#charlatan angel au

[teethbomb]

Dumb gravity falls au where bill becomes a benevolent guardian angel

[shiny-jr]

Hi! I noticed that your requests were open and I love the way you write Malleus so I was hoping you would do yandere malleus x reader. where the reader knows twisted wonderland is a game (but not imposter au pls) and after they got isekia'd are trying to stop the overblots from happening and malleus is just terrified for them. Idk just an idea I've had for awhile but never found a fanfic like lol. Obviously it's totally fine if you don't want to do it or if I accidentally broke a rule. Anyway remember to drink some water and take a break if needed! Have a amazing rest of your day/night!!

Warning: Yandere (not really, not at all). Gender-neutral reader.

Characters: Malleus Draconia.

Summary: MC sees affection meters and it's not good.

Note: These are mainly thoughts and random words my mind spewed out.  

How did one claim victory at a game? Well, it entirely depended on the game, the mechanics and the options. It should've been impossible to lose a mobile game that was primarily composed of the gacha mechanism and visual novels.

When you suddenly found yourself in the series of twisted villains in a prestigious school of magic, you found that it was much more complex than it appeared on screen. Especially when only you could see these small bars occasionally floating above people's heads. Bars which you recognized as affection meters, nearly all of them stagnant at a dull gray 0% when you first arrived. This was the hurdle blocking your way to an easy victory. Because how else were you to escape the game, other than complete it?

Situations became messier, when you didn't have a dialogue options between two mere choices. Add making good impressions and keeping a character's favor, to the list of quests alongside avoiding death by inky overblotted characters. By some miracle, you had increased the affection of the characters you met and interacted with to a healthy 5% or 10%, sometimes more. At any cost you wished to avoid getting in the negatives, because you did not want to find out what would happen then.

Sometimes, the numbers would drop dangerously close to zero, mainly when an overblot was occuring. Never had you realized how the visual novel failed spectacularly at portraying the utter horror of the overblotted in all their wicked glory. The black inky darkness leaking from them like tears or blood with those crazed unhinged looks in their eyes–– was the stuff of pure nightmares.

And yet the one whose overblot you had been dreading the most, the dorm leader of Diasomnia, was surprisingly docile as you dealt with others. However, you knew even when conversing with him, that you would one day witness him overblot and look like some ethereal but deadly fallen angel. So mentally you prepared yourself, while taking on the task of keeping up appearances.

Malleus' affection meter, was a good 20% and a friendly pink shade, quite the accomplishment you were proud of, considering the majority of the cast wasn't even at 15%. The Draconia heir was certainly someone you never wanted to see reach below zero, so you did your absolute best to appeal to him, even if he was quite intimidating at first with the way he stoically watched you complain about the least of your worries, homework and classes.

By the time you spoke to him about your troubles with the Ramshackle dorm and Azul, during what you knew was the Octavinelle arc, the prince's affection had sprouted to a 22%. When you went into more detail of the potential loss you could face, it went to 23%.

The next time you saw him, you were weary and antsy since witnessing Azul's break-down. If the blot of his tears had the magic to gather, it would've been enough to drown, you were sure of it. Even by that maniac look in his eyes, you're sure he would've purposely drowned you if he got close enough.

Throughout that charlatan's chapter, his affection meter had slowly been rising, dropping during the overblot like the tides only to rise once again by the end to a good 45%. This was good!

But no matter how much you may have pondered, strategized, or try to predict each next action, you could've never guessed that the next time you saw Malleus after Azul's overblot, his expression taut with concern, his affection meter had made a jump to 55% and turned red. This entire time you had been avoiding the negatives, but you never once worried of the dangers and implications a red affection meter above 50% would mean for you. Or heaven forbid, anything close to 100%.

[mocamagical]

X-Angel Vaggie offering protection to the hotel. I thought this would be more fitting in the role reversal, she's got that angel expertise on her resume. And she's also offering to be a guest. Who can fight the logic that she's just an angel who wants to get back to Heaven. Alastor sure knows a charlatan when he sees one.

Also thank you for the kindness from the last post, thank you guys for joining me in my little AU dollhouse 🥹

[pennyisacoin]

Hell's Hottest Sorcerer

Ever since Blake said Angel would be a Charlatan, Wild magic Sorcerer at that one panel I've been wanting to draw it. Maybe this'll turn into a dnd based au who knows :)

[the-cosmos-withinus]

Shadow Puppets AU - The Collector “Astrophel” lore dump

-The Collector and the Archivists are physical manifestations of stars (If any of ya’ll have read Stardust by Neil Gaiman, or seen the movie, it’s a similar concept to the character Yvaine, just way more powerful) - Collector's siblings are called

 The Cataloger- who keeps records each and every lifeform that the Collector brings.

 The Assessor- who judges whether any lifeform is worth being preserved or wiped out.

The Preserver- who does the actual act of preserving the life deemed worthy by the Assessor.

The Archivist- The eldest who the entire species is named after, who keeps the preserved life and the records made by the Cataloger in a universal archive house, which the Collector bases his own Archive House on later

-He has limited Future Vision; he can’t tell anything about his own future and only vague predictions of others’, but he knows Pizza Bagels are coming and he is very excited about that -In the Shadow Puppets AU the Collector’s Tablet was sent to the Human Realm where it remained undisturbed for untold years -Previous to being uncovered by Philip, the Disk was initially found by Father Josiah, the Gravesfield Preacher who believed the Collector was an Evil entity, buried the Disk and warned the Colony to be wary of the Devil in the woods. -Only people who have touched the Tablet can see or hear the Collector, and he has a limited ability to affect things in the physical world -He has used this to limited ability to help Philip out of dangerous situations, leading the Colony to suspect that he has a Guardian Angel or has summoned a Demon. -During his friendship with Philip, the Collector decided to go by he/him pronouns and Philip helped him pick the name Astrophel. -Caleb was aware of Astrophel, whom they both believe is an Angel, so Caleb was at first supportive of their friendship until he met Evelyn and she warned him that the Collector is dangerous. -Caleb stole the Tablet and left for the Demon Realm with Evelyn, attempting to protect his brother and helped Evelyn hide the Disk in the Titan’s skull where no one would dare try to find it. -Many years later, Philip finally tracked Astrophel down and reunited with him with the help of ‘Luzura’, but when asked about Caleb, Philip simply told him Caleb was gone, and creating the Grimwalkers were actually Astrophel’s idea, to be a replacement for real Caleb until he came back -The Collector is not an innocent victim of Philip’s manipulations in this AU, he knows all about Philip’s plan to destroy the Boiling Isles and is a willing and gleeful participant- years of being wrongfully imprisoned have made him bitter and angry, and their mutual hatred of the Boiling Isles, as well as resentment toward their older Siblings for their perceived betrayals make both Astrophel and Philip feel vindicated by each other’s anger. The way Astrophel sees it, he did the time, he might as well commit the crime -Astrophel picked out the name ‘Belos’ for Philip’s new identity -He also aids in the deception of the citizens by using his limited influence in the physical world (which is stronger in the Demon Realm) to pose as the Titan by causing minor reactions to Belos’s commands, such as causing small Earthquakes when Belos speaks of the Titan’s wrath  -For better, or worse  (most often worst) they share one (1) braincell. Just a couple of charlatans planning to destroy the world together -Astrophel is aware that Philip is under a curse, but knows very little about what exactly his curse is and how it affects him (his job was to Collect creatures, not research them and the Archivist’s never got a hold of a Wendigo) . What he does know is that eating Palismen makes his friend feel better, so he should eat lots of them.  -I compared Philip to an addict in the linked Wendigo post, and Astrophel is an enabler

[ddagent]

"Illusion"

Aziraphale/Crowley | Magicians AU | FR12 | 776 words     Retired illusionist Aziraphale Crowley now spends his days hyping up his boyfriend, the Amazing Mister Fell. Inspired by this gifset, here is some tooth-rotting fluff about hype-man Crowley and his magician boyfriend. Enjoy!

“Put your hands together for the Amazing Mister Fell!”

The gaggle of nine-year-olds on the floor of the tent politely clapped their hands. In front of balloons and bunting, Aziraphale Fell, master magician, strutted on stage. Standing in front of the catering table, Crowley couldn’t help but grin. There, in a top hat and a drawn-on moustache, was the man he loved. Adored. Worshipped. Crowley wanted to scream at the children: clap harder, shout his name. But he maintained his composure. Just stood, grinning, as his angel made a two pence piece magically appear behind the birthday boy’s ear.

The snotty girl next to him sniffed and went: “I thought you were getting Anthony Eden? This guy’s rubbish.”

Continue Reading Below or Read at AO3

Aziraphale withdrew his hand immediately; if that moustache had been real, it would have quivered. Crowley couldn’t – and wouldn’t - stand there and let his angel be insulted by a nine-year-old. So, he snapped: “Anthony Eden’s the rubbish one. Where’s he gone, eh? Couldn’t hack it, that’s what. Come on, Mister Fell – show us some magic.”

Across the heads of twenty or so children, Aziraphale beamed. He then began to produce – and drop – a set of three rings. Crowley winced but offered Aziraphale a discreet thumbs up. That seemed to spur his boyfriend on and, for once, the Magical Mr Fell was actually able to complete a trick. Usually, the only trick Aziraphale managed to achieve was to make all of Crowley’s clothes disappear. He was very good at it. The other tricks…not so much. Cards went flying. Birds disappeared. Harry the Rabbit mostly remained unscathed – usually because Aziraphale, soft touch that he was, allowed the youngest children to pet him during his act. Still, the Amazing Mister Fell was the best magician Crowley had seen in years. And he should know – for fifteen bloody years he had been Anthony Eden.

There had been little magic there. Years working the West End as an illusionist before he’d spent six years headlining in Vegas. It had been literal hell on Earth. His producer, Beez, had put forward an original sin theme, based on his stage name. Crowley had shoved flaming swords into trunks and pulled snakes out of hats and cracked open an apple to reveal an audience’s card. He’d even been dressed the part of the snake: leather trousers, dark flowing locks, contact lenses that had itched every night on stage. After a while he’d just…had enough.

So, Crowley had quit, packed up back to his flat in Mayfair, and considered building a herb garden. One afternoon he’d passed through a street fair in Soho and found himself catching the Amazing Mister Fell’s show. It had been…messy. But Aziraphale’s joy had been abundant – he wasn’t in it for the glory; certainly not the money. He was magic. Afterwards, Crowley found himself by Aziraphale’s side as the man gently cradled Harry the Rabbit back into his travel hutch. The booing had been too much for them both.

“You weren’t that bad.”

“Thank you. I think,” Aziraphale had replied, his sigh sinking into Crowley’s bones. “I get so much out of performing but I…I just wish I was better at it.”

Crowley had shrugged. “Not everyone can be Anthony Eden.”

To that, his future partner had scoffed. Not just smiled politely, but actually scoffed. “Oh, please. That man’s not a magician. He’s an overpriced performer with a bad wig and a handful of cheap tricks dressed up to look fancy. I would rather get booed off a hundred stages then be compared with that…charlatan.”

Crowley had literally had to bite his tongue to stop himself from kissing the man in front of him, draw that plump bottom lip between his own and make some real magic. Instead, he had settled for asking him for a drink that had quickly devolved into dinner. That had been a year ago, now. Crowley grew his plants, living off his royalties, and Aziraphale had his book shop and did magic shows as a hobby. Crowley himself would often pick up a waiting gig so he could be there to watch his angel – and snap and bite at the children who didn’t respect him. Couldn’t they see how beautiful he was? How amazing? How hard he was trying?

Kids today don’t know anything about magic, Crowley thought, as the brats fled to their phones rather than bask in the magician in front of them. But thankfully for Aziraphale, he had no bigger fan than Crowley. And later, at home with a stolen birthday cake, they made a kind of magic that Crowley had long searched for but never thought he’d find.

[17-08-66]

The lost boys playlists

Note:these aren't all authentic to the 80s some are much later

Warning: 1 use of the word pot, beer, drunk, batshit drunk, high and high hell

David's playlist:

MGMT-little dark age (he finds this song oddly calming while also supplying him with even more confidence)

The cure-friday I'm in love (secretly he likes this song but he only listens to it when he's absolutely sure the boys aren't at the cave. It reminds him of when he was much younger and in love)

The spent idols-chinese rock (likes the sound of mike spent's Voice, that's it)

Motorhead-ace of spades (knows this song fits his big scary biker aesthetic down to the ground)

The cure-lovesong (he probably would be willing to listen to this infront of the boys but if they mention it at all they'll probably have something dislocated. Perhaps the lyrics, "however far away I will always love you however long I stay I will always love you, reminds him of a past lover who died, and however long he lives with his immortality a part of him will always love them)

Malice mizer-au revoir (enjoys how elegant it all sounds he actually is pretty fluid in Japanese so he understands the lyrics)

Placebo-pure morning (loves to smoke to this song it's nice background sound)

The B-52s-love shack (would never ever admit to liking this ever. Also thinks Cindy wilson is really beautiful)

Joy Division-love will tear us apart (enjoys how raw the emotion is)

The outsiders-consequences (likes to have this on loud in the background when he feeds)

The charlatans-blackened blue eyes (appreciates the buildup to the lyrics the most)

Angelic upstarts-last night another soldier (likes to start fights with this song on)

Dwayne's playlist:

The Ramones-i wanna be your boyfriend ( trust Dwayne to like one of the sweetest punk rock songs ever written)

The zeros-don't push me around (find it such a simple song yet so pleasurable)

Korn-freak on a leash (he likes to headbang to this one and smoke pot)

The stone roses-fools gold (loves to skate around the cave to this like maniac on fire)

Black Sabbath-paranoid (whenever this song comes on expect some very aggressive foot taps from Dwayne and perhaps some sporadic head jerks. he was shocked when he discovered that it was written in 20 minutes to fill up 3 minutes in the album)

The damned-fan club (at the end of a long night before the sun rises he likes to lie out on the beach with a beer and book in hand and listen and occasionally watch the waves)

Lenny kravitz-fly away (makes him feel like flying away being the adult that has to control Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie (aka Paul and Marko) is hard sometimes)

Cannibal corpse-scrouge of iron (unironically music like this calms him down when he rarely gets mad)

Anesthesia-dirt (another one of his favourites to get drunk and headbang to)

Ancient north-bezerker (oddly finds it so peaceful it on a number of occasions has lolled him to sleep)

The outsiders-the guy with the long Liverpool hair (only puts this on when nobody's at the cave to disturb him just absolute perfect silence to work on his bike)

Foster the People-pumped up kicks (loves to listen to this on Paul's Walkman that he borrowed while he skates Infront of cars getting amused when they honk there horns or bellow profanity out the window)

Paul's playlist:

Maddona-into the groove (Paul doesn't mind people knowing that he likes this song in fact he likes to play it really loudly to annoy the other boys)

Scorpions-rock you like a hurricane (likes to sing along obnoxiously while the other boys cringe and throw rocks at him trying to get him to shut up)

The cramps-what's inside a girl (always choose to listen to this song when he's batshit drunk)

Judas priest-braking the law (he enjoys humming this song while he's most likely breaking the law then singing it when he's running away from the police)

The misfits-where eagles dare (throws himself around to this song when he's feeling especially hyper)

Gun-word up (puts this on when he's high out of his mind and can't move)

Red hot chili peppers-scar tissue (the guitar solo always gives him goosebumps and brings a tear to the eye)

Green day-welcome to paradise (loves the fast drumming hypes him up for another night on the boardwalk)

My chemical romance-teenagers (loves to scream the lyrics in the middle of the road to piss of the middle aged Karen's)

Fun loving criminals-scooby snacks (as soon as he hears the chorus he starts dancing around like he's in a spice girls music video)

45 grave-Partytime (hums this while he's waiting to fall asleep it annoys the boys to high hell)

The offspring-the kids aren't alright (likes to joke and say Dexter Holland is David's long lost twin, David does not find it funny)

Marko's playlist:

Smut peddlers-if your gonna be dumb you gotta be tough (Marko very much lives by this song in that sometimes he can be a little bit dim but makes up for that with his scrappiness like Regina George in mean girls)

Le tiger-deceptacon (one of his favourites to go nuts to he'll throw himself around and try and crash into people)

Depression-why do people hate us? (When David is being particularly irritable Marko gets the other boys to follow David around and chant "why does David hate us?!")

Bottles and skulls-first love then war (puts this on to do some angry painting to when he's in a bad mood safe to say the boys are very scared when they here enraged screams from a couple of cave rooms over)

Agent orange-bloodstains (once when he heard this he got so hyped up he did a 360 of his bike and broke both his ankles)

Nirvana-territorial pissings (mouths the lyrics while he adds new patches to his jacket)

The sex pistols-i'm a lonely boy (his childish little boy comes out and he grins when it gets to 2:03 in the song)

Bikini kill-double dare ya (while he sketches he likes to tap his pencil against paper mildly out of tune to this)

Le tiger-the the empty (loves the sound of Kathleen Hanna's haranguing voice)

The zippers-he's a rebel (secretly loves this song and puts it on while he eats Chinese)

Conflict-conflict (ABSOLUTELY loses it to this song GOES NUTS if your anywhere near him there's a high risk you will be knocked out)

[birdyboogaloo]

FNAF Occult AU

welp was talking with a pal in discord and SOMEHOW FNAF and Castlevania got tangled together and now it’s a whole thing lmao

Have Angel!Sun and Demon!Moon I’m gonna ramble under the cut

ALRIGHT

Henry Emily was an inventor who wanted to give life to his creations.  A certain charlatan conman named William Afton hears about his predicament and agrees to help, thinking he can use the inventions as test dummies to give himself power and eternal life.

William Afton starts getting into very dark magic to make his plot working, murdering children and sacrificing them to perfect the spell.  Since he really didn’t care what happens to them or their souls afterwards, the children’s souls started to warp and become corrupted, becoming a blight on anything they possessed and everything around them.

I figure Y/N would be a wandering priest, trying to figure out what’s gone wrong and set everything at peace.  Y/N meets Sun and Moon in a near abandoned town, all the villagers running off and leaving because of a demon with red eyes stalking at night.  They find out that Moon (and Sun) were cast out for questioning the status quo and decided to team up and travel with you!

In my own personal version, I have my OC Jack as the priest, and I yanked my friend’s OC in as a vampire that Jack befriends after their mentor dies.

I really wanted this AU to be about befriending all the beasts/angels/demon/etc running across the land, and kinda just talking about humanity and morals in general.  Idk I’m a sap and the world is good and I wanna gush about it

[skateboarding-poet]

Some poorly described A3! plays

Romeo and Julius: Two bros chilling in their hometown, one balcony apart 'cause they're not gay

Water Me!: Random man refuses to succumb to the rules of capitalism and wants to be his own boss by becoming The Rich. He also falls in love or sth

The Roman Episode: Mafia AU, enemies to lovers, 100k words

Sympathy for the Angel: Proof that Azuma deserved wings more than any other Winter Troupe member

Alex in Wonderland: My cousin is trying to give me a summary of the story he heard at kindergarten yesterday but I'm pretty sure that's not how the story goes

The Great Sardine Search: Your Nyan Cat OCs put in a kind of story you would write at 13 y/o

The Stranger: Proof that Taichi needs to play more female roles

My Master's Mesmerised by Mystery: Dude with exactly one friend makes a new one but is betrayed by him (mood)

A Clockwork Heartbeat: Dude with exactly one friend makes a new one. Literally. At least he isn't betrayed by him. Still doesn't end well tho

Captain Sky's Pirates: Greedy pirate tries to force his friendship agenda down his crew's throats so he doesn't have to pay them

Ginji the Wanderer: I don't remember much about this one sorry

Nocturnality: Dude misread a vampire hunting guide book and now he's having dinner with a Dracula wannabe and having Gay Thoughts

The Wonderful Charlatan of Oz: Criminal who is into DnD ends up adopting a kid who's really into DnD

Love Out of Left Field: Every Sports Anime ever in a stage adaptation (yes, subtle accidental homoromantic subplot between the two main characters included)

DEAD/UNDEAD: The Walking Dead's surprisingly better spinoff

Le Fantôme de L'opéra: Somebody tried and failed to make Phantom of the Opera a Very Platonic story but ended up just making everything Gay

Knights of the Round IV The Stage: Well at least it's not a horrible Hollywood live action adaptation

Shinobi Adventures: The Butterfly Effect explained in the most entertaining way possible

Fire Up, Mantou Fist!: Master Chef Meets Every Jackie Chan Movie ever through Big Bro Gordon Ramsay

Die by the Sword: Tsumugi has had the most villain roles out of the entire Winter Troupe, what's up with that

[breezy-cheezy]

Finally finished up the last of this expression meme here! Lovely friend said:

“Fae-Mob for E3, giving puppy dog eyes to Reigen, who has whichever expression fits best; I can't decide between D2, E2, A3, B3, C3, or D3. X'''D And if you're up for drawing shadow-Teru...A1, maybe...?”

Reigen’s an experienced charlatan, but he stands no chance against those puppy dog eyes. None. Gonna cave any second now X’’D 

And heck YEA I’ll draw Teru with those awesome shadow wings of his 8D Sorry it got colored a little differently to emphasize the shadows O.o I can’t decide if he would wear black because sneaking and blending in with shadows would help his assassination job, or if he’d just stick to his blinding colors REGARDLESS because he’s just that confident in his abilities X’D I colored in such a way I didn’t HAVE to decide ayyyeeeeee

[teethbomb]

hey guys. The joke was that bill likes pain and thinks it’s hilarious. So he chose body parts that would be painful to restrict. Because passing is painful for some people. That’s why he took the form of a woman. And is technically trans by human standards. He’s an alien and I like to think humans are the ones with over complicated gender and sex constructs. Hope this helps

[drabblers]

Guardian Angel

Prompt: Iridescent Fandom: Bleach Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia Setting: Modern AU 1,034  Words

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

There was something off about Kuchiki Rukia.

Granted, Ichigo didn’t know her that well. 

She was just the woman who lived in the neighbouring apartment, they didn’t really socialise or anything. Just nodded and said hello if they bumped into each other coming or going. And she’d come to introduce herself when she had moved in.

But Ichigo had a sense about people and although he couldn’t put a finger on it, he was utterly convinced that something was up with Rukia.

Most people using the monikers of a psychic or a medium were charlatans, ripping off people who were at their most vulnerable.

Ichigo had nothing but contempt for them and did not at all wish to be associated with that lot of vultures.  So he didn’t really put any labels on his abilities.

Not wanting to use such words didn’t change the facts, though.

And the fact was, that just like the kid in that American movie, Ichigo saw dead people. 

Like the little boy who was standing beside his bed right now, sniffling.

Ichigo sighed and sat up. He reached out, feeling like his hand was plunged into a bucket of something ice cold and thick and gelatinous as he ruffled the ghost's hair.

"What's wrong?"

The ghost's tear-filled eyes met his. "I'm scared of the dark." 

"Well that's easily fixed," Ichigo murmured, then flicked on the lamp on his bedside table. "Good night, kid."

Ichigo laid back down and turned his back at the light and the ghost.

Before he fell asleep he heard the soft whisper in his ear.

"Thank you."

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

It was late in the evening, after a long day of work and an exhausting commute when Ichigo finally turned onto the street he lived on. He was focused entirely on getting home and flopping into bed and paid minimum attention to his surroundings – until the dark and malicious threads brushed against his senses.

Ichigo stopped, instantly alert and looked around. 

At first, he didn't understand what he was seeing; just the dark shape of something big that was looming at the end of the street.  

He didn't know what it was, didn't even want to know what this creature could possibly be.

Because he could feel it, and the energy creeping over his skin was pure evil.

And then the huge, evil entity was moving and coming straight towards him.

Shit! This was bad!

Ichigo willed his legs to move but they didn’t obey.

He stood still, watching in horror as whatever that ugly ass thing was bounded closer.

Something moved in the periphery of his vision. 

The panicked thought that there were more of these ugly things roaming about had barely had time to surface before he realised that someone had just leapt out in front of him.

A small someone, dressed in a cutesy sundress.

Ichigo blinked.

What the hell?

What was the idiot woman doing?

That’s when he noticed the sword – and more importantly, the way she was holding it: like she knew what the hell she was doing.

Ichigo swallowed. 

He’d known something was off about Kuchiki Rukia.

And speaking of, she seemed different somehow… and not just because of the sword.

Then he realised what it was: for the very first time, he could actually see her aura, and it was unlike any he’d ever come across.

Usually, people’s aura’s were predominantly one colour.

But Kuchiki Rukia was bathed in a multitude of shimmering colours that kept shifting around her like an iridescent halo.

A shout of warning stuck in Ichigo’s throat when the creature lunged – but Rukia was already jumping forward to meet it, her sword at the ready.

It happened so quickly that Ichigo didn’t even register the purposeful slash of Rukia's sword arm until the evil creature was already dissolving, evaporating into the air, erased.

The world around them was quiet, the malevolent energy gone.

Gone also was the sword with which Kuchiki Rukia had destroyed it.

Ichigo shot a narrow-eyed glare at her.

“What was all that about? What the fuck was that thing?”

Rukia's face was calm, and she shrugged her shoulders as she replied. “We call them Hollows. They’re evil spirits that devour souls.”

Well, that didn’t sound disconcerting at all.

Ichigo shook his head, pushing aside the topic. He wasn’t ready to process all this shit about Hollows yet, and anyway, there were still some pressing questions to ask.

Such as...

“What are you? What the hell kind of aura is that?” he demanded, scowling darkly.

“Quite the opposite of hell, actually,” Kuchiki Rukia replied, her deep violet eyes amused. “It’s a celestial aura.”

“What? Like some kind of an angel?”

“Of a sort, yes.”

“You’re seriously expecting me to believe that angels are real?” he scoffed.

“You show a remarkably shallow faith for a man who can see ghosts.”  

That shut Ichigo up and made him frown all the more because how could she possibly know that about him?

Unless she was telling the truth.

But that would be ridiculous. Wouldn’t it?

An angel. Living next door. And one who could wield a vanishing sword, apparently.

Guess you couldn’t make that kind of shit up.

Frustrated about all these bizarre turns of events, Ichigo scratched his head.

“Well thanks, I guess. For jumping in like that.”

Crazy at it had been, Rukia had likely saved his life.

“No thanks are necessary,” she replied. “I was just doing my job.”

Trepidation snaked down Ichigo’s spine as his whole body tensed.

“What job?”

She quirked a single eyebrow at him.

Ichigo opened his mouth and closed it. He rubbed at his temples.

He could just feel the headache building up.

“When you said angel of a sort,” he drawled after a moment in a tight voice, “would there happen to be such a sort as guardian angels?”

Rukia’s slow smile was all the answer he needed.

Ichigo muttered a few choice words and stared at the petite woman, the woman purporting to be his guardian angel.

He didn’t know in the slightest what that all meant, but he was certain of one thing: his life was about to get a lot more complicated.

[missameliasmithers]

The Aforementioned Sokai Demon AU

“I Was Dead When I Woke Up This Morning” 

-Sora gets possessed by a demon and seeks out the mage (Kairi) that is rumored to work miracles

Read on AO3

“Well, well,” his demon hummed. “What do we have here?”

“Be silent,” Sora mumbled, valiantly attempting to fight the lush creeping to his cheeks. “Slink back into your shadows.”

The hunter had spent the better half of the lunar phase in search of her –and two winters before simply chasing whispers. The sages and holy-men had been next-to-useless, the herbal women ineffective, and the soothsayers charlatans. She was his last hope.

He had heard rumors once or twice in passing before the possession, of the apprentice mage who appeared saturated in light. Gifted, he’d heard, blessed with an old magic. Capable of great feats.

Another cheat, he remembered assuming.

Now however, with the clawing talons of this monstrous darkness embedding themselves deeper into his soul, now he would try anything.

The nearer he got to her village, the more murmurs he caught. A miracle worker, some said. A gift from the Gods Almighty. An angel of innocence and health. The best white mage in millennia. He just hoped she was as good as they all claimed.

He found her hut with no trouble, not because of its size or splendor –as it was a humble lodging—but from the throng outside her door. Thirty heads was his estimate, and since he never had been one to mill about in a queue, he trotted off to the tavern to lose some hours in a bottle.

He returned as the sun was caressing the horizon and abided in the shadows of a maple as he waited for her final patrons to leave. He was rewarded two sun-marks later, when the hutch opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out, bowing and throwing exuberant praise over her shoulder as she left. A smaller figure in hooded red robes followed her out, waving farewell to the departing woman before snuffing out the lantern beside the threshold.

Closed for the night.

But one more patient.

Sora pushed himself off the tree and glided toward the mage’s hut. The soft rap of his knuckles on the door could barely be called a knock, but it served to alert his presence.

The robed figure was on the far side of the room –which was not a great distance considering the size of the dwelling—stooped over a large, open tome on a modest wood table. At the sound of his entrance, the figure raised its covered head.

“I’m sorry, but I’m closed for—oh!” She stopped in her tracks when her eyes landed on him, apparently as startled at his appearance as he was with hers.

She was certainly not what he had been expecting. He had envisioned this mage to be a withery old woman, or at the very least someone his senior. The face that greeted him from under the hood however, was a fresh-faced woman, perhaps a year or two beneath himself. She had ruby hair and shining eyes that seemed to glow and pierce him in the lamplight.

There was nothing outwardly spectacular about her –though admittedly she was quite visually striking—yet she emanated a sort of… light. No candle adorned her, nor did she wear crushed pearls as the court ladies did. A natural warmth seemed to seep out of her very being, and it made Sora want to move closer. To bask in her.

The demon in him roused in piqued curiosity and uncoiled like a serpent around his heart.

“My shadows are yours,” he rumbled. “You want her.”

Sora’s blood was on fire, racing to his chest, his face, his—

“I want no such thing.”

The demon huffed. “Are you not yet sick of denial, hunter?”

Sora allowed himself a steadying breath to keep his voice from wavering as he finally spoke.

“I realize you’ve stopped seeing patrons for the evening,” he said, “but I could not wait until dawn.”

“I can see that,” the woman said, her tone light despite the his rather impolite intrusion. “I don’t blame you. With that creature rasping in your ear all day, I’m sure I’d be tired of it as well.”

Sora’s eyes widened. “How did—?”

“I can feel the darkness from here,” she said, gesturing at his torso –at his heart. “You’ve got an impressive demon inside you, stranger.”

“Sora,” he said. “My name is Sora.”

“Kairi,” she supplied. Stepping from behind the table, she gestured to the tea table in the centre of the room. “Sit down, Sora. Let’s talk about your demon problem.”

“I would have you know this beast is not of my own making,” he told Kairi over a cup of Camilla.

She smiled. “I sensed as much. How did it come to find you?”

“The tale is brief, though rather grim,” Sora said with a sigh. “I had been out on a hunt and was tracking a boar through the wood. Midway through the brush, a new set of prints appeared –these belonging to a human. It is not uncommon to find travellers lost on the trail, but these were speckled with bloody drops.

“I do not consider myself a man of highest virtue, however I could not in good consciousness leave a wounded man alone in untamed timberland,” Sora said, tracing the rim of his cup. “I followed the tracks and came upon a young page collapsed in the thicket. He appeared to be my year, with a soft face dirtied and blonde hair tangled. His chest labored with breath and his eyes went wide upon seeing me.

“He told me to leave. Begged me to turn around, but crimson gashes littered his forearms and chest, and I could not bear to leave him in such misery. I tried to bandage him, but he protested. ‘I did this to myself,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to rid him of this realm. You must leave while you can!’”

Sora’s throat burned as Kairi continued listening patiently. “I did not understand him at the time. I believed his injuries were causing delirium. I kept trying to help. I attempted to heft him over my shoulder, but he pushed me away. ‘Please leave,’ I remember him saying. His words are forever ingrained in me. ‘I cannot hold him back much longer.’

“And still I stayed.

“Tears began to form in his eyes. ‘This isn’t how it was supposed to happen,’ he said. ‘He was supposed to fade. Now he will persist in you. I’m so sorry.’ And then, with tears staining his cheeks, the page took a final breath and expired.”

Sora inhaled, long and shaky, before letting it out. “My memory after that moment is spotted and full of fog. The last clear recollection I have is waking up in my cabin with a pain in my head and a strong feeling of nausea. A laugh that was not my own rumbled deep inside me and I haven’t been able to be free of him since.”

Kairi offered him a genuine look of sympathy. “That sounds like a dreadful ordeal.”

“Living with him is worse,” he replied.

“We’ll remedy that in time,” she said. “You have a powerful light inside you, Sora. Keep it lit and drive this demon back.”

Sora winced. “I’ve been trying. It’s been getting more difficult to keep him contained. He’s getting stronger. Takes control more often.”

Kairi reached forward and rested her hand on his. “I will help you.”

That enchanting warmth that thawed his bones earlier returned at the contact of her palm. It trickled up his veins and calmed his frayed emotions. He delighted in the pleasant calm.

“Normal exorcism will not work on this form of demon, I’m afraid,” Kairi admitted, setting down her cup. “But I believe if we draw out your light, it will drive the creature from your body.”

Sora put down his cup as well. “How do we do that?” he asked.

“A kind of meditation,” she said, rising to her feet. Sora followed suit. “I will try and share my light to boost your own, but it may take a few tries.”

“I’m willing to try,” the hunter said.

“Come with me, then.”

Kairi led Sora to a different section of her home, this new room simple and modest as the rest. Draperies and shelves lined the walls, and a small pedestal with cushions lay in the middle. A pleasant scent wafted through the air, a sweet incense.

Without hesitation, Kairi climbed up and took a seat on one of the pillows. She gestured to the remaining one across from her.

“Please have a seat.”

Sora did as he was told and once comfortably situated on the cushion, he looked up at Kairi for further instruction.

Her reassuring smile sent a summery rush through him as she outstretched her hands and turned his over.

“It is important that we maintain physical contact during this meditation,” she explained, grazing her fingers along his upturned wrists as she rested her hands on his. “Our auras will be linked during this time and if our contact is broken, we will be left unbalanced. If you are left weakened, your demon could very well take control, perhaps permanently.”

Sora gulped. “Okay.”

“Are you ready?”

Sora raised his head and met Kairi’s gaze. There was no uncertainty in her eyes, rather a proud determination, as if she hadn’t a trace of doubt in her mind that he had the power to vanquish this darkness. It made him feel strong.

He nodded resolutely.

“Then let us begin.”

He was in an unfamiliar land.

All around him was night, yet the moon and the stars had abandoned the sky. The ground beneath his feet was fashioned from glass, glittering and colourful like the windows of a cathedral. The air around him was thick, but he could not decipher what with. He tasted something sweet, but detected sourness and bitter flavour.

“She’s quite something, isn’t she, hunter?”

Sora whirled around to find the image of himself, vastly the same as a reflection, but mutated and contorted into a more twisted version. His normally brown hair had been inked in charcoal, his skin ashed, and his eyes an uncomfortable yellow.

“Leave me alone, demon,” he hissed.

“You are the one who called on me,” the black creature said. “You and that charming mage you are so infatuated with.”

Sora’s face reddened. “I am not infatuated.”

“Foolish boy, you cannot hide your emotions from me,” the demon said. “I am in every crevice of your mind. I know your thoughts. I know your desires. Though I must say, this was a surprise. Who knew you had a tinge of darkness to you as well?”

“You’re the darkness in me!” Sora growled.

“I had thought the same until recently,” the demon admitted. “There were a few times in the past I thought I saw a glint of shadow in you, but you always stamped it out. Now though, oh now it’s abundantly clear.”

Sora scowled. “What are you talking about?”

“I do not blame you for it, of course. It’s quite natural for a healthy male such as yourself. Even a demon such as I cannot begrudge an attraction to a woman so alluring.”

The blood drained from Sora’s face. “I’m not—I don’t—”

“Lust is my favourite deadly sin after all,” the demon continued. “It is a little absurd that a pair of pretty eyes and the brushing of a hand is enough to evoke this strong of a reaction from you, but I’ve seen worse in my years. At least you haven’t released in your britches yet.”

“You’re what’s absurd here!”

“Come now, as I said, it’s quite normal. That light of hers is delectable, after all. I can’t wait to have a taste.”

Sora glowered. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re wavering quite a bit,” the demon grinned. “Just a little longer and I’ll be able to devour that lady myself.”

Sora grasped for the beast, but stumbled through his haze. Turning on his heel, his attempted to punch him, but was awarded the same result. “Don’t you touch her!” he cried.

The demon smirked. “There it is.”

The hands resting below the mage shifted, but held contact. Sora’s fingers inched along soft skin, gently caressing Kairi’s palm as they moved higher to her wrist. The movement caused a smile to tug at her mouth even as she maintained the meditative link. Such an innocent touch, but one that reminded her of a tender presence.

And then the fingers clenched around her wrists possessively and Kairi’s eyes flung open to see a pair of golden eyes.

“Hello, pet.”

“Demon,” Kairi replied.

“Vanitas,” he corrected. “It is a delight to meet you in person, Princess.”

Kairi frowned and the demon chuckled.

“Do not act surprised,” Vanitas said. “I have lived far longer than you mortals can imagine. I could tell the moment my host laid eyes on you that you were a Princess of Heart. I can feel your light surrounding this entire town. Very impressive.”

“How are you here? My and Sora’s light should have kept you contained.”

“That’s the funny thing with light, Princess,” Vanitas said, using his grip on Kairi to pull her closer. “It always casts a shadow.”

“Not if it shines from all directions,” she retorted.

The demon brought his face besides Kairi’s nudging her cheek with his nose and moving his lips to her ear. “And you believe two beams will be enough to eradicate the darkness? I’m afraid not, love.”

Kairi squirmed as a scorching-hot tongue traced her jaw. “Release me, foul creature.”

“Whatever for?” Vanitas smirked. “Both myself and my host are thoroughly enjoying this.”

“Sora would never—”

He nipped her neck. “You have quite a lot to learn about men, my dear.”

Kairi continued to struggle as the demon laved attention to her skin.

“I can’t remember the last time I tasted something so delicious,” he mumbled. “I ought to sever your connection right here and take control of this body, but I am loathe to drag myself away from this feast.”

The mage’s heart stopped. Sora was certainly out of balance if his demon was in control. If Vanitas let her go, their link would break and he would be trapped, a prisoner in his own mind.

Reaching deep into her heart, she concentrated her light. She dredged up every positive thought she could muster, the kindness she sensed in him, her empathy for him and his plight, her desire to save him from this beast. She wrapped it up within itself, folding light into light and sent it soaring through the link.

Please, she whispered, please let this soul find balance again.

When Sora came to, his tongue was licking a stripe up Kairi’s neck.

Springing away, he yelped an apology and ducked his head. His face burned and his mouth held the curious taste of—

“Sora?”

Timidly, he raised his gaze to meet Kairi’s. Her face was flushed and her eyes were searching.

“It is you, isn’t it, Sora?”

“Of course,” he said, blush still flaming. “What happened?”

“It, uh…,” she started, “it didn’t work. Are you feeling alright?”

“Embarrassed,” he said sheepishly, “but otherwise, I’m fine.”

Kairi nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. “I can still feel your light, just as before. Can you sense it?”

“Um.” Sora took a moment to analyse himself. His soul weighed the same as it did when he arrived –not as heavy as it was the day of possession, but not as light as he would like. Still, there was that brightness that lingered inside him, the one that flared whenever he helped people in need, or watched a sunset, or look in Kairi’s eyes.

“Yeah, it’s there,” he concluded.

Kairi looked relieved. “That’s good.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“So it didn’t work, huh?”

She shook her head. “Not this time.”

Gently, Sora grazed his fingers over hers. “Would you mind if we try again?”

[jadekitty777]

Divine Intervention: Chapter 4

Unofficial Taiqrowweek: Day 5

And thus completes this little story! I hope you all have enjoyed so far! Only two days left now. Tomorrow we’ll get back into the drabbles!

Rating: T

Word Count: 7,000 (in total, the entire story is roughly 18,0000)

Ao3 Link: Chapter 4

Summary: [Afterlife AU] Qrow is a raider demon. His job is clear: Collect recently fallen souls for Hell. The more he could gather, the more power he would be granted. Easy, right?

Well, it would be, if not for a certain blond angel constantly getting in his way. Qrow was pretty sure Taiyang’s job wasn’t to keep the souls safe from him, but rather to infuriate him with his overblown righteousness and his insufferable smiles.

Eternal damnation wasn’t supposed to be this annoying.

~

Wind whistled in his ears as Qrow flew through a carnation pink sky. On the horizon, a large property stood. The main building of the childcare center was large and long, almost mansion-like with how many rooms were likely within. As he passed over the roof, he could see the acres of land that composed the backyard. There was a section of picnic tables, a playground, fields separated for different sports and, most amusingly, a corral for horses and a barn that stood at the very back. He headed for the soccer field where everyone seemed to be, angling his wings to land just inside the fence.

He was still getting used to wings made of feathers, so his landing was a bit messy, but no one noticed with a field full of excited kids of varying ages shouting and running across the grass. He spotted Ruby out there with them. The kids who had decided to sit out, along with all the caretakers, were on the sidelines. A few he recognized, like Weiss, who was wearing a cheerleader’s outfit but was doing more ordering than cheering. Oscar was sitting in the lap of another one of the caretakers, a man he hadn’t been introduced to who seemed to have an odd liking for green suits.

Tai’s daughter, Yang, seemed to be completely absorbed in the game as she pumped her fist into the air and yelled to one of the kids, “Come on Mercury, kick it! Like I showed you!”

Qrow watched the kid who had the ball rear his leg back, before punting it rather impressively across the field. The green-haired girl who was guarding the goal leapt for it, missing it by inches.

“Yeah thatta boy!” She cheered.

Weiss shook her pompoms wildly. “I told you guys to watch him!”

“Hey ice queen, you’re supposed to be cheering us on, not coaching!” One of the blond boys yelled.

“Shut up monkey boy!”

“Okay, okay, there’s no need for name calling.” Tai intervened. “Y’all line back up at the center and let’s go again!”

This was the chance to say something, but as Qrow geared himself up, he found his mind clouded with doubts.

Maybe this was a bad time.

Tai seemed busy.

He shouldn’t have come unannounced in the first place.

Man up already! He berated himself. He couldn’t honestly be more terrified of starting a conversation than facing down a demon from Hell’s Court, right? Of course he wasn’t! That’d be stupid.

Qrow opened his mouth and nothing came out.

In all fairness, he was a pretty stupid guy.

He was also a rather noticeable guy, because it only took Ruby a moment to spot him as she turned to join the others. “Mr. Qrooow!” She yelled excitedly, rushing towards him. He caught a glimpse of Tai’s surprised expression, but wasn’t given much time to read into it before he was being barreled into by fifty pounds of child.

“Oof! Jeez kiddo, I think you bruised something.” He said, tousling her hair.

“Nuh-huh I’m too tiny.”

Over her giggles, Qrow faintly heard Oscar say, “Uncle Oz that’s the goat man!”

“Oh!” Ruby’s exclamation drew his attention again. She jumped back, spinning around. “Did you see my wings? Aren’t they great?”

He knelt down as if he was getting a better look. They were a lot like his, except the primary feathers had a red gradient. “Yeah kiddo they’re pretty amazing. Bet you’ll be one of the best fliers around.”

“Yeah I will! I’ma be super fast!” She told him. A shadow fell over them, making them both look up.

Qrow hadn’t realized he’d been missing that dumb smile until he saw it again.

“Howdy thar.” Tai greeted. “What brings you around these parts stranger?”

He snorted. “Oh nothing, just thought I’d check in. See how you guys were doing.”

“Oo, oo! I made lots of friends! And Nana makes the best cookies.” Ruby revealed. She cupped a hand around her mouth, divulging secretly, “If you’re real nice, she might give you one too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

One of the kids yelled, “Ruby, come on! You’re holding up the game!”

“Okaaay!” She pat him on the cheek. “I gotta go kick butt now. Bye Mr. Qrow!”

Qrow watched her run back to the field, before his eyes drifted to Oscar. The little boy ducked a bit behind his uncle, but offered him a tentative wave. He smiled, waving back.

“They’re rather attached to you.” Tai observed.

He got to his feet, running a hand across the back of his head. “Not sure why.”

“Well, it’s not unusual exactly, but it usually happens between the guide and the soul. People ‘round here call it the Peter Pan effect ‘cause it’s so common.”

Qrow hummed thoughtfully as he eyed the other. Was that why he felt so compelled to find him? “That so? Guess I’m a regular ol’ Hook in that allegory then.”

“Nah, you’re more of a temperamental Tinkerbell.” Tai laughed over his indignant squawks, calling, “Hey I’m going to show Qrow around, do you guys got things here?”

“Yes, Tai dear, we can handle it. Have fun on your date.” His ex-wife called, looking just a little too devious.

And God forbid if Qrow didn’t jump on that one. “A date, huh? It’d better be up to my standards then.” He polished his fingernails against his chest like a posh rich man. “I’ll have you know I have rather elegant tastes.”

“Ugh. I’m not dignifying either of you with a response.” Tai grumbled, more for show than anything since he was clearly amused. “Come on, I’ll show you the barn first. And if you promise no jokes, I’ll even let you pet a horse.” He bounded over the fence, gesturing for him to follow.

“Afraid you’d have more luck getting a hog to fly than getting me to abide by your law, Sheriff.” He quipped as he landed beside him.

“I see you’re still quite the charlatan.” He laughed as they walked along the painted lines of the baseball field. “How have you been? You getting along well up here?”

“Well, I’m disappointed there’s no cloud trampolines.” He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, hoping it made him appear more casual then he felt. “But, everything’s just about as full of rainbows and bunnies as I expected.”

He didn’t know why he bothered, since Tai had always had a knack for seeing right through him. “It’s hard to get used to, huh?”

“I mean, it’s not terrible. It’s just weird. And I don’t really know what to do with myself most days.” He admitted.

“Most new souls spend their first few weeks just visiting family or exploring. Have you found Raven yet?”

“Yeah. First thing I did after we separated at the gates was go to Rae’s place. Heh, it was quite a shock for her.” Qrow wouldn’t reveal that her way of dealing with it was punching him in the face just to make sure he was real.

One of the things that had surprised him was discovering that his sister hadn’t been immediately aware he’d entered Heaven – or had even known that he’d died a few years back. Apparently, that was just how it worked. It gave the newcomers time to adjust and visit family and friends at their own pace. Which was probably a blessing, since most reunions were guaranteed to be emotional – that is, if all his bawling was anything to go by.

“Mostly just been with her, catching up. Hanging out. That sort of thing.” He explained.

Tai regarded him like he was an autostereogram and the image just wasn’t quite clear yet. “Just her?”

“For now.” He replied vaguely, wisely changing topics before he could pry more. “What about you? How’s that leg doing?”

“I’m completely crippled, can’t you tell?” He placed a hand against his forehead like he might faint. “My afterlife is over!”

He rolled his eyes at the other’s theatrics. “Don’t oversell it buddy.”

“And waste my chance to annoy you? Never.”

The conversation stayed fairly light from there and once he started inquiring about the kids, there was really no stopping the other’s chattering. He didn’t mind because Tai was rather nice to listen to when he was speaking so passionately and it also didn’t require him to reply as much. Mostly, it gave him a chance to get his head together; he’d come all this way for a reason after all. He just needed the right moment to ask. The only problem was…

“And over here is my favorite spot!”

…the more excited Tai seemed to get, the less Qrow wanted to broach what was weighing on him.

He quickened his step to keep up as the other darted around the corner of the building. “Tai I – oh. Wow.”

“Right?” The other angel replied stepping underneath the porch that hung over the left side of the house.

He strode up next to him, finding it was an excellent spot to gander at the beautiful garden spread out before them. Stepping stones made natural, winding paths framed by bushes of roses, lilacs, hydrangeas, and rhododendrons all leading to the same center – a crystal clear pond decorated with waterlilies and sweetgrass. As they strolled along one of the paths, he took notice of the small trees speckled about the orchard and, while he didn’t know the names of most of them, the Japanese Maples with their cherry-red leaves were unmistakable. He stepped off the path to head towards a nearby cluster.

He knew them because they were the very same kinds of trees that stood outside his mother’s hospital room. When it was too hard to watch her dying in bed, he’d sit at the window to look at them instead. When her health really started failing, he spent more time at that spot than at her bedside.

One day, she asked him what he was staring at.

“Nothing.” He’d muttered. “Just these dumb trees.”

“What makes them dumb?”

He gestured expressively. “They’re red! Who puts red trees outside a hospital?”

Her chuckle was weak, like everything else about her these days. “I suppose it does seem a little odd. Do you know what those are?”

“I dunno, blood trees?” He guessed, slumping more in his seat.

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “Now, now, don’t talk like that. It dishonors your ancestors. Especially when talking about those trees – they’re important to our heritage.” When he only grunted, she continued, “Now let me tell you something Q-”

“-Row? You fancy those ones?”

The memory faded to static.

Qrow looked from the grove to the man who had trailed him.

Tai tilted his head up, giving them a good gander. “They’re gorgeous, right?”

“Yeah,” He agreed slowly, walking the last few steps it took to stand in front of one. “Do you know what they are?”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “A maple of some kind, right?”

“Yeah. A Japanese Maple.” He rubbed one of the star-shaped leaves between his thumb and forefinger. “My mother told me a story about them once.”

“Oh? What about?”

“Well, there was this war that crippled Japan. Shortly after it, these trees were discovered. The Imperial Family immediately had their staff plant thousands of them across their royal capital, but no one knew the reason.” He started off hesitantly, but when Tai’s expression didn’t fall to disinterest, he continued more earnestly. “Rumors started going ‘round that the Family’s intention was to make these trees a symbol of royalty. The Emperor heard of this but did not speak of it until an entire year had passed. When it came time to address his people, he chastised them, saying that only the foolish would dare claim nature as his own. He then challenged his people to look at the trees and speak if they could answer this:” Qrow gestured grandly like he imagined the Emperor must have. “’For every day these trees had their leaves, on what day were they not red?’”

Completely engrossed by the tale, Tai’s tone had a hint of wonder as he asked, “What happened?”

“No one spoke. They all knew that day did not exist.” He answered. “In their silence, the Emperor’s voice seemed even more powerful than usual. He told them that all other trees were weak, because they could only hold that color for a few weeks before they fell. But these trees held enough strength to endure that color every day of the year – and if the Gods had bestowed such a tree to grow in their nation, then it was a sign that even during such trying times, every citizen born upon their great land had the ability to show that same level of endurance and strength.”

“Whoa.” Tai looked back at the trees, seeming to see them in a new light. “That’s amazing.”

“It’s one of my favorite stories.” Qrow told him, looking up as well into kaleidoscope of red hues, some bright as gemstones and some light as rust. Others dark as wine or pale like his eyes.

He could hear his mother’s voice whispering across his memory: “Anyone who looks at you will see in the color of your eyes that you hold the same endurance and strength in yourself. Just like I always have.”

He shut his eyes and took a steadying breath. Right. He could do this. “Tai, I needed to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

He felt his chest constrict uncomfortably as he faced him. “How different am I from the man you first met?”

Tai rose an eyebrow, looking befuddled. “Well. You’re less pointy.”

“No, not that! Before I got dragged into Hell.” Qrow said, feeling himself grow more insistent.

“Oh my god.” His eyes widened as realization hit. “You remember.”

“Yeah?” Qrow replied. What did that have to do with anything? “I remembered before going through the light. But that’s not-”

He was cut off when the other reached out, gripping his arms tightly. “I’m so sorry!”

“Uh, what?”

Tai either didn’t notice his confusion or was too caught up to realize it, words coming out in a rush, “I know there’s nothing I can really say to make up for losing you like that, but I really am sorry! And I understand if you’re too angry to accept that but-”

“Whoa, okay! Hold up a second!” Qrow covered his mouth before he could keep spilling out his guts. “I’m not mad about that!”

“Yo-You’re not?”

He supposed it wasn’t that farfetched to believe – but his life experience had taught him a long time ago that taking his anger out on others didn’t really fix anything. It just spread the hurt more. “Tai, four of them jumped you. What were you going to do?”

Tai backed off, jaw set so hard he worried his teeth would shatter. “That doesn’t matter. I let you down. My job was to get you home and I failed you.”

He looked to the left. Then to the right. Spread his arms wide. “Huh, looks like home to me.”

“That’s not-”

“Come on man, do you think I didn’t put two and two together? Why you kept conveniently showing up every time I got close to a lost soul? You were practically stalking me. Not that I can blame you, I mean have you seen me? I’m irresistible.” Qrow waved to himself, pleased when that finally got a weak laugh out of the other. He lowered his hand, meeting his eyes as he told him seriously, “You didn’t give up on me, even when I was acting my worst, and for that I owe you more than I can possibly give back.”

Tai’s smile was tentative. “Then you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You made all the big steps all on your own.”

The argument was on the tip of his tongue, about how he’d never have taken even one had the other angel not stepped in to begin with, but ultimately decided to let it go. They’d just run in circles at that point. “Whatever happened to that whole ‘forgive yourself and move on’ motto of yours?”

“I also told you that isn’t easy.” He reminded.

Qrow huffed. “Tch, yeah I got that.”

“Is that what’s bothering you?”

“Yes!” He shouted, wings opening as explosively as his mouth. To Tai’s credit, he didn’t even flinch back, even as he practically yelled in his face. “I thought if I came up here, things would be different! That I would be different! But nothing’s changed! I don’t get it! I’ve been punished. Put to death. Atoned! But I still feel wrong.” He turned away, folding his wings and crossing his arms as he glared at the roots of the maple tree. “I hate this… but I just don’t know what else I can do.”

A hand on his shoulder made him look up. Tai gave him a quietly considerate look and when he spoke, his voice was gentle. “Our situations aren’t the same, so I don’t know if my story will do any good, but I’d be happy to tell it to you if you feel it might.”

“…Alright.” It probably wouldn’t. But after three decades, he was willing to try anything.

He was also, maybe, a little curious.

“Follow me.” Tai led him to the center of the garden, sitting down on one of the flat rocks that circled the water.

He settled down on the one beside him, certain he knew what to expect as Tai plucked one of his feathers. However, he did not raise it to the light like before. Instead, he gripped the feather by the barb and touched the quill tip to the water, making slow, swirling motions. As the rings rippled across the lake, he spoke, accent growing more prominent as if the nostalgia brought it forth, “The town I grew up in wasn’t much. We had a chapel for prayin’. A saloon for drinkin’. Most people made their own living by rearing their own cattle and growing their own stock.”

Qrow watched as an image formed with the words, seeing the dusty town Tai was speaking of. There weren’t a lot of buildings, and what was there was mostly log cabin homes with a few farms off in the distances. Despite that, there was a lot of activity on the street. A horse was pulling a wagon through town. Two men were sitting outside the saloon, cheering each other. A few women were using washboards to clean clothes. It wasn’t until he spotted the chapel with it’s cross mounted properly instead of fallen to the side as it was now, that he knew he’d been here before. “This is where we took Oscar.”

He nodded. “Yeah, this be it. This was my home.” He pointed to one of the farm houses on the eastern side.

As if the gesture were a command, the picture zoomed in on it. Tai, probably no more than seven or eight, was hanging onto the railing, swinging his legs as he stared at the little girl who looked almost identical to Ruby. She was clinging to her mother’s raggedy dress, but she was staring at Tai just as intently. The men of the two families stood between their own, talking.

“I met Summer when I was just a boy. Her family had traveled far in hopes to find silver but the mines had been bled dry years ago. Her family was devastated and too weakened by their travel to go further. The townspeople pointed them our way. My father had always been a kind man, believing in helpin’ those in need, so he struck a deal. He asked for the family’s workin’ hands and in return he’d give them room and board. On this arrangement, our families prospered.”

The scenes started to shift, showing snapshot after snapshot of memory. The two kids laughing as they tried to balance eggs on their noses from the chicken coop. Leaping into the lake together. Racing each other through the field.

“It wasn’t long before Summer and I were the best of friends. We were also quite the rascals.” Tai chuckled as it showed the two of them in the saloon. His younger self, about ten now, betting on a poker game with ears of corn, much to the adults’ amusement. Summer sitting at the barstool, a dancer doing her hair up in a rose bun. “Soon, that all changed to sumthin more. I still remember the day I realized I was in love with her.”

Now a teenager, Tai stood outside saddling up a horse, when a noise caused him to turn around. His eyes grew wide as Summer came gliding over, the train of her dress following her. The shoulderless French-style gown was gorgeous, black as night with white roses festooned into the pleats. She had white gloves to match and a ribbon tied into a bow around her neck. She did a little spin, seeming to ask if he liked it. Tai stepped forward, taking off his hat and placing it against his chest. Whatever he told her made her laugh behind her hand.

“I was very smitten.” Tai’s gaze was distant. “It didn’t take our fathers long to realize what was happening. We were soon given their blessin’ and wed immediately after. Love was so rarely sought in those times, but I knew no woman could have made me happier than she did. That truth was no truer than the day she made me a father.”

Qrow snorted when the new image formed of the man holding his newborn daughter.

“What?” Tai asked him.

“You look terrible in a beard.” He told him.

“Oh can it!” He shoved him a bit before continuing his story. “Yang ended up being our only child. We tried for others, but it was hard to keep a child to term. I never felt like we were incomplete though. And even when nature took its course for our parents, and left only us three to maintain the farm, we were able to get by.” The trio were inside their home. Yang looked to be in her adolescence. She sat beside Tai, watching him intently as he showed her how to tie a hunter’s knot. Summer was in the kitchen, stirring something in a large pot. “But…”

Suddenly Summer started to cough, falling to her knees. Tai looked up, before hurrying to her side.

“Then we lost her. It happened so quickly, I felt like I’d hardly said goodbye before I was burying her.”

It was a little row of crosses made of sticks, nothing more. Five of them in all. Tai sat before the newest dug one, just staring like he couldn’t see anymore. Yang was crying.

Tai looked down at his past self, sighing softly. “I never thought myself a weak man before, but I feel losing her proved to me I didn’t have the fortitude I thought I did. I loved Summer very deeply, and when she left, it was like taking all that love and leaving nothing but an empty well.”  He lowered his head more, his chin almost touching his chest. “I can’t even say what I had in my mind the day I did it. Everything was just hurtin’ so much and I wanted it to stop. So. I made it stop.”

Qrow inhaled sharply as the picture formed of the blond man sitting alone in his house, staring blankly down at his revolver before he slowly rose it to his temple. Before the scene could finish, Tai smacked the water and it disappeared.

He let himself breathe again, glancing over at him.

Tai took a moment to gather himself, before finally facing him. “When you walked towards the light, you heard a voice. Whose was it?”

Taken a bit aback by the sudden shift of topics, it took him a moment to reply. “Uh, Raven’s.”

He nodded, as if this made perfect sense. “It’s the voice of the person you most want to see. You would think mine would be Summer’s…” His look was pained. “But I heard Yang’s. In that instant I knew what a mistake I had made – and the worst part was, I couldn’t take it back!” He chuckled bitterly. “Summer was furious. She wanted nothing to do with me. And who could blame her? I had left our daughter behind. No father should ever do that.”

Qrow felt the oddest sense of Déjà Vu as he struggled to find a way to dissolve the heavy atmosphere. Wasn’t the last time he had to do this by waterside as well? “Well, things seemed to be alright now?” He finally offered lamely.

“Yes, but it wasn’t always.” Tai ran a hand over his face, sighing loudly. “I felt like I lived with nothing but constant guilt. I agonized over what I had done and I even started to view my and Summer’s separation as just a punishment I deserved. And an angel in turmoil isn’t allowed on the human plane either, so I couldn’t even have the consolation of checking up on how Yang was doing!”

He swallowed uneasily. This was starting to sound a bit too familiar.

“I found no solace in it all until Yang finally passed on and visited me.” He went on. “I didn’t know what to say when I suddenly had her there, on my doorstep. I was ready for her to be angry. A part of me even wanted her to be. But before I could even utter her name, she was throwing her arms around me and telling me how much she missed me.” He looked down at his hands, probably recalling how he’d held her that day. “Heh, can you imagine that? I was prepared for her to throw anything at me… except that.”

Qrow bit at the edge of his tongue, wishing it could be that easy for him. “So that was it? You just felt better?”

“No, not even.” He shook his head. “I still felt all that shame just festering inside of me and it bled into everything I tried to do. Every time we were together, I felt nothing but wrongness. I thought I shouldn’t be allowed to be her father, because I’d choose to leave her. That I didn’t deserve much at all, if I’d forfeited my life. Some days I couldn’t even bare to see her. Can’t tell you how many times I canceled plans just ‘cause I was so miserable.”

Qrow turned away uncomfortably, thinking of his own mother he still refused to go visit. Of his sister’s many failed attempted to push the issue and her annoyance with him when he only resisted more.

Tai seemed too caught up to notice his shift in demeanor, raking an agitated hand through his hair, the memories seeming to being back his previous frustration. “It was no better with Summer. Even when we agreed we wouldn’t get back together, at times it seemed even just trying to be friends again was impossible. I had to of apologized about a thousand times. But,” He placed his hand over his heart, carrying on more lightly, “if I can be proud of anything, I can be proud of what a smart, capable woman my daughter had grown up to be. For she was the one who told me that I could ask for forgiveness from everyone all I wanted, but I would never gain peace if I didn’t forgive myself.” He met his gaze then, his eyes earnest as he told him, “It didn’t come quickly or easily. I’d had that way of thinking for so long, it was hard to let go of – sometimes I was even afraid I never could. But I kept trying, at first for her, so she could have the father she deserved. But eventually, it was for myself too.”

“How long did it take?” Qrow asked.

“Until the day I became a guiding angel.”

He calculated that quickly. Placed a hand against his forehead. “Shit.”

He saw the other’s reaching hand in his peripheral vision, but didn’t jerk back from the gentle touch that ran over his cheek.

“Qrow,” Tai’s soft voice sent shivers along his spine for more reasons than one. “I may not be able to tell you how long it will take for yourself, but I can tell you that you have the strength to do it.”

He faced him, retorting, “How can you say that when you don’t even know what I’ve done?”

“Because I’ve always believed in you.” He said, simple as that. He withdrew, adding, “But if you’d like to tell me, I’ll listen. It helps more than you think.”

Qrow looked down at the water, tossing the idea around. He’d avoided it this long, dancing around the topics he felt might give Tai too much reason to pry. But if he was right, and this could be a step to heal, then what did he really have to lose by trying?

This whatever it is going on between us. His traitorous conscious reminded.

His counterargument was worse. Well, then it’s better if he finds out now.

(As that thought finished, he realized maybe that whole ‘bleeds into everything’ bit had a lot of merit.)

He felt Tai’s eyes on him as he straightened up, reaching back to pull one of his own feathers. He lowered it, stirring the water with it as he begun, “When I was fourteen, my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It took her pretty fast.” He felt a pang in his heart, seeing his younger self clinging onto his sister as they sat in the darkened hallway of the church. He remembered that – it had been just after his mom’s funeral service, paid for with what little savings she had. “We were fairly poor and any family we did have didn’t bother to reach out and claim us. So, the foster care program took us. Tried to find a home for us. We certainly didn’t make it easy; we’d been so angry and scared that we just couldn’t ‘behave’. I can’t tell you how many homes and schools I saw those first few months. No one wanted to take in a couple of kids who were more trouble then we were worth.”

The scene shifted to one that made his blood boil. He was sitting outside the caregiver’s office, his eyes widening as he overheard what she was saying before he was sprinting down the hall. “They eventually started talking about separating us. It had terrified us… and so we did something really stupid.” Raven was pulling open the window, and as she climbed up onto the sill, Qrow handed her a backpack. He had one of his own on his shoulders. “We ran.”

He smiled at the next one, seeing himself pulling a blanket up over himself and his sister. “We spent that first night sleeping under a park bench. We had all these grand ideas about how we’d make it on our own. We didn’t even have our high school degrees or a dime to our name, but back then we thought we’d just take on the world and it’d be fine.”

His smile fell, watching the same snapshot effect that happened with Tai’s story happen with his own as he spoke, “It wasn’t long before we got desperate. We started stealing out of grocery stores. Eating fruit right in the store or opening up boxes with prepackaged foods so the sensors wouldn’t trip. Sneaking into gyms to shower. Walking out of Goodwill wearing new clothes underneath our old ones. Eventually, the store managers started to recognize us. A few of ‘em even called the cops. We almost got caught a bunch of times. Sometimes, I kind of wish we had.”

“You two were rather resourceful.” Tai side-eyed him a moment, before focusing back on the water where he and his sister were hiding in the shadows of a fire escape as an officer went running down the alley below.

“In some ways.” Qrow agreed. “But we were in trouble. We couldn’t live like that forever. We knew we needed some sort of solid plan for the future. Some way to get money. That’s how we met Junior.” The picture of the man that formed was as clear in the water as it was in his mind. He still recalled his first thought about him was that he was way too well-dressed to be on their side of town. “He ran an underground gang. They supplied drugs, did petty theft, stuff like that. We knew it was crazy and really, really stupid, but we asked to join. We’d basically been doing something similar so, we figured it wouldn’t be much different.”

He swallowed down his own disgust, seeing the terrified woman staring down the barrel of his shotgun while Raven loaded cash in a bag.  “We mostly did the robberies – smoke shops, liquor stores, you name it. If it was a cheap shop that held too much cash in the register, we were hitting it. Junior tried to get us to sell drugs. Among,” His teeth nearly cracked as he saw one of the promiscuous leers their boss would give his sister, “other things. But the reason we liked holding places up was because it was the easiest way to sneak the money right under Junior’s nose. We would pocket a few twenties here, an occasional hundred there. He didn’t miss it because he never knew it existed. We kept telling each other we’d only stay until we had enough to get a place of our own, then we were out of there. But…”

The picture was ahead of his mouth. He felt shivers running down his spine at the sight of the red-head he and Raven were being cornered by. He’d never thought much about Adam Taurus until he was facing down the wrong end of the other’s Glock. “Junior had found out and sent someone to dispose of us. We… We tried to pay the guy off. All the money we had earned, we used it to bargain for our lives.” It shifted to their little closet-sized bedroom, Qrow pulling out the lockbox they had hidden in the wall. Beside it, was a pistol. “At least, we were pretending to. Raven was talking to him, trying to keep the focus on her so I could shoot him.”

He shut his eyes, unable to face what he knew was going to play out. He’d seen it enough in his nightmares. The way he’d pulled out the gun, aiming it at their captor.

“Just let us go!” He had said, his hands shaking.

“What are you doing? Shoot him!” Raven hissed.

“No one has to die, he just has to leave!” He told her, wishing she’d shut up. He could talk their way out of this, just like he did everything else.

Adam sighed loudly. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Qrow-!” Raven yelled as she spun on her heels towards him.

The report of the gunshot deafened him. His mind and vision went fuzzy. Dimly he wondered why his sister was falling to the ground, limbs akimbo like a broken doll. His arms jerked down, hands reflexively tightening as he cried out her name. The sound of his own gun going off was distant in his ears. The bullet buried its way into the hitman’s gut, throwing him to the ground. Adam’s second round, the one that likely would have killed Qrow, went wild into the ceiling, raining down dust.

“God…” Tai’s horrified gasp drew him back to the present.

His eyes opened and he looked down at the image of himself holding onto his sister’s limp body as he sobbed into her bloody hair. Qrow reached out towards himself, hand shaking as badly as it did back then, and smacked the water, watching it scatter away into nothing. “I-I guess you can see I failed pretty spectacularly. But I did something worse.” He couldn’t raise his head, so he just watched the goldfish swim as he told the rest of it. “Raven was the last thing I had and she was gone. Junior had taken her from me. I didn’t know what to do. The only thing I did know was that I was so, so angry.” His fingers tightened into fists. “I wanted to kill that motherfucker for what he did – I didn’t care what it took! So, I used the money to pay off one of his bodyguards. They looked away just long enough and I shot him right in the back of his head. The cops caught me a few days later. I was eighteen by then, so they tried me like an adult.”

He laughed hollowly. “Pre-meditated murder. First degree. Twenty-five years and then a final walk to Death Row. Didn’t even bother to plead anything but guilty. I walked out of that court room howling like it was the funniest thing, because by then I’d realized, it didn’t matter. Nothing did anymore.” He bit at his lip, feeling his stomach twisting into painful knots. “I had thought I’d feel vindicated. But I just felt empty. Killing Junior didn’t bring back Raven. It didn’t make me feel any less responsible. I was a murderer, and for what?!” He pressed his fist against his forehead, gritting out, “How can I ever make something like that right?”

He heard a soft rustling beside him and then a golden wing curved around him, just as it had on the lakeside. “You don’t.” Tai proclaimed. “You accept that you did something wrong and then you work at it from there.”

“How?!”

“I don’t know.” He admitted, sliding in closer. “But, I can say this was a good first step.”

With everything all mixed up in his mind right then, Qrow didn’t know how to feel about the fact the other didn’t seem the slightest bit repulsed. With it so cluttered, he also didn’t seem to have the power to resist leaning into the other’s comfort for a little while.

~

Qrow stirred at the distant sound of chatter and shrieking, blinking away his drowsiness as he stared up at the emerald sky. Wait, when had it become the afternoon?

A groan made him look at the person next to him, seeing how Tai’s expression pinched before he peeked open one eye. “Guess it’s lunchtime.”

He stared at him, then looked about, disoriented. They were still by the pond, but sprawled out along the grass beside it. He didn’t recall moving though. He didn’t recall much at all after he’d finished his story. “Uh… what happened?”

“Sorry.” Tai said around a yawn. “I shoulda warned ya showing me anything would zap your energy something fierce.”

He absorbed that fact, feeling a slight sting as he wondered how long it took Tai to return home that day from Hecate’s Lake. “So, we slept on the ground?”

“Sorta.” He drawled, looking down pointedly.

Qrow followed his gaze, then sat up quickly as he realized his body was pinning down the other’s wing. He was going to be feeling that for the day. “Uh, sorry.”

Tai just shrugged it off, sitting up as well. He stretched out his wings before folding them against his back. “I woulda got you inside but, you were fading pretty fast and you’re a mite bit heavier than I can carry.”

“What a shame. Guess you won’t be sweeping me off my feet anytime soon then. What ever shall I do?” He said, playing up his distress.

“And you say I oversell it.” He replied as he got to his feet.

Qrow took the hand offered to him. He stretched as well, inclining his head towards the source of the noise. It was drawing nearer. “I should probably get going.”

“Or you could stay.”

He arched a brow questioningly.

Tai grinned, running a hand over his neck as he tried to hide his fluster. “I mean, there’s always room for more. And I’m sure Ruby and Oscar would be ecstatic.”

It was really hard to say no. “I have… a prior engagement. Promised my sis I’d be back by now.” It was even harder to see the other droop with disappointment, so he quickly added, “But, another time?”

“Alright, but I’m holding ya to that.” He told him, nodding towards the front yard. “I’ll walk you to the gate.”

They took the long way around the garden to get there, but it still felt too quick by the time they were stepping past the iron-wrought doors. They hesitated just outside of them.

Tai shifted a bit on his feet, speaking first, “It was nice seeing you again.”

About half a dozen cocky responses leapt into his brain at once. What ended up slipping out was much more genuine, “Yeah. Same here.” Feeling his face heating up, Qrow quickly turned away, clearing his throat. “And uh, thanks. For everything.”

“Hmmm.”

That wasn’t the response he expected. “What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” He said, rubbing his chin. “I’m just trying to figure out the score. I mean, I still owe you a thanks for helping me on the last mission.”

His meaning took a moment to click, but when he got it, Qrow chuckled. “Oh, is that all? I have a solution for that.” He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the other’s neck. “We’ll share it.”

“Oh.” The other angel murmured as understanding sunk in. His strong hands curved around Qrow’s bony hips. “I can do that.”

A giddy feeling jump-started his heart, so unexpectedly good after so much bad, it couldn’t help but bubble out in another soft laugh. Qrow lent forward.

Tai met him halfway.

[beatdisc]

RSD 2019 LIST

Record Store Day, our favourite day! Because we love celebrating with all our beloved regular customers and new friends. This year we're planning to make it the biggest and best day ever! Here's what's happening this year. > HUGE RANGE OF RSD EXCLUSIVE RELEASES (list below) < > LIMITED EDITION BEATDISC COFFEE MUG! < > 500+ OF PRE-OWNED LPs HITTING THE RACKS < > THOUSANDS OF 45s & CDs FROM THE ARCHIVE ** < > 20% OFF AUDIO-TECHNICA TURNTABLES (2019 RANGE) ** < > TWO A-T LP60 TURNTABLES TO WIN < > MARK-DOWNS** GIVEAWAYS, PIZZA, PARTY! < > COFFEE VAN FROM 6AM (see below) < ** = SAT & SUN 

OUR LIST OF RSD EXCLUSIVE TITLES

This year we have 192 TITLES! A few things to note for the morning rush. If you're here first thing please join the line and we'll serve everyone in order. One copy per RSD title per person & no holds. AUS LIST TITLES Bob Evans - Suburban Songbook [LP] Broderick Smith – Suitcase [LP] Jebediah - Of Someday Shambles [2LP] Johnny Diesel & The Injectors - Johnny Diesel & The Injectors [2LP] The Amity Affliction – Youngbloods [LP] The Birthday Party - Mutiny/Bad Seed [2LP] The Hard Ons - Harder & Harder [7”] The Loved Ones - Magic Box [LP] The Mint Chicks - Screens [LP] The Reels - The Reels [LP] US LIST TITLES Ace Frehley - Spaceman [LP] Adrenalin O.D. - Let's BBQ [LP] Alien Weaponry - Tu [LP+7''] Anderson .Paak - Bubblin' [7''] Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch - Twin Peaks: Season Two Music And More [2LP] Aretha Franklin - The Atlantic Singles 1967 [5x7'' Boxset] AxCx (Anal C**t) - Picnic Of Love [LP] B-52's, The - Mesopotamia [LP] Bad Religion - My Sanity [7''] Basement - Be Here Now [7''] Benjamin Gibbard - Me And Magdalena / The Concept [7''] Bill Hicks - Revelations: Variations [2LP] Billy Joel - Live At Carnegie Hall 1977 [2LP] Bingo Hand Job (R.E.M. w/ Bragg, Hitchcock & Holsapple) - Live At The Borderline 1991 [2LP] Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal [2LP] Broken Social Scene - Let's Try The After Vol. 1 & 2 [LP] Buari - Buari [LP] Buffalo Tom - Buffalo Tom (30th Anniversary) [LP] Canned Heat - Remember Woodstock [LP] Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica [2LP] Charlatans, The - Us And Us Only [LP] Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Dice Game And Let It Fall [10'' Chuck Mosley - Joe Haze Session #2 [7''] Courtney Barnett - Everybody Here Hates You [12''] Craig Mack & The Notorious B.I.G. - B.I.G. Mack (Original Sampler) [LP+Cassette] Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street (Expanded Edition) [3LP] Culture - The Nighthawk Recordings [LP] Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist - Fetti [LP] Czarface - Double Dose Of Danger [LP] David Bowie - Pin Ups (2015 Remastered Version) [LP] David Bowie - The World Of David Bowie (Compilation) [LP] David Bowie / Marlene Dietrich - Revolutionary Song / Just A Gigolo [7''] Death Grips - Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) [LP] Def Leppard - The Story So Far, Vol. 2 / B Sides [2LP] Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Pretty Africa [LP] Devo - This Is The DEVO Box [6LP] Doors, The - London Fog [10''] Dr. Dog - Live 2 [LP] Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A ''G'' Thang [12''] Duran Duran - As The Lights Go Down (Live) [2LP] Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs - Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto [LP] Elton John - Live From Moscow [2LP] Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Purse EP [LP] Elvis Presley - Live At The International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV August 23, 1969 [2LP] Eric Clapton - One More Car One More Rider [3LP] Fatlip - The Loneliest Punk [LP] Flaming Lips, The - King's Mouth: Music And Songs [LP] Fleetwood Mac - The Alternate Fleetwood Mac [LP] Frank Black - Frank Black [LP] Frank Black - Teenager Of The Year [2LP] Frank Zappa - The Guitar World According To Frank Zappa [LP] Golden Earring - Moontan [LP] Gorillaz - The Fall [LP] Grateful Dead - The Warfield, San Francisco, CA 10/9/80 [2LP] Green Day - Woodstock 1994 Live [LP] Green Jelly - Cereal Killer Soundtrack [LP] Green River - Live At The Tropicana 1984 [LP] Greta Van Fleet - From The Fires [LP] Hawkwind - The 1999 Party: Live At The Chicago Auditorium 21st March, 1974 [2LP] High On Fire - Bat Salad [LP] Hockey Dad - Dreamin' [LP] Idles - Meat / Meta [EP] Iggy Pop - Hippodrome - Paris 77 [2LP] Iggy Pop - The Villagers b/w Pain & Suffering [7''] Insurgence DC - Broken In The Theater Of The Absurd [LP] James Brown - Sho Is Funky Down Here [LP] Janis Joplin - Woodstock Sunday August 17, 1969 [2LP] Jeff Buckley - In Transition [LP] Jeff Tweedy - WARMER [LP] Jethro Tull - North Sea Oil [10''] Joe Strummer - The Rockfield Studio Tracks [12''] John Cage Meets Sun Ra - John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Film [7''+DVD] John Lennon - Imagine: The Raw Studio Mixes [2LP] Julien Baker - Red Door / Conversation Piece [7''] Justin Courtney Pierre (frontman of Motion City Soundtrack) - Open Mic At The Lo-Fi Vol. 1 [LP] Kooks, The - Live At The Moth Club [LP] Kool Keith - Complicated Trip [12''] Kristin Hersh - Crooked [LP] L7 - Burn Baby [7''] Lemonheads, The - Can't Forget / Wild Child [7''] Lou Reed - Ecstasy [2LP] Louis Armstrong - Disney Songs The Satchmo Way [LP] Madonna - La Isla Bonita: Super Mix [LP] Madonna - True Blue (Super Club Mix) [LP] Mark Lanegan Band - Stitch It Up [7''] Mark Ronson - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart [12''] Mastodon - Stairway To Nick John [10''] Matthew Sweet - Pleasure Island, Live [LP] Menzingers, The - No Penance b/w Cemetery's Garden [7''] Midnight Oil - Breathe Tour '97, Live [LP] Mission Of Burma - Peking Spring [LP] Mo-dettes, The The Story So Far [LP] Monty Python - Monty Python's Life Of Brian [LP] Morrissey - Lover-To-Be [7''] Moses Sumney - Black In Deep Red, 2014 [12''] Motorhead - Overkill / Bomber [2x7''] Motorhead - Rockaway Beach [7''] Mumford & Sons - Delta Acoustic Sessions | Live From Electric Lady [10''] My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade Is Dead! [2LP] Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Wait & Return [LP] Ol' Dirty Bastard - Intoxicated [LP] Olafur Arnalds - Re:member + String Quartets [LP+7''] Otis Redding w/Booker T. & The M.G.'s + The Mar-Keys - Just Do It One More Time! Live At The Monterey Pop Festival [LP] Parliaments, The - Baby I Owe You Something Good [LP] Pearl Jam - Live At Easy Street [LP] Pelican - Midnight & Mesaline [7''] Peter Howell & John Ferdinando - Ithaca, Agincourt And Other Psych-Folk Fairy Tales [2LP+CD] Pink Floyd - A Saucerful Of Secrets (Mono) [LP] Police, The - Message In A Bottle [2x7''] Prince - His Majesty's Pop Life / The Purple Mix Club [2LP] Procol Harum - Procol Harum (50th Anniversary USA Edition) [2LP] Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Soundtrack) [2LP] Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody / I'm In Love With My Car [7''] Ramones, The - Live At The Palladium, New York, NY (12/31/79) [2LP] Robert Johnson - Kind Hearted Woman Blues / Terraplane Blues [10''] Robyn - Body Talk [2LP] Rolling Stones, The - Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass) (UK) [LP] Rolling Stones, The - She’s A Rainbow / Live At U Arena, Paris / 25.10.17 [10''] Rolling Stones, The - Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (UK) [LP] Roxy Music - Roxy Music - Remixed [2LP] RZA - Birth Of A Prince [2LP] Salvation Army, The - Live From Torrance And Beyond [LP] Santigold - I Don't Want: The Gold Fire Sessions [LP] Serj Tankian - Harakiri [LP] Sherman Brothers, The - Simply Sherman: Disney Hits From The Sherman Brothers [LP] Shocking Blue - Single Collection (A's & B's), Part 2 [2LP] Sly & The Family Stone - Woodstock Sunday August 17, 1969 [2LP] Soccer Mommy - For Young Hearts [LP] Sublime - Nugs: Best Of The Box [LP] SUNN O))) - Life Metal [2LP] Tangerine Dream - Le Parc [2LP] Tangerine Dream - Machu Picchu [LP] Ten In The Swear Jar (Xiu Xiu) - Fort Awesome: Complete Recordings [2LP] Teyana Taylor - Gonna Love Me / WTP (Remixes) [12''] Thrice - Deeper Wells [LP] Todd Rundgren - The Complete U.S. Bearsville & Warner Bros. Singles [4LP] Too $hort - The Pimp Tape [2LP] Townes Van Zandt - The Best Of Townes Van Zandt [2LP] U2 - The Europa [LP] Van Morrison - Astral Weeks Alternative [10''] Various Artists - Boy Meets Girl: Classic Stax Duets [2LP] Various Artists - Brazil Classics 30th Anniversary Box Set [3LP] Various Artists - Coneheads (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Folk And Pop Sounds Of Sumatra Vol. 2 [2LP] Various Artists - Ghost World (Soundtrack) [2LP] Various Artists - I Am Sam (Soundtrack) [LP Various Artists - Lost In Translation (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Malcom X (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Mickey Mouse Disco [LP] Various Artists - New Jack City (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Office Space (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Poppies: Assorted Finery From The First Psychedelic Age [LP] Various Artists - Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions Of Weezer [LP] Various Artists - South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Soundtrack) [2LP] Various Artists - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Stax Does The Beatles [2LP] Various Artists - Sugar Hill Records: The 12'' D.J. Boxset [6x12'' Boxset] Various Artists - The Crow (Soundtrack) [2LP] Various Artists - Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets Highlights [2LP] Various Artists - Woodstock 3 Days Of Peace Music (Mono PA Version) [3LP] Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground [LP] Vitamin String Quartet - VSQ Performs Bjork [2LP] Weezer - Dusty Gems: The B-Sides [LP] Weezer - Weezer (Teal Album) [LP] Wes Montgomery - Back On Indiana Avenue: The Carroll DeCamp Recordings [2LP] Wipers, The - Alien Boy [7'' EP] Wonder Years, The - The Wonder Years Live From Maida Vale [10''] Yes - Yes [LP] UK LIST TITLES Dexys Midnight Runners - At The BBC 1982 [2LP] Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message [2LP] Mighty Boosh - The Complete Radio Series [3LP] Ronnie Lane & The Band Slim Chance - At The BBC [2LP] Sigur Ros - Lunar Halo 22° [LP] Sigur Ros - Variations In Darkness [LP] Thin Lizzy - Black Rose [2LP] Various Artists - The Freakbeat Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The Mod Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The Northern Soul Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The Psychedelic Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The R&B Scene [2LP] Venom - Manitou [7" picture disc] Yazoo - Reconnected: Live [2LP]

[kurtty-drabbles]

Noir au (reincarnation)

N/A: as we talk last night, this au will be a noir where reincarnation is a thing, however, is a stigma to be a reincarnated and only 1 among 10000 are reincarnated. And yes, Kurt and Kitty did have the same age in Kitty´s first life.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling

Kitty Pryde was rushed to the hospital, apparently eating seafood in that restaurant was daring enough for a night, as the woman is having a serious case of food poisoning. Thankfully, it was nothing aggravant, all Kitty will have to do is endure a surgery, her mother was called as now the woman is resting in her room.

"Oh, Kitten" her mother Teresa Pryde speaks with relief and scowling her daughter at the same time hugging Kitty tightly as possible.

"I´m fine now mom, I swear, I´ll be away from seafood, I can use this experience to my next movie project" Kitty jokes mentioned as Teresa only shakes her head.

Dr Strange enters in the room caring a white clipboard and has a neutral expression on his face, Kitty noticed the white streaks on his black hair, for a moment, Kitty thought on making him a wizard or something, oh, when you are in the bed ideas flow alive.

"Miss Pryde, I have some news to deliver to you, in regards to your health and surgery, everything went fine, in fact, you are one of your healthiest patients ever" Dr Strange speaks and Teresa Pryde takes this as a compliment, after all, it was Teresa herself who did give the healthy diet to her daughter "however, I also have bad news, according to the exam we did..we found out...you are a reincarnated"

The news is delivered as if Kitty will get cancer now. Teresa asked if Dr Stranger is correct. And sadly, the man confirms the exam was made 5 times.

"Miss Pryde is a reincarnated" Dr stranger now hands an envelope to Kitty´s hands only "here is your past life, in case you want to see it, by-laws I can´t disclose any more information and if you wish to burn the envelope is in your rights" and Kitty gaze at the envelope, brown and small with a morbid curiosity.

"I want to know" Kitty explains and Dr Strangers nods promising this will confidential. Teresa Pryde hopes so avoiding to look at the envelope.

___________________________________

It shouldn´t be a surprise to know that the media is now covering the case, from the past years, categorised reincarnated are less than 10 cases, so, of course, the media wants an exclusive with Kitty Pryde. Kitty admits is not how she imagined her interview to go.

Teresa Pryde calls furiously at the hospital and Dr Strange apologise, turns out, one of the nurses, Felicity Hard, overheard the conversation and decide to alert the media about it. Certainly, it would help a friend of hers to get a better bonus if he takes pictures of the reincarnated.

"Fire her then" Teresa demands and Dr Stranger can´t fire the woman but can´t reduce her salary for the travesty.

A hoard of reporters, from channel 5 a sensationalist of them all, are screaming questions. Are you going to enter in contact with your first family? Are you a charlatan? Are you someone important in the past?

Kitty was forced to give an interview to make them go away. The woman hopes the interview wouldn´t be broadcast to no more than her city, of course, Kitty is wrong.

________________________________-

Her friends alienate from her. Giving excuses to not hang out with her. Tabby Smith, in a frustration moment, asked if she is pretending to sell a movie. Kitty is not talking with Tabby ever since.

The interview was broadcasting to the entire world, and, sure enough, the first family of Kitty enter in contact with her, an American woman who lives in Germany. Isabela Pryce. Katherine Pryce´s grand aunt.

(Kitty shivers as how their name are similar)

Kitty feels the awkward mood as Isabela looks in awe as Kitty is a copy from her dear Katherine. It´s so painfully, Kitty is Katherine, but her sister is not alive to see this.

"Can I ask something?" Kitty shyly asked once Isabela stopped crying"they give me Katherine´s documents and told  me how she dies, but, I didn´t get more than that, could you...tell me how I die?" Teresa is hugging her daughter to give support (or with fear that Isabela would kidnap Kitty, no one knows how to expect)

Isabela takes a deep breath and explains the situation.

"Katherine was supposed to marry on the next day, on day before this, she and her husband among with friends and family were in a restaurant celebrating ...when a man shows up and points a gun towards her heart"  Isabela speaks sorrowfully "the man who shot you disappear from the face from earth and your ...I mean, Katherine´s husband, didn´t keep contact"

"Who was my soon to be husband?"

"He was a doctor, a cardiologist," Isabela speaks and mentioned how Katherine meet him. Kitty thought it was a romantic story, she just wonders about the man´s taste in fashion.

_____________________________

In the Hospital Saint Mary, of Los Angeles, Dr Wagner is on his break eating something, when Emma Frost, a dermatologist brilliant that created a creme to combat the signals of age, sits next to him. Emma is a beautiful woman but is not Kurt´s type, however, the man can pretend to be pleasant and educate with a co-worker.

"You must feel conflict from the last new, I´m feeling many things, who would think she would come back?" Emma bites her nail pondering about this. Kurt has no idea what she is talking about.

"What? Another pop singer is going to do another tour?" Kurt jokes and when Emma look at him strangely the man stops eating his sandwich.

"No, you have TV, right? This is on the news since the first day, they found out another reincarnated" Emma explained "it´s your Katherine Pryce" now Kurt stops to eat the food. Kurt Wagner was far too busy with his hobbies to check the news.

It´s was no problem in finding out who she is. Kitty Pryde lives in Los Angeles and studies movies, having gaining a few small wards with some of her short movies. Her photo is a copy paste from his Katherine, except, by the way, she smiles is different. It´s happier than Katherine ever did.

"Katzchen...Is that you?" Kurt is tearing up not caring for the gazes upon him, is Katzchen back for real?

________________________

"I'm not sure how to react here, I think I should have contact with you sooner, but this is strange, very strange" Kitty apologises as Kurt and Kitty are talking, not a date yet(Kitty explains how this is strange, she used to have one boyfriend who dumps her a few months ago, now, she has a fiance? Kurt can give her time)

"I understand, really, if I was in your shoes I wasn´t sure what I would do" Kurt explained and Kitty feels relieved. They talk about normal things as Kitty´s new job and Kurt´s new promotion.

"This is nice, but Kurt...you do know that I´m not Katherine, I mean, the choices she made won´t reflect my choices"

"I know, I understand, I want to know you more, at first, it was because you are her reincarnation, but, now that I´m talking to you, I want to know you for you" Kurt explained tenderly and Kitty blushes "so, next time, can we call a date?"

"Ok, but no seafood" then she adds shyly "and we are going slowly, ok?"

"Of course"

_________________________

Kitty will never know what happened to her killer, Kurt won´t ever tell her, as the man closes his cellphone, just send a message to Kitty wishing good luck on the contest she is entering, Kurt is on his office, looking at the old news of Katherine´s death, the obituary, then looking at some photos.

Bobby Drake was the same as Kurt and by that reason he would fall in love with Katherine, however, rejection is not something taught to him as Bobby shot at Katherine...is ok, Kurt makes sure to return the favour.

But now that Katherine is alive, oh, now that he has Kitty, there´s no need for those photos to existing. Kurt burned down carefully. No one will ever see this photos as no one will ever find his body.

"I´ll make sure she is safer this time"