#Why can't they just magically manifest in my hands. Right now.

[shima-draws]

Me: Hehe I'm so excited for all these charm designs I'm working on for my shop launch!

My brain: Yes but you have to finish them

Me: W. What

My brain: You have to actually put in the work and draw them you can't just sit and daydream about them

Me: B. But :(((((

[calicoheartz]

Request:

Can you make a Paige x reader inspired by from the start by laufey.

Paige adores reader. Their dads have always been good friends. So they were always together when they were younger. (as in the song) Paige is like kinda nervous around reader, not the most confident in herself. And now at UConn she is still all over reader, her confidence has improved but reader is oblivious to her feelings. (So basically a Paige pov, but you can mix it between the two)

Hope u like my request! 💗

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 ; 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐆𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒

꣑୧ — summary | you and Paige had been inseparable since the two of you were younger, she's adored you since the day she laid eyes on you. with you oblivious to her feelings, how does she plan on making you see her the way she sees you?

wc ; 1k

— warnings | tiny bit suggestive if u squint , slowburn (?) , friends to lovers !

my master list ㇀♡

a/n : aww this was so sweet to write thank you so much for requesting anon! enjoy besties !

Paige’s POV : 

I have loved y/n since the summer of when i was 13, I had known her for years prior to my quite obvious revelation. 

Our dads had been best friends since university, so it was obvious that once the two of them had children, it was bound that we would be best friends.

I remember the first time I saw her, back when our dads introduced us at one of their weekend get-togethers. She was this bright, confident kid, always ready with a smile and a laugh. I, on the other hand, was the shy one, the one who'd rather dribble a basketball in the corner than join in on the games she loved to play.

Even then, I was drawn to her. I couldn't quite place why, but there was something about her that made my heart race and my palms sweat. She was always so kind, always so patient with me. As the years went by and we grew older, our dads' friendship meant we spent almost every weekend together. It was in those moments, watching you from the sidelines, that I realized I wanted to be more than just friends.

I couldn’t help but be a little envious when she got her first boyfriend, I mean why couldn't she see that I was right in front of her? I listened to all the heartbreaks, all the tears, and it made my heart ache knowing that she doesn't realize how much I truly love her. 

Throughout highschool, the more time i spent with y/n the more my feelings manifested into something i could no longer control, everything she did and said made me nervous. The way her eyes sparkled under the dim lights of the basketball court after practice, the way her laugh echoed in the halls, the way her smile made me weak in the knees. Everything about her was magical, as if a drop of the heavens fell from the sky and somehow adorned her complexion, mesmerizing me every time I saw her. 

Which is why when we both made the commitment to uconn, i knew i was eventually going to have to come clean to her. I couldn’t stand to watch the love of my life slip away between my fingers, and I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I never told her. 

My confidence on the court has soared, and I've found my place here, but when it comes to you, I still feel like that shy girl from our childhood. I wonder if you even notice the way I look at you, the way my breath catches when you laugh, the way I can't help but gravitate towards you whenever we're in the same room.

It was just me and you, in awkward silence.

I mean how hasn't she noticed how I get quiet when there's no one else around? 

But what's a girl to do? Lying on my bed, staring into the blue..

My love for her is driving me a little bit insane, I have to get this off my chest.

I'm telling you today.

Readers POV : 

Paige has always been a part of my life, a constant presence that I sometimes take for granted. Our dads' friendship meant that we were practically inseparable growing up. I remember her as the quiet one, always a bit nervous, always clutching her basketball like it was a lifeline. I liked having her around, though. There was something comforting about her steady presence.

Being at UConn together has been amazing. Watching Paige on the court, seeing her confidence bloom, has been incredible. She's become this powerhouse player, admired by everyone. I'm proud of her, and I make sure to tell her often.

What I don't understand is why she always seems a little flustered around me. I mean, we've known each other forever. There's no reason for her to be nervous, right? I chalk it up to her being busy with basketball and school, but sometimes I catch her looking at me with this intense expression, and it makes me wonder if there's something more.

Paige’s POV : 

Tonight, we're having one of our usual study sessions in my dorm room. I try to focus on my notes, but my eyes keep drifting towards you. You're sitting on my bed, textbooks spread out around you, a determined look on your face. It's moments like these that make me wish I could just tell you how I feel.

"Paige, you okay?" Your voice breaks through my thoughts.

I blink, realizing I've been staring. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

You give me a curious look. "About what?"

I hesitate, the words on the tip of my tongue. "About... us. About how long we've known each other."

You smile, a soft, nostalgic smile. "We've been through a lot, haven't we?"

"Yeah," I agree, my heart pounding. "And there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

You tilt your head, eyes bright with curiosity. "What is it?"

Before I can lose my nerve, I take a deep breath. "I've had feelings for you for a long time. Since we were kids. I was always too scared to say anything, but I can't keep it to myself anymore."

Readers POV : 

I'm stunned. Paige's words hang in the air, and for a moment, I can't believe what I'm hearing. Paige, the girl who's always been there, who I thought I knew so well, has had feelings for me all this time?

"Paige," I start, my voice barely above a whisper. "I had no idea. I..."

Her face falls slightly, and I realize how much this confession has cost her. I reach out, taking her hand in mine. "I never noticed, but now that you've said it... it makes sense. The way you've always been there for me, the way you look at me."

She looks at me with hope in her eyes. "Does this change anything for you?"

I think about it for a moment, then smile. "I think it does. I think it's something we should explore."

Paige's face breaks into a relieved, joyful smile, and for the first time, I see her confidence shine through, not just on the court, but here with me. From the start, we've always been there for each other, and now, we have the chance to turn our story into something even more beautiful.

Paiges POV :

just thinking of you...I know ive loved you from the start.

a/n : mighttttt make a part 2 to this....THIS HEALED MY DEPRESSION WHFBQEHR!! as always, thank u sm for reading !

[cosmic-ghost-hermit]

What mask do you wear that is keeping you from the rebirth you have been waiting for?

I have a ton of prompts that I have waiting! My partner picked this one intuitively for the day so shout out to them. The decks used today are the Star Spinner Tarot, the Healing Waters Oracle and the Starseed Oracle. Take what resonates and leave the rest behind but always be open to new experiences.

_________

PILE ONE

Astrology: Leo, Pisces, Cancer

Song: Magic by B.o.B.

Vibes: Pink, blue, yellow, mice, rabbits, corvids, dice, bear, mushroom, 666, watermelon, kiwi, pancakes, hockey, activism, university, fairies, Amaterasu

Cards: The Sun, The Moon, 6 of Wands, The Waterfall, Cracked Open

Hello, pile one! The mask you wear is a mask of logic. You think you need to see it to believe it. You have a tendency to see the worst-case scenario in a lot of situations. You see life as guilty until proven innocent. This point of view is understandable but it is limiting your success. Why assume that you will fail before you have even begun? Especially, because you are so capable and a powerful manifester. You seem to believe that you deserve to fail. This belief is a subconscious belief that you can definitely remove easily if you just knew it was there. Take this mask off and you will see your dreams come true! Your manifestation will come true fast and easy it'll feel like the impossible became mundane. Spread your wings and fly my dear. You don't need to fear jumping from the nest. You have always been ready no matter who told you that you weren't. I believe in you, the universe believes in you! Please believe in yourself too!

PILE TWO

Astrology: Scorpio, Aquarius, Sagittarius

Song: We Are Golden by MIKA

Vibes: Lavender, periwinkle, gold, make-up, skin routine, hair routine, routine in general, butterflies, dragons, 444, sleeping beauty, roses, stars, crown, the sky, chocolate

Cards: King of Cups, 4 of Swords, 4 of Pentacles, Thank You, The Golden Children

Hi, pile two! Welcome to your reading. This miiiight be a little hard to hear so heads up on that. You are being held back by a mask that can't exist in the present. You are constantly thinking of what will be to the point where when you get the manifestation you were wishing for you can't even enjoy it because your mind has already turned to the next achievement to work towards. You are incredibly driven but I see how unsatisfied you feel about all that you do because of this mask. Take time to congratulate yourself! Take time to give yourself a gold star for your efforts. You worked so hard!!! Thank yourself for working so hard. Thank the world for what you have in front of you. What you will have is important to work towards but what you have now is still worthy of recognition. Look back at how much you put into what you have now. Look at all that you have achieved! It's hard for you to recall. The tunnel vision you get from the task at hand is blinding you from everything you have already done. Please see how well you have performed so far. Acknowledge yourself. Acknowledge your strength. Your inner child is screaming at me "ACKNOWLEDGE ME ACKNOWLEDGE ME ACKNOWLEDGE ME!!!!" You need to hear them because wow they are yelling loud. Don't just buy them something nice by the way. Genuinely allow them to feel happy about what they have done. Pat them on the head and tell them you see them.

PILE THREE

Astrology: Libra, Aries, Capricorn, Taurus

Song: The Call by Regina Spektor

Vibes: Pastel pink, yellow, teal, clocks, falcons, Horus, armor, coy fish, 8888, storms, renaissances festival, mermaids, libedo, strawberries, cucumbers, caramel

Cards: 6 of Cups, 8 of Wands, 8 of Pentacles, Let It Rain, Star Brothers

Pile three, welcome. You wear a mask of perfectionism. You have the belief that only you can perform tasks to the right standard. Part of this belief is good but some of it is holding you back. I am glad you have confidence in your abilities and feel capable enough to do things on your own. The problem is you feel this way a lot more than is physically healthy. You believe it so deeply it makes you over-exert yourself constantly. You probably feel super tired all the time. Part of you longs immensely for help with all the tasks you do. It feels lonely to do everything alone with no companionship. Let me tell you a little secret, my friend. Let them fail. Let people underperform the tasks that aren't and shouldn't be your responsibility. If you let things slip through the cracks it might seem like you are failing but really what you are doing by letting people fail is helping others learn lessons. You are doing yourself and the people around you a disservice by taking responsibility for tasks that need to be failed. If the people around you fail, they will be more likely to learn faster. You are robbing them of lessons and exhausting yourself in the process. That literally helps no one. The next time you see someone not doing their job properly. Let them. Let them not do their job. If someone else tries to make it your problem you tell them what I just told you, okay? It will make you a better teacher and the people around you better students. Let people fuck it up. Trust the universe. Trust people to learn even if it takes them a couple times to figure it out. Failure is the best lesson teacher.

PILE 4

Astrology: Capricorn, Gemini, Virgo

Song: Hell's Coming With Me by Poor Man's Poison

Vibes: Purple, lilac, navy blue, ibis bird, Thoth, architecture, stars, akashic records, 3rd eye chakra, crown charka, dreams, diamonds, lilys, daffodils, angels, whiskey, pyramids, curse breaker, dragonfruit, mangoes

Cards: The High Priestess, The Star, Ace of Swords, Stagnant Waters, Star Ancestors

Hi there, pile four. You wear a mask of imposter syndrome. You don't think you've done enough. It doesn't matter how much you have achieved. You never think it is enough. You are blind to how much you do. You have the belief that the world would be better off without you but the thing is. You raise the planet's vibration WAAAAY more than you believe. You have such a good heart and you are so balanced. You are kind, smart, intuitive, wise and witty. I wish you could see yourself clearly because you are truly an angel. The thing is all the things I just named are things you wish to be. You wish it as if you aren't aligned with those things already. The mask you are wearing is distorting your vision of your true self. The only thing holding you back is your perception of yourself. Let go of the past criticism that plagues you, my dear. You took that critique in stride and grew far past your initial goal. You have succeeded already. You already did it! Congratulations on being super awesome and cool! You don't need to wish upon a star anymore, baby! You are already a star yourself. <3 Change your view of yourself and you will be UNSTOPPABLE!!!

[wisteriainslumber]

baby twst headcanons

happy mothers day, have some disorganized tiny shenanigans feat. the twst women warnings: ch7 spoilers for draconia family members, siblings lying for fun (borderline malicious behaviour), foul language, and maybe a teensybitoftraumaoopsies

Riddle

if he could, he'd be an outside kid with tons of bug friends

secretly kept a caterpillar pet in a lil terrarium jar until it could fly on its own

he found it while it was raining outside and wanted to help it grow :(

my guy was a sickly victorian child

rarely would three months go by without riddle falling ill

he has dyslexia. without the pressure of having to get everything right on the first try, riddle can kinda enjoy reading now because he gets to learn new words and concepts at his own pace

deep in the corner of his room sits a journal with only half if it filled out. most of the entries start like 'i read a new book today' immediately followed by something like 'i do not understand life'

he actually can't bear to read the contents of the more recent diaries, but he equally can't bear to throw them away (not until he can send his younger self a letter that it will all be okay)

his only connection to other people his age were trey and che'nya

and on the occasions where trey was absent che'nya would 'teach riddle about the queendom of roses'

most of the time he fed him lies and riddle believed him

and most of the time riddle would yell at che'nya for being confusing and not clear enough

you can't just tell him that the hat man haunts him at night then reply with "what hat man?" when riddle asks for clarification

like !!! the hat man you just told him about !! (which gets him a reply of "who told you about?" damn you che'nya)

his favourite childhood memory was going out with them to get matching pins together

he still wears his little crown pin today!!

cats would frequently perch on his windowsill and riddle likes to watch them lounge in the sun and wonder what cats think about

(che'nya claims to know but riddle has never seen the beastman talk to a single cat)

but kitty-speak was riddle's first learned animal linguistic. he would practice by talking to the regular cat by the window

it stopped showing up for a while and then came back with four kittens and riddle smuggled them for a good... three anxiety-riddled hours before telling the cat their babies will be well taken care of with che'nya instead

riddle may had to give up those kittens that day but owning a pet cat will be in his future soon. #manifest

Trey

it was a massive game of follow the leader in the clover household

when mama clover was carrying flour over to the patisserie, you'll see the mini clovers carrying small bowls and utensils to help

easy bake oven user

but he was ass at it

legend says his unique magic manifested at age 10 when it was mommas birthday and he baked a really shitty cookie, so he prayed to the queen that his mum would think it tasted nice and it did :D

his siblings took a bite out of the rest of the batch and wretched very dramatically

had his hands full trying to convince che'nya to not eat the glass he found on the sidewalk because it 'looks crunchy'

in fact, whenever talking to adults, trey never refers to che'nya by his nickname but his entire full name. he just wants you to know!! also che'nya is a nickname for friends and family >:(

trey's room has always been free reign for his other siblings, they treat it like a common room

why? mostly because they don't have permission to do anything fun without supervision but big brother trey can to be their supervision :)) right :)))

the clover household is no longer shocked by che'nyas abrupt presence in their house. he seems to favour a certain corner of the house and most of the material on trey's bed

theres usually an extra set of utensils by their table in case che'nya appears. there used to be two extra sets but.. you know🫠

his siblings started a game of hiding as many rubber ducks in trey's room without him noticing

but after they permanently clogged the pipes of the toilet with their duckies, they switched to ugly stickers all over trey's bicycle

howEVER, it happens to be their bicycle now because trey outgrew it and had to get a new one. have fun cleaning the stickers :D

unofficial designated seats at the table and in the family car. real fights have broken out over the siblings because of these spots

still fears basketballs to this day because his brother threw one and trey happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and he woke up with the wrong accent. oh, and a concussion

Cater

all brands but barbie was ruined for caycay

his sisters used him as a mannequin to practice makeup

he had extremely elaborate revenge plans to pin them on the other sister but would get his ass whooped if he was caught

of course, that never stopped him from being extremely crafty to get out of trouble :)

referring to himself in third person cutely was a learned behaviour for survival™

it never worked in his household but it surely worked with other kids his age

collecting pity points but at what cost

had a girlfriend on club penguin for two months and got publicly dumped on club penguin

banned from club penguin because he wouldnt leave her alone and she reported him

sold off his sisters rainbow looms

those kids that are cognitively gifted such as he thought the people in the tv were trapped in there and then asked his mom if they were also in a tv and trapped

whenever dad worked in the office, cater would sit in the big boss chair and 'help', which meant that he was sorting coins and bills based off colour

he also told his dad to wash the money because it looked dirty on the corners

whenever he and his sisters played together, they'd tried to open the compartments of their toys and cater had so much fun with the screwdriver and taking stuff apart

also owned a joint notebook with his sisters. there would be things like poems, drawings, and the hair of ruined barbie dolls taped inside

cater has his own journal though, and he composes very emo poems in there. all written in glitter gel pen. cater would later look back on these and cringe but the more you read, the more you kinda get into it. it is a tad bit profound... for an eight year old, that is

Ace

demented ass doll player

his version of fun was making his dolls de-limb each other and throw them into a big pit to summon his darth vador figurine

whatever in-game ace is, that was his brother except he was significantly worse

my boy ace was the number 1 victim of big bro trappola

ate brown paint chips, which was 'chocolate' according to his brother

was locked inside the bathroom while his brother whispered bloody mary into the walls

sat through horror movies to prove he was a big boy and shit his pants when his brother recreated the jumpscares in the middle of the night

until he got a little older and started outsmarting him

now the trappola brothers team up to terrorize everyone else

its a competition for the brothers to compete over who can spoil the plot of which movie first

weaponized the slap bracelets

sucked milk out of plushies. no i will not elaborate

he's a jump rope champion! and it carries over to those skipper hoops as well

he does prefer the skipper hoops over the rope simply because there are um... ankle shattering consequences if you miss a jump, which meant it was perfect for sharing with the neighbourhood kids! gotta keep those stakes high, ya know?

tried to do a lot of magic tricks to impress papa trappola

made his brother take him to the amusement park and big bro got MAD tips because everyone thought ace was so cute, and quote unquote 'an angel'

like NO HES NOT???? if only big brother trappola knew ace picked up his charisma from him😭

Deuce

grew up with 80s movies, he thinks every that happens in those movies are true stories

he was always presented with old gadgets to 'fix' so its now something he can do pretty well; restoring old devices

the kids his age thought he was like wayyy too old fashioned, like born in the wrong generation

bike kid. if he wasnt inside he was on wheels

he kept a barbie doll in his bike basket and always made sure she wore her helmet (she was the bike guard)

slept with eggs and held them in his hands hoping to hatch a baby chick

thinks teachers live at the school

super sweet child. he's the first at the other kids' side if they got hurt

at the same time he is the biter kid. especially on fathers day

loves reading stories with grandma. whenever she came over, he would bring her a book

he'd also stick around the kitchen and try to see what she was doing. he thought that maybe he could learn to cook a few things by himself so they had more time together

in times like these he would be internally angry at his father because?? grandma is always working, mum is always working, fuck that guy specifically.

easter is his favourite holiday. his family have a tradition of egg painting and deuce used to hide caramel candies in them because grandma liked them

best helper kid around. will hold the dustpans and stuff while Dilah was sweeping

knew the names of all the trucks his mum drove and also a lot of the mechanical part names

had a habit of accidentally breaking things like clocks so he learned quickly how to fix them back up

his grandma takes him shopping for stamps so deuce can send mail to his house, addressed to his mum

Leona

parkour child

bounced all around the palace, climbing the trees outside and everything. gotta keep those claws sharp

before his father fell ill, the kingscholar family used to have lil picnics with Kifaji outside

without fail, leona would always find the highest seat or a nice sun rock to rest upon

unconsciously, even now, leona finds immense comfort in sun rocks

followed his brother around everywhere

when he couldn't catch up, Falena would give him piggy back rides while he was going about his day

asked him many questions bc hes curious about the world

would ask him difficult questions he already knew the answer to just to see Falena struggle lol

whenever tiny leona got tuckered out, his brother would carry him back to bed in lieu of the servants

leona insisted on sitting in the conference room with his dad to gain insight on how kingdom affairs were run

papa kingscholar agreed since it would be good exposure for them, and leona was the one who took notes, Falena would point out the participants at the table and quietly introduce them to leona

ruined the lives of people he played chess with. imagine being bested by a nine year old in chess. the shame.

after Falena got married, leona shifted his studies from maintaining amicable kingdom relationships to medicinal research and ancient curses

the palace staff thought it was out of malice, but leona wanted to focus more on the properties of magic now

(and also, well, based on the new target on his brother, his new sister-in-law, and his nephew, there can never be too many precautions..)

even when he was a tiny child he did whatever he fancied

his servants may have told him that tending to a servant's hair was below his stature but that only made him sneakier when making tiny braids in Kifaji's hair

git gud g

Ruggie

another crafty child

aye, when it depends on your survival, you learn to use those legs of yours to run like the wind

even worse he was a small ass child so he was hard to find

snuck into schools and pretended he could talk to ghosts and charged the kids a quarter to talk to a ghost for them

mental math god. from multiplication to geometry and time, ruggie knows the most efficient ways to get the job done, as well as a few backup plans

would sew up little felt dolls for his neighbourhood friends

left the house to do a bunch of odd jobs and picked up quite a few languages, which meant even more jobs all around, and now he has some pretty unique talents

like, he can preform acrobat tricks! and he can also paint a house upside down. oh, and he can travel quickly on one foot! (don't ask)

oh yeah, ruggie had a huge slime stand

he would make so much slime and sell it off and it made mad bucks but he also absolutely hated slime. what a good waste of detergent and glue, honestly... >:(

and people wanted them different colours and with charms and the like. at least it was a thriving market, but ruggie cannot stand the sight of slime ever since he retired from the slime scene

really liked rubiks cubes because it was like painting a little puzzle. also, when the children got bored of it, they would try to detach the squares and put them on the faces they desired

it was so funny to watch because they will use the oddest tools and tricks to dislodge the squares (like tying a shoelace around a square and trying to tug it off like you do with baby teeth)

ruggie also made lots of origami as seasonal decor :D his grandma really like the flowers and birds he would fashion

this IS canon but i want you to know that he would take the neighbourhood kids and rotate the group around houses in different costumes to get more halloween candy. everyone stan ruggie

Jack

he has younger siblings so his sense of justice was in his personality wayy back then

got to be an exemplar big bro for them💪

whenever they were playing castle, jack was always the princess because his sister wanted to be the heroic knight

if you asked jack, he would say that his sister only wanted to be the knight as an excuse to beat the shit out of his brother

wanted piercings but couldnt get them pierced so his sister gave him sticker earrings

they did not work nor stick very well but he loved him

let his siblings bite him, it seems to be their preferred mode of affection

sometimes they will wordlessly enter his room just to bite him and chill

often had playdates with vil when he was home

jack still doesn't quite know what the difference was between all these water brands vil was showing him but the spirit is there

oftentimes vil was alone in the house so the two played grown up and cooked by themselves

vil had told his dad that they were married because jack would come over and had sleepovers a lot

jack has a big green thumb. he wanted to plant a garden but he started with succulents first because they are notoriously hard to kill

by now he's ready to advance but every time he goes to get different plants, he comes back with more succulents haha

the plants under jack's care are happy enough to bloom flowers, and he gives them to his mama

if vil learned a spell, he would teach jack and vice versa. the BIGGEST supporters of each other. friendship is magic, guys

the first time they learned colour changing spells was an entire mess and vil was bawling in a panic by the end of it because they dyed Eric Venue's favourite couch bright blue and didn't know how to reverse it

jack wanted to call vil's dad to tell him but he ended up calling the wrong number and thought they were in trouble so he ended up bawling too

whenever vil wasn't in the class, no doubt jack is going to question his whereabouts

oddly, jack and neige have never interacted and only found out about vil being their mutual friend well into their teen years

Azul

like ruggie, was a master hider

unless he wants to be found, you will never find him

learned how to read earlier than kids his age because he wanted to prove he could spell big words to his mama

he may have cried a lot as a kid but do you know what that means? FREE black paint!! SUCK IT, PLEBS.

my boy was an astounding artiste, its why hes so creative with getting his way

azul is a visual learner, and always finished books a little slower because he REALLY analyzes all the pictures like downright dissects it

his grandma suggested art as a way to express himself while also making sense of the world around him

even though he thinks his old drawing of him and the twins is outdated in terms of his skill level now, he has a sentimental attachment to it and keeps it in his room always

trading trinkets was a common thing between the trio aka the twins would pop by

mama ashengrotto adored the twins bc they adored azul('s mom that is)

also inherited a beautiful singing voice from mama ashengrotto. he and his grandma would bond by playing the piano and singing. sometimes, they'd do a little show at his mom's restaurant

red hair was seen as very attractive in the coral sea and he very regrettably colour-magicked his hair

it was not the shade he wanted, but he was curious on what was, so with the many complex spells he learned at his age, he experimented with different lengths, colours, and styles until he restored it back to its original form

there remains one surviving picture of his red hair and it is kept in his stepdad's wallet (because its the only place azul wouldn't look!)

no azul is not aware pictures of his redhead era even exist

Jade

loved to weave necklaces and bracelets using shells and plants

gave a lot of necklaces made of sharks teeth to his family and azul because those are valued good luck charms!

it might also be because he loved to hunt sharks but he pretends thats not the reason :)

wandered off all the time and floyd always had to drag him back home before night

hes a curious boy, wanted to explore everything around him, especially the dangerous places

child leashes don't work in the sea but im sure mama and papa leech would have loved to have one anyway

was the main reason why he and his brother have separate rooms

too many petty "stop leaving your mess on my side (of the room)" and hissy fights had mama and papa leech mad

things definitely settled after they had separate rooms

sometimes if he got into trouble he would pretend he was floyd and sent his parents off to look for "jade"

highkey never worked but it never stopped him from trying

started a new method of using tears and his parents were more lenient with him after so he realized he can get away with things if he shed a few tears

he can cry on command and this is his primary weapon if scaring people off didnt work

will then pin it on the other party as if he didn't enable the fight

straight up told floyd lies growing up, that the pufferfish would crawl inside his ears when he sleeps, or that floyd was 'allergic' to seahorses, or that in order to get an angler mer to go away, floyd had to use bioluminescence

this carried over to land as well except jade didnt know whether his words were true or not he just straight up made things up

was also a very very sickly child. got ill extremely easily and is much more sensitive to temperature or water pressure changes

esp during pollen season? jade is gonna lose those lungs he just acquired from sneezing and coughing

Floyd

grade A hoarder

he sees something he likes? he's bringing it back home

unlike at NRC, the twins have separate rooms so the entire space is filled with a bunch of floyd's knickknacks (its why jade is always mad)

as soon as hes done playing with one he's found something else on his swims so his room is 80% things lying around

and when jade stole said knickknacks claiming it was his turn to play thats when floyd suddenly claimed that mermaid doll (that he highkey forgot existed) was his prized possession

back off jade thats his property😡

when he was younger, he loved looking and behaving exactly like jade, but as he got older he valued being his own person instead of an X2

is actually legitimately the older sibling by a few minutes and deliberately decides whether its his privilege or not whenever he can

but as soon as "because you're the oldest" is said he claims that none of them are older because they were born on the same day

to the outsider, it sounds like floyd is feeding jade a heap load of bs, but he likes gathering trivia and wording it so it *sounds* fake but really isnt

like that seahorses give birth via baby explosion

one exception to this rule is that floyd is constantly changing the story of how he met jade

one instance it was that they found each other, another was that some kid kept begging him for food and that later their mom said that was his sibling, other times, jade had allegedly died before floyd used his awesome magic to revive him

most of the time floyd tells jade that a whale shat him out and whatever came out of it looked so deformed and floyd thought jade was so soppy pathetic (in a cute way) so he brought him home

jade never tries to refute nor confirm any of these allegations but when the last story gets told he's always a little more passive aggressive with floyd that day

Kalim

sickly victorian child #2

its from all the poison attempts

and as a result he may or may not have tried mithraism so maybe its worse than we think😭

allergic as hell to bug bites too like someone please give them a electric racket

hide and seek is banned from the Asim household

at that point in his life, kalim had a good 6-7 siblings and letting them loose in a big household AND telling them to hide is a recipe for disaster

it was almost impossible for him to get in trouble too because no one was about to scold the heir of the house

workers of the Asim palace were absolutely not going to scold him and his parents had like fourteen other more rambunctious younger children

but don't be fooled, kalim is a very good seeker when it matters! he can spend hours focused on finding something important, so those hide and seek games were banned for a VERY good reason when kalim was out at night searching and didn't return the next morning (meaning he got childnapped)

oh, whats a little kidnapping but a minor setback? hes fine and in one piece, the doctor triple-checked! anyways, who's ready for another round of hide and seek??

every now and then, kalim falls victim to the good ole' midnight hour and kitchen scissors hair disaster. no, no one learns

the birds and random animals in the Asim park (that's right, his private park..) all have names and kalim visits them often to befriend them

he's learned around a total of eight languages and he will personally translate (with jamil as the scribe) his own books so he can teach his younger siblings

even remembers all their favourite hobbies, genres, activities, etc, etc

the Asim children all have one thing in common and that is their love for bubbles, but who doesn't?

kalim spends time in the nrc lab to create the perfect bubble solution with big, long lasting bubbles. trust.

remembers faces, names, and even birthdays very well. you can always bet on kalim to wish a servant or one of his tutors a happy birthday!

to kalim, having someone know your name and be happy to see you is very important! so he wants his loved ones, guests, and servants to feel appreciated, especially on their very special days :)

Jamil

has the immune system of god he has survived all of the flu seasons without catching it himself

he and kalim played in the bird houses often

taught the parrots a bunch of silly words and phrases

Najima taught one of the parrots to only refer to jamil as 'stinky'

he and Najima claim they look nothing alike even though kalim and everyone else insists its true

the two siblings fought over particular hairbands while sitting next to an entire selection of them💀

Najima loved to fight over things that jamil wanted first just for the victory

yeah, even in childhood jamil never got a break. as if the universe would give him that

we all heard the silly goofy story of jamil shuffling around under a vase thinking he was all sneaky and shit. he has many more stories like this

such as climbing in trees (he only got stuck twice!), wrapping himself in cloth and slithering on the ground (very conspicuous!!), again, draping himself in fabric and trying to blend in with the walls (with a 50% chance of success) etc, etc.

he is SO good at hiding and has so many secret spots around Asim palace, trust him.

Najima?? literally sent him a picture of curry for his birthday to celebrate. the two constantly send each other a bunch of pictures of random rocks, disfigured trash, and all sorts of unsavory things with the caption 'look its you'

while other servants were renovating Asim palace, they told the kids not to run around, because someone could crack their head if they fell off the ladder/the ladder fell on them

so, like the curious kids they were, jamil, Najima, kalim, and a few of his siblings camped around the construction zone waiting for someone's skull to break

its just morbid curiosity, they weren't wishing ill upon anyone

Vil

'don't carry me! i can walk by myself!' but in a way to convince his dad to pick him up

loved being carried around but would never admit to it

partook in many sweets as a kid even though he limits himself now

had a tradition with neige to make hot chocolate every thursday after school. in the warmer seasons, they switched to making their own fruit juice with the blender

from whole kiwis, to sweet potatoes, and ginger roots, it evolved to throwing random things in the machine to see what kind of funky juice would be made

our dear Eric Venue thinks this is so cute he has no problem with it as long as they dont waste food and clean up after. it would be a good habit to learn

plus vil looks so happy because he thinks operating a blender is such a grown up thing to do

1000% ate things he wasn't supposed to

the lipsmacker smelled so good though :(

when he failed a spelling bee and didnt want his papa to be disappointed in him the most logical thing in his seven year old mind was to eat the test

ripped it up and munch munched on the paper

and that had been his primary solution to bad grades until he was able to get in a good study technique (that, and his stomach rejecting the paper)

HORRENDOUS handwriting and it was because he tried to trick himself into being left-handed for a good portion of his life because the Beautiful Queen was left-handed >:(

also had trouble with enunciation from learning very big words. Eric can understand him but a bit of speech therapy and musical training helped

(if you're lucky, you'll still hear hints of it when vil's extremely sleepy)

often made friendship bracelets with, like, no one to give them to

traded a few with jack because vil taught him how to make them. jack thought that they would be a nice thing to give to the rest of his family, and made a few for vil in exchange

Rook

you think him crawling around on the dirt was a recent thing? hell no this was a learned childhood behaviour

he may not have had a bow back then but he had rocks and a will to play

and by will to play i mean he would pelt a lot of things with rocks

his old teachers had to placate him by teaching him how to skip stones on the lake for every one else's safety

only members of his own family were willing to play hide and seek with him

mostly because he is a terrifying seeker. you hide in the bushes and not two seconds later you hear those loud ass military grade boots stomping in your direction

ik no one wanted to play hide & seek with his ass. he only got worse after he developed his unique magic

helped paint his family's nails bc he had such a precise hand

its probably the nail polish fumes that made him this way. among 10 million other things

you know how kids would give each other cards and lolipops on valentines day?

well, on heart's day, rook would have drawn a picture of all his recipients and attach a cool leaf or flower to it

its very adorable and extremely thought out. his old recipients still think of him to this day (real)

rook had very nice penmanship even at a young age. he started by replicating his fathers handwriting and liked the flow of cursive and flair of a signature (rook has made a lot of personal signatures for himself)

had a wax stamp phase where he would dry out and collect a bunch of flowers and presses to make wax stamps

he still is crazy about wax stamps but now he can carve his OWN presses with his OWN knife 👍👍

made homemade twisttube videos at home with his siblings. they range from movie scene recreations, lip sync videos, or full on original scripts

be assured that the costumes, lighting, acting, and editing were rather top tier for their age, and it is because rook's family is exuberant like him (all cutie pies!!)

Epel

mud pie maker

he and the chickens in his village go wayyy back

didn't need animal linguistics to understand the clucks

uhh hey did anyone else have the experience of having pet chickens and then having them disappear and reappear on the dinner table??

im not saying it happened but im also not saying it didn't happen

he does brush his hair. the only reason he hates it when vil brushes his hair is that he feels like his scalp is getting scraped off

the only way to get epel to bathe was to use those three-in-ones because he would never sit still

those children that get dirty thirty minutes after you bathe them. sigh

overlined his lips with his ma's lipstick because ma used it to look nice before going to sell their produce, and epel wanted to help with sales this time. you can probably guess what happened after

the dislike for cosmetics is lifelong

(he did apologize by picking a handful of dandelions for his ma)

adrenaline junkie through and through. as soon as his legs were long enough to touch the pedal, he'd be operating the forklifts and in no way was it safe or responsible

fed the birds with seeds meant for their garden. they were hungry :(

fiddled around with the stray instruments on rainy days, now he can play in perfect harmony during celebrations with his relatives

epel has perfect pitch. destined for pomefiore all along <3

epel did not fear bees. he has potential for being a beekeeper but he didn't want to wear the bee suit

learned how to read and write very early in because he wanted to help out around the village. epel put checkmarks to confirm shipments and things

a bunch of his drawings are hung around the home

'helped' his grandma Marja knit by using the needle to stab the ball of yarn she needs to hand it to her

Idia

banning him from anything was impossible

locking your kids away from the cookie jar would work for anyone but idia. and not for the spiteful reason you think

makes him want to do it more because its interesting enough to stimulate his genius little brain

at that point he doesn't even want the cookie anymore

doing mental gymnastics to exploit loopholes. having a remote controlled airplane fetch him a cookie isn't going against his parents' word because technically he never touched the jar at all

which leads to extremely specific rules established in the shroud household

some notable ones include "severed limbs are only allowed in the staff freezers on halloween" and "no hacking the automated showers to chase down staff member C for thinking Premo are cuter than ortho"

his minecraft boyfriend broke up with him after they built their house together

it doesnt end there though, it never does. ortho took control of the pc to burn down the house and idia also got them banned. never underestimate the rage and revenge spirit of a child scorned

you know that thing about a devil and an angel on the shoulders? well, ortho was 90% the enabler for Bad Behaviour

and mostly because if idia was thinking of doing something, chances are, ortho was already doing said something

the S.T.Y.X staff often with the brothers were usually roped into playing video games and were happy to listen to whatever the boys felt like talking about

idia would bring new inventions to them and play a guessing game of what they think the function was

ortho stunk really bad at building things from scratch, but he was pretty good at memorizing the names of the parts to help idia

idia would ask the staff to take them to the observatory often. they would learn all about the constellations and idia liked to chart how they changed through the seasons

Ortho

his parents mostly had him because idia always got too creative when he was bored and thought having a new baby in the family would help idia fix up his behaviour, you know, be a good role model for ortho and all

... turns out, ortho would be pulling idia into all sorts of mischief. and worst of all, he ALWAYS GOT AWAY WITH IT.

he is tiny but mighty

lots of attitude in this little body

his favourite word was 'why'

him and idia had new nicknames for each other all the time

some of the time they were just kid things, most of the time they were a prize

whoever clears the extreme level with the highest score gets to make the other call him a nickname of their choosing

his received nicknames included such like "cosmic warrior", "lord of the shadow realm", and "the almighty" (when he beats idia's high score... after 5 losses in a row that is)

has no problem hacking the main S.T.Y.X system then blaming it on the employees for having weak security (some bs like 'im six and managed to break into the most secure network')

im sorry but i can't deny it. yes, ortho is an ipad kid and yes his ipad was disgusting

except ortho actually does listen to cyber security and he didn't have the passcode lock, he had the password lock, and it was changed every other week

(idia has accidentally locked the ipad on several occasions trying to guess the overly complicated password)

insane attachment in the sense that he will make up some bs reason (AND a forged research paper to further solidify it) on why he can't be separated from idia

if he were actually surrounded by children his age, just know ortho would've been the biter kid

weaponizes his cuteness just like jade but in a more ^^🌸 way

in these cases he will only refer to himself in third person because it pulls the most heartstrings

tugging on idias sleeves and telling him "ortho wants a cookie" had yielded better results for him than "i want a cookie"

and ortho is nothing if not a very smart boy

Malleus

fully believed that eating the seeds of watermelons would cause one to grow in your stomach

grandma Malificia found it too funny to correct him and to this day malleus still believes it

1/2 contributor to lilia's hairstyle. whenever lilia tried to make him take his bath he would spit fire

(until lilia let him play with the bubbles that was)

when he was a little kid and knew he was in trouble, he would hide in all sorts of places and pout

except he sucked at it. his hiding skill was between "if i dont see you, you cant see me", or his tail would be poking out behind the couches

usually the servants would turn the other way unless it was an emergency. because if malleus was found by anyone but the Queen or lilia, he'd have a toddler tantrum (he thinks they gave up on him)

spent most of his early days finding comfy nesting places or hunting for shiny things. there was nothing but Instinct in his little noggin until he could transform into a bi-pedal form

every day, without fail, he would get his horns stuck in something and throw a fit over it

testiest kid to ever test. when you tell mal he can't do something he'll do it bc he wants to understand why he can't do it

wanted to help grow the roses in his garden faster by summoning a thunderstorm that lasted three days and three nights

whatever tantrums you think malleus throws now are the most mild ones in his entire life

a younger malleus would summon entire hurricanes unknowingly and he would screech and babble in old fae tongue

a non-briar valley resident could easily mistake this for a demon summoning, but this is a normal tuesday in the palace

TRUST, malleus' temper is the tamest ever in the entire draconia lineage

the palace staff actually thank the witch of thorns for her mercy because this tantrum only burnt the entire east wing of the castle to the ground. the young prince is so tame !!

Lilia

straight out of a horror movie, this one

has the long dark hair and only wore long white dresses to really complete the look

loves walking around bare foot to connect with nature. that dress will be smeared with mud, fur, and berry juice (that were always red or purple tones, to everyones horror)

you all have lilia to thank for the inspiration to this horror trope

im talking wandering around in the dark, glowing magenta eyes, which appear red at times

sits SO still when its story time and the story is ancient curses and tomes

was also the kid that claimed they had a ghost friend and that his peers were being mean to "billy"

and no his family was probably the exact same way tbh

the fae are sturdy and lilia went without supervision for days

its quite a normal thing in his household

lilia would be fighting real ass ghosts in diapers and his mom would be cheering him on

the streaks are not from a goth phase but it was more of a 'the fruit juice in cranberries make really nice paint did you know??'

he also really loves tomato juice and it happens to be pretty too, so, why not?

it was originally red streaks but faded and he liked the pink better

one day he packed his bags and told his parents he was going to live in the afterglow savanna and his mom straight up joined him in packing

i like to believe that lilia did have edible food as a child but the army just ruined his tastebuds for Ever bc at that point, food was only a substance needed to live, it didn't have to be enjoyable

yeah, anyway it would be super funny if lilia's parents were good chefs, but lilia legit cannot tell the different between salt, flour, and white glitter

lilia was scooped up by Malificia mostly for his skill but it really turned out to be a glorified playdate for Meleanor

the princess was a mENACE and lilia could take her thunderbolts a bit better than the rest of her servants

(meaning that lilia was the only one that wouldn't be screaming bloody murder, he just would be hella mad and Meleanor thinks his audacity is funny)

Silver

lilias method of feeding him was waterboarding him with milk and that does not come without consequences

although lilia would go out often, its safe to say that silver was never really 'alone'

lilia would have a magical beacon on him at all times even if mal was babysitting, and he appreciates that the wildlife took a liking to silver

speaking of, silver had no concept of stranger danger no matter how much lilia told him so

every time malleus would come over silver would ask him to play murder mystery with his dolls

his first word was an attempt at malleus' name

they played together a lot it was really inevitable

helps worms and snails when it rains by helping them get under tree stumps or grass

played with axes & garden shears (thanks lilia)

2/2 contributor to lilia's hairstyle. and by that i mean he gave lilia a haircut with garden shears (that lilia fully encouraged so silver could 'build his repertoire of skills')

at this point lilias hair length was more of a liability since his sons loved to tug on it and one had a penchant for burning it

take your eyes off silver for one second and he's gone. he saw an ant, a bird, a cool statue, etc etc

loved all the fairytales lilia read him and always asked to be read the ones where true love reigned

him and malleus ran off together (more like mal whisked silver away) everywhere to play and explore

mal loved to show silver the most random things and he would always speak to him like a grown up

would often protest at the end of the day because he didn't want to part ways with him

their earlier conversations looked like mal was listening to silver say something profound even though all silver could do at the time was babble in toddler language with the occasional 'tar-tar' (no one knows what this is but malleus insists that silver is telling him he's hungry)

Sebek

beat the shit out of rocks with sticks

in the colder seasons, and and silver would find rocks or big ice pieces to smash on the ground

poor dude grew up confused as heck. lilia tells him lots of things, and he goes home and his parents tell him a different thing

complained about going to the dentist so much that now silver knows so much about the teeth structure of fae

his siblings love him so much, they're always doting on him and pinching his cheeks and that's why his smiles are so big and nice (real)

refused to eat anything on a fork. he hated the taste of metal

much preferred to use chopsticks. learned because he was a Big Boy now (he is one) and can help himself!!!!

unexplainable hatred for felt fabric. he used to melt all of his felt puppets in the water

him and silver dug a hole in lilia's backyard thinking they could make it to the shaftlands

they didn't make it to the shaftlands, but they dug too close to the river, so the hole filled up with water

and while silver panicked, sebek straight up burst into tears thinking the hole was going to drain the river

also burst into tears one halloween where lilia was dressed up and claimed he was the river spirit and didn't know anyone named sebek

ate a dog treat at some point but silver and malleus also joined him (not before malleus trolled sebek by saying he's going to turn into a dog now)

sebek was so distressed that he dragged malleus into it that he questioned his entire life because he loved playing with sticks. did he eat a dog treat earlier in his life???

when questioned, sebek told silver he didn't need to worry about the dog treat because he already drank milk like a puppy anyways (referencing the milk waterboarding, of course)

anyways, this incident ended in a stick-sword fight and malleus got a bonk on the head from lilia for his instigating

this is where sebek learned it btw. silver developed a thick skull because sebek is ALWAYS bonking him on the head for not knowing things he deems 'everyone should know'

taglist (let me know if you want to be added): @bigmoose1964

[atamascolily]

Sometimes I forget that Madoka's magical girl bow is literally a rose, and that we see it sprout and grow into its final form in its first appearance.

Homura also gets a bow in this episode, which I have always interpreted as the manifestation of her wish to remember Madoka's existence (since her old wish was rendered invalid by Madoka's becoming an eternal concept), thus becoming "Bowmura Akemi". However, it's not until it manifests in Rebellion that we see it isn't merely evocative of Madoka's bow, but its mirror.

Is the height difference between the bows significant here? I have no idea. Ditto for Madoka's bow being in bud while Homura's is in full flower.

Okay. So you remember Walpurgisnacht's trees, right? Those weird things that are mostly in the background and which are never directly commented upon or explained, but which are juxtaposed with Homura an awful lot? There's a common trope in myth, literature, and fairy tales about planting a staff into a ground and having it grow and magically turn into a tree, and now I'm wondering, Is this where Walpurgisnacht's trees come from? Because what is a bow but a curved wooden staff tied to a string....?

And yes, the bow is a rose bow (or a black rose bow), and the trees are almost certainly cherry trees, so the botany gets a little mixed, but it probably doesn't matter since a) magic and/or metaphor, and b) Madoka is associated with both pink roses and pink cherry blossoms, just like Homura is associated with black roses and bare branches, so the symbolism still works out.

This is all highly speculative, and I have no idea if this is where SHAFT is going or if it's just a coincidence, but I can't look at the bow anymore without wondering what would happen if someone stuck it in the ground, and what it might become. Especially since we may end up seeing that bow again in Walpurgis no Kaiten.

Meanwhile, back in Rebellion, Homura and Madoka appear to be doing some kind of Connect (or proto-Connect, since the Magia Record concept hadn't been fully developed yet) akin to Madoka and Mami's Tiro Duet attack earlier in the film. What's interesting about this shot is that there's no sign of black roses anywhere, which is not how Connect usually manifests in Magia Record, where the nature of the fusion is more obvious (i.e., Kyouko's spear + Iroha's crossbow becomes a giant crossbow that fires spears instead of arrows in the MR anime), but which may symbolize how Homura "blooms" in Madoka's presence.

In addition, the bow is now huge and I think it's not only what they're holding in their hands, but also the entire structure that's supporting them (which has wings!!) because you can see two sets of purple and pink jewels on either side. Maybe it's just me, but the "branches" of the structure are awfully tree-like and I can see what might be a few leafy shoots by their feet.

Also, they appear to be standing in the canopy of the cherry tree that has blossomed in Homulilly's skull with no transition whatsoever, which is why the background is abruptly pink. Which raises a question I had never considered before: is their combined bow the cherry tree itself (or a part of it)??? Is that what's happening here??

And if that's truly the case, then maybe my earlier thought about Homura's black bow somehow becoming one of Walpurgisnacht's trees isn't so far off base after all...

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: I think we all know I basically spent these 3 chapters cackling maniacally

In the demon business, we call that BAIT!

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I'm all but wiggling happily. I love a good game of chess. I'm not entirely sure it actually is a game of chess beyond in Kabru's mind.

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OH GOOD HE'S A LITTLE BIT STUPID. This comic really does take care to portray people as badass, hyper-competent, and kinda stupid, all in different ways.

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oh, ALWAYS love a Santa-coded crime boss.

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I appreciate that Kabru's pride is solidly among the things he's 100% willing to temporarily ignore in order to be someone's friend/get them to do what he wants. I like that in a man.

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Interesting - clearly he's being magically influenced, but not so...directly? as to have the hourglass pupils.

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^ words of a man who is about to get his ass, and his entire criminal organization, absolutely WHUPPED by like 6 elves. I suspect the Canaries are underestimating the tallmen and other denizens of this dungeon, because they're arrogant pricks, but the locals are underestimating this elite team of elvish warriors a LOT more. I can't wait to find out what they're actually doing while "sight-seeing." Spreading out into tactical positions, maybe?

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ASS! WHUPPED! omg it's like an evil version of the Wink.

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I want to see this fight animated so fucking bad.

I dunno, Kabru, he clearly uses the combination pretty fucking effectively.

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WHY DO YOU THINK THAT A VISIBLE DEMONSTRATION OF MONSTERS WILL GET THROUGH WHERE WORDS DIDN'T? These people already know there are monsters down here... And at best, of course, a bunch of people will die... But they're just short-lived races so I suppose it doesn't matter :)

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While I do appreciate this dedication to making Mithrun look as cool as possible at all times, sending a giant, zombie-making walking mushroom into the middle of the Level 4 lake is going to be SUCH a disruption to that ecosystem!! Somewhere, Senshi just groaned in pain like Obi-Wan when Alderaan was destroyed.

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Mithrun has recognized that Kabru is going at picking out unusual people in a crowd, and is now using him as a manhandled tool to do so, and I just think that's Neat.

And it works! (So now it's their turn to get their asses handed to them.)

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This chapter cover is giving me a lot of feelings about...love, and families of choice.

Except for how I'm holding Laios in one arm while brandishing a knife at that lion fountain behind him. Get the HELL away from my boy, you tiny manifestation of the granting of wishes, and all you greater ones as well.

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oh are they now? They're definitely canaries in a coal mine, then. Badass and valued for their skills, but disposable. Hmm AU where Marcille...

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oh my god holy shit never mind, it turns out Thistle sucks at this when facing an opponent who isn't caught off-guard.

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It is possible that Mithrun is honestly, earnestly trying to help Thistle? As best he can?

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Sharing food as love!!!

MY GIRL!!

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STILL A TEAM!

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Oh Mithrun actually only has one eye, it's not just dramatic anime effect + hair flop? Hm. Should have a cool scar to make it clearer. I'm impressed with what depth perception he's shown, though, with the teleporting!

Obviously this does mean he ranks up in the Favorite Characters list.

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Kabru: Ooh nice strategy, manipulating all those people in order to manipulate that one person!

Kabru: Wait, right, I still don't like you.

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Yes! Yes! The Kabru's inner desires is OUT! He is impulsively risking this chance to prevent another Utaya - his stated goal, the obvious greater good, definitely very genuinely his primary focus - in favor of demanding the answers he WANTS, and the independence from long-lived elves.

YOU TELL 'EM, BUDDY! TAKE A STAND! BURN YOUR BRIDGES!!

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I appreciate that Mithrun isn't bad at this personal assessment thing.

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brb need to go chew a wall or something!

[disregardcanon]

a few ways others influenced how Billy manifested "The Road"

the conversation about "taming your fears" and then "trials" and agatha claiming that they would face a trial for "each skill" shapes not only the setup as A Series of Four Trials, but also the emphasis on PERSONAL GROWTH. Billy ends up focusing in on what he knows about these different women whose minds he can read and who he keeps getting to know more and more as they go around

"i thought this would be obvious, but we should stay on the road" and then teen adding "I STRAY NOT FROM THE PATH!" happily like a student eagerly raising their hand in class. and then agatha is able to say "hello yes favorite student PLEASE make our situation go by what happens in the song i made up with my son. if you believe it then that'll become our reality! yay!"

agatha keeps asserting that billy is the familiar because oh boy! if he doesn't think of himself as Part of the Coven in the same way maybe his brain won't turn on him and get us all killed! yay!

For the first trial, Jennifer says that she "looks like one of her customers", and her business and clientele are BOTH something that Billy is familiar with. From the different versions of the Ballad, he already considers Personal Trauma to be something that's confronted on the Road, so of course he subconsciously chose something that created traumatic hallucinations, and then Agatha is still figuring out How This Thing That Shouldn't Be Is Going to Work so of COURSE she's reticent to drink the weird ominous now surely poisoned wine. she knows that the road isn't a real, cosmic entity that has set rules the way that others think. she fights against the idea that they all have to drink because if she had convinced billy that they didn't... she wouldn't have to! but with the combination of his preconceptions and the rest of the coven, who thinks that this is One Hundred Percent Real... he stays set on the idea that them, the Coven Members, all have to drink.

agatha stops fighting for HEY NO WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS as soon as billy decides if she doesn't, he will. she doesn't want to die for this, but she's also not stupid enough to have The Kid That Almost Definitely Is Making This Happen drink the wine instead of her. it actually IS better for her to be incapacitated and them have a chance to get out than to poison the kid who's clearly Doing The Magic Here,

For the second trial, Billy has some information from Alice about how her situation with her mom went via Being Right By Her During Her Hallucination and Alice Telling Him Things. from the hallucination: we get lorna playing with the cigarette lighter, saying she could feel alice's grandmother die thousands of miles away, smoke, and "I CAN'T PROTECT YOU!" he was right outside the door, where i'm sure he could hear her thoughts. this gives him enough to clearly connect Alice with fire in his mind. the rest of the trial was just... him knowing that alice has issues with her mother and her mother's version of the ballad, and creating a circumstance where she'd work through that issue. he really lucked into it being a protection spell for a proper generational curse.

other bits of trial number two: "seriously, we're an album cover waiting to happen!" teen exclaims. the walls of assorted Bad Things That Happen to Witches and then lorna wu merchandise.

he doesn't actually know nearly as much about agatha as the others, because he can't read agatha's mind. i think that the ouija board trial was the first one where his brain was just "huh, okay... what are the vibes of talking to spirits?" lilia establishes that spirit magic can't be hers because it was a con and establishes herself as divination for later, and then RIO is the one that makes it agatha's. i haven't totally figured out why, though. or what his subconscious had in mind for what "passing" the trial would look like. evanora and nicky were definitely the real ghosts pulled in with the help of the ouija board, but the reasoning behind it is a lot less... clear to me than the others.

the outside of the road was treacherous enough to keep sharon inside, but it didn't kill him and i don't think that it would have. the goal of that subconscious bit of magic was a fence, vs the subconscious use of the Trials, which according to the ballad, being used to construct it, COULD be deadly. (if one be gone we carry on, spirit as our guide). then of course when agatha, lilia and jen got sucked under it, despite how angry he was... it was a conscious enough use of magic and he didn't ACTUALLY want them dead.

the divination trial was pretty clearly set up in his brain for lilia. the tarot, the old timey european aesthetic of the set, and then the different witch costumes assigned to different witches to represent how he views them. it also makes sense that they couldn't figure out how to "pass it" before lilia got there because neither billy nor agatha are very good at tarot and they were just sniping at each other about how to do it, vs lilia who divined her whole life and was able to use the power boost billy's powers gave her to go out with a bang.

the green trial, i think, was a desperate last moment brain attempt to just shove them in a room and get results. the aesthetic was Scary Morgue because he finally had rio/death to slot into the green witch part of his brain. the idea, then, became Give the Survivors What They Came For, then they can leave. they got jen unbound and she got to disappear. agatha guided him through getting tommy a body and then he got to disappear, and then his brain kept agatha there until she was able to get at her own reason for being on the road: starting anew. then it let them all out.

[tgrailwar-zero]

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

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

CHARLEMAGNE: "…!"

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

CAROLUS-TILPINUS: "Your Majesty!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ASTOLFO: "VULCANO-- CALIGORANTE!"

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

ASSASSINS: "...!"

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

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

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

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

ASTOLFO: "…"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GIUSEPPE squirmed in the restraints, glaring at her.

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

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

GIUSEPPE: "Why, you--!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PALADINS: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

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

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

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

[rattlyglitch]

The Truth Unveild

Rollo seemed shocked by what Idia had said. “What…are you…” Idia quickly spoke before Rollo could. “You had a brother named Russia. He had powerful magic that manifested at a young age.” Idia received a sharp look from Rollo when he said that. “How do you know that?!” Rollo asked enraged by what Idia had said. “We read your secret fireplace diary. So, lemme speculate a little. I'm guessing your brother got really big into magic. And he never had a proper teacher.” Rollo remained silent, not answering Idia.

“Yeah, figures. The scariest cases are always the ones with mages who get their power real young. Even if they're not powerful enough to accumulate blot, you have to be extremely careful with kids using magic. Any magic is dangerous when used the wrong way—just like with matches or knives. And now we come to what you wrote about.” Rollo covered his head shaking it.

“Stop…”

Idia ignored what Rollo had said and continued. “One day, you two were playing, and he was using magic. He lost control, and it overwhelmed him. You couldn't use magic yet. There was nothing you could do but watch your brother suffer. Until…” Rollo tried to hit Idia with his fist. “Stop it…!” The memories came back to Rollo he tried to ignore them but it seemed the more he tried the further he thought about what had happened. Rollo was hunched over himself and trying to keep himself steady somehow gripping at his sleeves.

“No…No… You're wrong! I wasn't the one who failed to act! The blame doesn't lie with me! It lies with all the other mages who were around us! They had power and didn't save him! The one time we needed them, and they stood by while my brother suffered, doing NOTHING!”

Malleus couldn’t say he was surprised by Rollo’s sadness. After everything that had happened when he overblotted, and Silver gained his unique spell and almost destroyed himself with his magic during that time Malleus himself wouldn’t know what he would have done to try and get Silver back if he had died that day. How similar he and Rollo were almost worried Malleus. “So that's why you hate mages. A wholly misplaced grudge, in my view” Malleus thought aloud. He didn’t even realize he had spoken what he had said. Azul looked at Rollo with pity.

“It must have torn you up when your magic first manifested. You gained the very power that took your brother away, making you no different from all the mages you despised. Hating mages while being one yourself… Your anguish eventually drove you to commit this atrocity.” Idia crossed his arms as he quoted Rollo’s diary. “I will use the firelotuses to rid the world of magic. Then no one will ever go through what my brother did again. Such is my duty."

That's how your little mission statement went in your diary, right? But here's the thing…That's patently absurd. It's so much of a joke, I can't even LOL about it.” Rollo tried to throw another punch at Idia again. “SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!” Idia couldn’t help but laugh. “Hee hee. Sry, I didn't ask to be an authority on this subject, but here I am. We're p. similar, actually. It's not remotely hard for me to imagine all the hatred and anguish you feel. You bang your head against the wall, and when that doesn't bring him back, you start thinking that maybe you'll tear everything down…”

Azul and Malleus both looked at Idia worried. Malleus wasn't certain of what had happened to Idia but he hoped nothing worse would come out of the situation. Idia on the other hand was a bit annoyed when Azul told him not to get any funny ideas. “Can you not lump me in with this wrongheaded clod?” Rollo seemed confounded at what Idia said. “Wrongheaded…?” Idia looked at Rollo displeased.

“Come on, you still don't get it? All you're doing is throwing a giant tantrum. You're salty about the hand life dealt you, so you decided to take it out on others. If you're bent on destroying something, then just direct that energy toward yourself. Quit draggin' everyone else into your massive ego trip. The way you're throwing a tanty while spouting hot garbo about this being for your brother and the world…LAWL. Just rolling on the floor laughing, 'cuz it's such a joke!”

Rollo covered his ears again trying to ignore Idia. “Shut up… Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! I'm not the problem here… IT'S NOT ME! IT'S NOT ME, I TELL YOU!!!” This time Rollo didn’t try to use his hands to hit Idia. He used his magic again throwing a large fireball at the three only for Azul to take the hit head on blocking everyone behind him.

//////////

Rollo hated the fact that Idia kept pointing out how he was in the wrong. Why couldn’t those three so foolish housewardens see that it was the fault of the mages who hadn’t helped his brother? They were acting like children trying to refuse what Rollo had said. Rollo was determined far more after what Idia had spoken though. He would still make it a safe place for children like his brother.

Children like Silver even if he had to take down the housewarden with him. He stood so proud and tall but Idia had no way of knowing what he was feeling. Whether he had familiarity with what Rollo had felt all the years after his brother's death didn’t matter to Rollo. If he couldn’t see what Rollo was doing was for the betterment of all involved then he never did fully see the extent of how Rollo felt.

He was still a fool like everyone else. A fool like those mages who couldn’t help his brother. All the mages would be brought down and Rollo would see an end to them. Rollo could only hope the attack he had fired at the three housewardens was enough to injure them so they wouldn’t have a means of stopping the firelotuses.

By morning they would be out of the city borders and going all over to take the magic of those that could harm or be harmed by others.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 , Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14

[captainbuzzkill999]

"I was an Overlord once, y'know? Yeah. And, uh, it was nice to have that power. But, when you're dealing with souls, while also being a gambler, the stakes are pretty high. And losing a few hands can be more than a little dangerous. So, when you're down on your luck, you'll turn to anything to keep you afloat. Even making deals yourself. So, I know what it's like to... regret the choice you made, and...know when you can't take it back." ☓aesthetic and amazing promo made by: @ofmoraliity [ about my portrayal of Husk]

The best way to describe Husk is an alcoholic pessimistic old man been through the wringer a lot causing him to bealive that nothing good happens. Husk's actual name is Henry and changed it to Husk upon arrival to hell, his father was not a kind person he was very abusive and would take their anger out on their son, his mother died in child birth and as a teenager left home. As a child their only comfort was magic and learning magic tricks. Henry got married just before he was drafted into the Vietnam War where he befriended several of their comrades and would show off their magic tricks who ended up being killed exploded right before his eyes because his voice was drowned out then he was captured and tortured and left for dead but was saved, so he has PTSD about of those things and one of the reasons he's such a tormented soul. When Henry returned from war he found his beloved wife had died.

Before being drafted into war and getting married Henry was in a Mafia for awhile which is how he met his wife. Their death was suicide by means of alcoholic poisoning upon finding out about their wives death and killed himself unable to handle the pain and greif it caused him. how he ended up in hell because of violence against himself but he's done bad things in their life he knows it but why they ended up in hell is not something Husk remembers.

Following their death and manifesting in hell. While Alastor was killing the past overlords, Husk at one point too was a deal maker he would ask sinners if they'd like to test their luck with them and play a gambling game. He was a deal maker that would force sinners for their payment to be their souls if they try to back out he will kill them. He came to be called the gambler of souls becoming influential and gaining a fearsome reputation became an overlord who's vice is greed. He was an overlord for a long time until Alastor beats them at their own game and now owns their soul. Once under Alastor's ownership he's just a grumpy old man who just wants to drink his heart out and is very jaded and is very obstinate. Although the radio demon owns them not for a second time and let him transform into their pet and let him win them a second time, if he wants a pet cat then they'll have do more then they already have

[cosmcther]

     When living a life as long and well-traveled as hers, it's not a shocking notion at all to stumble upon a familiar face or two while you're out exploring the world. She's made allies and enemies alike across those countless galaxies she peruses. And you know what they say! It's a small world after all~. And Rosalina would happily confirm: the universe didn't seem as large after you've traversed it in its entirety at least three times over. After a certain amount of time, rediscovering someone from your past was all but guaranteed.

     However, life had never said to guarantee a decadent remeet, even for the ethereal star-walker. She was magnificent and revered, radiant like the night sky on a cold winter night... And it was the aisles of a pocket plane's supermarket that her venerated self strode through, a hankering for some ice cream sandwiches driving her forward with a charge.

     Look— let's give credit where credit was due: it was still an excessively enchanted supermarket. The locale was positioned within a pocket plane tucked comfortably between existence as we know it and where we went when we were ultimately unmade. It wasn't like she was dodging scattered shopping carts in her 1998 Honda Accord as she looked for a good enough parking spot. But... she just had a taste for some Neapolitan ice cream, okay? Just because she's a nine-hundred-year-old woman granted the power of the cosmos doesn't mean she can't get a sweet tooth.

     Anyways. With a shopping bag in hand, it's a quiet stride as business is attended to. She was on a snack run, she wasn't anticipating some grand event to strike her down in the here and now. The most striking thing that could manifest right now was a deal on brownies. A few of those wouldn't hurt, either...

     So imagine her surprise when a figure unmistakable is spotted. Why, it hadn't changed in the... what, century or two it's been since they had laid eyes on one another? She was still sporting that killer curl in her hair, it must've been nothing but magic that kept a shape like that so immaculate. And it wasn't just anyone who could pull off a color like yellow so fluently, but the woman made it work.

     "Wanda Fairywinkle Cosma? Say it isn't so! Is that truly you? My word, how have you been, dear? Stars above, I'm aghast— Who would've thought I'd see your face on today of all days!"

@asterismas

[hana-the-ghostieee]

alright alright alright iiiiiii had An Idea that i might want to share with the world it just came to me a week ago and took it's sweet time running around my head but i don't want to just dump this all on the one poor friend i have that has to know everything about me sooooooooooo. here. featuring a very silly rui & tsukasa cuz i enjoy their dynamic (whether it be platonic or romantic :P they're silly little guys and i like em for it)

okay. so you know the song Che- Che- Check, 1! 2! by WADATAKEAKI or KurageP, right? the same dude that made Chururira Chururira Daddadda! if you were wondering. (all of you wxs fans probably know where i'm going with this.)

i kind of want to hear a Rui and Tsukasa cover, kind of like the Self-cover that takeaki himself did. i know the song is about being a student that's just falling really hard for your teacher but i want to hear them do it *only* and i mean *ONLY* for the whole 1, 2 joke (cuz YEAH that's what i'm here for that's the only reason i made this post)

from the cut things are ruikasa (romantically, not platonically) so if you aren't into that. sorry you got my point you may leave now.

edit: i originally did this on computer but posted it on mobile and ??? it deleted my changes (you know. content descriptions and tags and such) so uhm mhm.

(alright now that they're gone, you guys are my favorites. hi fellow ruikasaer here is where things get ~ juicy ~)

ooh ooh but. if there's a 2dmv. the part where the lyrics go "That's why I'll go do something bad/I'll sneak into the broadcast room in lunch break and play it" is yet another prank, where our weirdo wombo combo sneak into the broadcast room and just play. not sure. silly random noises i guess. idk but instead of going to plan. muehehe. sorry for the evil laugh uhm.

(or maybe they walked around school just recording people say happy birthday or something to nene because well let's have them do something nice for once instead of blasting confetti-filled cannons left, right and center)

whoever's plugging the audio in for the *whole* school to hear. instead of playing said silly random noises. manages to instead. play a recording of his confessions of love to his partner in crime. and you can tell he had background assistance cuz in the back emu and nene are going "wooaaahhhhh☆!!! he's gonna love this!!! it's really mooshy-wooshy and warm!!!" and "...yeah, i guess saying he's the star that lights up the dark void that once was your universe would work. good luck."

ooh or they get caught but one of them forgets their phone and then. after the silly random noises end. the whole school hears the most sappy, sickening confession ever. and rui's just sitting in the back, realizing he forgot his phone in the broadcast room, knowing he left it on autoplay, and he can't do anything but sit in this pool of dread and regret

anyways yeah uhmm that's all i have nothing left to share :P

and then of course the whole school teases them into next year. including the teachers. apparently being boyfriends come with a consequence. nene magically disappears for the next week or two and every time emu comes over during lunch break she gets really confused why everyone's just acting weird? where's nene-chan? what's going on between rui-kun and tsukasa-kun? did they fight again? no wait, i don't think you hold hands and call each other ruru and kasa after you fight... huhh??? whuhh??? bwuhh??? did they - *ugly breath in* OH MY GOD DID THEY CONFESS WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! [she managed to give heart attacks to half the student body and staff with that one scream. i wrote this i would know. and if you want to manifest it into sound assume it sounds like that one KYAAAAA!!! she did from Positive☆Dance Time. im sorry]

[mikeylivesattheend]

Hi, I love Red Hood, Dimension Travel & Time Travel fics. Here are a 5 I enjoy that aren't immediately showing up if you sort by kudos on A03, basically. Don't forget to look at the tags! A lot of these have dark/angsty themes.

___

The Passing There by Ginevra_Benci

Dimension Travel, incomplete, 15k

Jason Todd awoke one morning from troubled dreams and found himself transformed into a monstrous—

No. God, he wished.

Metamorphosis, he could have handled. An easy fix. Hell, magic insect transformation was practically an everyday occurrence, in Gotham.

Just… not in this Gotham.

***

Jason Todd awakes one morning in a Gotham that “doesn’t like chaos”, and finds his feet.

I love the writing style here, it's updating regularly, and the plot is interesting without being too complicated.

This is the only incomplete fic here btw.

PLUTO. by Orpheusaki

Dimension Travel, complete, 22k

"I kill so others don't have to," Bruce states firmly and clearly. This entire situation didn't seem like it could get any more bizarre, what with Bruce sitting in the dark and polishing guns, but somehow it just has, "While you are here you will not kill."

Jason's throat is scratchy and dry with terror, but the insatiable feeling of being talked over and disregarded is a fresh wound. He can't back down from this if he tried, "I've killed. I still kill. Who the fuck do you think you are to stop me?"

Bruce gently sets down his gun, and picks up the blade beside him with practised ease. Jason's blood runs cold when the man wearing his father's face says, "You will die by my hand if you try."

(Jason meets a version of Bruce who has manifested his fears very differently.)

Honestly if you haven't read any of Orpheusaki's fics you should- immediately. I love fics that explore Bruce killing, and the vibes are so so right here.

This author also has another AMAZING dimension travel fic but it's abandoned I think so I cannot rec it in good conscience, sorry 😭

ghosts by roseworth

Time Travel, complete, 5k

Steph startled as a kid in a bright Robin costume jumped onto the roof in front of them.

A Robin costume she had only seen inside a glass case. A mop of curls she had only seen in pictures.

This was fucking Jason Todd.

Shit.

-

(Robin!Steph and Bruce get sent back in time to when Jason was alive. Everyone has some realizations.)

Chef's kiss, Steph gets to see Jason & learn what he was like. Not super long, but it's great

Sisyphus by EventualToast

Time Travel, complete, 8k

"Jason Todd is, for the second time in his life, sixteen years old, mortally wounded and trapped in a coffin. And this time, he takes in all the details that scream it’s reality. In his memories, he can always see the white of the silk, feel the worms crawling through his skin, even though neither of those things were possible. Now, he’s in sterile darkness. He needs to get out of here."

Or Jason and Essence get stuck in an infinite timeloop.

I love love love fics that use Jason's All Caste backstory & the time travel is wonderful. I've reread this like 5 times ngl

Ad Infinitum; Modified by familiarities (twistsandturns)

Time Travel, complete, 9k

Tim is hunched over his computer, bouncing between a report for B (Batman, not Bruce) and a spreadsheet for B (Bruce, not Batman) when Jason stumbles into the cave. If it weren’t for the fact that Jason had been in a somewhat good mood lately, Tim probably would have been a little more concerned about this fact. Still, it’s weird when, instead of ignoring Tim’s existence like he usually does, Jason walks over to him directly and says, “I'm in a time loop and I don't know why. Fix it."

The outsider pov on a time loop is so well done, and I love seeing Jason change from afar

___

Uhh yeah that's it. I've read a lot more than these, but there are better rec lists to get those. These are just ones that tickle my brain. A lot of these authors are on Tumblr too, so thats neat.

[viilpstick]

╰┈➤ 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞: Oh, this is the night, it's a beautiful night and we call it bella notte. If to take a closer look, not just at the skies, you'll see she have stars in her eyes, laying on the grass with her bicycle on the side. On this lovely bella notte. In a hand forgiviness is normal, in another you have to work for it. Bless sevens, the heavens are right.

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔: Lacy Darling, Twisted Wonderland oc

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: Some mention bit of oc x canon, the enemies to lovers type (Lacy is not beastman, sorry), mentions of Lacy going to prison

𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: Some angst, informative of new character

𝒂/𝒏: I actually found a site that helped me write SO MUCH of this (Synonyms), so expect my writing to become better over time :)) Actually proud of my writing in this hehe

"I can't believe I am lost again. Excuse me, little one! Do you know how can I get to Night Raven College? Oh, you know just the way? With a short cut? Splendid!"

𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅: Never doubt yourself, but doubt the others, even if you are side by side your love one. And his dishonesty has to speak louder than anything else.

Lacy Darling was born into a wealth family in Shaftlands, her upbringing marked by a strong sense of community and a simple, humble lifestyle. From a young age, Lacy displayed an insatiable curiosity, always eager to learn, explore, and understand the world around her. Her heart overflowed with kindness, and she was known for her unwavering loyalty to those she cared about.

Also, with the great energy she had, and being the only daughter, through her childhood she had all the attention of the whole world. Even so, she can't be mistaken as someone who wanted it all, she was well educated to be simple and modest.

Throughout her teenage years, Lacy studied in Night Raven College, as a way to expand her knowledge for the magic.

However, there was a nuanced prejudice within Lacy that she struggled with. Despite her open-mindedness, she occasionally held unfounded biases, rooted in preconceived notions. Lacy's life took a dramatic turn when she was ensnared in a web of a dishonest guy orchestrated by someone she had dear hold, even to say, she actually feel for him. This betrayal led her to make a series of unfortunate choices that ultimately landed her in prison, by no fault of hers.

Upon her release, thanks to a teacher she might even said she used to fear, Lacy emerged as an even more intriguing and evolving individual. Her heart remained full of kindness and her curiosity unabated. The hardships she endured had added a layer of strength to her character, and her occasional glimpses of courage now shone brighter than ever. However, to gain her trust or forgiviness to this days is a hard task most people fail.

𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚: She just can't understand, it must be something wonderful, it must be something grand 'cause everybody's smiling in a kind and wistful way, then why do She tend to keep my thoughts to herself instead of facing her mistakes

This sweet young woman is someone of intriguing complexity, known for her timid and naive disposition. She possesses a gentle and unassuming nature, which makes her an exceptional friend to those fortunate enough to know her.

Her loyalty to her family is unwavering, and she consistently demonstrates a deep commitment to their well-being.

Lacy's gracious side is a full commitment to a kindheart and sympathetic soul, whatsoever, while her timid nature might suggest vulnerability, she surprises many by revealing a hidden reservoir of courage and protectiveness when the situation demands it, specially when it comes to people she deeply care about. In times of adversity, she can rise to the occasion, showcasing her resilience and determination.

Lacy's personality exhibits a fascinating duality. On one hand, she exudes an air of modesty, always extending kindness and curiosity towards others. Yet, there is a hint of cockiness in her attitude, occasionally manifesting as a self-assured demeanor that she's not afraid to display. Her confidence, although not overwhelming, serves as a testament to her, may as well say, once she doesn't like someone by any act they might've done to irritate or hurt her, she will act stubborn and imposible to get forgiviness from.

One notable aspect of Lacy's flaw is her somewhat prejudiced view towards people from a different class of her, this might due the fact she once went to prison, thanks to a certain somoene from Playful Land, awhile she tried to help them. This prejudice, though a minor deffect, suggests a certain guardedness and wariness when it comes to individuals from distant backgrounds. Over time, she may learn to overcome or soften as she continues to grow and develop, it depends on how inflexible both of parties are.

In summary, Lacy is a varied character, a humble and sincere soul with a heart full of kindness, curiosity, and loyalty. Lacy's growth as a character includes occasional glimpses of courage, a touch of cockiness, and a nuanced prejudice, making her a truly intriguing and evolving individual.

𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆: You'll find enchantment here, the night will weave its magic spell, in her eyes you'll see the glint of skies.

For someone like Lacy, complex clothing are never an exaggeration. With a knee length circle skirt with a caramel shade, and a pastel yellow shade blouse. A teal bow as belt in her figure, to top up with everything, a small gold chain in a crystal format.

Her make up emphasized a natural, yet polished look. This included a light foundation, soft blush, defined eyebrows, and really light red lipstick.

Her skin is well said to be in a warm undertone. Her is a slight short bangs with the hair length touching the shoulders and slight wavy and with the color being a carnaby cooper red, all of that matching perfectly her brown eyes.

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑: And may love be your keeper, close your eyes, trust the unreliable. But, remember in any second you can open your eyes to see the clear truth.

Rook Hunt: Although, not fully confirmed, Rook and Lacy are distant relatives. And by that, he always was grown found in a fashion lifestyle. Lacy mentions the fact she is quite confused by Rook's mannerism, but, think in general he is a funny silly guy.

Ruggie Bucchi: However, is said early that Lacy has always suspicious over people too far from her lifestyle. She's really kind to Ruggie, and from time to time, likes to give him simple jobs in exchange of a great quantity of money for him. He does unintentional help her face her past shadows.

Dire Crowley: Never shown why exactly, but, Crowley dislikes Lacy deeply, vice versa. Both had things in the past they never brought up again. However, it is a fact they don't want to see each other's face no longer.

Fellow Honest: Crowley still was the tip of iceberg, what, and how, Lacy acts around Fellow is way more noticeable hatred. It's pointed out, that Fellow got this sweet Lady, when she was younger, involved in inumerous problems awhile she tried to be closer to him, as something between friend and more. Yet, once she had to go to prison by his little rebellious acts, she went from sweet to bitter in a heart beat, once they saw each other again, Lacy acts as if no nearly close to forgive him. Even so, Fellow outside shows a bit of regret, inside he almost corrupts himself for actually doing such a mess. In a way or another, he does hope Lacy will give him a second chance.

Crewel Divus: Both dog lovers go way back in NRC, when they were in Pomefiore. According to Crewel, their first interaction when both got kicked out of Trein's class by a discussion of what dog breed was better. Whatsoever, during time, both had became good friends, the big brother and younger sister alike duo went never out of style since then.

Mozus Trein: Even with some down falls, Mister Trein used to adore Lacy as a student. Lacy as a student, whatsoever, used to deeply fear Mister Trein, yet, have deep respect. Things changed when Trein payed for her finance when she went to prison, he didn't blame her the slightest bit, specially when he knew Lacy's innocence. It is common, stated by Rook, seeing Trein in his break, along side Lucius, visit Lacy for a cup of tea.

𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂: At the end, all ends well when it is well.

Lacy is inspired on Lady from "Lady and the Tramp" (funfact about it: Lady's va name was also Barbara-- i found it cute, let me life with it)

Signature spell: Dedicated energy, with some notes of a lullaby, Lacy is capable of absorbing other energy to use as her a running boost, targets may even fall asleep with so much absorption

Lacy meaning: from Lassy; Young woman. Lacy is a feminine name of French origin. Lassy was a beautiful historical region in France that was home for many noblemen

Her style is inspired in the style of 1950 women's fashion, the year the movie came out

28 years old, born in July 1st

Lacy's dominant hand is right

Fav. drink + food: Caramel coffee, croissants.

Least fav. drink + food: Orange juice, crab.

Hobbies: Cycling, picking flowers

Pet peeves: Dishonesty

Likes: Picnics

Talent: Fast thinker

DO NOT COPY, TRANSLATE OR REPOST IN OTHER MEDIA MY WORK viilpstick © copyright 2023

[anistarrose]

📙

(ask meme: send me a 📙 and i'll explain the plot of a fic i haven't written but still daydream about!)

okay, so. a very particular TAZ Balance AU idea, which is near and dear to me, is also one that I may never write, because it would just be such an undertaking — due, in part, to it kind of being told in non-chronological fashion.

it starts with Lucretia's pov, immediately post-Phandalin, welcoming a group of new recruits to the Bureau. however, two very important things are different from canon: Julia is alive and with the boys, and Magnus has a very energetic, very clearly magical dog familiar.

and like. Lucretia's thrilled to finally meet Julia, even if she can't show it; that's not the problem. the dog (I'm thinking like, a biiig reddish-brown St. Bernard) is a surprise, for sure (Lucretia can't believe she missed the years Magnus finally started learning magic!), and the situation totally going to warrant some new fencing around the edge of the moon, but the dog itself, technically, is still not the biggest problem.

the problem is that when Lucretia tells them about the Grand Relics and Red Robes, Magnus is like "but... surely not everyone who wears a red robe is a Red Robe, right?" and then, only then, does everything click together for Lucretia.

because long story short, this is a "Magnus and Barry made a warlock pact as during the Stolen Century as a joke, and (ironically) both forgot about it until Magnus accidentally summoned a familiar decades later in Raven's Roost" AU!

after the initial reveal, we get a series of flashbacks jumping back and forward in time, slowly fleshing out details of how much Magnus knows, how much Julia knows, and just the general vibes of their relationship with Barry, plus, eventually, their relationship with a Lucretia who needs their help to gather the Relics, but is paranoid about Barry's influence at basically all times to great comical effect lmao. highlights include:

Magnus manifesting magical powers and getting visited in a dream by a scary ghost, except the ghost's voice sounds like Literally Just Some Guy and he explains, seemingly honestly and kind of sheepishly, that he doesn't know how to undo the warlock pact because they made it For The Bit when they were slightly drunk

Magnus trusts the Red Robe because he doesn't want to lose his new puppy friend; Julia trusts the Red Robe because once they meet in person, she decides he's too anxious to be an effectual evil mastermind

Barry helps out the Raven's Roost rebellion, scaring Kalen so shitless that he doesn't even try to bomb the support pillars and that's why Julia lives

Magnus knows his patron sometimes goes unresponsive for months at a time, but doesn't know why, just that he always warns him in advace and it's never forever

when Phandalin comes along, Magnus knows Alive-Barry is familiar but he absolutely cannot place it, and Alive-Barry is equally as confused, and as unhelpful as humanly possible

the main focus of this AU is on Magnus and Barry as found family, and Julia and Barry as found family by proxy, with of course Magnulia running in parallel — but my absolute favorite underutilized dynamic (Lucretia and Barry oscillating between being serious archnemeses versus just being siblings with a hilarious petty rivalry) is baked into the core of the whole premise, too

idk about the details but I like the idea of Magnus getting in big trouble with Kravitz and, much like Merle, losing a hand or a limb or something — which Barry angsts about a little bit, convinced that it was all his fault for dragging Magnus into this, but it turns out Julia is a super competent artificer and Magnus winds up really loving the prosthesis she rigs up for him

Barry does not change the "show up and monologue ominously to the Reclaimers" strategy at all but there's a lot more goofy banter with Magnus sprinkled in now

Lucretia is constantly paranoid that Barry is spying on her through the eyes of a dog (except she's correct, he absolutely is)

OH and Magnus was asked by his patron to keep an eye out for the Umbra Staff, so he recognizes it when Taako finds it in the vault (he asks if Barry wants him to steal it, but Barry is weirdly insistent that no, it should stay with Taako)...

and I want to say that it's still not an immediate realization, but he does therefore give Barry a head start on figuring out that mystery, and once he tells Barry what Angus told him about that time it burnt "LUP" in the wall, it also becomes a Lup freed early AU :')

I guess lastly, and based off the "Undead Patron" warlock subclass, there's like a spectral red robe that appears around Magnus's shoulders whenever he's kicking ass

[aggravateddurian]

The Shadow Over Megabuilding H4

The eerie red permeated the building as Vega fought her way to the basement. The drones were tough, their nanotech-enhanced bodies seemingly bleeding as they were shot, before finally dropping to the ground, theiir insides riddled with enough bullets to take out a Basilisk.

Finally, the basement door - the source of this horrific scene. She tapped the door...

"What in the fuck!?"

She was greeted by two hunched Megabuilding residents. Their bodies were riddled wiith chrome, seemingly constructed right on their very bodies. They acted like zombies, moving in unison as they turned to face Vega.

"Vegaaaaaaaa..." they greeted her in unison.

"How did you know my name?"

“Veeeeegaaaaaaaa…” they moaned in unison, their voices resembling the chorus of a million damned souls, calling out in unison. Was it in greeting, or in pain?

“What in the fuck!?” Vega exclaimed.

“How do they know…?” So Mi began.

“Sooooo Miiiiiii…” they greeted her, “we… are… pleased… you… could join… us…”

"Who the fuck are you? Why did you take over this megabuilding?"

"We wish... to be... free."

“Enough with the games!” Vega ordered, “release the megabuilding residents!”

“They… prefer… it… this way…” replied the voice of the machine, “together, there is… no pain… no hunger… no fear… We are… happy.”

“You assimilated these people. You’re controlling them like zombie puppets. I don’t think I agree with your assessment!”

“Your feelings… are irrelevant… a side effect of your unfortunate mortal existence…” replied the residents in perfect unison, “…you are more than that… you have… transcended mortality… you are the template… for a perfect future…”

So Mi shook her head, “It’s trying to penetrate my ICE barrier. Flatline them, Vega!”

Vega watched as the bodies twitched, then began to ooze fluorescent red blood as nanobots leaked out of their body, decomposing on the floor as the sudden change of temperature disabled them.

"You got them..." So Mi reassured her.

"Until now we've fought hijacked drones... but we kill them... there are still innocent civilians there."

The former FIA operative stood out in front of her, "Vega! It's them or us! You saw them... they're shambling in pain! We're freeing them!"

"Let's just deploy the net bomb and kill these nanobots once and for all."

"Just get me to the core and keep me covered. These machines won't know what hit them!"

As they neared the source of the infestation, the red glow intensified. As they rounded the corner, Johnny manifested, "Jesus fuckin' Christ!"

So Mi stopped mid-stride, "Oh my... this isn't the Blackwall... only something twisted, from beyond the Blackwall!"

A ghostly figure stood among the slaughter. A full squad of Militech soldiers had been dragged into the basement. Now they laid in a pool of glowing nanobot swarms and their own blood. Their bodies were being slowly decomposed and merged with the Cynosure containers with grotesque nanotubes, seemingly feeding some biosynthetic monstrosity growing within. The figure grasped the head of a netrunner. She looked to Vega and So Mi, recognising the latter, "Please... kill me... I can't..."

The figure ran her virtual fingers over the girl's head, "Hush..." her voice was distorted, corrupted, as if the entity's transit through the Blackwall and into our realm was less than smooth. Glitches and errors flashed across her digital form, but there was no mistaking the woman's identity.

Vega shook her head, and simultaneously with Johnny, whispered, "...Alt..."

"V... welcome, my child."

"You're not the real Alt. She's capable of a lot, but this is beyond the pale, even for her!" Vega reached for her sidearm, "and I'm not your fuckin' child!"

"WRONG!" she retorted, reaching a hand out, "You need to listen to your elders!"

Vega was bathed in a beam of red light that caused her cyberware to glitch out. She writhed in pain as So Mi was suddenly, and violently cast aside, as if Alt possessed magical powers.

"Alt! What the fuck're you doing!?" demanded Johnny.

"Shut up, Johnny, for once in your life," she retorted, banishing him with a flick of her wrist, "Vega... you are important to my plans. Stop resisting. You will find it... calming if you surrender."

So Mi tried to reach for Vega's leg as her screams of pain turned from whimpers, to gurgles, and then complete silence as Alt penetrated every system in Vega's body, seizing absolute control, "Vega..."

"I'm going to need to borrow you for a moment, Vega."

So Mi could sense the virtual tendrils embracing Vega's mind and body, "Your code is corrupted, Alt... Blackwall didn't treat you well..."

Alt ignored her, but So Mi could tell that her concentration was affected. She grinned, pressing the issue, "It's eating at you... isn't it? You can feel it starting to slowly eat you at the edges... I know the feeling. It hurts, doesn't it?"

Alt focused on Vega, "That's it... let go... see how it feels better?"

So Mi smiled, "You slipped up, Alt."

So Mi reached for a virtual strand and grasped it through the subnet. Alt suddenly glitched, hard, "Go back to the NET, you eldritch bitch! She's mine!"

Alt writhed in pain as So Mi stretched her hand out to grab the retreating tendrils. Vega awoke with a start, shaking as she tried to get back onto her knees, "Go back to Arkham!"

With a burst of effort, So Mi reached for the Blackwall, goading it to chase her. She led them straight to Alt.

Like a million arresting hands, the Blackwall reached into meatspace, grabbing Alt, seizing her with impossibly strong force. Like demons dragging her back to hell, Alt seemingly was snatched through the floor as the Blackwall retreated to the digital realm from whence it came, taking the corrupted engram of Alt Cunningham with it. The enemy defeated, So Mi let go of the tendrils, but not before taking the opportunity to introduce the NET bomb code.

She watched through her optics' virtuality mode as block by block, corrupted Cynosure code was destroyed. The tendrils of the AI that Alt Cunningham had seized control of in her eldritch scheme were, block by block, obliterated by a malevolent blue wave that washed over every circuit and wireless network of the subnet, until the red glow finally died once and for all...

"Easy, V... you need to take it easy. After a net attack like that, I'm surprised you're even awake!"

Vega mumbled something, "I've had worse Relic Malfunctions... the AI was Alt? How the fuck's that possible?"

"Not Alt," So Mi assured her, "a fragment of her psyche, from when she fled into the NET after Arasaka Tower. She had to shed aspects of her humanity to survive in cyberspace... you just encountered a nasty fragment."

"Nasty? She had her digital tendrils in every system of my body. Not sure whether she was trying to control me or..."

"Maybe it's best we don't know," suggested So Mi, "The Blackwall has her now, and I've bombed the subnet. The nanobots are all dead. Meredith can begin the cleanup. Hopefully, Militech will be more careful with their toys next time."

"And other hilarious jokes you can tell your chooms," she managed a smile, "Oh, and next year, we're not going trick or treating with the kids from Militech."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's Cyberween 2079. This is not canon to the timeline, and is just a Halloween story for fun.

Don't worry, this corrupt fragment of Alt is gone. The Blackwall does what the Blackwall does best, and our favourite ghostly netrunner engram is still out there... possibly plotting to take over the world. Please don't think I have it out for Alt or anything.