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ljsarts · 6 months

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Here’s a big old infodump on Mari Matilla an AW 2 oc who's little plot and background I kept on adding to for the last month or so till it spiralled into a fully fleshed character-

I briefly mentioned Samy and Mari’s dynamic in this post so this is more focused on Mari as the remaining Matilla sister.

Warning its a long post I've tried to section out but I thought i better post it now or i never will so oops here we go ALSO spoilers for the entirety of AW2 just to cover my bases

Tldr basic info-

Name: Mari Matilla

Nickname/mean rumour name: ‘Mary Shell-y'

(Anglicised her name to Mary if people mispronounce it enough)

Close Relatives:

[Deceased] twin Sister Sam Matilla.

Estranged Mother Francesca Matilla. [Alive]

Stepfather Micheal Matilla. [Annoyingly Alive]

Name: Samy matilla

Nickname: ‘samwich’ a highschool nickname that Samy tried to spread herself that Mari will not let her live down.

Close Relatives: (same as above but was secretly still in contact with their mother Fran)

Died : 2022 spring swimming in cauldron lake.

The duo moved to bright falls in Spring 2019.

Works at the summer general store before the lake is closed off to the public.

Samy Drowns and she moves into the general store basement in 2022. (Year before the nightingale murder and the events of AW2).

Additional oc Outside the Matilla family:-

Name: Satu Barkley

Nickname: Sparky

Works for Biltmore’s Logging camps, mostly delivers the logs but won't skip the opportunity to do some log splitting. Her Hobbies vary from wood carving to hiking and darts. She met and ended up dating Mari after getting set up on a blind date with her via their shared friend Rose Marigold.

Family:-

Recently Mari Lost their twin sister Samy Matilla violently to ‘the cult of the tree’.

Her ‘murder’ happened a year before Saga and Casey arrived to investigate Nightingales murder.

This death in the family leaves her alone in Watery with only the company of their senior dog Charlie, a greying jack Russel with a laziness problem.

Mari makes do with the little family she has left (literally little Charlie is tiny even for his breed she jokes he's shrunk as he's got older)- not having many relatives nearby as a support system considering she ran to bright falls after cutting contact with everyone but her sister in 2019.

Before her Grimm passing the twins had very little other family than distant (both physically and emotionally) aunts and uncles as well as having a mother and stepfather they'd cut contact with for good reason.

The ’murder‘

The grizzly ritualistic murder of Miss Matilla and Mari’s trauma from discovering the gruesome aftermath (only being drawn outside by Charlie howling at the cultists outside) has led to her becoming an elective Mute when encountering about 90% of the town.

Because of the cult's anonymity Mari lacks any kind of mutual trust in the majority of the town growing paranoid that anyone could be a cult member after her too to finish off the whole family.

This paranoia in turn led the non cult members of the town to be suspicious of her being that she somehow didn't hear the murder happening right outside her home at the time (staying for the summer in the general store by the lake).

All they'd heard was that her sister had been murdered right on her doorstep and she'd just slept through the ordeal only waking when it was too late.

The truth being that Mari had been up the last two nights looking for her sister who'd set out to go swimming in the lake despite her protests that those waters were not safe.

See She'd been too swept up on scouring every inch of the woods after finding Sam's bag, shoes and phone sat on the edge of the lake just abandoned that she hadn't called her in missing in town (not daring to leave the woods) . And even after spending the full day searching she didn't trust the police to come looking for her either.

This lack of sleep from searching day and night meant she had passed out on day 3 and slept through the cults ‘murder’ ritual never knowing that her sister was long dead before the cult began attempting to carved her heart out (Samy having been drawn into and drowning in the lake while trying to disprove her sisters worries about her. Samy following a ‘figure’ into the waves).

The town also was not aware that at that time the three of them (Samy, Mari and Charlie) slept in the basement of the old general store, meaning even if Mari had been awake she wouldn't have heard a thing anyways. (This doesn't stop her blaming herself though).

They also didn't know that Mari had stirred that night at the sound of the howling and barking making it out of the general store door rifle in hand a moment too late only seeing deer masked figures fleeing into the woods and the telltale pattern of her sister's dress covering a bloodied and water trodden body splayed out on the picnic bench. She'd rush out not realising she was screaming already and try to shake her sister awake to no avail.

Seeing a body

something there ,

not her sister

not anymore.

The sun would rise by the time she called into the sheriff's office. Hand still wrapped around her sisters, hair wiped off her bloodied face with loving care and blanket pulled over her so she wouldn't get cold.

They'd come within the hour and cordon off the area.

She'd only let go of her sister’s now Ice cold hand when another would grab hers leading her off to the car park in silence.

Mari had been taken to the police station to fill out all the reports and witness forms not really saying a word just in shock. They'd ask if anyone could come collect her and when they received a shake no offer a lift back up to the store to get her things.

Later on she'd be silent still as she begrudgingly brewed coffees for the sheriff and deputies up at the general store while they took the body and photographed the crime scene.

They'd comment on how the heart had been half carved out sliced open shoddily but not removed properly like the other victims and that the noise of the dog howling and the lights of the store turning on must have put off the ‘killers’ assuming someone nearby was watching them (at least that's their running theory).

Aftermath-

Mari gets very intense surrounding the investigation into Samy’s death. She finds out from her autopsy some key facts that don't add up -

Samy's lungs were filled with lake water - logically yes she drowned in the lake so how did she walk up back to the general store where she got murdered.

Her mottled skin and appearance applies more to a body that's been in the water for weeks not mere days at most.

The cult still seemed to have tied down Samy’s body but the marks on the body would coincide with her being alive at the time of the ‘murder’ and pulling against said restraints.

In Mari’s mind she can only comprehend two ideas-

Either one : Samy almost drowned in the lake barely surviving and after being lost in the woods for two days finally struggled back home to the general store getting picked off like a wounded animal .

Or worse, the cult tortured her by waterboarding her in the lake only to grow ‘ bored ’and kill her up by the general store as a threat.

In either of these options one thing remains - guilt Mari feels such a deep gnawing guilt at not running after her sister after Their fight at not checking up on her sooner knowing the lake had a history of drownings.

It had to be her fault , hers and the cults.

The police (well really just the Sheriff since he's the only one who can relate to Mary having hallucinations having his own about shapes in the night) considered making a recommendation to go to the cauldron lake clinic after some pretty horrendous ptsd episodes and bouts of insomnia began occurring more frequently to Mari leading up to deer fest.

These recommendations definitely did not arise because she accidentally punched a newbie cop in the face who mistakenly jumped out at her from a dark corner with a deer fest mask on while trying to prank their coworker).

These episodes are all being triggered by the surrounding deer imagery of all things. Why'd the cult have to pick the town's mascot of all things, why not a wolf or something scary?.

Mari denies the help initially. Partially on lack of trust and partially because in her own words-

‘Im not fucking crazy Breaker alright! I just get spooked by y’all running up on me all the time with this stupid deer fest shit it's every day and it's it's everywhere in town already the festival’s not for another month and a half alright! Why? why are they rushing?’

It takes one pretty rough breakdown and waking up in an open holding cell on a Sunday morning with no recollection of the *last ten hours for her to finally realise yeah getting help might be the best thing for her sanity and safety right now. That or moving out of town forever and that's not an option in her mind.

*Those missing ten hours consisting of her actually getting the courage to shoot at a cult member missing by an inch, fleeing badly on foot , getting caught , kicking screaming and exchanging punches, just to then in a fit of rage screaming at them to go ahead kill her like her sister only to get *bonk* knocked out cause a taken was approaching and they didn't have time to explain to her what actually happened with her sister. A cult member dropping her off at the station steps as a ‘drunk and disorderly’, their fellow cult members in the police station getting her inside and checked over.

Satu the lumberjack picks her up from the station in the morning with coffee , an ice pack for that possibly broken nose and therapy enrollment forms alike in hand.

These outbursts lead to her becoming even more of a social pariah, seemingly an outsider against small town customs .

But In Spite of said episodes she still aims to be polite when she does choose to speak to the townsfolk.

She always pays promptly and tips well in the dinner;

she'll smile back at the townsfolk as she walks by when taking Charlie to the town park to chase pigeons.

When she stocks up She nods along with cashiers gossip trying to remember who's who and waits while they give Charlie all the fuss his old little face can handle. (Which is surprisingly a lot , he loves all the attention).

Most of all when she heads back to the woods she's never late for work.

Not that she could be late considering she works alone as pest control and wildlife management in the acres surrounding the lake.

She only visits town to stock up on supplies every month or so and since Rose in the Dinner is about the only person she’ll hold a full length conversation with in town , her social skills have been lacking as of late. (Not that she has great ones to begin with)

She thinks Rose is ‘weird’ (heavy quotes weird) like she is , changed by all the weirdness in this town.

She’d never admit it but she feels Like something is following rose around too, a darkness that dims the usual sparkle in her eyes sometimes or a daydream on the air she gets lost in.

Not that she'd admit to spending way too much time staring into Roses' silvery eyes though.

But she knows Mr Wake writer extraordinaire is Rose’s ~ one true love~ and she's only a pinch jealous . Though she does love to hear her excited reviews and ratings of - ’the best Casey novel in her opinion , or are we talking about most engaging ?or ooh! the one that the critics like the most? cause that's a controversial pick in my opinion~’.

(Oh and Mari totally didn't get accidently spoiled by Rose about Casey dying in the last book when she’d just decided to start reading them.)

After her sort of one way crush faded a bit and Rose and her became more besties , Rose tried and succeeded to set her up on a blind date with a local lumber worker who Mari had met in the past delivering logs up to the general store - Satu Barkley.

A broad shouldered gentle giant of a lady who Mari sees as way out of her league but who seems to be pine-ing (pun fully intended) just as much as her.

They bond over a shared love of woodwork with Satu carving a little wooden raven to go on Samy's grave and a little wooden wolf for Mari to wear as a necklace Mari immediately swooning.

Satu becoming the second person she feels safe enough around to talk to freely when she comes to visit the lake and deliver logs.

Work-

Work has been weird too lately.

She used to work in the bustling old general store with their sister before the whole park got shut down.

It was a dream I mean sure the summer rush was always hard to stay on top of but the work kept her mind occupied and sharp , it was a challenge and made the quiet evenings afterwards so much more rewarding.

Worth the struggle just to get to see the sunsets and hear the full array of seasonal birdsong , the cool breeze through the woods slightly chilling the skin.

Her sister always the overachiever would spend the summertime working by Maris side part time shopkeep but full time most days ‘idiot supervisor’ (her own words) or rather doctor and emergency first aider. (Spending the rest of the year working in the wellness centre)

Having worked in emergency medicine in a Vancouver hospital before moving to Bright falls to live with her ‘runaway’ sister, Samy knows her way around your miscellaneous woodland injuries handling the splinters to sprained ankles and the more grizzly injuries too with equal measures of care.

Those summer days in the store by her side the lake and the woods felt even

brighter,

warmer,

kinder than usual.

The woods used to be alive with a beating heart of campers and birdwatchers, the odd ‘guided adventure tour’ by the Koskela Brothers too travelling down the trails like veins through the woods.

Now they're just too quiet.

The only harsh sound being the consistent clanging and buzz of the monitoring station in the hill a crude noise cutting through the bird song in the morning

Moving on-wards-

When the general store got shut down the two of them had moved back into an old cabin their aunt owned that they'd inherited after she passed in 2019 , (this inheritance prompted Mari cutting contact and moving).

The cabins Situated just outside the town's borders up in Watery, but the two secretly keep the keys to visit the general store every summer and fish the lake.

Mari couldn’t bear going back to the cabin without her sister ; all her clothes laid out for work tomorrow , all the sticky notes reminders the plants in the window unwatered. That whole cabin just felt like an open unhealed wound .A living tomb dedicated to a woman who'd never step foot in it again.

She'd slept in her truck that night and sold the place to whoever would move in the quickest, this person ironically being Satu who was a little shocked to see Mari just up and leaving.

After she'd gathered all her sister's and her stuff on the back of the pickup truck she'd left for the woods.

And Once she'd found the old store keys and some solid padlocks she'd set out to bunker down in the basement of the abandoned general store. It was the warmest down there and had been least hit by the elements being some old bunker design from way back when the caldera in the lake was more of an active threat.

(Listen please okay , I sleep deprived Luc editing this backstory right now knows that there isn't a basement but I forgot that the first cult encounter happens in the general store and it's inferred they chill out in there too so we're shifting from the og idea of living in the general store to a second location , for story purposes she's hiding out in the fictional basement keeping Charlie entertained with a bunch of tennis balls and chew toys while the cults lurking above like a fox beneath the hunters, she's covered the hatch to the basement with moss and scrap wood it's all good alright… at least for now).

The store itself is broken down in patches, it's overgrown in others and the patches between those two variables aren't looking too good either.

But It's familiar , it's safe enough

If only it wasn't close to where it happened.

She keeps envisioning that day over and over , rushing out to Charlie's howling , seeing shadows scatter into every corner of the woods.

Seeing her.

Trying to perform CPR on someone , something long gone, a bloodied chest and empty eyes. Just a shadow of the bright bubbly sister she'd angrily yelled goodbye to a few days prior.

The blood on her hands grew as cold as the one she clasped.

It's always the same nightmare , the same moment until eventually it's just silent rest .

Maybe she hopes deep down by staying in that dingy building by letting it rot around her bit by bit.

By being in that right place at all times she can stop the cult using the woods for their murders and make them slip up somehow.

That she can be there when she wasn't before awake and watching.

It was a stupid and under-thought out plan but it's all she can think about now , the what ifs that might have saved her sister , that could save another soul eat her alive in the silence like rust through iron slow moving but persistent till the end.

She spends weeks out at night tracking , documenting and trying to hype herself up to take a shot at these cult members. Trying to detach herself from reality by hyping herself up going ‘deer hunting’ never quite having the bravery to pull the trigger once and for all. Hell when she finds an old Halloween mask- a wolf while clearing out boxes for memories she dons that imitating the very cult she's trying to catch out.

Her days, unlike her nights, are monotonously spent culling ‘ diseased ‘ wildlife for the weird company she's found herself working under. They say their pest control and testing wildlife so they can provide treatment and preserve the species in the woods. She doesn't ask questions , the pay is a little too good to be true but it's paid on time and she doesn't have to worry about being late.

This constant prowling of the woods A dedication to surrounding the lake is why she kicks herself when she returns from a monthly supply run to find the area cordoned off with a dead FBI agent there splayed out contorted just like her sister was.

Nicknames-

After a few days of near encounters with the cult she hangs tripwires at the front doors attached to chimes she makes from razor clamshells taken from the lake, the one on the front door additionally bearing the old door's entrance bell in its centre for extra volume.

Gossip, well more a cruel mythos started spreading of a ‘Mari shell-y’ a week after the Chimes went up.

The story goes that when two rangers came to check on the abandoned store after seeing smoke in the forest that they reached for the doors and were ambushed by tripwires of shells wrapping tightly around their arms, the chimes breaking in the process.

That ‘Mari the shell lady , the weirdo in the woods who lost their voice in the lake, had finally gone looney and is collecting shells to fight off the ��witch's powers”’.

She persuaded the rangers that she was just lighting a fire to mask her scent, and that she was on the job- tracking some weird wolves in the woods with rabies , emphasising how rabid and uncontrollable these wolves were to the rangers, this task putting them at enough unease to leave promptly with a ‘-good luck with that’.

Interaction/encounter wise within AW2

(Disclaimer I wrote the majority of this stuff while watching a play through of aw2 and was only on the first few chapters of the game so there's some bits that are out of sync with the main plot)

Overarching plotline of Mari like most Bright Falls inhabitants is just a ‘so bad very bad day worst day of their life’ plot. She doesn't influence the progression of the main story and is more just another victim of the horror genre narrative demanding sacrifices barely surviving it's attacks on her ‘Until Dawn style’ (Emily from until dawn my beloved inspiration).

So Mari’s arc Aka ‘Mari will not die in spite of the world trying it's best to axe her’ (wink wink) begins with a nice calm start in the oh deer diner:

After Rose gives her ‘remember me? , weird your back cause…’ speech to Saga and she's gone through both conversation roots, Mari can lightheartedly bantering with Rose at the counter of the oh deer dinner about how-

M- ‘the animals in the park, well around the whole lake are acting weirder than usual lately like really off putting, more aggressive, almost rabid, think it's just the changing of the seasons getting to them?’

R- ‘must be that volcanic ash in the air their studying down there, you should mask up breathing all that dust in all day and night oh and get a little doggy sized mask for Charlie to wear you'd match’

M- ‘we would (she grins) , you worry about me too much though Rose’

R-‘well someone's got to , I mean just look at you’

M-‘hey!, I'll have you know this is my best shirt I ironed it and everything’

R- ‘oh really? So that's why you wear it every time you're in town hmm? S’got to be the fourth time I've seen it this year’

M- ‘you try living in the woods with a senior dog who's always needing carrying I'm sure all your clothes would be finely pressed and smell like daisies’

R- ‘daisies and roses. well, at least I know what to get you for your birthday’

M-’ a new shirt?’

R- ‘shush you'll ruin the surprise’

Mari doesn't really speak to Saga in the dinner but will nod when noticing her and smile genuinely (if a little anxiously) at her if approached before turning back to the counter and the paper sat on it before her. Giving Charlie scritches behind his old scruffy ears, who sits next to her on a pulled across diner chair.

General Store Basement introduction-

Saga and Casey can encounter and interact fully with Mari in a night-time/late evening cycle of exploring around cauldron lake anytime after the first overlap events/ first encounter with the cult occurs.

When returning to the murder site A trail of fresh blood not washed away by the rain can be found and observed leading from bushes nearby to the general store.

Meeting Shelley for the first time she'll be hunkered down in the deepest corner of the general store basement

To get in you'll need A key for the front door that can be found using the flashlight as its hiding spot on a small metal tin is marked by fluorescent paint.

Several shell tripwires can be inspected and disarmed outside the doors and windows, some of the windows are hammered shut shoddily with long nails sticking out of the frames.

Unlocking the front door and delving into the general store again , several objects are disrupted

- a table is shattered, legs strewn apart , several frames off the walls smashed on the ground and a cult mask sits on the floor brandishing some dog sized chew marks.

-Following the trail of blood leads further into the store and to the attached laundromat room where one washing machine has been pushed out of place revealing a hatch concealed below it.

Below the general store in its basement Mari is found on her last tether.

Being guarded by a quietly growling charlie (you know that sort of old dog rumbly growl they have?) And with A shotgun raised shakily she crouches in the farthest corner of the store wide eyed at the intrusion and visibly bleeding. Having been shot in the shoulder , rough gauze is wrapped haphazardly around the wounded area but She looks palpably pale and clammy.

The shotgun is leaning awkwardly against her stiff bracing shoulder twitching much to her dismay and Charlie the jack Russel sits tucked onto her lap.

Saga can de-escalate the situation by showing Mari her badge and introducing herself and Casey, commenting on recognising her from the dinner in town earlier and asking about her dog.

‘She's Charlie , She's harmless, really more talk than bite. Not that she could bite with her old teeth, give her one of these biscuits off the counter and she'll be your best friend’

A dog biscuit can be retrieved and given to Charlie who softens up at the approach.(And yes you can pet the dog)

When Mari finally calms down she'll crumble a little bit from the stress and alot-a bit from the general blood loss.

Saga can then ask her name and ask about the gunshot wound :

Asking about the name triggers her to recognise the last name Matilla as one of the previous victims of the cult commenting on the incident occurring around a year and a month ago and how the victim looked identical to her minus the haircut.

Mari winces at the comparison, combing a hand through her hair she clarifies Samy was, is , her twins sister and almost spitefully asks why they've turned up now of all times to look into the murders,she calms though saying it's atleast better late than never.

Asking about the bullet wound prompts Mari to comment on it not being as bad as it looks,

‘I was just bunkering down for the night getting Charlie her dinner when I got ambushed by this smokey figure? Like not smoking burning like an enveloping aura of sooty air must be the fucking volcanic ash shit from the lake’ , she quietly adds “I haven't been drinking I swear.’ when Casey's eyes fall on the array of cans on the table.

‘The shot though that went clean through and it's missed the brachial plexus see’ ,

holding up her hand she clenches and unclenches her fingers a few times it's weird though there's two of her fingers on this held up hand missing old wounds scarred over.

‘It all still works just hurts like a bitch , missed the subclavian artery too, still made a mess of my good shirt though and Im supposed to wear this to date night tonight :( ’. Mari is scarily calm for someone who's been shot.

Casey comments on the formal medical knowledge Mari seems to possess but rather lacking medical application of the gauze on her shoulder.

She divulges that her sister used to pop quiz her on the parts of the body, the challenge growing along with her growing up from bones to muscle systems to arteries and where they are a great way to pass time on long summer days.

All great fun at the time but in hindsight it would have been better in this case to have been taught how to bandage said body parts.

Casey has some medical training from a previous operational medicine program he gestures for her to approach so he can adjust the gauze and the two agree to answer some questions in exchange for them just double checking that shoulder wound and rewrapping it (concerned by how pale Mari looks).

While Casey's sorting out that shoulder wound Saga can explore this corner of the basement further around where Mari has crumpled down She has several frankensteined together sketches of the cultists faces from memory watching the cultists hiding in the different areas around the lake, noting down details when they'd lift masks to take sips of beers or drunkenly letting them slip off entirely.

Yellow and pink post it notes , receipt paper ripped from the cash register , and lined stationary paper are stuck haphazardly to a corkboard against the wall with whatever Is available .

(Casey's pretty sure there's a few empty pens stabbed into the cork in more than one spot.)

While Saga is looking around Casey can ask about Mari’s hand if it's a ‘New wound? , looks old from the scarring, that from a cult attack too? ‘

She clarifies no an old wound from when she was a kid , an accident with an unsafe bear trap, not that there is a safe bear trap for a child to be left around and supervised by a ‘distracted’ stepfather on a hunting trip.

She changed the subject pretty quickly and apologises for the shell alarms out front. Commenting on the rumours and nicknames around her,

Casey in turn comments on the choice of names saying it's cruel when a nickname sticks , mari sympathises making a guess that having the same name as a fictional character must come with a lot of jokes and jabs.

Casey asks how she can be staying in the general store and not have heard the murder happening right outside.

Saga, equally confused, clarifies their here because of an FBI agent being murdered on the picnic table outside.

Mari stumbles back up to her feet and with some assistance closes the hatch door , the room immediately falling deathly silent of the sounds of the outdoors now locked away.

Didn't hear a thing. I'm afraid it's an old bunker design sturdy as anything but soundproof too.

Mari promises to head into town to get the shoulder looked at and as Saga and Casey head out to explore the cauldron Lake area she can be heard calling up Satu to come and pick her up trying her best to downplay her injury and saying it was an ‘accident’ while cleaning her rifle.

Escalation /second worse encounter:( aka the angst zone of Samy the dead sister returning.)

Her sister was buried in the woods near the lake wanting to be surrounded by the very nature she coveted . Her grave being marked by some small memorial rocks from mirrors peak and carvings of a crow , a bear , a little wooden duck and other trinkets left by visitors. Fresh flowers sit picked from the surrounding area.

Saga can on her travels around bright falls encounter a manuscript page that details a horrifying encounter - an empty grave and a taken soul rising up to lay it's last family member to rest beside her in that woodland tomb.

Of a shadow imbued figure clawing out of the dirt handful by gritty handful and brandishing an axe ripped out of a cedar tree stump, carving its way through the general store's front door like a horror cliche , the shell chimes rattling a final death rattle.

(this next bits a little messily written i won't lie i love all the manuscript pages and the style of writing in the game but i cannot imitate it i do visual art not written so shoutout fanfic and authors this is harddd.)

“Beyond the door , her last remaining protection Mari Matilla , still recovering from her bullet wound burning a hole in her shoulder, is frozen in place staring in wide eyed abject horror at the looming figure on the other side of the splintering wood.

This figure who shares the same face , the same blood now cold no longer pumping through dead veins looms forward through the gash in the door.

A single white eye peers through the crack sunken into it's hollow socket, the creature smiles a sickly grin too wide for it's face.

She swings her axe bringing the door down with it charging through the threshold , with each slamming step Mari snaps out of the ever growing fear in her heart willing herself to just move! as the axe comes slashing down again.

Finally it makes contact, clipping her ankle with a sickening thump. Bone exposed She screams the world all crashing back down around her at once.

‘The light , the basement. The light will keep me safe’ she thinks and so she dives for that sunken room.

Gunshots ring out in the distance , safety , a chance at survival; she knew who it was, the only one brave enough to be out in these woods alone , Saga Anderson, her hero.

she screams again louder than before:

‘SAGA she's Here Help me!’ she just had to hold on a few moments more. Just a few moments longer. The creature a mirror of her lurches forward for the basement door and-”

The rest is scratched out.

The page ends before anything else can occur saga sets off back to the lodge as the day draws to an end.

On the way to cauldron lake she calls Casey and tells him where she's going, chasing after another page by our best selling author friend she's pissed she asks why he'd write something like this into reality.

He tries to explain that he doesn't remember writing this but writing in the escape , writing in that saga is there to save her and that the basement full of lights is the safest place for her to be. That sounds like what he'd write , from what he knows that that is how he can help.

‘its a horror story all of this is I have to stay within the narrative tropes but you can change it's ending it's not written yet there's always a final girl right who barely escapes but not unscathed?’

When she arrives at cauldron lake it's dark the sun's setting , as she approaches down the hill from the parking lot she encounters several taken , gunshots ring out and she hears from the general stores direction screams for help exactly as written she just prays Charlie and Mari have reached the basement , sprinting towards the store.

The sister's warped and ritually sacrificed body has become a taken a hollow hole in her chest, hair slicked to her face and hands bloodied .

((I have two visual ideas for this currently. One is that she sort of floats above the ground like a body floating face down in the water. Or alternatively upright usual axe swinging but her hairs sort of floating behind her and clothes slightly flowing in a current we can't see)).

She has dirt across her arms and under her fingernails having crawled and clawed her way out of the grave. Stumbling back to her place of death hearing Mari whistling as she cooked, her attention drawn and a rage at her own death bubbling up inside her.

She screams out at her in its distorted voice ‘ why weren't you there ? Why did you leave me to die? What sister lets her sister die in the cold in the dark ? Look at me, You wretched bitch look at me!’

When saga arrives to save Mari she can look around and find the shallow grave empty and flooded with lake water, the coffin floating atop and ripped open. Reaching the general store front door is destroyed , Mari surprisingly isn't dead but has barely contained ‘what was samy’ in the basement of the general store. Rattling and slamming can be heard against the basement hatch upon arrival that goes scarily quiet when Mari calls out to saga again.

She's blood splattered and with one arm weakly cuddling Charlie and is pretty sure like 90% her ankles fully broken (saga is more than sure it's broken she's pretty sure it's been slashed by an axe swing and maybe broken too who knows but she's trying not to panic despite being able to see bone) saga quickly sets to scouting around finding something to splint the leg with and something to cover the basement hatch with that's heavy.

Mari's struggling in the sort of blood loss delirium but asks saga (when she brandishes her weapon of choice and flashlight to go head down into the basement with) to please please leave her be,

Mari asks why she's like that why she came back like that,

She confesses quietly that she hopes that whatever has brought her back can purify her if , if they just wait long enough right , keep her in the light? She doesn't know how she knows but she just knows the light will fix her. It's a fact in her mind now the light is safe and she can be safe again.

She has to be right? .

M: ‘I just , I mean , she's talking. She's breathing what she's saying is cruel, sure but it's better than silence. Please don't hurt her, what would you do ? What would you do if Logan came back out of the Lake please just leave her be’

It seems the story has warped Maris memory of events aligning it with Logan drowning too.

Saga sympathises with Maris grief but stands firm on Logan's condition ,with both hands on Maris shoulders reminds her that -

‘Logan isn't dead. Your sister down there? she’ doesn't have a heart ,

theres post mortem autopsy incisions across her chest Mari , the woman she was, your sister , who you cared about so deeply , that you feel so guilty about not being there to save that version of her she is gone and that thing in the basement is just a vessel being puppeted around, a shadow of who she once was . whatever that is now it is not your sister it's a monster , it's dangerous and it will kill you if we don't kill it’

The Frankenstein's monster - part beloved body - park lake darkness, trapped in Mari ‘Shelly's’ basement and wanting revenge upon her misguided ‘creator’- Mari feeling solely responsible for the argument that led to Samy going to the lake.

(Am I forcing this concept too hard? Yeah absolutely, probably but oh well it's fun and stupid too something something seeing the humanity in someone you've lost coming back wrong even if this vision is clouded by your own remorse).

Ultimately Samy ends up breaking out of the basement if Saga approaches and/or leaves the area and Saga has to put her down fighting in the limited space of the general store trying to lead her away from where Mari and Charlie are cornered.

After defeating Samy , Mari will be in tears but gather herself as the trio make a break for the car park , the escape sequence set off by a loud rattling of all the shell chimes outside and a growing dark presence outside warping the scenery. Mari can carry her own flashlight helping to stun enemies and throwing out the odd flare but is slow moving due to the ankle wound and dog on her hip.

(no she will not leave the dog she'd rather die )

(I'm imagining Kind of like the AW1 section where you're getting Barry Wheeler across Anderson's farm - defeat a wave or two of taken and then rush for the exit no cool rock number though but alot of ambient sound - storm , shell wind charms etc).

After getting their leg seen to properly, splinted stitched, wrapped and painkillers prescribed by Doc Nelson and an ambulance called .she gives the excuse some poachers put bear traps up in the woods and that luckily Saga was in the area following a lead and was able to open the trap for her.

He half buys it considering there's a record that Mari lost two fingers as a teen to a bear trap but doesn't ask further questions considering she's been escorted to him by an FBI agent who still has some blood splatter on her coat.

After aftermath:

It takes a few days to overall emotionally recover from the horrors ™. But once she does recover Mari can then be found half the time hiding out in a makeshift room in the ‘employees only’ room in the back of the oh deer diner.

She refuses to stay in a hotel or home saying she's not getting taken out in her sleep after surviving all this. It takes s while for Satu to persuade her to move back to the cabin with her (mari joking they’ve only been together 6 months and already moving in how forward~)

Rose agrees to watch over her when she’s in the diner she can until everything's sorted out.

(And lend her some actually daisy smelling shirts joking she bought the detergent just to prove her wrong)

The reward for getting Mari alive out of the taken onslaught is a charm she offers that reduces the damage you take from axes (thrown or melee) by 50 percent. It's shaped like a little shell and hook.

Eventually Mari starts spending her daytime out of the back room and in a corner booth of the diner. She doesn’t want to be idle so spends some time folding napkins and cleaning cutlery whistling little simplified versions of the chapter songs as the story progresses.

Charlie settles really well into her corner booth of the dinner enjoying pancake scraps from the chef and scratches from the patrons equally.

I think at some point after the events of AW2 when she finds out about everything (the cult, the taken etc) she ends up having a bit of a fighty argument with Ilmo only to falter when finding out his brother's death.

She gets closure from knowing while her sister probably did suffer drowning in the lake she wasn't tortured or aware (as far as she knows) as a taken when the ‘cult’ got her.

Other little details/ miscellaneous plot beats i didn’t know where to put:-

Mari feels like the failure of the family in her eyes. Her golden child sister got her degree worked in a hospital and seemed to have her life together while she just struggled to figure out what she wanted. That's why she feels so bad that Sam died, not her because she feels she wasn't doing enough with her life while Sam had so much more to give. She learns to push through this guilt and live for the both of them by the end.

Mari lost two of her fingers ( pinky and ring) in an accident with a bear trap when she was little. Her stepdad at the time forced the two twins out in the snow to go hunting despite their protests. Mari was a good shot but didn't enjoy the cold. She'd never seen a bear trap before and then suddenly bam no pinky or ring finger. Stepdad freaked out calling for help and scrambling while Sam stayed calm checking on Mari and talking to her to keep her from going into shock. Since that day Sam's always been Maris' hero. And since that day Samys always knew she wanted to be a doctor to help people like her sister in crisis.

While Mari was born before Sam , Sam has always been the ‘ older’ sister of the twins. More mature in nature and in ego.

The day after Sam dies Mari lops half her hair off because she looks too much like her sister. In turn this makes her look just the same as she did when they first moved to bright falls (partially symbolising how she's set herself back in time healing wise by not confronting her grief). It only kind of works so she gets rid of the mirrors in the cabin.

Maris' fatal flaw was her devotion to killing the cult, it drove her to insomnia, dehydration and overall not taking care of herself .

She obsessed over unmasking a group that she'd fallen for the publicity of.

Spending months in total out in the woods at night , a wolf mask worn to conceal her face stalking the cult never brave enough to pull the trigger and take one out but Internalising the same ideology the cult used to detach themself from the rituals (telling herself ‘ it's just deer hunting , their not people just pull the fucking trigger’) even at times almost getting caught after hallucinating her sister by her side taunting her to take the shot.

she thought they were evil and had murdered her sister but she ultimately (by the end of the game/her character arc) ends up being told the truth and convinced to either work with the cult to take down taken (as a parallel to Ilmo losing a sibling but having the community for support) or teaming up with rose as a body disposal guy. (Since The hardest part is hiding the bodies ; D) she laughs about it in hindsight if only she'd known from the start how different things could have been.

#alan wake oc #remedyverse oc #cult of the tree #its an oc infodump babeyyyyy #oc tag: Mari Mattilla #tw gore #tw body horror #long post #alan wake 2 spoilers

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disturbeddynamo · 9 months

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Hey Dynamo, what's your opinion on the other KGN numbers (+ Astro and Tengu) ?

Ugh geez, where do I even start...

Well, let's start with Cold Man. Cold Man is probably one of the more tolerable out of them. He's actually a pretty, no pun intended, cool guy. He's not hostile, not a dumbass (he's a bit slow, but it's nothing too serious), and he's pretty thoughtful. I guess it's the fact that he used to belong to that Light beard guy before being taken by King. But I like him enough to talk with him and hang out. We're close enough for him to let me rummage around inside him too, something he allows Astro, Magic, and of course King, to do....it's like a dog letting you rub its belly as a sign of trust. It won't let anyone get close to it's internal organs since the belly is one of the vulnerable aspects of the animal..

Pirate Man...This guy is, brutal. Like, bloody "Spartan 300" kind of brutal. This guy honestly sort of scares me for the fact that he would not hesitate on getting what he wants. A pirate is a pirate after all, so I guess it's inherent, but...seriously. I would not be there on the day of "Bolts n' Chase". Brief explanation of what that is. As a way of "entertainment", King makes up some of the most bullshit ass games. This is one of them where it's like spin the bottle, only it's King spinning his axe and wherever the blade points to the near Robot Master, they are it. And the "it" is the prey and has to survive for exactly 2 hours from being dismantled from the other members. The game is also a way to test endurance, stamina, ability, and cunning. Now with that, Pirate does not hold back. He will do anything, even if it means killing his own member just to get to the top. At the end of the day, it's just a game. Pirate is just some crabby Pirate guy who speaks in old sea shanties.

Burner Man....I hate him. With a passion. For so many reasons I will not list here, that is for another day. But to put it simply, he just does not. Listen. He's a total, uncompassionate jackass. A personality like his does not mesh well with mine. A robot like him can't even comprehend a piece of paper towel stuck to his face even if you pointed it out to him, he's so fucking blind. But...even though I hate him, I also sympathize with him. My heart aches for him for sooo many different reasons, I don't know how to explain. And it's one of those reasons is why I'm probably socially inept, why I don't chose to feel happy, because this problem still lies within...him.

Moving on. There's Astro Man. Another one of which I consider to be a little more tolerable. I won't lie when I say that I sort of feel bad for the guy. He did not want to be here, but King forced him to join. I am glad he was here though, not by any cruel means, but I'm glad to have met a guy like him. I relate to his struggle for being at the hands of King. I think we are closer because of this shared pain. Despite his more skittish nature, Astro is also very thoughtful. It may also sound a bit...funny to say this, but I may have a(n) Astro crush on him too, but I don't really know. I could just be clingy to anyone who gives me the slightest bit of soft affection...but, even then, I don't think it would even be possible since I suspect him and Tengu already have something between them. I don't think anyone would date someone like me though, but I shouldn't get too sentimental.

Tengu Man. Iiiiii- honestly have not much to say apart from what I mentioned about him and Astro. But maybe aside from that, I don't see him as the "romantic" type or anyone interested in relationships. He seems to pay attention more to himself than to others. I guess his confidence is what makes him charming, but I wouldn't know. I don't pay much attention to the guy. He does have a pointy nose though :3

Ground Man is, who I'd describe, a quite solidarity philosopher. He seems to disappear wherever, whenever. Then he pops out of nowhere with something new to say, or as I'd like to call, his "sermons". He spends all his alone time just thinking up these kind of thought-provoking philosophies. They're all either about the social unjust between humans and robots, among other things that may change your perception in life. I may not take half of what he says in consideration since they all also sound like something I've heard of before in Greek mythology or old poets, which is amusing in within itself. He's a contradiction. He's hostile while also allowing me to ride on his shoulders, but I guess I should be grateful that I'm not ran over by his treads.

Last, but oh no certainly not least, Magic Maaan. This guy can be annoying. Just annoying. With the how he interrupts times when it gets really serious, he pulls out a magic trick out his ass and it completely throws off the entire mood. I don't hate him, don't get me wrong. Some of his tricks are impressive, but I feel like he was just recruited as a King's number just to preform and entertain. I wanted to mention other things, but I also don't want to think about it... I hated that he treated me like a little kid though, I tell him that I don't like being called pet names or I don't want my hand being held for reassurance, but he does it anyways. I just let it happen and honestly I stopped caring since um..King does the same thing to me (T/.//T

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Have a nice day.

#megamanandbass #burner man #dynamo man #magic man #pirateman #groundman #astroman #tengu man #coldman

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inkrabbit · 2 years

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Hello!

First I'd like to say that I love your writing! Also I'm still a bit new to Tumblr so please forgive me if I'm doing this wrong or don't explain something well lmao.

I was wondering if it would be possible to do headcannons on how any of the Papas would react to finding out their s/o is incredibly strong? And they can pick their Papa up and carry them around with no problem? I imagined that and thought it was hilarious :D

Thank you and please feel free to ignore this if it is confusing or overwhelming at all <3

you're so sweet omg ty <3333 but bb don't you even apologize. so long as anything is within my rule set, anything goes. requests can literally be like Primo x reader and I would be fine with that xD

hcs below the cut. if anyone's wondering, I'm keeping Rob Zombie's version of Michael Myers in mind as a sort of "base". and, as always, it's GN

Primo:

he's surprised at first

like really surprised

he knows the ghouls are pretty strong, but someone who had originally started out as a sibling??? it catches him off guard

bonus points if you worked under him and one day just casually show off your strength

mans has never been so confused in his life

but you know what? he absolutely loves it

his ghouls get a little jealous since he starts asking you for extra help with anything

but he's also gonna worry about you

"Girasole, are you sure you're not straining yourself? You know you need to take breaks."

pls don't pick him up. he might not like to admit that he's old, but he's decently frail and he's a little scared of heights

Secondo:

he knew something was up when you didn't back down from one of his ghouls that was getting a little snippy with him

and it may or may not have turned him on watching you quite literally throw said ghoul across the church

"Minga! I knew you were the one when I laid my eyes on you, uccello canoro."

starts calling you "mia guerriera/mio guerriero" which just means "my warrior"

but pls don't try picking him up around people

or doing anything to even hint that he's weaker than you (even tho we all know he is)

he still likes to appear as though he's "top dog"

100% changes behind closed doors tho

he turns into such a sap in your hands, and when he's feeling extra stressed, he'll happily let you lead

he trusts you, with both his mind and body. and he especially trusts you know how to keep your strength in check

Terzo:

"MY S/O CAN BEAT UP YOUR S/O!"

often gushes about you to anyone who's unfortunate enough to be within earshot

and he won't shut his mouth, even if you pay him

has his absolute favorite stories about you showcasing your strength

but don't let his enthusiasm about everything fool you. he is a little weary around you

sure, he trusts you. but it's not 100% and he unintentionally walks on eggshells around you

"I'd rather take a fall on stage any day than fight you, amore."

he still spoils you with whatever you want, even if you don't want him to go through all the trouble. he's just that type of lover

if you train/spar, know full well he's gonna be your personal cheerleader. you might make him a little hesitant, but you're still his number 1, and he's gonna remind you that

congratulations, you're also one of his bodyguards whenever he goes out. and it's totally not an excuse to spend all of his time with you

Cardinal Copia:

have you always been this strong??? was he blind???

Lucifer below, he doesn't remember you being able to pick everything up like it was nothing before you two started dating

okay, yeah. it's hot to him. but he's too embarrassed to say anything

who wouldn't want you? you literally make him feel so safe, like nothing could ever hurt him

well... whenever you're not zoning out

Copia's a naturally shy guy, maybe a little too pampered growing up. but he's seen the horrors of the world and of people. he's scared you're only dating him out of pity, or simply you'll simply just one day and snap and show him how strong you really are

don't be offended, but he's also hesitant to let you hold his rats

not many people like them. it's fine, but he's just being extra careful. they're like his children they are

still makes all the time in the world to be with you tho, and he showers you in affection

and it's not just to stay on your "good side". he's just a naturally loving man, and he's gonna make sure you get all of his love second (Sister Imperator comes first)

Papa Emeritus IV/Popia:

any worry he had about you? gone. doesn't exist anymore erased like his older brothers

brings you everywhere with him and shows you off, especially during rituals because, yes, you're either gonna be off to the side of the stage, or down on the ground in front

and expect him to trot on over while he's singing to interact with you

has he cirice'd you during a ritual before? yes he has. does he plan on doing it again? 100% and you can't stop him. he loves telling stories about how "Papa cirice'd the strongest person in the abbey and got away with it"

feels safest when he's with you, especially if you're holding him

pls give his forehead a little kiss. he loves having you pick him up while he's on stage just to show off, but he also craves gentle affection

"Ah, not even my own ghouls give me a sense of security like you do, mio roccio/mia roccia!"

he doesn't look at just your physical strength, but also taps into your mentality

and you're also the first person he goes to whenever he's worried about something

all he'll want is to lay in bed with you, cuddle with you and his rats and talk about anything that comes to mind. nothing else matters

Papa Nihil:

gives you increasingly heavier things to see what your limit is

is a bit scared when nothing bothers you and you're lifting everything up like it's a feather

nearly had a heart attack when you lifted him up as a joke

saw his life flash before his eyes and cowered behind his ghouls for a bit

dw he's fine. he's just being the drama queen that he is

congratulations, you now get all of the heavy-lifting jobs, especially the ones he doesn't feel like doing

he's praising you all the way tho, very supportive

"I know I can be a little... overzealous, especially on stage. But you, mio piccolo diavolo/mia piccola diavola, will always be the one I want."

give the idiot a chance. and then a couple more after that. he's a little dense and lives in the moment, but he's trying his best... and he might like being able to gloat that his S/O could probably lift a train

you'll never know it, but several songs he's written (and eventually scrapped) were all about you and how amazing you are. there was only 1 that ever mentioned your strength

#request #papa emeritus i #primo #papa emeritus ii #secondo #papa emeritus iii #terzo #cardinal copia #copia #papa emeritus iv #papa nihil #headcanons #hcs #gn!reader

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team-frightfur · 1 year

Text

Revelations from Zexal blind watch.

Ep 7 and 8: How did Fuya not get submitted to Gayest Yugioh character poll? This kid is a textbook small gay.

I like when Astral reveals he's just a little stupid. I love how he cannot tell apart fiction and reality. I love how Yuma is too stupid to explain the difference. "It's just TV!" Astral: I see, so TV records the history of a different dimension! We must investigate further!

I hope this trend continues. Seeing him find his legs/compassion and empathy is delightful. Maybe he can find his toes, too.

Omg! Yuma set a card on his first turn without being asked! He's learning! Sadly, it seems to have come at the cost of his jumping ability. Episode 1 Yuma could easily chase Fuya.

Edit: spoke too soon. For someone who refuses to think of the future or the past, Yuma sure runs a lot of traps.

So like, in episode 7, Yuma says 'Haction' and the subs translate that a to 'Live Action'. Honestly shocked and appalled that he was actually just mispronouncing 'Fiction'. I love this stupid dog.

Shark wins the prize for Worst Duel Runner.

Ep 9: This is the kind of episode where you watch as a kid and like, its funny, but as an adult its just terrifying. Like has this catgirl been stripping Yuma naked at night? 5 times a week? I'm scared. Please lock your windows.

I love how Astral is completely oblivious. "I thought stalkers coming into your room was normal." Today on 'Astral Learns Common Sense': the right to privacy!

Omg I'm so proud of Yuma, if he tries he can do it. He can strategise! He can win! he doesn't even need Astral... sometimes! Go go go!

The implication that Astral understands romance more than Yuma. The implication he's been watching romance shows on TV.

Ep 10

Cursed

Shark: So like, I'll duel you, but I gotta head home and grab my deck first. Don't move ok. I gotta walk to the gang hole, grab my duel runner, drive home, grab my deck, drive back. Won't take a moment.

Omg my boy has been improving for real! Yuma set a card all on his own! Too bad Shark runs fucking MST! Actual pro. Whats next? Book of Moon? Crackdown? Compulsory Evacuation Device?

Me: Astral is salting Yuma for not reading graveyards as if anyone reads graveyards.

My Irl Friend: I read graveyards.

Me: Don't talk to me.

Shark deserved that win. He deserved that win so much I'm so proud of him! He spent the last three weeks imagining their next duel, how he'd win, all Yuma's weaknesses. Excellent.

Ep 11 and 12: What genre does shark think he's in. Gangster flick?

Tetsuo is so mad at Yuma for using Numbers but like, what else is he supposed to use? Gagaga beatdown?

Also, everyone keeps saying Yuma's playing this tag duel suboptimally, but without seeing his hand how are we supposed to know? Did he specifically summon Utopia before using S/T removal? Did he have S/T removal? No? then it's not a 'Reckless' summon, Astral! It's 'getting two future Xyz mats off my field and replacing them with a substantial protective body!'

Glad to see Yuma's genuine improvement, though. Admittedly, the end of the duel involving 6 different backrow made me want to just. Drop in. Summon Sat Cannon. Watch the chaos.

Ep 13 and 14: Kaito walking in here freezing time and unleashing a magical girl tranformation. Walked out of a different show. Good for him. Powerful. I like how deranged he is here. Already better.

For a guy who supposedly doesnt like eating souls, you sure did make "Imma eat your soul" a catchphrase, Kaito. You sure smile alot while killing people, Kaito. Holy shit tho, he runs 3 of his monsters. C o n s i s t e n c y.

Kaito truly is a magical girl, specifically, he's a dark magical girl in the vein of Fate Testarossa. Your days are numbered, Kaito. Friendship is coming.

Yuma you were doing so well. Why did you not set that card befoooooore.

Episode 15 and 16: Does this imply that Zexal is the timeline of Gx and Dm but 5ds was deleted from the universe along with synchro summoning? Anyway I literally lined my comm while my friend watched because I lost interest instantly.

#zexal is revealing that Im yumacore and irl friend is astralcore #take that as you will #team frightfur watches zexal

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themultifandomgal · 2 years

Text

Temptation Pt20

Temptation Masterlist

After graduation has finished we all head over to our house where the party is. Emmett and I are dancing in the living room. Jess and Ange come over to us

"Your house is amazing" Jess shouts over the music

"Thanks. Your speech was great" I smile

"Why thank you. Have you seen Bella?" Ange asks. I then smell Bella coming up the stairs

"She's around here somewhere" I smile. Just after I say that Bella walks in and the two girls run towards her. They have a quick chat and the girls run back to dance. Emmett and I stop and look at each other

"Wolves" he almost snarls quietly

"Shh" I nudge him "that's my great grandson your talking about"

"Only reason we haven't killed him" Emmett mutters and I roll my eyes walking over to the three boys who are taking to Bella

"Hey Bella" I say chirpy "Jacob and friends" I nod

"Babe I think you just walked in on a conversation"

"No it's fine" Bella shakes her head

"Oh I erm brought you something" Jacob pulls out a wolf charm from his pocket "a graduation present. I made it myself"

"Wow you made this? its really pretty. Thanks"

"Babe should we go" Emmett whispers in my ear while his arms are around me

"Yeah let's go find the others. Alice is coming down the stairs and I have a funny feeling" Emmett and I turn and see Alice walking down the stairs, but stops. She's having a vision. Quickly, but humanly, we go over to Alice. I take her hand in mine

"Alice what did you see?" I ask as Bella gets to us

"The decisions been made"

"What's going on?" Jacob asks

"Your not going to Seattle"

"No. They're coming here"

"They'll be here in 4 days" Alice says while Carlisle paces. Bella and Edward are leaning against the bench outside, the 3 wolves are watching Carlisle while Emmett is stood behind me with his arms around my waist while I lean on him. Jasper is stood with Alice and Thomas and Rose are stood next to me and Emmett with Esme

"This could turn into a bloodbath" Carlisle sighs

"Who's behind it?"

"I didn't see anyone I recognised. Maybe one" Alice thinks

"I know his face" Edward reads Alice's mind "he's local. Riley Biers. He didn't start this"

"Well whoever did is staying out of the action. Playing with your blind spots" I say

"Either way, the army is coming" Jasper states "there's not enough of us to protect the town"

"Hold up. What damn army?" Jacob asks

"Newborns" Carlisle replies

"Our kind. Well there kind" I point towards Edward

"Hey your one of us" Emmett says

"Yes but I'm also one of them" I nod towards Jacob and his friends "anyway that doesn't matter"

"What are they after?" Jacob asks

"Who do you think dog" Rose scowls. I roll my eyes

"Alice said they were passing around Bella's scent"

"Her red blouse" Alice finishes off for me

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

"It's means an ugly fight with lives lost" Jacob goes silent and looks to his friends who both nod "alright we're in"

"Great" Rose sighs

"No. You'd get yourself killed. No way"

"I wasn't asking for permission"

"Edward?"

"It means more protection for you" I know this was hard for Edward to say

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

"As long as we get to kill some vampires" Jacob replies to Carlisle

"Jasper?"

"They'll give us the numbers. Newborn won't know they even exist. That'll give us an edge"

"Well need to coordinate"

"Carlisle, they're gonna get hurt" Bella stands up

"We'll all need some training. Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has. Your welcome to join us" Carlisle says to Jacob

"All right. Name the time and place"

"Jake. You don't know what your getting yourself into" Bella once again tries to stop him

"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?"

"Ok so its sorted. We will meet tomorrow, noon at the clearing in the forest north of both territories. Neutral ground" I groan

"What is it Kat?" Esme asks only now speaking

"Noon? really? but that's lunch time" everyone laughs at me

"We can bring you something to eat" Emmett kisses my head.

#twilight #carlisle cullen #jasper cullen #breaking dawn #alice cullen #edward cullen #esme cullen #twilight x reader #eclipse #new moon #emmett cullen x reader #bella swan #rosalie hale

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meowmeowbeepy · 8 months

Text

Wow here are some updates no one asked for

I just caught up on previous blog posts. I am sorry the last two seemed more like tweets. Here are some historical happenings since last true post (mostly I've been doing book and podcast reviews lol?)

I went to NY w/ Benny which was fun. I was so incredibly pleased w/ myself that he actually LIKED it. Lots of touristy things that we all must do at least once in this life... Next time we go back we will be more slow paced. I liked the hotel A LOT. It's great to stay in 1 central place when traveling. I know I'll have made it in life if my future hotels on vacations are nice as balls and convenient and no compromise! He liked the MET the most. I felt bad bc I was not doing well that day (abrupt #3 iykyk and hungry and feet hurt). Something I like abt Ben: he never makes me feel bad when I actually am being a problem. I cannot say I am as gracious towards crankypants. I liked the ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty! Specifically the Statue of Liberty. The island was not crowded, and we were the first group there so it was an ideal situation and felt whimsical for an iconic landmark. I also really liked seeing friends Clur and Corn. It was so nice and energetic for the limited time I had. But the most soul filling ofc was bringing Benny to grandparents. I appreciate my auntie sm for being the best (albeit crazy) caretaker of grandparents (also crazy). Family becomes everything and continues to speed up up up up in importance as we age. Our social worlds will get smaller.. not worse! Just infrequent! But family is home. That's how I can describe the feeling anyways. My translation abilities were better than I thought... Also, I knew they were old but I never felt they were any older than other grandparents. But after this trip, I could SEE and I really felt that they are getting far older than average/normal. So I treasure and am thankful for that. I hope they will be here for much longer. So much time has gone by since I was a little college kid staying majorly w/ them "upstate" and venturing towards Manhattan. Now, I don't think I could do that haha. I am such a princess haha.

Before we went to NY me, daddy, and Benny went to a Rockets game. It was perfectly fun and something I know my daddy will treasure a lot. He likes that kinda stuff.

I thought December was going to be a huge flop/slow month for HAs but it ended up being ok. January tho... extreme flop lols. But I guess I have one more week to turn it around? Doubt I can realistically. I wonder if I am not as motivated as I was when I first started :( But idunno. I think about the ethics and morals of different HA levels way more than I used to? Or at least deeper than I used to so maybe that is affecting me? I also think I am more realistic than before- I used to give my 500% and was blind to a person who probably wouldn't follow through. Now, I can see it early on and it doesn't disappoint as much I guess. Probably not good. Also, the salary drama I've recently become privy to was a weird thing to experience in my career. I didn't get TMJ from it lol and feel pretty neutral overall. But hoping the best... for all.. and for me. If I could say 1 thing I am really bleh to: the tracking and KPI of my office. The higher ups are VERY nice... but what's going to happen when my numbers aren't as good for an entire year as maybe they were Sept-Oct. But I won't be too negative, realistically I know things will ebb and flow without any change in me.

Ok last one. We got a new doggy! Born 3/21/2020... Barney! He's so sweetums and so much more DOG than Toby was. Barney is just a wee bit mischievous but it is overpowered by his loyalty and desire to be close to humans. Toby was very mischievous and not super affectionate or needy, tho very loyal w/out shame lol. (Ex. does not want love from anyone but my mom.. esp Joann) Barney is pretty sweet to all. Joann has announced that he is HER dog, which makes sense. AND I don't mind. I just want a little doggy adjacent. She is basically holding him hostage in her room which I think is funny bc his personality probably will do well w/ that. Vs. Toby hated her for that. God blessed us w/ Barney though. He is so gentle and baby that he will be a good second dog to people who VERY HONESTLY have not fully moved on from Toby. And probably never will (not in a super bad way) but he was more than a dog lollll so dramatic.

K bye

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vynnyal · 3 years

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My disdain for coloring is growing at an alarming rate

#Was rlly fun to mash all those different animal references together into a coherent beastie #Griffin #Dragon #Art #Honestly I started in mlp so for a long time I drew ponies #And then as I expanded I just... morphed ponies into whatever I was drawing #Dog? Pony with paws. Dragon? Long pony with pointy bits. Furries? Ponies standing up with noses #Yes it extended to humans and other such things lol. Ironically it'd have been harder to draw a realistic horse than it'd be a human #Anyways I used that method up until I joined the hk community cuz um. I literally couldn't use that method anymore #I had a lot of trouble drawing them at first for that exact reason. There was no possible way to morph a pony into a bug lol #So hk finally broke that habit and forced me to tackle them using a different habit; namely struggling #Anyways that was a long winded way to say that I've switched to cats now. Idk why #cats just resonate with me for some reason? Their anatomy is easy to understand #and their complete lack of a skeletal structure makes it easier to stretch into the animal I need #And this griffin... dragon thing? It's a cat! With lion paws and a good dose of fantasy dragon anatomy #The head is also kinda cat but mostly based on a modified pony head bahahaha #Also. Also. My dog? My blind dog? He won't be in just 3 days it came so fast!!!#Finally gonna drain my bank into this damn thing and have it over with #It's gonna be nice to have a disposable income again lol #And he's gonna see me for real for the very first time since we've met. And he's gonna see the house and the yard #And that absolute menace that yips at him sometimes because he keeps bumping into the other dog lmao #I'm so excited #I mean my expectations can't be too high since his vision has most certainly degraded #To what extent is unknown but we'll find out soon. We know they do function tho #That'd be a real funny plot twist...#But anyways. That wasn't a very interesting story or explanation but I guess this is the hill I'm gonna die on #I'll share a more interesting story tomorrow 🤣#I have many... many work stories. Many. A lot.#Maybe I should make some simple comics? Ha

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cruciatusforeplay · 4 years

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This is part two of a hella big post. Check out part one here. These are all a lot more recent, so I'm gonna try to be less spoilery, but there are gonna be some.

A not-so-brief history of Hawkeye in Comics Part Two (spoilers below the cut)

A note on events, dying and doubling down on Hawkeyes

Comics love doing big events, and I'm not covering them in here. Partly because they are huge and complex and to just focus on Hawkeye would be an injustice to the stories, but also because the amount of stuff I would need to spoil would be way beyond just a little Hawkeye. Clint was involved in Secret Wars (1984), which was one of the first crossover events of its kind. Another notable era is 2004-2009, where there is an incredible amount of superhero politics driving big narratives. If you're new to comics, you might not know that characters dying is common and rarely permanent. This is relevant because while I said that I wouldn't talk about events, I think it would be pretty uncool to not mention that Hawkeye dies and is brought back to life (Avengers Disassembled, House of M, New Avengers #26). It's around here that Clint picks up the Ronin mantle.

This is also when Dark Reign/Dark Avengers is going on. For anyone who'd like some Clint whump from this era, there's a top notch naked torture scene in New Avengers Annual (2009). Clint is involved in several other big events and crossovers over later years, but that's definitely a seperate list.

In the time where Clint is dead, Captain America is hanging out with a group of newly formed Young Avengers, including archery badass Kate Bishop. Cap suggests to her that she take up the Hawkeye mantle and gives her Clint's old bow. After Clint returns, he becomes initially her mentor, before they form a very close friendship. Clint is initially doing Ronin things, but even when he lays down ninja robes, they decide to be very Hawkeye about the whole thing and both keep calling themselves Hawkeye, despite the obvious confusion this causes.

Hawkeye's ears: Hawkeye vs. Deadpool #0-4 (2014)

This is a fun little miniseries that you could treat as a Halloween special if you so desired. It's set in the time after Fraction's run and there are a few callbacks, but nothing major if you've not read that. Clint is a little short-tempered and hypermasculine in this run for my personal taste, but it's got lots of grumpy Clint Vs sassy Wade while they vaguely attempt to team up. The thing this run does really well is Clint's deafness, despite the lack of visible hearing aids. There are comments around lip-reading, wearing aids when wearing other headgear, there's some sign language, and this is the run where Deadpool pulls his mask up so Clint can lipread and see his face while he signs (facial expressions are really key in sign language). It's lovely. Otherwise the run gives you a Kate cameo, some Deadpool and Hawkeye disaster/shenanigans, and perhaps most importantly, the return of the skycycle.

Key background: All New Hawkeye #1-6 (2015)

This run is often overlooked, but the art in the flashbacks is beautiful. We get some key information around Clint and Barney's abusive home situation - with their dad who drank and beat them, and how they ended up in care after their parents died, and subsequently their early days in the circus. There is a definite shift in how Barney is characterized as a bad influence compared to the 2003 run. It parallels with the rest of the arc which focuses on Clint and Kate Bishop working together to get some kids out of a very bad situation. The rest of Lemires run is a little weird and has no major repurcussions for anyone except Barney (which I won't elaborate on because it's relevant to the Fraction run).

Back to your roots: Tales of Suspense #100-104 (2017)

Seeing Clint cycle back and return to Tales of Suspense is really lovely. This comic is one of my all time favourites. It's incredibly tight story-telling with a great plot and really fun dynamic. The premise is Clint and Bucky teaming up to figure out the body trail being left after Black Widow's death. Clint is obnoxious and a delightful mess, Bucky is sporting a permanent scowl and is hilariously level-headed. It's a lot of fun and it's a lovely build on the tension and teamwork between these two idiots (who I, as an avid Winterhawk shipper, am completely gone for, but even without that, this is a great comic.) It also has some killer covers, and the facial expressions are absolutely hilarious.

Hawkeyes together: Hawkeye #13-16 (2017) and West Coast Avengers #1-10 (2018)

The Hawkeye run is Kate Bishops run and it has a larger continuing storyline that runs from the beginning of her Hawkeye and way into WCA, but I've listed the issues that you'll want for Kate and Clint shenanigans, and you should be able to catch up without the rest if you don't want it. These comics are ridiculously fun, especially West Coast Avengers, which has Kate leading the team this time. There's loads of jokes, and it strikes a nice balance between Hawkeyes being disasters and being hyper competent. Truthfully, this is Kate's show, and Clint takes a backseat, but their dynamic is killer here so I think is deserves a mention. There are also plenty of Clint related wardrobe malfunctions and Lucky the Pizza Dog is around.

Our most recent boy: Hawkeye freefall #1-6 (2020)

I haven't read this one yet, but it's been extremely well received by the fandom. As a result, good news: no spoilers! It's a short run, which may have had something to do with it being published during 2020, and specifically around a time when Marvel were experiencing some major distribution issues (which would have led to digital release only and as a result lower sales), but that's all guesswork because I haven't actually researched it. This run has someone dressing as Ronin and letting Clint take the blame for their nefarious deeds (oh no!). Clint makes some classic Clint (read: dumpster fire) decisions, and the art looks fun and vibrant. Can't really give you more without reading it myself 😅 If you need more Clint still, he's also rumoured to be knocking around in the 2020 Black Widow run, but I've not had the money to get my mitts on that yet either.

Notable AUs:

Marvel is a big fan of throwing a well known cast into an alternative universes, so there are a few other places to look for him.

The Ultimates universe was largely speaking a bit of a shitshow, but they did give us a very dark and gritty Clint, so if that's your jam, ultimate hawkeye is the place to be. Old Man Hawkeye appears alongside Old Man Logan, and they are both, you guessed it, old. It's not the only time we get Clint as a wrinkly dude (the second half Lemire's run also has some timey-wimey stuff happening), but this is a version of Clint who is going blind (granted we've seen that before too, but this is a darker vibe than Blindspot). Wanna know who the greatest marksman is without his sight - old man Hawkeye for you! Finally there's the Zombie 'verse: zombie Clint is a little confused, but he's got the spirit. Clint got zombiefied and then left in some rubble as only a head for 40 years before getting picked up, so he's a little worse for wear. If you need that in your life then Marvel Zombies is your universe. For a full rundown of all the universes including animated and MCU, click here.

Notable aliases:

Clint's been a few other people than Hawkeye in the 616 universe (the main Marvel Comics universe). He used one of Hank Pyms growth serums and became a giant strongman in Avengers #63 (1969) and stuck around in his Goliath form for more than a few issues. After Cap had died, Clint returned from the dead and tried on Captain America for all of one issue in Fallen Son #3 (2007). He decided (with a little help from Kate) that it wasn't right to wear the uniform, which in turn led to some interesting tension between him and Bucky Barnes when Buck did become the new Captain America. Finally, there's his most well-known alternate persona: Ronin. Clint becomes Ronin after returning from the dead, wanting a break from his Hawkeye persona and an opportunity to become Ronin arises in New Avengers #27 (2007). Clint is not the only person to have used these aliases. Additionally, Hawkeye has been used not only by Clint and Kate Bishop, but also by Bullseye during the Dark Reign.

The things we haven't talked about

Like I said at the very beginning, there is a lot of Clint Barton knocking around in comics and even with all this there's a lot of content I haven't focused on. For instance, I've not talked a lot about his relationships, beyond his marriage to mockingbird (and really I only scratched the surface with that), and honestly once you start getting into interpersonal relationships we're starting to move on from what can be done in a Tumblr thread.

There are also some topic specific threads floating around, which you might like to look at too.

@vaguelyrotten has done a run down of some great dumpster fire Clint Barton comics (some of which I haven't listed) and you can see that here.

@bobbimorses did a great summary of Clint's historical deafness for instance which you can find here.

There's also this little bit all about Clint and Bucky in canon (thanks to @nightwideopen ) and how Winterhawk became a thing (thanks to @1000-directions )

This is slight sidenote, but @clintscoffeepot did a really great comprehensive of Fraction Clint's apartment which is just a really useful writing resource and you can get that here.

There is also this website which I stumbled across fairly far into writing this post which does actually look like it might be comprehensive.

If I've missed anything major, or listed something incorrectly or you just have some Clint related opinions that I need to know about, do hit me up.

#clint barton #Hawkeye #hawkeye comics #hawkguy and other costumes #deaf hawkeye #comic #comic books #marvel comics #let's talk about comics

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hotdogjones44 · 3 years

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11-14-21

A lot has gone down, and I finally have time to sit and write it all out.

I purchased my first black arts spirit on 11-11-21. I have been drawn to adding a demonic force into my keep.

Now before you all go "what the hell is wrong with you?!" I can explain. I will start from the beginning.

I had troubles with my best friend. After us fighting on and off about her ignoring me and only wanting me around when she either wants attention, or has no one else, I got sick of being treated that way. I could go on about this, but I won't. I had to draw a line for my own happiness.

She and I both are into spirit keeping and it started to feel like a competition between us. She wanted the biggest and baddest so she could be impressive, and it upset me that it wasn't being taken seriously. I also hated the way it made me feel, spirit keeping is not a competition. These are spirits, not pokemon.

She wanted a demon so bad, but she didn't do any research on them at all. And the owner of a shop that we both frequent, told her she wouldn't conjure any black arts spirits. (To my relief).

I soon after that began being pulled towards the Goetia books. They just kept coming my way in various forms. Being advertised, being talked about on things I watch, I had never been so drawn in before.

I kept seeing 11's. All day, every day. My receipt totals would either be 11's or 6.66. It didn't feel threatening, it felt like something needed my attention. So I downloaded the lesser key of solomon by A. Crowley to my phone kindle, and ordered the physical copy (they have differences). Shortly after that, a recommended listing on etsy popped up to see which demonic entity wants to work with you. For about $4 I decided it was worth humoring.

The seller messaged me and said "Gusion the 11th demon in the Goetia is wanting to work with you" and it shocked me.

This is a screen shot I took immediately after getting that reading. My kindle book was open to that page. There he was, staring me in the face. With all of the issues I've been having with my friend, and me being pulled into this direction, it was just a sign that I could not ignore. All the 11's, and now this. Too many coincidences.

I stumbled across a Facebook group weeks ago, and had asked to join. Now all of a sudden I get accepted?? I go take a peek and it's a spirit shop/group that I had been interested in. The woman who runs it is SO NICE. I asked questions and she answered them and assured me I wasn't bothering her, and sent me a link to her website for customs (I had asked). I wanted a demonic force custom conjure so badly. But unfortunately I would have to wait until pay day.

11-11-21 hits and I check my bank account to see if I have $3 to buy a drink from the vending machine at work. I got paid a day early!!!! And I had extra on that check!

There was no denying it, I had to place my order that day. On 11-11.

Things have been all clicking together for me lately as well. Things make sense now, that seemed so confusing before. The research I've been doing for my book has just come together so well, my happiness has improved so greatly, my luck has turned around as well.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the shop owner, but a wait was expected. I'm just excited.

I don't know where to go from here, but I definitely feel as though I'm on the right path. And demons are mostly categorized at black arts, but I do not believe they are all "evil". The books I've stumbled upon have opened my eyes to how blind that stereotype is.

The only other update I have for you all is that I was walking my dogs in the middle of the night (tiny dogs, tiny bladders) and I saw a huge black mass of what looked like a giant black dog sitting against the fence. My dogs saw it too because they wanted to go over and see it. I kept my eyes wide and stared, I was afraid it would disappear if I blinked. And without blinking, it vanished right in front of me. My dogs sniffed the area it was in, and that's the only thing that makes me believe I wasn't imagining it. It did not have a threatening feel to it at all.

I will be back again soon with more updates hopefully.

#spirits #divination #spirit companion #spirit work #spirit shop #demon #demonic #goetia #11

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mimzy-writing-online · 4 years

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What did the moment you realized/affirmed that losing your sight didn't mean losing all the things you've used to reading (ie social media/movies/books)? If you had to deal with it, that is, I've only recently followed you and might have missed something. I'm rather near sighted and my great grandmother (who raised my mom) was blind due to glaucoma not being treatable at the time. I got glasses at 9 thought I've been terribly near sighted since forever. So as a kid I used to think about maybe going blind a lot and I try to be conscious about blindness as much as I can. Reading and writing is such a major part of my life, I know I won't lose it should I lose my sight, but it's still made me hyper aware of accessibility in regards to sight.

So, I was usually okay with my vision loss as it happened. I certainly had bad days and breakdowns, but for the most part I was emotionally okay. I think a huge part of that was that I had exposure to blindness in media that wasn’t all bad rep, starting from when I was a kid:

1. My 4th grade language arts textbook had a short non-fiction story about a high school girl who was blind and what kind of changes she made, like having a cane and putting braille labels on everything. She still went to high school, had friends. There was a photo that was edited to be blurry in what I hope was a way similar to what she experienced. There was something incredible about it because to me she was just a normal person who saw differently, but her life was normal. Whoever wrote that short story did a good job if that was my takeaway at nine years old.

2. There were a few books I read around that age with disabled characters, including Of Sound Mind ( M C is hearing but his whole family is Deaf) and Things Unseen ( M C wakes up one morning invisible. While trying to solve the how and why of that he visits the library and physically runs into a blind girl. They start talking, he thinks she’s cute, it’s a romance. Cute story. I can’t remember if the girl was homeschooled or did special education, but part of her education was listening to audio books at the public library in pre-audible times. She also had a cane. I don’t remember much beyond that on accuracy)

Having books available to me as a kid with prominent disabled characters or stories about real blind people did normalize it for me

Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of bad rep I found too, but it was easier to look at it and say, “I don’t think that’s quite right” because I had some good rep in there too.

3. At the school I attended from 7-9th grade, there was a girl a year or two older than me who was blind and I would see her every day between classes. I remember she had a cane one year, and then a black lab guide dog the next year. She also had a teachers aide going to classes with her. I remember she was in one of the advanced choir groups, but how I knew that was because in 6th grade my school took a field trip to that school to prepare us for middle school and we saw a choir performance which involved the girls singing and dancing, and after the performance my friend told me that one of the girls was blind and had a cane. (I was very nearsighted as a kid, I could not have seen that from where I was sitting)

I remember my thought process at that point, and it wasn’t “oh, so blind people can dance too.” It was, “oh, she must have worked hard to get the dancing right.”

4. There was a boy in my 9th grade English class who was blind, also had a cane and a teachers aide. I was too shy to talk to anyone, but I remember thinking he had chill vibes and that he was funny. He was one of the easier kids in that class to talk to.

That’s all the exposure I think I had before my vision loss symptoms began, which was when I was 17, though I had no way of knowing how serious those symptoms were going to become until I was in my twenties.

A big thing for comfortably transitioning (emotionally) with my vision loss was Molly Burke, who began her YouTube channel in 2015. I think I found her channel in the summer or fall of 2016, right as my symptoms began to evolve from “inconvenient” to painful, concerning, and difficult to deal with. She’s only a year older than me and while she came across more closed off and introverted in the early part of her YouTube career, she was incredibly personal and relatable. She had a career, she had lived alone in a big city, she traveled for work, and was incredibly independent.

But more importantly, she was independent because of the blindness life skills she had spent her life learning. O&M, Braille, using screen readers on her laptop and phone, shopping and picking her own outfits with a combination of touch and communicating with a sighted loved one. Having a set routine for everything, including makeup. She had her shit down because she’d practiced at it. So, reasonably, I could get my shit together if I took the time to learn how too.

Individual moments are harder to come by, but here is a distinct one:

-My first time using a cane was life changing because I wasn’t scared of my next two steps anymore and I could walk on my own again. The first moment of walking independently without anxiety was its own high, because I had taken a small part of my life and independence back.

For an essay, I would write: Through the internet, I found the disability community and blind role models who were living independent, happy lives because of the adapted life skills they learned.

I found my blind role models through the internet and studied what skills and changes they’d made to their lives and incorporated them into mine.

(kind of a spin off on that, but it gave me the following sentences)

This meant reaching out to schools for the blind, and

(which isn’t the prettiest sentence, but you’re looking at the first draft and my thought process. I pick the best bits and move forward with that. This whole process is me getting all my thoughts out and finding the most important details and translating them into something concise and simple)

#college applications #mimzy things #Anonymous

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e11evenkeys · 3 years

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Pitch: The Adventures of Danger Rabbit- Chapter 2 Friendly Friendly (part 1)

Long story short, my dad wasn't arrested. Ms. Harper made her displeasure quite clear as far as my new form was concerned, but I wasn't taken away. Because of my mistake, dad had a reputation for being a careless father, and I was seen as a delinquent. Teachers started watching our family like we were career criminals, but dad raised me to be a good kid.

Regardless of the truth, I had a reputation that stuck with me as I grew up. Even into my junior year of high school, kids thought I was bad news. It didn't help that I had the worst luck imaginable, unlike Mr. Nickels, who I still had yet to find. Trouble seemed to seek me out. Just the simple act of walking home from school was dangerous enough to warrant fear of chaos. Freak accidents were a norm, and they only fueled the fire when it came to the negative light everyone shined on me. Of course, my dad always had the worst end of the fiascos because he had to deal with the aftermath.

If I had any luck at all, it was spent when I had the fortune of finding my two best friends.

B James was a girl who moved to town after my accident. Her parents were professional magicians, so naturally, I tried to get in good with them. I had hopes of them helping me. It turns out I didn't have to work too hard. BJ was fascinated with my form and impressed with my ability to create my own magic. I told her I didn't mean to transform myself, but I don't think she cared. She wanted to make new spells like her parents, and I suppose she thought I could help her. She overlooked how the rest of the school avoided me, but that might have been easy, considering no one flocked to her lunch table any more than my own. Remember when I said creating new magic was dangerous, well, BJ didn't care. We hadn't even graduated high school yet, but she'd created more spells than a person could count. It's important to keep in mind most of those spells had adverse effects or didn't do what they were meant to, but they did something.

My friend Wesson, a satyr I met in my freshman year of high school, didn't use magic at all. To be fair Fae, because of their natural abilities, didn't need magic as much as humans did. Even I had natural powers after my transformation like super hearing and invisibility. Which I'm sure is how Mr. Nickels managed to avoid capture for so long if he also possessed the same abilities. Wes being a satyr, was super fast and super strong, among other things, whether he appeared to be or not. We became friends after I tried to join the school's Creature club. There weren't many Fae that went to our school, so the club was meant to be a way of letting them all meet one another. Unfortunately, when I tried to join the club, someone pointed out I was born human, and that I was only what I was because I cursed myself. I couldn't join the club. Technically they weren't allowed to exclude anyone, but I thought it best to pick my battles wisely and let it go. Wes, being the best guy in the world, found me the next day and told me he thought the other kids were dicks for not letting me join the club. From that day on, I couldn't remember a time I couldn't fall back on the friendship Wes and I had.

It was two weeks till summer break. All of the ends of the year testing was out of the way, so everyone was waiting for the school year to come to an end. That Friday afternoon, I decided to walk BJ home. Despite my being close to Wes and BJ both, they never seemed to like one another. Every day I'd have to make a conscious decision whether to hang out with BJ, who loved playing magician and getting into trouble, or Wes, who was basically the brother I never had. BJ won that day because Wes had a meeting with the principal.

BJ should have taken the bus home, but I guess that would have been less time she got to work out new magic with me. We took a lot of back roads that day that eventually spit us out into the Dead Woods. It was the town's biggest forest, and it sat in the middle of everything. We learned in history class that old settlers named it the Dead Woods because back in the early days, when people were still coming up with most of the modern magic, they had to go far away from homes and buildings so bad magic wouldn't destroy anything. A lot of people died out there. Despite the bad history, it was a beautiful place as long as you knew where you were going.

"So there's this summer internship I read about," BJ said as we walked under branches while leaves crumbled under our footsteps.

"What kind of internship?" I asked.

We stopped walking so she could take her spell book out of her bag. The pages of her hand made spiral held weight and took time to flip through.

"For magicians. I thought you might want to go for it," she added.

"You want me to be a magician?"

"You created a working transmutation spell when you were 11."

I laughed at her, calling it a "working spell."

"Yea, and I've been trying to undo it ever since," I said with my amused tone still vocal.

"I could help you."

"I don't want to be a magician," I said in my most definitive voice possible.

"But I do."

I took a few steps away. I didn't want to stand too close while her book was out. Some of the stuff in that thing didn't need words to be activated. As she flipped through the pages, there was a danger similar to throwing a grenade into a kid's birthday party. Pages glowed and faded as her hands turned them over. I'm not sure how she managed to carry something around like that without constantly hurting herself.

"Then you should do it," I said as I crossed my arms and leaned against a tree.

She came near, and I knew to expect puppy dog eyes to fluff some kind of catch. That's what people do when they want something

"I need you."

I asked, "why," but she turned away.

"I need your spell," I thought she said, but I couldn't make out her words for sure, and with my big ears, that meant she was really quiet.

"What?" I asked.

"I need your spell."

I stood up straight.

"The spell that gave me fur and left with only eight fingers," I said before I continued with, " the spell that made my feet too big to wear shoes and ears big enough to hear my dad when he gets off at night."

"I have to submit a working spell to be considered."

"Then use one of yours," I said.

"None of mine work."

"What about the one you use to change your hair color?"

"It blinds anyone who sees me cast it."

"Then just use my spell, you don't need me for that, I wrote the words in some book, and I'll give it to you."

I wanted to get off the subject. Anyone who knew me knew how long I tried to find a cure for my curse. After years of turning over stones to no avail, of course, I gave up hope. That's not to say I didn't wish and dream for a way to change back, but being a bit of a pessimist meant I couldn't help but see the uneasy reality of how unlikely a cure was.

"It wouldn't be right to take credit for your work."

"But, it's alright to strong-arm your friend into an internship that'll take up our entire summer?" I didn't mean to sound nearly as argumentative or sarcastic as I must have at that moment, but it came out that way.

"There's a chance we won't even get it," she said, basically pleading with me at that point.

"If I say yes, will you leave me out of whatever experiments you're about to do?"

"But I had something special planned for today."

"That's my price."

"Deal, but you have to stick around to watch."

"In case something goes wrong?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to," I replied.

We exchanged a mutual grin before she adjusted her glasses and finally flipped around in her book to find the newly crafted spells. We spent most of the afternoon in the woods. BJ wrote a spell for growing plants faster, but it made anything made of wood burst into flames, including all the papers in my backpack. She tried to put out the fires with another spell meant to create rain clouds, but it summoned a swarm of butterflies that flew into the flames. Needless to say, they all died. They died quickly, but at least the fires went out.

By that time, it was getting dark.

"We should get moving," I said as I picked our bags off the ground burnt as they might have been.

"We will never speak of what happened here to anyone, right?"

"Like always," I said with a chuckle before handing BJ her ruined bag.

We started on our way out of the woods.

"Do your parents know you're applying for this internship?" I asked.

"Not yet."

"Don't you think they should know?"

"I'll tell them once I, " she started to say before I cut her off with, "did you hear that?"

"Hear what," she asked.

There was a sound coming from the bushes ahead of us. It was too big to be a cat, dog, or rabbit.

"Stand back," I said as I put my arm in front of BJ.

"Is someone there," I called out into the distance, but no reply was returned.

Only the rustling of the bushes broke the silence as something or someone came near. It was close. There was a momentary pause of nothing but the bugs around us falling silent, and then whatever it was lunged out at me.

It was Wes. He made me fall backward and rip the arm of my button-down shirt.

"Shit," I yelled out.

He tried to catch my arm on my way down, but he was too slow.

"Sorry, dude," Wes said with a laugh as he helped me to my feet.

"What are you doing out here?" BJ asked in a tone more annoyed than me, but I was the one with the ripped shirt.

"I need Pitch."

"Well, he's walking me home from school."

"Schools been out for 3 hours now, and you know how to get home."

"You want me to walk by myself," BJ asked.

"No one ever offers to walk me home, and we're the same age," Wes said sarcastically.

I cut in, "Wes, what did you need my help with?"

"I need your ears," he said.

"Let me get BJ home, and then I'll swing by your place."

Neither of them was even looking at me anymore; they were staring one another down.

"Alright, just make sure 'Bug Burner' isn't with you."

"You saw that!" BJ exclaimed.

"I'll be there, alone," I said as I held BJ back from Wes.

A few uneasy, and unwelcoming glances were exchanged before we took to our separate ways.

"I don't know why you hang out with him," BJ argued.

"Wes is cool," I said.

"Wes is just short of being a toddler. He doesn't use magic."

"I don't use magic."

"That's different; you can't afford it."

"That hurt," I said.

"You know what I mean."

#anthropomorphic #magic #forest #outdoors #nature #lady bug #satyr character #original character #story #chapter

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