#It didn't get to draw Spirit due to this being so long

[ask-north]

(Askadelcatty) Spirit @ Wisteria: Out of curiosity, how did you and North meet?

[TW: Child abandonment, in general, child neglect]

✧ Seems that's the story of how they met... Maybe you should ask what a gift is?

[barelylivingscholar]

Arlecchino, with a daughter pt.6

I've been training my combat abilities with some of the harbingers, namely Signora, Pulcinella, and of course, Pantalone. I had not expected the sudden collaboration due to the tension around me. Whenever they are able to get to hang around me, it always end up with the question, "Is Regrator treating you well?" or the casual "You are free to live with me, if Regrator isn't able to accommodate you." Things like these makes me feel... Weird, but it is good to be wanted. But I wish it didn't feel so suffocating all the time. Lately, I've been having more nightmares, and panic attacks about the Knave... Making me grow restless and more ambitious to be able to heal from it... It was never easy from the start. Everything about the Knave makes me feel sick. I never cared to understand the reason behind her actions, because in the end, what is there to know, when her intentions were never pure from the start. Both Pantalone and Pulcinella told me about what's to know about her, and it makes me more angrier that the Knave was capable of doing such things... They fed me lies, lies that spiked my hatred for her. Until one afternoon, I fell into darkness. Endless darkness that had consumed my entire environment, different from Snezhnaya, everything appears endless, and devoid from any form of life. Enemies were fast approaching, I had to dispatch them. I draw my percussion-lock rifled musket, and started to fight off the horde. Occasionally switching to my rapier as my bullets began to wane... I became outnumbered, and surely enough I was swarmed with creatures that I have not encountered, some that were familiar. I was bound to be dead. The feeling of dread creeps up on me. In truth, I was scared to die, because I had just rediscovered my will to live during my time with Pantalone. It was too early, for me to perish without even getting the chance to see the Knave fall from her grace. It doesn't fuel my urge to fight at all. What rekindled my fighting spirit was when I saw someone, fighting their way up to reach me. I had to match their movements, I couldn't afford to lose here. It seemed like hours of endless fighting, but we managed. I lived. I collapsed from exhaustion. The mysterious woman caught me before I could land on the ground. I awoke to a woman observing a medallion...? I couldn't tell since my vision was blurry. The woman took notice of me when I slowly regained my consciousness. I see her holding up a vision. She stared at me blankly, then tossed me the vision. It was a geo vision. I sighed in relief knowing that I wouldn't have to use a delusion. For almost dying, they decided to grant me power? It was getting ridiculous. I then looked up to the lady, and thanked her for saving me from the verge of death. "...Thank you." The unknown woman sighed. "What led you here was your high ambitions." I struggled to grab a hold of myself as I feel the weight of of my actions from before. The woman sighed at the sight of the young girl slowly attempting to get back up. She was not supposed to be speaking with the girl, as she had no desire to speak with weaklings. But after seeing the girl's ability to withstand horde after horde, she decides that she is worthy to communicate with. The girl looked up at her, confused as to what she meant by that. She then elaborated further. "People do not easily fall here. Certain conditions are met before being able to traverse this realm. I barely even processed the words before responding, "...Which is why I'm here. Is there any way out?" She observed the girl who does not seemed to be disturbed by the events that had unfolded. "There is. But time will pass in long periods before you are able to get back to where you're from. Time passes differently in here." Again, the child's indifference to her situation has her interest peaked. She was eerily calm for a child.

I felt numb. Knowing that I'll be stuck here for months, or even years, decades... While the world that I'm supposed to be would pass for only days, or even weeks. It was supposed to drive me crazy. But it didn't. Maybe I wasn't recovering from the shock fully. "Oh... Okay then. I'm left to fight endlessly with creatures from the abyss, then?" Making the woman before her raise an eyebrow at her nonchalance. But the woman concludes the young girl's peculiar behavior as a side effect from already being corrupted by the abyss. "Not necessarily. You are the source of something being awakened." I wanted to ask more questions, but from the looks of it, the woman had no interest in holding long conversations. So I decided to keep things short. "I understand." Bowing my head to show my gratitude, the woman then halted me. "You're not going to last long without proper training. I'll train you in exchange for you to make things more interesting during your time here in the abyss..." This wasn't something that I can say no to, I barely knew my way around here. So of course, I accepted. Without knowing how brutal, harsh, and mind-breaking the experience was... Days have passed, with endless fighting, sparring with Skirk, with little to no breaks, I was bound to become mad... The thing that kept me from becoming mad was how the effects of the abyss kept altering my mind. I was not used to not being plagued by nightmares, thoughts, and especially the horrors of what I had experienced before... It felt peaceful, too peaceful that I start to see changes that I didn't know that I myself, am capable of. The abyss had changed me, in a way that I could not comprehend how. A month after endless fighting, I had gained some sense of morals. It had never occurred to me before, so this was likely due to the abyss's effects. Things felt out of place, as I was drastically changing into another person that I had not anticipated to be. I was never even the type of girl to put morals, above all. Despite my upbringing influencing who I was before, why did it suddenly all change to becoming righteous, and just? Since when was I ever a good person? Becoming virtuous was not part of the plan. Skirk was no stranger to the changes as well, noticing how my answers have changed from time to time. While we were on break, she asked something that made me think deeply about it. "You're strange, for a young girl who is but a child." "I am aware. I don't fit the standards of a "normal child." I was never normal to begin with. "A child from the hearth, raised to be a soldier for the Fatui, the mentality of a soldier, yet has the fragile mentality of a child. It is no wonder that the abyss was unable to corrupt you further into madness... You were already unstable, from the start. It is a miracle that your arrival to the abyss had changed you for the better. Tell me, after the effects of the abyss, what's your next move?" She could tell I was contemplating about how I will be able to move now that my ideologies have changed due to the temperament of the abyss... I summoned the geo percussion-lock rifled musket and shot it manually towards the opponent's head. "I'll remain in the Fatui. Changes will be made, regardless of the Tsaritsa's will. Justice is to be served, regardless of the ignorant, consequences are made. I am no different from the people who had fallen from the abyss. Being in an organization that is corrupt and unethical is ironic to begin with, perhaps I am there to inflict conflict, I will continue to cause tension and bring disharmony to them. My definition of rightness will be the standard, to all."

It had been 4 months since, and I was finally able to return to where I was. But this time, someone who I had not met before approached me. Judging from the description that Skirk, Pantalone, and Pulcinella had described him, this maybe is "Childe." He approaches me and enthusiastically greeted me. "You must be the disciple that I've been hearing from the old man and Regrator. Nice to meet you, I'm Childe. But you can call me Tartaglia." Before he could talk more, I cut him off. "So you're the one who is also a pupil of Skirk's." Making his eyes widen from shock; he was ecstatic to meet another student of his former master. But held back since you were still young. Too young to fight. "Oh, another fellow student of my former master! So I wasn't wrong about you falling in the abyss. 4 days have passed since your fall at the abyss. I assumed you know about how time works differently there, right?"

I nodded in response. "Yes. I know about it. Did anything happen while I was gone?" He chuckles. "Oh, a lot was going on while you were gone." Her expression hardened. "The Knave went ballistic on Regrator, you should've seen it in person! As well as La Signora, and the old man! Three of them were on Regrator's neck, chewing him for losing you." He stopped chuckling when he saw that I was not amused, at all. He scratched his head, his expression showed a nervous smile. "Well... I did tell them that maybe you fell into the abyss... Neither wanted to believe it until the old man made me look for you, but now you're here!" Making me shake my head and sigh. "The others haven't stopped searching, but I'll send someone after to tell them the news. But before that, why don't you hang out with me and share some stories with me as Skirk's pupils?" The man is persistent, he doesn't look like he'll take no for answer due to his eyes beaming with interest. "Lead the way." Looks like I'll be spending time with this strange man... We arrive at a dessert shop in Snezhnaya, he offers to buy me desserts despite my protests since I had enough mora to buy myself one... I was irritable to be honest since Tartaglia, treats me as a kid. He insists on calling him by his name. "After this, I'm going back to Pantalone's base." I say, he then responded, "Aw come on, I have been waiting to finally meet you. Let's chat more." I denied his attempts to stall me. "Tartaglia, I have to return to my mentor. He's looking for me, right?" He then counterargues, "But I already told an agent to inform them that you were found." I huffed at that. He only gave me a brotherly smile, to which I find annoying. "You know... If the Regrator mistreats you, I can-" I can't believe this is happening right now. I cut him off saying, "No. I'd rather stay at Signora's or Pulcinella's." I displayed a deadpan look, making him pout. "I have younger brothers and sisters for you to play with!" He attempts to bargain. "Erm... I'd still stay at Signora's or Pulcinella's." He looked determined to convince me. "I can be your big brother." Not sure if I want this guy to be my brother at all, he was overbearing. Too much for me. "No." After the back and forth conversation, he maintains a friendly aura during the exchange. The young girl was not an ordinary kid. She seemed too mature for her own age. Of course, the knave had something to do with it, she's crazy after all. Pantalone's a business man, so how can he take care of the child? The only sensible option here is him or the old man. But he's capable, he has his own siblings after all! He just needs to convince the girl to pick him over the others... She shouldn't be exposed to the Fatui at such an early age! She should be playing with toys, just like his siblings at home, protected, and sheltered from the harsh conditions of this climate. The Fatui is not a place for children. He of all people know that, except for the Knave. Who raises children to be child soldiers. But if it's the Tsaritsa's will... He can't do anything about the orphans of the Hearth. But he may be able to do something for this kid... He now sees why his fellow harbingers are fighting for this kid. He doesn't intend to lose at this custody case that they were having, even if no one looks at it that way. But he'll win. No matter what.

An: Kid gets thrown in the abyss, comes back out as fixed(?) 🤐🤐🤐 Not Childe at joining the ongoing child custody battle... 😶 *goes mia for days again* TOODLES!

[daandyli0n]

(warnings: blood/mild gore, implied child death (and murder in Cassidy's case), eye contact. maybe also bright colors/eyestrain)

Some Updated Refs For The Afton Family In The Rewrite

(you know the drill, click the images to see details better and whatnot)

hooo boy. give me a minute to ramble about the designs and stuff below -

William:

so. tried to give him both "Eccentric, Goofy Restaurant Owner" and "REALLY Off-Putting" Vibes. hope i succeeded

yes he's hiding a knife behind his back.

bunny features. i Love William with bunny features. if you draw William with Bunny Features ily (platonically)

this man has not gotten a good night's sleep in Years.

now...you may be wondering: Why Do His Kids Get Refs For When They're Older, But Not Him? well...that's because, physically, he doesn't change much besides getting some more gray hairs and worse eye bags in the over a decade between his original murders and his death. and i've already done a ref for what O'Hare/Springtrap looks like in my design

yes, the Unhinged look in his eyes is intentional.

Alex:

gave his younger self a pose that was meant to give off "rebellious teenager" vibes, and his older self a pose that gives off "bitter and anxious" vibes.

gave him long hair. because Yes.

tallest of his siblings.

Michael:

looks like his father, but with a few minor changes: skin is mildly more tanned than his father, hair is a lighter shade of brown, etc.

William based the 1987 uniforms for the guards/employees off of his own usual outfit (Purple. which Backfired).

Mike tried to change his hair a bit to distinguish himself from his father, mostly by dying it a bright red and trying to cut the Bunny Ear-Shaped parts on the top of his hair to be more jagged and less Bunny-Like.

scars on his arm are from where Springtrap grabbed onto him.

Evan:

not much to say. bookworm, sad guy, probably needs to go to therapy for what happened in his childhood.

Elizabeth:

Bunny Features :]

she's basically somewhere between blonde and ginger hair color wise. i'd describe her as a strawberry blonde.

constantly has a wide-eyed look. like a hare.

mismatched socks, just because she could.

ghosts are typically either desaturated or transparent, with the only bright colors on them are usually their eyes or the bloody wounds from their death.

so while it's not shown here, "fun" fact! Liz died from where Harriet (Circus Baby) hugged her hard enough to break not just her spine, but her neck as well. (the hug was so strong due to Harriet malfunctioning that day)

all ghosts who have their souls tied to an animatronic have a mask of that animatronic that they can wear if they wish. Liz's mask is of Harriet.

Cassidy:

my baby boy. my beloved <3

those pants are pajama pants. he wore them everywhere.

while not visible, Cassidy also wears mismatched socks like Liz.

the Fredbear plush was a gift from Henry, given to Cassidy by Charlie.

was blind in one eye after The Bite.

The Bite wasn't as horrible as people think it was. what basically happened was that the teeth bit slightly into his head, which caused the bleeding, as well as some cracking in the skull and brain damage in his frontal lobe. due to the mechanisms in Fredbear being Very hot as well, it caused some burns. nothing that couldn't heal, but...it Was still pretty serious.

while The Bite itself didn't kill Cassidy, he still, as a ghost, appears to have a bleeding section of his head.

the strangulation marks on his neck are more visible as a ghost.

Cassidy, as a spirit, can occasionally leak a mysterious black fluid from his eyes and mouth, which is reflected on his Mask.

Cassidy is transparent as a ghost.

anyway!! here's the guys!!

@that-darn-clown @hello-there-world

[e-dragonic]

BEING MOBIAN AU

Based loosely on Being Human

What do you get when you get an anxious Werewolf, a repenting Vampire, and a naive Ghost in a house together?

A semidisfunctional family!

Barrett was the first. Around 100-ish years ago, he was a great Echidna Warrior of his Tribe, who protected a powerful mystical artifact. During the tail end of a War against another Tribe, he ran into Clutch and his flock of Werebeast hunters. They were passing by, picking off stragglers from the War when they met. Despite being outnumbered, Barrett fought back as he saw one of them drain one of his fellow Tribesmen dry. Clutch took him up on his declaration and though the fight was a bit sided, Clutch liked his ferocity. So when Barrett lay on the ground defeated he gave him a proposal, join him and his flock or they would kill him and destroy his Tribe. Under the threat, Barrett had no choice but to accept and let Clutch turn him, eventually giving him the nickname of 'Knuckles' for the Sliver Knucks he would soon wield.

He tried to hold onto his Warrior spirit, but it wasn't long before he became like them, bloodthirsty and ruthless till he met a witch, another Echidna named Tikal, who brought back some of his morality and honor, as feelings came back to a heart he thought long since dead.

But it wasn't long before they were found out and Clutch killed Tikal for her blood. When he found out, Barrett started on his path of redemption. He ran far from his Sire and his group, feasting on the blood of animals instead of Mobians to sate his Thirst.

Eventually, he got a job and began to set his roots down in the small town of Emerald Valley, once he found out that a close friend of his, Rouge was the 'Head' of the Town. He found a house in the suburbs, hoping to try and regain normalcy...until he found out he wasn't alone...

A ghost, a two-tailed fox by the name of Miles, or Tails, haunted the house. He didn't know how long he had been dead or how he died. In fact, he didn't even know he was dead until Barrett explained what Miles was now and what he was.

It wasn't long before a friendship formed between Barrett and Miles.

One day, when a curious Tails tagged along with Barrett to see how he hunted, they stumbled across Nicholas, a newly bitten Werebeast, just waking up after a rough Moon. It wasn't long before he noticed them and quickly ran before anyone could say a word. Barrett was prepared to go in the other direction but Miles decided to follow after the strange Werebeast despite Barrett calling after him.

Miles soon finds Nicholas' campsite where he quickly packs up his stuff because if there's one Vampire, there's more nearby and he had already had a very bad experience with them. Miles was quick to explain how Barrett is different but Nicholas is skeptical.

It takes a lot of convincing from Miles to get Barrett on board with inviting Nicholas to live with them and it takes a lot of convincing from both of them to get Nicholas to accept their invitation, stating that he deserves to live and feel normal just as much as the two of them. Nicholas soon gets a job where Barrett works and the three of them just try to Be Mobian.

...

Yeah, this is my new fixation now. I'm so sorry to those who were looking at Growing Pain. It'll still come... in time but for now, you guys get this!

Sorry for the Watermarks, you can never be too safe nowadays.

Trust me when I say it's worth it. Those in the THOAM server have seen the drawings and even short stories I've written for this and you guys will too!

Will there be an Ao3 fic of this? Yes, there will be! It'll take a while for me to start it due to IRL stuff but it'll be done. I'll even start by putting up the two short stories I have now. Mostly of Nic but I do want to do shorts of Barrett and Miles eventually.

This even comes with a relationship chart for your viewing pleasure!

It'll be filled out with pictures in time and will be updated along with the Fic!

Know that this is still kinda? in the works? so don't be surprised by any changes.

My ask box is always open for asks about my characters or AUs!

[heremob]

Info-dump about my sona! Yay!

So what is my sona? A mosquito? A bird? A ancient forgotten god of humanity?

No! My sona was originally a bunch of stuff made to represent my feelings with stuff i like and hate! basically a thing to cope with my confusing feelings about myself and my ~depression~ (that at the time i didn't knew i had so now kinda makes sense) almost a draw your fears thingy, ya know?

Mob is as squishy and has the same texture as those key fluffy things even tho he is made out of dust

If you wonder how Mob eats even if he has no mouth

First he doesn't eat at all, what he needs sometimes is like put dust back in place and he can just do it burning some piece of wood os just go into rests of a campfire and dust

BUT If he needs to eat he will consume it just touching it, it takes a while (very long time) depending on the material so it's not like he can eat anything really :P he eats certain things that his system can take and turn it into dust (its not the best for him but it's tasty)

When Mob is out of dust he becomes a thing with less than 5 cm

This never happened because getting out of dust is rare

Mob is basically a cleaner and turns all dust into him (fluffy ball)

Mob has other variations of his form due to him being literally just dust one them Is this one

he is like this :3 he looks like the things I like (gravity falls, my crow, raven and owl obsession, spirited away)

btw every variation of mob is made out of dust and rest of burnt things 🤓

and ball thing mob and big mob are the same mob identity (myself) they are not spareted

Avarge mob (ball one) is a dense amunt of dust and more stable, bigger mob is in fact less dense, he is inconsistent because of his unregulated emotional state so he is more fragile even tho he is bigger than mobas normal state :D but thats just to make him look scary to others

big mob is inspired by no face (spirited away) too! The body estruture and the hidden arms are a reference to that

Mob looks like he can carry things with the power of his mind but its just particules of dust that are around him 👍

YAYYY THATS IT hope i could explain what my sona is!

[shreddheir]

diu ghost au character notes

long post incoming

I'm going to list all the main diu characters and their roles in the ghost au!

Josuke higashikata: Ghost. possesses crazy diamond, a stand which barely works on the spirit realm but is his main way of interacting with physical reality

Jotaro kujo: the same jotaro we know and love, capable of seeing ghosts sometimes.

Koichi Hirose: a medium who can percieve the spirit realm after being brought back from near-death by josuke. still has echoes.

Okuyasu nijimura: recently dead, bonds with josuke over his predicament. Since he tries to ignore the fact that he's dead, The Hand doesn't work whatsoever in the spirit realm and only affects physical reality.

Rohan Kishibe: The exact same, but heavens door FULLY works on ghosts now (shows post death memories). however similarly to jotaro he can only see ghosts sometimes

Reimi sugimoto: Mostly the same. she is very close to josuke, and helped him navigate the spirit world when he was younger, despite not being able to leave the alley due to the circumstances of her death. still gets the final blow on kira.

Hayato Kawajiri: same as canon but he becomes able to see ghosts after being affected by btd.

NOTE ON BTD: its loops do NOT AFFECT THE SPIRIT WORLD! HOWEVER. it does "strengthen the boundary." Josuke and okuyasu cannot contact anyone but hayato while BTD is in effect, which makes it difficult to transfer info between loops.

Yoshikage Kira: The same, but more spiritual. he has been acutely aware of the existence of vengeful ghosts for a long time, so he subtly incorporates protective sigils and such into all of his clothing. The inside of his house is UTTERLY COATED IN TALISMANS, so much so that no spirit except for his father can draw near it. it's like a natural blind spot to them. HE'S like a blind spot to them. and even if they see him, they physically CANT APPROACH HIM. he has to give this up when he's mimicking kosaku, which is why BTD cuts ghosts off from being able to communicate with the living.

Joseph: hermit purple can see ghosts. enough said. genuinely upset that his son died and he didn't even know

Tomoko: very depressed, as the loss of her father brought up a lot of emotions from the unhealed wound of her son's early death. actually gets to know jotaro and is aware of the supernatural happenings to some degree.

Tamami (the lock guy): EXACTLY THE SAME

Hazamada: exactly the same, but with no josuke around, he decides to target the weird blond 20-something (keicho) he sees around jotaro. he is promptly thrashed.

. Yukako: Covert occult nerd. koichi tells her that he sees ghosts to try and weird her out, and she immediately starts to adore him even more. she's more friendly with the other duwang gang members than she is in canon- her and keicho of all people go to tonio's in liue of josuke and okuyasu. helps thrash kira.

Tonio: the same, thankfully.

Shigechi: the same, but he's slightly better at seeing ghosts than the average stand user, sees josuke and okuyasu by the owson, and proceeds to do a lotto scam with them similarly to canon. he moves on when he dies, and his death is especially scary to josuke and okuyasu in this: since he was still in pain while Ascending, it means that KIRA CAN BASICALLY KILL GHOSTS.

Aya: The same. also moves on when she dies.

Mikitaka: almost the same....josuke and okuyasu are just doing some ghostly wandering, and this guy can See Them! But he can't see stands. What?????

(the tiers go like this: Regular reality-> stand plane-> spirit world. stands are small outcroppings of the spirit world basically. all stand users can see stands, and most can see PART of the spirit world, but only some can see all of it. Also, if there were any non-stand-user mediums, they'd be able to see stands as auras. it's basically unheard of for someone to be able to see parts of the spirit world but have no perception of stands)

Yuya: The same. Hospitals are thin boundary areas, as is the tunnel. i think it would be funny if he could smell ghosts too. highway star can chase ghosts and steal their energy, which doesn't heal yuya but makes HS stronger, so there's still a threat for josuke in the chase scene. anyway he still tries to kill rohan and gets thrashed by ghostsuke, and ghostsuke still comes to get his help in the enigma arc. his fangirls just think he's high off of pain meds or having an episode of icu psychosis when he starts talking to no one and then “throws himself out of the window”.

Angelo: Jotaro just kills him outright. it's easy with timestop.

Keicho: as i said, he lives instead of okuyasu. he is experiencing immense regret over that. he ends up becoming an ally to jotaro and the others: initially, it's out of righting his wrongs and creating the stand user who killed his brother, but it grows to be more than that. odd friendship with yukako. can't see ghosts, not even a little bit. Akira: Keicho kills him so hard before he even gets within 3 miles of joseph. does not move on after he dies. beef with okuyasu in the afterlife and by beef i mean an awful full out ghost fight that causes a power outage. okuyasu wins and akira retreats, tail between his legs, going to go hide in the wires somewhere.

Bug eaten: Not a threat. akira did not even have a chance to use the arrow. it's terrifying how FAST keicho went.

Yoshihiro kira: exact same, was already a ghost

Ken oyanagi: exact same.

Stray cat: Already a ghost, in a way. still becomes friends with okuyasu

Toyohiro: died when trying to leave superfly and became part of it. since mikitaka can see ghosts, the arc proceeds as normal

Terunosuke: I bounced around a couple of ideas, but eventually settled on the timeless position of "he was a book who became guy"/ref. a normal spirit of a teenage boy who died a couple years before the story began, somehow bound to a very old library book. He was given a stand strong enough to give him a full physical form. he uses enigma as normal on tomoko, koichi, and yuya, and seals josuke briefly in the book that he is normally tethered to. (like in canon, he uses tomoko to bait josuke out.) yuya unfolds koichi, and koichi loosens the seal. josuke realizes that terunosuke is Also a ghost and shoves him back into the book. since he can hear terunosuke scream this time, he feels maybe 5% more guilty about it

Masazo: Same as canon, but he's haunting rohan's house afterwards

[tgrailwar-zero]

Hesitating between whether to say anything or not resulted in the same result as doing nothing at all-- inaction.

Without any warning- the assassination was simple. Two daggers, aimed at the same spot, jamming into the middle of CHARLEMAGNE's back and piercing through.

CHARLEMAGNE: "…!"

The conversation slammed to a halt, one second too late.

CAROLUS-TILPINUS: "Your Majesty!"

'It couldn't be that easy'-- but it was as RULER had surmised. While they had been hyper-vigilant due to being in a new, hostile area… they had gotten too relaxed under the veneer of camaraderie. As long as you didn't say a thing, they'd stay in that state, and leave themselves with a rare opening for attack.

You saw the great emperor drop to one knee, groaning. He swung back at the assassins, but they vanished into the dark. GIUSEPPE leaned against his staff, pointing at the Paladins.

GIUSEPPE: "And now, with the king downed, that's checkmate. See? His holy warriors are beginning to fade as well."

It was true. They were beginning to fade. The paladins looked down at their dissipating bodies-- and began drawing their swords.

And as more and more Assassins manifested, surrounding the Paladins, things were looking dire. ROLAND, ASTOLFO, and BRADAMANTE readied their weapons, as TILPIN ran towards the downed king.

ROLAND: "Ugh, there's too many! Astolfo-- chain 'em up!"

ASTOLFO: "Huh...? Oh-- right, sorry...!"

They stepped forward, their outfit changing as they released their magical energy.

ASTOLFO: "VULCANO-- CALIGORANTE!"

The Paladin spun and their sword extended, splitting into pieces- twisting and chaining, grabbing everything within the ballroom. Like a spider's web entangling a fly, everyone but the Paladins were entangled within cold, emotionless steel, wriggling violently. The ASSASSINS, yourselves, and also your own Servants.

ASSASSINS: "...!"

In an instant, the Paladins had full control of the situation. It was just a moment too late.

GIUSEPPE: "Caligorante's net… A net made to trap a god…! I would have never expected this Noble Phantasm…!"

MUSASHI: "Can't swing, my swords…! What gives… Roland!?"

BRADAMANTE: "Oh, like this wasn't your plan. We're not stupid, we saw the shadow and Ruler snickering over there- then suddenly, blam! Attempted regicide."

ASTOLFO: "…"

BRADAMANTE: "Astolfo and Bishop Tilpin try time and time again to get them to come and talk with us, and no dice. No bite, no response, no nothing. And then, suddenly- they show up unannounced, spouting that nonsense about leaving the Beast be to gestate, and His Majesty is 'suddenly attacked'? That's not the least bit suspicious?"

ROLAND: "…She has a point. It's worth considering. Still, we don't have time to figure out crimes and punishments. Bishop Tilpin, how's the king looking?"

CAROLUS-TILPINUS: "…Badly, Sir Roland. Normally, he could take a hundred of these daggers, but with the way he's been working himself... His Spiritual Core is basically done for... For heaven's sakes... why did we treat this like a game? We-- I should have been more vigilant...!"

As this commotion happened, you had summoned KUKULKAN as well. The order had been clear, retrieve the Spirit Origin. Still- once she saw the state the Paladins were in, she stopped in her tracks.

KUKULKAN: "What's… hey, Lune? What's happening?"

The Paladin's immediately tensed as a group, readying their weapons.

ASTOLFO: "Hang back, K. We don't wanna hurt you. Please."

She frowned... but put her hands up, stepping back without further complaint.

GIUSEPPE squirmed in the restraints, glaring at her.

GIUSEPPE: "What's the matter with you? You were given an order!"

KUKULKAN: "I'm not stealing the Spirit Origin from Astolfo. They asked me nicely, so I am being nice."

GIUSEPPE: "Why, you--!"

TILPIN was kneeling beside the downed CHARLEMAGNE, his body beginning to fade.

CHARLEMAGNE: "…I… overexerted myself... spread myself too thin… Your Grace, Bishop Tilpin… I leave the fight to you… take my remaining mana and…"

CAROLUS-TILPINUS: "We failed you as Paladins. Therefore, we cannot allow this to be the end. Your fight isn't over yet, Your Majesty. I give my everything to the king. This body you granted me, I return it to you."

CAROLUS-TILPINUS: "Awaken, Carolus Magnus Rex."

A thousand lights, like rainbows streaking across the sunny sky erupted from the Servant.

Then, once the clouds parted and the rainbow faded, you laid your eyes upon a grand figure.

A walking fantasy, eyes like rubies and armor of silver and gold, shining like a star in the night sky. The bodies of the Paladins became solid again, though the fire in their eyes was new. A burning, scorching flame that matched the deep crimson of their leader's.

The bishop was gone, having given his body for the wish of the king.

The revived Emperor's eyes narrowed, as he looked up at you all, danging from the ceiling from the god-catching net of Caligorante.

CAROLUS: "This is a reminder, my Paladins. This is the land of the Beast, and she has her hooks everywhere. We stepped foot in the lion's den, and foolishly expected chivalry. We need to regard everything as a threat. We prepare for war. Now."

ROLAND: "And the treaty with the Beast and her Servants, Your Majesty?"

CAROLUS: "Forget it. They sent assassins. I'm no longer humoring the bread and circuses of the 'Flaming Bout'. We begin our campaign in the morn."

CAROLUS: "…My Paladins. We're moving out. We should have expected nothing but enemies here to begin with."

PALADINS: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

One at a time, they faded into blue data- warping back to the Crimson Citadel, most likely.

The net faded, and you all dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

...And the once boisterous ballroom was steeped in silence.

[eyesandtentacles]

People only like Toji because he's attractive

I saw a comment on Tik Tok saying something along those lines and honestly it didn't sit right with me.

Of course, people are free to have their own opinion and you don't have to like Toji, but I believe that there is much more to his character.

So this is a post where I talk about the things that I personally appreciate about Toji Fushiguro. We'll start simple and get deeper as we go on. So strap yourselves in because this is going to be a long one.

Spoilers for the upcoming season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen.

First let me start by saying that yes,

Toji is indeed very attractive

Look at this fine specimen of a man. No wonder the fandom goes crazy for him.

His design is certainly aesthetically pleasing. The worm curling around his body and the tight shirt and baggy pants he's wearing emphasize his muscles and tiny waist making your eyes run all over him. His black hair falls on his handsome face nicely and the scar on his lips draws attention to it and adds a little bit of spice, just enough to tie this whole meal together.

He is built like a snack and boy am I hungry!

But enough about his looks. Looks isn't the only thing he has to offer.

Toji has a superhuman body

Similarly to Maki, Toji is affected by Heavenly Restriction. His body is incredibly strong and fast and in exchange he possesses no cursed energy. But he doesn't even need cursed energy to see curses, because his senses are just that sharp and enhanced! He truly is an anomaly and if the jujutsu society recognised his potential instead of abusing him for being different, he would definitely be classified as a special grade sorcerer.

Dude's a beast so he makes any battle that he takes part in fun and exciting to watch. He also had some interesting matchups allowing him to show off how skilled he is as a fighter.

We got to see him battle with Gojo,Geto and a disaster curse, all of them considered special grade and he won all but one of his encounters with them. However, that one loss was from the second battle with Gojo AKA the strongest sorcerer alive, who he almost killed on their first one, so that shows how superior his combat skills can really be.

But Toji doesn't only depend on his body to do the work.

Toji is smart

When tasked with the mission to kill Riko Amanai, instead of charging in right away, he simply sits and waits while others try their hand on the assassination.

But why is Toji waiting?

It's because he knows that Gojo is protecting this girl and he knows what he is capable off, so he chose to take things slow. By putting the money reward for the job on the internet and offering it to anyone who was successful in killing the target, he ensured that the protection squad would be constantly on edge. He even put a time limit on the offer to deceive them into believing that they only needed to be careful for a certain amount of time. As a result, when the time limit had passed and the group let their guard down Toji striked by putting a sword through Gojo's chest, an attack that would be lethal if it weren't faced with such a strong opponent.

He also took advantage of the fact that his lack of cursed energy makes him invisible to the security system of Jujutsu High and to the sorcerers around him. He made sure that his first strike against Gojo was with a normal sword and switched to a cursed tool when the surprise attack didn't work.

But where did that tool come from? And if it has cursed energy wouldn't it be detected?

Well that's where the worm comes in....

So basically, in order to keep the advantage of being invisible due to the lack of cursed energy and to always have weapons available, Toji keeps this cursed spirit on his stomach and whenever he needs something he simply vomits it out and does his thing. Kinda gross but very effective.

Honestly it's terrifying how this man can use his body and anything else that is available to quickly come up with a strategy to kick your ass. Being his opponent must be a total nightmare since Toji is brutal and cares only about one thing and that is money.

Or maybe there is something more........

Toji cares about his family

Now I know what you're going to say and I agree.

Toji is a terrible father.

Not only did he abandon his son but he also sold him to the Zenins. That ain't exactly father of the year material. Despite this, there are moments that show that he loves his family.

One of those moments is when he recalls Megumi and that he was the one who named him. I refuse to believe that Toji woke up and chose a random name for his son, especially since Megumi means Blessing so he must have put some thought into it.

Additionally, in his dying moments he thought about his son and his wife and it was obvious that it's a memory that's dear to him. At first he chose to not say anything when asked about his last words, but changed his mind when he remembered Megumi, informing Gojo that he will be sold in the Zenin family and to do with that as he pleases. That ensured Gojo taking Megumi under his care and protection.

Another moment is when Toji is back as a mindless puppet in Shibuya, fighting purely on instinct the strongest person in the room and when that person happened to be Megumi he froze, his eyes literally softening at the sight of his boy and he regained control long enough to ask a question and then kill himself to ensure that he won't bring him any more harm.

But wait, you may ask, if he cares this much about Megumi why did he abandon and sell him?

Well the answer to that is a simple but sad one.

Toji is a broken man

Toji is a Zenin, a member of one of the most important clans in jujutsu society. But because he was born with no cursed energy he was abused by the family and left it completely unstable.

Look at this panel. His eyes look so empty and tired. This was before he left from the clan and started to work as an assassin.

However, even while he was away from this toxic environment, the damage had been done. Toji definitely had issues regarding his self-worth. He kept trying to prove that someone like him can be strong and defeat sorcerers. He referred to himself as a ''useless monkey who can't even use jujutsu''. He kept saying while selling his son that unlike him, his son had potential since he had a cursed technique.

And in the end, in the battle that led to his death, instead of fleeing, he chose to stay and fight because he was facing Gojo and being able to crush him, the strongest sorcerer alive, would discredit the society that deemed him worthless.

His trauma caused him to ignore his survival instincts and led to his demise.

This trauma was also the reason why he abandoned and sold Megumi. When he met his wife, Toji was able to calm down and become a bit more stable. He loved and really cared about this woman. But she died soon after Megumi was born, leaving Toji once again unstable but with a baby in his care.

At this point, his issues about his worth once again kicked in and he probably felt that he wouldn't be able to raise his son properly. So he sold him to the Zenin family, promising them that the kid would develop a good cursed technique and asking them to take care of him. In his mind, the place that he grew up would be better for Megumi since he had potential.

I'm guessing that before dying he realised that that environment would still be bad even for Megumi so he told Gojo about the deal maybe because he was hopeful that Gojo would help the kid. And of course that's exactly what happened.

So when Toji appears once again in Shibuya and comes face to face with Megumi he asks him a simple question.

What's your name?

And when Megumi replied with Fushiguro instead of Zenin I'm sure that that made Toji feel happy and relieved.

All of this of course doesn't excuse any of his actions but it certainly explains them.

And all of his actions had some effect on the story.

Toji is an important part of the plot

Before he even appears in the anime, Toji has already made his impact. He was considered an anomaly and his mere existence was bound to affect the story in some way.

There were so many moments where we see how he affected it.

By almost killing Gojo, he made him realise his full potential and become the strongest.

By killing Riko Amanai, he caused Geto's spiral and existential crisis leading him to leave Jujutsu High and become a villain, only to later die and have his body used by Kenjaku for his big plan.

By killing Riko Amanai, he also stopped the merging with Master Tengen, something that had massive consequences and would be taken advantage of by Kenjaku in the future.

By telling Gojo about Megumi, he caused Gojo to take him under his protection, training him and raising him with much more care that the Zenin family ever would.

All of these moments are vital.

All of them caused by him.

Toji was an important piece to the whole puzzle of this story and without him Jujutsu Kaisen would not be complete.

And just like that, we have reached the end.

Once again I'd like to say that you can believe whatever you want about Toji but simply reducing him to just an attractive character is a bit of a disservice to him, no?

Apologies for the chaotic writing I have way too many thoughts and can't articulate them properly.

Thank you to anyone who has read this far <3

[coffeeandmagicaltales]

Spare some lore about Selina and Sting Sharp and their parents? It’s been a stupid 2 days at work and I think they’re so cute 😭. That sketch you did of them all made me so happy!

If not no worries! Just wanted to drop in and say your OCs always pique my interest!

OHHH I feel so honored <3 I'd love to answer <3

Spoiler free (I still haven't finished writing my fics)

Sharp Sisters

Lets's start from the oldest- "Sting".

She's about 6 in the drawing. Adventurous, curious, pretty mischievous, and very brave... Also getting into trouble a lot. A LOT.

Both of her parents work at Hogwarts, so she spent her childhood in the castle (when possible), sleeping in her parents' chamber or at her Muggle and magical grandparents' house.

She got sorted into Hufflepuff and immediately fell in love with Quidditch, becoming the youngest beater on the team. That's where her nickname came from - dressed in Hufflepuff black and yellow colors, flying recklessly and incredibly fast, giving hard blows to opponents, she looked like a dangerous little bee.

(below how I imagine her in my delulu land in my head)

She spends lots of time in detentions at Hogwarts due to the crazy ideas she comes up with (that make her parents roll their eyes and just say "ugh, again"; they've become so done with it, they just don't care anymore, and the only thing they ask is: "Is she bleeding? No? Oh, well, just take as many points from her as possible."). She's a free spirit who doesn't like being closed in between walls and loves to explore the world on her own, unlike her younger sister, who prefers to study in the library.

Her relationship with her sister is very profound, and even though they are like fire and water and sometimes disagree, they love each other unconditionally. Sting spends lots of time with Selina and gives her support. She deeply worries about her little sister's timid nature and gets into fights each time someone calls little Sharp "a weirdo".

Her relationship with her parents is pretty complicated. It was really wonderful until her 6th year at Hogwarts when she decided to become an Auror despite her... well... certain health issues. Aesop argued with her many times, trying to convince her to find a less dangerous job, but she already set her mind and was too stubborn. It is said that Sting was the only person Aesop ever raised his voice at, too scared of her being injured just like him, or even worse. But, as a rebellious 17-year-old, she did what she wanted to do, ignoring her father's plead. Her mother, Morana, was more optimistic about her life choices (Sting was a Sharp for Merlin's sake!) and convinced Aesop to train her as best as he and her could, preparing Sting for the worst.

She became an Auror, one of the best in history, duh! If you were a criminal and somebody had spilled the tea that Sting Sharp is investigating your case, well, better head to Nepal and intend to live as a goat... But! She didn't like this job at all. Ministry's orders, things against her moral compass she was told to do frustrated her, and after a few years, she quit. Waiting for Aesop's retirement, she took many part-time jobs, also helped her godmother Poppy to catch poachers, and when her dad was finally retired, they both opened a private detective office, also working with Morana and Selina.

Lesbian, she married a long-time girlfriend of hers, had no kids.

The youngest Sharp- Selene (sometimes written as Selina, more Slavic version of that name, as she is half British half Slovakian)

This little grumpy pumpkin, about 1 in the drawing, was literally born at Hogwarts and spent her time close to her parents. Sometimes with daddy: sitting on his desk, incredibly interested in classes, lulled to sleep by his lectures, or playing with vials (unbreakable) filled with glitter and colorful water. Sometimes with mummy: sleeping in a scarf wrapped around her body during her lectures. Sometimes with her many teacher aunts and uncles, who loved to take her to their classes (especially Ronen and Garlick).

Her interest in potions was obvious from the beginning, but soon Aesop discovered that, in her case, there was a thin line between genius and obsession, and she preferred to experiment rather than play with her peers. Only her older sister seemed to understand her and accept that Selina is a bit different than other kids her age: always gloomy and avoiding anyone's company. She stood out from the crowd also thanks to her dad's tall genes, his grumpy and dreamy nature and, well, his look in general, along with dark eyes and hair, crooked teeth, big nose. She was never considered "pretty", often being compared to her father. Other kids giving her unpleasant comments like "I wouldn't date old Sharp's lookalike".

(below how I imagine her in my delulu land in my head)

Other kids hated the fact that she's two teachers' daughter (and other teachers are her aunts and uncles) and bullied her a lot, calling her "a weirdo" or "a teacher's favorite" (Sting, ironically, never had that problem). Her parents and sister tried their best to make amends with anyone who dared to hurt Selina, but she felt sad and lonely anyway. She was often found hidden somewhere behind dad's cauldrons in his class, crying. Her situation was breaking Sharps' hearts, and they came up with an idea to sign her up for an internship at Parry Pippin's shop during her 3rd year. That was a jackpot; Selina made friends with adult potioneers, no longer feeling alone, and her talents began to thrive. After Pippin's death, she, not his children, became the shop's owner and one of the best healers in Europe, working occasionally at St. Mungo's or giving lectures at Hogwarts when Aesop was not feeling well.

Her relationship with her sister is stronger than diamond. She supports the sometimes annoyingly talkative and loud Sting and is always ready to help her. Their hearts were both broken when Selina got sorted into Slytherin, away from the older Sharp.

She's a daddy's daughter, and, no matter how much she loves her mum, it's Aesop she runs to first and clings to his jacket. She preferred to spend time with him as he was quieter and calmer than Morana, who loved wild adventures, that, on the other hand, Sting preferred more. Morana sometimes felt guilty that she couldn't approach her youngest daughter as well as Aesop, but she found out that they both enjoy slow hikes and exploring the calm Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. Selina anticipated those even few weeks long lonely trips with her mother.

She met her husband in Pippin's shop (Selina and Aesop both found a cure for his quite rare sickness), Garreth Weasley's son, who later took Sharp's surname. They had a beautiful red-headed son - Aesop Sharp Junior.

I hope you enjoed this little spoiler free backstory of my characters <3

It was hard to find a NPC mix of Morana&Aesop but this one is the best option:

Sad dark eyes, dark brown hair, high cheek bones, bushy arched brows, big nose, upper lip shape- Aesop

Tanned skin tone, 10K freckles, round face- Morana

[slxsherwriter]

The Spirit of Lending a Hand

Fandom: 2001 Maniacs

Pairings: Potential Buckman x Reader

Word Count: 4,073

Warnings: Cannibalistic spirits, death, witchcraft, talks of necromancy, honestly this whole movie and its contents probably count as a warning

Author's Note: Here I am, once again writing Buckman. My brain works in mysterious ways, even to me. This sort of took a life of its own. As always, not beta read and unedited. Information also taken from the comics.

Tagging: @slashingdisneypasta & @tinalbion

The semi-annual trip to Pleasant Valley had been delayed this time around due to unforeseen and unwelcomed circumstances that were beyond your control. Namely, a set of hunters that had been on your tail for the better part of four months. They had been smart, annoyingly persistent, and meticulous in their planning. Far more trouble than you had met in recent years.

Once you had felt confident that you had shaken their incessant pestering and attempts on your life, you gathered all the necessary supplies and headed out to the small, off the beaten path, ghost town. Well, cemetery, but it had the feeling of a ghost town. The energy there was indescribable. Then again, after such a tragedy, it didn't come as a surprise. The spirits likely lingered there, something you understood even if others didn't.

You had first come across the resting site of the small town in your travels for your doctorate, focusing on the fall out of a war on small towns in the south from an economic, social, and overall day to day living standpoint. It was hard when records of those that had been destroyed as a byproduct and casualty of war were wiped from the map. Before heading back, you decided to take the summer and explore some more rural areas of South Carolina and Georgia. Besides, there were plenty of supplies for your other studies to be found in that took time, too.

The tug in your gut had you making that left hand turn for the first time. The graveyard was large. A place full of sorrow, of mourning, of anger. But so were most places like this when lives were irrevocably changed. Which, really, was a civilized way to say slaughtered. From your understanding after reading the gravestones and doing some digging, that was what had occurred in Pleasant Valley. A massacre of innocent lives. It was a frequent happening when it came to times of war but made it no less tragic or horrific.

After that first visit, there was something that kept pulling you back time and time again. Before you realized it, you had routinely visited the place twice yearly for years. It was a place to calm your mind and gather yourself. Feel recharged but also perform those darker rituals that required a draining amount of energy. There was enough in the place that you could draw from it and get done what was needed. The occasional necromancy and such. Not things that you dabbled in too often but when it was needed, and unfortunately, there was a time and place for it, then being in a place like Pleasant Valley helped.

This year, it felt entirely different. More energy, more lively. Typically, you came during summer and winter, but because your winter trip had been delayed, you were entering the area during mid-spring. Lively. That was an odd way to frame it, and your brain stuck on it when the normal left was marked with a giant detour sign. You stopped the car and stared at it for several long moments. The lettering had been poorly done with the e of detour backward. Enough to make you laugh, but at the same time, there was a nagging concern. Had someone desecrated the resting place of these poor souls?

It was a smart idea to see what you were walking into before you did. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Parking the car on the shoulder, you settled back into the driver seat, closed your eyes, muttering the words of the spell, and concentrating hard. Astral projection was always one of those spells that you could never quite get the hang of, but this was worth the attempt.

It had to be repeated twice before you felt the telltale heaviness and then lightness of your limbs. Traveling slowly down the dirt road, hands in your pockets, you still took time to appreciate the beauty of the natural surroundings. Right as you were about to cross under the arch that marked the threshold, you were thrown back into your body. Gasping and coughing, it took a moment for your spirit to settle back in and breathing to come normally. Well, that was new. Something was happening. Something not of the natural world. With your intrigued spiked, the tires nearly peeled on the gravel as you turned the car down the road towards the familiar spot.

Instead of a graveyard, you were met with a quiet, quaint looking town. Something akin to what one would see in the south during the eighteen hundreds. You should know well enough. As you got closer and closer, there was a buzz in the air that felt electric. The anger that hung around Pleasant Valley was present, but this was far different. If an energy could feel hungry, that was what you would have described it as. There was a gathering of people ahead, surrounding two cars. The cheering and hollering were evident from a ways back. Your skin pricked, and your hair stood on end. And in that moment, you understood perfectly.

It was dangerous. So very dangerous for any living being to be here right now. These weren't people. They were vengeful spirits. How had you not made the connection before now? Was it because there wasn't enough energy when you normally stopped by.

“More guests!” The patch was recognizable. After so many trips to the site, you knew that it could only be George Buckman. Whether you made it out of this or not was up to how it was played. And that required a private conversation with the man that seemed to be pulling all the strings. Offering help seemed like your best chance. Should you feel bad about offering the lives of those who had unwittingly found their way here? The answer was yes. But would you? No, not likely. Who was dimwitted enough to follow a sign like that in today's day and age? Besides, fresh sacrificed blood was a hard commodity to come by unless you got your hands dirty yourself and even then, it could be iffy.

It took a little bit, and there were a few odd looks, as if people were trying to place exactly who you were to them. The familiarity of a place you had never been washed over you. It wasn't entirely true. You had never been to Pleasant Valley when it had existed with living people, homes, businesses, and the little quirks that came with such things. But you had been here before, had communed with the land and in ways with the spirits. In a way, they did know you, and you knew them.

Southern hospitality dictated a certain set of manners in return. That much you knew. Your history degree wasn't entirely useless after all. The sirs and ma'ams worked their way in, albeit a little unnaturally and awkward at times. Offers to help with whatever it is they were doing were made. They were declined each and every time but the offer was there.

There were other ways to be useful, though. Hex bags and a corresponding hex could provide easier targets for the souls stuck on this Earth. The problem was making them quick enough and properly placing them. You might be able to get one or two together and tucked hidden away, but would it be enough?

Before much thought could be put in, or you could gain a private audience with Mayor Buckman, someone else decided to grab your attention. Quite literally. The large hand clapped down on your shoulder, a firm touch that spoke a fraction of the strength it held.

“I think you and me need to have a chat, miss.” It felt like there was little room for argument. Nodding your consent, though it was hardly needed, the large man beside you was a presence that you would lose a physical fight against. And a fight would not help with your plans here. It was best to go along quietly and see what it was that he wanted to discuss. No one else was being pulled off on their own, at least not yet and no in a manner like this. Hopefully, you weren't marching towards your death.

The town was mostly out of sight by the time that the little walk had come to an end. You were finally able to turn and look at the man. Taller, broad shoulders. But an air about him. Another magic user. In some form or another.

“You're the one that comes around here.” It wasn't a question, a simple statement and acknowledgment that maybe some did know who you were. “Practices your witchcraft.”

“That is me.”

“You're late this year.” It shouldn't have been surprising, and yet, you were standing there, entirely caught off guard to the fact that the man knew your schedule had been entirely thrown off.

“I had a little problem to take care of,” you paused. “Well, not so little. Took me a good four months to handle. But, occasionally, things like that come up, someone tries to take my life, and it's a vicious circle for a short while.” An amused twitch of his lips was the response. You took that as a good sign for what was to come. It was all a matter of still carefully navigating the landscape.

“Yet, you are still here.”

“Well, did you think I was going to miss my routine just because I had two men trying to kill me?” At that, you ended up receiving a smile, which was counted as a victory.

“Why do you come back?” Now, that was something that you had asked yourself quite a bit over the last few years and never came up with a solid answer. Perhaps ones that sounded pleasing to the ear but never one that was genuine. Why not be honest with the spirits? More than you had been with yourself, at least. A small shrug came before the words started to flow.

“Because it always felt right.” A simple answer. “There was always something pulling me here, demanding attention and a commune. There was never really a solid explanation for it. I just knew the first time I passed something demanded, I show up, and that demand never ceased. The energy always felt right.”

“So perhaps you are the one.” The tilt of your head came unbidden, something that you couldn't help at the words grabbed your curiosity. Never one for chosen prophecies or the like, it was still something that was worth the intrigue. There didn't seem to be much more information forthcoming. “You do understand what is going to happen here?”

“I would be foolish to miss it in the air. Vengeful spirits create a certain…energy in the air. Intent shapes it and leaves lingering traces.” He nodded.

“Yet, you remain.”

“Admittedly, at first, I was worried someone had desecrated the graveyard. And when I felt something blocking me, I had to investigate. You all did catch me a little off guard with the whole, ya know, appearance thing going on.” He chuckled and nodded.

“I do suppose that would cause a bit of a shock upon arrival.” He nodded to himself and motioned for you to follow after him. This time, he wasn't leading you but rather trusting that you would be walking alongside him. Far more peaceful that way. There seemed to be people milling about, watching, but not really participating in anything now that there wasn't anyone to pay attention to them. You supposed you could understand such a thing. If you were stuck in a purgatory pattern like this, there wouldn't be much drive to do anything either.

“Didn't go getting lost now, did ya?” The mayor greeted with a wide smile, eye flickering back and forth between you and your companion, whose name that you never got.

“Think you and Granny Boone need to have a sit down with this one, sir.” There was an odd emphasis on some of the words, but whatever he had been trying to convey was apparently done successful as Buckman paused long enough to process the information.

“Really, now? Ain't that the darndest thing. We were just going to have a little chat, so why don't you just come along then?” This would be the make or break moment that had been looming since your arrival a few hours ago. Once again, you could only consent.

“Of course.” With Buckman taking over, you were led towards the small church in town, after it had been demanded that your former companion let Granny know that she was expected to attend the meeting.

During the short walk, you exchanged names properly, and there was an ease about it that could be appreciated. Rare was it that you got along well and right off the bat with others, a byproduct of the life that you led. A sense of calm that came from him, even though there was still that hint of rage simmering beneath the surface. As much as it would make others uncomfortable, you found a calming effect to it in the familiarity.

The church was void of everyone and everything, and while it wasn't exactly your favorite place to be but it wasn't the worst.

“Must be a reason he is thinking so highly of you, darling. You gonna explain or keep me in suspense?”

“Wouldn't it be easier to wait for the others?” Waiting meant that you wouldn't have to repeat yourself multiple times. It was far more preferable than spitting out the same explanation over and over and over. There was a moment of indecision, the choice flipping around before a sigh was given as an answer. He didn't have to wait long. The older woman who had been running the quote hotel of the town came in, eyeing you suspiciously. The response? A broad smile as you remained seated, allowing the two to gather around you.

“All right, Missy. Best start explaining what's going on.” Granny Boone was no nonsense. You liked her.

“Well, I've been coming to Pleasant Valley for years now, twice a year specifically. This is the first time that I've met any of the residents, though.” There was a tension that briefly filled the room, enough to give you pause and wonder if you had said the wrong thing before it broke and a sense of excitement took its place.

“Knew I recognized something about ya!” Buckman was practically joyous, while Boone remained a little more reserved but was all smiles like he was. “Looks like this year's festival is about to get a whole lot more interesting, ain't it?” Boone quickly batted at his knee.

“You haven't even asked yet. Don't get ahead of yourself.” The interaction was enough to make you smile.

“I'd be happy to help in any way that I can. Eye for an eye aren't just some fanciful words. I can spot others' work when I see it.”

“Ain't you a smart one.” You shrugged. “Well, we got our answer. We got our guests. All we need now is to get ready for the barbecue.” If you thought he was excited before, it was nothing compared to now. The man was all but vibrating with energy in his spot.

“I just have a quick question. And you may or may not be able to answer it for me. I've been coming here for years but this is the first time we have met, face to face, so to speak. Why now? Why not then?” There had been plenty of opportunities, but nothing had ever happened. The two looked at one another.

“Well, it's not always easy to appear as it is at other times. The more Yanks, the more it's worth the effort.” Interesting. Something caught, but the idea refused to fully form right yet. Stuffing that thought away for later, you nodded.

“Makes sense. Wasted time and energy if the reward isn't big enough.”

“Besides, you bring something with ya that just livens us all up a bit. Especially since you drop by at quieter times.” That idea drug forward a little further. Again, thought would be dedicated later in a quiet moment where you could concentrate on the feeling and what the idea was supposed to shape up to be.

“I suppose I should say I'm flattered.” The small laugh that accompanied the words had the other two smiling wider. It was a relaxed but giddy and anticipatory atmosphere. One that you found yourself sinking further and further into as the seconds ticked by. A place to stay. To be safe. The whispers tickled your consciousness. “Just direct me as to where I'm needed and what is expected of me. I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty if that's required.” Not to find joy in it. Maybe they did to some degree, but this was about avenging the egregious act that they had suffered. After suffering so long in a made purgatory, things started to twist a little bit, though.

“No use in sitting here like bumps on a log. We got work to do.” Buckman clapped and jumped to his feet. “Think I'm gonna keep you with me, pretty thing. Wanna see just whatcha can do.”

Boone went back to continue prepping whatever it was that she was in the middle of, something with the ladies that had arrived from your understanding. With her gone, it was just you and Buckman.

The seemingly jovial man was observing you still, though he was on his feet and motioning for you to follow.

“Ya know, ya been coming here so often, for so long, sort of makes ya an honorary resident of our little town.”

“Sort of feels like that.” There wasn't any use in lying or trying to deny that feeling. Being honest with the man had been your decision from the smart, so why stop with something as silly as telling him that there was something that made you feel so connected to this place. “Moved around a bunch as a kid. Never really had a set place, and that's sort of been the theme in my adult life, too. Moving minimizes the risk of being caught by those who would prefer to see me dead. Always liked it when we stayed in the south, though. Felt most at home. That subtle heat in the spring and fall. Different pace to life in the smaller towns. An abundance of ingredients for spells and such. Better energy, too. Something far more deeply rooted. Unless I visited places like Salem or Plymouth. Sometimes, there was less acceptance of the….well, lifestyle for lack of a better term but always made due.”

“That happen often? Someone chasing after ya like that?”

“Often enough. It's what delayed my appearance here this year. Though, I guess that it worked out in everyone's benefit in the end. Except for theirs….”

“Hm, then ya really won't have a problem helping us take care of these Yanks.”

“I've brought people back from the dead for less than honorable purposes. Yeah, I really don't mind helping you kill someone. Or in this case, someones given the turnout you have here.” The laugh that came from Buckman couldn't have been classified as anything but ecstatic and excited. A sound that others would likely think bordered on the sound of insane. For you, though? There wasn't a way to stop the grin that it brought. “My hands haven't been clean in many, many years. What's adding a little more?” And your view on the world and the people in it may have been twisted and just a little skewed, but it came with the territory.

“Just gonna have to gather up the town to make sure no accidents happen then. Let them know you are here helping.” He raised a hand to rub his chin, thoughts clearly going a mile a minute. Not that he could be blamed. You knew that while you were there to help and would, your presence ilkley threw a monkey wrench into whatever plans that they had.

While Buckman might have been accepting, it didn't mean that the rest of the town would be right away either. So a meeting would have been smart. You would have hated to cause a problem for one of the spirits because you had reason to defend yourself. They couldn't be hurt in the traditional sense and had probably gotten quite comfortable in their relative safety from physical harm. But, you weren't their usual prey, and while you didn't want to focus on it, having various methods of protection were floating through the back of your mind. Hopefully, there wasn't a need for it.

******************

It was a sight to behold, how quickly the spirits were able to create chaos, one that was under a tight control and allowed them such freedom to do as they pleased. Impressive, really. So much so that you were feeling immensely grateful that you weren't on the receiving end. No one was spared, and no corners were cut. The brutality of it wasn’t so uncommon to you that it gave a weak stomach, but on the same hand, it did press some sort of line. As complicit as you were, you kept your mouth shut. Besides, was there really room for you to talk? It was a reminder to yourself given all that you had done in your life.

There was such a captivating sort of aura around the entire thing, the passion and need that came from those around you enough to make you want to drop to your needs. All driven forward from desperation. If you helped them, how long would it take for them to finally know rest?

“He's getting away!” There was one that had just escaped the flaying knife of the cook, apparently not all the way dead. The urgent tone cried out loudly and caught your attention. The man was moving far faster than he should have been able to, adrenaline, and the critical need to stay alive kept him moving. And he had a heavy head start on just about everyone. So far, the spirits had appeared to move like normal humans. The first natural, gut reaction that you had was to lash out, the ground immediately rising into a wall in front of him. Head first he ran into it, with no time to hit the brakes and bring himself to a stop. How he wasn't knocked out cold was beyond you, but it was enough for others to catch up to him.

“Well, buttermilk pancakes, look at that.” Buckman was by your side seemingly out of nowhere, letting out a low whistle. It had been a long time since you had heard anyone even slightly impressed with your abilities. A twinge of pride swelled in your chest. “That's a mighty fine trick ya got there.”

“Ain't the only trick up my sleeve.” The comment slipped a little more flirty than intended. The chuckle that came from the man was well worth any embarrassment.

“I think you are going to do just fine here, sweetheart.” That old southern twang that came through was pleasant to listen to, an emotion that came unbidden and unexpected. Trouble. The thought meant big damn trouble. You were too far into things now, though, to give up. Giving in was the only option. What was the use of living a long life if a little fun couldn't be had every once in a while? It wasn't like he was going to be around forever after all. Once they were able to fulfill the force keeping them here on this Earth, they would finally be allowed to rest.

“Planning on keeping me, sir?” A proper southern gentleman, even if he was a vengeful, cannibalistic spirit, instead of offering back anything vulgar or too untowards, he simply grinned and rested a hand against your lower back.

“Oh, ya ain't ever getting free, sweetheart.” The possessive note sent a shiver down your spine. Not in a bad way. It had been many years since you had ever felt a flick of danger mixed with desire like he was able to ignite. He would be gone eventually, but until then? There was nothing saying that you couldn't enjoy yourself and bring a hint more pleasure to his life.

[entering--hyperspace]

Its 2am, quick! Ramble some preliminary thoughts about Rytlock and Leo's relationship, spoiler alert! Its complicated!

I'm currently "going through" the personal story, and I was thinking about how...complicated Rytlock and Leo's relationship becomes especially as Rytlock Puts Himself Into Situations and that affecting a whole lot later into the story. I was talking to my friend about this. Heres the thing about these two,

They are not perfect for each other. This isn't a fairytale relationship, they arent destined lovers, they will never get a true domestic happy life together, and they could probably find people to fit them both better in the long run.

But, they were perfect for each other when they met.

Rytlock, punished for ambition, losing someone he cared about because of this, gaining a literal physical reminder of it, after he had just lost Destiny's edge. Blinded by glory, torn apart by loss, failure. He grew distant from his warband because the warmth of a flame was more enticing than the bonds of his past. He had no one, he was ignorant to the repeated life lessons, he was bored.

Leo, on the other hand, was a coiled snake ready to strike. He had ambitions of his own, he grew tired of constant death, reckless fighting. Spirits lamented over lost opportunity, of being playthings in wars fought by higher powers. He grew up in a land that was a physical cautionary tell of how single individuals could ruin the very souls and doom entire nations. Souls that cant rest, souls that cant return. It was Ascalon that inspired him to become a necromancer, to commune with spirits, to treat the dead with reverance, and thus respecting life before its final march. It did outcast him from his warband, save for a single individual.

When his warband died fighting due to carelessness on behalf of his legionnare, he still chose mercy, even in grief and anger he would not throw away lives as his people were so readily to do. He would show them all, he would show them there was a different way, that the road harder to travel on was a road worth walking if it meant preserving life. Others would see him as weak for this, but he had the confidence and skill to back it up his claims.

Perhaps it was the sharpness, the same cleverness that Rytlock admired in Crecia that drew him to Leo. I like that, honestly. Its a bit selfish, but Rytlock is a very selfish character for a while.

So he chose him, he could see his potential, he was amused, if anything, by someone with beliefs so different than anything they were raised to believe and was ready to challenge the very foundation they stood on. Speaking of, Leo challenged him in ways that surprised him, in ways that if Rytlock were anyone else Leo would have surely been deranked or snapped at for his boldness. He made him stop and consider, a unique viewpoint a fire that had lived for so long it became too strong to be snuffed out, that alone was impressive. Lmao, It's Leo constsntly challenging rytlock that draws him to Leo as well I think. Someone who will truthfully grab him by the ear and snap him back to his senses. On the other hand:

Leo wasn't ignorant of Rytlocks many prior transgressions and the blood most higher ranked charr spill to stand as tall as they do. He didn't think too highly of him before, but desperate times call for desperate measures. They were also, both, lonely. Rytlock appreciated having someone who he slowly crept into being a bit more of himself around, and Leo appreciated the opportunity of gaining his favor, as well as the acceptance of his beliefs. Rytlock understood climbing a steep hill with the people around pouring water down waiting for a slip. He's loyal above all else, he's similarly ambitious. Maybe Rytlock didnt necessarily Follow him exactly, but he didnt turn away or laugh in his face when Leo one night truthfully shared his plans. He simply told him it would be hard, but challenged him to pursue it. And, if anything, Leo's words actually affected him, he could see it slowly, that was enough for him, They were friends.

Physical attraction was there too, of course, that is admittedly a constant even before they become romantic. I see it at this point of maybe not being a thing of romantic bond, but rather of trust. But this is also normal and expected of charr. Friends with benefits, nothing more. But that more would come in later.

A chain is harder to break than a string, much harder. It weighs heavy, its cumbersome at times, but it holds things together quite well despite everything, despite "everything"

They are not a red string of fate, rather a forged red chain. Charr care a lot about loyalty, they care about loyalty in a way that I feel is hard to describe other than something deeply rooted in their culture thus hard to shake. During the time Leo and Rytlock spent together as Leo climbed the ranks and together they took on Ascalonian missions, sharing nights, swapping stories, sparring, challenging, they forged that bond. A bond between two people with no other options. They chose each other.

My memory of path of fire is, muddled, I'll get there when I get there. But what I know for sure is that what began of a romantic relationship would become quickly strained as the story goes on and it is revealed that everything occuring is due to Rytlock's recklessness.

Leo isn't the commander, Connie is, this almost makes it worse for them in a funny way. Leo would probably be more forgiving over his own death, but instead he is made to watch someone else die, he watches countless others die, all while knowing at night he shares a bed with the person at the root of it. But he doesnt leave, because theres always that chain, its backs turned to each other but still comforted by the warmth of another, even if their presence is denied. Im sure when i learn the details of it i can share more thoughts on them but ough.

When Leo does take on more commander-like duties and rytlock is still at his side, it becomes even more apparent how their relationship isnt as ideal as it could be in a perfect life. In a perfect life leo wouldve left everything to be with the olmakhan, to live a peaceful existence, to raise a family. Rytlock thinks of his cubs in a similar regard, Leo and Rytlock cant give that to each other, the world will not allow that of them both, especially leo, But they leave together with that knowledge.

Does this make sense? Idk, i hope so. The love is there, but there is an acceptance of the fact that there will always be a void that cant be filled. Perhaps there is a gentleness to them both that they treat each other with because of that fact and thats just how it is.

[ask-vio-the-purple-link]

Mindscape [Part 1]

Text descriptions with more details about whats going on below the cut!

Aka more descriptive stuff

Vio's eyes are closed as he focuses ignoring the sounds around him as he enters the realm of his spirit and mind. Opening his eyes they've gone back to their initial colour from first drawing the sword so long ago. Along with his eyes his clothing has shifted to that old tunic as well.

Looking at the forest around him he sighs a bit, then starts to walk the most visible path he can find.

Compared to the last time he did this there's many more trees around, but that could just be due to him not being clear minded lately. Either way Vio knows that something is wrong, and this was the way Farore recommended when he can't figure out what.

Thinking a bit he looks up seeming confused by how warm it was. More accustomed to his realm being slightly icy courtesy of Blue. "That's strange...It's warm this time"

"...Violet~..."

A very sudden voice causes Vio to turn in alarm, not having expected to have another there with him.

Looking back at him is a very bored and rather annoyed looking Vaati with his arms crossed.

Seeing him of all people irks Vio quite badly. Snapping a bit he remarks with disgust. "Why of all people are YOU here!!""

"Don't ask me Violet. I'd much rather not be here" Waving a hand the demon mage seems more bothered than anything.

"That didn't answer my question." Huffing Vio places a hand on his hip, surprisingly not afraid of Vaati's presence this time.

Bothered by that he retorts, "Yes it did!!"

Getting more aggitated by the moment he growls back. "NO, it did not!!!"

Not liking Vio's tone with him Vaati lets out a low snarl, curving his mouth into a frown. "𝙎𝙩��𝙥 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙑𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙩, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙮. 𝙊𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚"

"𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙊𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨?" Vaati narrows his eye at the hylian with icy malice.

Vaati having gone from semi-civil to snarling at him has Vio pause and think momentarily. Before snapping at the mage in anger again.

"YOU! YOU SWITCHED THE BOOK I WAS USING FOR THAT!!"

Scoffing at this line of thought Vaati seems more annoyed than anything. "Tch, I did no such thing. You're just making accusations now. To tell the truth; You never had the real one from the start. I know because I'm the one in possession of the true book, not you."

Mood suddenly flipping Vaati actually smiles at Vio waving a hand nonchalantly. "Anyhow, care to join me for some tea. We can think of ways to remove me from here. As your mind sucks to be inside. It's all trees and thoughts of your Beast (Blue) "

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT! IF ANYONE IS A BEAST IT'S YOU!!" At the vague insult to Blue, Vio finally loses his patience with Vaati. And lets loose his feelings with no fear towards the mage. "SCREW YOU AND SCREW YOUR TEA I DON'T WANT IT!! YOU ARE A PATHETIC, SAD, MASOCHISTIC, ASSHOLE!! WHY ARE YOU EVEN STAYING IF YOU HATE IT SO MUCH!!?"

[harus-simp]

Home, sweet home

-Taerae x reader-

Warning:none (fluffy fluff 😚)

Requested: hiii, do you think you could write a drabble about waking up with taerae and being all domestic ?? <3 (Anonymous)

Author's note: hey there anon, here's your drabble of taerae, so I hope you like it :))

Thank you so much for requesting <3

°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□°□

Spending the day inside with taerae after a long day celebrating his debut makes you realise how much you love him and how hard would it be for you to not have him in your life.

As the morning person you were, it was around 11 a.m almost and you were still sound asleep. The they before you and taerae had been out all day celebrating him getting 6th place on boys planet, so you were both exhausted from moving around a lot actually.

Shuffling on your bed made you a little bit more conscious, however you wanted to keep sleeping so you tried to for a couple of minutes until you started opening your eyes only to find your boyfriend staring at you with a sweet smile adorning his face.

"Morning sleepyhead"he said ruffling your hair softly as he was using his elbow as a support.

"Good morning"you told him hiding behind your blanket.

He laughed at your behaviour.

"How long have you been watching me?"you asked embarrassed.

"Don't know, I lost count"he said neutrally waiting for you to go out of your little fort.

"Ahhh, seriously, why are you like this???"you whined taking your blanket off you.

He ignored your question and grabbed your hand starting to pull you out of bed to stand up.

"C'mon we can't stay here forever, it's late"

You wanted to stay on bed but figured fighting wouldn't lead you anywhere so you just let him drag you to the kitchen in order to make breakfast.

As you made your way there you both thought of what you could have to eat. Yes at 11a.m, but you both were hungry so who are we to judge?

You finally decided to have something simple as pancakes..., yeah that was the idea because let's say it wasn't going that well.

"What are you doing taerae?"you shouted panick taking over you.

"Aren't you supposed to pour mik now?"

"Yes, but not that much!"😫😫😫

Yeah, so the pancakes didn't turn out that good but well, at least you were having fun together?

After that, you washed the dishes and took a shower because all the goofing around while cooking kinda made you both dirty due to all the flour flying around lol.

Right after that you guys started cleaning the apartment with background music which kinda was a mistake as well 💀💀💀 (you can't do shit without causing chaos, I think junhyeon has infected you lmao).

So instead of finishing everything in a short spam of time you took more time than you had plan and ended your work half an hour later that you had intended to.

Then tarae got the idea of interpreting you hot summer, but an acapella version of it with his guitar as you had requested him to sing days before the song, what can you say you wanted a little spoiler before the finale 🤭

He gathered all he needed and positioned himself to sing in a comfortable place.

As he started singing you were literally hypnotised by taerae's voice (who wouldn't actually), it was true that you had heard it before on the programme but hearing him in person was much better, he knew how to perfectly highlight his skills and you loved how he was able to just draw you in.

After he finished you clapped enthusiastically expressing your love for him and his vocals.

"You are so good taerae, you suit the concept a lot"you complimented him.

"Haha thank you"he said flashing you one of his characteristic smiles.

As you stared at him, you started to realise how lucky you were to have someone like him in your life, he was one the one you always seeked for his face in a crowd when you were meeting for a date, how your whole face and spirit lighted up when you felt his presence or even the heartache you had when you both needed to part ways was enough for you to understand that you wanted to keep him in your life forever.

"What are you thinking there?"he asked curiously as he saw you smiling unconsciously at him, looking directly into his eyes.

"Just how lucky and greatful I am to be your girlfriend" you answered, the smile not leaving your face.

In that precise moment he really felt how time stopped right there and you were the only thing that mattered to him.

You managed to make him so shy he couldn't even look at you back. You simply smiled wider and got closer to him.

"What?I really am"

He trapped you in his arms hugging you tightly and not intending to let go.

"I am more lucky, believe me"

And just like that you spended the rest of the day just being all lovey dovey and clingy 😙

°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 47 of Harrow the Ninth

Commander Wake's last thoughts, I guess? It's interesting that she could have chosen to save her own life by killing Gideon and didn't, especially since in the last chapter Mercy was talking about how she didn't care about family and didn't want to be a mother, and she doesn't seem like a motherly person, anyway, and she literally refers to Gideon as "the payload" here. Was Gideon's mere presence on Pluto meant to bring the plan to fruition somehow? Mercy definitely doesn't seem to think that worked out that way, but I don't know what Commander Wake was expecting to happen after she died, exactly

I'm not sure if he's trying to say here that she was haunted by a literal ghost, or haunted by a metaphorical ghost, or that going through that much bullshit fucks everyone up and she shouldn't be so hard on herself. Because I'm very interested to know if all those experiences were just due to her being haunted by literal ghost, personally

This is fun to contrast to Cytherea's recounting of this story back in Gideon the Ninth:

She makes it sound like they had some deep Seventh House heart-to-heart and Dulcinea was totally fine with this plan and didn't object to being killed at all. I love that we get to meet the real Dulcinea and find out that she does hate Cytherea just as much as everyone else does

Also, Harrow doesn't tell her this for some reason, but her lying about who her friends were did help Camilla figure it out, I think. Just not before she'd killed a bunch of people and Palamedes had figured it out by a different route

Who is she getting revenge on in this particular scenario, though? I don't think she really has a horse in this race. Cytherea is not here, John is not here, she doesn't have anything to do with Commander Wake and I don't think anyone in this scene actually knows who the Sleeper is at this point. Or does Dulcinea think that the Sleeper is Cytherea?

Is all the blood in the River bubble not actually real enough? Yes, it's all just a fake environment made of spirit, but like, other things in the bubble have been real enough to use for necromancy - the animal fat candles, or Harrow's bone chips, etc.

Does Harrow not recognize the suit? Gideon at least remembered the suit, but since Commander Wake's death wasn't actually all that relevant to Harrow and happened before she was born, maybe she was just never told about it. Did Wake then just randomly possess a sword that happened to be in the Ninth armory, and just by luck that sword was requested for Gideon? Only, when they were going through swords at the very beginning of Gideon the Ninth, all of them were old and rusted and unusable, so it would be probably somewhat remarkable for an actual good one to wind up in there, so maybe it does have some special history? Commander Wake almost certainly didn't actually have it on her when she died, she very much seems to prefer guns to gigantic swords

And Harrow always sensed that the sword was haunted, but Gideon never did, Gideon thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Is it just because Gideon has the necromantic ability of a brick, or did the sword being haunted by her mom actually draw her to it?

Is Harrow still interpreting her feelings about Gideon as just being like totally normal things to feel about you cavalier, and that's all that is, no romo, etc.?

It's definitely the sword

It's interesting that Wake calls them "wizards" and what they do "magic", you would think that BOE would really be playing up the evil necromancy angle here

So, I guess the ghosts can be killed permanently here, but since they're also imposing their own rules on the bubble, they can also survive things that should kill them in the real world with a strong enough belief, or will power, or something, like how Wake survived being shot multiple times by Marta?

This series sure does love long fights between people who technically can't die, I have to say it removes a lot of tension when so many people are immortal or otherwise unkillable

Can Wake actually exert her own rules on the bubble enough to make it possible to counter necromancy with guns?

I see. So Wake wants to take over Harrow's body, and presumably go kill John and end the whole war with a win for BOE. Or maybe she wants to resolve some shit with Mercy and Gideon the First as well, but I'm sure she also probably wants to kill John, and this book has been repeatedly promising that John will be murdered on every chapter header. I guess it was just perfect luck for Wake that the random sword she possessed wound up in Harrow's possession after she became a Lyctor and now she's on board the Mithraeum with everyone that Wake has unfinished business with?

I sense that Ortus is about to impose some hilarious new rule on the bubble, probably related to the Noniad

[maneaterwithtail]

Danny Phantom OCs and theories

Click to shrink...

Okay first off I don't know the physics of Danny Phantom I don't believe in its rules I'm just going to throw out ideas based on the creative Prospect.

Here's a question. What do you reckon would happen if a human had prolonged exposure to the Ghost Zone and, by extension, ectoplasm but there wasn't any sort of zapping involved?

I ask because I recently found some stuff I wrote for a fanfic idea I had years ago that involved a fairly benign ghost venturing through a natural portal, finding a war zone on the other side. Deciding that they didn't want to risk getting stuck there they hurried back to the portal but not before finding a little kid sleeping rough who due to a moment of well intentioned impulsiveness and a momentary lack of common sense they picked up and took back to the GZ. Said ghost's friend later repeatedly informed them that they were an idiot for doing so but by that time the portal had closed. So there's a human kid stuck in the GZ until another portal is found or another solution is figured out, which would probably take a while since the whole thing happened prior to the activation of the Fenton portal. I figure that that has got to have some sort of effect but I have no idea what.

Cross-post spacebattles..

Okay first off I don't know the physics of Danny Phantom I don't believe in its rules I'm just going to throw out ideas based on the creative Prospect.

The idea of being stuck in the Land of the Dead due to happenstance and of course eating the food they're leaving you changed forever is probably a classic. So I'm going to go with the idea that after the kid comes back they suffer from three issues. One they are highly malnourished to they ate something made out of ectoplasm but not all ectoplasm is made equal. Some of it is Tainted or altered based on ghosts or the environment. This particular aspect left them semi cursed. During the day they're considerably week and Wayne. During night they are healthier and stronger and at least when they were child they believed they could get a Nightwish. Usually this involved transforming themselves but they could also get themselves a power or what have you. But they had to make sure that they got back to bed where they made the wish Before Sunrise.

and finally let's go with a standard they become a medium

In particular whenever someone dies near them or ever something dies near them it's not 100% precise but it's more of a likelihood within the next three days the spirit is going to be attached to them. If they help them pass on then the process will be nourishing and fulfilling for both of them. If things just go on then they'll absorb them and the soul will go down very difficult.

I guess it's a combination a bleach and necroscope with whatever television show Ghost with the idea of a medium being a resolver of afterlife issues. They have to be relatively quick they can extend the 3-day cycle but the longer the more strained The Ghost and the medium. One of the benefits though is that they can take advantage of who they are attached to at the time. Drawing on skills and abilities and drawing from their own ectoplasm Reserves and eventual life force help manifest a ghost

Eventually Nightwish due to a combination of dealing with ghost is able to gather certain benefits or abilities and knowledge long-term. Perhaps they get an extended life span or a unique look. And of course they understand the psychology of ghosts and at least I've gone through and experienced a lot of the peculiarities of the ghost Zone. They aren't like super perfect but it's like a person who's always lived in a marina they understand the Sea and the weather

ultimately there's no direct conflict but this character isn't going to be quite like Danny. For one the tendency to eat ghost in order to maintain the equivalent of its ghost parts is going to bring it into some conflict. Remember this person is grown up being someone who helps resolve the recently deceased and Views doing so as well as eating them as a simple natural matter of course it's how they maintain themselves and their powers. They aren't even necessarily malicious about it. And they can even be remarkably even-handed whether dealing with a saint or a sinner who is recently died.

That doesn't change the fact that of course they're going to be tempted or able to eat Danny's ghost powers and aspect and what the effect of that will be.

[lee-hakhyun]

lee hakhyun thinks about his parents.

when he was young, he was asked to draw a picture with the theme of 'family'. at at the time, he had trouble drawing faces. when he tried to think of someone's face, only a blurred face came to mind.

instead of his parents, he drew himself standing under a deep dark sky. when he was asked why,

adding mtl here because my brain MELTED when i saw this scene. oh my godd. moving on

thinking back, it was due to his parents that he first wrote a novel. he asked, what's a novel? his mother told him that it's a story for the sake of world peace. if everyone just reads the story and talks about it, there would be no war or struggles. why? because the story is just fiction. for the world to be peaceful, everyone has to read novels. at first, lee hakhyun didn't understand. but as he grew up, he started to understand. being bullied for not avoiding his less liked friends, and when people talked about his parents,

「"I heard that Hakhyun-ie's parents are weird."」 「"Tsk, parents and child alike."」

people like stories. they exaggerate, distort, and create stories that don't even exist. enjoying watching someone's downfall in front of them. and then they forget about it. maybe that's when he started writing novels. instead of hating others, he'll write a story. he'll write a really interesting story and have the whole world talk about that, instead. that's how he wrote his story. rewriting it over and over again. and at 23, he made his debut.

he remembers the expression they made when they heard of his debut, and wrote his novel. the memory was hazy, but the emotion was vivid.

they looked sad.

lee hakhyun didn't understand. did he write something wrong? did something in the novel make them sad? he was confused, but his parents still hugged him. it's funny, thinking about it now. maybe they were worried about how he would make a living as a pure literature author. due to this, he met ji eunyu and became a web novel author, so maybe his parents' concerns were right.

ji eunyu was a patient and persistent editor. she corrected everything, and immediately pointed out anything strange with the characters. hundreds of manuscripts, and dozens of works overturned. he wrote, and she edited. their works piled up like that.

and one day, a story came to them. at their first success, even the level-headed ji eunyu couldn't hide her excitement. when they began to get paid, they sat side by side and read comments from readers. not all of them were good, of course, but they were in high spirits. maybe he felt the same way as kim dokja when he first became a constellation.

「“Editor-nim. By the way.”」 But why am I thinking about that day's story now. As Ji Eunyu advised, this kind of story can't go on for too long. 「“People keep asking me if I'm Kim Dokja. What do they mean?”」

-

waking up in darkness, lee hakhyun thinks that he had a dream about his parents and ji eunyu. he notices sys asleep next to him, and tries to remember what happened. he entered the dungeon, met shin yoosung, and helped her deal with the ancient nagak. using sentence enhancement to tame the nagak, being 'shin yoosung'... but he can't remember anything past that. a side effect of [incite], maybe? waking up sys, he suddenly feels a chill when he looks at her smiling face. he's confused, but the feeling goes away.

collecting the rewards, he gets the exclusive skill [nagak breathing], which allows him to survive on one breath for up to 30 minutes, and as a bonus for hunting the ancient nagak, he gets a horn that draws in enemies to one place. it's of no use to him, so he plans to give it to sein. his hair care personal scenario is also completed, and he'll get a special reward from swk if he offer the meat to him. swk requests the meat be cooked, and lhh says it'll take a few days.

while he was thinking about how to offer the meat, sys gets up. she thanks him, and he asks if she's going back to the original group. at her hesitant yes, he pushes and asks if that's what she really wants. she flounders a bit, until lhh clearly asks if she wants to join him. she looks down, and says that he doesn't know what kind of person she is. even without [omniscient reader's viewpoint], he could read what was going on her head. he says that he does know what sys is like. the shin yoosung of <kim dokja's company>. he's written, and read, many sentences about her. but.. that wouldn't be fair to her. the one in front of him isn't the 3rd sys, but the 41st. the disaster of floods. who became kim dokja's daughter, reborn as a dokkaebi.

it's all a story that hasn't happened yet. so this shin yoosung in front of him right now, is someone that he doesn't know. so now, he can only promise that he trusts her despite not knowing who she is. and in turn, she trusts him.

"...I think I can trust ahjussi too." [The character 'Shin Yoosung' shows a strong trust toward you.]

she asks about his group, to which he replies that he's a king. and retreats a couple steps, shaking. lhh can tell what the 'king' of the last group was like. he reassures her, which would probably be more persuasive if he didn't have cheon inho's appearance. she joins anyway, and they decide to enter the hidden dungeon. he hadn't seen any kings in the museum nor the nagak dungeon, so they must be in the dungeon.

by the way, this is the 41st turn that wasn't recoded in wos. the 'disaster of floods' who destroyed chronos won't appear, so who will?

entering the 'big dipper' hidden chapter, he thinks of the scene that will show up. the spacious waiting room, and the seven doors at the end of the room, where the star jewels are.

but as he appears in the waiting room, something's different. there's only one door. the scenario has changed.