#comatose cloud adventures

[ticklishcicada]

Zack tries to sear a "steak" part 2 followup to this

context is in my Zack lives au tag

[a-vctlan]

𝙃𝙀𝘼𝘿𝘾𝘼𝙉𝙊𝙉 𝘿𝙐𝙈𝙋 - 𝙁𝙁𝙑𝙄𝙄 tosses this out while i work on the actual bio / about pages for these guys! :)

angeal hewley:

a solid 6'2 / 188cm

comfort food is hearty and heavy stews

considers his plants his pets, as there's no responsible way of actually owning dogs without paying pet-sitting fees and then barely seeing the dog anyway since he's away on missions. if you have a dog he can interact with, use it as a means to break the ice. don't shove it into his face though… it has happened.

before finding out the truth about his genetically engineered existence, angeal grew up thinking he was a sickly child. a lot of his early memories involve being in "doctor's" offices with his mother, although the context at the time was lost on him. part of his SOLDIER propaganda story was how the procedures cured him of all his ails, fixing his "frail" immune system ( which was just his unstable genetic code beginning to show itself).

anan biggs:

5'9 / 175cm

comes from a village / town that was eventually annexed by wutai during the war, south of it's borders. his parents, in a bid to save him from being directly involved in the war, smuggled him to midgar. they end up dying in the conflict due to shinra's actions.

the reason he cares so deeply for the slums orphanage is because he grew up himself, when it was even more run down and held together by the hopes and dreams of the older caretakers. and while his parents would've wanted him to grow up free of conflict… growing up in midgar's slums neck deep in the unfairness of the systems at hand tipped him towards being radicalized.

around 16-17 years old he sets off on his own, traveling the world, where in he eventually makes his way over to cosmo canyon where he spent a couple years and eventually met barret.

barret wallace:

6'4 / 193cm

his whole family died in the corel incident: his father, his mother and aunts, and most aching for him, his younger brother

barret's joined the corel militia around 15/16 in order to help their family financially, his father beginning to show signs of suffering from black lung from being a coal miner, and couldn't keep working - all the while, barret wanted his younger brother to stay in school since he wanted him to get out of corel one day

although their militia is "unofficial" barret grows to be the highest ranking member in it, and he's a strongly respected member of their society

canon divergence: after the shinra incident, when barret returns to corel during their travels, barret ISN'T hated by the entire community. yes there are outliers who let their bitterness and need to blame someone win out, HOWEVER as a whole the town's just desolate and oppressed. it was a COMMUNITY decision to accept shinra's "help" with the mako reactors, and blaming solely him makes no sense. the man that attacks him when he enters the town is a belligerent drunk who also lost his family, and barret's self hatred and the guilt that he harbors makes him accept it ss his penance, even though the man is quickly dragged off to sit his outburst out.

cloud strife ( request only ):

5'7 / 170cm

cloud's suffered from genuine brain death during his time spent mako comatose, and it was the jenova cells in his body that effectively "fixed" him and revived him. this is why he has such a high affinity / attunement to jenova/sephiroth: he has a higher percentage of jenova cells that anyone that isn't sephiroth, as his half-alive state meant jenova cells could slowly reproduce in his body and take over his dying cells.

it is arguable whether he is the "real" cloud or not at this point, but he wants to be.

it is something entirely instinctual, the jenova cells in him doing what is necessary to maintain his delusion, but cloud can, quite literally, read people's mind when they're in close proximity. he learns things fast, freakily fast, because of this. choreographs, fighting styles, information… if he needs to know it, he will take it.

during the early parts of their adventures, he has a constant tremor he is not aware of, like a chihuahua, and it only goes away when he focuses - whether on a task or on a fight. he is also in pain outside of the migraines, wielding the buster sword taking more effort than he "remembers".

kunsel reis zantos:

woudln't you like to know, weather boy?

check his blog ;3c

rude of the turks ( request only ):

6'1 / 185cm

speaks multiple languagues: french (native), italian, german, english

illegitimate son of a kalm mafia leader

originates from the french part of upper junon, moved to kalm as a young adult to follow in the "family tradition" even if he was never made an "oficial" member due to his bastard status

operated as a hitman / chauffeur to the mafia ring that shinra sponsored before eventually taking them them down for good publicity once their usefulness ran out

spent some time incarcerated before his continuous silence and loyalty caught the turk's attention, and after lengthy "talks" with tseng he was eventually convinced to join a new "family" that would actually respect him

he really didn't like reno at first, but it was exactly that kind of attitude and personality that was needed to break down his walls… because he'd quite literally never had to deal with this kind of people back in his mafia days - if anything, he'd silenced plenty of loudmouths like reno before.

reno is now his pookie, and if anything happens to his emotional support walking disaster you're not going to like the outcome.

professor hojo torrez:

5'11 / 180cm

he actually has other, more "sensible" titles, as he has completed multiple courses of higher education, but he prefers the title of "professor" purely because it immediately puts him above you. he is your better, and he is teaching you. use other titles to your own discretion, lab assistants have been fired over this "disrespect".

knows how to wield firearms, and is actually quite proficient in them even at this point in time - he was drafted once upon a time as a military medic before his… "talents" caught certain people's attention.

he is armed, constantly, with a single handgun underneath his labcoat, something vincent is sharply aware of.

he does not respect life, or anyone's right to it. he kills with zero remorse, and finds macabre enjoyment in knowing he is purposefully making his subjects suffer in pursuit of his goals.

cares about things purely in an ownership angle. it affects everything in his life, from his studies to his relationships. he will not be satisfied until he has degraded you into something docile and desolate… and those that raise too much of a fuss he considers to be too much work to bother keeping (alive).

[planckstorytime]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: A World Beyond Anger (Part Five)

V. A Generous Interpretation…

Ordinarily, I eschew theories and predictions about where an ongoing story might lead, because I prefer to withhold a holistic reading of a text until the text is… well, whole. But at the risk of doing exactly what the marketing team wants from me, I must make an exception. To be honest, I don’t actually believe that we’re dealing with alternate timelines or discrete universes in the traditional (i.e. dumb mass media) sense. Upon visiting Cosmo Canyon, a nameless NPC has some easily missed dialogue that sheds some light on how we’re meant to interpret what’s happening:

“So… my parents are no longer with us – here, that is – but I believe they’re still out there, on another plane. I’ve been reading a bunch of theories on this alternate world in the hope of going there someday. And over the course of my studies, I stumbled across a fascinating theory. It addressed the issue of what the lifestream is, arguing that spiritual energy is actually a manifestation of our knowledge and memories. Like I said, it’s a fascinating theory… but it’s incomplete. What about our hopes and dreams? We remember those, don’t we? So what if spiritual energy doesn’t distinguish between our real, lived memories and the unrealized desires buried deep in our hearts? What if coming into contact with that energy allowed us to ‘peer through the looking glass,’ so to speak? It’s just an idea, but… I hope to find the truth someday.”

A tagline for Rebirth is “What is fact and what is fiction?” While this cryptic ad copy definitely alludes to Cloud’s false memories, I suspect it also hints at the nature of these alternate worlds – namely, that they’re illusory.

The world we explore through Zack’s eyes doesn’t add up. Supposedly, all of the events of Remake occurred just prior to his arrival, but that doesn’t account for why he’s arrived several months later than he should have, or how he carries a comatose Cloud in tow. Biggs, who also seemingly died, likewise appears in this world. He remembers Cloud from his adventures in part one. As if this asynchronous timeline wasn’t enough, both Zack and Biggs mention that their internal clocks seem broken – they can’t tell how much time has passed since they arrived. Meanwhile, the world has suddenly withered without anyone noticing, and an ominous crack of doom looms in the sky. Far from the radiant golden glow that we saw in the closing cutscene of the first installment, this Midgar evokes a fanciful dream morphed into a nightmare.

I believe that these separate takes on reality are manifestations within the lifestream – demi-realities given the illusion of form through the echo of subconscious desires. Keeping with the Freudian theme, we can surmise that such desires materialize as dreams. Aerith likely left some sort of metaphysical impression when she zapped the plot ghosts at the end of Remake. Everyone who shows up in this nonsensical dream world are people that she knew, pantomiming their lives through the ever darkening scenario. Just as we populate our dreams with the people we know in the waking world, I believe most of the individuals in these worlds are projections based on how Aerith views them, acting as she unconsciously directs them. The exceptions are Zack and Biggs, who appear more like errant ghosts, drawn in by her unfulfilled desires for their survival. If we compare this evidence to the narrative’s broader conflict between the pleasure principle and the death drive, we can deduce the following: To deny death is to master desire; to master desire is to live in a dream.

The original story’s lifestream sequence provides us with the smoking gun for this explanation – the presence of the same golden rift across the sky that we see in both Zack’s world and Cloud’s perspective during the ending cutscene. Within the demi-realities, this crack in the fabric of the universe portends the coming apocalypse. But perhaps it really symbolizes the fleeting succor that these delusions provide before crumbling to the inescapable truth? Fate seems determined to correct these worlds (perhaps reflective of the grieving process), as different iterations still end with Biggs dead and Zack facing an onslaught of Shinra gunfire.

The previously linked chart of the “timelines” posits that Cloud creates a new timeline where he saves Aerith during the finale. As explained, I disagree with this being a logical, causality-driven event, and suggest that it’s instead fundamentally illogical. Aerith’s apparent survival comes from Cloud’s denial of reality – his inability to cope with failure and loss. Whether she’s a projection on a transitory plane or entirely a figment of Cloud’s imagination, the point stands that it’s an unnatural, unhealthy, artificial existence. I do not think she is alive in both body and spirit somewhere, or that the confluence and sundering of worlds somehow sends one spirit to the afterlife and leaves the other alive and conscious. If that’s the case, then that is extremely stupid, and would paint the party’s inability to see what Cloud sees as a deficiency on their part. Cloud is not red-pilled; he does not see an omniverse while all the plebeians stare at shadows on the wall of a cave. Making him perceptive of real, tangible worlds beyond normal observation would devastate his character arc, which hinges on him accepting his weakness and shattering his delusions.

With all due respect to other theorists, I believe that the rainbow light denotes not the splitting of timelines, but instead points of interference within the lifestream. We see the rainbows appear when summoning entities from materia, when interacting with lifesprings, and even when transitioning into the Fort Condor minigame (consider the authenticity of those literal toys in relation to the memory-images of people in these alternate worlds). I can see why some players interpret the rainbow as a path of divergence, since it recalls the image of light passing through a prism. But I think that rainbows can have many meanings: unity, inclusion, hope, etc. For this reading, though, I’d like to draw attention to what rainbows really are – tricks of light, illusions toward which humans commonly ascribe superstitious awe. From Biblical covenants to viral internet videos that you haven’t thought of in over a decade, rainbows captivate onlookers, who assign them phenomenal importance. Rainbows, however, lack substance – they cannot be touched, they cannot give you that promised pot of gold. They provide temporary bliss and then fade, as all insubstantial novelties do. Seeing one in an oil spill doesn’t mean the environment’s not in danger. Thus, I think Rebirth’s use of rainbows factors into ideas of perception, delusions, and coping mechanisms.

If there’s any validity to this interpretation, then where should the story go from here? Well, Kitase said in an interview with Vandal that, although the final entry in the trilogy will culminate in a happy ending, it won’t be “sunshine and rainbows.” Perhaps that’s a hint, perhaps it’s a Freudian slip, or perhaps I am projecting my own desires onto my reading. Regardless, I think the dissolution of these dream purgatories is the only satisfying way to close this plotline. The worlds seem condemned to perish soon after their nascence. They’re only born when fate’s boundaries are breached, which can’t be an everyday occurrence. Cloud even describes the planet as “screaming” in agony as a response to this fission and fusion.

Cloud and Aerith’s dream worlds seemingly emerge as wishful fabrications where their loved ones live on, but the latter goes on to explain that death is a natural part of life:

“Y’know… If you think about it, life and death are just two sides of the same coin. Our bodies may disappear when we die, but our spirits still live on. We return to the planet, rejoin the lifestream, and – in time – give rise to new life.”

Aerith rebukes Sephiroth’s desire to forge an everlasting world, claiming there’s no such thing as “forever.” Cheating death comes naturally for him, and so the conflict won’t end until he, like everyone, accepts his mortality. Far ahead of him, the apparition of Aerith at the end refers to her current location as a “second home” – alluding to the multiple references of death as a “homecoming” and confirming her acceptance of her passing.

Cloud’s repression has taken root, and he must learn the truth in order to dissolve the false reality that he’s conjured. Through a veil of static interference immediately following her death, the player can see Cloud silently mouthing the words that he initially uttered there in the 1997 title. I believe he gives the same speech here, too, only to erase it from his conscious memory and escape into his delusions. As with Zack, so with Aerith.

This is why I really appreciate what they did with Tifa in the Gongaga section. At first, I was hesitant toward the premature revelation about her mother’s death, but now I see it as a potential setup for an emotionally resonant scene in part three. Cloud and Tifa will inevitably fall into the lifestream, where she will help him reconstruct his memories and accept his true self, as dictated by the source material. However, I think now she will also aid him in overcoming his grief about Aerith.

“You saved me before; now it’s my turn.”

Tifa says this to Cloud after recounting their shared childhood trauma. Unknowingly marching toward her death, Tifa believed that her departed mother was waiting for her across the Mount Nibel. Cloud intercepted her and tried to free her from her delusions. I hope that we see her repay him in the final game – she will bring him back to reality and help him to move on. The dead are gone forever. The best way to honor their memory is not repression, or regression, or Reunion – but progression, living for the future, and pacifying that drive toward death (inevitable though it may be).

In the end, Aerith says it best:

“I get it, I really do. Knowing that the people we love aren’t really gone? It doesn’t make it any easier to let them go. It still hurts. So we can’t just think of it as a ‘homecoming.’ ‘Cause it’s not that simple. We’ve all experienced pain. We all have our regrets. What we’ve done – what’s been done to us – that’s set in stone. The past is forever. But the future – even if it has been written – can be changed.”

Should the writing of the third entry opt to follow this path, rather than the full-on comic book multiverse option, I’ll find it more agreeable – maybe even moving.

Something is still missing, though. For some reason, those assurances still aren’t enough for me.

FULL ESSAY: https://planckstorytime.wordpress.com/2024/05/11/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-a-world-beyond-anger/

[tinyhistory]

Hey! Love your stories so much I just had to ask! Do you have any favorite drarry authors/stories? I sometimes compare the quality of other stories to ROA (oops!) because ROA is just that good. My personal favorites are ROA (of course!), the Foundations Series (saras_girl), the ordeal of being known (louisfake), denouement (the_never_was), Good to Me (And I'd Be So Good to You) (AWickedMemory), and To Hurt and Heal (cassisluna). Have you read these? Have a wonderful day! :)

Thank you, so glad you’ve enjoyed my stories! And thank you for so patiently waiting for a reply. I haven’t been online much in the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately I haven’t read any of your recs, but I’m always happy to add another fic to my to-read list.

I did a rec post a few months ago, but I’ll post an updated version now. The Skyhawke Archives appear to be down, which is crushing news. I’ve had to update a lot of the links.

So here are my favourite Drarry fanfics:

And We Are At Our Apogee (PG-13) by angelgazing

Summary: Draco wanted revenge, but it didn't work out that way.

My notes: Californian beaches, supermarkets, road trips, and a bittersweet ending.

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A Reckless State of Mind (T) by Lomonaaeren

Summary: Draco is a Psyche-Diver, and his newest patient is Auror Potter, who’s been a pathological liar for over a year—and has just tried to violently end his own life.

Notes: The plot alone guarantees inclusion on this list. Probably the most creative fic I’ve ever read, and the twists and turns will keep you guessing.

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Berlin, In the Year of Our Lord (PG) by Are

Summary: Harry is a green-tea addict. Draco stalks him.

Notes: Probably my all-time favourite fic, along with Blue Vase. It’s sparse and minimal and I love that writing style.

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Blue Vase (M) by ivyblossom

Summary: Let’s pretend.

Notes: Draco finds an amnesiac Harry and befriends him, pretending they were once lovers. It’s pensive, short, and bittersweet.

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The Boy Who Only Lived Twice (E) by lettered

Summary: Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him. Adventure! Intrigue! Secret identities, celebrities, spies! It's all right here, folks.

Notes: Action-heavy fics are damn hard to write, but lettered nails it. The action scenes are breakneck speed, the conversations are threaded with double meaning, and even the silences are tense.

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Draco in Darkness (T) by Plumeria47.

Summary: Following an accident in his seventh year, Draco loses his eyesight.

Notes: This is one of the first fics I ever read (when it was over on FF in 2003) so it’s probably here just for nostalgia points alone. I read it when I was a kid and just thought it was a lovely golden fairytale, the best romance I’d ever read in my (very short, thus far) life. I love reading it again, even years later as an adult when I can see the tarnish on it; the things my childhood eyes didn’t notice. I don’t care. It’s my soft and fuzzy comfort fic.

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The Flesh is Frail (NC-17) by wildestranger

Summary: None

Notes: Draco has injuries from curses and spells, and Harry keeps him company. Draco is angry; Harry is stubborn. They argue their way into a grudging relationship. It’s a short read and well worth your ten minutes.

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Good-bye to Yesterday (NC-17) by furiosity

Summary: Draco felt ready to face even a million years in Azkaban as long as it meant that at the end of it all, he would make Potter pay.

Notes: It’s not a dark fic, but it certainly dips in and out of the shadows. If you like your romance to be sharp as a razor and bitter as black coffee, give it a read.

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Hymn to Color (PG) by Lomonaaeren

Summary: Months after Draco cast a curse that took Harry’s eyesight, Harry is still trying to come to terms with it. Draco still wanted forgiveness, which was probably the problem.

Notes: Probably my very inadequate idea of “fluff”. It’s a quiet, introspective fic. Draco and Harry are well-written.

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Kings among runaways (PG) by enderxenocide.

Summary: Later, the toast will be slightly overcooked, Draco will burn the eggs, and there will be another fist fight in-between the living room and the front door, but they’ll eat breakfast with second-hand plates and Draco’s great-grandmother’s silverware.

Notes: Dreamy descriptions, abstract scenes, and the characters are lovingly delineated. Beautiful writing.

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On Broken Glass (PG-13) by coffeejunkii

Summary: After the final battle, Draco is holding the shards that are left of his and Harry’s life.

Notes: Established relationship. Harry’s forgetful and seems to suffer both short-term and long-term memory loss; Draco stays by his side through six years of post-war amnesia. Very short, just a tiny ficlet. There’s sequels (in bite-size pieces) but I prefer to read the first ficlet and leave it there.

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Paper Dolls (M) by cupiscent

Summary: In the final year of the War, Draco gets a letter, makes a choice and pays the price.

Notes: Short, succinct, and packs a punch. No character deaths, in case the summary has you feeling nervous.

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Portrait (PG-13) by Silent Blast

Summary: None.

Notes: Dorian Grey, but Drarry. Of course it’s going to be good.

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Shattered (NC-17) by femmequixotic

Summary: One damned accident involving one too-lucky curse, and suddenly you'd think he was five again, with their Harry, be carefuls and their quick Levitating charms ready the instant the potion gives way and his rebelling hands lose hold of whatever's in their grasp.

Notes: Draco’s an artist. Harry’s intrigued by his sculptures and paintings.

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Snatch (PG-13) by didntyoupotter

Summary: Harry is comatose, Hermione and Ron aren’t much help, and Draco isn’t sure about anything anymore.

Notes: The opening scene fools you into thinking this will be a light read with a streak of good humour. Don’t fall for it. By the third act, you’ll be hanging onto every word and feeling a lot of emotions. Also, back in the day, this was one of the Draco/Harry fics. Everyone knew of it. Pay your respects to your fandom history and read this beloved classic.

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The Stages of Acceptance (T) by Lomonaaeren.

Summary: Harry, already happily married to Ginny, receives the news that he's Draco's mate. Law and custom don't give him the option of ignoring the news. The stages of his reaction, one by one.

Notes: This is not a romance, and I love that the author just casually chucks all the Veela tropes in the bin and says “nope”. In Lomonaaeren’s own words, this fic is more practical than romantic. Harry is unfamiliar with the Veela concepts and hates the very idea of being “shackled” to someone; he rejects Draco at once. Draco is miserable and lonely. They do eventually come to understand each other better, but it’s a huge struggle with lots of setbacks. The general air of pessimism and misery does make the small glimpses of compassion and empathy feel so well-earned. I love a fic that rations out its happiness.

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The Stately Homes of Wiltshire (E) by waspabi

Summary: Malfoy Manor has mould, dry rot and an infestation of unusually historical poltergeists. Harry Potter is on the case.

Notes: This one needs no introduction. The writing is polished, the characterisation perfect, and the dialogue is fun. I love the humour woven throughout it.

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Then Comes a Mist and a Weeping Rain (E) by faithwood.

Summary: It always rains for Draco Malfoy. Metaphorically. And literally. Ever since he had accidentally Conjured a cloud. A cloud that's ever so cross.

Notes: Another one that most of us know. It’s a lighthearted and fun read.

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (M) by novembersnow

Summary: In the war-torn years after Hogwarts, one man has no knowledge of his yesterdays.

Notes: Another classic back in the feverish heyday of the Harry Potter fandom, when books were still being released and everyone had worked themselves up into a shipping frenzy. And no wonder this fic was an instant hit. Draco has lost all his memories and Harry’s investigating as an Auror, but the longer you read, the more you start questioning everything. Good twists and turns that lead to a tender ending.

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Turn by Saras_Girl

Summary: One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Notes: An inevitable inclusion on any favourites list. I think my favourite thing about it is the characterisation. Everyone is so well-rounded; the characters are brought to life and feel like old friends. All their habits, styles, mannerisms, even the way they walk or talk. While I love everyone in this fic, I have to admit that Blaise is just amazing. Of all the thousands of Blaises imagined by fanfic writers, I love this one the best. “Old bean” indeed.

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Under the Ivy (PG-13) by coffeejunkii

Summary: It is impressive how much you can learn about someone by simply sharing a few rooms. They don’t spend time together, not really, but Harry still knows that Malfoy prefers raspberry jam over strawberry, that he hums along to the Wireless when he thinks no one is around, and that his leg is bothering him more than usual when the temperatures drop below freezing.

Notes: Another old, old favourite of mine. It’s like snuggling into a soft blanket. Remus owns a cottage and Harry moves in after the war. Later, Remus lets a room to Draco, who is an outcast after the war and has limited housing options. Harry isn’t happy at first with the new lodger, but he eventually warms up to Draco. A slow and gentle romance.

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Vale Sanare (M) by rurounihime

Summary: Draco’s world gains a new component, just when he thought he’d sorted everything out.

Notes: London nightclubs, one-night-stands, loud music and lonely nights. Draco has seizures due to a curse from the war, and the seizures have led to a fear of intimacy. Short and sweet.

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The Way Down (T) by lettered

Summary: Malfoy’s all, “Come out of there,” the way you say to a cat who is badly behaved. And Harry’s all like, “No, what, I’m a hermit! And I have a chest-monster! And I am crazy magically powerful!” and Malfoy’s all, “We all have problems, bub.” (thoughtfully) “You are crazy though. I’ll give you that.”

Notes: I just adore this fic. The fic starts well-grounded, giving you a solid backstory and matter-of-fact context, but as it goes on, it slowly unravels into dreamy scenes, lush settings, and repeated motifs. It’s just such a beautiful story.

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When Love beckons to you, follow him (PG-13) by megyal

Summary: Draco wakes up, lost, somewhere in a forest. He has no idea where he is or how he got there. As he is blundering around trying to find his way home, he hears Harry's voice in his head, telling him what to do.

Notes: I generally like my fics to be bittersweet or with a bit of heartache — but this fic is just a little cloud of softness. If you need something light and lovely without being syrupy-sweet, this is a good choice!

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The World of the Living (M) by fourth_rose

Summary: A traumatised war hero and a convicted criminal under the roof of an eccentric journalist make for a rather odd ensemble, but Luna has never had a problem with oddities as long as they make sense.

Notes: The story is told from Luna’s perspective, which gives everything a lovely dreamy quality. She takes in a couple of strays after the war — first Harry, who is avoiding his other friends and has quit his Auror job — and then she offers a room to Draco right after his trial. Draco is rude, angry, and ungrateful; Harry is churlish, withdrawn, and moody. Luna doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest, and over the course of the next few months, her house guests slowly warm up to each other.

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Voices From the Fog (E) by noeon

Summary: After years of running away, Harry crosses paths with an all-too familiar face and follows him to Amsterdam.

Notes: Harry drifts across Europe, trying to forget the war. He ends up in a woodworking shop in Amsterdam, alongside a moody Draco. Atmospheric settings and solid characterisation.

[neonretrorevival]

The Mars Volta - Amputechture (2006) 15 year retrospective

This week marks the 15th anniversary of The Mars Volta's third LP, Amputechture. In time to celebrate, German label Clouds Hill teamed up with the band to remaster and re-release the album on vinyl, first as part of an epic 18-disc box set released earlier this year, and then as an individual release this month.

The follow-up to their seminal Frances the Mute, Amputechture sees the band explore even more experimental territory than its predecessors. Superficially, the group has frequently drawn comparisons to Led Zeppelin, Rush, Yes, Santana or even contemporaries like Coheed & Cambria, but anyone with half an ear can tell you there's something more to their sound than the dusty old prog LPs in your dad's garage.

The songs on Amputechture may each be student-film length, but they are modern, instantaneous, plaintive, combustive. Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez cites salsa virtuosos like Larry Harlow and Charlie Palmieri; hardcore acts like Black Flag and Bad Brains; and the films of Werner Herzog and Fellini as bigger influences than the stuffier sounds of the 70s rock canon. If anything, they channel the more experimental fusion stylings of King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra through their unstable, Latin-tinged take on progressive post-hardcore into this juggernaut of a record.

Some, like me, consider it a testament to the maturity of their compositional abilities. Some, like the self-appointed taste-making dickheads at Pitchfork, considered it wildly self-indulgent. While reception proved somewhat divisive in the day, the overall reception was typically positive, if bewildered.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I'm a die-hard fan, so I'll dispense any pretense that I could ever do an objective critical review. There are dozens of them out there, so when I talk about music, I prefer to cover what fascinates me personally about it rather than attempt to synthesize what another listener might take away from it. Amputechture, long considered by the group to be their "misunderstood, autistic child," is in fact my favorite record of theirs, and perhaps my favorite record of all-time.

That's not to say that I would recommend it to just anyone. Even a lot of fans of their first two records found this at-times cacophonous melee of a record to be a bridge too far, and I can understand. Maybe it was a time-and-place kind of thing, but to me their music always sounded closest to the actual chaos swirling in my angsty young adult brain. Their Rick Rubin-produced first album was by far their most palatable outing; their second was a band able to introduce themselves on their own terms; but Amputechture was for those who had already bought in entirely and were ready to take the next step with them. And I certainly was.

Where their first two records were ostensibly narrative concepts -- the first, a hallucinatory sci-fi adventure in the mind of a comatose man; the second, an adopted man trying to uncover the horrifying secret of his birth family -- singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala wanted to take a different conceptual approach this time around. Instead of a unifying narrative, he wanted to invoke tv shows like Rod Serling's Night Gallery or movies like P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, where individual narratives (as represented by each of the eight songs) shared a common, connective thematic thread.

The band has often cited film as not only a primary influence, but also as a feeling they're trying to recreate. They certainly succeed in that -- Amputechture's cinematic pacing is undeniable. Songs and individual movements within play out like scenes in a movie, each with their own building tensions and climaxes. Intro song Vicarious Atonement is the Crypt Keeper telling you what's in store for tonight. Songs like "Tetragrammaton" and "Day of the Baphomets" feel like they could end multiple times before they explode back into action.

It all feels like meticulously-controlled chaos, bombastic as possible yet textural and layered. Even "Viscera Eyes," which features their most point-blank, RATM-channeling pentatonic riff, bisects into a vulnerable, soaring outro coda. Listening to Amputechture isn't unlike watching a David Lynch film by yourself at 3 am with the lights off. It's unsettling, at times beautiful, abstract but always fascinating.

While it never climbed the heights of critical or commercial success that its two predecessors did, I'll always revere this bizarre, jagged, "autistic child" of a record as my personal favorite album from one of the most respectable and daring discographies in modern rock history.

Amputechture is available for purchase on vinyl directly from the label at the link below, and on all major streaming platforms.

https://us.cloudshillshop.com/products/the-mars-volta-amputechture-2lp

[batlanterned]

hey Andy!! do you know of any batlantern fics similar to In Ruins (the one you recommended on your faves recommended list)? thank you!!! have a great day !

Hey thank you for the request! There’s not a lot in the way of adventure-style AUs, so I also included some longer mission-based fics as well. Remember to show love to these authors!

Dead Man Walking by antithestral (WIP) -  But just before Bruce could walk away, Jordan grabbed his wrist. "What," Bruce hissed, wondering if Jordan had seen something. But he was- he was still just staring at Bruce, his hand still locked around Bruce's wrist, and "Hal, what," he said, quieter, rougher.

“The job’s done. The succubus— it's dead,” Hal rasped.

“Yes…?”

“You'll be heading out tomorrow. I don’t know… I don’t know when I’ll see you again.”

“Hal…?”

“If you're going to punch me, you should do it now,” Hal whispered all in a rush, and then pulled him close, and— and kissed him.

[Or, the one in which they don't have superpowers, and there aren't any aliens, but they save they save the world anyway — and also, fall in love.]

We May Die Tomorrow by Lunardeityastrid -“My squadron is leaving tomorrow.”

“I know.”

Hal raised an eyebrow. He had expected more of a reaction.

”I may die tomorrow.”

Bruce didn’t say anything but his body went visibly stiff, his hands slacking on the bandages. Hal propped himself up grimacing at the minor pain. If there were more pilots, Hal would have had his rest and recovery. Only B-17s were falling out of the sky like flies over Berlin. Last mission, twenty-five went out. Two returned. Each mission the stakes were higher. Hal refused to be the tiniest bit of an optimist; he would only be lying to himself. He cupped Bruce’s face, dragging him in for a faint kiss on the lips. Hal didn’t worry about the other pilots in the tent, they were all comatose anyways. (I haven’t read this one yet, but it’s next on my list!)

We’re Alive by just-kent-ing-around (WIP) - Thrown dangerously off course by debris, a shimmering purple cloud, and then pulled into a gravitational orbit, there is no chance to escape their crash and burn.

Batman and Green Lantern are in for the challenge of their lives... stranded on an alien planet, with no way out. With each other. Except they don't know they're trapped on a planet cloaked in a time anomaly. The time passed on it, isn't equal to the time of Earth.

To the Justice League? They're a couple of days out from the end of their diplomatic mission. To them? They've been stranded, a year and a half. (Another one I haven’t read but that is on my list!)

Aliens Made Us Do It by FabulaRasa -  Bruce and Hal run into a little bit of cultural difficulty on an off-world mission. This was really, really not supposed to be Bruce Wayne's wedding day. Consider this story the traditional fannish "oh no we have to get married!" with a BatLanterny twist at the end.

[zaxxusu]

[08.11] Happy Birthday, Cloud

The stars seemed to accompany the solitude of a delivery boy staying at campfire in the middle of his on the way home. But maybe after midnight, his cell phone would ring many times; indicating incoming messages from many people --- even if they did deliver the words right at the turn of the day. There is no need to compete who is the first to say it, we still have 24 hours and that does not reduce the essence of their greeting. Maybe even, when the blond arrived at the doorstep of Seventh Heaven tomorrow evening, a surprise or party had been waiting for him

But one serene night in the absence of others Is an opportunity for another man reaching out. Ah, the blond is sleeping peacefully of course, what time is it? Thus, he didn't wanna wake him up.

It was like... a reminiscence of the nights they ever spent three years ago, in the countryside, or even far from people. The man would’ve preferred to call their activity as travelling all over Gaia despite being fugitive to cheer them up; even if the comatose blond had no response. But he had dreamed the better version of this; the real version with the two not being hunted, and with the younger male consciously setting up the tent and enjoying the barbeque the older would cook.

But as the stars blinked above them, it forever remained as a wish only. A wish that could never come true.

Though, this night isn’t the only time the man watched over his friend. When he walked out of the church and waved his goodbye that day one year ago, he already knew that his friend would be okay from now on. Even when he witnessed a major fight, he had believed his friend didn’t need a hand from him since it wasn’t the first time battle. And truth to be told, everything he told his friend to do before had been proven. But it turned out he insisted on having one more year to convey something important in summary. The memento had to be today. And this would be the final one.

So he left a voicemail. Don’t ask how it works when he has a Cetra girl by his side. And he hoped the blond didn’t delete the message from an unknown number before trying to listen to it.

“Yo!  Happy 24th birthday, buddy.  You're older than me now. 

And it means the adventure of your life just begins. 5 years, 10 years, even till 50 years later. Aim higher than me!

Yeah, I was just waiting for the day you finally reach it and surpass me in everything. ---note that, not just age. Everything.

And that was today.  So I can say this once again to convince you and for last:  You did. And I'm proud of you. 

Well, I wish I could celebrate it every year, sadly, I must really go from now on. I know you would keep looking forward even if I didn’t watch ‘cause I don’t wanna kick your butt outta here.  So, thank you, Cloud, for being my living legacy.

Wish you all the best, always. Zack.” 

There was a beep and vibration, a sign that the message was sent. And with that, a white feather is flying down.

//some responses from Cloud can be read here: @strfeborne​ [1], @fenrirxsoldier​ [2], @nibelheimraised​ [3], @cavusvitae​ [4], @skyfallenxsoldier​ [5], @hiislegacy​ [6]

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Morgodea

CR 4

Chaotic Evil Medium Fey

Adventure Path: Hell’s Rebels: Dance of the Damned, pg. 86~87

These sickening creatures are a whole race of Fey punished for some ancient sin against the Eldest, whose punishment has touched the entirety of their people and turned them into corrupt beasts driven to debase and debauch. Their ‘cloaks’ are actually layers of a thin hide they can expand or retract, or flair out like a cobra flashing its hood to reveal their waxy, hole-covered flesh that constantly seeps a pale, thick jelly that supports their symbiotic brood of cockroaches and acts as their greatest weapon of corruption.

Slinking about the slums like an unfortunate many monsters have learned to do, Morgodea are all but impossible to recognize for what they really are unless they wish to be, able to retract their inhuman features and command their multitudes of minions to lay in patient wait for the right time. Morgodea have Cockroach Empathy, able to command and control all manner of roaches like a human would train a dog, and use their minions of filth for similar purposes, guarding specific areas or running down particular prey and softening them up. Once the Fey gets in close, they can unleash their personal brood: a 5ft Cockroach Cloud that constantly skitters around their body, indulging in the nutrient-rich jelly they secrete and breeding with such speed that the Cloud can recover from being destroyed (by at least 10 AoE damage) in as little as three rounds.

Anyone caught in the cloud of biting, stinking insects takes 1d6 damage and must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or be exposed to Morgod Jelly, a powerfully addictive and euphoric hallucinogen that causes 1d2 Charisma and Wisdom damage and instills a further -2 penalty to all Charisma and Wisdom checks so long as it lingers in their system. They produce this Jelly constantly from their body, not only nourishing their brood but acting as a tool of ensnarement. It’s maddeningly addictive and causes endless euphoria in those who consume it, often meaning the Morgodea don’t need to ambush anyone and instead simply sell the substance in cups or wrapped in waxed paper, taking their pick of those who overdose and lay insensate in the filthy dens these monsters call home.

When the larders run dry, though, Morgodea coat their twin palm-stingers with the Jelly, their every sting dealing only 1d4 damage but exposing the victim to the drug and its stat damage. Their stronger central limb deals 1d6 damage but can grab and grapple anyone it latches onto, leaving them open to repeated stings until the Jelly renders them comatose. Even getting out of its grip is no salvation, because Morgodea can send out a Sickening Impulse to anyone within 60ft that’s suffering from Morgod Jelly addiction, forcing them to make a DC 15 Will save or get sickened for 1d6 rounds... or be forced to obey a Command from the foul fey. “Eat” is a viable Command when presenting a dose of pure Morgod Jelly, its effects impossible to resist if it’s taken orally, over and over again until the poor soul collapses.

It’s these victims that the roach Fey steal away to their homes, consuming them alive in small portions over the course of days or weeks, or using them as incubators for their larvae. Whenever a victim is given to the Morgodea larva, a new Morgodea is born bearing the victim’s face and body but the mind of the roach fairy, often causing tragic cases of mistaken identity that end with the victim’s would-be rescuers, or even the victim’s family and friends, being slowly replaced by malevolent, flesh-eating roach-men.

You can read more about them here.

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #237

Tues May 05 2020 [01:26 AM] Wack'd: I...don't know how that last issue slots here in continuity [01:27 AM] Wack'd: Since we open with our heroes having just come back from Latveria [01:27 AM] Wack'd: They brought Doctor Doom's comatose body with them! So that way if he ever gets un-stasised it'll happen on their terms and not his [01:28 AM] Wack'd: And then he can be put on trial, apparently [01:28 AM] maxwellelvis: That annual is probably just something you can shove in wherever. [01:28 AM] Wack'd: Even though his unconscious body was extradited to another country and also he's a head of state [01:28 AM] Wack'd: I guess through that whole adventure the Four had Doom's body on hand?! [01:28 AM] Wack'd: Sure [01:29 AM] Wack'd: Okay so. Uh [01:29 AM] Wack'd: Doom isn't head of state again yet [01:29 AM] Wack'd: Makes sense, he did want to get rid of all his enemies first [01:30 AM] Wack'd: (You'd think having diplomatic immunity would make that easier but) [01:30 AM] Wack'd: So Reed's like "we're gonna put him in suspended animation and then I'll call the Latverian embassy and see what they want to do about all this" [01:31 AM] Wack'd: Given that there's not a Latverian government at the moment who fucking knows what happens from there but I guess it's not Reed's problem [01:31 AM] maxwellelvis: Let's just hope they don't get there and Boris is already there, waiting for them. [01:32 AM] maxwellelvis: Wouldn't that just be all they needed? [01:32 AM] Wack'd: Yeah [01:33 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Ben has begun worrying that Alicia loves him because he's a giant rock monster. For some reason. Which is bad. Also for some reason [01:33 AM] maxwellelvis: Because now he can fret about what happens if it goes away again [01:33 AM] Bocaj: "I love you for you" "How dare you" [01:34 AM] Wack'd: I know the breakup is coming. I can feel it in my bones and I'm gonna be so mad [01:34 AM] maxwellelvis: because he's seen in the past that Alicia does feel different about him when he's human [01:34 AM] Wack'd: She literally just saw him as a human one issue ago and was happily married to him so *shrug* [01:36 AM] Wack'd: Meanwhile Franklin goes to see Frankie [01:36 AM] Wack'd: Who you might remember was having a breakdown last we saw her [01:37 AM] Bocaj: She saw herself naked in the mirror [01:37 AM] Wack'd: Meet a new character! She seems fun

[01:38 AM] Wack'd: We go inside though and Frankie's still having a breakdown. Julie's kind of a jerk [01:38 AM] maxwellelvis: Wonder if she'll stick around or if she never comes back from that class. [01:39 AM] Wack'd: Now, Johnny knows Frankie's secret. She has genitals

[01:40 AM] Wack'd: We cut away and will find out NEXT ISSUE! Alas

[01:40 AM] maxwellelvis: A severe burn on her chest or torso, I'll wager. [01:40 AM] Wack'd: I've been spoiled on what her deal is and I somehow doubt it [01:41 AM] Wack'd: Meanwhilier, Reed Sue and Franklin have gone horseback riding through central park! [01:42 AM] Wack'd: oh good bryne hasn't forgotten franklin likes to watch his parents kiss

[01:43 AM] Wack'd: Fortunately Franklin's weird voyeurism is interrupted by an alarm [01:43 AM] Wack'd: hahahahahahahahahahahaahahah

[01:44 AM] maxwellelvis: Why are there two guys with green hair in this panel? [01:44 AM] Wack'd: It's the 80s, get with it, man [01:45 AM] maxwellelvis: It's only like 1982, the Aqua Net cloud hasn't even descended over the world yet. [01:46 AM] Wack'd: So the alarm is a bank alarm, and there's a gang of bank robbers being led by a 9-foot tall blue alien lady who doesn't speak English [01:46 AM] Wack'd: She uses some kind of psychic beam to knock out Reed, and then Sue and Franklin when they come looking [01:47 AM] Wack'd: Franklin knocks out the blue lady and the bank robbers need to carry her away

[01:48 AM] maxwellelvis: Man, I didn't think things were that hard for Mr. Goodwin. [01:48 AM] maxwellelvis: He shouldn't have to supplement his income like this. [01:48 AM] Wack'd: Hehehe [01:49 AM] Wack'd: Reed and Sue wake up and Reed finds some aluminum-lead alloy balls at the crime scene, which is apparently only something that can be made in zero gravity [01:49 AM] Wack'd: They leave their kids with the cops because there's another crime happening imminently [01:50 AM] Wack'd: Reed manages to apprehend one of the crooks, which means its TIME FOR BACKSTORY [01:51 AM] maxwellelvis: This I gotta hear [01:51 AM] Wack'd: The leader, Archie, was "never a good 'bo", which I assume means "hobo"? Life on the road wasn't good enough for him and he turned his friends into a gang of criminals [01:52 AM] Wack'd: They found this big blue lady, who they call Spinnerette, in a junkyard, and Archie figured out she was here looking for silver [01:52 AM] Wack'd: And, uh, convinced her to come do crimes with them. Somehow [01:53 AM] Wack'd: End of backstory [01:53 AM] Wack'd: Reed determines "It all fits somehow. It all makes sense. yes..." [01:53 AM] Wack'd: Which, uh, okay dude [01:54 AM] Bocaj: So that's why MJ has to be Spinneret in RYV. This big blue lady took the other spelling [01:55 AM] Wack'd: Ugh. Women are people, John

[01:56 AM] Wack'd: Reed has a universal translator and gets Sue to trap Spinnerette in an airtight bubble. Turns out the high oxygen content of the air made her "drunk" [01:57 AM] Wack'd: Which I guess was indicated by the alloy that can only exist in a vacuum that she was dropping everywhere? Somehow? [01:57 AM] Wack'd: I don't think the bit with the hobos explained anything [01:57 AM] maxwellelvis: Dammit Zhaan [01:57 AM] Bocaj: Giant woman giiiiiiant wooooooman [01:58 AM] Wack'd: She leads the Four back to her spaceship [01:59 AM] Wack'd: You'd think if they were all identical the men wouldn't be so wide and maybe would also have boobs but uh okay

[02:00 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed makes a bunch of other wild deductions to make this story make sense and then the aliens leave [02:01 AM] Bocaj: Reed: -wild deductions- liens: "Ugh lets get out of here" [02:01 AM] Wack'd: Bryne was on a roll for a while but they can't all be winners, I guess [02:02 AM] Wack'd: If you're curious: the alloy was her trying to pay for the stuff she stole, she went for silver because she confused it with indium which can repair solar cells, she has dizziness powers because her job is to prevent vertigo in weightlessness [02:02 AM] Wack'd: And, uh, she was so cool hanging out with humans because coming from a race of clones she didn't notice they looked different [02:02 AM] Wack'd: Somehow [02:02 AM] Wack'd: Whatever [02:03 AM] Wack'd: I'm gonna do the next issue because I wanna get to the Frankie Raye stuff

[petri808]

“ Don’t leave me… ” and/or “ Don’t die on me– Please. ” NaLu

Hewo Anon!  Whipped this up as quick as I could before bed, I hope it’s what you were looking for. Angst :)

Nalu Drabble, takes place after the 100 year quest.  

They’d arrived home from the long mission only to find the smoldering ruins of Natsu and Happy’s cottage, and a message sent loud and clear.  Ignia must have been tracking them, because the damage was fresh, so fresh that parts of the structure was still smoking.  All of his and Happy’s possessions, his memento’s of the life he’d lived and adventures they’d had were gone.  The only clue left behind was a word burned into what was left of a wall.        

“I’m sorry Lucy,” Natsu turns his back to the woman he loved more than anything in this world.  He didn’t want to see the tears pouring down her face when it was hard enough just smelling the salty air and hearing her sobs.  It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but he felt that it was the right one for them both.  Because if he didn’t try, Ignia would just keep coming back.

“This is not some training exercise that you’re leaving me for, it’s a possible death mission!”  Lucy beats her fists on his back with all the frustrations of a woman scorned.  “Just leave him be!  We can rebuild your home, we can make new memories, but we can’t bring you back if you…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.  

After a pause, Natsu’s long exhale conveys his torn convictions.  “You might be right Luce, but I will not sit by and let him come for us again.  If he ki…  If he hurt you, there’s no telling how far into the darkness I would fall because of it.  I’m sorry Lucy but I have to stop him.”  Ignia had already threatened her life once so, how could he take the risk after seeing how far his brother would go.  

Lucy falls to her knees in the grassy field.  She knew…  She knew this wasn’t the choice Natsu wanted to make, and she was scared, absolutely terrified of what might happen.  It wasn’t just the fact he planned to confront Ignia, but that he wanted to do it alone.  They were a team goddamnit!  They’d all seen just how powerful Ignia’s flames had been and the affect it had on Natsu.  The slayer’s skin had burned!  He’d lost control!  If Lucy hadn’t stepped in to stop him, what more would have happened?!  

“Don’t leave me Natsu!  You can’t do this to me again!”

Natsu finally turns back, kneeling at her level.  “I will always do everything and anything in my power to keep you safe.”  He caresses her cheek, his thumb sweeping away a few of the tears.  “You know that, just as I know if it were reversed you’d do the same.”   

“That’s exactly why I’m telling you not to go alone you big idiot!”  

“Good bye Lucy.”  He leans his forehead to hers, closing his eyes and taking one last deep inhale committing her scent to memory.  Then Natsu stands up and walks away to where Happy waited for him without looking back.   She never saw the tears flowing down his cheeks as he prayed this wouldn’t be the last time he saw her.

She watches their fleeting figures sailing off into the distance.  Lucy’s body went completely numb, she couldn’t believe it.  All those faded emotions rushing back of when he’d left her for a year.  The image of his cold and lifeless body because the END side was trying to take hold.  His story fading from the END book.  And the vision of Natsu under the control of Ignia’s flames.  The possibility of Natsu dying…  Lucy’s fist curls into a ball and she strikes the ground.  

“I’m gonna find you!!” she screams.  Like hell she would let Natsu suffer this on his own!  

She stared at the clue trying to figure out its meaning.  ‘Acnologia.’  What did a dead dragon have to do with any of this?  By that point, word had filtered back to the guild.  Erza, Gray, and Wendy found Lucy still staring at that wall and pulled what little information they could get from her.  Ignia had mentioned Aconologia when they’d first met, and something about the surprise to find out Natsu had been the one to stop him, not alone, but that part of the tale didn’t seem to concern Ignia.

“I’ve got it!” Lucy scrambles to her feet.  “I know where they might be!” 

It took the group a couple of hours by train to reach the port city of Hargeon.  It was the site of the final battle and maybe where Ignia would want to end his own sibling rivalry with the dragon’s killer.  But before they could reach the city, a loud explosion rocks the train so hard it slams on its breaks.  Panic grips the passengers and everyone rushes the windows to see what was going on.  Team Natsu is shocked as a billowing mushroom cloud of smoke rises above what looks to be the city.  More explosions go off in rapid succession until finally, a dead calm fills the air.  

This wasn’t good!  The team rushes towards the city on foot.  Please let Natsu be okay!  Lucy screams in her head over and over.  At least when there was noise it meant the fighting was still on going but now, the eerie silence was like a death call ringing in her ears.  Her heart pounded in her chest.  Dear Mavis please let Natsu be…

Near the outskirts of the city is where they find two bodies lying at the bottom of a crater.  Both Ignia and Natsu were covered in burns, their clothes scorched and ragged, and their bodies unmoving, not even breathing.  Lucy screams and flings herself down the steep slope.  This can’t be happening!  

“No!  No!  No!  Natsu!!”  She scoops Natsu’s lifeless body into her arms, cradling him tightly to her.  “Don’t die on me– Please!  You can’t leave me like this!”  Lucy screams for the healer as tears blur her vision, “Wendy, please help him, he’s not breathing!”               

Wendy places her hands over Natsu’s body, but the grim expression on her face spoke to his dire straits.  “He’s exhausted too much of his magic reserves to sustain life…  Lucy,” the poor young girl burst into tears, “he’s too far gone for me to help him.”

This man who had a seemingly unending supply of vigor and life was on the verge of death and there was nothing she could do about it.  Rage fills her mind as Lucy looks over at the body of Ignia who was unconscious but still breathing.  That bastard!  Over a stupid sibling rivalry she might lose the love of her life!  

Lucy sets Natsu into Gray and Erza’s care and flies at Ignia with unadulterated and pure hatred fueling her at this point.  She didn’t care how strong he was, this son of Igneel would pay dearly!  Lucy transforms into her Taurus star dress, wrapping her whip around the comatose dragon man’s neck and pulling it as tightly as she could.  Her friends are screaming at her to stop, that killing him won’t bring Natsu back, but their cries fall on deaf ears.  He killed her Natsu and for that he deserved to die too!

The loss of air is what snaps Ignia back to consciousness.  He fights against her, but Lucy is too far gone to feel pain, and she only pulls the whip tighter the more he struggles.  

“Help…  I can…” Ignia manages to croak out.  Because he’d exhausted so much of is own magic fighting against Natsu, he was no match for her right now.  In the end, Natsu had been far more powerful than he’d expected and that was costing him.  “I… help!”  

“Unless you practice necromancy,” Lucy seethes, “there’s not a damn thing you can do!”

“Can!”  Ignia is starting to lose consciousness again.  “Save…  Magic transfer…”

“Then do it!”  She drags the half-dead dragon over to Natsu.  “Now!!”

With the whip still firmly wrapped around his neck, they watch as Ignia places a hand on Natsu’s chest.  Heat pours from Ignia into the body of his pseudo brother for several minutes, transferring just enough magic to jump start Natsu’s reserves again.  Eventually Ignia goes limp from the drain and only then does Lucy release her hold on him and refocuses on Natsu.  

Lucy cradles Natsu’s head in her lap as Wendy goes to work.  “Come back to me please.”  Her tears trickle onto his face.  “There’s something I need to tell you…”

[ticklishcicada]

Zack tries to sear a “steak” Part 1

context is in my zack lives au tag

[taylart-x]

Whumptober- Day 14

Day 14: Tear-stained

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go!

Characters: Sally Tracy, Jeff Tracy, Virgil Tracy (mentioned)

Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or any of the characters from the show (or from TAG). I just want to make cool stories :)

Sequel to Day 17: “Stay with me”

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

She reached out to hold his hand, the small fingers limp between her palms. She rested her forehead against the hand in her’s, closing her eyes for a moment.

The door opened behind her and she moved her head up again, gently kissing the hand before looking over to the intruder.

Jeff stood in the door, two cups of coffee held in his hands, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

She was probably a sight. Red eyes, tear stained cheeks, her hands trembling slightly, though she tried to hide it. Her clothes were wrinkled from sitting in the chair, and from having other small hands clutching at her.

First she lost her daughter in law, now she might lose a grandson.

They had managed to restart Virgil’s breathing, barely. He was incubated now, a tube down his throat and seemingly taking up half his face. His face was sheet white, eyes hooded and eyelashes dark brushstrokes against white canvas. His cheekbones stood out a bit too much for Sally’s liking, his lips cracked and dry. He was not out of the woods yet.

How had they let this happen?

For the past two weeks Alan and Gordon had taken up most of her time. The two youngest boys were struggling with the loss of their mother. As were all the boys. But the two youngest haven’t been able to comprehend not being able to see their mum at all. John was a bit aloof, but still Sally had made sure to seek him out, knowing his tendencies to isolate himself when thinking.

But how had she forgotten about Virgil?

The young artist was known for burying feelings, for putting on a brave face for his brothers and yet feeling everything so much. Many a time over the past few months, Sally had found Virgil moving himself out of the way, removing himself from the family to cry where no one would see him.

How could she let him slip out from under her radar?

How could she let this happen to her little boy?

“It’s not your fault, Mum,” Jeff said, almost collapsing into the chair next to her. “This is on me.”

She listened to the beeping of the heart monitor before meeting the sparkling blue eyes of her son. So like Scott; you wouldn't be able to miss the family resemblance. “Do not blame yourself for this. It’s on both of us.”

Jeff sighed but nodded, his gaze once again settling on the comatose boy in front of them. “I just can’t believe I-we didn’t pick up on the signs. I look back and it’s obvious. He didn’t ask for a hug, or even a hand to hold at the funeral. He came into the kitchen the day after, and no one said anything to him. I hadn’t seen him since then before Scotty found him. He was… sparing us, I guess? I don’t know. Why didn’t he come to us for help? Why?”

“He probably didn’t feel as though he was important enough,” Sally responded, stroking her thumb across the back of the hand still clutched in hers. “He seems to think that all his brothers are more important, deserve our attention more. At least in the past month or so, since Lucille got sick. He’s been withdrawing, and he even told me one day. Said ‘you need to look after the other boys, Grandma. They need support and love. Their mum is dying. I’ll be fine.’ What 13-year-old says that? And that’s probably what he was thinking at the funeral, and afterwards. He was removing himself so that he wasn’t distracting us from the other boys.”

“God,” Jeff exhaled, shaking his head into his hands.

“Where are the boys?”

“Scott took them down to the cafeteria. Alan’s asleep just outside the door. Said he would wait there for me. They’re all so scared, mum. Their brother is in a coma in a hospital, which is the place where their mother died. They’re terrified.”

“He’ll wake up,” Sally assures, teaching out for her son. Her hand made contact with his cheek and he leaned into it, eyes fluttering shut.

Her little boy was grown up, and growing old. His face was lined with creases, crows feet beginning to bloom at his eyes, and worry lines engraving into his forehead. And yet his eyes were still so young. Full of adventure and hope but glazed with grief. Grief and guilt. It seemed to weigh on his shoulders like a boulder, dragging him under to where his family couldn’t reach. To a darker place than anyone knew of.

“I’m scared, Mum.” His voice was soft and broken, tears clogging it to make it thick and hoarse. “I’m so scared for him, for them. Everyone hurting and I can’t do anything. Lucy’s gone. And now Virgil…”

“Shhh, don’t think like that. Virgil will be fine. He’ll pull through.”

“But what if he doesn’t? The boys can’t lose their brother just after losing their mother. And I-I can’t lose my son. I can’t lose him, Mum, I can’t.”

Jeff was crying, his tears running down his face and dripping onto the floor. His bright eyes were clouded by the extra liquid, showing the roiling pain that seemed to gnaw on him just under the surface.

“He’ll pull through. Virgil’s strong. He won’t leave us yet.”

And with all her heart, Sally prayed that she was right.

[sprnklersplashes]

A New Hope (2/?)

AO3

Hope wakes up a little before her alarm went off, her body apparently still stuck on school mode. She switches the alarm to off before it can go off and buries herself back under her blankets, only half awake, living in her dreamworld of beaches and bike rides until she wakes properly, just a little after eight. It seems the long lie ins will take a while to come around properly. She settle for lying awake in bed with the covers around, running through imaginary conversations with Melody. She tries to divert her mind away from Melody and towards her hypothetical LA trip or any fun she could have this summer and it’s partially successful. Partially.

She finally starts getting restless, the covers begin to feel constricting, so she kicks them off and jumps out of the bed. She pulls on a white t-shirt and dungarees, not fashionable, but practical. She’s never been bothered about what “looks good”, especially in days like today when her only plans involve sitting inside and watching TV, maybe with the occasional venture out into the garden. Alex claims she has a similar approach, calling her wardrobe style “whatever I find first” but she still manages to look effortlessly gorgeous, albeit in a messy way. And then there’s Melody, who always takes pride in her looks, carefully matching every shirt with the right skirt and getting every detail right, even down to the ribbon she’ll decorate her hair with that day.

It's equal parts infuriating and adorable.

She pulls the sheet off her canvas, revealing her current project. Until a year ago, her drawings had mostly consisted of copying scenes from books and movies, her family’s story mostly, as well as her favourites. Her art box contained drawings of Harry Potter on the moving staircases of Hogwarts, Carrie White covered in blood at the prom (Henry’s idea to watch it, not hers), Spiderman on a New York skyscraper and Winnie the Pooh (one of her earliest projects). As she got older, she branched out a little, starting on quick sketches of her friends and family and onto landscapes, which she considered to be her favourites, and figures from her own imagination.

Right now, she’s working on a painting of a black haired, blue eyed fairy with a pink dress. So far it was so good, even if she had only really done half of it. She picks up her brush and starts experimenting with different shades of pink, mixing it with red and white and purple until she is satisfied with the colour for Isabella’s dress.

Okay, so she names her characters too. Nothing weird about that.

She starts on the outline, making the sleeves and hem of the dress a little darker, before painting the main body a lighter shade of pink, taking care, brushing gentle, careful lines down the canvas. Gideon has his books, Henry has his writing… Hope has art to get lost in. While in New York last summer, her parents had taken her to an art gallery, where she happily fell in love with picture after picture.

She steps back, admiring her work. While she doesn’t want to toot her own horn, so to speak, she would say it’s pretty good. She doesn’t pull the sheet over it, cautious of the wet paint, and packs away her paints and brushes before pulling open her curtains. Outside her window, the sky is light blue, streaked with faint clouds. The rest of Storybrooke is oddly quiet. At this hour, she surely would see people going about their day, but even Granny doesn’t have her sign out and the streets are deserted.

She goes downstairs, taking them two at a time, passing her parent’s closed bedroom door, and enters the kitchen to find Gideon sitting cross-legged on the table, already dressed in a white check shirt over a blue t-shirt and jeans, hunched over another book. He regards her with a nod, but his eyes don’t leave the page.

“Morning to you too, Gideon,” she greets, pulling herself onto the counter to reach the cereal. She busies herself with making a bowl while Henry comes in, still in his pyjamas, his hair messed from sleep.

“Coffee,” is the first word he says to either of them. He walks to the cupboard like he’s on autopilot and takes out the coffee grounds. Gideon, miraculously, puts his book down and uses his fingers to frame Henry like he’s on a TV screen.

“And here we see the adult in his natural habitat,” he says, voice low and husky like a nature documentary. “In the morning, the adult can only function on minimum energy, and so misses key functions such as manners, good graces, and the ability to brush one’s hair.” Hope squeals with giggles while Henry raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

“You really want to go with me while I have hot liquid?”

“No, I’m good, I’ll go back to my book,” he says. Hope sits herself on the counter with her cereal, feet tapping against the drawers. From her spot, she has a view of the living room window, and can make out the yellow curve of her mum’s car, which sets off a little bell in the back of her head, which doubles when she looks at the clock and realises it’s nearly 10.

“Hasn’t Mom gone to work yet?” she asks. Henry frowns and looks down the hall. Hope just notices the red and black leather jackets still hanging on the coatrack, as well as Belle’s pale pink coat. A shiver runs down her spine.

“That’s weird,” Gideon remarks. “Maybe they forgot to set their alarms?”

“Have you met my father?” Hope replies. “He never forgets to set anything.” Henry nods. Hope begins to run her thumb and index finger around each other, trying to dispel all her nervous energy.

“Hey,” Henry begins, coming over to her and taking her fidgeting hand. “They just slept in, Hope. It happens. Maybe something knocked out their alarms or something. Nothing suspicious, okay?” Hope nods, still not entirely convinced, and Henry squeezes her cheeks before turning to go upstairs. Gideon watches her from the table, reading her like he reads his books.

“Come on,” he says, jumping down from the table and reaching his hand out to her. She frowns at him. “You’re clearly itching to get up there, so come on.” Hope slides her hand into his and jumps off the table.

“Thanks,” she whispers as she grips his hand tighter.

“Any time, Cygnet,” he says while they go up the stairs together. They find Henry paused at Emma and Killian’s bedroom door, his hand just above the wood, his fingers dancing anxiously.

“Nervous?” Hope asks, making him jump. She doesn’t let go of Gideon’s hand.

“Course not,” he says, faking a smile. Hope nods and swallows the lump in her throat. “Let’s do this.” He turns the door handle and pushes it, letting it slowly creak open. The room is dark, save for the light of the lamp on the right side of the bed. Henry pauses at the doorway before he takes small steps in. Hope and Gideon follow, creeping in like little mice. Emma and Killian are still asleep, both facing right, Emma’s arm around his waist and her cheek on his shoulder. There’s something about seeing your parents look so intimate with each other, sharing the quiet moments, wrapped up in their own love. It looks like a piece of art, too beautiful to disturb.

Henry inches closer to the bed while Gideon and Hope remain in the doorway, their legs nearly frozen.

“Mom,” he whispers, shaking her shoulder. “Mom?” His voice grows louder slightly, beginning to panic when doesn’t even stir. “Mom? Mom!” He reaches across Emma and desperately shakes Killian’s shoulder as well, calling his name. Neither of them even move.

“Oh no,” Hope whispers, her chest growing tight. She squeezes Gideon’s hand; her nails dig into the flesh and her body turns cold. “Oh no, oh no.” She looks to Gideon, his eyes wide and his shoulders shaking. “Hey.” She drops his hand, despite it being the only thing that’s keeping her from screaming. “Go check on your mom.” He looks from Henry still shaking Emma and Killian to Belle’s bedroom door behind them.

“Thanks,” he mutters before throwing himself down the hall and into Belle’s room.

Meanwhile, Henry runs his hands through his already-messy hair, his breathing grows ragged. Hope’s never seen him scared.

She comes over to the bed. Up close she can see that her mother’s mouth is open slightly and her hair is in a loose ponytail and that her father’s hair is messy and he’s not wearing a shirt.

She watches Henry place two fingers on Emma’s neck, then Killian’s, and he breathes a quiet sigh of relief.

“They have a pulse,” he mutters, more to himself than her. “They’re alive, they’re breathing.” Hope nods, a whimper escapes her mouth. Henry looks over at her and something new comes over him. He kneels down to Hope’s level and holds her shoulders.

“Hey,” he whispers, trying to smile. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find a way to wake them up.” An idea flickers in the back of Hope’s mind.

“Try True Love’s Kiss,” she suggests. Henry nods, seeming to silently kick himself for not thinking of that. He kneels beside Emma and pushes the hair off her forehead. He takes one look back at Hope before pressing his lips to her head.

Nothing happens.

She can’t help gasping as another wave of tears hits her.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he says, coming and kneeling in front of her now. “Look, kid, none of our parent’s adventures were this easy. We’ve only exhausted option one out of an infinite number of possibilities, okay?” Hope nods, her eyes burning, just as an out of breath Gideon appears in the doorway, his lashes spiky.

“I can’t wake mum,” he says. “I tried, I turned on the light, I shook her, but she-”

“Hey, hey,” Henry says, taking him by the hand. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How?” Gideon asks as tears run down his red face. Henry sighs and takes a panicked look back at the comatose Emma and Killian before sitting Hope and Gideon on the edge of the bed.

“Look, back in the day, our parents dealt with stuff like this all the time,” he reminds them. “It always looked hopeless at the start, but they got through it. They got me off Neverland, they stopped Zelena from changing the past, heck, Mom saved Killian from Hades! Okay? Our family is unstoppable. And so are we.” There’s something in the way Henry says it, the conviction, the fire in his eyes, that has both of them believing him. It doesn’t lift the weight in Hope’s chest at all, but it makes the tears come a little slower. Henry smiles at them and kisses them each on the head. “Right, let me get dressed first, then we can scout the rest of the town. See what’s going on with everyone else.”

Minutes later, a now-dressed Henry runs out onto the streets with Hope and Gideon in tow. The streets are completely deserted, shops have their shutters down, curtains are closed. A light wind blows across, making trees rustle ever so slightly.

“It’s a ghost town,” Gideon remarks.

“What if we’re the only ones here?” Hope asks as goose bumps form on her arms. She has a feeling they’re not from the wind. Henry puts his hands on his hips as his eyes scour the street.

“We can’t be,” he says. “We just… We can’t be the only ones here.”

As it turns out, they’re not.

Gideon gasps loudly and Hope turns, her fists instinctively lifting, until she realises the new arrival is Lucas, his arms around Gideon’s waist, panting. He seems completely lost to everyone who isn’t Gideon.

“Thank god you’re okay,” he sighs, releasing him from his grip and pulling Hope into a tight hug, crushing her head. She doesn’t mind. If anything, she feels awful; Lucas didn’t even cross her mind. “Oh you’re okay.”

“I take it you’ve got the same problem as us,” Gideon says, his voice thick, as Lucas lets go of Hope and slips his hand into Gideon’s. “Your parents….”

“I tried everything,” he says. “I did, but they just wouldn’t move.” Henry turns to face them, the panic clear on his face, though he smiles briefly at Lucas. “Henry, what do we do?”

“Um… I don’t know…” he admits. “Why don’t we look through town? See who else we can find.” They agree, of course, given it’s the only idea they’ve had. Since splitting up is not an option, they walk through Storybrooke together, Henry leading the pack with the three of them clinging to each other behind him. They could hear a pin drop.

As they wander through streets, no real plan, they finally see another figure and feel weak with relief. And the dark blonde hair and brown jacket are instantly recognisable.

“Robin,” Hope sighs as she runs to meet them. When she meets them, they can all see how red her eyes are. Gideon doesn’t waste time in throwing his arms around her neck and Hope is close behind him.

“I am so glad to see you guys,” she pants. “My mom, she can’t wake up.”

“Neither can ours,” Gideon explains. “From the looks of it, we’re the only ones awake.”

“Alex is too,” she tells them. “I called her a few minutes ago.”

“Hope?” someone asks behind them. Hope is sure she knows the voice, and she finds she’s correct when she turns and sees Melody, wearing a pale pink lace t-shirt tucked into a floral skirt, ponytail tied with a baby blue ribbon. She runs towards the group, skidding to a half when she reaches Hope. “You guys are all still here.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” Hope replies. She tucks her hair behind her ears and straightens her dungarees, partially to give her hands something to do and partially because she’s suddenly become self-conscious. She can’t pretend she doesn’t know why.

Alex comes running down the street next, throwing her arms around Robin, who whispers “thank god” breathlessly, before she turns to face the rest of them, regarding them with a breathless smile. Gideon looks from each member of their little assembled group, counting them under his breath, muttering their names, and his eyes widen.

“I’m going to check Philip,” he says. They go with him, of course. No one wants to be left out on the street alone.

Philip’s house is completely closed down, no lights, curtains drawn. Hope, Melody, Robin and Alex hang back with Henry while Gideon and Lucas creep up to the doorstep, Gideon holding Lucas’ arm like his life depends on it (and standing slightly behind him) while Lucas knocks the door. When no one answers, they wait five minutes and try again. And again.

Lucas grumbles and pushes the letterbox open.

“Philip!” he calls. “Phil, it’s Lucas. Come on, if you’re here, give us a sign.”

To all their surprises, the door opens just a crack. From where Hope stands, she sees Philip’s face appear.

“Prove it,” he demands. She wonders if he thinks he’s tougher than he sounds. “Tell me something only Lucas and Gideon would know.” The two look at each other, sharing a silent ‘yes’ and look back at Philip.

“Freshman year, last day before Christmas break, you got up on the desk when Miss Ackerman was out of the room and then…”

The door is yanked open, revealing a wide-eyed Philip, brandishing a saucepan in one hand, who throws his arm around Lucas before doing the same to Gideon.

“I thought you guys were demons or something!” he explains, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. “And we also agreed to never talk about that ever again.”

“So you were going to… make them pasta?” Alex asks, half giggling. Philip looks up and just notices the rest of the group.

“I was short on weapons,” he replies as he, Lucas and Gideon join them, waving the saucepan under Alex’s nose. The laughter quickly subsides. The emptiness creeps in on all sides. Hope feels Henry’s hand on her shoulder, and it gives her some grounding anyway. Philip twirls the handle of the saucepan between his fingers until it slips and hits the floor. “So… now what?”

They don’t know. None of them know. Alex, who normally has an answer for everything, is twirling the blue streak of her hair while her eyes dart everywhere. Robin opens her mouth, then closes it again, and opens it again and closes it again. Like all she needs to do is say something, no matter how ridiculous.

“Why don’t we set up a base somewhere?” Henry decides. “Town hall?”. It’s the best idea they’ve heard all day, so they take it and walk to the town hall in an awkward, tense silence. Henry, naturally, leads with Alex and Robin close behind, their hands linked. Alex whispers something in Robin’s ear and Robin manages the tiniest of smiles, which only grows wider when Alex kisses her ear. Hope trails behind them with Melody wand Gideon on either side of her, but Gideon takes one too many looks back at Lucas and Philip.

“Hey,” she says, brushing her elbow against his. “Go hang out with your friends.” He smiles faintly and puts a hand on her shoulder. She guesses it’s meant to be comforting.

“We’ll be okay, Hope,” he says.

“I know,” she sighs. She squeezes his hand, something she started doing to him before she could talk. It lets him know she’s okay, that she loves him. He smiles and falls back to his friends and they form their own little trio.

And she’s left alone with Melody.

Something tells her that her pounding heart and dry mouth aren’t just because she’s scared out of her mind.

“I’m glad you’re still here,” Melody says. “I mean, I’m glad you’re all here.”

“Thanks,” she replies. “I mean, I’m glad you’re here too, I mean if you weren’t here I’d be really nervous. And I’d be really upset about it.”

“You would?” she asks, smirking. She has such a lovely smile.

“Yeah,” Hope squeaks. “I mean, you’d leave me here with all these losers?”

“We’re right behind you, Hope,” Lucas reminds her. She turns and sticks her tongue out at him, and she doesn’t miss Gideon’s knowing smile, the raised eyebrows when he looks at Lucas and Philip. If the circumstances were different, she’d smack him. Instead, she turns back to Melody.

“Thanks,” she says. They go quiet and Hope racks her brains for something to say. She envies the quiet support Robin and Alex can give each other, and the endless chatter behind her.

“You look really pretty,” she says. “I mean you always look really pretty but… you know I mean… I like your skirt.”

Nice one, Hope.

“Thanks,” Mel says, running her hand over it. It is pretty, just something Hope would never wear. “Yeah, I just threw this on.” In Mel-language ‘just threw it on’ means ‘this was the third one I tried’. “I really like your overalls.”

Liar, Hope thinks. Melody wouldn’t be caught dead in something so basic.

“Um, you have a bit of… Pink, on them,” she points out. Hope looks down to see a splash of pink of her chest.

“Oh, yeah,” she mutters, scratching behind her ear. “I was painting this morning. I guess I got a little carried away.”

“Cool,” Mel says, toying with the hem of her skirt. “Really cool. Something important or…?”

“Um, not really,” she says. “Just like… I don’t know, it’s stupid.”

“Well, I doubt it’s stupid,” she replies.

Hope can’t think of a reply, but they come up on the town hall soon enough and hurry inside. Hope realises she’s never actually been in it before. She doesn’t know what exactly she expected but what she gets is a black and white marble floor like a chessboard, white walls with a pattern of trees on it, a brown desk with a tiny sense of foreboding around it and rows of metal chairs.

She sits herself down in one, not knowing what else to do. Henry leans against the desk, not looking at any of them.

“Okay,” Robin says, breaking the silence. She marches up to the front and waves her hand, presumably to switch on the lights, but all that happens is the bulbs flicker. She tries again, and again, and again, until they finally switch on for her. “Okay… So let’s make a plan.” Meanwhile, Alex goes to the corner and starts filling and handing out glasses of water.

“A plan for what?” Lucas asks. “We don’t even know what happened.”

“So we’ll find out,” she says. “Gideon!” His head snaps up at his name, and she tosses him a marker. “You’re the nerd here, write this down.”

“You’re bossy,” he says, but he runs up to the front and drags a whiteboard on wheels out from the corner.

“Okay,” Robin says, taking a deep breath in. “Calm. Logic. What do we know?”

“All our parents are asleep,” Philip begins.

“It’s not a sleeping curse,” Lucas suggests. “At least I don’t think it is. Sleeping curses make you look dead. All our parents, they’re breathing, their hearts are working.”

“And it’s not just our parents,” Hope adds. “It’s everyone in town, except us.”

“So what sets us apart?” Alex asks. “What makes us different.”

Nothing, Hope thinks. Gideon taps the pen against the whiteboard, which is already covered in his scribbles, arrows pointing out of a central question “what do we know”, until he drops it.

“Oh my gosh father!” he declares, not really to anyone in particular. His cheeks turn pink as he picks the marker up again. “Think again, what do all seven of us have in common?”

His answer is a bunch of shaking heads and raised eyebrows.

“None of us were born in the Enchanted Forest!” he reminds them.

“Oh my god that’s it!” Henry declares. “Gideon you’ve got it.”

“It sounds right,” Melody says. “But… we’re the only ones in town not born in the Enchanted Forest? Seems a little far-fetched.”

“Not as far fetched as you think, Mel,” Gideon says, beginning to bounce and his eyes light up. “There’s this tradition amongst the older generation to have their kids in the Enchanted Forest. I don’t know sentimentality, or something. So they pop through a portal and go. But none of our parents did. Alex was born during the curse….”

“Thinking about it, all my friends at school were pre-Dark Curse babies,” Alex mutters, getting on Gideon’s level.

“Exactly!” he replies. He grows more animated as the pieces fall into place, reminding Hope of some kind of mad scientist. “Me, Luke and Philip, most of our friends were born during the Missing Year.”

“A lot of Missing Year babies,” Robin confirms.

“Yeah, as the author, I can confirm, Missing Year was a fun time,” Henry says, grimacing.

“And Robin was born in Storybrooke. Which leaves Hope and Melody,” he concludes. “Your parents must have skipped it and had you two in Storybrooke.”

“My parents wanted to,” Mel agrees. “But I came two weeks early. They couldn’t make the trip.”

“My parents just didn’t want to,” Hope agrees. “My mom wasn’t born there; my dad was a villain there. They don’t think of it like a home.”

“So whatever this thing is it clearly doesn’t affect people not born in the Enchanted Forest,” Gideon concludes. On the board behind him, the words ‘non-enchanted forest people’ and ‘NOT A CURSE’ are scrawled. He reminds her of Doctor Whale sometimes in the mad scientist way.

“So how do we fix it?” Alex asks. She sits on the windowsill, her arms wrapped around Robin’s shoulders with Robin’s hand over hers. “How do we wake everyone up?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Henry says. “Maybe we check the library first, there’s books on everything in there.”

“He’s right,” Gideon says.

“And if not then… Then it’s time to turn to our parents.”

“Our parents?” Robin asks, wrinkling her nose.

“Yeah. Robin your mom’s the Wicked Witch, Hope our mom’s the Saviour and Gideon your dad…” Gideon flinches before the sentence can be finished. Henry’s hand curls into a fist, realising he’s inching close to the line. “Anyway, the point is our parents need to have something around to help us.”

“Uhh… guys?” Melody asks from behind them. She crouches in front of the table, eyeing a glass of water with more worry than there should be. “Sorry, but… I think something’s coming.”

And then Hope feels it. The ground shakes beneath her and she can see what Melody was worrying about; ripples form on the water in the glass. Soon the walls of the hall start to shake. They all drift towards each other, clinging to however is closest to them as the walls continue trembling, threatening to break on them. Henry steps in front of the little bundle they have created, trying to shield all of them with his body.

“What is that?” Philip asks, his voice barely a whisper as he frantically looks around the hall.

“I think I know,” Robin replies in a trembling voice. Almost against her own will, Hope follows her eyes and looks out the window, feeling her heart in her throat. Her hand tightens on the wrist of whoever is next to her.

Outside, she sees what Robin was so scared of. Sludge-green, at least 8 feet tall, wearing a scrap of brown fabric its waist. It lumbers down the road before stopping outside and turning its head, letting them see the dull yellow eyes.

“Is that…” Philip whispers.

“An ogre,” Henry replies.

They hit the floor when it turns to them. Hope feels the beat of her frantic heart against the wood and closes her eyes tightly. She presses her palms into the floor to keep them from shaking. Her chest feels hollow, making her heartbeat seem louder.

This can’t be happening. This doesn’t happen, not now, not to her or any of them. This is all meant to be over now.

“What do we do?” Melody hisses as the footsteps get a fraction quieter. “How do we defeat a troll?”

“Wasn’t it in the book?” Philip asks. “Snow and Emma, they fought one.”

“Right,” Hope sighs, searching for that part of the book in her mind. It sounds familiar, but she’s drawing a blank on the details. “How did they beat it?”

“Mom shot it with an arrow,” Lucas reminds them. “Right in the eye.”

“Pity we don’t have a bow and arrow,” Robin grunts.

“Maybe we don’t need one,” Gideon mutters, more to himself than anyone else.

“Do you have a plan?” Philip asks. Out of all of them, he’s the one closest to the floor, his body pressed against it.

“I think so,” Gideon replies, beginning to smile. Hope follows his gaze and sees what he’s looking at; the two swords mounted on the wall behind a shield baring the Charming family crest; a flower. “Hope, Robin, I’m going to need your help here.”

                                                                                               *****

Gideon, Hope, Robin, Lucas and Henry manage to escape the town hall from a side door. The rest stay inside, reckoning that there’s no point in risking more people. Although there’s no risk, because they’ll be fine if this all works out. If.

Outside, the road is destroyed with the ogre’s footprints. He’s a good bit away from them, far enough so that as long as they remain as silent as possible, he won’t notice them until they need to. They move swiftly down the road and take cover behind Leroy’s truck, which, true to character, he left sitting out on the sidewalk.

“You sure this will work?” Lucas asks. Gideon hands the sword over to Robin with shaking hands.

“I hope so,” he sighs. “You two clear on what to do?” Given how dry her mouth is, Hope can only nod.

“We’ve got it,” Robin whispers. Hope wonders how he manages to sound so confident. It’s only her fidgeting fingers that give her away. Gideon smiles weakly at them and follows Henry and Lucas to the middle of the road, grabbing Lucas’ hand.

“Hope,” Robin asks suddenly, grabbing her shoulder. Her green eyes are torn apart with worry as she looks from her to the ogre. “I…. My magic… I don’t know if I can do this…”

“You can,” Hope assures her. “Just think about who you’re protecting. That’s what Mom says she did.” Robin nods shakily and they place their hands over the sword together. She mutters ‘Alex’ under her breath.

“Hey!” Henry yells. “Hey you big… dumb ogre!”

That’s one way to get its attention, Hope thinks as it turns around. Immediately, she starts wondering if this plan will work. If it doesn’t and it gets any of them killed, she’ll kill Gideon for it. Especially if it’s Gideon who gets killed.

“Robin, now,” she hisses. She reaches inside her, calling to her magic. Her mother has told her so many times that magic is a part of her. She works with it, not it for her. And this should be easy, simple levitation. It’s one of her favourite things to do.

In the road, the boys keep taunting the ogre over to them and it works. He lumbers over, slowly, but it rattles the ground with every step he takes. Hope keeps her eyes on it, tracking its movements. They worked out a marker; the shoe shop. That’s where it has to be when they fire at him.

She doesn’t think about what would happen if she misses her cue. All she can focus on is holding the sword up. Especially when she feels it getting heavier on Robin’s side.

Come on, she thinks, watching the ogre as her friends keep luring it closer. Three more steps. Two more. One more….

“Robin now!” she calls, and they send the sword flying through the air. The ogre doesn’t even notice, too busy focussing on the potential snack in front of him. Thank god for dumb ogres.

Then the sword begins to take a dip before it can meet its target.

“Not on my watch,” Hope mutters, and throws her hands out, letting magic run through her veins and out her hands, and she sends an invisible wind to keep it up until it lands where it should; in the ogre’s chest. Slightly left of middle. Right in its heart.

The ogre stops in its tracks, and for a moment doesn’t even move. For a moment, Hope fears that it will rip the sword out of its body and trample Storybrooke to the ground. Until it lets out a long, low moan and sways before falling to the ground, the force knocking them to the ground with it. Hope lies there, winded on her back, looking up at the sky, just letting herself come back down to Earth, before she gets up.

“Hey,” she says to Robin, who looks paler than normal. “Hey, we did it.” She laughs, despite the fact that the world isn’t exactly standing still right now.

“We did it,” she pants, smiling. She pulls Hope into a tight hug before they run over to the boys.

“See? Fool proof,” Gideon says, adjusting his glasses.

“If that failed, I’d have killed you,” Hope pants.

“Are you two okay?” Henry asks, rubbing his arm.

“Fine,” Robin says and Hope nods. Henry tilts his head to the side, unconvinced. “Hope?”

“I’m fine,” she assures him. “A little shaken up I guess, but fine.” She turns her attention to the dead ogre lying in the middle of the street. “Is that it? Did we do it? Does everything go back to normal now?”

“Can’t be,” Gideon says. “Ogres can’t cast curses, they’re too dumb. He has to be working for someone.”

“Great,” Robin sighs. “So who can command ogres? And more to the point, what do we even do with it?”

But as it turns out, they don’t need to do anything. They see a mist begin to settle over the ogre, making it look fuzzier and muting the colours more than they are already. Logically, they should be scared, or ready to fight back, but they’re all varying degrees of confused and mesmerised. The ogre gets fuzzier and fuzzier and the colours fade before running and blending into each other and then Hope realises what’s happening.

“It’s disappearing!” she announces, just as it fades from them entirely.

“No way,” Lucas says, and he runs to where it was, Gideon running after him. Lucas stands in the exact spot it had been lying, jumps up and down and waves his arms around. “It’s gone!”

“So what.. it was never real?” Hope asks. She turns around and sees the footprints in the road.

“The damage it did was real,” Robin points out, tucking her hair behind her ear. “So it had to have been real… Right?”

“We can deal with that later,” Henry says. “For now.. We did good.”

“We?” Hope asks, raising an eyebrow.

“You two did good,” he sighs. “Come on, let’s get you guys back into the hall and we can work this out there.” Hope falls into step beside her brother while Robin walks on with Lucas and Gideon, Gideon letting her lean slightly on him. “You good, Cygnet?”

“I don’t know,” she confesses. “That was a lot. I mean, it felt good, but it was a lot.” She hasn’t realised before that magic can take so much out of her. She just wants to sit down now until the world goes stationery again.

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” he says. “For what its worth it was impressive.” Her cheeks go pink.

“Really?” she asks.

“Really,” he says. Slinging his arm around her. She grabs onto his jacket for something to keep her steady, because she’s sure she’s walking like Uncle Smee out of the bar. “Mom will be so stoked when she hears this.” Hope nods. When, not if. Never if. Their family doesn’t do ‘if’.

[inhumansforever]

Inhuman of The Day

August 16th - Mosaic

Morris Sacket.  A latent Inhuman whose transformation was caused by exposure to the Terrigen Cloud.  Terrigenesis took from Morris his corporal form, changing him into a spectral being who can only take form being possessing the bodies of others.  He can take over other peoples’ bodies, leaping into them when they are in his immediate proximity.  By way of this possession, Morris gains control of the individual’s physical function as well as absorbs their various skills and knowledge.  Morris retains a good deal of this knowledge and skill even after he vacates the possessed body.  For instance, if a given individual Morris possesses speaks multiple languages, Morris retains the ability to speak and understand these different languages even after he has vacated the body of that individual.  

Prior to his transformation, Morris had been a vastly successful professional basketball player and social celebrity.  After becoming an Inhuman, Morris has come to learn that much of his former life was predicated on lies and manipulation.  His father and manager has only seemed interested in enhancing his q-rating and longterm earning potential; and his poster girlfriend was actually hired to be with him so to improve her own career and make Morris more attractive to a broader demographic.

Following exposure to the Terrigen Cloud, Morris spent a prolonged time within his Terigenic Cocoon.  During that time, Morris’ father ‘Pops,’ had the cocoon relocated to a specialized wing hospital wing where his status was monitored by operatives of a shadowy organization known as The Brand Corporation.  When Morris finally emerged, his body had been transformed into a large, lithe being with blue skin and glowing eyes.  

Morris’ girlfriend was there at the time and she was so unnerved by the site of Morris’ new form that mistakenly believe he was attacking her and struck back, capping Morris was a taser.  The electrical shock caused unexpected results.  It caused a ghostly version of Morris to leap out from his body and crash through the bay window of the hospital suite.  He fell to the street below, landing on and into a young man.

This teenager is named Fife.  He was a huge fan of Morris and had come to the hospital to stand vigil for his idol.  By making contact, Morris was able to possess Fife, share his memories, feel what he felt and know what he knew.   Gradually learning the extent of use of his powers, Morris embarked on a wild adventure, jumping from possessing one body to another.  It was only after he possessed the form of The Amazing Spider-Man that he was able to utilize Spidey’s scientific intellect and experience with the super powered beings that Morris was finally able to comprehend that he is an Inhuman and his spectral possession of others was a facet of his new Inhuman powers.  

Having gained a greater degree of mastery over his powers, Morris journeyed he way back to his corporal body.  Along the way he made some highly discouraging truths about his life.  He learned that his romantic relationship had been a shame, engineered by his father so to augment his popularity and earning potential.  Even more harrowing, Morris discovered that his dad had made an arrangement with the Brand Corporation to sell Morris as property to be studied and desiccated in the pursuit of developing weapons and medicines.

 Morris had been identified at an early age as possessing genetic abnormalities (his Inhuman genes) and he sold the rights to Morris to Brand.    Morris’ attempt to confront his father over this terrible matter resulted in his ghostly form being captured and rebounded with is corporal form.  The Brand Corporation was planning on moving the body to a more secure location outside of the city where it would be taken apart, studied and repurposed in the hopes of creating lucrative weapons and other devices.  Morris escaped and a large scale fight erupted that resulted in an explosion that engulfed much of the top floors of the Brand Corp downtown office building.  Morris ultimately chose not to save his father’s life; although his dad did manage to survive (albeit in very rough shape, comatose with severe burns over much of his body).

In the aftermath, Morris attempted to recover his original body but was unable to do so.  Itself he ended up possessing the body of the inhuman watchdog, Lockjaw.  

This lead to Morris making his way to New Attilan where he was introduced to the Inhuman Royal Family.   With the assistance of The Human Torch, Morris learned how to make his ghostly form visible to others around him.  Hearing his story, Queen Medusa suggested that his old life had come to an end and he must now embrace his new life as an Inhuman.  To this end, she suggested he take on the new name ‘Mosaic,’ changing his name as a symbol of embracing his new life.  

Morris was initially reluctant to the idea, but ultimately accepted the notion and has gone by the name Mosaic ever since.  Shortly after coming to New Attilan, Mosaic was recruited into taking part in a scheme to strike back at Tony Stark.  As Iron Man, Stark had invaded New Attilan and abducted the young Inhuman known as Ulysses.  Queen Medusa felt it essential that a car message of retribution be sent so to dissuade anyone else from thinking New Attilan vulnerable.  Mosaic snuck into StarK Tower and possessed the body of Stark chief financial officer.  Controlling the mind and body of the Stark CFO, Mosaic then drained the majority of Stark’s monetary accounts, leaving Stark ostensively broke.  

Later, Mosaic was once more recruited into assisting The Inhumans during the Inhuman/X-Men War.  Accompanied by Reader, Mosaic was transported to the X-Men based and tasked with possessing Magneto so to ascertain from him the whereabouts of the captured Inhumans.  The mission proved quite difficult, but Mosaic was eventually able to achieve his goal.  In so doing, Mosaic leaned the truth of the extremely dire situation facing Mutant-kind.  He learned that the Terrigen Cloud was dissipating and binding with the nitrogen in the atmospheric environment… were this to occur the earth would be made entirely uninhabitable to all Mutant life.  

In the face of this terrible realization, Mosaic and the other new Inhumans decided to assist the X-Men.  Moon Girl and Forge created a device that would destroy the Terrigen Cloud and the control unit to engage the device was given to Queen Medusa.  Having learned the consequences facing The Mutants, Medusa chose to trigger this device and the Terrigen Cloud was destroyed; the Mutant populace had been saved, yet it came at the cost of dooming the future of the Inhuman race.

The gloomy atmosphere of New Attilan following the destruction of the Terrigen Cloud wasn’t much to Mosaic’s liking.  Mosaic had grown close with his fellow Inhuman, Iso, and she asked him to stick around and help her in guiding the Inhumans in traversing this difficult time and uncertain future.  Mosaic’s fondness for Iso notwithstanding, he just didn’t see himself as a joiner and ultimately opted to leave New Attilan and strike out on his own.  

This eventually led to a harrowing adventure where Mosaic had to battle the villainous alchemist known as Diablo.  Mosaic was able to prevail and defeat Diablo, but the experience led him top realize that depending on others was important and that being absolutely self reliant made for a lonely and unfulfilling existence.  

Later, Mosaic assisted The Secret Avengers in taking down Hydra during the Secret Empire ordeal.  He was last seen residing among his fellow Inhumans on New Attilan.    

[rosethornewrites]

Monday NR, E, & M reading

The usual

Finished

Not Rated:

like a movie scene, by plonk

“Uh, I...” Wei Ying said. She looked down at the rowing machine’s handles, then back to her gym crush. “How is it supposed to -?”

Her gym crush’s lips thinned for a second. Like it was annoying to her to have to explain the shit she’d gone out of her way to say. Or like she saw right through Wei Ying and her extremely obvious effort to keep her talking.

“Hold the handles, not the cables,” Wei Ying’s gym crush said.

Wei Ying tilted her head, feeling her ponytail sweep across her arched back, and asked, “... show me?”

Rarely Pure and Never Simple, by thunderwear

Lan Wangji is cursed to say every thought that crosses his mind.

It goes about as well as you would think.

Explicit:

From Now On, by alightbuthappypen (dairyme)

“I still am.”

Wei Wuxian stares at him, his gaze drawn by the words and held by the fierce steadiness in his eyes.

What if: they were able to continue their conversation on Phoenix Mountain.

inhabiting bodies, by thelastdboy

Years had passed and yet it was still somewhat strange to see his reflection in the mirror. It was him, but it was Mo Xuanyu’s face staring back at him. It was his smile on Mo Xuanyu’s lips. It was his gestures made with Mo Xuanyu’s hands. Wei Wuxian had grown used to it, had adjusted to it, but it was still not his body, not really.

Sometimes he still moved to grab something that was just out of reach.

Seated on the Throne, by AshayaTReldai (2nd in a series)

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian continue their adventures in Koi Tower by living out a fantasy early one morning in the throne room.

Mature:

I thought that it was a marriage proposal!, by Amazing_Ramen

"Come back to Gusu with me."

After spending his heat in the Xuanwu cave with Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian thought that that was a marriage proposal. He said yes, and followed Lan Wangji back to Gusu.

Bride Price, by AshayaTReldai

Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian eloped. After their return to Cloud Recesses Jiang Cheng sends a letter of demand to the Gusu Lan.

The Price of a Golden Core, by AshayaTReldai (2nd in a series)

A story in which the consequences of his choices play out in full for Jiang Cheng. Demand a price for Wei Wuxian from the Gusu Lan? This is what happens.

A companion piece to Bride Price.

Unfinished

Mature:

a ghost for a ghost, by dragongirlG

Lan Wangji has been comatose for a week when his uncle and brother discover the glowing blue thread around his wrist.

When Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren discover that Lan Wangji's mating bond to Wei Wuxian's lingering spirit is keeping him comatose, they turn to an alternate solution to break the bond and save Lan Wangji's life: marrying Wei Wuxian's ghost off to someone else with Jin Guangyao's help.

[beneathshadowsrp]

JOSEPHINE VIDALES

FACECLAIM: EMERAUDE TOUBIA AGE: 25 SPECIES:WEREWOLF (OMEGA) OCCUPATION: DETECTIVE ARRIVED: APRIL 9th, 2018 DECLARED OMEGA.

“THE RESURGENT”

Born in sunny Palo Alto, California, Josephine Elaine Vidales was destined to be the little girl with her head in the clouds. From the moment she could walk, she would run off at the first sign of adventure, her older brother following her from behind at their parents wishes. She’d run after butterflies, spend hours sitting outside in the darkness with her brother staring up at the stars, dream about magical lands and create stories in her mind about the perfect world filled with princesses and knights, dragons and trolls. Sophie was as innocent as they came but her innocence came with this natural intelligence and desire to know more. So, it wasn’t long until she was in school and her teachers were praising her talents, throwing out the words gifted and absolute delight whenever parent conferences rolled around. Her parents were elated as their little girl grew in both intelligence and confidence over the years, showing signs of being a true warrior even in the face of adversities that came in the form of her parents financial struggles or the mockery of her peers for being a ‘know-it-all’. Not once did Sophie allow others to push her around and she stood her ground, tooth and nails at the ready if they so much as dared to continue. Her parents and older brother often worried that she would get a bit too rowdy but thankfully, Sophie knew how to keep everything contained for strictly in the moment. But in those moments was when Sophie realized that her role in life was to protect others.

Her academics propelled her forward very quickly and she was soon in high school, taking advantage of all the activities and friendships that her final chapter would have in her path. The very first being the strong friendship she formed with her now best friend for life, Whitney. The second coming in the form of gradual rise in popularity for being such an outspoken and loud young lady. She would always be sticking her opinion where they weren’t asked, dabbling in all sorts of clubs just to get a wider range of diversity for her college applications, even standing up for those that were too scared to fend for themselves. Her name was soon spread around the school like wildfire and it was sophomore year that Sophie Vidales became the most popular girl to step foot in those bustling hallways. However, she never let that popularity get in the way of her goals or the friendships that had come to mean the world to her. Which was exactly how she got into swimming competitively. Sophie had always been a fan of swimming during hot days but had never truly dabbled in the competitive aspect of the sport until she spontaneously chose to try out during the winter of her sophomore year. Instantly, she fell in love. She felt free, fluid, and her childhood dream of being a mermaid had blossomed to life right in front of her eyes without a single bit of planning.

Swimming was one of the main factors that drove her to reach her highest accomplishment at the time; a scholarship to the college of her dreams, The Univeristy of Pennsylvania. It would pay for only half of the expenses but given the solid 4.0 grade point average that Sophie had managed to maintain plus her top notch SAT and ACT scores, she had other scholarships she could put in place that would pay for the rest. Hell, she would have taken out a dozen loans if it meant getting to go to the Ivy League school just to see her parents proud of her. Through swimming was also how Sophie met her college sweetheart and the first person she ever loved. It had been a game of cat and mouse for months until Sophie gave in to his enchantments and accepted to go on a date. The one date sparked many others and they stayed strong all throughout college and even after graduating. She had it all. She had graduated from college with the highest of honors in Criminology and a minor in Psychology, she’d managed to have a long lasting relationship, she still loved and respected her parents and brother. Not once would you hear Sophie complain. But those rose colored glasses soon fell off the moment that she graduated from the police academy and put on her uniform for the first time. Sophie would never forget the moment that she witnessed one of her colleagues attacking someone simply because they weren’t a human, simply because they had a few genetic differences making them another species. It was a scar that she carried to this day even as she’s excelled in her career and received the title of Detective at such a young age. But determination can work wonders and Sophie never accepted anything but the best.

It only got worse the moment that she fell into a trap after receiving a series of anonymous letters to the precinct. Her and her partner went to an abandoned warehouse to scope out a lead about some incubi when they were ambushed by a trio of werewolves that immediately knocked the pair of detectives to the ground. Masked and anonymous since who would ever wish to show their face, right? While her partner was out cold, Sophie just managed to see the outline of two men and an animal before she blacked out. When she woke up from her comatose state, Sophie found three men staring back at her, all around the same size. Burly, dark hair, light eyes. They called her garbage and said that humans shouldn’t feel so high and mighty when they’re the vulnerable species but even so, Sophie argued back and said that she personally didn’t think that at all. That she only wanted what was best for everyone. But they refused to listen to her words which resulted in the worst possible pain that Sophie had ever experienced. She had been bitten. The laughter of the men rang in her ears and the words let’s see how you like being one of us, detective permanently in the back of her mind as she struggled to find a way to safety after being left untied but alone after watching the light fade from her partners eyes, dead.

Sophie wasn’t unaware of what it was like to turn into a werewolf when she’d watched many people go through the process in the jail cells that many had found themselves in but the pain was for worse than anything she imagined. She struggled keeping up the human life that she’d lived for twenty five years, feeling as if she was trapped in a hole up to her ears in water with just an inch left for her to breathe. Everyone in her life began to worry about her; her mother, brother, best friend and of course, boyfriend. She argued she was fine, that she was just dealing with stress. All until a family event triggered her to break down in front of her loved ones and reveal the secret that had been thrust upon her. Her parents were shocked but with tears in their eyes accepted their child’s new found life. Her brother teased her but offered her nothing but the affection only an older brother could provide. Her best friend? She didn’t hesitate to back her up much like she’d done all those years since they met. It was her other relatives that reacted horribly, saying she should be put in jail or taken somewhere to be killed. Of course, coming from a religious family would result in rather reserved ideals especially on the supernatural. Sophie could only cry into her brothers shoulder as she listened to her families disgust and lack of empathy.

This could only get worse and it did the moment that she sat down with her boyfriend and began to tell him the tale. Initially, she hoped that he would react the same way that her family had reacted and give her the gentle smile of encouragement before telling her that he still loved her. But that wasn’t the case. There was pure disgust and reproach as Sophie starred on in hurt as he began to rant how supernatural beings should never exist in their society, that they all think they’re better than humans, etc. All the things far from what she was used to but it brought to light that people might seem perfect but the smallest thing can make you realize that not everything is forever. That the life you live right now won’t be the same that you live in ten years. After a much needed week where she stayed indoors and cried out her heart, Sophie packed up a few suitcases with whatever she could fit in, placed her beloved kitten inside of her carrier and coaxed her friend into going on a much needed road trip to just about anywhere that her car could take them.

On one of the many stops where they needed actual beds to sleep was when Sophie stumbled upon Shadow Falls. The comfort of the inn poked her interest so much that she began asking questions and found out that the local police department was looking for detectives which turned into the reason she stayed. It wasn’t the easiest adjustment for her since she was far from home without the actual prospect of ever going back but this felt like what she needed at the time. With only a handful of full moons under her belt, she knows that it’s a matter of time before she snaps and ends up killing someone out of her own lack of control but Sophie is slowly accepting that fate. But until then, she chooses to live a declared life because her moral compass as a detective would finish her if she chose to essentially be illegal. She knows it comes with its own struggles with humans around but her goal in life has always been to protect and her new life isn’t going to change that. Even if some hate supernatural beings, it’s her job. Always.

-BEHIND THE CURTAIN-

Above anything else, Sophie Vidales is intelligent and brave. She was always the academic type which has helped her turn into the kind of woman that figures out anything in a matter of a few days. But because of her contrasting personality trait, she developed a need to stand up for herself and others that dealt with teasing because of it. With very little intentions of backing down when confronted, a natural fighter. She’s also incredibly loving and compassionate even if there are some days where she hides within herself due to the other side wanting to take over. But her heart is massive and she might have mixed emotions on who she shares her heart with after her break up, she’s willing to do so anyways if a person gives off a trust worthy aura. There are times where she has also been called reckless, making calls on the job that could cost her her life or even ruin the overall goal of a case. You could blame that fact that she’s kind of a workaholic who can get a bit temperamental.