#NOT when she appeared herself. That time portal is connected to her introduction.
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fabuloustrash05 · 7 months ago
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Looking back on THIS POST of mine, I talked about how the female characters in TMNT 2012 get established as love interests first before establishing their characters, comparing it to how Mona Lisa gets more time to establish her character first before being established as a love interest.
To further prove this little "theory", I looked back on all the girls introduction scenes and timed them, to see how long their introduction lasted before being establishing as a romantic interest.
Keep in mind these are the numbers I personally got when conducting this "study", it may not be fully accurate but a good estimate.
April - 14.95 seconds
Karai - 11.51 seconds
Renet - 25.50 seconds to 1 minute & 26 seconds
There's two because it's up for interpretation. Mikey's first glance at her doesn't fully tell the audience he's crushing on her, more hinting at it, but the second he starts actually flirting with her makes it abundantly clear.
Mona Lisa - 2 minutes & 53 seconds
Shinigami - 1 minute & 22 seconds
It may actually be shorter, but I began her timer when April started to "sense" her presence.
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nerdycolorcupcake · 3 years ago
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So, to start the post abt the episode "clouds on the horizon spoiler warning for safety bc i have a lot of my own personal highlights (and a bit of a rant too) to unpack here
-For the Collector and Belos near the portal scene;
I'm neutral over either the collector as a character but i kinda have a feeling that they have no idea of the kind of deal they agreed to
-Odalia being a bitch to her entire family for the sake of envy hits too close to home
i´m most certain he ain´t gonna have a good time when the spell happen, and even then he believes so much in Belos promise it´s almost so sad, they feel like just a kid that wants to play but doesn´t know the full extent of their actions, nor the person they made a deal with, even though they´ve been around each other for quite a while, he still have doubts over their "friendship", as is shown once again with King making a connection with the Collector
Tbh, i do not enjoy the 'luz being possessed by the collector' theory but then again it does seem to be the route they're taking by Luz deciding to confront Belos herself to avoid having her friends hurt
at least it's better than having the main protagonist straight up die-
Honestly i was surprised that she wasn´t homophobic, but god did i wanted to burn her to the pyre after all the stunt she pulled and saying Luz wasn´t a suitable partner to Amity BITCH PLEASE
AND THE FACT THAT SHE KNEW BELOS PLAN ALL ALONG AND STILL WERE HELPING HIM GENOCIDE HER KIND OMG SHE IS JUST AS SELFISH AS HIM GO MARRY HIS UGLY ASS INSTEAD YOU BITCH
DIVORCE ARC IS A REALITY!
-Kikimora obsessed with Hunter;
Yeah... that happened, also really funny how she got miserable after the last time she appeared, and desperate too jesus, she is so annoying, but my hate goes more to Odalia and Belos, i despise them more (especially odalia bc she hits waaay too close to home as a toxic mother)
And yeah she end up taking Luz instead of Hunter bc of the illusion trick WELL SHIT-
-Luz´s egg palisman;
Welp, looks like it wil remain a mystery what she got, but honestly it makes sense, it´s so many good options and whatever that will be her choice will only happen after everything is over, she grew so much in the show and i´m honestly proud of her for maturing and growing and being more in touch with herself, but she indeed needs time to reafirm who she really wants to be
-Alador being a dad for once;
Always had a good feeling abt him ever since his introduction, so glad i was right, he finally taking a stance against Odalia and supporting his daughter endeavors and apologizing to luz AAAAAAAAAAAAH OMG HE WAS DOING SO GOOD IN THE FIGHT SCENES TOO! DUDE'S FUCKING DESTROYED THE FABRIC JUST TO SHOW HE IS DONE WITH ODALIA SHIT AAAAAAAAAH
So nice to see that the tomato face runs in the father part of the family (probably bc i enjoy deadbeat dads trying to redeem themselves after being unintentionally neglectful idk it's just such a good trope when done right)
-For LUMITY KISS;
Yes they FUCKING kissed and the animation went all smooth there and *chef kiss* delightful!
I just screamed and cried of happiness! FINALLY!! The girls deserve to show some love to one another one last time before the shit would blow
-More Huntlow crumbs :3
Hunter disguised as Luz going full protective mode on Willow + Willow going feral at Kiki and stopping her attack when Hunter was threatened + Willow desperate to go after them not knowing abt the switcheroo-
Huntlow shippers *nod nod* i see y'all going bananas too :3
-Hunter and Luz keeping secrets together
Me and my brother are in this scene and we didn't liked it WHERE ARE THE CAMERAS DANA?!
In all seriousness this is the first time both Hunter and Luz had a heart to heart to talk abt the events of hollow mind and both agreeing to keep each other secrets
(This is totally not gonna bite them in he back later yep mhm)
Plus Luz being protective of Hunter when Kiki threatened him ✨
Anyways that's it for now
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w00wzerz · 3 years ago
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🚃Ticket back to Life🚃
(All that matters in Titans s3 ep 9)
There is so much to talk about, so without further ado, lets get into it!
The episode begins with a seemingly defeated Bruce scanning over his will for a few seconds - hinting at the fact that he will harm himself or is planning to soon move on to the “other side.”
At this moment I had crinkled my bag of Doritos, placed them in the crack of my lap and sat in silence for a few seconds. My mind was working overtime to try and piece together just what the hell was going on. These were my initial thoughts: I would like to sincerely apologize to Dick Grayson and Jason Todd for ever having to put up with Bruce Wayne’s crazy ass. The man is coo coo, he’s unhinged! He’s deranged!
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However, upon further evaluation of the scene, I came to the realization that this was simply Bruce’s call for help. He had lived his entire life by attempting to mask his pain, using anything in the book to deter his emotions. Until one day, he ultimately settled on taking in kids who he presumed had developed under similar circumstances.
What Bruce failed to realize is that playing the role of a parent is an upmost emotionally draining task - just ask my mother… By raising his own kids with a shit ton of baggage he would also be signing up to mountain theirs atop his own, crafting an incredibly unstable terrain that would inevitably come crashing down.
Now we know where Dick and Jason get their compartmentalism from.
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Moving on to my girl Rachel in Themiscyra! You know things are pretty bad when Rachel starts to complain about training too much, seeing as that was all she ever did over at Titans tower.
However, it seems that her hard work has paid off as she has awakened a heightened sense of urgency in her movements - her coordination skills have also improved significantly, as shown below.
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Such a badass scene! ☀️
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Upon their very first introduction, it is safe to say that Donna establishes an instant connection with the terrified kid who jumped from the train - Tim Drake. It could be the gravitational pull and familiarity with his fear that peaked her interest because of how similar it was to her own, or she could’ve just wanted to make sure that he was okay. And I am willing to bet on ALL OF IT.
Secondly can we all just take a minute to celebrate Donna’s long awaited return! I have never been more excited for the revival of a character. Now Kory can finally have some grown up friends 🥂
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After Tim and Donna linger for a-bit in the woods, they meet up with none other than Hank himself. Of course he would be the one to appear out in the middle of nowhere, in an old fashioned car after his death. I wouldn’t have accepted it any other way.
I also have to admit that I was pretty psyched to see Hank again. Do not quote me on this, but a tiny piece of me had missed his annoyingly snarky ass.
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Was anyone else feeling some serious 21 jump street vibes from this lttle road trip scene? No… just me? Okay.
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Once they’re all familiar with one another Hank begins to take a subtle interest in Tim. As my senses began tingling once more, the pieces had somehow found their way together. Despite the tough ass persona he displayed for the other members of the Titans, Hank has always had a soft spot for kids. Which would also explain why he was killed by Jason in the first place - because he thought he could save Jason from himself. A part of him still feels like an idiot for falling for the false vulnerability that was expressed by Jason on the phone that day.
And no I wasn’t crying at Hank’s farewell, you were 🥲
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I was disappointed at first after treading on the idea that they would all return back together. But after viewing Hank’s reunion with his brother, I think it’s safe to say that I’m pretty glad that he decided not to miss out on that drastic part in his journey. Plus who knows, maybe another portal will open again after a few years and they’ll both be back to kick some ass. 🤷🏽‍♀️
Below is another example of Donna’s rocky, yet emotional connection between herself and Tim. And I say rocky because it doesn’t seem that she even realizes it herself, but she loves my little Tim baby!
Tim just has a way of interacting with folks that evokes a sense of urgency to protect him. I also believe that it must be fate that is drawing them all towards each other, especially when taking into account that Tim has practically met almost every member of the Titans dead or alive - by accident.
As you can see below, a teary eyed Donna watches as young Tim fades away into obscurity from her very own finger tips.
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And as his body slowly disintegrates she makes it her mission to assure him that he is fact not a coward and that above everything else, he is a hero in her eyes. Now if that doesn’t get the waterworks flowing, I don’t know what will.
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————————————
A recurring theme that I’ve noticed throughout the past three episodes is the current writers obsession with fire.
Fire = destruction. 🔥
Even as Bruce set a flame to Wayne’s manor he intended to destroy not only his home, but as well as himself along with it. Could fire represent what is to come in the near future for the Titans? Or am I sipping too much gatorade? I guess we’ll have to wait and see folks. Until next time! ✨😙💜
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beautifulletdownfics · 4 years ago
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Terrible to Meet You - A Harry Styles One Shot - Act 2, Let not the time discern
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Harry wants to get out of the house. Alex wants to get home.
Alex meets Harry at at crossroads. Harry meets Alex on a one way street.
A coffee shop OU fic feat. lattes, lamingtons & that Great Unfathomable Feeling.
Story Page Here My Masterlist Here
Read Act 1, If at first we meet Here
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Two of Us:  'This universe ain't big enough to keep us apart'
&&&
Harry went back to the cafe the next day. (And, after that, every day for a medium while)
There was something about it. Something about the tiny cafe he must have walked past a hundred times before but never took much notice of. Perhaps it was the way he felt the rest of the day after having been there. Or the fact the coffee was fucking good. But also maybe it was her—kind eyes, a foreign accent and a quick wit. It would take Harry's mind and body marginally longer than his heart to recognise what pulled him there. 
Alex was surprised when he returned. Part of her was relieved, too. The other part of her was busy extracting the dagger of guilt that shot through her chest. Seeing Harry reminded her that she forgot to tell her flatmates the juicy The Daily Dose gossip about Harry Styles. And Harry walking up to the window a little before 8 am with a calm but reassuring smile on his face made something in her still, and Alex realised he wasn't gossip at all. 
"Hi," he greeted her pleasantly, seemingly thinking nothing of the way his hand was tucked into the top of his running shorts to extract his phone for payment. (Alex's heart did a lusty little backflip) She saw a slither of a toned tummy and the way the elastic of the shorts folded over itself, "I'm back for more," he said.
More coffee, and more of whatever else it was packaged into the takeaway cups with it. Alex and Paul were Harry's first human interaction after returning from LA. And, where 24 hours prior his aching need had been to see literally anybody, it was now just a need to see more of this somebody. A person whose name he didn't know yet and who Harry had absolutely no reason to feel connected to at all. Knitted hearts aren't visible to the human eye, not when it isn't Looking.
He did though. Although the way she was now watching him with a completely blank expression on her face and a far off look in her eyes made Harry's confidence falter. He repeated what he'd already said over in his head looking for where he might've gone wrong. Harry came up blank. Was she completely freaked out by him already?
Paul rescued her from what Alex was sure was turning into a flushed moment for her. Did Harry really not realise what he'd said with his fingers beyond the elastic of his shorts? Paul's head appeared over her shoulder as a frown started to appear on Harry's face, "Careful Harry, she's a grump today."
Nobody blinked an eye at Paul using Harry's name before it was technically given to them. 
"I am not," Alex insisted too quickly, too forcefully. Her elbow launched backwards, trying to catch Paul's gut. She really was a grump. But last night's wine was still causing her head to thump and her throat to ache. Tears and a bottle of red worked well in the moment but weren't as comforting the morning after. 
Paul's eyebrows rose in Harry's direction, and he waved a hand out in front of him, expertly weaving away from her attack even in the tiny space, "See?"
"Ah," Harry nodded awkwardly and briefly looked at his feet.
"Doesn't like it when I start talking about universe stuff," Paul explained loudly, despite nobody asking for him to. "Very spiritually pragmatic, the Australians."
"Didn't know that," Harry added, expression turning to one of interest. He wasn't involved in this part of the conversation the previous day.
"Long black?" Alex asked because yes she remembered his order, and she had the defence of it having been less than 24 hours since she last made Harry's coffee in case anyone started raising eyebrows for another reason.
"Uh, yeah," Harry fumbled over how quickly the exchange turned to business, "Thank you."
She got to work but felt Harry's eyes on her as her hands ran on autopilot, stepping through the process. The click click of the bean hopper, the churn of the grinder, packing the head … Alex put the machine on to run and internally cursed Paul, who took himself into the back room, mumbling something about them running low on serviettes. A blatant lie. 
Now, when she turned back to Harry, she tried to look calm and serene, like him. But she was already covered in coffee grind and couldn't be sure there wasn't a smudge of it across her face. Paul never told her when there was. Harry's heart was waving to hers widely.
"So … You're definitely not in a bad mood then?" Harry had an expression on his face that told Alex he was testing the waters, but the teasing note was there in just the right amount. 
"I'm hungover, which is completely different," she provided.
His smile turned into a grimace, "Oh yeah, completely … Nothing worse … Self-inflicted misery."
Alex tried not to let Harry's awkwardness affect her and in doing so fell into an old pastime of hers; filing the silence with mindless chatter, "Exactly. And then if you add in some idiot going on about the universe and it's wonderful, eternal plans for my existence … I could just kill a man, you know?"
Paul, Paul is the man I could kill, she thought.
He didn't know, but Harry nodded obediently anyway, "You need carbs and coffee, not the cosmos."
"Thank you," Alex gave Harry a look that told him she thought it was obvious the two of them were right, "I mean, the downright gall of that man, trying to put the universe on me this year of all years. Absolutely bloody insane."
Harry tried to hide the instant smile that came to his face hearing her accent navigate absolutely bloody insane. "I'm Harry … By the way … Feel like we're at names."
"Alexandra. But it's Alex." She added quickly, ignoring the lovely, melodic chuckle that came from Harry, "Do you really think that this year, with a global pandemic, anyone can claim that the universe is conspiring for their specific good? Like, 'Sorry everyone about the pandemic, this is really about my destiny, so you're all just going to have to hang tight while that all falls into place!' This is a terrible year. The universe isn't setting up shit."
"Well, it's terrible to meet you, Alex," Harry grinned, stealing her word. She really was in a grump, and he loved it. But if there was one thing Harry knew how to do, it was charm and disarm. He had a feeling nothing would look as lovely as Alex with a blush he'd put there. 
Alex paused where she was about to put the lid on his coffee. She felt her cheeks heat as the last few moments played over in her head—her ranting, Harry's introduction, threatening to murder a man—and then she took in the way he was watching her. A little pink-cheeked himself, amused but not appalled, a waiting look of anticipation on his face for what might come out of her big mouth next. 
"I think I might still be a little drunk," she excused meekly. Despite herself, Alex thought she might have a little crush.
"You're handling it well," Harry provided kindly, taking the coffee from where Alex put it down in front of him. He waved his phone over the payment portal, waiting for the beep before locking the screen and going back to looking at her, "Drinking for any particular reason?"
"Oh," Alex's eyes widened, "I—
—"Sorry, that was intrusive of me."
"No, it's okay," she continued quietly, not seeing the way her softening had Harry frowning in concentration to tune into what she was about to say, "I've been trying to get home—back to Australia—for a while now. Flights keep getting cancelled or, on Saturday, I was bumped from one at Heathrow…. So we're back to square one."
Dread filled Harry instantly. He could see how upset Alex was, the heartache in her voice—the homesickness—and he hated this look on her, the opposite to the one he'd just daydreamed about. If there was one thing Harry knew it was what it was to miss home. There was no cure for it. A dozen ways he could offer to help burst to the tip of his tongue, but he held them back. 
"I'm sorry, that's really shit. Have …" he hesitated to ask, "Have they put you on another one?"
She smiled through glassy eyes, "It's complicated, that's not really how flights home are working at the moment … But it's alright! I'm fine. I'll get there eventually. I got the refund for the first one, back in April, last week and Paul's let me come back to work here three times now so … This can't last forever, right?"
Harry didn't have an answer for that, he was in no hurry to return to his house as he took a sip of his coffee, "How long has it been since you were home?"
"I went back for a visit a little over two years ago," Alex flipped a button on the espresso machine in front of her, to distract herself from the subject but also the way Harry was watching her. If only she could see the way the hearts were watching each other. She started rinsing out her coffee mug under the stream of boiling water, "My sister came over for Christmas last year, though."
"I just got back from America," Harry provided without knowing where the urge to comfort this stranger was coming from, "I was only gone a few months, and it was a little hard to get back, it felt dreadful, so I can't imagine what it's like for you. That's a long time to be so far from home, especially now."
While he spoke, Alex started making herself a latte, for something to do in the moment and for something to hold onto if Harry stayed at the window. 
"How long have you been in London?" He asked. How long have you been just around the corner? Harry thought. 
When she looked over at him, Harry felt like she was seeing through him. There was something about her soft, brown eyes and the way they exuded kindness that had him buoyant with giddiness at the same time as feeling incredibly self-conscious. 
"Four years now," Alex told him, "Was supposed to be just a 12-month adventure."
"Your family must miss you then."
She shrugged, "I think they're used to it now. Life moves on without you, which is strange at first. Tough to get used to, that the people who own you suddenly have lives you only know about from catch-ups and Instagram posts."
Harry didn't know how to tell her that he knew exactly what she meant. He'd been struggling with that very notion for years now. Home never left like the same home he remembered, and wherever he found himself living—LA or the road—never quite felt right either. 
"I've loved it though," Alex added, "Wouldn't have stayed if I didn't. This year though … I just want to be home, London's… Lost something."
Harry watched her shake herself out of the sad moment, her face brightened, and he barely registered the way Alex said in a genuinely upbeat fashion that she'd just have to wait for her time. He smiled along with the rising of her cheeks and felt like he saw a transition between two feelings that was entirely healthy and okay. She wasn't pretending. Her graciousness and patience with life were astounding, despite the fact he'd equally seen her sadness as being genuine as well. The balance there was enlightening. 
"Need to make the most of the bonus time you've been given here then," he tried hesitantly. The hearts nodded at each other, gleefully. 
That had been the right thing to say, the smile on Alex's face amplified in agreement, "Exactly.”
3AM 'She's got a little bit of something' &&&
Alex was sitting on an upturned milk crate as Harry rounded the corner. 
His step faltered but only because she was looking right at him as if expecting him to arrive. He smiled under his mask and tugged it down while he was still a reasonable distance away. Alex smiling at him, holy hell did that taste—the flavour of her spirit—feel good in Harry's chest. Each day for nearly a month he'd felt the same way every time he saw her.
Alex received a text message from Harry just after 7 am that morning. Unlike the ones he sent every other day telling her he was on his way (an old fashioned tip from his sister, to demonstrate to Alex that Harry was thinking of her) that morning Harry told her he wouldn't see her until the afternoon. All day, she waited. Her heart tapped its foot impatiently in her chest, a nervous ticking that made Alex clumsy and disappointed when every new customer wasn't him.
"Hello," Harry grinned back at her, because that was all he could do, really. In her presence happiness exploded out of him and charged his whole body faster than caffeine ever could. His shoe scuffed the concrete path again as he looked at the closed cafe behind her, "Did I miss something?"
Harry stopped a safe distance from her, not sure how this new level of interaction would go. He'd never seen her whole body all at once, part of her was always obscured by the cafe window. Alex in the flesh—in the whole—was like the first taste of chilli on his tongue, invigorating in a way that stole the breath from his lungs.
"We close at three every day," she stayed seated but pushed another crate towards him with her foot. There were brown smudges of coffee grind all up and down her shins, and he guessed the black jeans she wore to work were strategic.
Harry squinted the sign on the window by the door, he was always occupied by her and didn't need arbitrary activities like reading signs to keep him entertained waiting for his coffee, "Really?"
"You usually come in the morning," Alex said pleasantly, waiting for him to sit down opposite her, "Here."
Harry was overwhelmed, he really was, by the sight of a white takeaway cup in her hand, and he reached for it carefully, "What's this—Alex."
"Can't have you missing your coffee … Made it right before closing, had to put the tiniest drop of milk in there otherwise it would shit itself and taste horrendous," she laughed at his wrinkled nose at the mention of milk, he sniffed the lid just to tease her or to get her to roll her eyes at him blithely. It worked, "It won't kill you, promise."
"Says someone whose intestines know how to handle lactose without making you shit yourself," he borrowed her phrase. Sounded better when Alex said it, with the wideness and the breadth of her accent. 
Alex tilted her head back and laughed. Really laughed and Harry didn't have it in him to be embarrassed or scold himself for how he just spoke about his bowels in front of her, because the sound is marvellous and so Alex. It's unapologetic and genuine and a touch off-beat, which he loves. 
"Holy shit," she let out a long, shaking breath afterwards, holding a palm to her rib as if in pain. She was pretending not to notice how Harry stared at her while she was laughing as if extremely happy with himself. "You wear white bottoms far too often for that to be a daily worry for you."
"Oh, it's a worry," Harry insisted, mainly to keep the joke going. He felt like his face was about to crack in half, "I can't have people spiking my coffees without my knowledge," Harry took a sip but then pointed his finger at her playfully, "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you."
As if he wasn't already.
"Busy day?" Alex asks, watching Harry take a hearty sip of the coffee she made him.
"Yeah, I um … I had some, ah, work stuff."
"Oh?" Alex crossed one leg over the other and looked at Harry with (mock) interest, "What do you do for work?"
Harry's eyes bulged involuntarily, and his mind went completely blank. Did she actually not know? 
Alex only let the horror play on his face for a few seconds, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Jesus, Harry, sorry. I was just having a go."
"You're an excellent actress, as it turns out," he swallowed down the moment of panic. It only ever happened once before, years before, that a girl he'd been interested in hadn't known who Harry was beforehand. It hadn't ended up going down well.
Alex asks Harry about the book recommendation she sent him the week before, whether he'd started reading it yet. 
Harry held up a finger at her, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, "But I haven't had lunch … I'd promised myself one of Paul's ham and cheese croissants."
"Well, you're shit out of luck, unfortunately," Alex told him, "He takes the keys with him, I can't break in and make you one. But the cafe on the high street around the corner stays open until five. You could try there?"
Harry felt like he was about to defecate himself, but it wasn't from the lactose, "Will you join me?"
Alex's eyes brightening instantly, but Harry didn't miss the way her cheeks reddened, "Sure. Of course."
"Great!" Harry coughed down his too-enthusiastic response then worried—as everyone did in 2020—that his physical reaction to her saying yes, the cough, would be interpreted as a symptom of something else entirely. He checks the time on his Apple Watch, "Should we go then?"
They walk in step away from The Daily Dose, and away from the previous pattern of their friendship. It strikes them both that this is the first time (both trip over 'first' in their minds as having the possibility to suggest it happening more often but their hearts have known all along, of course) they were out in the world together, the first time they were more than barista and customer.
Harry's hand touched Alex's forearm when they got to the cafe's door as he held it open and encouraged her to go inside. They ordered takeaway, Harry got a croissant (he was still working on the coffee Alex made him) while Alex ordered a tea. They then walked back a little way to where there was a small park with vacant seats Harry noticed on the way past. 
"So, the book …" Alex asked him, the lid of her tea is off to let the heat escape. She’d crossed her legs and angled her hips towards him on the bench seat. Harry faced forward, heart hammering as he tried to remember how to use his voice.
Harry struggled to look dignified while biting into his too-hot croissant, the cheese burnt his lip, but he tried to hide it, "Oh, yeah, well, I haven't started it."
"I thought you said you wanted to speak to me about it!" She laughed.
"A ploy," Harry admitted sheepishly, "Was trying to figure out how to ask you to come with me."
In her head, Alex squealed. Her heart held two thumbs up at Harry's.
"How's the coffee," she asked, eyeing the cup in his hand.
Harry grins, knowing his next line is a winner, "Best in London, easily."
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GIve me all your best Alex & Harry theories Act 3, Hearts beat not fail - coming soon!
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darks-ink · 4 years ago
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Ephemeral
Prompt: Tucker Ghouly thought this was going to be a good, peaceful day. That thought is crushed when not one, not two, but three portals open, depositing the halfa versions of his two best friends (and his best friend’s sister?) into this world. Why are they here? And how are they going to return to their home worlds? Prompt by: @bibliophilea Word count: 4,175
[AO3] [FFN] [more Phic Phight fics]
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“This patrol has been very calm,” Tucker muttered, raising himself higher in the air like that would reveal some sort of hidden ambush. “Suspiciously calm.”
“Don’t jinx us,” Danny grumbled, rolling his eyes. One of his hands wandered to the ecto-gun hidden under his black jacket.
Something in Tucker’s chest seized—his core, he knew instantly—and he jerked to a halt. So did both of his friends, coming to a stand-still a step behind him. A green spark flickered in front of them.
“Too late,” Sam grunted, pulling her own small ecto-gun out of its holster. “This one is on you, Tuck.”
“When isn’t it?” he bit back, but lit up his fists with roiling violet ectoplasm anyway. Whatever this was, whether it would be hostile or not, he was ready.
The spark spluttered, and for a moment it seemed to extinguish entirely. Then, with a terrible ripping sound—a sound which seemed to echo in Tucker’s very core—the green extended, like a tear through reality.
A portal into the Ghost Zone.
The surface of the portal wavered, then parted way as a single humanoid ghost stumbled through. Literally stumbled through, feet on the ground, almost tripping on the edge of the portal as it immediately closed behind the ghost.
And then the noise came again, and then a third time, as two more portals opened up, just to the side of where the first had been. And, again, the portals both released a single humanoid ghost before immediately closing again.
“What the hell,” Danny muttered behind him, and Tucker could only heartily agree. At least he didn’t seem to be the only one confused by the going-ons, as the first ghost to stumble through was also watching the newcomers.
Or he had been, because the ghost’s gaze had snapped towards Tucker—and more importantly, Danny—when his friend had spoken.
Bright green eyes blinked at the two of them, and Tucker was struck with a sense of familiarity. It took him an embarrassingly long moment to see through the glowing eyes, the innate difference in appearance caused by the mild glow of a ghost, before he could place the face.
The ghost was an exact copy of Danny. Or, more accurately, of a hypothetical ghost version of Danny, since his hair was as white as Tucker’s was in his ghost form, and his usual blue eyes replaced with green.
He ripped his eyes away from Danny’s ghostly doppelganger to look at the other two ghosts, and felt his stomach flip. One of them was undeniably Sam’s copy, with white hair and vivid cyan eyes. The other took him a moment longer to place, before he realized she looked like a younger version of Danny’s sister Jazz.
“Huh,” Sam mumbled, stepping up to Tucker’s other shoulder. All three ghosts’ eyes followed the movement. “This is… odd.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” the ghostly version of Danny said. Despite the echo, his voice was undeniably Danny’s. “So, uh. I guess none of you were responsible for the creation of that portal?” He paused, looking over his shoulder at the other two ghosts. “Or, those portals, since there were multiple?”
“Definitely not,” Tucker confirmed, and let the ectoplasm gathering in his fists sizzle out. None of the ghosts seemed hostile, and he didn’t really feel much for fighting his friends’ duplicates.
“I didn’t do it either,” the young Jazz said, her golden eyes narrowed and her purple hair flickering violently in a manner that reminded Tucker uncomfortably of Ember.
“Me neither,” Sam’s doppelganger piped up, crossing her arms. “So, Danny, you up to something?”
Ghostly Danny flinched and pulled a face that Tucker immediately placed as guilty. “Uhhh…”
“Why is my ghost version a disaster?” Danny loudly complained, leaning against Tucker’s shoulder now that he had—without noticing it himself—come low enough to the ground for Danny to reach.
“Just be glad that he’s wearing black,” Sam put in, leaning around Tucker’s other side to watch her own ghostly copy. “Since apparently everyone else has been forced into brightly colored jumpsuits.”
“Stop dodging the point,” the younger Jazz snapped, before whirling around to her ghostly brother. “What did you do, big brother?”
“Big brother?” both Danny’s echoed, eyeing her. When she growled, the ghostly Danny raised his hands placatingly and added on, “I didn’t— Okay, I might’ve, but I didn’t mean to!”
“Illuminating,” Sam’s ghostly double muttered, shaking her head. “Please stop dodging around the point, Danny.”
Luminescent green eyes rolled as Danny’s copy lowered his hands again. “Okay, so I might have been trying to open a portal to the Ghost Zone. I was just trying to reach a friend!”
“And you somehow missed catastrophically,” Sam concluded, now also leaning on Tucker. He was starting to feel slightly used. “You know what? That checks out.”
“Wow,” Danny muttered, pressing a hand against his chest. “I’m hurt, Sam. Right in my poor black heart.”
“Okay, that’s enough out of you three!” Jazz snarled, her glow flickering brighter for a moment before it settled again. “That explains how Danny got here, but what about us?” She gestured at herself and Sam’s ghostly version. “Why are Sam and I here?”
“The connection between Danny’s world and this one must’ve destabilized something.” Sam’s ghost frowned, brows drawing together in thought. “Or maybe something about how he reached for a friend drew us in too?”
All five of them looked at the ghostly Danny, whose shoulders slowly but steadily climbed up to his ears.
“Sorry?” he said, sounding uncertain. “Uh. Whoops?”
Danny snorted, then shook his head. “Maybe we should move somewhere a little more private while we figure this out, since it doesn’t seem like you folks are intent on causing trouble.”
“We can go to my place, since we actually have a shot at privacy there,” Sam offered, stepping away from Tucker. “The three of us will need to go through the front door. Can I assume you three can find the way to the greenhouse yourselves?”
Sam’s ghostly double raised an eyebrow, then grinned. “Yeah, I think I can manage that. We’ll be right there.”
“Just know that if you don’t show up, we will hunt you down,” Danny threatened, holding a single finger in their direction. “You’re not safe just because you look like us.”
“Yeah, yeah, we hear you loud and clear,” Danny’s double replied, waving him off almost casually. “Get going.”
They went.
---
By the time Tucker, Sam, and Danny made it to Sam’s greenhouse, the three ghosts had already arrived. True to expectations, Sam’s double was checking out the plants. The other two, ghostly Danny and Jazz, seemed to be frowning at each other.
Tucker cleared his throat the moment he stepped inside, ignoring the way his core pulled in his chest. He had very little experience dealing with ghosts while human, and felt distinctly disarmed. If they attacked, he would need precious moments to transform.
But that was if they attacked, which he highly doubted.
“Oh,” ghost Danny said, with a tone of heavy understanding. “We’re all half-ghosts, then. That makes sense.”
“Does it?” Tucker muttered, only halfheartedly venomous. “No, I guess it does. Can we start with introductions?”
Jazz nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. “There is too much overlap in the names, I think. Should all half-ghosts go by our ghost names, then? Since I assume we all have one?”
The half-ghost version (apparently?) of Sam turned away from the plant she’d been looking at. “I’m Manes, then. And can I just say that this is a damn impressive greenhouse.”
“Thanks,” the actual Sam answered with a snort and a pleased smile. “It’s a good place to hide away from my parents.”
Half-ghost Danny shook his head, the expression on his face somewhere between hurt and cheered. His Sam must be the same about plants, then. “I’m Phantom.”
“Specter,” half-ghost Jazz chipped in, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Tucker kind of got it. Somehow, they all went with a similar theme on names, yet lacked overlap entirely. “I went with Ghouley, but considering that I’m the only Tucker around, you can just call me Tucker.”
“Where is your sense of camaraderie, Tuck?” Phantom asked, grinning impishly. “We’re all in this together, aren’t we?”
“So it seems,” he allowed with a grumble, rolling his eyes. “Am I supposed to shift to my ghost form as well, or are you all gonna shift back to human, or…?”
The other three exchanged brief glances before Manes shrugged, a ring of white light forming around her waist. The light swept away cyan eyes and a green suit, leaving her in a rather generic shirt and skirt combo, the same green and purple he knew from his own Sam, and her usual purple eyes blinking back at him.
Phantom huffed but followed her, letting his own transformation wash away the black jumpsuit and green eyes, replacing them with a white and red shirt and ordinary jeans, sky blue eyes like the Danny right behind Tucker.
With the other two transformed, Specter rolled her eyes but also shifted, her golden eyes turning teal and her purple ponytail coming down to cascade red hair over her shoulders—just like the Jazz Tucker knew, if a little younger.
“So they are all half-ghosts,” Danny jibed, gesturing at the three… the three alternate versions of his friends. And Jazz. “That’s good to know.”
“This was a test?” Phantom asked, raising his own eyebrow and looking eerily like Danny. Tucker was kind of starting to wish he had just shifted back to his ghost form for this. “I guess that that’s fair. I don’t think I would’ve trusted it either, if I was in your shoes.”
“Okay, not this isn’t nice and all,” Specter interrupted, sounded not at all sorry for doing so, “but can we please focus on the whole”—she gestured around them—“this thing?”
“She has a point,” Sam allowed, stepping further into the greenhouse. “We’re still working on the assumption that Phantom somehow did this?”
The boy in question made a face but didn’t deny it. “I was just trying to open a portal. I don’t know how it went this wrong!”
“Was this your first time opening a portal?” Manes asked, leaning forward with an expression of curiosity on her face. “If so, what made you so certain you could do it?”
“I’ve seen a future version of myself do it,” Phantom explained with a dismissively casual shrug. “I managed at least one of the other powers I saw him do, so I figured portal making wasn’t out of the question either.”
Tucker felt himself frown at that. He’d seen a future version of himself? Sure, the three of them had run into all sorts of weird ghost stuff, but that? That wasn’t something he was familiar with.
It seemed he wasn’t the only one, because Manes also frowned. Specter, it seemed, did recognize the events, if vaguely, because she nodded understandingly.
“I’ve seen something similar,” she allowed. “But I never successfully opened a portal, either, despite what I’ve seen her do.”
“Weird.” Phantom shook his head, like he was clearing his thoughts. “I don’t know why Specter and I saw a future and you two didn’t, and I don’t know what went wrong with my attempt, either. I figured that if I messed it up it just wouldn’t work, not”—he gestured vaguely, much like Specter had before—“not this.”
“Must’ve been some weird Fenton thing,” Manes commented, her frown wiped away in favor of a grin. “Come on, there’s gotta be something that sets you apart from Specter, if she just couldn’t do it and you tore open the fabric of reality to tap into alternate dimensions.”
Phantom flapped his hands aggravatedly, and despite the oddness of the situation, Tucker was secretly kind of glad of how easy it was to read him and Manes. Specter was more troublesome—he didn’t spend a lot of time around Jazz—but his friends? Piece of cake.
“I don’t know, okay?” Phantom snapped, his eyes briefly flickering green. Really aggravated, then. Good to know. “I don’t know how I screwed up this badly! I didn’t even know it was possible for ghosts to open portals to different realities!”
“And you can’t think of anything that might work?” Specter pressed, crossing her arms and frowning at him. “No ghost artifacts or anything?”
That ground Phantom to a halt. “Uh. Hm…” His brow creased as he thought, muttering to himself under his breath, until… “The Reality Gauntlet could’ve done it, maybe?”
“The what?” Tucker blurted out automatically. That sounded like some kind of superhero comic device, not an actual ghost artifact.
“The Reality Gauntlet?” Phantom repeated, like that alone could explain everything. “Big metal glove, fits four gems? Can alter the fabric of reality?”
Tucker shook his head in negative, and was oddly relieved to see not only Manes but also Specter answer in negative.
“No one else has dealt with it?” Phantom asked, incredulous.
“That must’ve been it, then,” Danny concluded, humming to himself. “The Gauntlet must’ve done it.”
“But that’s impossible,” Phantom countered, crossing his arms defensively across his chest. “I destroyed it months ago.”
“And, assuming the timelines are roughly equal, your core would’ve been young enough to absorb the energy released from a broken ghost artifact,” Sam bit back. “What were you thinking, Phantom?”
“That it was too dangerous to leave hanging around!” Phantom’s eyes glowed green once more, but it was quickly repressed, and he continued in a quieter, more morose tone. “Freakshow already used it against my friends and family once. I couldn’t leave it hanging around for him—or someone else—to try again.”
That… checked out. Tucker might’ve done the same, if he had been in Phantom’s shoes. Danny definitely would’ve. “Okay, so now what?”
“We ask Clockwork?” Phantom suggested with a loose shrug. “He’s usually helpful for this sort of thing.”
Clockwork? That was a ghost name if Tucker had ever heard one, but not one he was familiar with. From Manes’ expression, neither was she.
He wasn’t sure whether it was comforting or not, that his universe and Manes’ were so similar when the Fentons’ universes were so different. It was like they were somehow significantly different from the Fentons. Was it because Sam and he weren’t the kids of ghost hunters? Somehow?
“Clockwork is the ghost of time, though.” Specter huffed, rolling her eyes at Phantom. “Besides, we’re in a different universe entirely, and it looks like Ghouley doesn’t know him. Clockwork probably won’t know any of us, never mind care enough to help.”
“Why can’t we just go and grab the Reality Gauntlet?” Manes asked. “If that’s the thing powerful enough to break through the fabric of reality, surely we can just use the one in this universe to make portals back?”
Phantom made a face at that. “I’m not sure where it is. I think Freakshow might’ve stolen in from the Guys in White, but I’m not 100% sure on that.”
Eugh. Yeah, that explained the face. “So that’s out too,” Tucker concluded, trying not to feel too down about it. At least he wasn’t stuck in a different reality altogether. But if there was no way to return the three other half-ghosts home… That was bound to become messy.
“Why can’t Phantom just try again?” Sam asked, a tone of genuine curiosity in her voice. “If we’re all pretty sure he’s the one responsible for the portals in the first place, maybe he can open up portals back, too.”
“Using a power he can’t control?” Manes returned, but she cocked her head in thought. “But I guess that it’s worth a shot.”
“We could try doing it together?” Specter suggested, placing a hand on Phantom’s shoulder. “We’re all half-ghosts, and we’re all here for some reason, right? If Phantom’s power brought us here, maybe we can combine all our powers to make the portals back?”
Danny huffed out a laugh. “I don’t think that that’s how ghost powers work, is it?”
The look he got from Specter could only be described as imperial. “Friendship—love—is all we have on our side, it seems. It brought us here, it can damn well bring us back, too.”
“That’s fair,” Danny allowed with a snort.
“I guess we’d better wait until it’s dark.” Tucker pulled out his phone, grimacing at the time. “Why don’t we all call our parents that we’re staying here and order in some food?”
Phantom shrugged, then sat down on a stool hanging out in the greenhouse. “Sounds good to me.”
“Same,” Specter said, following his example. Manes shrugged and nodded her approval as well.
“We could talk a little about the differences between our realities.” Danny stepped forward to nudge Phantom. “I, for one, would really like to know why you’re wearing white.”
“What am I, a goth?” Phantom laughed, shaking his head. “I’ve got Sam for that.”
Oh yeah, they would get through the time well enough, Tucker thought.
---
“I think it’s late enough,” Specter muttered, and Tucker jerked out of the drowse he’d fallen into. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he followed her gaze to outside the greenhouse.
“Looks like it,” he agreed with a yawn. “Let’s all sneak off to the park, then.”
The other half-ghosts—and Danny and Sam—pushed themselves out of their seats as well, getting to their feet slowly. Looked like he wasn’t the only one who’d gotten tired while waiting.
Actually, it made perfect sense that all his fellow half-ghosts got as little sleep as he did. Ghost hunting was bad for your sleep rhythm, he knew.
Tucker waved Danny over closer, then pushed a camera into his hand. “Can you film the thing for me?”
Danny snorted but nodded. “Of course, Tuck. Just don’t get yourself sucked into an alternate reality, please?”
“I’ll try,” he promised wryly, then nodded at the other half-ghosts, who had gathered into a sorta-kinda circle around the two of them. “I think the best plan is for all of us to fly there together. Two of us can carry Sam and Danny to sneak them in with us.”
Manes shrugged and stepped forward. “I can carry my counterpart, and Phantom can take Danny.”
“You’re volunteering my services?” Phantom squawked, then shook his head and stepped forward as well. “Sure, whatever. Yeah, I’ll carry this universe’s version of myself, no problem.”
Getting a nod of approval from Danny and Sam, Tucker figured it was all satisfied and shrugged. “If everyone’s fine with that. Let’s get going, then.”
He shifted into his ghost form before he finished the sentence, the other three half-ghosts following his example.
But, man, Tucker really hoped this would work. Having the other three stick around might be helpful in the whole ghost hunting business, but it was weird to see what his friends would look like as ghosts. Or, as half-ghosts at least, since he knew they all looked rather human compared to most other ghosts.
Phantom easily scooped up Danny, despite his earlier protests, and Manes was quick to follow suit and pick up Sam.
Tucker, not quite sure why he was their lead—because this was his universe, maybe?—pushed himself off of the ground, flickering intangible for a moment to exit the greenhouse. He didn’t even have to look over his shoulder to make sure the others followed, because he could feel them, faintly, trailing just a little behind him.
Good thing that it was too dark for people to tell who they were carrying, because that would be awkward. If people questioned Ghouley about the other ghosts he could at least sorta-kinda tell the truth and say they were his friends, but if they had seen Sam or Danny with them? That was asking for trouble, for sure.
Before he knew it they had arrived at the park, all of them touching down silently. They must’ve looked like a fright, their glowing eyes piercing through the dark, but it looked abandoned enough.
Which was exactly what they had counted on, since the park was closed at night, but you never knew.
Sam and Danny were released by Manes and Phantom, trailing away to the edge of the square where they had landed. Making sure they stayed out of the way of whatever was going to happen here.
Good. That made Tucker feel better. If this somehow went catastrophically wrong… at least they would be safe.
Specter reached forward, suddenly, grabbing Phantom’s hand and linking their fingers together. Then, with her free hand, she gestured Manes over.
Clearly the other half-ghost caught on quicker than Tucker or Phantom, because she grabbed Specter’s free hand and then reached for Tucker. Following their example, he linked his hand with Manes’ offered hand, and then grabbed Phantom’s, completing the circle.
“This is stupid,” the half-ghost in question muttered, glaring venomously at the ground between them. “I’m pretty sure I used my hands to open the first portal.”
“Well, what else do you want us to do to offer our strength? Put our hands on your back?” Specter snorted, the smile in her voice undeniable. “Just try it, ghost-boy.”
Phantom rolled his eyes, then closed them. Took a deep breath. For a moment, it looked like nothing happened, but then…
Then, Tucker could feel the swell of power in the air. Could feel it waver through Phantom, down their connected hand. Could feel the energy running through his own core, through his hand to Manes.
Could feel the pulses of— of whatever it was going through all of them at once.
And, as a terrible but familiar shredding sort of noise sounded, the energy fled from them all at once. Phantom pulled himself free from Tucker’s hold—not that Tucker tried to stop him—and stepped closer to one of the three portals that had opened up.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Tucker muttered to himself, and he heard Manes snort next to him. Quickly he let go of her hand as well, and watched her step closer to one of the portals as well. A different one than Phantom’s.
“I think it did,” Specter said thoughtfully, moving towards the third portal. “It… calls to me, almost?”
Manes hummed in agreement. Rather than reply, Phantom just stuck his head through the portal he’d been looking at. Tucker flinched automatically, but Phantom pulled himself back out before he could move closer.
“It looks right,” Phantom agreed, cautiously. “It feels right, too. But it’s hard to say. From what I’ve seen, this Amity Park looks just like mine, and I assume so do yours.”
“Yeah.” Manes shrugged, then. “We’ll just have to hope for the best, then. If this didn’t work we didn’t have any alternative plans anyway, so…”
Specter snorted. “That’s true, unfortunately.” She took her eyes off of the portal to look at Tucker—and at Sam and Danny, who had crept in closer. “Thanks for the hospitality, and,” she turned to shoot looks at Phantom and Manes, “thank all of you for the experience.”
“Yes, what she said,” Manes agreed, a smile creeping onto her face. “Thank you all for the help as well.”
Phantom nodded. “Yeah, uh. Sorry for causing this, probably? And thanks to uh, all of you.” He nodded again, this time to Tucker and his friends, then stepped towards his portal. And paused.
“Uh, maybe you two should leave first? I don’t want to risk yours closing if I’m gone.”
Manes clapped him on the shoulder, then, still smiling, stepped through her portal. The moment she was gone from their sight, the swirling green mass pulled together and disappeared like it had never been there at all.
“Good luck,” Specter wished Phantom, and then floated through her portal. Once more, it immediately closed behind her.
Phantom nodded at them. “Seriously. Sorry for the mess, and thanks.”
“Just go, dude.” Tucker waved, and with a grin, Phantom stepped through the last portal.
He waited for a few moments after the portal had closed. When no new portals popped up, he sighed, letting the exhaustion of the day wash over him. “Man, I really hope that worked out fine.”
“They’ll be fine,” Sam said, then nudged him. “They’ll have the help of their friends.”
Tucker hummed, then turned to Danny. “You got that, right?”
“Of course I got it,” Danny scoffed, shaking his head. “I’d be crazy not to. Yeah, I got it.”
Tucker nodded, then turned to look at the empty space again. The place where the other half-ghosts had just been.
“I really hope that nothing else crazy like this happens, because I really don’t think I can handle that.” He sighed. “And… I hope that they’re all okay.”
“I’m sure they will be.” Danny bumped his other shoulder, taking the opposite side of Sam. “Now come on, let’s get some sleep. You need it.”
“Wow,” Tucker mumbled back, already turning around again. “Hurtful.”
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psianabel-writes · 4 years ago
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Union Leaders & Ava - Reunion
Post KH3 reunion idea, written for day 7 of khuxweek!
[AO3]
______________________________________
Skuld was the first to arrive.
Her journey - long and confusing, but her feet took her here, into this barren, vast land. Red dust got caught in her black coat and long tousled hair, and she had to shield her eyes here and there from the harsh wind howling. 
Her eyes wandered to the rusted keys stuck into the ground. It clenched her heart in a way she couldn’t explain - 
Somewhere deep down lay a calm sea of memories, waiting for the floodgates to open. Yet only droplets managed to gush through, it's been years since she attempted to make sense of it. 
Four friends and a key. That was all.
She reached a crossroad and stopped her walking, taking the sight in. There was something eerie about it, lifeless and barren -
Why was she here, why did her heart tell her to come here? Her mind was always riddled with questions she found no answers to.
And yet she couldn’t shake off the feeling of a deja vu, haunting her, yelling at her she had to remember.
So close. So close, someone just needed the right tool to unlock the gates.
Confused she sat down, holding onto her bent legs as she placed her forehead onto her knees. 
It had to make sense, eventually.
_____________________________________
Ventus hesitated with each step he made.
"Do we really have to be here?" He said nervously, looking around the area before he eventually looked down to Chirithy hopping in front of him.
"Yes. Well, it is the Fated Place after all. It has to be here." Chirithy answered him, continuing to walk straight forward.
Ventus sighed, but he trusted Chirithy and continued as well, though all his senses were on high alert. 
There weren’t many good memories about this place, safe for one after the defeat of Xehanort he couldn't remember anything good about it. This place held too much pain, sadness, and fear - 
It was the place he faced destiny and lost his friends, gave up his life to prevent the X-Blade from coming to action. More than a decade later the keys watched him again fight for destiny, yet this time the outcome was a better one.
He started to wonder what else they saw.
"Oh!" 
Ventus almost tripped over Chirithy as it stopped in its tracks, making him look into the distance when it pointed forward.
"Someone's here!" Chirithy sprinted off and Ventus had to act quickly to run after it.
He slowed down again when he came closer to the young woman sitting on the ground. She flinched, unwrapping her arms from her legs and almost stumbled away from the spot if it weren’t for Chirithy to indicate to calm down.
"Woah sorry, sorry, I didn’t want to startle you…" Ventus pleaded, holding his hands up to confirm his innocence. "My name is Ventus! Call me Ven."
The woman still looked uneasy but slowly lifted herself up and nodded.
"You two know each other." Chirithy said and both looked down to it, confused.
"We … do?" 
"Yes." It gestured with its tiny arms. "You just forgot."
"Oh, huh."
It still felt so unreal to Ventus. This whole thing about a forgotten past. … But his heart felt good about it, and Chirithy was there, too. … It had to be true, right?
"I don't … remember. Not even my name." The woman looked at the ground again. Her expression became sad - and Ventus walked up to her with a small smile.
"Hey, it's okay! We can be friends now."
Immediately her expression softened. A stir of hidden memories let her believe this was the right decision.
"Once the others are here, it will make more sense." 
Chirithy didn’t say more, leaving the two confused as they waited for the time to pass.
________________________________
To say that Elrena was annoyed being here was an understatement. Never ever she wanted to be here, but Lauriam insisted. Insisted to the point that if she didn't want to come with him, she could just leave.
Harsh words to hear for someone who had to live with a heart now she didn't want.
It was confusing, overwhelming. And combined with those hazy memories that started to appear - where else should she go, as to follow Lauriam to make sense of what was going on in her head.
And he was there in those memories. To give up this connection now would be pointless.
"You sure we're supposed to be here?" She asked, having her hands tucked behind her head. "This place is dead."
"The connection." Lauriam mumbled. He didn't spare her a look and continued walking through the red dust. "We've been through this."
"Yeah, yeah."
Elrena simply waved in annoyance. She just wanted to get over with this, the faster they were the quicker she could be gone again. 
Completely disregarding what was happening as her gaze wandered over the lifeless keyblades, she almost didn't notice how Lauriam halted.
"What's now?" She squinted and tilted her head, looking into the distance where Lauriam was looking as well. "Huh? Isn't that the kid from the Organisation?"
Lauriam shook his head. "No, but this is interesting."
He picked up his pace again and Elrena followed right after him, keeping herself short on words for once.
The blond boy and the black haired woman noticed the two newcomers immediately and both were startled by their sudden appearance. Though Ventus was a bit more interested, he hesitated regardless.
"Fate must have brought you here, too." Lauriam started to break the ice, holding his hands to the side to offer peace, just in the right moment before Elrena could have said anything.
Ventus wasn’t convinced. He placed himself in front of his new friend and made himself ready to fight, squinting his eyes. "You're … you're from the Organisation!"
"Yeah and you're one of the Guardians of Light, thanks for the introduction." 
Elrena hissed from behind Lauriam, but he put his arm up to calm her down again, having her let out an annoying sigh. He really didn't want any trouble and did his best to show it. 
He placed his hand over his heart, taking a deep breath. "We're here because our hearts told us to. And you're here, too, so there must be a connection."
Ventus gritted his teeth. He wouldn't allow the Organisation to harm any more - but his eyes fell onto Chirithy, who ended up tucking on his trousers to get its attention.
"Easy. You, too, know each other."
"Huh?" Both Lauriam and Ventus held their gaze.
There was a connection, they could feel it. Somewhere faint down inside them, a bond they couldn't put their fingers on.
They were sure it would make sense eventually.
Skuld stayed silent. Nothing made sense, but if these people came here for the same reason as her, then … 
"Only a few more." Chirithy mumbled, leaving the others in the dark again.
__________________________________
Brain was silent as he stared at the old keyblade stuck into the ground.
It was deliberately put here, he figured as much, and he wanted to question why. Though the words never escaped him, he was sure he would find out in one way or another. 
But … it was his.
The star-shaped ornaments fell off as he grabbed the blade, a faint glowing starting to appear as life filled it once again. A smile played on Brain's face as he inspected his old weapon, feeling the familiar weight and shape in his hands.
After all this time Master's Defender returned back to his first owner.
"Ready?" A voice sounded behind him and Brain glanced over his shoulder to see Master Ava standing there. He sighed and took one last look into the distance before he turned around to her, nodding.
"It will be nice to see everyone again."
Ava twitched her lips, staying silent as she turned around and waved with her hand in front of her, a portal appearing in front of them.
"Then, let's meet them."
Together they stepped into the portal.
__________________________________
All of them shielded their eyes as a bright portal appeared in the very middle of them. Brain and Master Ava stepped out of it before it disappeared as quick as it appeared.
One good look around them made Ava smile, her heart warm as she saw them again. Her eyes landed on Chirithy, nodding to it as it bowed in front of her.
Though, one more was missing. 
"Who … are you?" Ventus was the first to speak, as no one else dared to say something. 
But Brain stepped forward to speak for Master Ava, smiling as he held his arms out. "Don't worry, Ven. It will make sense soon."
"... Huh?" 
With an open mouth he stared at the two, even more confused than before. Though that didn’t last long, as another bright portal appeared to their side and a boy with grey hair stepped through it, his lips forming a bright smile as he laid his eyes onto the group in front of them.
"Made it!" He exclaimed and both Master Ava and Brain shared his enthusiasm.
In between all this, Elrena stepped forward and gestured with her hands her confusion. "Now what the -" Yet before she could finish, Lauriam held her off, urging her to stay silent.
"Ephemer, Brain, Ventus, Lauriam, Skuld, and even Elrena -" Ava looked into the round as she listed each name, interestingly looking at Skuld as she heard her name for the very first time again. The woman held onto her head as memories slowly gushed through, the barrier unable to stop it anymore.
Taking a deep breath, Ava looked at them again, determination in her eyes under her mask.
"It is time for your final role."
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s1i9d · 4 years ago
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The Owl House, Season 2 Speculation
New Year, New Speculations! In the middle of the season, Owl House Season 2 is still over the horizon, and many fans (myself included) are clamouring for even the slightest bit of info. Whether its episode titles, how many episodes, a release date, etc. Many are excited for the prospect of Season 2, confirmed two months ahead of the series’ premiere!
Season 1 left many things unresolved, yet still found itself to be satisfying in some aspects. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does leave excitement for more episodes. This post will talk abou three main areas: character development and their anticipated arcs, the main plot introduced, and smaller side plots incorporated in Season 1.
I’m more of a casual Owl House fan, but I enjoy speculating about what is to come. So if I missed anything, let me know!
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON ONE OF “THE OWL HOUSE”
Let’s begin, shall we?
Character Development and Anticipated Arcs
Luz and Amity – Obviously one of the most exciting and anticipated arcs in a very long time, since all main character queer relationships canonically happen towards the end of the series, either as a result of censorship or queerbaiting. One good and the other not as much.) From their rough first meeting at Hexside all the way to playing on the same Grudgby team, we’ve seen their relationship naturally bloom in the first season. There’s definitely gonna be tensions with the Blight family, but that falls more under plot.
Eda and Lilith – Nothing says interpersonal drama more than a complicated sibling relationship. At the end of Season 1, Lilith shares the curse with Eda after helping them escape Belos’ imprisonment. I don’t believe that they will have a happy go-lucky relationship from the start of Season 2, but I do believe that they are on the path to bettering themselves and each other. Possibly an introduction of their parents (as introduced at the end of “Covention”) but perhaps not.
Willow & Gus – Perhaps one of the more frustrating parts of The Owl House personally. Willow and Gus have very little character development for themselves in Season 1. Other episodes that focus on them were mainly narrative devices to further develop other characters. e.g. 115 - “Understanding Willow” although being about Willow, was mainly a means to develop Amity, Luz and introduce the Blight Family drama, therefore developing Amity’s arc further rather than develop Willow herself. I think it is fine for a first season to prioritise which characters to show, and which to set up for later on. My hopes for Season 2 is that they will have their own development outside of being used to further other forefront characters. 
Main Plots Introduced
Emperor Belos
The Magic of Belos
The Refueling – In 118 - “Agony of a Witch”, when Lilith enters Belos’ chambers for the first time, we see him ragged and tiredly hunched over his throne gasping for air. To rejuvenate himself, he takes what seems to be a Palisman broken from their staff and cuts it open, revealing a green goo-like energy. He drips it into his eyes, supposedly giving him power.
Witch’s Wool Cape – The Witch’s Wool Cape is the cape that Eda made for Luz in 118 - “Agony of a Witch” and Luz is seen wearing it in 119 - “Young Blood, Old Souls”. What remains interesting about this is what Eda specifically says about it (”It repels powerful spells. Every Witch worth their salt has a cloak like this!”) and how Belos is able to use powerful magic against Luz to slam her into the wall during their fight sequence. Does this mean Belos is using a different type of magic? Or is his magic far more powerful than the Witch’s Wool can withstand?
The Titan of the Boiling Isles & Belos’ Propaganda – The Titan is technically canon and true. In Belos’ throne room, we see his throne just under a very large beating heart. However, it’s not clear if Belos in actuality is able to speak to the Titan, or if he’s trying to maintain order and rule.
The Spy of Belos – This is more of a minor plot introduced at the very end of 119 - “Young Blood, Old Souls”, but Belos speaks to Kikimora and shows a spy wearing a Palace guard uniform and a mask that somewhat resembles Hooty.
The Portal to the Human World – This remains one of the greater mysteries of Belos, as the finale shows him to want access to the human world, yet the show does not say why. Perhaps his goal is to somehow liberate the world by the actual word of the Titan, or he wants to take over the human world under the disguise of being able to speak to the Titan. Either way, it leads to the Human World being taken over by Belos.
Hexside Academy & The Mono-Coven System – The addition of Luz is interesting, as she and the other previous members of the Detention track all have multi-coven learning. Previous to that, Eda was the only real exception who was not a part of a coven and using “Wild Magic”. It leaves the question if Belos’ tolerance for a blatant disregard for his system in Hexside will be brought to light, and how he may try to enforce his rule.
Luz Noceda
The Portal & Returning Home – The only real way for Luz to return home is through Belos’ makeshift portal, since she destroyed Eda’s original portal to protect the human world from Belos.
Letters to Luz’s Mom – A big mystery is who is sending Luz’s mom the letters pretending to be her from Boring Camp in “Enchanting Grom Fright”? Theories have been swirling around of it being Eda, Emperor Belos or even a new representative in the human world with the ability to carry out Belos’ plans. The question now is if the sender is actually from the Boiling Isles, how did they send the messages? If using the portal, only Eda has the ability. Belos has lost actual access to the portal, so he isn’t a contender. The mystery looms over us.
Learning Magic & Connecting to the Boiling Isles – As of now, Luz knows four spells: Light, Ice, Plant, and Fire. She has been able to connect with the Island to use magic in her paper method, and the finale showed it was the connection to and magic of the Boiling Isles which allowed her to use the magic. There are a number of Covens and spells she has yet to learn, which also leads with her own journey to self-confidence and found family. 
Eda, Lilith & The Curse
The Curse – By the end, the curse is worsened. If not for Lilith sharing the curse with Eda, the curse would have taken over Eda and she would have been lost forever. But now with the elixir no longer working halfway through the season, they must find another way to undo the magic binding them to this transformation. 
Luz’s Paper Method of Magic – Eda and Lilith are unable to do any more typical magic using their biological functions, but Luz offers to teach them her Paper technique of using magic. Eda tries and it shows that she is able to use the Light spell at the least.
Hooty - I stan Hooty! There I said it! But this is more than just me irrationally stanning the best biord house, there’s actual interesting potential in the mythology behind Hooty. First of al,l as the titular character of “The Owl House” we know nothing about how he came into existence. We don’t know his past with Eda, nor how Eda, King and him came together. Potentially after Eda was cast as an outsider, but nothing specific yet.
The Blight Family
Amity (Personal Journey) – Amity has shown to have struggled with her family, more specifically limitation by her parents and an extent of harassment by her siblings. This would also factor in several plots, such as: Belos and the mono-Coven system, Luz and her relationship with Amity, Willow and Amity, Basha, and several other related threads. I believe that the Blight Family will appear more plot related than just simply being character focused for Amity alone.
Side Plots
These are the mini plots introduced and have yet to be touched upon again.
King’s Species of the Demons –  In 104 “The Intruder” where we first learn of Eda’s curse, King speaks of his species: a group of which we haven’t seen yet. He says their weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments. We haven’t seen any other characters quite like King, so that’s something to look forward to.
The Magical Capabilities of Luz, Willow and Gus – In 106 “Hooty’s Moving Hassle” where Luz, Willow and Gus animate the Owl House with chicken legs, Eda says at the end “...[to animate a whole house.] That would take some powerful magic.” Meanwhile showing Amity and Basha’s five-person friend group unable to conjure a doll. If Amity is shown to be an exceptionally powerful witch unable to do a conjuring spell, it leaves a question of how powerful the trio actually is...
Azura Book Club – Lumity fans know the Azura book club, a.k.a Gen-Z’s way of figuring out if people are gay. (I’m half joking here.) But the Azura Book Club was mentioned last in 112 “Adventures in the Elements” and not touched upon again. 
Mattholomule, Gus and the Human Appreciation Society (H.A.S) - This isn’t that important, but Gus has been known for being very into human mythology and lore. Mattholomule is the Leader of H.A.S, but it still remains the question if Gus is still a part of it and trying to combat Mattholomule’s ridiculous human mythos to be liked.
The Palisman – There’s quite a bit surrounding this one so it forms into two topics.
The Bat Queen – A very interesting character appearing only twice (”Lost in Language”, and “Escape of the Palisman”) before never being mentioned again for the whole season. The Bat Queen has her children, as well as the protection of the abandoned Palisman by irresponsible Witches. Luz also leaves an open-ended offer to help the Bat Queen search for her original Owner. Perhaps the Titan was the Bat Queen’s original owner, or possibly a giant before the reign of Emperor Belos since she did mention it had been far too long to remember.
Palisman of the Main Cast – With the introduction of the Palisman, it leaves the question of when Luz, Willow, Amity, and Gus will get their own Palisman and which animal they would have. Luz has been shown to have the ability to use non-paper magic when in possession of a Palisman (”Young Blood, Old Souls”), so it could prove an interesting loophole for Luz to be flexible with the methods of magic she uses.
That concludes the speculation! As these are my own thoughts and opinions, I’d love to hear your speculations! Thank you for reading!
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ifeveristoday · 4 years ago
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Let me explain… no, there is too much. Let me sum up.
Strap in kids, it’s Boom! Buffy issue #20 and the last issue we get this year. So long and fuck off, 2020.
Spoilers underneath the cut
Well. That was bracing.
In this issue we get the spotlight on the adult characters and their struggles - the status of Giles and Jenny’s relationship (on a break), Wesley Wyndam Price trying to convince Faith of her sacred duty and oh, that vampires are real, and a direct callback to Wesley’s standalone issue and the shadowy Watcher’s Council, and Anya, who finally reveals her true purpose of being in Sunnydale. Or does she?
Subplots involve Willow’s conversation and off-page deal with Evil! Xander, the status of Robin and Buffy’s relationship (ghosty ghost avoidance on Buffy’s part), and the unspoken elephant of broken trust in the room (everyone else).
There really is a lot going on - so I’m going to break it down by character, because that has always been a strong point in Jordie’s reimagining of the Buffyverse. Jordie writes about the characters and their motivations and their inner lives and not so much about the Plot (though she’s improved on that front). 
Jenny
Clearly has seen and suffered a lot of Shit, but it isn’t delved into for trauma porn - and she’s had enough. She loves Giles, but she doesn’t want to be a part of whatever is unfolding, but she still has compassion for Evil! Xander and can see that his actions are not too far off from his human self’s desires, only twisted. Evil! Xander wants love and attention and now he has the power to force it  - but somehow is talked out of it by Willow. Jenny makes the choice to protect herself, even if it means walking away from Giles and their relationship. 
Giles 
When not in a Jenny-daze, Giles picks up an important clue from their last conversation and calls in the troops to discuss the matter of trust and truth. It’s a nice nod to the previous issue’s reunion with Willow and the rest of the Scoobies - Willow not being comfortable about the trust fall, even though she suggested it, and here, being evasive and lying to everyone about where she got her shiny new trinket. I also notice none of her adventures in gay witch cult utopia have been folded into the Jordie timeline yet, but I assume that will be a reveal for later. Giles trying to mediate the conversation-turned-argument is interesting because for a lot of the series, he’s been on the side of caution and covering up because of the Council’s indoctrination process. 
Anya
This was the surprise of the issue for me and one of the high points - all those previous crumbs of Anya referring to herself as a demon witch, and then Giles saying she was a watcher too, and then mention of a past Watcher being friends/school mate of a demon, and somehow just appearing at the right possible time to solve problems/save the Scoobies while hiding in plain sight. Anya being the connection to the Watcher’s Council and her dealings with vampires, Wolfram and Hart, she’s the perfect agent of controlled chaos. The reveal of her being the demon figure helping out the previous Slayer Morgan (who I now think is the original character they were hyping up issues ago and all that talk about multiverses and such - she and Anya are most likely behind what happened in Hellmouth). A revenge demon working with a Slayer is just *chef’s kiss* because who wouldn’t want revenge if they’re a young teenage girl suddenly tasked to save the world and not have her own life? 
Anya’s conversation with Willow about demons being morally grey and that souls don’t need to come into it (along with the Princess Bride reference -  “Anyone who tells you is a fool or selling you something”) is one of the themes running throughout the issue. Jenny hints at it with her compassion for Xander’s soulless self and his still very human desires and wants, and Anya’s team up with Morgan at the end. They don’t think what they’ve done (the Watcher killings) is bad because they’re giving the Slayers their normal lives back - Anya can open up portals to store her magic knickknacks, why wouldn’t she be able to open up new timelines to ‘save’ Slayers? It would fit into her revenge scheme against the Watcher’s Council too. It casts a different light on her previous actions - giving Buffy the stone to call Xander’s soul back for an unspoken fee later, but not money, showing up at the eleventh hour to lead the girls into battle during Hellmouth with her convenient stash of weapons, tricking Dru into setting Camazotz free to gain Buffy’s and Giles’s trust later...and she knows Giles’s full name, so you know stuff is going to go down.
Willow
Tangled web, Wills. And all the little lies - why didn’t she tell her best friend and everyone else that she got the new shiny gem from Anya? Who is she really protecting? Herself or/and Xander? Willow’s (un)trustworthiness and growing capabilities in magic are going to be Issues with the gang later, definitely. And a possible source of isolation, because everyone at that meeting is paired off and she’s alone - Buffy and Giles presenting the slayer/watcher bond, Kendra and Rose as girlfriends and protective of one another. 
This is also an example of Anya being a subtle architect of chaos - she scolds Willow about good and evil being too simple of a concept and that Willow should be smarter than that, and suggests the possibility of doing the wrong thing (in Willow’s case, lying) for the right reason (saving Xander). This could also be a clue to the other Willows we’ve seen in previous issues - it could actually be original time line Willow just visiting multiverses to check on Xander and Buffy.
Wesley
is finally in Sunnydale and completely out of his element, not only as an Englishman in small town America, but as a watcher with an unruly lone wolf of a Slayer, who doesn’t even believe in the cause or that vampires are real. It’s hilarious. They provide the lighter side in the issue, and I look forward to what Jordie has planned for them, because right now they’re channeling Odd Couple energy and I’m here for it.
Also, Wesley brings up the English vs Irish rivalry and FINALLY, someone says it. There weren’t enough Spike and Angel fights about their places of origin.
If Wesley’s ideals are just the baby version of Giles’s loyalty to the Council, Faith is the pragmatic version of Buffy’s stressed but down for the cause Slayer.
Faith
Faith doesn’t really question why she suddenly can cause a bunch of messed up looking people dusty death, because vampires can’t possibly be real, but aliens, sure. It’s a refreshing and meta take on the whole lore - Faith even cheekily bringing up that vampires are clearly a metaphor for sex and she doesn’t have time for that.
Look at that, a skeptical but roll with the punches Bad Guys-because what else is she going to do- Faith. Not oversexualized but blunt and funny and upfront about what she really wants - which is a burger. A good update to the character. I do wonder if Jenny’s earlier line about ‘good Faith’ was purposeful because of this introduction to Faith, or just a regular line.
Buffy
After all she’s been through in the previous issues, Buffy takes more of a backseat in this issue, but that’s okay - there really was SO Much that Buffy and Robin’s continuing communication problem really wouldn’t fit as an A plotpoint.
Girl still has huge trust issues, and with Willow’s defensiveness and her own reluctance to really talk to Robin, that’s going to be a problem for later on.
Robin
Still juggling the responsibilities of being a regular guy, Buffy’s almost boyfriend, trainee Watcher, and son of presumed dead Slayer Nikki (though with what we’ve seen so far, Nikki might be alive in another multiverse), Robin is mostly the diplomat in this issue, giving everyone respectful space. 
Rose and Kendra
Are cute and happy together and that’s all that needs to be said really. The only couple that’s figured out communication and presenting a united front in this issue, honestly. #goals
Morgan Palmer
Another WOC slayer! Can’t wait to see what she did/has plans for the Scoobies and Sunnydale.
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starsscribble · 5 years ago
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No one asked for this but I finally finished her profile! Profile layout by AnnJoanne on DeviantART
Introduction
Name: Luana Kekoa Nickname:  Lua, Ana, Luna (family only), Green Bean Age: 15/16 (S2) 18 (S3) Birthday:  March 13, 2000 Astrological Sign: Pisces Gender: Female Sexual Orientation: Pansexual Past/Bio: Born to a polyamorous couple; Siofra, Diwata, and Leo Kekoa, Luana is the eldest of three siblings. Siofra, Luana's biological mother, was from a noble Fae family in Gemworld. Not wanting to go along with her family arranged marriage she fled to Earth; sometime in the late '80s. Fearing her family would track her; Siofra kept traveling Earth. One of the most notable places she stopped at was Siquijor, Philippines. The magic of the small island cause Siofra to stay longer than normal. In doing so Siofra met Diwata Villena; an apprentice witch. The two would become lovers and traveling partners.
In the mid-'90s the lovers made a stop in Hilo, Hawaii. Like what happened in Siquijor; the magic of the island caused Siofra and Diwata to stay longer. In doing so they met Leo Kekoa who worked as a part-time tour guide. It was Leo who fell in love first. He tried to spend as much time as he could with the women. Siofra and Diwata were no strangers to having another person in their relationship. Leo himself seemed fine with this as well. The issue came when Siofra decided it was time to move on. Leo wasn't willing to leave and even Diwata was ready to find a place to call home. Talking it over Siofra agreed to stay; assuming that her family has given up their search.  
Leo and Diwata married a year after into order for her to gain U.S. citizenship, she also started up her own business; similar to where she studied and worked at during her apprenticeship Siquijor.
Two years later both Siofra and Diwata turned out to be expecting. The women had homebirths; Siofra giving birth to Luana a few days before Diwata gave birth to Marisol; Luana's half-sister.
The family of five was content with the lives. It changed when Luana and Marisol were seven. Siofra's assumption was wrong; it had taken a long time but her family finally tracked her down. Siofra fought against family members that came to take her back to Gemworld. However, when one cousin threatened to harm her children she stopped her attacks. Forced to go back to Gemworld; Siofra was denied from saying her farewell to her children and spouses. Luana's last memory is watching her mother disappear through a portal.
About Her
Personality: Luana is a go with the flow kind of person; however if what is happening around her become reckless she will voice her opinion. For her it is up to the person to listen, she will not force them. Luana tried to be tactful as to not hurt others' feelings; of course, she does have her blunt moments. Protect of those she cares for; she is willing to put their needs first even above her own. Luana is bad at dealing with negative emotions; like grief or insecurity. She will often time bottle those feeling up. Saying she will deal with them at a later date, she never does. Once these emotions bubble over she is left confused as to why she feels this way. She will try to isolate herself and once again bottle up and avoid certain emotions; because she doesn't others to worry about her. Occupation: High School Student (S2), Shop Assistant and Potion maker (family business) Likes: - Warm Climates - Nature - Meditating - Fae Mythology - Sunrise - Spending time with family or friends Dislikes: - Cold Climates - Movies with kidnapping - Urban areas - Deforestation - Disrespectful People Hobbies: Gardening, Yoga, Hiking, Spell Crafting, Surfing, Seashell collecting Fears: Separation, Losing loved ones, Losing control of her powers Talents: Foraging, Herbalism, Multilingual
Appearance
Height: 5'3 (160.02 cm) Skin Tone: Medium Beige Eye Color: Bottle Green Hair Description: Emerald Green (natural), Brown (Glamour), Wavy, Long, Kept in a ponytail when in hero mode.
Relationships
Father: Leo Kekoa Mother: Siofra (biological/mom), Diwata Kekoa (mama) Siblings: Marisol Kekoa (younger), Erik Kekoa (baby brother) Best Friends: Jason Todd Friends: Kaldur, Tula†, Rosaleen Lareine (oc), Cassandra Sandsmark, Mentor(s): Siofra (formally), Leo and Diwata Kekoa, Zatanna Love Interest: Jason Todd
Hero Information
Code Name: Mana Place of Origin: U.S.A Residence: Hilo, Hawaii Affiliations: Kekoa family, The Team, The Outsiders (S3) Powers and Abilities:
Mana Manipulation - A combination of life-force manipulation and magic; Luana is currently the only known user. Similar to a life-force user; a mana user can draw energy from their surrounding. However, mana relies on spells and magic objects to create the user desired effect.
Energy Projection - This is created without a spoken spell; by the users will. The user controls the shape, intensity, and range of the attack.
Mana Form - Formerly a sealed power; the seal was broken when Luana underwent experiments when in Reach custody. In this form, Luana becomes a begin of pure mana. Luana doesn't have full control of this power. When she uses it she will draw in mana indiscriminately; this is dangerous in high tech areas. As she will take mana from the close living things she can find.
Occultism - The mystic arts have been around Luana all her life. Along with her research and training with her mother Diwata and Zatanna. Luana has a great understanding of magic; by no means does she know it all, but she is willing to learn.
Spell Creation - Due to her powers needing spells to better focus the energy, Luana is skilled in form spells for her needs.
Non-Vocal - There are a few spells Luana doesn't need to say aloud to use. Currently, these spells are barriers, levitation, and telekinesis using mana.
Potions - Studying beside Diwata and using her talents in herbalism. Luana can brew potions with the desired effects of her needs or the request.
Weaknesses:
Iron - Because of her far heritage; iron has the ability her contain and hurt her. In small doses, iron will have similar effects to allergies; mostly hives and feeling sick. After an hour or so Luana will start to feel better. Large doses of iron will cause more problems and she might go into anaphylaxis shock.
Basic Human Weaknesses - Even with her powers and heritage; Luana is still part human and has the weaknesses of one.
Emotions - Her powers in some way are connected to her emotions. They can affect the size and strength of a spell if she is not careful.
Mana Reliant - Luana is very dependent on her powers when in a fight. When joining the Team Luana was barely even a novice in hand-to-hand. Even with her now begin more capable in hand-to-hand, and even a few weapons. She will fall back to her powers.
High Tech Areas - Since her power relies on energy found in or around organic/living begins. High tech areas pose a problem to not only Luana but her teammates. As she doesn't want to pull mana from them to weaken them.
Vocal Lose - Since Luana's powers need spells to focus them. If she was to lose her voice she would be limited to her non-vocal spells.
Weapons: On Luana's suit there are four gemstones each holding one object. All Luana has to do is touch the gem to activate them.
A wand with a small amount of stored mana
A staff with a larger amount of stored mana
Siofra's spellbook
Her spellbook
Extra Information
Quotes:
"It’s not cheating. I’m just helping my plants grow."
"I may or may not have turned Jason into a weasel." (Time-Skip)
"Leave me lone. I just sad girl."
Theme Song: Reasons to Stay & Talk to Me Food:  Lumpia and Guri Guri Drink: Lemonade Color: Emerald Green Animal: Monk Seal
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heroicadventurists · 6 years ago
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Top 10 Moments: Young Justice Outsiders episode 10-13 **SPOILERS**
10. Lobo’s thumb
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In episode 9, Nightwing’s team went head to head with Lobo. Two important things happened as a result of that fight; the Light confirmed who was on Nightwing’s team and Lobo left his thumb behind. At the end of episode 11, we see that Lobo’s thumb is regenerating. That opens up a possible appearance from Slobo in the future. Lobo has a healing power that allows him to reconstitute his body from a single drop of blood. Slobo is a smaller weaker offshoot who was separated from the original.
9. Cisco Ramon
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This show has done a great job of introducing new characters, and that trend doesn’t seem to be coming to an end. While brief, we are introduced to Cisco Ramon’s character in episode 10. Cisco was the towel boy being bullied by Victor’s teammates in the locker room. In the Arrowverse, Cisco becomes the hero Vibe and can open interdimensional portals. That ability could make Cisco a valuable player in the Young Justice Universe.
8. Harper Row
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Speaking of introductions, in episode 11 Harper Row, or Bluebird, is introduced to the series. Harper is a classmate and new friend to Violet Harper (Halo) and Fred Bugg with 2 Gs (Forager). As an outcast herself, Harper welcomes Violet and Fred with open arms.
7. The Court of Owls
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In episode 13, Artemis, Jefferson and Brion pose as members of the Court of Owls to free Tara. The Court of Owls is an organized crime group and secret society commonly associated with Batman. They have secretly existed since colonial times in Gotham City. The Court kidnaps child performers from the circus, only to train and transform them into their assassins, known as Talons. With this season leaning heavily on batfamily characters, introducing the Court opens a lot of storyline possibilities in the future for the Bats (especially with Dick).
6. The Most Dangerous Woman Alive
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Shiva continues to be a boss this season. Episode 10 kicks off with Batman, Katana and Metamorpho traveling to Santa Prisca for a dark op. While on the island, they encounter Deathstroke & Bane but neither left as big of an impression as Shiva. We learn that Shiva is the new enforcer for The Light, the new sensei for The Shadows and is training Cassandra Savage. When choosing an opponent to battle, Shiva chose Katana, who is formidable in her own right.
5. Halo is a Mother Box
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We’ve known for weeks that something was up with Halo. We learn in episode 11 that Violet is a Mother Box. Unfortunately, Gabrielle Daou did indeed die in episode 1. When she died, her body was inhabited by the soul energy of a destroyed Mother Box. This explains why Dr Fate sensed an old soul in her young body. This also explains her close relationship with Sphere.
4. Herrrrre’s Victor
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In episodes 10 & 11 we got a very detailed look into Victor’s life. We get a look at his tenuous relationship with his Dad and the HORRIFIC accident that caused his Father to make him into a Cyborg. The most important thing we learned about Victor was that his body was connected to a Father Box; which caused him to have homicidal tendencies and experience outbursts of rage. In one scary moment, Victor went Jack Nicholson in the Shining crazy on Halo. Victor was able to overcome the Father Box with the help of Halo. Booyah
3. Doom Patrol! Go
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In episode 12, Beast Boy puts on some Goode Googles that results in him becoming comatose. While in a coma, we learn a lot about Beast Boy. First his Mom was the actress who played Megan in Hello Megan. I found that interesting since that’s who M’gann created her image after. Everytime a character says “Hello Megan” they are quoting his Mom. We also learn how close Beast Boy was to Elastigirl, Rita Dayton. The most important things that we learned however is that the Goode Googles were testing people for the meta-gene and if you had the gene it would brainwash you into going to a secret location. This was a major breakthrough for the team.
2. Deathstroke is the leader of the League
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We have been trying to figure out since episode 4 who was leading the League of Shadows. We learn in episode 10 that the League is being led by Deathstroke.
1. The Judas Contract 2.0
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In episode 13 the team finally rescues Tara. She seemed relieved and happy to be reignited with her brother Brion, and it felt like this chapter of the story could be closed. At the end of the episode, Tara sent a text message to Deathstroke (new head of the League of Shadows) to let him know she was in. This is a huge revelation and sets up a version of The Judas Contract. In the Judas Contract, Deathstroke monitors the Titans through his double agent Terra whom he rescued after her parents turned their whole village against her and tortured her. While Tara's origin is different, this would make for an interesting storyline.
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alleycat97 · 5 years ago
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Your Destiny
Pairing: Kamilah x MC. Rheya x MC (Aurora)
Description: MC(Aurora) and the council discover the truth of the first vampire and possess the Amulent of Nero. Being a Bloodkeeper, MC uses the Amulent to be called towards the bleeding tree, to fulfill her destiny.
Disclaimer: Not my characters. Not sure if any of this is correct, my vampire knowledge isn’t the greatest. It’s fun anyway, just writing for the Kamilah endgame. Enjoy y’all! Kamilah is Queen! *very light smut.
They finally escaped that imprisonment from the creepy hillbilly out in the Nevada Desert, taking with them The Amulet of Nero containing the Vial of the first Vampire. Aurora knew the second she touched it, the vision she had, she could see Rheya and a bleeding tree that called to her. Whispers calling to her, ‘blood calls to blood, flesh draws to flesh’. She could feel the power, the desire, the lust, it was all calling her.
“Kami?!” Aurora called out in panic waking from her nightmare. It was another vision of Rheya calling to her. Showing her what lies ahead for the mortal, stabbing the tree to fulfil her destiny.
Kamilah bolted awake, reaching to comfort her poor mortal lover, “Are you alright dear?”
Aurora decided it best to explain everything from the moment they snagged the Amulet, “I had another vision. Rheya is calling to me. She is the first vampire, The Queen. I saw a tree, it was bleeding, I watched her stab it and drink from it.”
Kamilah mulled over the information she received, deciding best to comfort her girlfriend until Adrian could meet them.
“It calls to her. The Amulet is a portal of some sort for her. Rheya calls to her through it.” Kamilah explains to Adrian.
“Why can none of us feel this connection?” He ponders.
“It must be her Bloodkeeper line. Bloodkeepers are rare correct? Maybe one every generation? She is pure first blood.” Kamilah explained. “She just hasn’t unlocked her abilities.”
“What do we do now?” Adrian asks walking back and forth.
“We must destroy the tree.” Kamilah spoke, Aurora pouting at the idea. “But...”
“No love, we must destroy the tree that gave us life. It’s bad enough we have this vial to keep from Gaius, it all has to end.”
With extensive research and constant bickering among the council, the whole gang reluctantly traveled to the former City State of Mydiea in search of the cave that holds the tree. All members in agreement to destroy the tree. Aurora felt the pull as soon as she stepped foot in Mydiea, with Rheya’s guidance and the smell of blood filling her senses, Aurora bolted for the unknown, startling the rest of the group.
“Aurora wait! It’s too dangerous!” Adrian yelled while Kamilah bolted after the young girl.
“Aurora stop! We must go together.” But Aurora couldn’t stop, Kamilah couldn’t stop her, the young mortal was being pulled by an unknown force.
The council followed closely behind until they were all stopped by two dark figures,
“Hand over the Vial and I might spare you all in my new world.” Everyone in the room knew the voice. Gaius.
Kamilah finally gained control over Aurora and pulled her into the furthest corner, handing her the vial, “Keep this safe love.” Kamilah and the council skipped the introductions and started the grand fight with their creator. Gaius may of been weak, but along with Jameson, he was still a force that had these 6 vampires hands full.
Under the cover of battle, Aurora was pulled to the tree, the Connection with the Amulet edging her closer until she kneeled before the tree, one hand on the bark, and the other around the Amulet. Rheya consumed her mind, pulling the young mortals soul from her body in the middle of the battle. Aurora came to in a temple. It was calm, quiet, she could feel herself now, kneeling before Rheya.
“Rise my child, for you are the true heir of the first vampire, the direct descendent of the 1st son, Prince Xenorates.” Rheya spoke lifting the young mortal to her feet. “I’ve called for centuries to my kind, but you dear, the very first bloodkeeper to answer my calling, you are pure, you are my savior.”
Aurora stayed quiet, allowing her connection with Rheya to answer her questions, she instructed her to stab the tree and drink its blood from the chalice, allowing her bloodkeeper powers to fully activate. Then to drink the vial, allowing herself to be consumed by Rheya, and unlocking the power of the first vampire.
“Go forth young mortal, make me proud, fulfill your destiny.”
“Yes my queen.” Aurora bowed and returned to her body to find Gaius standing tall amongst the nearly beaten council demanding the vial.
Kamilah glanced pleadingly with her eyes to Aurora to stay quiet. Gaius saw the stare and turned his attention to the mortal.
“Ah yes. The young mortal, the bloodkeeper. Hand it over.” He barked.
Aurora didn’t listen and quickly pulled her dagger, piercing it deeply into the tree, collecting its blood in the chalice.
“What is she doing!?” Gaius yelled toward Jameson.
“Master! It’s the tree! She can’t drink that!” Jameson pleaded trying to stop Aurora but it was too late, she had consumed the blood. Nobody knew what a bloodkeeper was capable of, but Aurora could fill a change, she felt stronger, she felt weightless. It was then when she pulled the Amulet out, breaking it to expose the vial.
“Stop her!” Gaius yelled as he and Jameson approached the bloodkeeper. The council looked on in fear, the fear of the unknown. The fear of being in the presence of the first.
“Don’t!” Kamilah yelled at her lover in fear. But it was too late, Aurora had consumed the vial, stopping an angry and startled pair of Gaius and Jameson in their tracks. The cave began to shake, the air grew thin and the floor began to crack and open. The trunk of the tree had split open and all could see Aurora’s body being taken over by a mysterious cloud coming from the tree, Rheya.
The vampires looked on speechless and scattered as far as possible as the small mortal transformed, Bruce Banner/Hulk style into this incredible being that towered over Gaius and Jameson. Rheya was using Aurora as a vessel and while she was transforming the duo tried to kill her while she had her guard down. Aurora quickly, with the use of her eyes only, shot an electrical current towards Jameson that blew him into a pile of ash. Gaius stopped dead and begged for mercy when Aurora turned to him, she powerfully flicked him with her index finger, decapitating him and sending his body across the room.
The council looked on in shock as Rheya used Auroras body, turning her attention to them next. She scanned over the frightened council and decided to spare them. Quickly transforming herself back into the small human frame that was Aurora.
Aurora passed out from the abduction and the council debated on what to do. If they should kill Aurora in her sleep, or leave her untouched. The threat of her unpredictable behavior with Rheya consuming her scared them. Her unlimited power was something the world wasn’t ready for. They were among a force none of them could control. But as they looked on at The 23 year old Aurora, who began to snore, they took a gamble and let her be free. Kamilah taking responsibility for her. She was in charge of keeping Aurora in check, making sure Rheya didn’t completely control her after all. She took this risk on one account, the love for her. She loved Aurora no matter what and if this love ended up getting her killed then so be it, she wasn’t going to abandon the girl.
The council kept tabs on Kamilah and Aurora, who was still in a slumber days after the battle and arrival of Rheya. Consuming the amount of pure blood she did apparently caused a sickness that kept her shutdown. It was only a guess however, but one thing was forsure, with Aurora being asleep, she couldn’t harm anyone.
Kamilah kisses her unconscious girlfriends temple, it was a habit before she went to bed. But before she could get out of the room, she heard her voice,
“Kami?”
Kamilah stopped and tensed up, it was going to be her first encounter with the woman since her turning, “Yes, love?” She replied timidly.
And before Kamilah could fully turn around, she felt a very firm grip clutching her throat and was being forced chest first into the door grasping for air. Fear taking over her, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen, she was no match for Aurora’s new strength and power.
Aurora pressed herself deeply into Kamilah’s back and she held her by the throat tightly against the door, slowly taking in the woman’s scent. She could feel the panic in the older vampire, her body was trembling. She took her nails and drug them across Kamilah’s neck earning a never before heard whimper. Aurora’s lust grew in each passing second. She was in control now, with all intentions to show Kamilah she was the boss now. She stood up on her toes to reach Kamilah’s collarbone, slightly piercing the skin with her teeth, getting a small sample of blood.
“Mmmm, Kami I’m so hungry.” Aurora moaned out, keeping Kamilah held by the throat firmly against the door. “I think I found my next meal.”
“What are you gonna do now that you got me.” Kamilah asked unsure If she should be scared of turned on. Hell, she was both.
“Oh my queen, I’m going to devour you.” Aurora groaned out before sinking her teeth into Kamilah, getting a much needed taste of her lover. Kamilah moaned and screamed out to the new sensation. Being took over and over by the Vampire Queen was exciting.
When Aurora finally pleased herself, she was about to leave Kamilah, who appeared to be paralyzed, lying naked on the floor alone to rest. Aurora felt herself being thrown back onto the bed, hands firmly held above her head. Kamilah looked into her eyes and flashed her fangs, “It’s about time I show you who the real queen is darling.”
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lime-bloods · 6 years ago
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Black Hole Theory: Revisited Again
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Introduction to the Black Hole Theory
Back when Collide and Act 7 dropped back in 2016, people asked a lot of questions. Without textual narration and with very little background information from the author, many aspects of the animations seemed to be more mysterious than they were helpful. Particularly mystifying were the black holes featured in both animations; in Act 7, one created by the alternate Calliope next to the Green Sun, which by all accounts as essential to Lord English’s defeat but whose specific purpose at the time was left vague; and in Collide, the hole left behind by the death of the possessed Jack Noir, which took half of Dirk’s Land of Tombs and Krypton with it before never being mentioned again.
Many seemed to take a key detail - the fact that the juju breaker crowbar and the fridge containing Gamzee were both conveniently caught in “Union Jack”’s blast - as a clue as to what these black holes were supposed to do. The crowbar and Gamzee both later appeared on Caliborn’s version of the Earth with no explanation as to how they got there, leading many to believe that the black hole created by Jack’s death is what transported them there in the first place, acting as a wormhole.
I took this hypothesis further; judging by the fact that Caliborn also enters his own session through a black hole, then things that enter black holes must all end up in Caliborn’s session. So I compiled a list of black holes in Homestuck, the things that had been pulled into their event horizons, and the consequences these things might have for Homestuck’s narrative. Important to this theory was one other major detail; the connection between the pool ball-themed computer server in the Furthest Ring and the Immortality Clock in Doc Scratch’s apartment, which was also found in Caliborn’s session with no explanation.
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What the Epilogues say about the Black Hole Theory
While I obviously didn’t get every single detail correct, the Homestuck Epilogues essentially confirm outright the most important assumptions made in the Black Hole Theory.
One of the main things connecting the two separate timelines in the Epilogues - Meat and Candy - is the black hole created by the Dead Cherub, which consumed the Green Sun and then the fabric of Paradox Space itself. This black hole does not lead to Caliborn’s SBURB session as originally assumed, but it does lead to the Earth in Universe C - the same Earth Caliborn later goes on to inhabit. It’s through this black hole that multitudes of ghosts arrive on Earth C.
The black hole isn’t the only portal through which inhabitants of the dream bubbles are able to arrive on Earth, however.
Before you can react, she jams the button down on the beacon and opens the server. She jumps into the hatch and the door snaps closed behind her.
Meenah jumps through a server in the Furthest Ring and later falls through the sky in Earth C in exactly the same manner as the ghosts who fell through the Dead Cherub’s black hole. The implications of this are clear: the black hole and the pool ball server both lead to the same place. What remains unclear is how exactly these two portals come to be linked with the Immortality Clock.
Revisiting the black holes
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Case I: [S] Caliborn: Enter
The black hole from Caliborn: Enter remains the most straightforward example: the dried up Earth C, including everything on it, is sucked into the black hole to where Caliborn’s session takes place.
However the information provided to us by the Epilogues forces us to rethink a major aspect of the Black Hole Theory: either the assumption that all black holes lead to the same place has to be discarded, or the exact logic regarding where a black hole leads to is more complicated than was once thought.
The Epilogues show us that the black hole in the Furthest Ring takes things to Earth; so how can the Earth itself be pulled through the same kind of portal? Keeping in mind that black holes also represent portals back into the story, it makes sense that a black hole would be what pulls an old, dead planet back into relevance in a SBURB session. But how can it practically happen?
One possibility is that, since the Dead Cherub’s black hole is connected to the Candy reality specifically, Caliborn’s Earth is actually from the Meat reality, and fell through into the Candy reality when Caliborn entered his session.
Another possibility involves the Immortality Clock. If the black holes initially led to the skies above Earth C, but later became connected to the Immortality Clock like the pool ball server did, it’s possible that after being sucked into the kernelsprite black hole, the Earth emerged from the Immortality Clock, with the clock itself sitting in its core.
Since we already know what the Caliborn: Enter black hole actually did, there’s little to be discussed in that regard. But the question of how it did what it did could be important to figuring out the functionality of Homestuck’s other black holes.
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Case II: The Dead Session
In stark contrast to the kernelsprite black hole, where the black hole that appears when Skaia collapses in the center of Caliborn’s session leads is a complete mystery. Its purpose is clear: to clear the Dead Session of unwanted variables like Prospit and Skaia and to act as a “pocket” for the pool ball planets caused by its destruction. Where these objects go once they cross the event horizon, however, is unknown. If all the other black holes in Homestuck lead somewhere, it’s only safe to assume this one does, too; but the Epilogues give us no new clues.
As such, the old theory regarding this black hole is still the strongest: when the pool ball planets fall into it, they come back out of the Immortality Clock as miniature - or rather, correctly-sized - pool balls; the same ones which Lil Cal is supposed to have his eyes replaced with and which Jack Noir later takes out in order to become Lord English himself. It is worth noting that just as in Homestuck, the actual origin of the flashing pool ball eyes Caliborn himself wears during his Masterpiece is not touched upon at all in the Epilogues.
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Case III: [S] Collide
The Homestuck Epilogues essentially affirm what many had already suspected; rather than merely spaghettifying or destroying the parts of the Land of Tombs and Krypton caught in its blast, the black hole created by the death of the Jack Noir version of Lord English sent the essential contents of Dirk’s planet to Earth C, where they would later form part of Caliborn’s own quest. Among the more likely objects transported by the black hole are the denizen Yaldabaoth, who would have been somewhere in LOTAK’s core, and the juju breaker crowbar, being wielded by Jack/English at the time of his death.
It was previously assumed that the fridge containing Gamzee was also among the items transported by this black hole; however Gamzee’s being freed in the Candy epilogue obfuscates this possibility somewhat.
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Case IV: [S] Act 7
While the exact design of this black hole is made explicitly clear in the Epilogues, unfortunately my speculation that Caliborn absorbs the power of his own future self is no longer possible, and the exact fate of Lord English’s power, which now resides within the Dead Cherub, is unknown.
A New Hypothesis?
Homestuck is a story of constantly escalating stakes, frequently prefiguring events in the greater narrative with less severe events in games of Sburb. Two prominent examples are Lord English, who acts as a culmination of previous villains like the Becquerel-powered Jack Noir and the Black King, and the destruction of the A and B universes by The Tumor, which builds on the prior destruction of Alternia and Earth by the Reckoning.
So it only follows that the end of Homestuck itself would parallel the normal end of a Sburb session; the Reckoning, whereby people and objects are sent hurtling toward Skaia and subsequently transported to a planet, foreshadows the Rapture - which Act 7 is referred to as on the Homestuck story map - where the Green Sun - a sun at the center of the story much like Skaia - sucks in people and objects who later find themselves on Earth C. New arrivals on Earth C are even accompanied by impact craters much like meteors, and the terms ‘Reckoning’ and ‘Rapture’ are essentially synonyms in that they both refer to the Biblical apocalypse.
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The Green Sun’s similarity to Skaia could be significant for more than just aesthetic parallel reasons, though; when assisted by a powerful temporal event like a Scratch happens, Skaia can create healthy offshoot timelines by duplicating the objects sent through its defense portals and sending them to different points in time.
The Meat and Candy timelines in the Epilogues are noticeably similar to this concept, so the question has to be raised; when an object falls through a black hole, could it be duplicated across both of these timelines? Specifically, could objects that fall from the sky in the Candy timeline also pop out of the Immortality Clock in the Meat timeline?
This hypothesis simplifies some things by explaining why black holes and server portals sometimes lead to the sky on Earth C and sometimes lead to the Immortality Clock. It is also heavy in symbolism; if the Candy timeline beyond the black hole’s event horizon represents the Dead Cherub (Calliope) herself, then the Immortality Clock at the center of Caliborn’s land could similarly be seen as representing himself.
Thus, if my older speculation that Caliborn absorbed Lord English’s essence after destroying the clock is true, then he is absorbed by Calliope in the Candy timeline and by Caliborn in the Meat timeline; befitting of their dual cherubic nature and rivalry. It is also worth noting in this respect that the icon for the Candy epilogue is two intertwined spirals of green and red - symbolising a fusion of Calliope and Caliborn - while the icon of the Meat epilogue is purely red.
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If Meenah also appears on Caliborn’s Earth through the Immortality Clock, it would also explain the origin of another of Homestuck’s more mysterious jujus; the Ring of Life and Void, which Caliborn appears to have acquired around the same time as the house juju and his flashing pool ball eyes with little explanation. This explanation fits with the alternating nature of the Ring; if Meenah was using it as a Ring of Life when it was taken by Caliborn, it would then become the Ring of Void that he uses to POOF!!!!!!!!!!! away the juju chest with John and the other Beta kids inside.
Of course, this hypothesis comes with its own complications. With the Ring comes not only a second living Meenah, but also a third John alongside another Terezi to arrive through the Immortality Clock. Under normal circumstances these would be standard Homestuck fare; but if the Epilogues aren’t already the end, this story is surely coming to a close soon, and it’s unclear what role these duplicates would play in that.
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First part of my distracting little side project. More of an introduction than anything as of right now, but I have some plans for it. Inspired via a tumblr post by @demigodgooglesearches. Enjoy part one!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perseus Brian Jackson hated his life, thank you very much.
He entered the life of gods and monsters at the tender age of twelve. The “deal” was that he would help the gods out in the Big Prophecy that was (probably) about him. If he reached sixteen he’d be out of this life, as much as his godly blood would allow.
Four months later he had been kidnapped by Hera and woke up after half a year of sleeping, without any of his memories. He was forced into another Great Prophecy. He went to Tartarus. He was so very beyond done.
He was going to go to college with his girlfriend in a city that would keep them safe from the monsters, and the legion would take care of any quests. Retired at seventeen.
Then came the Roman Emperors that never actually died, and have been festering under the surface for hundreds of years.
The third war Percy lived through dragged on until he turned twenty-three. He didn’t finish college, though Annabeth did. He didn’t see the point--he just wanted to go home to his mom and little sister.  He’d help with CHB, probably. Annabeth was with him. He was...he was going to be fine. Eventually.
And, for awhile, he was. He and Annabeth got married. They had a pregnancy scare. He helped kids get to-and-from camp and their families for the holidays, or for the school year, or for the first journey to camp. He cleaned the rivers and oceans for nonprofits and charities. He hung out with friends and loved his sisters (a set of twins named Lily and Kendra Andrews turned up at age eleven, three years younger than Estelle).
Estelle took over for Rachel right around that point, becoming the new Oracle of Delphi, and he was visiting her in her little den-space in the cave when...it happened.
It was a curse, of some kind, dredged up by a group of campers excavating an underground tunnel, connected to Bunker 9. Whatever the specifics were he was never told and didn’t really feel like asking, but the most basic run down was zombies.
Estelle with her lack of training didn’t stand a chance, no matter how hard Percy tried to protect her.
He didn’t go back to camp for a long time after that.
He only returned, six years later, to meet his newest half-brother Dylan Fisher.
Chaos himself then decided to fuck with everything.
Now Percy was forty-two.
His baby sister was dead, and so were a lot of his friends. His mother’s heart had given out not too long ago. Annabeth had died in a minor quest for information, three months ago, a mere errand that Hecate could have done herself.
He was expecting to die during this war. He was ready for it, whether it came from the swirly-thing that was currently dragging him from the couch or if it came in some epic final battle.
Percy Jackson was done.
~~~
Perseus Jackson was bewildered at the sharp left turn his life had taken.
His mom was killed by the minotaur--the very same minotaur from Ancient Greece--and his dad is a god, and his best friend is half-goat. The cam he was at was full of other demigod children of the Greek gods. Zeus blamed him for the thievery of his master bolt. Percy wasn’t even supposed to have been born.
He wasn’t able to sleep in the big, empty cabin after nearly dying from a hellhound and being claimed by Poseidon only a few hours before.
That was when a swirling...something appeared in the middle of the room, very quickly pulling him towards it.
Percy grabbed onto the sheets, trying to grab something heavier, but being unable before he was pulled in.
~~~
Persephone Jackson was extremely irritated at the newest (most likely) godly interference in her life.
She’d done her time--first with the Titans, and then with the giants. Her plans include finishing high school and going to college with her girlfriend, not this black-hole thing in her bedroom.
“Annabeth!” she cried out, desperately reaching for her across the bed.
“Perci-” Annabeth called back, waking abruptly.
The last thing she saw was Paul and her mother throwing open her bedroom door, and Annabeth’s outstretched hand. 
She was really fed up with all this godly stuff.
~~~
Delora Jackson wasn’t quite ready the newest adventure standing in her way.
Not that she had terribly many quests, like Thalia and Luke and Beckendorf and Katie and even the mortal Oracle of Delphi Samantha. The largest claim to fame Lora had was that her best friend was part of the Argo II quest, and that she had been a key player in a few of the battles with the Roman Emperors.
Her mom--that was, her “godly” (she was technically a nereid, not a goddess) mom--had invited her to the bottom of the ocean for a party of some kind. Lora had just finished hailing good-bye to her (technical stepfather) Uncle Poseidon, and kissed her mom’s cheek at the door when the portal opened up.
Her mother reached for her with the strength of the entire ocean, and Lora reached back. For a moment she thought her mother would save her. The next she was gone.
~~~
Percy Jackson was not ready to be on his very own quest, despite how much he acted like he might be.
It was easy to put on a front like he knew what he was doing. That was kinda the whole point of being a mortal that could see through the Mist, especially one that became the first known male Oracle of Delphi and the first living one since WWII.
He had actually only had a total of three lessons (two in archery, by Apollo himself, and one in swords) in weapons training. The closest he came to actually fighting came when he threw a half-empty water bottle at the Titan Lord Kronos.
In honesty, he probably was taking the news of Greek gods, and the subsequent war with the titans, and the appointment of Oracle, and being handed a baby girl only a few weeks later by Apollo who Percy knows he never slept with because he was the Oracle and wasn’t allowed.
He was somewhat managing.
A five-month-old was a lot to deal with but he honest-to-gods was. His mom and step-dad helped a lot, as well as a lot of the demigod campers. He loved Clara with all his heart, even when he was only getting to bed at who-knows-it’s-dark o’clock.
That’s when a portal-thing opened in front of him.
He fervently prayed to Apollo that he wouldn’t let anything happen to their little girl while Percy was gone.
~~~
Bianca di Angelo did not need anything else adding to the current quest that she was on.
There was the Greek campers trying to kill her, Nico, Hazel, Gleeson, Dina, Elanor, and Robert. There were Roman campers after Eleanor and Robert for deserting. The Greeks and Romans were going after each other. When the gods weren’t incapacitated by the migraines, most tried to kill the two children of Hades in a vain attempt to postpone the war. Kronos was possessing Margery and gathering his forces.
The portal that began pulling her in while she sat watch with Dina was really unwelcomed. There was nothing she could do to stop it, even as she twisted for her spear.
Damn her luck.
~~~
Peter Johnson had a fairly regular life that he was personally very happy with.
He was a marine biologist, his wife was a wonderful scuba diving instructor named Sabrina, and he had two kids. He wasn’t religious, though his father came from a heavily Lutheran background. He had a mortgage and a bichon.
A bichon dog that, in the middle of the night, woke him and Sabrina up by flipping out for seemingly no reason.
Well, no reason until what Peter could only describe as multiple portals opened up and dumped people into the room. About five or six, from what Peter could tell between all the yelling, barking, and salt-water pouring out from one of the...things.
That was one way to wake up, he supposed.
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timcbombs · 5 years ago
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✕ — wasn’t that tabitha smith wandering the streets of new york, 1973? civilians know them as boom-boom and see them as a hero. as far as i know, the twenty-four year old stands with x-force, x-factor, & new mutants, and are rumoured to be pretty self-assured & recalcitrant. ( liz gillies / transfemale / she/her ) 
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{ trigger warnings : emotional, physical, and sexual assault, alcohol, homophobia, transphobia  }
hey guys, sophia’s at it again lmao!!  here’s more about my second baby aka my trash!baby under the cut  
PT. 1: INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION // 
tabby doesnt really have any appearances outside of the mceu except for a handful of cartoon appearances 
so this rendition of her is gonna be entirely comic based
PT. 2: FROM TIME-BOMB TO BOOMER TO MELTDOWN TO BOOM-BOOM // 
okay so. tabby was an only child, raised in a trailer park in roanoke. her mom was never really in the picture and her dad was an abusive alcoholic nut job. tabby never got an actual education. she was emotionally neglected & abused, as well as physically abused for her entire childhood. 
the abuse only got worse when tabby’s mutation (and gender & sexuality, see below) came into question. her father beat tabby so hard that she ran away at around 13-14. 
she started a long ass journey trying to figure out how the fuck to live in a world where she couldn’t really read & understand, but somehow make it to xaviers school for the gifted (someone in the trailer park had mentioned it to her and she decided it’d become her salvation) 
a train she was taking en route to washington dc was attacked by the beyonder. the beyonder ended up considering tabby its only friend and felt bad for this young, frightened, abused girl and brought her to xavier’s. however because the beyonder is a powerful cosmic entity the x-men attacked it on spot and tabby, frightened and bewildered, left with the beyonder back to its home planet. she stayed there with him for a little while before realizing it was an evil entity hellbent on the destruction of worlds, and demanded she be returned to the xmen. she led the beyonder into an ambush and the beyonder, heartbroken about the loss of its only friend, willingly surrendered 
that was tabby’s introduction to the x-men. because of how it all went down, she left the x-men for a little while and moved to LA. she joined a gang called the fallen angels where she learnt how to steal (amongst other things). she began to be sexually harassed and was sexually taken advantage of during her time with this gang, particularly by the gang’s male mutant leader, who’d enlisted her, and so she told the x-factor about the gangs presence 
tabitha then witnessed the children of the x-factor being kidnapped by soldiers of The Right and stowed away on the ship to save them — where she befriended Rictor
the ship crashed when apocalypse was defeated and she lived on apocalypse’s ship for a while 
when the x-men found her, tabby was forced to attend phillips academy in new hamsphire, where she was bullied by the other kids for being a mutant. she allied with the other mutants at the school and formed a group called the x-terminators, where she got hella involved with a bunch of demon & limbo & illyana bullshit when some of the mutants were kidanpped and being used as a portal into limbo 
even though tabby had helped save the world, her school expelled her for being involved in the entire ordeal, and she then joined the new mutants, accidentally summoned a giant sea monster (like an idiot) and went to live wth some dwarves on asgard 
she then joined x-force and changed her alias to boomer 
she joined an underground paramilitary group and was bombed by a vibranium bomb, but survived. my trash queen 
she was then invited by Cable, as meltdown, to join his group Underground to investigate the new weapon x program 
she then joined next wave, as boom-boom, where she learned she’s immune to mind control 
she was then kidnapped by anti-mutant extremists and personally held hostage by the leper queen. the leper queen decided to take her wrath out towards the x-men on tabby and shot her in the head (consequently she was then saved by otherwise certain death by one laura kinney)
she then teams up w/ domino to infiltrate sword because fuck the government, i guess
she went to live on utopia and stayed after it was destroyed, before finally settling at the xavier school and becoming a full-fledged x-man.  
PT. 3: TABBY’S PERSONALITY & RELATED HEADCANONS //
she’s literally a disaster gay. that’s about it. she’s a chaotic babe who loves to throw herself into stupid situations. she loves to party, get smashed, has a ton of super famous hollywood friends who invite her out to parties all the time. she gets shitfaced with them and gets in a lot of trouble with them
i also write tabby as transfemale. and i imagine that was also a big contributing factor to the strain between herself and her parents, as well as a motivating factor to joining the gang she did. she needed money for the transition and for hormones. 
shes super dumb bookwise but very streetsmart. it’d be dumb to underestimate her because she perceives things in such a unique way and it always ends up int he benefit of the team
that said she can be a lazy shit sometimes, motivation is not her forte
shes got a ton of trauma she’s never willing to address ever (and more she never talks about from her party days)
shes the kind of girl though who’ll blast music at 4am — despite everyone else being asleep. she’s got absolutely no manners, and has a long history of playing pranks on the x-men (via literally bombing them with her powers) if they don’t listen to her/undermine her/ neglect her. basically. don’t get on her bad side.
she just wants to be that fun friend everyone can go to for a good time, she doesn’t like to drag people down with her own issues. anyways shes a chaotic bisexual with the mouth of a trucker who deserves the world & u can’t change my mind
— so thats about it for my trash baby!! shes been involved with a hella lot of teams and is always open for all the connections! pls luv her! <3 
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butterflydm · 6 years ago
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The Magicians Revisited: 1x01 Unauthorized Magic
I’m doing the rewatch with @themagiciansrevisited​ and I’ll be watching along probably until 4x10, which is where I’ve decided my own personal canon for the show will tap out. And because my brain likes to keep track of things, I’ll be rewatching again on my own after each group rewatch and write out the things that stand out for me, that I might want to remember. This is v. long, so I will pop it under a read more.
Significant moments: The first character we meet is Dean Fogg, who comes onto a NYC street through a portal from a more wooded area (I think it’s the area outside Brakebills). The door closes behind him without him needing to physically shut it. He meets up with “Eliza” (making Jane Chatwin the second major character we meet) and says, “You’re late”, which is going to echo in the later first meeting of Eliot and Quentin (and which was itself mirrored in the first meeting between “Kim” and Todd in 4x01). Being that time loops and timelines are such an important part of the show, it’s interesting to me that the importance of timing is set up so soon. And… it’s also possibly a nod to The Lord of the Rings.
Jane’s brought Fogg evidence that the Beast is already active in this timeline (a huge-ass moth). The NYPost that he’s reading looks to be dated October 18, 2015, which tracks with when the first episodes came out. Part of the implication in this conversation is that Jane wants Fogg to rush our group into Brakebills even though they aren’t in place to have it handled yet.
Jane shows particular concern over ‘our boy’, which I think we can take as read is Quentin, given how Jane directs her attention to Quentin fairly pointedly and given that we’re going to cut to him after this scene. Looking back, it’s interesting to think about how this relationship may have evolved from Jane’s PoV. She must have recognized Julia and Quentin as the Witch and the Fool as soon as they were old enough and got involved in the very first timeline, plus it’s possible she figured out somewhere along the way that Quentin was also the old man who gave her the Time Key in the first place. There are four major characters who remember the time loops, after all - Jane, Fogg, Martin, and Ember - so I’ll be paying particular attention during their scenes to see what they may drop as a hint to what happened in previous timelines.
This scene also mirrors, to a certain extent, the introductory McGonagall & Dumbledore scene at the beginning of Harry Potter. I suspect that’s intentional, given the series’s future interest in deconstructing various fantasy storylines and tropes. So, we have two authority figures who understand what’s to come and they have been deliberately attempting to shape this younger generation into a weapon to wield against the enemy that threatens them (and that comes from their own generation).
Quentin is the next major character introduced to us - he is in the Midtown Mental Health Clinic, which has a nice view of the Statue of Liberty. He’s thoughtlessly doing magic tricks with a coin. The show then cuts between him checking himself out of the clinic with a scene of him at a party at his apartment. Julia is introduced by noticing Q looking out of place at the party, and then he bails to go hang out alone in a bedroom and read which… yeah, same, Q, same. We see his pills, a comic book, some other books: bunch of books on stage magic like card and coin tricks, and Plover’s books (at least two editions of the Fillory and Further series). As Q reads the first book (Fillory and Further: The World in the Walls), we get a visualization of them onscreen.
Julia and Quentin talk a little (and I’m going to note that she explicitly calls the Fillory books ‘obscure fantasy’, so not actually in the realm of Narnia or LotR) - she gives him a friendly kiss, and then Julia’s boyfriend James comes in and jokes about them having a threeway, which I did not expect to be foreshadowing and yet… Quentin will definitely have a threesome before the end of the season so, I guess it was. Unexpected foreshadowing!
The (dead) Yale interviewer had the clock from the Fillory books (or a replica? I don’t recall from further episodes if this is the real deal or not) in the place he was planning to interview Quentin. Huh, one of the dead interviewer’s eyes looks kinda like a fairy eye. We do find out later from Dean Fogg that the interviewer was a magician, so… hmm. This scene is very suspicious to me in many ways, in retrospect.
The manuscript that Jane gives Quentin is, officially, Fillory and Further; Book Six: the Magicians and it is dated Feb 1952. We learn that Julia is the one who got Quentin into the Fillory books in the first place and that’s why he learned magic tricks. They were both very into the books all through high school, but then Julia met James and she pulled away from them.
Next, it’s Julia and Quentin’s introduction to Brakebills! So, in most (though I suspect Jane tried cutting Q out of the equation at some point early on) of the previous loops, both Quentin and Julia would have gotten into Brakebills at this point, so after this is where we split from the general timeline to the differences in TL40 (for the students! Martin/the Beast is probably doing his own set of experiments each time he gets snapped back into a new timeline; especially different ways of approaching his ability to talk to Penny, I suspect).
When Q arrives, Eliot is, of course, posing in a gorgeous outfit. He was given a card with Quentin’s name and is waiting for him.
So, timeline thoughts: obviously, Fogg decides to set up Eliot and Quentin’s friendship early on, based on previous timeline experiences and whatnot. Given Jane’s worries about Quentin not being prepared enough, it does seem likely that Fogg decided to set up a mentorship-ish situation, since Eliot and Margo appear to get involved anyway in other timelines and since Margo’s a big Fillory fan, too. I’m going to see how Fogg reacts to them in later episodes to see if it confirms or counters my suspicions here.
When Eliot brings Quentin to the exam room, Penny is in the foreground of the shot and Quentin ends up sitting next to him. Julia is more in the middle of the room and (hilariously, from a P23-P40 perspective), I think I see Kady at a table in between Julia and Penny. Quentin sees Julia and they hug. I did not see Alice in the exam room, but there were several tables that had blonde girls at them, so maybe I just missed her.
Julia is told that she failed the test and will be sent home. “I can’t just go to Yale if this place exists” and she deliberately scratches herself before the memory spell is placed on her. Meanwhile, Q is given a deck of cards and told to do magic. He fumbles for a while, Dean Fogg puts some heavy pressure on him, and Q’s magic bursts out and then he collapses.
Q has a dream of talking to Jane in Fillory. Dream!Jane (real!Jane using a spell of some kind, I assume) name-drops the Beast and tells Q to “get off the garden path”. She wants him to try something new, because she knows that the previous tries have all failed spectacularly. He needs to do something different this time.
Q wakes up at Brakebills and Julia wakes up in her apartment in NYC, remembering everything and researching right away. Q talks to Dean Fogg. We learn that Brakebills is a three-year graduate-level program. So. Dean Fogg here is… hmm. He encourages Q to give up his meds. In the earlier scene, he deliberately preyed on Q’s fears (which he would know well from 39 previous timelines of experience) in order to provoke him into displaying a forceful burst of magic. We know that Jane is particularly worried about how much Q, specifically, needs to learn. Adding that together, and it does feel very deliberate that Fogg leads Q to believe that magic — that this school — will eliminate the need for his meds & etc., when we know from future episodes that this is very much not something that magic actually “fixes”. But he’s setting up Brakebills as the place that makes everything better because he wants Q to believe it. It’s also possible that he’s discouraging Q’s meds to create a certain level of emotional pain in Q to power his magic? Wow. That’s a dark thought.
Q and Penny are roommates. Q notices his F&F Book 6 is missing and is accusatory towards Penny, but before it can go further, Eliot comes to introduce Quentin to Margo. He’s told her that Q is cute and her opinion is “not that cute” but she’s friendly to him. We learn that first years stay in the dorms, and then once you know your ‘talent’, you get put into a house. The ones that Eliot lists out are: Physical Kids (where he and Margo are), Illusions, Healing, Nature, Knowledge (where Julia would have gone), Psychics. We also learn that there are only four students currently remaining of the third-year class, sixteen of them having disappeared along the way.
So, after all that, we go to Q’s first class and we see Alice for the first time (at least, that I could spot). She gets singled out to do a demonstration for the class and turns a glass ball into a glass horse. Also in this class, Kady meets Penny. They have an instant sexual connection and hook up right away. This is a definite deviation from timeline-23, at least, and if Kady only got into Brakebills because Julia was kept out, then that could potentially make Kady an overall wildcard. We know that the Great Cock in S3 knows about her, but I wonder if she was on anyone’s radar before timeline-40 happened. I’ll keep an eye out!
When Q finds out a little bit more about Alice from Margo and Eliot, he’s intrigued because he was very impressed by her spellwork. Margo and Eliot do not seem particularly interested in Alice one way or the other - when Alice leaves after Margo’s (debatably sincere) invite, they basically roll their eyes and shrug. Q tries to talk to Alice again later and she is definitely not interested in making friends.
Some time has passed, because James has sent Q several emails that he hasn’t answered. Julia hasn’t been eating or acting like herself, so James asks Q to come to her birthday party. Margo and Eliot overhear and immediately invite themselves along, because they have 100% adopted Q into their friendship already like damn. I’m kinda stunned over exactly how quickly Eliot and Margo decided that Quentin is One of Us. Eliot takes one look and is basically like ‘you’re cute, we’re keeping you’ and Margo goes with it in a way that she absolutely does not do with “Mike” later on. Eliot and Margo are the two people who are welcoming and encouraging to Q basically from day one and it just really stands out even more in a rewatch. Like Q has to go through some traumatizing shit with Alice, Penny, and Kady to start to develop any kind of bond, but with Eliot and Margo, he basically just has to show up and... be himself. And - this is jumping forward a bit but - they both mention later on that they genuinely like Q for his personality and his interests. Margo & El are stealth nerds and Eliot finds nerds charming in general, so they both just... like Q for who he is. It’s just so sweet and very adorable to see it already present in the first episode. They just like him. For the person that he is.
We meet future reoccurring hedge witch Pete at the party, briefly, as Julia goes ‘ugh no’ at first sight. Julia talks to Q in private and reveals that she remembers about Brakebills. The conversation goes badly, Q is not willing to help her with magic stuff, and he leaves with Ellot and Margo. Pete is a creep and scares Julia until she magics her way out of the trap and he invites her to join a non-Brakebills method of learning magic.
The next dream Q has about Jane Chatwin appears to take place at Rupert Chatwin’s grave (or just a monument to him? But I’m guessing grave). She warns him again not to just stick to the “garden path”. She shows him the symbol that he saw in Alice’s book and burns it into his hand, giving him a new reason to seek out Alice. Alice tells Q to meet her that night to do a summoning to contact the other side. Penny is drawn to go help Alice and Q, and Kady volunteers to join him. They do the spell and after they all leave the room, a smiley face is drawn on the mirror, ominously.
The Beast freezes everyone’s actions except their eyes, enters through the mirror. He kills a professor, is attacked by the Dean, defeats him but doesn’t kill him, and then spots Quentin. He calls Quentin out by name and starts to reach towards him and we cut to credits. That’s the scene that really made me go “woah, shit, this show commits” in my first watch-through. Specifically, it was the smiley-face that the Beast makes during that scene. I was like “did I just watch that happen?”, which a thought I have now had many many times over the course of future episodes as well. Sometimes for good and sometimes for bad, I suppose.
Magic: 1. Location portal (Dean Fogg travels through) 2. Portal to Fillory (described in F&F: the World in the Walls) 3. Clock in tree (spotted by Jane; placed by “the watcherwoman”) 4. Julia and Quentin getting into Brakebills (bushes vs elevator) and traveling to upstate New York 5. Magic exam test 6. (attempted) memory spell on Julia 7. Quentin makes the cards fly around the room after his exam and then builds them into a card castle before collapsing 8. Jane talks to Q in his dreams 9. The globes in Dean Fogg’s office sense magic, though they aren’t always right 10. Illusion work is used to keep friends and families of magic students from finding out they attend Brakebills 11. Lots of random practice magic from the students as Eliot and Margo give Q a tour 12. Kady floats during sex and make other things float too (including Penny) 13. Julia makes sparks happen at her birthday party 14. Pete uses magic to tie Julia up and scare her into showing her magic Julia breaks out of Pete’s trap 15. Q has another dream of Fillory and Jane Chatwin 16. Summoning spell with Q, Alice, Penny, and Kady 17. time freeze by the Beast, travels via mirror, magically kills a professor, takes Dean Fogg’s eyes
Relationships: Dean Fogg & Jane Chatwin: firm allies Quentin & Julia: best friends -> becoming estranged friends Julia & James: established relationship Quentin & James: friends -> becoming estranged friends Quentin & Eliot: early friendship/crush Quentin & Penny: bad first impression on both sides Eliot & Margo: best friends Margo & Quentin: early friendship Quentin->Alice: admires her talent Alice->Quentin: hostile -> becoming temporary allies Penny & Kady: immediate sexual/romantic relationship Margo & Alice: mutually unimpressed Eliot & Alice: mutually unimpressed Quentin->Kady: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Kady->Alice & Quentin: “losers" Alice->Kady & Penny: temporary allies Penny->Alice: admires her talent Jane&Fogg->Quentin&co: manipulative mentorship Pete->Julia: impressed with her talent Julia->Pete: creeped out
Obviously a certain amount of subjectivity in this but I call ‘em like I see ‘em.
Physical contact: Jane places the magic watch in Dean Fogg’s coat pocket and then smooths his clothes out afterwards. Julia sits in her boyfriend’s lap at the party. Julia touches Q’s leg, takes his book out of his hands, snuggles up to him, and kisses him on the corner of his mouth. James jumps on top of Q and Julia in Q’s bed when he’s joking about the threeway. Other people join in. Julia and Q press up against each as they walk to Q’s Yale interview, and she touches him on the back and then brushes his hair out of his eyes. Julia and Q sit pressed up together after finding the dead body of the interviewer and she’s somewhat loosely hugging him from behind. Eliot escorts Q into the exam room with a touch on the shoulder and back. Julia and Q hug in the exam room after the test. Margo pulls out Q’s tie when they’re introduced. Margo touches Eliot’s arm when talking about the third-year class and they stayed mostly pressed up arm-to-arm for much of the later conversation. Kady and Penny have sex, and then touch casually and flirtatiously in the walking scene afterward. Margo and Eliot hold hands as they run up to talk to Q when he’s on the phone with James. Eliot leads her by the hand at Julia’s birthday party. When leaving, they hug and spin around together. James hugs Q, and then Q hugs Julia. Pete touches Julia’s face when she’s trapped by his spell. dream!Jane grabs Q’s wrist and presses his hand against the summoning symbol. Q touches Alice’s shoulder when he’s trying to tell her about the symbol burned into his hand. Alice holds his wrist to look at the symbol and then pulls him along by the wrist so they can talk more privately. Penny takes Kady by the hand when they leave. Penny and Kady are playing around/holding hands in class when the Beast arrives. The Beast pulls out Dean Fogg’s eyes and bites him? headbutts him? so that he falls. Bites him, I think. WTF, Martin?
Character Notes: Dean Fogg: mint green shoes Jane Chatwin: Martin was her twin; Rupert was her older brother. She was ‘the family skeptic’. Described by Fogg as a ‘scout; freelance, sort of’. Quentin Coldwater: Checked himself into Midtown Mental Health because he “couldn’t concentrate, eat, or get out of bed” and the “feeling of not belonging anywhere was overwhelming” and being “the most useless person who ever lived”. He was planning on selling his Fillory first editions on Ebay. His father lives in Jersey. Martin Chatwin: “gloomy nature” (as claimed by Plover) Rupert Chatwin: wounded in “the war” (WWII) Charlie Quinn: Died five years ago at Brakebills, so 2010 Julia Wicker: Was going to go to Yale for a business degree.
Students: “Missing 3rd year class” students: there are only four students in the current third year class, with sixteen having gone missing. I’m not certain exactly how many we end up accounting for over the course of the season (at least Victoria and Josh but there might be more), so I will keep track of that, too. But, for now, we have the nameless four remaining. Known 1st year students: Q, Alice, Penny, Kady. Dean Fogg mentions “I’ve got another twenty-four of you today”, which sets the class size at 25 minimum (if Q is the first new student he talked to) Known 2nd year students: Margo, Eliot
Timeline Notes: Oct. 2015: Dean Fogg meets with Jane Chatwin to discuss this current time loop. “Not Tuesday”: Quentin is checking himself out of Midtown Mental Health and mentions he has a Yale grad school interview on “Tuesday”. Tuesday: Julia goes with Quentin to his Yale interview, but the interviewer is dead. Jane is posing as an EMT and gives Quentin the unpublished Fillory and Further sixth book. Quentin starts some new meds. Tuesday Night: Quentin and Julia are pulled into Brakebills for their exam (and it is day in Brakebills) Wednesday: Q is at Brakebills; Julia is back in NYC. Q gives his new meds up to Dean Fogg. ~undisclosed amount of time passes~ Julia’s birthday: Q, Eliot, and Margo attend ~undisclosed amount of time passes~
Ways the Loop-aware Messed With Our Kids: 1. Julia was kept out of Brakebills 2. Eliot was sent out to bring Q in to take his test 3. Q and Penny are roommates in the dorms 4. Jane burns Q’s hand to encourage him to seek out Alice 5. Jane tells Q that Brakebills isn’t the point and he has a greater destiny
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mage-cat · 6 years ago
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A Fire to Beat Back the Dark, Chapter 2
Hey, less than a month between chapters. That’s pretty good for me.
...
Yes, I know, I need to work on that.
Anyway, read on to see the Rebellion’s introduction to defector-from-the-Horde Catra and see Adora and Catra get some Shadow Weaver closure. ~3,000 words.
Chapter 1 here.
Chapter below the cut. Link to AO3 version through here.
By the time the trio arrived at Bright Moon about an hour before dawn, Bow and Glimmer had gone back to bed, letting others take over their watch duties. Queen Angella was awake, however, and willing to accept Adora telling her that the best place to update her on how the night's mission had gone was the edge of the Whispering Woods.
As they approached where Swift Wind and Catra had hidden themselves from easy view, the sound of a lively, if hushed, conversation could be heard. Adora could have sworn that the phrase 'beast-kin discrimination' was somewhere in there. She made a point to say something somewhat loud and largely pointless to Queen Angella, alerting the two of their arrival. By the time they were all in sight of each other, Catra had taken on the stance of a cadet awaiting an officer's displeasure, back straight and head bowed.
It was a pose Adora had seen her take countless times, often out of the corner of her eye while she did the same, but this was the first time she saw it and found herself wondering how much it hurt Catra's pride to take it. The subservience required of them as budding soldiers that had felt harsh but necessary at the time seemed much more cruel when applied to a Princess with fire in her heart, and whatever else they had been told, that was what Catra had always been. How bad of a friend had she been for not realizing how much it had hurt Catra sooner?
Still, the stance was the best choice for someone asking for permission to enter the castle she had led an attack on barely more than a month before, and Adora and Swift Wind flanking her helped give Catra credibility while she explained Hordak's displeasure with her and the actions that led her to coming into contact with the Black Garnet. A flame from her hand lit her face as she told the queen, “The Fright Zone is my home, more than I ever realized, and I want Hordak out of it.”
That was how Catra came to enter Bright Moon hidden under a hooded cloak to prevent panic in whoever might catch sight of her until she could present her case to the Rebellion at large.
---
“I have made contact with a previously unknown Princess who has connected with the Black Garnet,” Adora announced to the gathered rebels.
“Scorpia's not unknown,” said Frosta.
“It's not Scorpia.”
“Besides,” Glimmer said, “no one in Scorpia's family has ever been able to use the Black Garnet, not in any recorded history anyway.” She turned back to Adora “Where is she?”
“Nearby, but first you all have to understand. The only reason she was able to even get close to the Black Garnet at all is because she first worked her way far up into the Hoard's ranks.”
“Did you know her?” asked Perfuma.
“Will you vouch for her?” asked Frosta.
Adora bit her lip. “When I was in the Horde, there wasn't anyone I trusted more. Since I've joined the Rebellion… She would say we were stupid if we didn't keep a close eye on her.”
Bow and Glimmer looked uneasy. Adora had barely spoken to them over the course of the morning, saying that it was best to wait for the meeting to fill everyone in at once, but the two of them were going to put the pieces together quickly now.
Mermista was the first one to speak up. “At least she sounds honest. I like her already.”
Catra appeared through a well-concealed service door and walked up to stand by Adora. “I think that's as good as I'm going to get.”
Glimmer stood up, her hands on the table. “Catra?! Catra is the new Princess?!”
“Yeah,” Catra said holding her hands out. She let the flames build there until they were high enough that everyone at the table could clearly see them and her control of them. “It shocked me too.”
“And for the record, I don't know of any Horde tech that can do that. She's not faking.”
“Just so we're clear,” Perfuma said as Catra brought her hands together to smother the flames. “This is the same Catra who you once said would kill us all in front of you to make you suffer.”
“Wow, Adora, I don't know whether to be glad to hear you think I have the skills to pull that off or upset at your opinion of my morals.” Catra figured that pointing out that the gathered Rebellion members would be of more use to the Horde as hostages than martyrs wouldn't be useful at the moment.
“I'm just glad to hear you admit that you have morals.” Adora gave a wan smile. “I was describing a worst case scenario. You angry at me is always a worst case scenario.”
“Look, everyone, I know you all are going to be suspicious of me. I would be too. So here's something that may ease your minds a bit. This isn't actually a big priority shift for me. My plan was always to take control of the Fright Zone and the Horde away from Hordak. I may have been raised to be a Horde soldier, but I dream of never having to take orders from anyone ever again.”
Catra looked around the table, seeing her words sink in with the desired effect. For Adora that meant a look of grim understanding. For most of the others it meant a look of dawning realization. As children, they may have had to listen to their parents or other caretakers. In the years since, they may have agreed to plans that included taking direction from people with information or understanding that they lacked. But no one had ever, ever taken away their choice to say ‘No.’ The question ‘Why?’ had never been meet with ‘Because I said so,’ followed by the threat of punishment for their insolence. Every one of them was clearly thinking about how they would have chafed under being forced to live such a life. A few of them may have even moved on to realize that if Catra had come to them under any other circumstances, as anything other than a fellow Princess looking to take back her land, she would have been subordinate to them. However kindly or playfully worded, there had always been a chance that one of the Princesses would pull rank, making them no different from any Horde officer as far as she had been concerned.
She continued, “Before, the plan was to impress Hordak, and be such a good officer that he named me his successor, and no one would question it if he met an untimely end shortly after. But now, I have a claim that has nothing to do with Hordak, so instead of waiting to stab him in the back, I can go ahead and stab him in the front. And if you all help me do it… Well, that will make diplomatic relations between the Hoard and the Rebellion go a whole lot smoother afterwards. Won't it?”
“The main duty of any She-Ra is to maintain the harmony of Etheria by working with the Princesses, all of them. Being Catra's enemy confirmed something I already knew. That she is a highly capable combatant and the best tactician I know. I want her on our side. I need her on our side.”
“What about trust?” Glimmer asked.
“Trust can be earned.” Adora said.
“It's a bit hard to repair after it's been broken though,” said Catra, “but I'm willing to try if you are. I can probably get you Scorpia. Entrapta will be a harder sell.”
Perfuma's eyes widened. “Entrapta's alive?!”
“You didn't tell them? That's cold,” Catra said in Glimmer and Bow's direction before turning back to Perfuma. “Yeah, I found her crawling around in the ductwork two days after your rescue mission. Between the Horde's advanced technology and the First Ones' tech I've been swiping for her, I'm pretty sure she's never been happier. As long as she can keep making Hordak's machines work better than he can, she's his favorite.”
“We offered to rescue her,” Glimmer said. “She turned us down. And she's the one who froze the Whispering Woods.”
“She was really excited for the chance to 'hack the planet'. Now she's working on Hordak's portal technology along with weapon design.”
“A portal to what?” asked Bow.
“Where he came from as far as I can piece together. All I know about that is that he made a machine to mimic the air of the place to make some of his tech work better.” Thinking of the machine in action made her rub her throat at the memory. “And I can't breathe it.”
Silence hanging in the air for a moment until Frosta said, “If he wants to leave Etheria, that could solve most of our problems.”
“If he wants to bring in reinforcements, that could make things a lot worse for us,” said Bow.
“It's best if we stop him before he gets it working, and I'm not just saying that because I want to secure access to the Black Garnet,” said Catra.
“Yeah, and our last mission into the Fright Zone went so well,” said Mermista.
“See,” said Catra, “your problem then was that there are two people on Etheria who know the Fright Zone better than anyone else. Before, you only had one of them. Now, you have both. Plus, the Horde is now minus Shadow Weaver, and she was their only magic-user.”
Glimmer asked, “Does Hordak know you're here?”
“As far as anyone in the Horde knows, I'm chasing Shadow Weaver. With the deadline on me, it will morning after tomorrow before anyone should officially care where I am. The only person I talked to about the Black Garnet before I left was Scorpia, and she should have bought my story that I just hoped that whatever information she had about it might help me track our escaped prisoner. I still can't believe she came here.”
“Shadow Weaver knows she's in my head,” said Adora. “She just misjudged how. Maybe if she realized how many of my nightmares revolve around her, she wouldn't have thought breaking into my room in the middle of the night was such a good idea.”
“And you're the one she liked.”
“She thought I was a more useful tool. That's different.”
“So how exactly did Shadow Weaver go from second-in-command to prisoner? That sort of feels like a hole in your story,” said Glimmer.
“She kept devoting time and resources to bringing back Adora after Hordak told her to stop. That got her on his bad side. The breaking point was how she reacted to Entrapta experimenting with the Black Garnet. She felt that, because she had been the only one drawing power from it for years, it was hers. Hordak felt otherwise.”
“Yes,” said Castaspella as she entered the room, “whether she is called Shadow Weaver or Light Spinner, that woman does not like to give up power. I'm glad to know her days of terrorizing people are over.”
“Castaspella, this is Catra,” Adora said. “She was my friend in the Horde, and we just found out that she's the Princess linked to the Black Garnet.”
“With Shadow Weaver talents, she likely figured that out a very long time ago. I'm sure her attentions were very close and unpleasant.”
“To say the least,” said Catra.
“I want to get her behind proper magical wards as quickly as possible. I'm sure you both would rather see her leave instead of finding out that I spirited her away while you were in the middle of a meeting.” Casta's gaze drifted meaningfully to Queen Angella, who had, to this point been silently observing the proceedings.
Angella said, “Seeing as how this has turned from a simple weekly update to a potentially more complicated planning meeting, I suggest that we reconvene after a break, assuming that everyone is agreed to allowing Princess Catra to be part of our plans.”
Most of the voices that came from around the table were reluctant, others were grumbling, but none of them said no.
Adora placed a hand on Catra's shoulder. “Welcome to the Rebellion.”
---
Adora's hand was still there as the two walked into the room were Shadow Weaver was being guarded with Castaspella following behind them, though their expressions were considerably more somber.
“Ah, Catra,” Shadow Weaver purred. “I knew Adora would be able to capture you if she put her mind to it.”
“I wasn't captured,” Catra replied, stepping away from Adora's hand. “I asked to come here. I know why you sent her after me though. I think it's the same reason you've ever done anything to me. You were trying to stop this.” She snapped and a small flame sprouted from a single fingertip, causing Shadow Weaver to tense. Catra moved and leaned forward until the fire was within inches of the broken mask. “You spent my life terrorizing me trying to make sure that this never happened. Trying to make sure I would never be as powerful as I could be. I would be justified in anything I wanted to do to you.” She blew out the flame. “But you're not worth the energy. You spent all those years scared of a child who could take your power from you. That makes you too pathetic to hate.”
“I should have had you thrown out of the Horde as soon as I realized your link to the Black Garnet.” Shadow Weaver snapped. “Adora's fondness for you and Hordak's plans be damned. What could possibly be the point of keeping a hostage against the good behavior of the queen of an exiled people?”
Catra's breath hitched for the moment before she recovered, straightening her back. “Your baiting me. You may even be baiting me with the truth. The thing is, as of now, you haven't said anything I didn't already know or could have guessed, and you likely aren't the best place I could find out the rest for sure. In the past day, I've learned more about where I came from than from a lifetime of listening to you. You would think that the woman who taught me the story of 'The Lookout Who Cried Princess' would have been more careful with her lies.”
Adora stepped forward, taking Catra's hand for comfort. “You're our past. We survived you. Now we have bigger problems to deal with, and a better world to make.”
Castaspella seemed to take that as her cue. “Shadow Weaver, formerly known as Light Spinner, you are under arrest for providing aid to an enemy of Etheria and the gross mishandling of the education of two potential magic-users, among other crimes.” As she used a fine chain, shining with magic, to bind the fallen sorceress’s hands behind her back she said, “I only wish Micah was here to see this.”
Shadow Weaver turned to Catra one last time. “I look forward to hearing about the first thing you burn down. I'm sure it will be a spectacular conflagration and a complete accident.” With a final shove from Casta, they departed.
Adora and Catra watched as they, along with several other sorcerers that had arrived from Mystacor as part of the escort, disappeared around a turn in the corridor. Bow, Glimmer, and Angella, who had been waiting outside the doorway, watched with them.
“Are you both alright?” the queen asked.
Catra had been taking slow, deep breaths. “I don't suppose that there's a training ground around here where we could set something up for me to burn down and get it over with?”
Queen Angella gave a small smile. “I think we can arrange something.”
---
Catra looked out on the training ground where there stood a dozen wooden crosses that had been draped in black and red fabric, each topped with a stuffed sack that had been crudely painted with an unmistakable mask. “You made me a bunch of Shadow Weavers.” Bow must have worked like a man possessed to put together so many while the rest of them had eaten lunch. She had been expecting something more along the lines of a hastily assembled pile of scrap wood. This level of thought was surprisingly touching.
“And I stuffed them with the driest straw I could find. Seriously, I only spent a few hours last night guarding her, and that was enough to make me look forward to watching this. It's not my best work, but I figured this was a quantity over quality sort of job.”
“I officially apologize for that time I threw you off a cliff. I'm sure you think other stuff I did was worse, but that was business. Messing with you guys playing hostage was fun.”
“Hey could you make me one of these?” Glimmer asked. “I know a single torture session and a few days of lingering curse is kinda nothing compared to being raised by her, but she said some stuff about my dad last night, and I have some aggression to work out.”
“I'll let you have two of mine.”
Glimmer accepted the peace offering with a smile and summoned her staff.
“That could leave five for each of us,” Adora noted.
“You get four, I get six, and you let me torch what you leave behind.”
“Sounds fair.” She readied her sword while Catra summoned flames to both her fists.
Shadow Weaver was right about one thing. It was a spectacular conflagration.
Onward to Chapter 3
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