#augh. fuck dude. ok. ok. going to BED im gonna fucking DREAM about this guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[intertexts]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK OK OK. UNDER THE FUCKING. CUT. GOD.

>LITERALLY SAME FUCKING BRAIN AB TRICKSTER CONTAINMENT ZONE. sososo fucked up that's so awesome to me. yeah. literally exactly like nilbog. fucking. bridgeport containment zone or something. side note the classic protectorate move of "eh let the supervillain have little a civilian as a treat so they don't go apeshit" always makes me feel insane. of course it makes sense it's just so tasty to me. ANYWAY of course he would get bored!!!!!!!!!!! makes sense!!!! i bet figuring out ways past all the master protocols are in place in a fucking. Wide Radius around his city is also a fun little puzzle... & OF COURSE HE GOES FOR ASHE!!!!!! of course!!!!!!!!!! maybe he sees him on the news or something & when he sees his breaker form-- the floor melting into lava! concrete and rebar floating around like balloons! everything going stretchy and strange and weird around him! maybe he sees the weird sudden shift in presence and emotion when the switch clicks! perfect catnip for him!!!!

>genuinely so fucking unwell over how he makes contact with ashe. btw. literally was sat staring at the wall for a solid 20 minutes thinking about this it's so fucked. it's so so so creepy and awful and bad i love it. yeah. god. ashe is so lonely!! he's so lonely!!!! of course he leans into the kindness of it!! he doesn't have any reason to be nervous about the friendly little interactions! he's never-- god dude. do u think the first time or two before he catches on he goes huh people are like. nice. wow. maybe being in the real world isn't as scary as i was always afraid of? my dad's just being paranoid-- 'ohh people are gonna kill you' the cashier said i had pretty hair! come on! :] & also of course. the implication that the trickster is always Watching him, knows where he is and when he's on a little side street so someone bumps into him or what buildings he's going in and when he leaves his house and when he's fighting with his dad and what his bag looks like and the routes he takes with dakota and will and virion on the subway... head in hands. head in hands!!!!!!!

>i can picture this all SO vividly in my head. btw. ashe picking up on it & the trickster's glee..... auughghgh. "are you familiar with the concept of a guardian angel" I'M GONNA FUCKNG *GET* YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm gonna kill you!!!! and of COURSE it's bullshit but like-- what else does ashe have? *who* else does ashe have? what if there was some grown up who genuinely just wanted to help you and didn't know much about you except that you looked like you needed an umbrella and maybe a hug? who else does ashe have. his dad???????!!! im gonna throw up and die.

>DEVASTATED AT THE ASHE N THE WARDS STUFF. BY THEWAY. thinking abt ashe being stuck in their home when like-- obviously he could get out if he really wanted. anytime he wanted. i dunno. the implicit. trust? expectation? on mark's part? feeling ill over it. DAKOTA AND ASHE. what if i fucking died. do you want me dead??? is that what you want??!? i can't get over how much everything is finally going good for him for once. oh ashe you've spent the last ten years miserable and now you're finally getting real people ur age who want (!!?!!?!) to talk to you (!!?!?!!!) and you're going outside and you even have another weird friend looking out for you n doing kind things for you sometimes and you're finally getting to stretch the muscles of ur powers again and you get to like sit on rooftops with ur cool emo friend and do all the teenage shit you never thought you would and you're actually helping people, really doing something good for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!! when's the last time he was happy like this?

>failsafe bad habit of being too friendly... god. you know he's so popular he's the face of the wards for SURE. augh. dakota damascus i love you so dearly.... of course you would talk to the excited scared awkward teenager ur age in the crime scene... you're fucking insane for meeting someone in costume and then out of costume ur probably on subway ads & ur revealing ur identity to some nobody?? head in hands. ghgh .ok. interlude over.

>honestly i think they should learn he has powers via like. Stupid Shit. i think it should b something like. he's at their house one day (they have bullshit excuse for why there's no fucking adults there. i'm assuming virion & wibby r still nominally holding onto their secret identities.) & accidentally knocks over a cup & catches it w/ his telekinesis. or like goes to troubleshoot the computer while behind him all the cables & cords start to organize themselves. like, he's been living by himself for ten years & he's finally around friends he's comfortable around i think he just like, absently slips back into his habits at home (where he's equally if not Less comfy and happy and relaxed than at dakota and virion's place) & doesn't realize it until like. a solid ten seconds later. & then they have the Talk. sidebar related 2 wardsisms maybe ashe Does start joining them in unofficial rogue capacity on like, patrols n stuff, helps w/ a couple incidents, & it's the wards' director/manager/handler who's like Hey who the hell is this guy. is he your age? he shouldn't be doing that he'd be a great asset you should be giving a good example and recruit him!!! there's no world to me in which Any of them would actively. want ashe to join the wards without a reason. yk? none of them buy into all of that shit even dakota...

>THE LEVIATHAN ATTACK. GODDDDDDDDDDD. yeah. yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! meatball moment!!! <- CURSED THING TO SAY. in my defense its almost 2am. literally running out of words here but i'm obsessed w/ ur vision it's so good its so perfect. mark being the one to break him out of it & hugging him so tightly in the wind and the rain and they're both soaking wet and space-time is shifting and warping and bubbling around them & it's such a fucked situation to be in & ashe is just a skinny bony teenager underneath the coat and the layers... auuuuughghh. so many pained noises forever. the whole ashe breaker state thing also causes me unbelievably immense psychic damage for reasons You Will Find Out Eventually!! keep reading worm!! anyway. mark winters universe's most hated guy <3333

>all of the overlord stuff hits SO fucking well too dude ouughgh its so good. its so perfect. god. fucked up. so scary and terrifying & overlord is like. a pretty big fucking deal!! and now he's smeared all over the fucking walls!!!!!!!!! for a second i misread this paragraph as like-- ashe being Alone for this, going to find his dad & overlord Without the wards, & just the idea of that. of all of that happening & he doesn't even have anyone with him.... god.!!! i think the wards being there & seeing it all go down n seeing ashe run is better but the thought of him being absolutely alone in there n also just dropping off the face of the map to them... head in hands... fucked up.!!

>a kind stranger with glowing orange eyes. who hugs him, tells him everything will be okay, wipes his tears away. how can i help? do you need somewhere to stay for a while? I SWEAR TO GOD I'M GONNA GET YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nhw trickster to me is like. fucking mallard conway is to me in canon. kneejerk i NEED him crushed into a fine paste reflex i hate it so bad. if i think for too long abt how long and how thoroughly he's been watching ashe i will Do Something. god. this is all so clear & vivid to me yeayeayeah i see the vision. i see it!!!!!!!!!!!! it is like. Two in the morning for me so my brain is also soup but u better fucking believe ill b back on this bullshit tmrw... i Have the ideas. they need 2 get shook out!!

>also i wanna know what mark thinks when he eventually. wakes up figures out where he is maybe he doesn't go to prison yet but his son is Gone the shitass useless wards don't know where he is nobody knows where he is there's nothing & he's looking for weeks? months? until the news starts going with a new attack on some large public center by this notorious supervillain who's been dormant for some time. and-- hey. hey. who is that on the tv screen with him???

>SECOND also post post script or whatever. curious as to how much of the trickster's fixation on getting ashe specifically is because of the teleportation... suddenly he's got an elegant way to get out of this boring town where he's exhausted everything fun..

YEAYEAYEAG I FORGOR. TRICKSTER TIMELINE. SITTING DOWN WITH MY PENCIL AND NOTES!!!!!!

OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. this is all a bunch of half-formed-while-at-work ideas so if they dont make sense im blaming it on that.

first. backrground worldbuilding context. u know how nilbog is like . they keep him sort of quarantined because they let him take over a town and be a little king of his own territory there (at least i think this is what happened. to my understanding) . im thinking maybe pre-nhw times trickster was in a similar situation. hes this horribly powerful terrifying master but his big weakness is that hes motivated by chaos, motivated by finding things funny or entertaining. he doesnt want to take over the world in the same way a villain like coil does, he wants to take over things because theyre fun, because theyre interesting, because he thrives in destruction and chaos . if they just like... let him take over a town, let him have his little army of puppets to play with, he stays somewhat contained on his own unless any other cape pokes their nose where they shouldnt. i assume the prt would monitor him from a safe distance just in case, but he falls sort of low on the priority list when theyve got other issues to distract them. and this works for a while.... until he gets bored. hes caused all the damage he possibly can in his little chaos zone, taken over the last of the remaining civilians... theres no challenge for him anymore.

but HEY. news from one of the closest big cities... theres a new cape thats joined the wards team, and his powers look. so fun. imagine the possibilities for silly fun distruction with powers like that. so hes got a new challenge. He Wants That Toy. i think he approaches ashe using one of his puppets first. hes not stupid, he knows the prt is watching him, he knows if he leaves his city theyll be on him in an instant, so he sends like... unassuming regular normal people. theres nothing special about them they arent even capes. but theyve all got these glowing orange eyes. and it starts small- ashe accidentally bumping into someone on the street, and they smile at him as they help him pick up his bag. a cashier giving him a complement on his outfit. after a particularly rough fight with his dad, ashe leaves home to go to the wards house. its pouring down rain, maybe hes crying as he walks. a friendly stranger offers him their umbrella. asks him whats wrong. ashe winters, clinically lonely teenager who has had extremely rare and paranoid contact wiht the outside world for 10 years. does not see anything wrong with these nice orange-eyed strangers. call it naivety, call it innocence, whatever. hes not stupid though. every time one of these people talk to him, they have the same smile. the same inflection in their voices. one time he asks them who they are, why they keep being so nice to him. i think this takes the trickster by such surprise that. camera cut to him in his lair taylor style and he just. sits up straight eyes wide, huge grin on his face. yeah this is the one.

he drops the illusion of being different people and leans into it. he calls himself something insidiously innocent sounding. "just someone who wants to help" "are you familiar with the concept of a guardian angel?" << EUGHHGHG THIS ONE MAKES ME SICK. ashe isnt stupid. he knows thats weird. but the idea of someone out there who doesnt know him, doesnt know the horrible things hes been through and done, just wanting to help him for no reason. its tempting!!!!! so he doesnt mention his secret friend to anyone, just... accepts the gifts as theyre given. this guy doesnt ever ask for anything in return, even! it all. comes to a head though with the overlord thing.

im gonna switch now to kind of talk about ashe timeline outside of trickster stuff. the wards are together maybe a year or two before they meet him. ashe is in his rebellious teen phase, hes frustrated, he wants to have a life to live, hes tired of being in his room, hes tired of his dad not telling him shit and leaving for days at a time, hes just so. lonely. so one time, when mark is on a long weekend "business trip", ashe sneaks out of the house. now. mark is a tinker, you bet your ass hes rigged their house to the teeth with motion sensors and cameras and shit . but ashe is smart. ashe also has powers. ashe has not used his powers in a Long Time, but hes so mad and hes already made up his mind, he wants to get OUT and hes doing it TONIGHT. so he messes with marks equipment and leaves. goes for a walk. maybe goes to like. a gas station convenience store to buy a slushie wiht the crumpled 5 dollar bill he found in the pocket of the jacket he grabbed from the closet on his way out (its marks).

theres. some sort of trouble that he gets caught up in. something minor, maybe someone tries to rob the store while hes there or something. maybe its something silly like le frog. idk. but hey guess who is on patrol in the area to deal with it !!!!!!! its failsafe. and dakota has this bad habit of being Too Friendly with people. hey theres this kid my age who looks SUPER uncomfortable and hes hiding behind his long hair and this big jacket and he looks kind of miserable but he just has this ENERGY about him like . adrenaline. giddy excitement. something like that. and dakota is just drawn to him. at first its a "check on the civilians involved to make sure theyre okay" and then its a "wow youre a blue raspberry guy? i like cherry more but my friend really likes blue raspberry too, you kind of remind me of him, i think youd get along-" cole style! rambling! and ashe is just sitting there like. why are you. talking to me. (<< same inflection as why are you in my house bc i fucking love that those are his first words i miss you so much ashe winters) but internally hes like "whoa this is so cool this whole talking to people thing is so easy my first night out in 10 years and im already making friends with a fucking cape, okay-"

ANYWAY. whatever whatever dakota runs into him a few more times on patrol and because hes. him. hes always really excited like "HEY I KNOW YOU!" etc. idk! whatever! they become friends! he meets the rest of the wards when theyre out of costume, dakota seeks him out out of costume specifically because he wants to be friends but oh my god ive only ever talked to this guy as failsafe i need to talk to him as dakota. the boys become ashes first friends ever! and then he. excited that he has someone to talk to other than his dad for the first time in forever. he tells them or shows them or whatever that he has powers. and then he learns about them being wards. idk this in btween state is still fuzzy to me. he helps them out sometimes acting as a rogue. idk how or why he officially joins the team but he does somehow. eventually. mark is EXTREMELY displeased wiht this, but its at a point where... turning down the offer would almost be more suspicious. whatever. help me out here i havent throught about this part as much.

ANYWAY. SOMETIME AFTER ASHE IS OFFICIALLY ON THE TEAM. the leviathan attack happens. i feel so very strongly about the leviathan attack being the equivalent event to the Meatball Planet only like. so much worse. leviathan is showing up in some random coastal city called. idk. maybe brockton bay. for funsies. and all the capes in new haven are called on for the battle. (tide especially. but this aint about him rn). mark winters is the kinda guy who would hear that and go "no fucking way i want no part of that my first and only priority is protecting myself and my son i dont give a shit about another city or other capes" but. he has to go. because overlord wants him to go. for whatever reason. and mark, knowing about ashes whole thing with the wards now, puts him on total lockdown. dont even fucking THINK about going anywhere near this. i dont care if your team gets summoned, you. stay. here. etc etc etc. the wards, ironically, do not actually get summoned! they are really powerful, yeah, but the prime force is already goign to be there and the prt cannot risk their backup prime force also getting taken out because they dont have a third option to turn to right now. the boys Do No Like This because! tide is going. they want to go with tide. they plan to sneak away and follow anyway. ashe tells them mark put him on lockdown he cant go with him. they break him out and the 4 of them get to town in the MIDDLE of the fight. shit is baaad. they kind of regret it almost immediately. but theyre here now they have to fight. i actually think it would be cool if. like with the meatball planet thing. having the nhw there is a huge advantage and they start winning. but. i think this is the first time they see ashe's breaker state. maybe its because one of the wards gets hurt, maybe he sees his dad going up against leviathan alone at one point, idk. something in that vein. i think breaker state ashe is actually the catalyst they need to start winning against leviathan, the thing that distracts him enough right in time for scion to get there and do his thing or whatever. the battle is over, they have a REALLY hard time getting ashe out of his breaker state. (side note i think the only way ashe can really come down from breaker state is by having whatever threat set him off completely removed from the situation. however bc he doesnt recognize good from bad in this state, any sense of big power or sudden movement or whatever is enough to kind of reset that meter and it just gets harder to break him out the longer they make moves toward him.) personally, because im biased as fuck, i think it would be sooooooooooooo fucking good to have mark be the one to get him out of breaker state here. the wards have never seen this side of his powers, they dont understand why trying to help him only makes him worse, the battle is over shouldnt he be okay now? but mark has seen this before. mark knows, if only instinctually, what worked before. maybe itll work again. and hes fucking pissed, hes pissed that ashe is here, that he disobeyed him, that he put himself in the worst fucking danger possible, that this is all the wards fault etc etc. but he HAS to push that anger to the side for a second to get ashe to come back to his right state of mind. they can have a screaming match about it later when reality is not actively bending and breaking around them. i also think this would be good for the wards to see that mark isnt... totally a horrible person. they only really know him from ashe, theyre super biased against him they hate his guts from the things theyve heard, but here. they just. get to see how much he loves ashe and even though his actions fucking suck and ashe has been miserable as a result... hes not an evil guy. hes just the universes most hated man.

ANYWAY. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT OF THE POST. reports from the leviathan fight and the new member of the wards whose powers turned the tide (ha) of the battle. this is how the trickster learns about him. so ALL THAT STUFF i talked about before happens . and then mark goes missing. ashe doesnt. realize it at first maybe. hes used to his dad being gone for days at a time, but hes never stayed away for longer than a week. day 3 passes with not even an update from mark and he starts to get a little anxious, day 5 passes and still nothing, day 8 hes. freaking out. the wards are maybe a little crass about it "that guy sucks you can just stay with us" btu then they see ashe is like. genuinely distressed about it and they say theyll help him look for him.

mark. maybe disobeyed overlord in some way. idk. he did something stupid that made overlord mad enough to punish him. the wards track down the guy mark is working for (i imagine their knowledge about What He Does in this au is a lot more limited than in canon. they know hes wavelength, they know wavelength workds for someone, but they dont know who that someone is). they track down overlord and bust into his base and its. idk. similar ish scene to canon. ashe sees his dad in whatever the equivalent is of the tube he was in in pd. hes unconscious, but they cant tell whether hes alive or not. this sets ashe off almost IMMEDATELY into breaker state. and overlords base is not . the largest thing in the world. maybe its like. warehouse sized. but its still an enclosed space. shit gets dangerous FAST. ashe ends up killing overlord and its pretty gruesome and horrible. when he gets out of breaker state and fully processes what he did, he just. runs. he doesnt know what else to do. hes scared hes upset he still doenst know if his dad is alive (did he just lose the only family he has left? was this the thing mark was hiding them from for so long? mark dead, ashe a murderer, is that what simurgh wanted?) . he thinks the wards will hate him for what he did so instead of fighting them he runs! and who. is conveniently waiting for him. a kind stranger with glowing orange eyes. who hugs him, tells him everything will be okay, wipes his tears away. how can i help? do you need somewhere to stay for a while?

ashe is gone for a handful of weeks before the note appears on the wards' door.

IDK. THIS IS ALL SO LIKE. VIVID TO ME BUT AS ALWAYS IF U HAVE OTHER IDEAS I AM SOOOO OPEN TO THEM. i have a lot more thoughts about the trust that trickster tries to build with him through his puppets but this post is so fucking long already that might just have to be a full separate thing . god. im so FUCKING unwell. nhw disease instead of brain there is nhw. ashe im so sorry we put you in the blender i promise i love oyu and want you to be happy. what are your thoughts i need 2 know. oauguhg. dying 2 talk about this. as if i didnt just write out like a thousand words talking about it.