#Wraith Musings;;

[fatestouch]

The thing about Astra is that he's (probably??) not a freak, but the thought of him stabbing Vega has him like this:

"I'll make sure my knife is deep in him, make sure I miss any organs so he doesn't die too quickly. I'll make sure to twist it this way and that, make him really writhe and take in his suffering. He's as stubborn as a mule, so he won't scream... but it'll be such a fun challenge..."

[birdmitosis]

Since you sometimes make a distinction between the two different versions of The Fury and The Wraith as well as the Beast and Witch versions of The Wild, would you care to discuss how you interpret the two versions that makes them worth distinguishing?

Oh, sure!

Honestly, I tend to differentiate the shared Chapter IIIs more often than not in my head, even if I don't always specify in writing. This is because I tend to think of all the Chapter IIIs as continuations of their Chapter IIs -- which is why I also find it increasingly hard to ship things like, say, Witch/Thorn and I find it harder to imagine Adversary & Eye of the Needle interacting, unless it's a case of two alternate universe versions meeting.

But I also make more of a distinction between Chapter IIIs that are, in my opinion, very different from one another in some key way. This is definitely most obvious with the Greys, who flat-out have names specifying which is which in fandom (Burned Grey and Drowned Grey are by far the most common in my experience)... But the two Furies and two Wilds also have very obviously different driving desires and motivations, in my opinion.

Adversary!Fury feels empty. She has lost you. If you make it through her torment, she makes it clear that's what she's so upset about. She had a moment of fleeting happiness with you she's clinging onto, she thought she understood something about you, and you left her feeling alone and empty.

On the other hand, if you make it through Tower!Fury's torment, she makes herself clear as well, and it's different. She was furious that you denied her, furious about what you did to her. And now she has broken your will, the way Tower wished, but she's found it to be hollow. It hasn't made her happy. "I am forever a piece unfinished," she says, "A song with no refrain." The song that she wished for, of you choosing to free her, release your goddess upon the world... That can never be. And she is in despair thinking that you will never be able to understand her.

With the two Furies, their differences are also more obvious in The Pristine Cut given the drastic differences between their routes. Yes, there are some similar endings you can get in their chapters (if you have the right voice with you in Adversary!Fury, that is). But it's only with Cold or Broken in Adversary!Fury that you can leave with her, or leave without her, or bury your blade in her heart. And Adversary!Fury's reaction if you defeat her with Contrarian is very different from Tower!Fury's reaction if you defeat her with Cold. And, notably, Broken and Cold only reach the stage of empathizing with Adversary!Fury.

The differences between the two Wilds are more subtle, but IMO are still a significantly different driving force. In Beast!Wild, if you look at what is in your now-shared heart, after she begs you not to make you remember what she was, you find your own fear. But in Witch!Wild, if you choose to look at that concealed thing, after she begs you not to make you remember what you both were... It's hatred. It's both of your hatred. Beast!Wild doesn't want to go back to "the fear and the hunger and the pain"; Witch!Wild doesn't want to go back to "the doubting and the hatred and the schemes." They are both avoiding different things, Beast!Wild seems to more be wanting to avoid thinking about what she had been while Witch!Wild wants to ignore what both of you had been, and while both Wilds feel like it's right to be a single being now, Beast!Wild is the one who specifically talks about having put things back how they were supposed to be. While Witch!Wild shouts about remembering herself, going back to hating and hurting you, before... "I wish I didn't have to."

In comparison, the two Wraiths aren't as blatantly different, but they still definitely have different dialogue before possessing you. It's also possible to get to them in... similar, if backwards, ways. While you can get Spectre!Wraith by just straight-up trying to slay her first thing every time you meet her, well... You can get to Spectre!Wraith by killing her ASAP and then trying to abandon her, and get to Nightmare!Wraith by trying to abandon her and then killing her ASAP. It's easy to just not bother differentiating between the two! But I think the fact that Spectre, even the harsher version of Spectre, has such a different personality and approach from Nightmare, means that Spectre!Wraith and Nightmare!Wraith are still definitely different people even with their strong similarities. They've become quite a bit like each other, though, after everything you have done to them.

...TL;DR honestly I always tend to make a distinction between the different versions in my head, since I think of them still as part of/an extension of their specific Chapter IIs. But some of the shared Chapter IIIs are very very different from each other, in a lot of ways or in a few key ways, and so I tend to differentiate more often with some of them than with others. Because it feels way weirder to talk about "the Fury" without saying which I mean than to do that with "the Wraith." (And I can't imagine doing it with "the Grey" at all.)

[softmangoes]

honestly i really just can't stop being weak for characters who fall for an incarnation of their past love because in this life, they were not meant to be. but perhaps they will get another chance. perhaps then, they will be happy.

ugh. nothing's got a tighter chokehold on me than yearning that transcends death and rebirth and the passing of time.

[liroyalty]

Somehow Achlys inherited his mom's snatched waist

[wonderfultheatre]

@wraithful-muses replied to your post:

"Didn't mean you. You are redeemed sinner it's different."

"Winners and Redeemed sinners aside. Angels aren't stupid and know about sex." It was a minor thing but angels did know. "Winners are human after all, so Angels would have found out regardless."

[a-hazbin-spider]

@wraithful-muses // from here!

Oh thank fuck, that’ll help him not up and die (again). Half of that is going to be dripping down his body from gulping it down. One cube is popped and crunched on.

“Oi..! Grazi, caro. Ain’t you sweet? ‘Preciate not feelin as dead. You a newbie, here..?”

[fatestouch]

@sansloii

I just think it’s romantic to be possessive over someone’s death. No one gets to kill you but me. I want to hold you as you die. Your last breath should mingle with mine. I want your blood on my hands because I’m the one that spilled it.

[the-delightful-temptation]

@wraithful-muses

"True. I didn't hear well. Why don't you come near and tell me. Here on my ear, darling."

[fatestouch]

idea stolen from @arcxnumvitae, but man i had waaaaay too much fun making these

[its-a-full-galaxy]

"Why do you do this?" || Runt & Echo-17 || Drabble

"C'mon, kid! Give it a break! It's done!" the mechanic called up as Wraith 13 continued to scrub the nearly polished surface of her X-wing.

"Unless you've got something else for me to clean, Cubber," she called back down, "I'm not moving."

Cubber threw his hands up in frustration as the turquoise exo continued cleaning her X-Wing, the padded head of her long mop swiping back and forth once again along its fuselage. "Somebody get her down from there! She's gonna wipe the paint clean off!"

Behind him, another pilot approached, his long, brown face looking up at his fellow Wraith. His ear twitched and he narrowed his eyes, thinking about his approach.

"We will help," Runt said, causing Cubber to turn and look at him.

"Great," Cubber said, waving Runt forward, "do what you gotta do. I'd give her the Nara to clean off but it's out for the moment. But if she keeps this up, I'll put her to work cleaning the carriers while she’s at it!"

Runt nodded. "We will get her," he said and strode forward. "Echo?"

The exo paused, straightening as Runt Ekwesh approached, her chest heaving slightly. "Yeah?" she called, slightly out of breath.

"May we talk to you?" he asked, looking up at her.

Echo shrugged and waved him up. "Sure, come on up," she called, stepping over her canopy and onto the other wing.

Runt hesitated. "Uh, that is not what we meant," he called back up.

Echo paused, looked at the tail end of the X-Wing and then down at Runt. "Well, you're gonna have to come up because I'm not ready to come down yet. And unless I have orders, I'm going to clean."

Runt considered her for a moment and gave a nod. Beside the X-Wing was a mobile stair platform, probably what she used to get up there or to hold her things while she scrubbed. He climbed up and rested his arms on the railing of the short staircase, watching the exo as she worked. He frowned deeply.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" he asked, recognition and dislike glinting in his eyes.

"Do what?" Echo asked, running her mop over the outer canopy.

"Punish yourself."

Echo stopped, the audio fins on the side of her head tilting back slightly. "I'm not punishing myself," she said quietly. "It's not a punishment."

"Then what is it?" Runt pressed. "Why do you put yourself through this? Working harder than you should, hiding away from your friends when we know you would rather be with us than away from us."

Echo closed her eyes still catching her breath. How could she explain? How could she explain the pain and the fear she was feeling? The fear she was forcing out through her work while feeding it at the same time?

"It's not a punishment," Echo repeated, turning slightly toward Runt without facing him. "It's... a diversion."

Runt cocked his head and Echo could swear he was part horse or maybe a borzo-chocolate lab mix. "A diversion?"

"Yeah," she answered, turning toward him now, "a diversion. A diversion for me from the things I'm afraid of."

Runt blinked at her, his large, equine eyes fixed on her in confusion. "And what are you afraid of?" he asked, his voice lowering slightly.

Echo paused, her mouth plates pressed together as she pulled the mop in close to lean on it. Here was the million glimmer question - the one thing she didn't want to admit to but was tearing her up inside each day.

She opened her mouth but the words got caught in her throat. She tried again but she couldn't get it out. She tried to gather the words but they kept getting stuck in her mouth.

Well, she could just spit it out and rip the serrated thorn out while she could, maybe bleed out emotionally a bit before patching herself up. Or she could fight with how to word it so it wouldn't make such a big impact and just get back to scrubbing. One option made her quail and the other option made her choke.

Echo took a deep breath and leaned back, gripping her mop in what would've been a white-knuckle grip if she were human. "I'm afraid of being abandoned, okay?" she said at last. "I've been abandoned before, and I just..."

She looked away, closing her optics as she gripped her mop.

Runt lifted his head, a look of deep concern on his face. "You... were abandoned?" he asked carefully.

Echo swallowed and nodded. "Yeah... Yeah I was abandoned." She shifted uncomfortably, lowering her gaze as she spoke. "I... made a bad mistake with my first pack, the people who were first teaching me to be a Hunter. I had it out with them and I left thinking I could still be friends with the rest them even if I wasn't friends with the leader. Maybe I miscommunicated. Maybe I misunderstood. But the moment I wasn't part of them, I was shunned. Abandoned. I was six months old, Runt. I was a guardian without any idea what the hell she was doing, and I got abandoned by the only family I knew at six months old."

Runt was quiet for a long time. Finally he spoke. "I... am sorry," he said quietly.

Echo sighed and shrugged. "It is what it is," she said softly.

Runt was quiet for a moment before he lifted his head to speak again. "Do you think... we would abandon you?"

Echo looked up, alarm, regret, and earnest apology filling her plated features. "No! No, I just..." She put a hand to her face and sighed softly. "It's not you, Runt. It's not you or Piggy or the other Wraiths. It's not even my other pack, my Wolf Pack who tried to help me afterwards. It's me. I know it's me. I know it's me who's in the wrong for thinking this. But I can't stop! I can't make it stop! Even when I know things are going to be or should be okay, it keeps coming back. Like... Like being stuck on the wrong defaults for your X-wing. Or having to re-calibrate an R2 unit after every trip. It doesn't stop. It's just burned into me like bad defaults in an Astromech."

"Like a bad mind in one of my people," Runt murmured, a hint of a low growl in his voice.

Echo looked at him, this time it was her turn to cock her head. "A what?" she asked, a little thrown off. "What's a... bad mind?"

Runt shifted his shoulders, straightening slightly. "We have many minds, my people and I. Many minds for many tasks, the things we need to do to survive and thrive. Some minds are very good! But... some minds are very bad. We have seen some with good minds but we have also seem others with very bad minds. Minds that punish them for mistakes, that run away when they should fight. This fear, this insistence that you will be abandoned is a bad mind."

Echo considered Runt for a moment, her grip on the mop handle loosening somewhat. It made sense for someone like Runt to see it as a "mind". It made sense how he separated it too. Echo looked over absently and rested her eyes on the Astromech socket behind the cockpit.

"A bad mind..." she murmured and looked back at the Thakwaash pilot. "Alright, if I have a bad mind, how do I fix it?" she asked. "Because right now, I don't know if it's a bad mind anymore than a bad default. I mean, I'm more machine than organic at this point and I'm pretty sure you can't override burned-in defaults."

Runt hummed, frowning as he stroked his chin in thought. "No, but you forget that you are not a droid! Droids have defaults, things even a factory reset cannot destroy, personalities set in their circuits. They can be reset at will! But you cannot. You struggle with overcoming bad programing, your bad mind, but you still try, still fight to become better!"

Runt grinned, his blocky teeth pale against his brown fur. "We have seen you be better! You used to run and hide for a long time when this would happen. You have not been doing that so much. You have been working instead! Letting your friends and fellow Wraiths find you when we need you."

Echo paused and tilted her head at Runt. "And... you needed me? while I was up here?"

Runt shook his head. "No," he said and looked at her fixedly. "You needed me. Just as you needed Piggy when your pilot and hunter mind were not listening, we believe you needed us to help you with your bad mind, your fear mind. And we will! We will help you... Ah, if you will let us."

He lowered his head at the last few words, making it less of a statement and more of a deference to her boundaries.

Echo smiled lightly, a feat of facial control managed by few exos outside the legendary Cayde-6.

"I'd like that," she said, letting the mop lean a bit as she loosened her grip. "I'd like that a lot."

Runt lifted his head, beaming with a horse-ish grin. "Well, come on then!" he said, waving her toward the small staircase. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we can fix it!" He turned and trotted down the stairs, the spring in his step getting a laugh out of Echo.

"Alright, alright, hang on," the exo said and called down to the mechanic below. "Year that Cubber? You got your wish! I'm coming down."

A whoop of relief and delight sounded from across the hanger.

"Finally!" the mechanic hollered and made his way to the X-wing as Echo and Runt departed.

[the-smallest-star]

"Scott ya a charmer. I love ya. 10/10." Satan spoke with beer in hand.

"Hey, coming from the 'hottest' sin around, I'll take it."

[acemxce]

@wraithful-muses replied to your post “Walks in five minutes late with hellbucks. Chewing...”:

Satan just waving at him with burning claw and a bright smile <3

​

"Hello... sir?" Majesty? Your sinfulness? He's not sure what's more polite. Sips his drink. Before he holds out the lemon bread, "Want some?"

[softmangoes]

possession as parasitism. possession as symbiosis. you can try to get rid of me, but you will fail. in the end, i'll always be a part of you.

[brokendreamscreation]

"I have decided I am stealing you. I need another being to cuddle so you coming with me." - @wraithful-muses

O H. Oh my, this is greatly unexpected. Lucid dangles from Satan’s hold like a rag doll, face flushing with color. The seraph does not put up a fight or struggle, just simply letting the Sin take him with. He does like cuddles and maybe it will even help the other! Satan did seem rather stressed.

“Y-you mean borrow, correct? Cuddling is nice! I like cuddles too! Who knew angels and demons had so much in common, haha.” There’s a nervousness to his laugh and impish grin.

[liroyalty]

Yes, the glowing tattoos are canon

[burning-fcols]

✧   「 @wraithful-muses 」   ✧  - Continued from ★

「 ☆ 」 Sparring with Satan is always a fun time. Useful too, when it comes to releasing pent-up frustrations. Despite arguably being the most powerful being in Hell, the larger male still puts up enough of a fight for Lucifer to lose himself in the fantasy. Offering enough push and pull for them both to work themselves up into a lather, breathing heavily and muscles screaming with the blessed intensity only offered when going against someone close to your caliber. Sure, it takes a while… but they have nothing but time down here.

It wasn’t until entering a relationship with Satan that Lucifer discovered an… alternative method of getting out those last bits of festering energy itching beneath his skin. So can he be blamed for deciding to cut the sparring match short— smirking like the sly snake he is when he’s ❛ caught ❜ by a large hand —and engage in a new sort of play?

As expected, Satan slips right into his role at the prompting… and right into Lucifer’s hole. Tiny frame engulfed by the larger Sin, roughly pinned to the ground— face down and ass up, as he’s been discovered to enjoy —Lucifer can barely move aside from the haphazard jostling of his body thanks to Satan’s eager pace. Moaning pathetically at the feeling, tight entrance constricts around the thick cock ramming inside him with a wet sound and the smacking of sweat-soaked skin against skin. Already panting from their earlier tussle, Lucifer fights for what little air makes it past his bruising throat, large hand pressing down on his neck with a skillful force that drives the Sin wild.

❝ S-Sure… Call me a— … a slut… as if you didn’t— … jump on the chance to…. to— hghgnn… fuck me…. ❞ Lucifer forces, bratty even through his haggard breathing. Not that HE has much room to boast either, thighs already glistening from drenched folds and ground speckled with the pre dripping from his dual dicks. Clearly Satan isn’t the only one shamelessly enjoying the turn of events. 「 ☆ 」