well when you’re made of flame”.

... the phone on the desk began ringing. She had a good idea who it would be.

Heels sinking into the plush carpeting, Bryce reached the phone before it went to audiomail, sparing herself a five-minute lecture. “Hi, Jesiba.”

A beautiful, lilting female voice answered, “Please tell Danika Fendyr that if she continues to use the supply closet as her own personal locker, I will turn her into a lizard.”

Audiomail? What the fuck is wrong with voicemail? Why use audiomail? It doesn’t make your worldbuilding any richer.

Anyways, that’s the end of the first chapter. It’s Fendyr instead of Fendir, bc I guess so Maas can claim she isn’t entirely reusing names, even though Fendir is the name of one of the wyverns in TOG.

[madamhatter]

bigcasinc inquired:  🚼- For Sophie and Jade! send me 🚼 and a ship I’ll use a doll-maker to design what I think a child between our two muses would look like | accepting | @bigcasinc​

made using this picrew: loose carrot maker refer to ‘appearance’ for specifics (and what this maker couldn’t include).

NAME: Emery (A/N.: Or Moira! i’m unsure atm but i like emery a lot)  Leech Hatter AGE: 4~6 GENDER: Female (she/her) APPEARANCE:

Eyes mutated to a gold-brown hazel. No heterochromia like her father. 

Height is 3′2″/96 cm. Reaches to her mom’s waist.

Serrated teeth with a big smile.

Teal hair with silver highlights in it. Hair length at her neck and always picked up/styled. Usually in pigtails with bows or a ponytail with a bow. 

Thick brows and wide eyes like mother. Eye shape and mouth shape like father.

Can look unintentionally terrifying and does not understand she can be scary. She knows her smile can cause reactions (from her mom’s cooing and a barrage of kisses on her rounds cheeks to making people ‘jump’ (if she does a narrow smile like Jade’s or Floyd’s might scare the shit out of adults and children)). Bro, if someone asks her to flash her teeth, she's more than ENTHUSIASTIC to go ‘Okay!!’ and show them off.  

Usually seen worn rompers, pinafore dress w/ an undershirt, or repurposed shirts (from her mom’s childhood closet) and shorts. Always a solid purple, orange, or red top with a patterned shirt underneath it. Always in comfortable footwear for climbing and running or sandals.

PERSONALITY:

Largely a talkative child, with the support of her mother and her sisters as they are receptive and converse whenever something is on Emery’s mind. By ‘talkative,’ she is one who is in constant thought and with high curiosity. It doesn’t mean she outright talks to strangers who pass by her or may even make eye contact with her. 

Blunt without recognizing negative connotations or thoughts. She will speak what is on her mind, which aren’t properly thought through in terms of socialization (not that she cares for that at her age). It follows the same vein as a certain eel, except without the patronizing tone.  IE: “Do not run. You’re slow.” / "I’m fast to catch everyone. That’s easy.” 

Is to an extent clingy to her mother and aunts. She is known to hold onto her mom’s legs or hide underneath her mother’s long skirts whenever she’s talking. Very upfront in greeting those who she knows are close and tries to be polite. (Mostly, this is her trying to mimic how Sophie speaks but it’s WAAAY too dense for Emery sometimes). Though, she likes attention. She hasn’t put two-and-two together, but she knows her mom ‘follows’ her whenever she runs. So, Emery is more committed to running around with her human mother chasing after her and telling her to wait. 

As the last point denotes, she’s pretty perceptive to the people around her and reading them. She’s quick to know that x will get her y. Though, she doesn’t have complex thoughts down at her age yet. She will ask a sleuth of questions which may not have answers for -- but she is one to impose and seek. It’s her way of ‘reading’ the room.

Ecstatic to learn and being hands-on in things. Always behind with her mom to help her out in the kitchen or the hat shop (mainly, taking ribbons) and always tries to peek at the table and countertop. Additionally, she is one that would go out to try to help others -- if not, tell them that her mom can fix anything and lead them to her (explained in personal headcanons).

Emery still gets outright overwhelmed and restless at her age, when it comes to roadblocks and rejection -- especially by peers. She has a big threshold (if not tolerance) for what she takes and usually reciprocates a smile, before going completely quiet. This is where she’ll go into hiding or finds her high energy leaving her fitful and bothered.

SPECIAL TALENTS:

SHIFTER - As half-person and half-merperson, and given her parents’ magical prowl, Emery has the gift of being able to shift between these forms. Being raised on the land, she has defaulted to her two-legs. However, she will be able to morph into her mer-form, which is remarkably similar to her father’s (smaller, with numerous silver spots, and frills). She needs to train herself, but at her age, it will come fairly easily. She needs to be thoroughly dried and taken to a side by the water to help her shift back to her human form (which her mom takes well care of). Emery, however, is not aware of this ability or her heritage. 

HIDE-AND-SEEK CHAMPION - Known to hide in almost any place that she can find, Emery is known by the local children to be practically undetectable when it comes to her hiding spots and when she changes spots. This power is two-fold. She is an exceptional, if not terrifying, seeker. She can’t put her finger on it, but she finds them easily (through smell) and slowly walks over to the other children, patting them, which sends them in a jolt, if not, screaming from terror. However, this talent also comes into play when she feels restless and uncertain, as she’ll go and hide somewhere cramped and dark for comfort. Her mother is able to find her all the time, when at home. There was a point that newborn Emery would only calm down if Sophie made it dark enough and made the right arrangements (use a small carrier, partially covering the crib with a blanket, etc). It is near impossible to draw her out unless it is her mother, sisters, and family friends (or her few close friends).

DURABILITY AND ENHANCED STRENGTH AND SENSES - Comes from merperson heritage. The primary example is her baby teeth that are notably sharp (and will get sharper once her baby teeth fall out) and can draw blood without much effort. Though, she is very careful about this. Another example would be her reaction to pain -- like how she may run into a door or glass with a terribly loud thud and she’d step back, blink, laugh, and continue running after a friend. She isn’t invincible and she can get hurt, but she is definitely more resilient from human children. Can she break bones? Yes! She isn’t yet at that point, however, as she is literally a kid.

INCLUDED: Love for music and rhythm, collect-and-gathering trinkets.

WHO THEY LIKE BETTER:

Given circumstances (refer to #1 personal headcanon), Emery prefers her mom. Though, if she wants to budge her mom or wants something her way, she’ll easily wiggle to bug her aunt Martha, Sophie’s youngest sister, to (try) and get it. Genuinely, there are times where Emery will prefer her aunts over her mom, if not because the three of them group together and indirectly bully Sophie into doing something for their niece.

WHO THEY TAKE AFTER MORE:

Physically, it is undeniable that she takes after Jade more. Blame the dominant genes on his end, but the gold tinge in her eyes, teal hairs, and sharp teeth are the biggest indications of this. I would also extend the thought that she takes on more Jade than one may realize -- if only because her own interactions aren’t as maliciously calculating as her father’s. There are core traits that blend in with Sophie’s, where the edge is there with an unhealthy amount of energy that needs to be burnt off. 

PERSONAL HEADCANONS:

Emery is the unexpected product of Jade and Sophie’s relationship when it was coming to a close. Their relationship ended as soon as they departed from NCR, unsure really what to make of another (as in, be it if they could be long-term partners or they needed to seek out others). They were intimate, friendly, perhaps confidants. But, without a proper title, it was better to depart from their teenage dreams before it spiraled out of control. The discovery was never disclosed. Sophie realized what was going on and refused to reach out. To interfere with what they agreed with - that chapter was over, he went else and so did she. Did she regret agreeing to part ways? Yes, but who’d be that selfish to drag him back? For all she knew, he found better somewhere in the wide world -- maybe even a mate too, which would make this situation extremely problematic.  In this situation, Emery is raised by her single mother and is unaware of her father and likewise, her father is completely unaware of her.

Emery’s concept of destruction and fixing all revolves around her mother. She has a long history of destroying the toys that Sophie has made for her (one of the closest ones being a large purple patchwork bear). But, any time something the stuffing is coming out or the bear is losing an eye, she happily walks over to her mother and Sophie fixes it. She doesn’t quite get there is a point of no-return for certain damages, but she is more than content that with this logic, her mom can fix anything. Hence why she’ll instruct people who ask her questions she doesn’t know (or if they’re upset) to “speak to mama!”

Lots of moray eel behaviors that she performs. A couple of them were mentioned before. But, I have more. One of them happens to be how she interacts with blankets and trying to fall asleep, She ends up rolling around it, wiggling a little helplessly, before laughing and rolling around with it on the mattress. She also does it because she’s a little too excited to go to bed with her mom (both have shared the same mattress)!

Lettie and Martha’s MagiCam accounts, as Sophie either doesn’t have one (or recently made one post-NCR which is private), have some photos and videos of their lovely niece! She happens to pop into photos per accident, only because she’s wondering why her aunts are attempting ten poses and she thinks they’re trying to dance. A fun game that Martha plays with her follows is ‘spot the emmy’ (’emmy’ is her nickname from the hatter trio / sophie specifically calls emery ‘eri’ (pronounced like ending of emery) or tulip/tuli) where a large background photo is available and people have to guess where emery is hiding (in plain sight)! It’s quite popular! There’s also videos of Sophie and Emery interacting, which shows some parts of their personal life. For example, one would be where Sophie squats down tp Emery’s level and ‘blep’ her tongue/stick out her tongue, which Emery does in turn. The ‘bleping’ is something Emery already does.