#idk seen a few people getting burned out and shit and being very apologetic

[chipped-chimera]

Hey you! Yeah you. It's okay to not feel creative! It's okay to need to take a break from making things! Being a 'content creator' is far too normalised and driven by shitty algorithms that prioritise daily output to stay relevant. If that's not for you, that's fine! You're not a robot! We're humans, we're meant to live and have joy and create out of our expressions, experiment, discover and learn - not become a digital content sweatshop.

So if you need time away to rest, to find that joy again - you're still a creative, whether you passion is writing, music, art etc. They're still a part of you and they'll be waiting for you when you return.

Rest is self care, it is not something you should be ashamed of or apologise for.

[thisaccisdead]

give up on a miracle - sanders sides au - chp. 1

pairing(s): as of now, romantic nicomas and platonic everyone else

warnings: lots of religious stuff

summary: patton, virgil, logan, and janus are angels in charge of answering prayers. when they find out the earth is scheduled to be destroyed in a week, their only hope for saving it is to set up two humans: thomas sanders and nico flores.

word count: 3.5k

notes: this is a based off of miracle workers but not an exact au, idk it’ll be fun, you don’t have to have seen the show, you just have to like silly angel shenanigans 

Please, God, let this somehow work out.

Thomas didn’t ask for miracles too often. Well—that was a lie, he probably prayed for some inconsequential thing everyday, but he rarely meant it the way he meant this one. The man at the mall felt like fate. He was beautiful, and according to his backpack he was gay, and he was just a few tables down, and... Thomas should have just said hi as soon as he had noticed him, but he had psyched himself out. Like always.

Usually that would be the end of the story, but as Thomas was headed for the exit, the man was there too. In front of him. Speaking to him.

Thomas was too caught off guard to process the first half of what he said—though he did register being given back his abhorrent carrot snack—and when he tuned back in, all he caught was:

“Uh, it’s okay! It’s probably a bit too nosy for me to ask anyway.”

“Uh, yeah! Super nosy! What’s wrong with you, man?” was the sentence that came out of Thomas’s mouth in response. He blamed his lips for coming up with it, because he knew his mind couldn’t have been involved.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” the man smiled apologetically at him, and even that small, sheepish smile was so radiant… yeah, Thomas was mentally beating the shit out of himself. “Well, have a good night!”

So, now the fate-given man was headed somewhere else, and Thomas was about to lose him—probably forever—if he didn’t act. So, obvious answer: he had to act. But he just… couldn’t. Not without a sign at least.

Not without a push.

When no push came, Thomas told himself it wouldn’t have led anywhere anyway. He continued about his day, with only the slightest added weight in his chest.

•••

“Aw, Virge, we have to do something about this one!”

Virgil looked up from his own paperwork to see the prayer Patton had pulled up.

“‘Please, God, let this somehow work out,’” he read out dryly. “Hm, not very specific.”

“Oh, but you didn’t—c’mon, look—“ Patton waved his hand to replay the video of the scene. The figures popped up on the screen, and Patton was reminded all over again of the dopey, flustered expression of the human, Thomas, as he failed so miserably at talking to his mall crush. It was such a silly, hopeful wish—Patton’s favorite kind—and he couldn’t bear to see it go unanswered.

His fellow angel did not share this opinion, evidentially. “Nope. Nuh-uh. No way,” Virgil said, “Love prayers are stupid as shit, hardest of all, never work out. If this whole department’s getting shut down, I’d rather spend my last week answering achievable prayers.”

Patton frowned. His brown-dappled wings drooped as his excitement wavered. “Is that right, though?” he asked, “Should we really stick to… what? Finding lost wallets? Delivering extra sandwiches? Like we’ve done every year of this job? If this is all ending, I wanna finally do something that matters, Virge.”

Virgil looked betrayed. “Lost wallets do matter, Patton. Maybe they don’t end droughts, or heal hearts, but that doesn’t mean they don’t matter. If people wish for it, it matters to them. I always thought you agreed with me on that.”

Patton bit his lip. He did agree with Virgil, on some level, and on any other day he would have considered his words more carefully. But with the prayer department set to close down this very week, he had lost some of his filter. Maybe his ideas were far-fetched, but when he had joined the Department of Answered Prayers he had been hoping to do exactly that--end droughts, heal hearts.

“Virgil’s right,” chimed in Logan. Their manager made his way over, and took Patton’s tablet from his hands. He swiped upwards on the prayer, officially dismissing it as ‘impossible.’ “There is no need to feel bad, Patton. It’s not our fault humans mainly ask for impossible things. If they want impossible, they need God, and God doesn’t have that kind of time. If they want an extra sandwich… we can pull a few strings.”

Logan nodded approvingly to where Virgil was coding breezes on his tablet, screen open to a view of a rural town avenue. He was carefully, cautiously, innocuously blowing leaves into piles one-by-one. This process eventually cleared the front yard of a small house, just in time for a kind-eyed, middle-aged man to come home and cheer at the sight of the finished chore. He even did a stupid little dance to himself, and Patton saw the smallest smile tug at Virgil’s lips.

“I agree with Patton,” came a voice from over by the mini fridge. Janus was doing what he did best: sipping at the canned wine he wasn’t meant to have, not doing any work, and giving his opinion on everything anyway. “Let’s do something interesting. It’s not like it matters at this point.”

“What do you mean?” Patton squinted at him.

“Cuz the prayer department’s getting shut down, duh, what else have we been talking about?” Virgil answered.

“No,” Janus said, “Well—yes, but… you know why we’re getting shut down, right?”

Patton and Virgil tilted their heads at him, and Logan looked away. A smile appeared on Janus’s face, but not one of joy. One that had an edge, a venom in it. “Logan… you didn’t tell them?”

“It would only upset them,” the management angel replied, still not meeting Janus’s eyes.

“Yeah, because they’ll not be upset at all when they see Earth randomly explode in a few days,” Janus deadpanned.

“What?!” Patton and Virgil exclaimed in simultaneous dismay.

Logan glared at Janus. “Are you happy? Now we have to deal with this for the next week.”

“Earth can’t explode yet,” Virgil said matter-of-factly, “that’s not right. Right?”

Patton nodded emphatically. “We should’ve gotten at least a century’s notice! Or had it on a public schedule somewhere!”

“Yeah, God has to call it off. At least for now,” Virgil agreed.

“You want God to stop it?” Janus said with a laugh. “He didn’t even remember it was happening; it was His PA who told the management staff.”

“Yes, it was,” Logan narrowed his eyes at Janus. “How did you find out about it anyway?”

Janus opened his mouth, but before he could answer, Virgil cut in, “God’s not gonna do anything about it?”

“It’s been in His plan. Why would He need to change it?” Logan asked rhetorically, adjusting his large, round-framed glasses as he did so. It was a movement he made often when he was being a know-it-all.

“How’s Earth gonna die?” Patton asked, looking at the floor, still in denial. He had lived his life on Earth, he had been a human—they all had, before they died and became angels. It had been so long since he’d been alive, he couldn’t quite remember the feeling of it. The memory was blurred around the edges, but it still seeped warmth, like dough burning into bread over a fire. Now, the only connection he had to that sensation were the humans--the chance to watch them, how they lived such utterly flawed, full lives. He recalled Thomas’s hopeful expression.

“Asteroid,” Logan replied. He didn’t need to check his files to give the answer, his ink-blue wings stiff behind him--and that was when Patton knew, despite his cold, indifferent attitude, this news was weighing on him too.

“Like the dinosaurs. Well, bigger. But still unoriginal of Him,” Janus scoffed, checking his nails—well, more like checking his gloves, which seemed unnecessary. Something mournful crossed his face for a moment, but Patton couldn’t place what. “The dinosaurs were sad too.”

“You lived in the 19th century. You weren’t around for dinosaurs,” Logan stated, brow furrowed in confusion. Janus ignored him.

“An asteroid? He could prevent that so easily! Earth deserves to at least live to its natural end,” Patton said. He glanced to Virgil, hoping for backup, but his coworker seemed most focused on biting his black-polished nails into dust.

“Well, isn’t it the natural end if it was in His plan?” Logan asked, once again, rhetorically. He also adjusted his glasses again. Patton liked to think of himself as particularly nice, even for an angel, but he wouldn’t have minded seeing those glasses broken in that moment.

“I’m more interested in your claim that Earth doesn’t ‘deserve’ to end,” Janus smiled at Patton. It was a slippery kind of smile, one that he couldn’t grasp the intentions of. “Overall, it’s a dumpster fire of a planet, wouldn’t you agree? I mean, 99% of the prayers are literally impossible for angels to answer at this point.”

“Yeah, well, I know some angels who are too busy with their shitty wine to even try—“ Virgil began to complain, turning on Janus, but Patton was too busy having a revelation to pay much attention to it.

“That’s it!” Patton exclaimed, jumping up from his seat with a grin.

“Please, be more specific, Patton,” Logan sighed. “Define ‘it.’”

Patton was, once again, too busy to pay attention to this. He made for the doorway with haste, only tossing over his shoulder: “I’m going to meet God!”

•••

Logan, Janus, and Virgil made it to God’s office before Patton did. He wasn’t the best with maps, so sue him. The trio was waiting in the grand hallway for him, and he was thankful that they had decided to back him up, despite the fact they had no idea what he was doing. Even though the coworkers bickered their fair share, you couldn’t work as the only 4 angels in a crumbling department without a certain bond forming.

Patton gave them a grateful smile as he strolled past them and right up to the secretary’s desk. The secretary, who was… not present? He checked the name plaque. Engraved in the gold of it was: Mrs. Snuffles, but the ‘u’ had been scratched out and written over so that it was Mrs. Sniffles. Before Patton could even begin to be perplexed by this, a large orange tabby hopped up from the floor, where she had been hidden, and onto the desk.

The cat looked him in the eye, with a surprising amount of purpose, and meowed.

“Hello?” Patton asked, dumbfounded. “...Mrs. Sni—Snuffles?”

She meowed again, this time with an undercurrent of what Patton could only assume was impatience.

“I—“ Patton looked back at the group behind him, but they just shrugged. They were following his lead. That couldn’t be good. “We would like to schedule a meeting with God, please.”

Mrs. Snuffles trotted over to a stack of papers, and pushed the top one aside with a swipe of her paw. She looked up from it after a moment, and then jumped down from the table, going up to the gilded, arched doorway at the end of the hall. She started meowing loudly, and soon an angel with cardinal-red wings and a matching red suit jacket stepped out. He looked down at Mrs. Snuffles, then up at Patton.

“I’m terribly sorry, but God is not available right now. He’s very busy,” the angel explained with a polite smile, the kind that was trained and not felt, “and he will be until Earth explodes. Thank you, goodbye.”

“Oh,” Patton said dumbly. He maybe should have expected that.

Mrs. Snuffles hissed at the angel, and he sighed. “You really think they want to talk to Him?”

“We do!” Patton interjected.

“You think you do,” the angel replied, an undercurrent of bitterness to his tone.

“Same difference, right?” Patton said, giving the other a hopeful smile.

“Just let us in, Princey,” Virgil’s annoyed voice came from behind. “Don’t be an ass. At least not more of one than usual.”

Patton looked between the two of them. “You know each other?”

‘Princey’ gave Virgil a deadpan glare. “Fine. You want a meeting with God? Be my guest.” He stepped aside from the doorway, gesturing to it with a sarcastic flourish.

When no one else made a move, Virgil grumbled and pushed past Patton. The rest of the group followed. When they got to the door, Patton paused and turned to the red-winged man. “Princey—“

“Roman,” he corrected.

“Roman,” Patton repeated. He pointed at the cat curiously, “Mrs. ‘Sniffles’?”

Roman blushed. “I was allergic when I was alive.”

A resounding reply of “Me too!” went through the group, and they all turned to each other in mild surprise.

“It’s how I died!” Patton added cheerily.

“Huh,” Roman replied with a puzzled frown. He cleared his throat. “Well, good luck.”

“Thank you!” Patton said. He looked down at Mrs. Snuffles as well, “Thank you, too.”

She gave him a final, curt meow, and rubbed up to his legs, pushing his feet against the door. He laughed, turned to the others waiting for him, and they nodded. Roman opened the door, and gestured them in.

Patton didn’t know what he had expected God’s office to look like, but it was decidedly not what he found upon entering that door. He had expected something resembling the grand hallway leading up to it: golden statues, velvet carpet, ivory columns. And, sure, that seemed to be the basis of the office; it was everything that was added on that was surprising. The bookshelves were stacked exclusively with trashy magazines, the walls were covered in posters of boy bands and movie stars, and a side-room had been renovated into what appeared to be a personal Starbucks. Finally, in the center of it all, sitting on the sofa and watching TV, was:

“...God?” Patton asked unsurely.

The man--(should Patton call Him that?)--eyed the group from behind a pair of sunglasses. He didn’t bother to turn the TV off as He casually greeted, “Hey, babes! What’s up?”

“Um,” Patton glanced at his friends for help, but they were clearly just as lost as him. Well, not Janus; Janus seemed unbothered. This provided Patton some sense of comfort, enough for him to continue, “We wanted to ask about--”

“Hold that thought, hun,” God held up a finger. “Roman!”

Roman walked in, almost reluctantly, at the call. “Yes?”

“Be a peach and mute the TV, would you?” God asked, throwing His PA the remote. Roman caught it as if with practice, and pressed the mute button with a wry expression.

“Thanks, love you!” God said, then turned back to Patton. “What were we talking about?”

“Well--”

God tried to sip the frappe in His drink-holder, only to find it empty, and He interrupted again to say, “Roman, coffee alert! Mama needs His caffeine!”

Roman bit his lip, presumably to stop himself from letting out a sigh. When he walked to the Starbucks corner, he seemed to purposefully avoid eye contact with the group. Patton glanced at his friends, and found Virgil suppressing an amused grin, and Janus not bothering to suppress his.

“We wanted to ask about the end of the world,” Patton finally said.

God’s brow furrowed slightly. “End of the world? Oh! OH, that is coming up, isn’t it? When’s that again, Ro?”

Roman, from behind the coffee maker, replied, “7 and a half days.”

“Oo, fun!” God gasped, “That’s so soon! I totally forgot that was so soon, isn’t that crazy?”

“So crazy,” Roman agreed dryly, handing Him a new venti frappe.

“Right,” Patton said, almost at a loss, “So, you… want the world to end?”

God shrugged, using one finger to play with his coffee straw as he spoke. “It was in my plan, wasn’t it? Plus, I mean, y’know… Earth’s really, like, ‘ew’ right now, right? Like, sure, I COULD save it, and then I’d let the humans keep doing their little thing, but I don’t want that; they’re mostly messes. I wanna make… I dunno a new place with, like, more Idris Elba’s.”

“And you’re willing to kill the real Idris Elba for that?” Janus cut in. God looked him up and down critically, before asking,

“Hey, do I know you from something?”

“No,” Janus replied quickly, “Certainly not from Eden, and even if I was there, I wasn’t the snake. I’m a real angel, hush.”

Patton turned to him in confusion, but God just shrugged again, and said, “K, whatever. Anyway, yeah, what’d you gals wanna know about Earth again?”

“Um, we wanted you to, maybe… not… blow it up?” Patton asked.

“Hmm,” God hummed, “Thanks, but no thanks! Earth is gross, I’m just so over it, you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” Patton replied without thinking, unable to hide the frustration in his voice anymore, “If Earth’s messed up, all the more reason to be there for your children, and not just kill everything. It’s wrong.”

There was a ‘thunk’ against the floor, and Patton looked to see that Roman had dropped the old coffee cup he had been carrying to the trash. Logan and Virgil were staring at Patton with equally stricken expressions, and Janus’s face was unreadable. He suddenly realized what he had said. He then realized how many angels had fallen for saying much less.

God stood up slowly. He approached Patton until He was uncomfortably close.

 “Awe,” He pouted, “babe, I know it’ll be sad, but how am I supposed to change it now? It’s in the plan, hun. I’m sure you understand.” He patted his cheek once condescendingly--a touch that carried the pleasant warmth of a sunbeam--before He stepped back and took a long sip of His coffee. Patton didn’t break eye contact the whole time.

“I have an idea,” Patton said in a newly sunny tone--the type of overly kind, conversational tone that should be feared-- “How about a bet?”

“Are you for real?” God gaped at the continued insolence, somewhere between disbelief and delight. In the end, delight--or at least novelty--won. “Deal with the Devil is out, deal with God is in; OK, I’m into it!”

“You say it’s too hard to save Earth now? Impossible, even?” Patton asked challengingly. He heard a quiet gasp of realization from Logan, and when he glanced behind himself, he noticed Janus was smiling, as if impressed. This gave him enough confidence to continue, “Impossible, like it would be impossible for a few random angels to answer an unanswerable prayer?”

“Sweetie, I don’t know what you’re saying, but I love the way you’re saying it,” God waved His hand appreciatively.

Patton took Logan’s tablet from his hands. He scrolled to find the ‘Discarded Prayers: Impossible’ file. He held it out to God for proof as he concluded, “If we can answer one of these prayers before the end of the world, surely you can stop it from ending.”

“THAT’S your plan?! Pat, we can’t complete the possible prayers half the time,” Virgil exclaimed. He buried his face in his hands. “Earth’s dead.”

God, however, let out a dreamy sigh, holding one hand against His chest. Patton wasn’t sure if he was meant to feel like the ambitious hero or the prize dog at a pet show. “You know, I should say no…” God bit his lip with the same expression a suburban mother might have when she was about to cheat on her juice cleanse, “...but I never could resist a little twist! Ok, shake on it!”

God extended His hand, and Patton took it without hesitation.

“I, God, proclaim: Earth will not be destroyed next week if, and only if, an impossible prayer is answered.” As He spoke, His palm began to glow white, such that Patton had to look away for fear of being blinded. If God’s touch had been a sunbeam previously, it was now the whole sun, and Patton almost cried out from the burning heat. Technically, he didn’t have skin in the same way he did when he was alive, but he swore he felt it melting off in that grip.

Yet when God pulled away, there was no extra light in the room, no damage to his hand.

God smiled innocently. “Ok! Cute! So, what prayer you gonna choose?”

Huh. Patton hadn’t thought that far ahead. Maybe Virgil’s concern wasn’t so unwarranted. He looked down at the tablet he was still holding. His eyes scanned past several prayers that were beyond impossible--fix capitalism, no more YouTube ads, fix global warming, no more incels--until his eyes caught on just the thing. An unabashed grin overtook Patton’s face in realization,

“Oh, I know exactly what prayer we’re doing.”

•••

“Well, have a good night!”

Nico turned his back on the cute mall man after he said it, and he had to push down the urge to glance back a final time. He tried not to believe in true love—it was at best unlikely, and at worst an extremely problematic trope—but he was a writer, and a daydreamer, and when he spotted the man a few tables down at the food court… he just knew.

Ok, he didn’t know, there was no way to know that kind of thing—but he did want. He did hope. And he did, in a move that was unprecedented for him, pray:

Please, if anyone’s up there: I know it’s silly, but I want this so badly. And I know it’s basically impossible at this point but, maybe… if we meet again... let this somehow work out?

[scottspack]

SO YOU JUST FINISHED THE UNTAMED AND YOU WANT TO READ SOME FIC

Congratulations Jen @jlf23tumble on finishing The Untamed (tomorrow)! Now that you’re done with the show (tomorrow), you can finally dive into the wide and wonderful world of untamed fic!!! I’m ecstatic to be personally curating your reading experience! LET’S BEGIN!

I’ve started off with a list of 5 fics I think you should read in this specific order to 1. get some resolution from the end of the show and 2. get you acclimated to untamed fics! Then, I’ve listed a bunch of fics in different categories for your perusal to read at your leisure! This is an unbelievably long post holy shit brace yourself.

I’m like fairly certain that all of these follow the tv show canon BUT also its very typical for authors to combine many aspects of all of the different forms of canons to their liking. Therefore, I feel like I need to give a quick explanation of a couple things from the novel that show up frequently in fics that idk if you know already or not:

In the book, when Wei Wuxian is resurrected, he is brought back in Mo Xuanyu’s actual body and has his face and everything. Mo Xuanyu was pretty young when he died, I wanna say maybe 17 or 18??? and he was also short and pretty and flamboyantly gay. This is where the references to their crazy height difference come from, but again, I think I tried to include mostly fics that skew more heavily to the tv version where WWX keeps his same body and he and LWJ are more evenly matched physically.

Its novel canon that LWJ smells like sandalwood incense and has golden colored eyes. This is mentioned in like almost every single wangxian fic ive ever read, even if the author said they were strictly adhering to show canon lol

At the end of the novel wangxian run away together and elope! Obviously in the show that’s not how it goes down, but I think a couple of the fics I’ve recced might mention it in passing. (Oh also when they elope they make a pact to fuck “everyday,” a concept that might be mentioned as well.

Obviously, we have to kick it off with some fics that both reunite wangxian and give more resolution to the actual show. If you’re like me, it both took you a while to get all the way through the show AND took 100% of your brain power to remember all of the characters and plot lines. If that’s that case: these fics should be helpful in serving as a kind of emotional refresher for the show to wrap up some loose ends and to dive deeper into some of the things the show glosses over for one reason or another!

1. A Lot of Edges Called Perhaps by hansbekhart (Wangxian, E, 21k) 

The funny part is - and it is a little funny, even if Wei Wuxian has no one left to share the joke with - they never have. Not anything. He has never kissed any part of Lan Zhan besides his slim hands; never been even partially undressed with him anywhere besides a miserable, xuanwu-infested cave. It’s always been like this between them, this simmering need, this desperate understanding: a knowledge so deep that it lives somewhere in his bones, that if he wanted to have Lan Zhan he could have him, and if Lan Zhan wanted Wei Wuxian he could have that too. But they never have.

I found this fic on someone’s blog when they said that it was the definitive fic to read directly after finishing the series so i saved it, read it directly after finishing the series, and felt COMPLETE. Beautifully written, seamlessly fits with canon, and has a super fulfilling resolution. The perfect way to kick off reading untamed fic!

2. One Rogue Spark In My Direction by hansbekhart (Lan Wangji/Xiao Xingchen/Song Lan, E, 5k)

He’d thought, in Yueyang, that they’d seen something in each other, something familiar. That maybe they’d recognized something in him. But it’s been many years, and many things have happened since, and he’s guessed wrongly at other people’s hearts before. Lan Wangji looks back down at the table, at his steaming, bitter tea. He’ll beg if he has to.

In “A Lot Of Edges Called Perhaps” Wangji mentions that he has had sex before and this is the in-universe story of that time and WHEW BABY!!!! AHHHHHH!!! While this fic is like, almost pure smut, I think there is a ton of value to it in terms of emotional perspective on how fucked up LWJ was after WWX’s death. Also, it’s very hot.

3. Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart (Laz Sizhui & Lan Wangji, G, 19k)

Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.

This is a fic about Lan Wangji raising Sizhui from when he rescues Sizhui from the Burial Mounds until they bring WWX back to the Cloud Recesses after he’s resurrected. It made me cry about 18 times and I consider it fully canon in relation to the show. I think this gives a lot of emotional depth to the Wangji/Sizhui family relationship that is very important in most fics, so this acts as a good base since the show doesn’t really talk about it too much.

4. Your Name, Safe In Their Mouth by astrolesbian (Lan Sizhui & Wei Wuxian, G, 10k)

“You’ve got a fever,” Wei Wuxian says soothingly. “You just keep still as well as you can. We’ll have you fixed up soon.”

Lan Sizhui recognizes his tone—this is the voice that Wei Wuxian uses on hurt people and young children, a very calm and no-nonsense voice that has none of the mischief and cheer of the way he sounds the rest of the time. Lan Sizhui looks up and meets his eyes, and they are dark, stormy gray, muddled and concerned.

“I’m all right,” he croaks.

“Hush,” Wei Wuxian says, in a low croon, like someone quieting a baby. Then he blinks, and looks away, awkward. “I mean—you shouldn’t speak. You’re tired. Rest if you need to.”

or: lan sizhui gets sick on a night hunt. wei wuxian comforts him. they both have a lot of feelings about it.

The Wei Wuxian and Sizhui bonding fic that I so desperately desperately needed to read. Since we got the emotional depth to Wangji/Sizhui in the last fic, here’s some emotional resolution for Sizhui and his other dad!!!!!!!!!! Scratched the very particular itch of “but have they REALLY talked about what it means that they’re reunited after 16 years???”

5. climbing up that coastal shelf by Sour_Idealist (Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng, & Wei Wuxian, T, 15k)

Jin Ling had begun to suspect years ago that there were parts of his family history that had been crossed out; long streaks of black where Wei Wuxian had been. The truth is more like whole books being brought up from their hiding places again.

Or: Jin Ling tries to figure out what family means, now.

OKAY!!!! Last emotional resolution before I send you on your way to explore! This is the emotional resolution for the other half of WWX’s family. Featuring just a FUCK TON of family feels and a lot of TALKING that this fucked up family needs so damn bad. *chefs kiss* muy delicioso! ALSO i think this is a good introduction to a lot of the naming conventions that are used frequently in untamed fic that took me a while to pick up on!

WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that you’ve gotten some post-show catharsis in the form of a few extremely well-written fics, it’s time for a full rec! I’ve divided it up into seven categories: long fics, smutty one-shots, 3zun (lan xichen/nie mingjue/meng yao) fics, fics about the juniors, family fun fics, some miscellaneous fics, and then some yizhan RPF! I wouldn’t have put any of these fics on here if I didn’t think they were worth reading, BUT! I did mark my particular favorites with asterisks to demark the crème de la crème of the bunch. SO! LET’S DIVE IN!

EPIC TALES (LONG AND/OR IMMERSIVE)

My Age Has Never Made Me Wise by idrilka (Wangxian, E, 63k) ***

“We hear that His Excellency might be married by summer’s end,” the merchant’s wife says and Wei Wuxian freezes, his heart in his throat. “The Gusu Lan sect has been buying enough red silk and brocade that the merchants in Caiyi can’t satisfy the demand.”

He feels himself grow brittle inside, like a flick of a finger to his temple might make him shatter. His ears are ringing.

“Who’s the lucky bride?” he asks despite himself. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth.

Or: The story of a marriage.

I LOVE THIS FIC. YOU MUST PROMISE ME YOU’LL READ THIS FIC. The absolute best kind of slow burn and I think such an extremely accurate representation of the canon material. I’m always surprised by the authors in this fandom’s ability to write shit that is so concretely grounded in the universe. This could and should be a real companion novel. Amazing. I love it. (Also I know you said you’re not into fics that are long just to be long and I think this fic is the exact opposite of that, it’s long but for good reason and has such an insanely satisfying payoff that it’s completely worth dedicating a few hours to!)

The Year of Drought by idrilka (Wangxian, E, 24k)

Wei Ying could not be contained by the walls of the Cloud Recesses, alive again and overflowing with it, bursting like a dam in spring with the force of two lives unspent. And so he had to go. Lan Wangji understands that—he understood it when Wei Ying told him of his plans, looking at Lan Wangji above the rim of his cup with an apologetic smile, like craving freedom was something to apologize for.

Wei Ying would go, and Lan Wangji would see him off; this has always been the only way it could be.

Or: In the absence of Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji waits.

The previous fic but from Wangji’s perspective. Absolutely required reading if you read the other one. Wangji baby.......i love you.....

further than the grave by idrilka (Wangxian, E, 32k)

There is something about grief that turns Lan Wangji numb. He cannot be certain if it is not some kind of defect inside him that makes him so. But just as he grieved his mother’s passing with dry eyes and a stone in his chest, so he grieves Wei Ying: quietly, frozen inside, without tears. Beyond the Jingshi window it might be spring, but Lan Wangji’s body and mind are still held within the winter’s grasp.

As the anniversary of his leaving seclusion approaches, Lan Wangji ponders the nature of grief and healing.

One last fic from the same verse as the previous two, this talks about Wangji post-WWX’s death and then them dealing with the past post-marriage. Its just as good and immersive and amazing as the previous two parts, but this is the only untamed fic that actually made me gasp out loud and if you read this and can guess what it was we will be best friends forever. (There are two other fics in this verse that are also good but these three in particular are god-tier in my eyes.)

Vagabond by xantissa (Wangxian, E, 66k)

Wei Wuxian comes back to Cloud Recesses after a year of wandering the world, hoping to start a relationship with Lan Zhan. He doesn’t expect to come into the middle of a case of sleeping sickness mysteriously killing people, nor does he expect what follows, putting everything he holds dear on the line once again.

OOOWEE CASE FIC! CASE FIC! This is truly the twisty turny intense and INTERESTING type of fic from this fandom that blows my mind. This could fully be a stand alone novel its that good and there’s that much to it. Another one that isn’t long just to be long, it has so much PLOT!!!!! REAL GOOD SHIT!

Seldom All They Seem by Fahye (Wangxian, E, 25k)

or, one hundred and thirty-three principles of the Gusu Lan, pertaining to the state of marriage

***

He bows to Wei Wuxian, sword in hand, sleeves falling properly. Wei Wuxian bows in return, and the sect leaders begin the opening courtesies, and for all of ten minutes Lan Wangji is under the impression that he is betrothed to a boy who is perfectly normal and acceptable apart from an unfortunate tendency to fidget with his clothes.

That impression does not last.

A canon-divergent fic exploring “what if Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were betrothed from when they were young like Yanli and Jin Zixuan?” It’s extremely good and very compelling and also made me cry multiple times. (The confrontation in the rain doesn’t get any easier even if they’re betrothed!)

Half Cloak & Half Dagger by Fahye (Lan Xichen/Meng Yao, E, 13k)

Jin Guangyao lifts his head and smiles. "I'm considering a problem."

"Can I be of any assistance with it?"

He drops a kiss on Lan Xichen's chest. With the nail of one finger he lightly traces the characters for irony on Lan Xichen's side. "Not this one, er-ge."

A follow-up fic set in the “Seldom All They Seem” universe but focused on xiyao. Has hands down the best written characterization of meng yao in any fic ive read so far. I continuously come back to this fic just to read the absolutely genius way this author writes the Head Bitch In Control of the cultivation world.

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (Wangxian, T, 20k)

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

I kept avoiding this fic, even though it was really high up on the list of most popular fics in the fandom, bc the premise sounded pretty goofy BUT I finally bit the bullet one day and AHHHHHHHH!!!!! Very very very cute and fun, made me smile like an idiot throughout the entire thing. Heartwarming and very well written!!!

never let me go by yiqie (Wangxian, E, 69k)

Wei Wuxian has certainly hoped so ardently in his two lifetimes, for so many different things, in so many different ways, that he could have summoned the demon to his front door with his bare hands. His eyes wander to Lan Zhan, settle on the back of his head, the blue-black curtain of his hair. Oh, how he has hoped.

Another extremely good and super immersive case fic. If you ever just want to sink really deep into an untamed fic, this is a great one for it.

hunters seeking solid ground by Attila (Wangxian, E, 24k)

“Hanguang-jun,” Wei Wuxian repeats. His heart clenches. He wants—but he’d really meant to have this nightmare stuff down before they met again, so he wouldn’t find himself relying on Lan Wangji’s nearness. He’s not supposed to go back yet. But he’s so tired, and his will crumbles. “Yeah,” he says. “All right. Take me back to Gusu with you.”

You want hurt/comfort? I gotcha hurt/comfort RIGHT HERE!

shadows in the sun rise by Yuu_chi (Wangxian, E, 25k) ***

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says, voice slow and a pitch too quiet. A second later Wei Wuxian understands why. “I cannot hear.”

Or; Lan Wangji is cursed into internal isolation. Their ability to understand one another remains as unwavering as ever.

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD. I have been thinking about this fic nonstop since I read it. It is…..fucking incredible. One of the best qualities of wangxian is that they’re so in tune with each other and able to work so cohesively with little communication and this fic is like “what if we take that and DIAL IT UP TO ELEVEN” and i was like AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I hope that you will come and meet me by feyburner (Wangxian, M, 28k) ***

The second time Lan Zhan said Wei Ying, come back, Wei Wuxian did.

okay so this is literally getting added to the fic rec one day before i send it to you because i just finished it and WHEW BABY!!!!! YES it is just another wangxian post-canon reunion get-together fic, BUT 1. i cant get enough of that specific brand of fic and 2. ITS SO GOOD. ITS. SO. GOOD. achingly tender and incredibly soft but also funny and sweet and very in-character! i love it!

THE BONE ZONE (WANGXIAN SMUT)

Sweet Night by corteae (Wangxian, E, 10k)

It was like coming back to life again, like being restitched into existence, cell by cell, nerve by nerve. From the surface of his skin to the marrow of his bones, everything new and purposeful. Like being pulled back from oblivion into an embrace of pure light. A feeling of absolute asylum.

That’s what it felt like, to realize Lan Wangji was in love with him.

An in-show au of “what if they just admitted they’re in love and fucked during episode 43?” Soft and romantic and hot!

the crucial point by dissembler (Wangxian, E, 7k) ***

Months after parting on the mountain, Lan Wangji makes up his mind, plots his course on a map, and has faith.

I LOVE THIS FIC! Very realistic and sweet wangxian reunion fic from wangji’s perspective. Has so many good little details and is very true to their characters. Good shit. Great.

Stainless by Fahye (Wangxian, E, 6k)

"I'm starting to feel," says Lan Xichen, "that this was a counterproductive suggestion."

Wei Wuxian looks down onto the pristine, tranquil cold springs of the Cloud Recesses. Sitting in the water, their bare shoulders rising like dumplings carefully spaced in a steaming-basket, are a large number of Lan disciples.

"They seem to be doing better," he says, encouragingly. "If they--oh, no, I see what you mean."

At the near bank, someone has pressed someone else against the rocks and is kissing them frantically.

What is getting into a new pairing if not an excuse to read sex pollen in new and exciting ways!

To Recklessly Confess by la_dissonance (Wangxian, E, 8k)

Lan Wangji has a fantasy. Wei Wuxian gets several clues.

The “what if they just fucked in episode 43” au but from a different angle.

all the depths of me, real by northofallmusic (Wangxian, E, 15k)

Wei Wuxian is dealing with a curse a little worse than he'd like to let on, and Lan Zhan is a little less than willing to let it slide.

Another “what if they just fucked in the show” fic, this time set when WWX has the curse on his leg and Wangji has to carry him back to the inn. 

Every Day, Learning More by phnelt (Wangxian, E, 6k)

The pink was high on Wei Wuxian’s cheeks. “I mean I haven’t been able to… that I can’t. Not without you.”

Lan Wangji stared. “In this body, the whole time you’ve had it -- you’ve never…”

Wei Wuxian kicked his heels into Lan Wangji’s back. “I just said that!”

I knew at least one of these was more book verse than show! WWX hasn’t been able to jerk off in his new body, LWJ helps him out :-)

the meaning of the ritual by newamsterdam (Wangxian, E, 8k)

“Lan Zhan… wants to bed me?”

The hand on his chest is shaking, slightly. “Mn.”

“Oh,” Wei Wuxian breaths out.

There’s something— something powerful, about that. Lan Wangji wants to bed him. Lan Wangji wants to sleep with him. Lan Wangji wants to touch him, and kiss him. The immovable, implacable Second Master of Lan, with a face and principles both carved from jade, wants him.

“Is this a fantasy of yours?” Wei Wuxian asks. “Forcing all the demonic energy out of me with your—”

Lan Wangji claps a hand over his mouth. “Silence, now.”

When the entire cultivation world turns against the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian makes a risky gamble— he'll agree to participate in an ancient ritual for cleansing the spirit, so that his character can no longer be called into question. The catch? He has no idea who his partner for the ritual will be.

This is also book-verse! As the tag says “Let Lan Wangji Fuck the Yiling Patriarch”!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurricane by gdgdbaby (Wangxian, E, 6k) ***

"Haven't you heard?" Nie Huaisang replied, clicking his tongue, though he was clearly pleased that he could be the one to break the news. He leaned in to announce with a dramatic flourish: "Lan Wangji just took emergency family leave this past weekend."

WANGXIAN AS SPIRK STAR TREK PON FAR AU!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEWOO WEEWOO WEEWOO!!!!!!!! This was actually recced to ME by CHI and I have not stopped thinking about this fic for a full month. It’s like author gdgdbaby sat down one day and was like “Tumblr user Liv Scottspack deserves everything she wants in this life.” and then wrote this fic. Thank you author gdgdbaby, I love you.

WORLD’S WORST THROUPLE (3ZUN)

The body is a blade by rheawrites (3zun, E, 2k) ***

In which Lan Xichen is taken by surprise, Nie Mingjue takes what he can get, and Meng Yao gets what he wants.

This was the first 3zun fic I ever read and whew baby, got it in one! It’s actually a slight AU but it gets their characterization so right and is a very fun read. One of those fics I go back to frequently because it does so much with so few words.

shang tiantang by fuckwarlock (3zun, E, 4k)

They wanted so much, and with the way A-Yao gasps at the saber-calloused hand unfastening his belts, he does, too. The night air twirls with the scents of osmanthus and cinnamon and melon. Lan Xichen smiles, leans in, and ghosts his lips over the crook of A-Yao’s neck. What kind of brother would he be if he didn’t give A-Yao what he wanted? “I think it’s your turn to ascend, A-Yao.”

The Venerated Triad celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival the best way they know how.

Truly the only way the venerated triad works is if meng yao gets Destroyed :-)

Favour and Fate by soulgusttheguardian (3zun, E, 8k)

There have been times in Meng Yao’s life when he couldn’t help but wonder how he came to be in his current situation. Found himself reflecting on the choices leading up to whatever misfortune had befallen him that day, and pondering why fate hated him so.

Granted, there had also been times when he couldn't help but wonder just what he had done to earn the favour necessary to be rewarded with certain things...

The current situation he found himself to be in, however, was definitely the latter.

More of the same! Truly I personally can never get enough of the 3zun dynamic in smut fics its just too goddamn motherfucking GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

the stars do not take sides by everyearning (3zun, E, 4k)

Mingjue isn’t sure he’s ever seen Xichen do anything other than treat the boy like a porcelain doll and it’s laughable to him, to think of Meng Yao as something breakable, instead of the sharp, deadly object he is.

Okay one last “Destroy Meng Yao” 3zun fic! Enjoy!

never as alive as we are right now by ThirtySixSaveFiles (3zun, E, 12k)

Three perspectives on three sworn brothers, at three different times in their relationship.

(Or, three times 3zun got it on and some of the feelings they had along the way.)

Wait actually I want to end the 3zun fics on this one because it has true Emotional Resolution at the end and I think they deserve a little healing.

BABY BOYS. BABIES. (THE JUNIORS)

A Civil Combpaign by Ariaste (Jin Ling/Lan Sizhui, T, 20k) ***

“And,” said one of the pompous ministers, “there’s the matter of a marriage to consider as well!”

Jin Ling, who at the beginning of that sentence had expected to slam into the very last wall of his patience and lose his temper entirely, paused. “A what?”

Thing was… it wasn’t such a bad idea.

A MUST-FUCKING-READ!!! Jin Ling gets it in his head that as sect leader he should get married and sets his sights on Lan Sizhui. I cannot stress enough how FUCKING CUTE this fic is!!! Sizhui being the best boy! Jin Ling having more uncles than he knows what to do with! Jiang Cheng being the worst at relationship advice! It’s so fucking good it love it so much.

Anyway, Here’s Wuji by kakikaeru (Lan Jingyi/Lan Sizhui, T, 18k)

The melody gets a little clearer when he breaks out of the trees, and Jingyi changes course with certainty, barreling down the back hill and through the Cloud Recesses, dodging scandalized disciples left and right. He throws open the doors to the Receiving Hall without announcement and bows nearly double, eyes on the floor instead of on the shocked faces of the Mei delegation and the impenetrable gaze of the Chief Cultivator.

"Forgive this disciple," Jingyi shouts, because he's going to get punished for rule breaking regardless. "From the back hill, Hanguang-jun, there is a song in the wind!"

Lan Jingyi comes of age.

A Jingyi-central fic about Jingyi growing up and falling in love and being a hero and being the second best boy of my heart right after Sizhui. Not only is this fic sweet and romantic but it’s another one that explores a lot of interesting things within canon and all of the supporting characters are written very well and are just as interesting as second best boy Jingyi.

Ok, JiuJiu by kakikaeru (Jin Ling/Ouyang Zizhen, T, 16k)

Uncle's jaw works in the way that suggests he's about to say something irredeemable. Jin Ling, in a move of diplomacy he hopes the Chief Cultivator appreciates, distracts him with spicy food and his favourite subject: the incompetence of his own officials.

"I hear the lakes in the south east are having drainage problems?" he asks nonchalantly, sticking three big slices of braised pork belly into his Uncle's bowl.

Jin Ling just wants to get through the Discussion Conference with his Sect, his dignity, and his heart intact.

A follow up fic to “Anyways, Here’s Wuji.” I LOVE the Jin Ling/Ouyang Zizhen dynamic of Jin Ling having been raised by Jiang “I keep all my emotions right here and then one day I’ll die” Cheng AND being hopelessly charmed and smitten with Ouyang “President of the I Love Love Romance Novel Book Club” Zizhen! I LOVE IT! EXTREMELY CUTE!

Lan Sizhui's Guide to Courtship by Kimblydot (Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, T, 23k)

In which Jingyi is a little oblivious, Sizhui is patient (and should have said something in the beginning), and everyone else is resigned to watching them dance around each other for far longer than necessary.

(Or: five things Sizhui tries to do in his courtship, and the one time Jingyi realizes there was one happening in the first place.)

I’ll stop describing fics about the juniors as being “cute” when they stop being SO FUCKING CUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

His Merit All My Fear by violettressed (Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, G, 16k)

It’s too late for any of Hanguang-Jun’s rabbits to be awake -- one of the sundown chores for young disciples is to herd them back into their hutch -- but the rabbit field is as good a spot as any for quality sulking, so Lan Jingyi makes his way there.

Someone has beat him to it.

Lan Jingyi stares at Hanguang-Jun. Hanguang-Jun stares passively back.

When Lan Sizhui is swept away with the Ghost General, off on a new adventure, Lan Jingyi is the one who returns to Cloud Recesses alone.

Not only another extremely cute Sizhui/Jingyi fic BUT one that includes a Wangji/Jingyi friendship??? Incroyable! *chefs kiss*

spirit running wild by idrilka (Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, E, 17k)

He doesn’t know, exactly, when the friendship he shared with Sizhui over the years has changed into something that’s made Jingyi finally understand why Hanguang-Jun always wears that expression whenever he looks at Senior Wei. There hasn’t been one single moment that he can point to and say, yes, this is where it started, because the thing about falling in love with your best friend is that it happens gradually, until it’s impossible to tell which step has been the deciding one.

Jingyi goes to Baling with a crush.

Written by the same genius that wrote the first three fics I made you read so you know it’s good. Its truly the childhood best friends to lovers of it all! Sizhui is adorable and Jingyi is a mess! *muah!*

FAMILY FUN TIME (NO ROMANCE, JUST FEELS)

Grow by cafecliche (Lan Sizhui & Wei Wuxian, T, 14k)

“Okay,” Jingyi says, as Sizhui puzzles this out aloud. “Okay! So the demon has been turning its victims into children.”

“I think so,” Sizhui says.

“To make them easier prey,” Jingyi says.

“Yes,” Sizhui says.

“So—” Jingyi’s voice cracks here, “this kid is Senior Wei.”

Wei Wuxian, still tangled in his own massive robes, blinks politely at them.

(Or: Wei Wuxian is cursed on a night-hunt, and the junior quartet rapidly finds themselves in over their heads.)

What I expected to be a goofy, silly fic turned out to be extremely emotional and made me FULLY CRY! It’s a very moving fic about Sizhui coming to understand himself and Wei Wuxian a lot better AND features all of the juniors arguing over who’s turn it is to hold 6 year old Wei Wuxian. A true win/win of a fic.

To The Act of Making Noise by words-writ-in-starlight (Lan Sizhui & Lan Wangji, G, 19k)

His father in white plays the song late into the night, and when A-Yuan wakes up confused and afraid, the guqin lulls him back to sleep.

Lan Sizhui hears his father play the same song every night for his whole life, and never, ever get an answer.

Another very moving and heartwarming fic about Lan Wangji raising Sizhui and Sizhui figuring out Wangji’s past and then eventually reconnecting with Wei Wuxian. It’s cute and soft and Sizhui is my best boy!

History (Proud To Call Your Own) by words-writ-in-starlight (Wen Ning, G, 5k)

“A-Yuan? Um—Lan-gongzi,” Wen Ning corrects, trying to set a good example. The children are young, seven and eight, exactly a dozen of them lined up in two crisp lines of tiny blue and white robes. Wen Ning can feel them staring at him, even though most of them have already mastered that Lan trick of neutrality. The smallest, a little girl with liquid dark eyes, is clinging to her nearest shijie’s sleeve and half-hiding. “Can I—what can I do for you?”

Wen Ning gets himself recruited for services, while he and Sizhui are visiting Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian gets a fan club.

Set in the same universe as “To The Act of Making Noise,” a very cute fic about Wen Ning finding his place in the post-canon world and being proud of Sizhui and being the world’s best substitute teacher. As the official Wen Ning Fan Club President, I had to include this.

the stone-filled sea by yukla (Lan Sizhui & Wei Wuxian, T, 9k) ***

He forgets how quickly Wei-qianbei changes faces, sometimes. Like pulling a theater mask over a bruise—color over color, a diversion with the swipe of his hand.

Lan Sizhui navigates a world that hates his father, one endless wave at a time.

Oh man oh man. I will never get enough of the fics where Sizhui (and the rest of the juniors) get ANGRY on Wei Wuxian’s behalf!! That’s their dad and their teacher and their friend and they will DEFEND HIM!!! YEAH BAYBEEEEEEEEEE!!!

PICK & MIX (MISCELLANEOUS)

This Side of Paradise by greenfionn (Wei Wuxian/Wen Qing, E, 3k)

Wei Wuxian does some very quick math in his head that goes something like this: He is pretty sure he’s in love with Lan Zhan - Lan Zhan is not here and likely never will be here - Wen Qing is here, not to mention very hot and let us not forget, actually interested in sex with him - there’s a solid chance he goes genuinely crazy or dies, or both, in the next few months and really, who wants to die a virgin?

Listen.......the fic premise is “Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing, noted bisexuals, figure life sucks enough at the Burial Mounds, they might as well have any fun they can before they die” and........I Am Looking Directly At It. It features Wen Qing bossing Wei Wuxian around and Wei Wuxian’s canon he-wants-to-be-pregnant kink. It’s........I liked it.

palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss by iodhadh (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, M, 15k) ***

The realization strikes Song Lan like a bolt of lightning: Xiao Xingchen laughs, and he wants with a sudden, stunning desperation to kiss the mirth from his beautiful mouth. How, precisely, he is meant to manage that—that, he has no idea at all.

Or: introspective meditations on touch, trust, and the problem of desire.

I Am Baby and for some reason cannot handle how sad the entire Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen storyline ended up so I rarely read songchen fics, and when I do they’re always soft pre-canon fics like this one. Luckily there are some very beautiful and moving pre-canon songchen fics!!! I love you fandom!!

purpose and ritual by iodhadh (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, E, 8k)

Song Zichen has beautiful hands. He's a powerful swordsman, strong and skilled, unfairly impressive and unreasonably handsome. He is devoted and self-disciplined and he takes direction like a dream. And he doesn't touch people—no one at all, if he can help it, except for Xiao Xingchen.

The poets might call him a saint, but Xiao Xingchen is so very, very human.

More of the same :-)

born to sweet delight by la_dissonance (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, E, 10k)

Xiao Xingchen lightly jumps into the center of the pool, the water a shock that cools his sticky, heated skin, and does nothing for the heat building inside him. When he surfaces, pushing the hair out of his face, he finds Song Lan's gaze and meets it. Between them, everything goes both ways. What Song Lan will offer, Xiao Xingchen will freely give too.

Or, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan meet, pledge their lives to each other, and then fall in love.

This is about the angstiest I will go for songchen and its still absolutely Baby Soft lmfao!!!!!!

Pin it down by rheawrites (Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan, Jin Zixuan/Nie Mingjue, E, 2k)

“Yanli, I did not lie on our wedding night. You are the only woman I have gone to bed with. But… there was a man.”

“Oh?” Yanli blinks up at him. She does not appear horrified, or betrayed, which is surely a good sign.

Jin Zixuan swallows. “It was Sect Leader Nie,” he says quickly, as though that will make it easier.

“…Oh,” says Yanli, and her eyes are dark.

-

Jin Zixuan tells his wife a war story. Or, two thousand words of Jin Zixuan getting railed.

Have you ever looked at Jin Zixuan and been like “I bet that mf likes getting PEGGED!!!!!!!!” Well here’s the fic for you. 

*YIBO VOICE* DIDI LOVES YOU! (YIZHAN RPF)

never really over by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 10k)

The thing is: it would be good to see Xiao Zhan again — if Yibo could just trust himself to be normal.

Author gdgdbaby is the yizhan master, so here are five of my personal favorites of their fics, starting with this post-filming reunion fic that was the first yizhan fic I ever read and HIT real good after having just finished the show myself.

pedagogy by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 17k) ***

Yibo opens his mouth and says, "I want to learn," barreling past the rapid rise of Xiao Zhan's eyebrows. "To last longer. Will you teach me?"

Quick-fire Yibo comes too easily and Xiao Zhan helps train him to last longer :-)

you’re the reason that i just can’t concentrate by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 10k)

Xiao Zhan hears about it from Yu Bin, which probably should've been the first warning sign.

Yibo was only 20 when they filmed the untamed, which lends itself perfectly to fics like this.

a truth so loud you can’t ignore by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 5k)

It's their last day of filming in Hengdian when the secret comes out.

If yibo has to be a fictional virgin than SO DOES XIAO ZHAN!

if you would only let you by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 32k) ***

"Well?" Yibo demands. Past the severe frown tugging at the corners of his mouth, a flicker of the old him slips through, the persistent boy who shoved his way into Xiao Zhan's space without a second thought and made a home for himself there. "Are you coming or not?"

Xiao Zhan's heart twists. He forcibly settles it back in his chest. He's only told Yibo no once in his entire life, and it was already the hardest thing he's ever had to do. "Okay," Xiao Zhan murmurs, quiet but decisive, and thumbs his phone off. "Let's go."

Like I said, all gdgdbaby fics are incredibly good, super well written, and very hot, but this one does stand out from the bunch for being a Full Epic Romance! This is one of Chi’s favorite fics so that should speak to it’s quality!

baby, who’s counting by nobirdstofly (Yizhan, E, 12k)

Xiao Zhan gasps, trying to rein in another peal of giggles. “What do I owe you anyway?”

Yibo shrugs one shoulder, and his smirk deepens. “Haven’t decided.”

Xiao Zhan’s still staring at him, laughter gone in his dry throat, when he hears someone yell for a reset. Yibo’s eyes are so, so dark, and he hasn’t stopped watching Xiao Zhan this whole time. Xiao Zhan swallows, nods, and pushes every dirty thought out of his head.

(Or: Yibo bets Xiao Zhan he'll break first during a take, Xiao Zhan loses, and it's all downhill from there.)

Ah sex bets, who doesn’t love sex bets!

Mystery Dance by mrsronweasley (Yizhan, E, 16k)

"That? That's your confession?" Yibo's toppled onto Xiao Zhan's side and is clutching his shoulder, trying not to fall over. "That's pathetic!"

"Oh, what, you can do better?" Zhuocheng is pretty flushed and there's a challenge in his voice that Yibo just can't walk away from.

"Hell yeah, I can. Hit me, Yu Bin." Yu Bin cheers and refills Yibo's shot glass. "All right!" Yibo downs the shot, gags only slightly, and says, "Everyone! I'm a fucking virgin!"

WHAT’S better than a Yibo virgin fic? A SECOND YIBO VIRGIN FIC!

This author also writes extremely good yizhan threesomes so here’s three of them!

Some Nights by mrsronweasley (Yizhan/Xuan Lu (Jiang Yanli), E, 2k)

Xuan Lu opened her legs to him and Xiao Zhan wasted no time diving in. He pressed his mouth against her pussy, licking her out steadily as her thighs trembled around him. She was nestled between Yibo's legs and if Xiao Zhan looked up, not only could he see the planes of her body, her small breasts going up and down with her breathing, ribs expanding, her tipped back head and open mouth, but Yibo, gaze boring into Xiao Zhan's as he ate Xuan Lu out.

The entire cast is hot and there is no reason they shouldn’t ALL fuck! Not one reason!!!!!!

gege loves you by mrsronweasley (Yizhan/Wang Zhuocheng (Jiang Cheng)), E, 7k)

"We are very sorry," Xiao Zhan murmured as he unbuttoned Zhuocheng's jeans while Yibo kissed his ear, "for how we've been acting."

"Is this how you apologize to everyone," Zhuocheng panted, hands already going for his zipper to help Xiao Zhan along, "or am I special?"

WHEW LORD!!!!!!!!! WHEW!!!!!!!

Talking in the Dark by mrsronweasley (Yizhan (Side Xiao Zhan/M/F), E, 14k)

Xiao Zhan has a light-hearted romp of a threeway with some friends, then makes the mistake of telling Yibo. It goes down.

A non-yizhan threesome BUT features jealous!yibo which is a ton of fun.

Finally, a couple AUs!

With Joy and Purpose by feenwitch (Yizhan, E, 30k) ***

Yibo has been alone for approximately five Earth years when Xiao Zhan crash lands on his planet.

YIZHAN ANDROID AU!!!!!!!! This is a very star trek-esque universe which is fun, but the fic itself is also CRAZY interesting and moving and beautiful!!!!!!!!! It’s A LOT! This was a rec from Nina, so thank you Nina!

Bound With a Same-Heart Knot by mrsronweasley (Yizhan, E, 59k)

London, 1892. Xiao Zhan, a promising young attache at the Chinese embassy is tasked with showing the new ambassador's son Wang Yibo around London. The inevitable happens.

Victorian AU! I actually think you already read this, but included for posterity.

AND SCENE! This is the result of two months of daily fic reading, having 50 tabs of fic open at any given time, reading truly anything and everything, and Loving The Untamed. I’m SO EXCITED you’re diving into fic for this show and I can’t wait to talk to you about all of them and to have someone to scream with! WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[slutinacan]

Black Sheep

envy adams x fem!reader

Warnings: kinda suggestive, not too heavy. (Sorry) ((kinda out of character for my kind of blog (((uwu horny sideblog))) but i just felt like writing this idk)). Swearing. A droplet of angst in the beginning but iT DOESN'T LAST TOO LONG I PROMISE.

Prompt: You've seemed to make it away from the heaviness of the group's troubles with Ramona's evil exes, and in an angered fit after getting in a brief argument with Scott due to his sheer recklessness, allowing not only himself to be put in danger, but everyone around him, you clasp Wallace's hand and race downtown to a local venue in high annoyance, only wanting to get away and enjoy the night away from all of this havoc in a flood of rock bands. Of course, everything starts out fine, as it always does, but as soon as an unexpected guest performer arrives onstage, you begin to receive more attention than expected.

Note: I'm aware that there is a shit ton of magical realism in this entire franchise, especially in the movie seeing as it was derived from a very vibrant comic series, so I'll try to incorporate as much of that in it as I can, promise. I'm not very good with magical realism/fantasy yet but I'll give it my all! Enjoy!

---

"You know what, Pilgrim? Fuck you." You let out an angry breath after his previous remark, tears flooding into your eyes.

You stood with nothing but sad anger running through your system, watching his face slowly cloud down into regret at his words, the room physically deflated at the broken atmosphere.

"I get that you want to be happy, and I am in full support of that, I just want you to be happy, Scott. But, when it comes at the cost of the people who want nothing but the best for you? Your friends? The people who have had it up to here with your shit but have always loved you too much to ever mind it because that's what pals are fucking for? You're too reckless. You always have been. Keep your head screwed on right for once and fucking look at what is in front of you, Pilgrim. Wake up." You ranted with a huff, fist clenched tight.

Scott made a move to step forward and take your hand, his own eyes teary, but you pulled back. Making a move for the door you grabbed your keys, and coat, without even taking the time to listen to his pleas. Your insides were boiling hot with rage but the exterior of your body stung cold with bitten ice that practically chilled the room below average temperature.

"Wallace. You want a ride or not, nerd." You asked, stepping outside and already finding yourself halfway to your car already as the wind kicking beneath your feet only accentuated your angry swiftness through the bitten evening.

With that, Wallace sprung up from his seat, grabbing his jacket, house key, and scarf. Ramona let out a quiet scoff of disbelief towards the brown haired boy, seeing as he was actually following you. Though, he gave nothing but a shrug to the group with a small, apologetic, look in return; then, he was out the door after sending one knowing look to Scott that said it all: When we get back, you're fixing this. All you, guy.

---

"Tickets please." The front attendee asked, his voice bellowing in your ears, breaking through the burning ice and sadness clouding your senses, chipping away at the practically frozen armor you guarded yourself with. Falling back into reality, you maintained your focus.

"Oh yeah, sorry, here you go." You refocused on his outstretched hand, placing both your ticket, and Wallace's into the presented palm. He tore off the stubs, grabbing two identification wristbands, and handed you both which you took with a small thank you.

Wallace took notice of your form, chilled and quiet. Soft and small and entirely too timid to be considered normal. You looked present but as if your brain was drifting far, far, away from the current scene. He nudged you with his elbow, sending a reassuring smile as you were cleared to enter the venue, being the lucky few to get there first at that. That alone chipped away at the frosted armor encasing your haunted form once again.

"Look, hun," he leaned against you reassuringly as you two snagged a spot near the front, his hands deep in his own pockets seeing how unusually cold the night was. His muscles tightened up to constrict any warmth in his body and keep it there, now feeling the bitter, unwavering, depressive, frost radiating from you.

"I think you were totally right back there. He's been really reckless as of lately, more so than usual, and yes, it has put a damper on things and, yeah, it has put his loved ones in danger. Also, yeah, its not really an ideal situation at all, completely unruly in fact. It is completely messy and depressing and unfair and it has put everyone he knows, we know, in harms way-" "Wallace is this supposed to be helping me? Because, I love and appreciate you and all, but you are absolutely shit at pep-talks-"

The two of you paused seeing the room already crowded with punk teens, adults, and misfits of the kind all murmuring and diving into their own conversations as the lights dimmed, one spotlight on the host of the venue who stood in the middle of the stage. He was all that could be seen, the light focused on his warm yellow jacket and his matching scarf. He was usually very peppy but seemed just as cold as everyone else on this frosted evening, legs visibly trembling as the ice chilled his scrawny form.

"Welcome everyone! Thanks for coming out tonight, we're real excited to show you what treats we have in store tonight because boy do we have a surprise." He grinned through his chattering teeth, tossing a thumbs up.

You watched intently, not as phased as all the screaming teens beside you had been. You toned him out. In fact, you toned everyone out. The host, Wallace, the screaming crowd of one hundred around you, all became muted. Your eyes honed in on the silhouettes that could not be identified in the shadows behind the current announcer. It seemed as though your concern for everything began to wear thinner and thinner as the cold night caressed your face to numbness, the fortress of ice around your body stilling the need to express, slowing you down and leaving you haunted.

You felt as though you could only bring your eyes to move, watching as the once obnoxious host started backing up off stage into the sidelines. You followed his mouth, watching every shaky trace of a pronunciation through chattering teeth mouthed something that visibly brightened the room and completely tore through your brain as the crowd began an uproar of excitement.

"Please welcome, The Clash at Demonhead!" His lips touched together slowly to form the words and you watched every second of it until he ran offstage, your eyes darting to the main portion of the venue to see the lights flicker on into a warm orange and red hue. Wallace, the crowd beside you, was long forgotten and you stood still among the chaos, relapsing the events that occured throughout the day. You shut your eyes to block it out, and reopened them to meet burning hazel. Your bitter, iced, armor suffered a severe blow at that, those hot eyes tearing right into your chest.

(Oh yeah)

(Oh yeah)

(Oh yeah)

Hello again

Friend of a friend

I knew you when

Your eyes were focused on one thing, the blonde who stood tall and confident in the middle of the stage, bright, pouty, red lips clouding your vision as she sung the opening words strictly, her own eyes on you.

Time moved faster and faster yet it felt like she was all you could see. A flame huddled in the cold dark, chipping further and further at you. You stood still, enjoying the music at that, but only standing to watch her while the excited chaos ensued around you as the music picked up.

She only broke your gaze to dance around the stage, completely strong in her movements and unwavering under the still present ice within the evening. She remained untouched.

During a small instrumental breakdown she strutted closer to the edge of the stage, right where you stood. You watched her, all of her. Her mouth and the way it moved as she sung intimately into the microphone, the way her warmth enveloped you and brushed across your paled face, completely melting any icy exterior you had left, any fight you had left.

Send you my love on a wire

Lift you up, every time,

everyone, ooh,

pulls away, ooh

From you

She was face to face with you now, on her knees in front of you like a panther while her aura burned into you unforgivingly. You gave in, sending a small smile and nodding your head along with the music which contrasted your haunted, frozen, stilled persona from before. You let go, and gave into the warmth. You were sure that there were tons of fans seething in jealousy and in simultaneous excitement seeing her so close to you, and of course they were probably screaming and jumping into chaos, but she was all you could see. With the next few lyrics, you mouthed the words along with her.

Send you my love on a wire

Lift you up, every time, everyone, ooh, pulls away, ooh

It's a mechanical bull, the number one

You'll take a ride from anyone

Everyone wants a ride, pulls away, ooh, from you

She smirked widely once the song slowed, then leaned forward and just managed to catch your mouth in a heated kiss as the lights faded into darkness. You melted completely, kissing back with fever at how overwhelmingly, comfortably, numbing the warmth was. She grabbed your collar, pulling you close so her mouth was at your ear.

"Meet me behind the venue in 20"

[lovespelledbackwardsisjoick]

michaela2187

I think that there is a lot to be explored around the break up,  time off and come back that hasn't really been written about too much yet. I learnt the other day that in mid 2016 Joe and Nick were living together. I don't know when that started but it was just 3 years after the band broke up and in the chasing happiness doc it seemed to be heavily suggesting that none of the brothers were really talking through out the 6 year break...   So idk,  food for thought?😅

Thank you @michaela2187

I actually have a fic that I’m working on talking about a bit of that. It doesn’t involve them living together but it does involve the breakup and them getting back together so stay tuned for that.

I also have a short fic up on AO3 that DOES explore there time back together and living together, you know what, here I’ll put it below:

Even though they weren’t speaking, Joe had bought Nick’s new album they day it dropped. Of course he had. He was listening and missing hearing that voice in person, but he had decided no matter what he was listening all the way through, beginning to end but he paused after one song in particular.

Picking up the phone with a heavy heart, and a lot of hesitance, he dialed a number he hadn’t used in months. He wasn’t sure he would even pick up, but right before it would have clicked over to voicemail Joe heard him pick up.

Nick didn’t say anything, but Joe knew it was Nick’s small breaths he heard on the line.

“You didn’t really chainsaw our couch, right?” he asks quietly.

Nick sighs softly. “Joe?” he asks, though who else would it be?

“Of course it’s Joe…who else would be calling asking you that?” he replied in frustration, but he was trying not to get upset with Nick. He was the one who’d fucked it all up…and that song…it had ripped open in Joe a wound he thought he’d closed with some degree of success.

“I didn’t think you would hear it…” Nick runs a hand through his hair. “or maybe I did…and no. I didn’t. But I wanted to…I wanted to light the place on fire and leave it for ashes” he admitted, voice cracking. He had sworn he would never talk to Joe about how he’d felt. How it had destroyed him when it had all ended.

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

Last year really had been complicated, he had finally gotten on better terms with Joe and they had started hanging out some, just the two of them, and old habits had started back up again. First casual touches on the arm or the shoulder, or the leg if they were sitting down. An arm casually draped over the other’s shoulder when they were standing close by because it felt right, but because there had been that tension between them it felt different than it had before.

When they were younger and on the road touring together all the time, it had just felt like a normal part of their relationship, he and Joe had always been really close and neither of them had ever seen anything weird with being in each other’s space and around one another all the time, it was normal for them. But after the break up and the time they had spent apart, coming back together they had realized that it wasn’t normal brotherly behavior.

The touches became more often and less casual, and the handful of innocent kisses they had shared back then turned to heated looks in the shadows, stolen moments behind a hotel room door that left them both short of breath, or their tight pants fitting a bit less comfortably. They never talked about it, never acknowledged it out loud or talked about what it meant…until one night they did. They had been pressed against the wall of the men’s bathroom in a club, single stall, door locked, and grinding against each other until they both came, hard.

Joe had looked into his eyes and Nick felt his cock twitch again even though his legs felt like jelly, and he knew that it was time. He took Joe’s hand and lead him out of the bathroom and straight through the crowd, out onto the sidewalk, hailing them a cab.

The whole ride back to their hotel they sat on opposite ends of the backseat, hands in their laps and looking out the windows just trying to keep their hands from wandering. Nick paid the driver and they got out, silently getting on the elevator and they didn’t speak until they were safely inside the room with the door locked.

“We need to talk” Nick was always the reasonable one, the one who had to play by rules, who had to talk everything through, and sometimes Joe was grateful for that.

Joe nodded, still a bit out of breath. “Yeah, I think you’re right…”

So they talked, and they decided that they would let it play out, see how things went. They moved in together, fell into a pattern, had routines, and were living mostly like a real couple other than the fact that they couldn’t do anything in public. In fact, they were terrified that someone would find out so it was always very secret.

Despite the always-looming threat of their secret getting out, they were happy and doing really well for quite some time, until the day Joe got the call from Kevin. “People are asking questions, Joe. People are asking questions about you and Nick…and I don’t know how to answer them” Joe had hung up in shock, his phone slipped out of his hand and he just sat there staring at nothing until finally he snapped out of it and realized what he had to do. Nick was on set so he had a few more hours until he would be home and Joe started packing. He packed up clothes, even taking a few of Nick’s shirts, though he left a couple of his that he knew Nick liked to wear sometimes. He packed up his stuff in the bathroom, and some of his cds, there were things that didn’t feel like they were solely his though so he left them. And then there were things he didn’t even think about taking, that he didn’t notice he was leaving.

He piled all of his bags by the door and waited for Nick to get home. He sat on the couch, thinking of all the time they had spent there together. Watching movies, just laying their and listening to music, times they’d made out for what felt like hours, or the many times they had fucked in various positions, condom wrappers probably still stuffed between the cushions. And suddenly he was on his feet, standing up so fast it was like it had burned him. Guess I’ll just stand he thought to himself. He was about to start pacing when he heard soft footsteps and the sound of keys jangling, one sliding into the lock and turning and then the door was open and Nick was standing there and they were looking at each other. “Hey” he said softly.

Nick looked around and saw the bags, he saw how awkwardly Joe was just standing in the corner rather than sitting down or something. And he didn’t move to greet him, or give him a welcome home kiss, nothing. “Joe…? What’s wrong?” he asked cautiously, not sure he wanted the answer.

“We need to talk” he used Nick’s like from before.

Nick sat his stuff down and beelined past Joe, shaking his head. “No, we don’t need to talk about anything Joe” he countered.

Joe sighed, running a hand through his hair. He couldn’t tell Nick about Kevin’s call. He would freak out, he would blame himself for not being careful enough, he would panic about losing his career that he had worked so hard to build, and all of those were the exact reasons he couldn’t tell him. It was better for Nick if he just thought it was Joe’s fault, if he hated Joe, was mad at him not himself.

“It’s over, Nicky” he said solemnly, but decidedly. He hated using the nickname in such a horrible setting but maybe Nick would buy it more or something.

Nick shook his head vehemently, refusing to look at Joe. “It’s not over, because we’re happy, and I have a show coming up, I’m working on a new album, you just formed a new band. There’s still four more months on the lease. Nothing is over” he denied.

Joe placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder, feeling his brother tense and it broke his heart because Nick usually relaxed into his touches. “Nick, it is. It’s over…I’ve already packed. You keep the apartment, you deserve it, and I’ll find somewhere to live. Maybe I can crash with Jack for a bit or something.”

Joe expected Nick to start yelling, to throw something or to punch him, that probably would have been better than the silence he was met with. Nick stood up straight and faced him straight on, finally looking at him. He nodded once. “I’m pretty tired, I’m going to rest” and he turned and went to the bedroom, closing the door softly. Joe stood there stunned until his phone went off that his uber was here and he carried his bags out with one last look at that bedroom door before he pulled the front door shut, leaving his key on the counter.

He called Kevin once he was in the car.

“It’s done” he told his brother. “It’s over, I ended it” his voice was level only because he was trying to hold it together.

“Good” Kevin said, though it was softly, apologetically. “You know it’s for the best…for both of you”

That’s when Joe lost it, finally breaking down right there on the phone with Kevin but he quickly fumbled with his phone and hit the end button.

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

“You were so…so calm, it was like you didn’t care that I was leaving” he accused him.

“I was barely holding it together, Joe. I was trying not to kick and scream, or punch you in the face. Would you rather I had punched you in the face?”

Joe sighs. “Honestly I don’t know, but it would have hurt less than the cold shoulder I got. God, Nick if I knew how much this tore you up…” he shook his head.

“You wanted to end it Joe…fuck, the shit you said to me that night when I called you after you left, how I was immature and you needed someone your own age. How we had only started it in the first place because we were too close and codependent and spent too much time together as kids” Joe winced as Nick reminded him of the things he had said to purposefully make Nick mad, so he would let him go.

“It was the only way I could keep you from changing my mind. I knew I had to hurt you, make you mad, otherwise you would be able to say something to make me come back…and I couldn’t do that.”

Nick was so confused, shaking his head even though it wouldn’t make sense of things, and Joe couldn’t see him.  “That doesn’t make any sense. If you didn’t want to end it, then why did you?” he asks incredulously.

“Because Kevin…” he started and Nick cut in.

“Kevin?! I’m gonna kill Kevin, what did he do? How did he find out? He forced you to break up with me??” He was flying off the handle and it was hard for Joe to get him to calm down but he finally did.

“No, Kevin called me and told me that people were asking questions, about us…he didn’t know how to answer them, what to say to them, and I realized that I had to end it”

“That’s bullshit Joe, and you know it.” Nick scoffed

“Is it? It would have ruined your career.  You would have blamed yourself, we would have lost friends. God, imagine Mom and Dad’s reaction. Things were in danger of getting out and I couldn’t let that happen to us, and I couldn’t do that to our family.”

“So why did you call? Are you trying to take me back?” Nick asked, venom in his voice. Joe understood why he was mad.

“I…I bought your album this morning and was listening to it. Chainsaw just…it really hit me, and I needed to hear your voice, to talk to you. It’s been too long, Nicky”

He heard Nick’s breath catch over the line when he used the nickname without even thinking about it.

“Y-yeah…it has. And who said Chainsaw is about you? Not all of my songs are about you” he tried to sound like he was teasing, but it came out all wrong.

“Isn’t it?” Nick’s silence bugged him. “ Maybe I got it all wrong then, I guess I’m just too self-absorbed and read too much into things” he spat.

“It is about you…I actually added it on within the last week of final cuts. It was an impulsive decision and I regretted it once it was too late.”

“Don’t regret it, it’s a good song. I…the whole album is awesome man”

Nick would never admit that Joe’s opinion was still the only one that really mattered, that if Joe didn’t love the album he would have considered it a failure, no matter how many copies sold.

“Thanks” he said after composing himself. “That means a lot”

Joe smiled, hating how much his heart swelled at Nick’s words.

“Would you want to meet for a drink later? Y’know to celebrate your record release?” Joe asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Sure, that sounds good. You pick the place and text me the address”

“Great, I’ll see you later then”

Joe was about to hang up when he heard Nick’s voice.

“Hey J?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s really good to hear your voice” he said quietly, almost a whisper

Joe couldn’t help his smile, swallowing around the lump in his throat.

“You too, Nicky” he croaked out and they both hung up in a comfortable silence.

[multiverseofmiracleshq]

After Wanda Maximoff expanded the Hex in an attempt to save the Vision, Captain Monica Rambeau and Agent Jimmy Woo escaped and headed into New York to give the Avengers and other heroes a debriefing session. While they were unable to come up with any solutions, the conflict escalated when Wanda herself showed up and took some of the heroes back to Westview with her.

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL CHAT LOG COVERAGE OF THE IC

MONICA: Everything felt wrong. Everything was wrong, but Monica wasn’t the type to linger on where they were failing. She had to focus on what they had going for them... which was admittedly very little at the moment. Stepping through shadows and arranging secret meetings in dilapidated warehouses all felt very illicit. It was the exact opposite of everything Maria Rambeau had instilled in the bones of S.W.O.R.D. when she created it. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures. That’s what she had told Jimmy grimly when she accepted her coffee that morning, black and burning her tongue. They both looked exhausted. At some point she had discarded the blue S.W.O.R.D. windbreaker she had been wearing for days and found herself stripped down in just a sweater and jeans. Not exactly wow ‘em with a first impression style but Monica had a one track mind that was circling Westview. “Bigger turnout than I expected.” Her voice was clear despite the lack of sleep. Maria had taught her a few things, and one of them was to hold herself together under pressure. “I know it’s not on the news or being talked about, but Agent Woo and myself were there. We talked to Maximoff. And I,” she swallowed thickly around the hot ball of humiliation she had been shoving to the side. “Was inside the Hex. If you’ve got questions we’ll do our best to answer, but we need is a game plan here.” Or a why. Or a how. How had anyone let this happen. “You know Wanda. Anyone get any kind of vibe from her that she was about to hold a town hostage and steal a body?”

CAROL: Carol scratched at the back of her head, the half-assed bun she'd thrown her hair into protesting until she ultimately removed the band entirely and fiddled with it instead. A twirl around her wrist followed by a pop as she snapped it against her skin. And then she repeated the process, listening as Monica spoke, following the way the agent moved as she explained the precarious situation. Bad guys usually came in the form of sinister aliens or disgruntled mutants. Not too common did they come from their very own backyard. "Hold a town hostage?" They'd been briefed before settling into this dilapidated building and Carol tried to hold the bite back in her tone. "She's torturing them." She couldn't help but cast a glance to Pietro, asking a question that didn't really require an answer. Still, "Are we even sure this is Wanda?"

STRANGE: Stephen was dressed a bit more casually than usual, meaning less magical. He had his gray suit with his red shirt and black tie underneath, but of course a man of his caliber always needs a little extra flair, that's what the black cape that went halfway down his back was for; aka the transmogrified Cape of Levitation. He sat patiently one leg resting over the other for the meeting to start. This wasn't his meeting for once so he chose to be polite and not chime in right away. Although when Monica began taking questions he didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes and no." He said as he folded his hands in his lap. "She was doing well for once. Made a lot of progress but was always seeking to push the limits. Hoping to bring back The Vision and Pietro but I would always try and talk her down from it. While I can't claim I didn't see this as a possibility I certainly believed it wouldn't come down to this." He aimed to keep his town emotionless and professional despite his pedagogical love for her.

MONICA: Dark eyes skipping over the crowd, Monica refused to let them rest on a single person. “It’s Wanda.” Her voice was firm. “That grief, the emptiness. It’s not manufactured. It’s raw and it’s all consuming.” If they could have gone into the situation and danced around her tenure as Geraldine: sassy Black friend Monica would have done so in a heartbeat. Her experience was part of the puzzle though and she knew it. “It’s the feeling of someone who has nothing left. But that’s not true. I mean, some of you are examples to the contrary. So why would she feel like that? And how did none of you notice she was drowning?” Maybe it was harsh, but Monica wanted answers. Everyone stuck in Wanda’s sick game deserved them.

BILLY: Billy was leaning over his edge of the table, picking at the corners of his nails, his eyes downcast and away from the rest of his family that was perched near him. Man, he hated this. "She seemed fine when we talked. I mean, I know it hasn't been easy for her, but she never seemed so..." unhinged was left unsaid as he trailed off, finally picking his gaze up from the table top and looking at Monica. "She created a whole family." he stated, the rumble in his tone an indication of how troubled that made him. "But she had one already, didn't she?"

PETER: Peter had shown up a few minutes earlier than the rest of the crowd, and lingered by the door as the group filed in. While his civilian attire felt wrong, it appeared to match the unspoken dress code of the rest and that alone quelled most of his nerves. Dwarfed by an oversized sweatshirt and a ratty old baseball cap emblazoned with the Star Wars logo, Peter tentatively raised a hand, “Wait, I’m sorry — steal a body?” The information was likely common knowledge, but Peter hadn’t been paying the closest attention during the initial debriefing and that was coming back to bite him in the ass right about now, “H- Hi— I’m sorry, can we go back to that part...”

LORNA: So her sister had gone mad. Lorna had seen that coming from a mile away ( decimation, anyone? ) but it was still sad to hear. She knew loss but not on that level, and in all honesty, Lorna couldn’t pretend she wouldn’t do the same if it was in her power. Someone had pulled some chairs around a sketchy looking table and the mutant was perched with one leg tucked underneath her. “I mean, we’re not super close with her. Things are fine but we don’t have sibling hangouts. She barely comes to Krakoa for obvious reasons. Idk how it was with you, dad,” she glanced at Erik. “But I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s not like she accidentally Decimated our people or anything. Of course this is the kind of shit she’s capable of consciously.”

SCOTT: “Yeah, I’m with the kid — what’s our level of concern in regards to all of this? Are we - delegating...things to worry about?” Scott gestured to Peter briefly before returning his hands to the pockets of his jacket, “Or is this one of those, ’everybody worry about everything’ situations. Because nothing against any of you,” he held up a hand to Monica apologetically, “but that doesn’t seem...the most...productive....” Noticing the conversation was continuing on around him, Scott trailed off, “...nope, yeah. Nevermind.”

PIETRO: Pietro stood to the side of his father for once, Tommy lingering to his own right, and together it was an interesting collection of white haired mutants that were related to the one in question — to say the least. With his arms crossed, he shrugged his shoulders in a fidget as Monica spoke. He glanced at Carol as her gaze slid his way and listened to the others as they shared their opinions. Which was really all they were. Opinions.  “Lorna, shut up.” He cleared his throat and turned back to Monica and Woo, though he spoke to the room. “Despite the way it might seem, my sister’s intent isn’t a hostage take over. She’s in pain, she’s alone — and she’s experiencing more power than anyone in this room has touched. Wanda’s still discovering what she’s capable of, in some ways she’s in control and in others I think it’s her subconscious.” Pietro inhaled and stepped out of line beside Erik and his nephew. “I think I’ve been speaking with her in our sleep — since the mind stone altered her, we have always shared a mental sort of link — she doesn’t want this reality any more, she doesn’t think there’s anything here for her. She doesn’t even think I’m real.  If we’re to do anything, it’s to show her that she’s wrong.” His gaze danced to his father, Tommy, and then Billy. Wanda had a whole family out here, she just didn’t know it.

CAROL: "How much of that is our job?" Carol asked, not intending to sound so crass but unable to help it. "Stepping into this role comes with more responsibility than anyone is ever prepared for and Wanda had a way out if she wanted it -- she's a mutant, she has a whole Island now. Instead, she became a terrorist to live out a sitcom fantasy and people are suffering. If she needed help, she should have talked to someone -- she shouldn't have stolen the Vision's scraps and pieced him back together." She let out a staggered breath, the tension in her shoulders the only indication, other than her tone, that she was eager to move and respond. React. "We can't be expected to keep tabs on everyone's mental state at all times."

LORNA: Eyes rolling at her no longer dead brother’s command, Lorna’s tongue stuck out slightly before she leaned back in her chair. Not because she was listening to him. She just didn’t have anything to contribute at that moment.

TRAUMA: He had been sitting quietly, picking at the black nail polish of his finger nails anxiously as he practiced the same meditative breathing as he did with his patients. Sure, he specialized with those with super powers and paranormal trauma were his specialty but this was on a whole new level and he was so ill acquainted with everyone in this room but he had to chime in. "Assigning blame won't accomplish anything in remedying this situation." Trauma chimed in, his cold eyes looking over everyone. "Terrence Ward, code name Trauma, leading paranormal trauma counselor. We aren't here to point fingers, are we? The fact of the matter is Wanda's mental health is her own responsibility and no one elses. While we hope those close with her would help her it's not their responsibility to keep her stable. We need to all get in this mindset before we can actually prepare to help the people she's taken under her control as well as her... So yeah..."

ABIGAIL: As a rule of thumb, Abigail wasn’t exactly known for having a good attitude. She could be considered surly on a good day but she was damn good at her job and that’s what counted. They had set up a tiny projector with a sheet on the wall and she tapped play as footage began to silently play. “Your girl is a metaphorical grave robber.” Bluntness weighed her words down. “I’d also like to talk about my agency. My agency that the asshole Hayward commandeered. S.W.O.R.D. has other branches. He’s acting outside of his jurisdiction. I managed to get this footage off the server before he booted me and my team. Which, as the actual Director of S.W.O.R.D. is incredibly frustrating.” Running a hand through green waves, she turned to the kid who had snuck in. “That explain it?”

ILLYANA: “Boo hoo.” Dark lips were tugged downwards in a mocking expression. “She lost people. People died. Everyone dies around here. I left my lovely living Island because you had questions about magic, and this is just a psychology discussion over someone who seems quite content with her delusion. What do you want from us? Do you want me to teleport inside? I have a sword. I’m great at ending things.”

STRANGE: "I do not suggest that, Miss Rasputin." Stephen chimed in. "As I'm sure you know, death isn't a sure fire way to end magical effects, especially as powerful as the hex. And even if it did, who knows what sort of violent psychological damage it could inflict on the citizen's of Westview." He also didn't want to lose Wanda. He claimed some sense of responsibility over her.

ERIK: “I think it’s easy to make judgements and accusations when you’re not the one that’s lost every person you’ve ever cared for. Everyone in this room has made fair points, Wanda has caused a great deal if distress for those inside Westview and those of us outside of it that are left to pick up the crumbling pieces. That in mind, I’d also like to remind everyone here that their own abilities are vastly inferior to my daughters. Not one of you could for a second fathom the responsibility she carries. I’ve seen Storm start fires in the atmosphere if she simply gets too angry, so she spent her entire life learning to control her emotions. You’re asking an orphaned girl who accidentally became an Avenger to do the same when she was dead for five of the years she carried the Avenger title. Perhaps we should be less quick to dismiss her as our responsibility. I don’t see that mind set when someone bombs the U.N. Now your teammate is falling apart and you’re upset she’s inconvenienced your day?  And you call yourself heroes.”

SCOTT: “Yeah - that’s an option,” Scott nodded to Illyana, stepping closer to the remainder of the group, “— or, you know, I could make myself reeeeally small, and just - “ a vague gesture and shrug later, “ - kinda, squeeze my way in. Thoughts?”

SAM WILSON: “Hey now,” Sam extended a hand towards the mutant mouthing off. “Doc is right. Even if she’s messing up, Wanda was our friend. Is our friend. She deserves a fair trial here. But this isn’t just about an inconvenience, Magneto. This is an active security threat and we aren’t the only ones with our eyes on the target. Maybe Captain Rambeau or Commander Brand know more than me, but I don’t think Hayward is trigger shy.”

PIETRO: Pietro zipped to stand inches from Illyana’s face, eyes narrowed. “Go ahead, do it. I’ll have you trapped in a vortex so fast your lungs will explode before your brain waves can even get the thought to your brain to teleport.”

CRYSTALIA: A moral support more than anything else, Crystalia was left standing next to the gust of air where Pietro had once been. “Pietro.” Her voice was quiet, body swaying slightly to keep the baby strapped to her asleep. “She’s trying to get a response. Even if she did teleport in, the Hex would rewrite her. Maybe Westview needs a Russian house cleaner.”

SUSAN: They had decided to only send one representative to the meeting. It made sense with the Fantastic Four trying to stay out of things and their never ending multiversal issues. “...That won’t work.” She shook her head at Scott Lang. “She’s rewriting reality. Do we have anyone else who can compete with that? Franklin, my son, used to but he’s been depleted.”

ADAM: Getting quite tired of all the back and forth bickering Adam chimed in. Arms crossed over his chest, face looking just as stern as ever. "Now now let's all return to our respective seats and leave threats of violence to the voices inside our heads, shall we?" He chimed in before giving Captain Rambeau a nod and turning his attention to Susan. "Thank you for bringing that up, Doctor Storm. One thing I was hoping to do was get a closer look at the Hex itself or at the energy readings that have been gathered by S.W.O.R.D. if anyone is in possession of such a thing. Then I can begin my work on creating an energy frequency directly opposing that of the Hex with the intent of using it to neutralize the reality altering energies being employed by miss Maximoff."

PIETRO: Pietro eased as Crystalia’s voice resonated and he stood again, stepping back to stand besides her and Luna. “That’s not the point.” he said to her. With ideas of violence thrown around, others were bound to feel the same and that kind of mentality was like a virus—it spread. Pietro turned to Sam then. “Hayward is not trigger shy — he already shot a missile at her and two ten year old boys. Not that it did him any favors.” he shrugged.

CAROL: Carol let out another breath, finally abandoning her fiddling antics and instead sat further back in her chair, the base squeaking with the applied pressure. "I don't want to hear about uncontrollable power when this one," she shot a hand towards Billy, "tried to bring back his boyfriend's dead mother by plucking through realities and we almost had to step in when everyone lost their damn minds." Carol then refocused her gaze on Erik, clear exhaustion burning into her features. "Wanda is not the first, nor the last person who will accidentally go haywire and lose control. That isn't the point here, Lehnsherr. The point is that Wanda is making a deliberate decision to do this. She's not out of control --- the problem is, she is in control, and she isn't stopping. This was the point of the Accords, wasn't it? To prevent things like this from happening?"

MONICA: At Adam’s interference, Monica gave him a wary and relieved close lipped smile. “We had readings on the Hex, but Hayward has them. Our other best bet was Dr. Lewis, but Darcy got sucked inside.” Monica still felt guilty about that. They had left her, hadn’t they? She had insisted -- but still. Out of the three of them Darcy was the one with zero combat skills and the most important knowledge. We either get Darcy back or the files, and that’s a toss-up. I’m not sure what the Hex consumed last night.” Knowing that didn’t help Adam much, Monica turned to Pietro. “She’s your sister. I get it. At this moment, I’m the closest anyone has been to Wanda since she built the Hex. I didn’t know that missile was armed. I never would have sent it in. But we do need a solution here. If we can non-lethally take her out maybe we can contain her before she wakes up. We just don’t know who we’re going to lose if we try, and I don’t want everyone to have to get tossed through a few fences if she decides she’s mad at you.”

SAM: Tension cording the muscles of his shoulders, Sam stood to pace along the back wall. “We really citing the Accords out here right now? Some of us,” he gestured towards Nat, Steve, Scott and Clint, “either got hauled into the Raft or ended up on the run. Both for some of us. Maybe structure isn’t bad but that deal was. If you were here, you would have known.” He left it open for any of the impacted parties to step in.

ERIK: Erik was glad to see Sam had a level head — he was a good fit for the shield and it was always better to have reason in the room. “I never disagreed that she wasn’t a threat.” he said. “I do think we should note the threat only advanced when — as Pietro said — Hayward made the first act of violence. All things considered Westview was for all intents and purposes contained until the director jumped the gun. Now it’s expanded and she feels threatened — If we send a group of mutants or agents or anyone up there that isn’t a face she cares for, I don’t think it will end well.” as Carol spoke next, Erik listened. “Is she?” he asked. “And how in control can one be when they’re restitching the fabric of reality, Miss. Danvers?”

BILLY: "Well, she expanded the area." Billy chimed in, fingers drumming against the table. "That kind of reality warping isn't easy to do if you can't control it. And she did it to save Vision, which does lend itself to being pretty deliberate." This whole conversation was making him uncomfortable, but considering he had enough experience with reality warping, he felt stupid keeping his mouth shut. "You can sometimes screw up," he cast an apologetic glance towards Carol before continuing, "And do it wrong, but it was still done."

MONICA: “The threat was already in advance.” Exhaustion and irritation lined Monica’s voice as she leaned forward to plant her hands on the table. “The second Wanda took over Westview the threat began to advance. I know she’s your daughter, but her eyes were clear when she kicked me out of town. Wanda knew exactly what she was doing. Every glitch, every change. She even controls the airwaves and blocks off what she does’t want us to see. Maximoff marched out of the Hex and threatened everyone to stay away. No ranting, no raving. She meant it. This is calculated, as much as I hate to say it. Which brings me to my next point: I’m going back in. I’m not asking you for permission. I’m just telling you. Woo will handle this side of things.”

CAROL: "Go back in so your memories can be wiped -- what purpose will that serve?"

STEVE: Steve’s jaw clenched at the mention of the Accords. “The accords was just handing the reigns to someone else, all it did was shift the blame and put more paperwork in the way of the job.” he looked at Carol. “It was never about keeping anyone safe. You can put as many contingency plans in place as you want, but I’ve seen enough in this life to know better than to expect anything less than the unexpected.” a beat passed and Steve sighed. “ The last thing we need to focus on is why wanda is doing anything. She’s a good kid, she’s got a huge heart — i know that for a fact. Now, I don’t know what’s going on with her that’s got her head so twisted right now that she’d do this, but it doesn’t matter. What matter’s is how we fix it. When Thanos had us on our knees, Wanda came out of that portal and she was a huge part of what swung that whole fight for us. I’m done listening to anyone else shrugging off responsibility like she’s a Starbucks cup on Broadway — if you don’t want to be part of the solution — the door’s that way.” he jutted his chin in the direction for emphasis. “Now, Pietro said he was having dreams where he could communicate with Wanda — I’d say we start there since S.W.O.R.D. couldn’t even do it with the best tech on the planet. Monica, you said you were inside the Hex, right?”

BILLY: "Should her family go in?" Billy asked. "I might even be able to combat some of whatever she's doing and we could at least try to get people out."

NATASHA: For the duration of the conversation, Natasha had been sitting with her chin perched on steepled fingers. She was by Steve’s side as a silent observer, glancing up when Carol invoked the Accords and Sam called her by name. “Steve’s right.” She shrugged simply. “If this is all deliberate, it took a lot of planning. When and where did that happen? Sometimes when you want to find answers you look at the beginning. Is it possible she started small or did it instantly escalate? And the fact that S.W.O.R.D. had his body -- did anyone know that? I thought he got buried.” He deserved to be. He was their friend who had died unfairly.

MONICA: Her jaw had clenched so tightly that her head had started to ache. The lack of sleep and surplus of coffee probably had something to do with it as well. For the first time all night, Monica locked eyes with Carol but her gaze did little to soften. “Wanda changed me. My body, my genetics. Woo saw the charts. Maybe what she did will keep me safe. If not, I’m looking good in low rise jeans. I’m the only person whose gotten out. That has to mean something.” She shook her head. “So, yes. I’ve been inside. For multiple days, actually. And I think it’s a bad idea to send in anyone Wanda has a close connection to. We don’t know what she’d do to you. She literally manifested a few new versions and recast Pietro. If she won’t let her own twin in and refuses to acknowledge him, why would anyone else be different?”

STEVE: Steve appreciated Natasha every morning he woke up next to her, but there were moments like now, where he appreciated her even more. And it looked like he wasn’t the only one — from the looks of it, Pietro visibly seemed to ease some of the tension in his shoulders as he came to stand behind the couple. “That’s what I wanted to know, I thought from S.W.O.R.D.S intel, Wanda didn’t even seem to know Wanda was in control until a few days ago. As far as I was tracking, Maximoff only just recently became conscious of her doing.” Which if anything, gave them some semblance of hope now. As Monica spoke, Steve was carefully attentive, but at the recasting comment, he looked to the mutant in question behind him—who rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Monica has a point.” He agreed. Pietro didn’t seem to like that and all steve could do was offer him an apologetic press of his lips. “Are you saying you’re willing to go back in?” he looked back to the agent.

PETER: “Everything Agent Rambeau said makes sense to me,” Peter piped up during the briefest lull of silence, intimidated by the multiple pairs of eyes now on him, “If she let you go, she obviously had no intention of hurting you. Maybe we can use that to our advantage, maybe things’ll be different this time.”

JIMMY: “Monica is right.” Jimmy chimed in, only to take a beat with his mouth partially open as the former Captain made eye contact with him. Consider him not so jaded by the number of heroes in the room but somehow maintaining a level of professionalism even he was proud of. “Monica’s scans are more than just different, they’re concerning,” he continued “When she went in she was wearing a kevlar vest and Wanda rewrote it into a bullet proof 80’s pant suit. There’s no telling what she’ll do to anyone who goes inside.”

CAROL: "So you want to go in alone." Carol remarked. "Contingency plan?"

SCOTT: Scott eyed Agent Woo with curiosity and mild surprise, “Concerning? That’s one way to put it. This is a suicide mission.”

PIETRO: “Aceasta este o pierdere de timp.” (this is a waste of time) Pietro sighed the words heavily to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No offense to either of you but you’ve been working on this for what? Several weeks now and still know around the same level of information as before — and the idea, the best one we have — is to send the woman my sister hurled out of her Westview and expect her to succeed in reentering the hex based on, what? Wanda’s good natured decision not to kill her?” By the time he reached the end of his sentence he was chuckling bitterly. “cel mai mare erou al lumii și nici măcar un creier printre niciunul dintre voi.” (the greatest heroes in the world and not a single brain among any of you.)

MONICA: Grabbing the bottle of water that she had discarded, Monica took a long swig as people affirmed her choice and one questioned it. “This is a few months ongoing,” she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “With recent escalation. Before it was tiny things we could brush off but Wanda’s all but declared war now. Trust me, I’m counting my lucky stars that Wanda decided to kick me out instead of erasing me from reality, cells metastasizing aside. Parker may be right. I’ve been in and I’ve come back out. That’s more than anyone else here can say. Besides,” her voice softened. “Darcy doesn’t deserve to be left there. Not after everything she’s done.” Although she almost didn’t answer, Monica crossed her arms over her chest and turned to Carol. Maria would have advised her to watch her tone, watch her mouth. It was out of respect to her dead mother that she keep the thin line of professionalism present. “Contingency plan? You guys. Find a reality warper or a magic spell. We came to you for a reason.” As Pietro began to speak his hybrid phrases, Monica rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, she let me in. That’s more than you say currently.”

LORNA: “A suicide mission?” Lorna looked between her brother and father. “The world has too many humans. Send in the bug ones and Illyana and let’s see what happens.” She snickered slightly. “I don’t speak Romanian, but he’s shit talking the hell out of you.”

PIETRO: “She thinks I’m a dead figment of her imagination. You’re an intruder that she has kept alive because she’s not a murderer. Don’t be so quick to saddle your high horse just yet.”

SUSAN: “That’s not entirely true.” Susan tapped her finger on her leg. “Wanda’s killed before, even if accidentally. The trajectory of this makes it highly probable she may again.”

CAROL: "Mouth on you," Carol remarked, rubbing her eyes. "If Wanda isn't a murderer, then Monica reentering the Hex shouldn't be a problem. The problem, actually, is phase 2. So Monica goes in, and then what? We just wait? If there was a way to reach us from inside Darcy would've figured it out. You going back in does nothing to solve our direct problem other than Wanda does finally lose it and kills you."

TOMMY: “We have a reality warper.” Tommy piped up finally, grabbing Billy by the back of his shirt and shoving him forward as he marched to the forefront. He patted Pietro on the arm as he passed him.

ABIGAIL: A brow rose. “I think she was asking for a different one, so this one has already been noted and passed over. You’re an Avenger Jr, aren’t you?”

BILLY: Billy shrugged off Tommy's grip, smoothing out the panes of his oversized shirt out of habit. "You really want me to go up against that? The best I can do is get a read on it and tell you what's going on, but in no way can I combat it."

SCOTT: Scott glared at Lorna after her thinly veiled threat, but gave Peter a knowing nod. Insults aside, if there were lives at risk, many many lives, he’d go. It’s what Cassie would want him to do.

TOMMY: “No one is asking you to fight it, just — you know—“ Tommy waved his hands around excessively “Do the wiggly woo. At least getting a read on it is more than what they’ve got.” He jabbed a finger at Monica and Woo.

MONICA: Her patience was fraying. Like she had initially said, Monica wasn’t asking for permission. “What, Carol? You want to go in and play the hero? Jimmy and I have been studying this anomaly for months -- watching the tapes, analyzing the context. I appreciate the concern but you’re a lot of things, Carol Danvers, and my mom isn’t one of them. I’m not asking for permission here and I’m willing to take that risk. Dr. Lewis is a genius, but if she’s under the spell she’s just as trapped as anyone else. My mother created S.W.O.R.D. with a purpose and Tyler Hayward is dragging its name through the mud and letting this get out of hands. I’m doing it.”

BILLY: "She'd know, Tommy. The minute I started messing with it she'd know. And I just-" he wrenched his hands together, wondering if he was making the right decision here. "-What if she keeps hurting people because we keep trying to interfere? We'd have a better chance trying to reach our recently reality created 10 year old selves."

PETER: “You can do that?” Peter raised an eyebrow, staring Billy down with renewed intensity before turning his attention to Carol and the others, “I mean, couldn’t that be your contingency plan?”

SUSAN: “You need to be careful,” Susan mused, agreeing with Billy. “Getting close to the Hex, trying to interact with it. You ‘getting a read on it’ may feel like an invasion or attack to Wanda and she’s clearly against those. I have no idea how they got a tracker on Vision. Speaking of which,” she shook her head. “We have to talk about what happened to him. He fell apart when he tried to leave. Does Wanda have his body, or is he... We have to broach the idea that the Vision is still dead and what you’ve witnessed is just a construct of him. If that’s true, Wanda’s going to have to lose him again and I’m unsure as to how she’d respond to that.”

STEVE: Steve watched Monica speak and felt the stress bound tight in her voice from across the table. He’d been thinking about it a lot since the meeting started, weighing all their options. Pietro would have been his first bet but if wanda wasn’t willing to accept him, then they had to try to find another way. Steve looked between her and Woo, nodding slowly “It’s your mission, you know it better than anyone. What do you need on our end?”

CAROL: The corner of Carol's jaw ticked, the grip of her arms crossed over her chest tightening. "Play the hero?" This was usually where Sam stepped in, indicating the rise of Carol's tone, the heat that reached her words. But her mention of the Accords had separated them and her casual retention of where Sam was in the space of the room had dissipated. "This isn't about being your mom, Monica. This is about being your teammate. You called us here, you asked us for help, and if I have questions, I'm going to damn well ask them. If you want to lead an effort against Wanda Maximoff, then act like a leader with a team behind you, not this I am an island bullshit."

TOMMY: “And what is she gonna do, Billy? Attack you? She knows we’re real. It’s just Pietro she hates for once right now.”

PIETRO: “Hey-“ Pietro swatted for him but Tommy was already on the move in anticipation.

TOMMY: Tommy zipped to the other side of Billy, knowing full well he’d only evaded Pietro’s pursuit out of sheer laziness on his part. “Don’t be a baby.” He said to his brother.

PETER: “Hey!” Peter stood up, rolling up a sleeve and quickly sending a small mass of webbing in the direction of Tommy’s torso - not to detain him or hurt him in any way, more of a message. One that said - “Don’t be a dick, dude.”

MONICA: A low hum reverberated in her throat as Monica scoffed. “Yes, playing the hero. Showing up, smashing through spaceships, saving the day. Let’s get one thing straight here, Captain Danvers. We’re not teammates. I’m not an Avenger who goes on the run or retreats into space. Jimmy and I are agents who work with boots on the ground for the dirty day to day operations you guys miss when you swing in for the big battle. And that’s not an attack on what you do. We need every piece of the puzzle. But we’re situational allies here and that means we have diametrical differences that aren’t going away.” Monica needed their help. Desperately, really. She just couldn’t handle the holier than thou mentality that came from having an Infinity Stone fuel her. “Ask your questions, Captain. If it wasn’t for us Wanda would be out there hurting more people and you would be just as clueless as when she started. I want this fixed.” Exhaling, Monica smoothed her hands over her rumpled jeans and looked to Steve. “S.W.O.R.D. has resources outside. A few less since the Hex expanded, but we’re flying blind here.”

BILLY: "I don't know." Billy admitted quietly in response to Peter. "I've been doing this for a while but it's not easy. Reality warping is...confusing and complicated and if you pull the wrong thread you could ruin everything. Break everything. The idea that there's a pair of us existing in that town with the same exact abilities is weird as hell, but we have to be connected to them, don't we?" He shifted to look at Tommy. "I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about the town, Tommy."

TOMMY: Tommy heard the shout, turned his head and — well, look, if you’re gonna throw something at a speedster, don’t give him a heads up? He took several seconds to watch the webbing slowly unfurl itself and outstretch like some weird webby hand and before it could get more than two feet from him, he was side swiping Billy in front of him, bracing for impact. Snickering before it had even hit him, by the time he realized what happened Billy would likely already have a face full of webbing. “Ah—no habla ingles!” Tommy shouted to the spider.

PETER: Peter cringed in sympathy as the webbing missed its target, nodding apologetically at Billy, “oh god —Sorry, man.”

LORNA: “I’m no expert here,” Lorna swung both of her boots towards the ground. “But it seems like she doesn’t want any connection or tie to any of us. If she’s making a perfect world with cute weird looking sons, why would she tie them to the real flawed ones she already had? It’s not like she wanted you two around.” She shoved a chair towards Tommy’s thighs with a flick of her fingers. “Sit down and shut up.”

CAROL: The classic temper that always flared during meetings like this was a blaze of heat in the back of Carol's throat. With a burst of energy she stood abruptly, knocking her chair out from behind her. "You've got a lot to say for knowing nothing at all, Monica." When had their relationship become so strained, she didn't know. But Carol was seething under her skin and it took everything not to let that out. "We're grateful to have been informed of Wanda's whereabouts and we're here to help, but we need a concrete plan before you disappear in there. I'm tired of losing people, Monica. That's all."

TOMMY: Tommy narrowed his eyes at his aunt, striking a scary resemblance to Pietro in that exact moment as they both stood with their arms crossed and a look of annoyance etched into their features. As the chair skirted across the floor toward him, he side stepped it and simple said, “Well if it isn’t the insecure one with something to say. Is this an ill directed lashing out because you’re not daddy’s favorite anymore?” Tommy snickered.

PIETRO: Pietro scoffed a laugh, stifling the smile that tugged at his features despite any actual concern for the emotional response they might elicit.

MONICA: Unable to bite her tongue, Monica took a step forward so that edge of the table dug into her thighs. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, Carol.” She had been referring to her by her title, but if she wouldn’t do the same Monica was happy to drop the Captain from Danver’s name. “And some massive balls. I may not agree with you, but I wouldn’t come in front of your peers and say you know nothing at all. Because I, at the very least, maintain a sliver of respect for you.” Shaking her head, Monica took a step back. “Must be exhausting to lose people when you’ve pushed most of them away. You want a written report? Fine. I’ll type up an official dossier and email it.”

LORNA: “--I’m still the favorite.” Lorna bristled. “I’m not the one being labeled as a domestic terrorist by the government. Nor did I decimate our people. Instant points.”

STEVE: “Okay,” Steve started, gently waving his palms. “ Monica—whatever resources you need just let us know and we’ve got you covered.” Steve was doing his best to change the course of direction for the conversation before it steered to far south.

SAM: Even though he didn’t want to say anything, Sam left the spot he had found by Steve and Nat to stand opposite both Monica and Carol. “Stop. Both of you. Take a step back.” He nodded in Steve’s direction. “I’m with Rogers, Captain Rambeau. You want help, we got your back.”

TOMMY: “Ooh you’re less powerful therefore you didn’t make a huge mistake. Sick burn. I’m sure you’ve never done that before.” Tommy rolled his eyes.

BILLY: "Tommy," Billy said calmly, which was more telling than his normal, quiet voice. "All this talk about reality warping and you're getting real bold." He muttered something under his breath and the webbing dissipated. "You're just adding to the list of 'ways to make Tommy's newfound love life even more awkward than it already is." he shifted his gaze away from his brother and resettled in his seat, annoyed but throwing it off quickly. "We were never biologically hers, it makes sense why she'd want that for herself. But they're still us...aren't they?"

CRYSTALIA: The baby had needed to be fed and Crystalia had excused herself to the back of the room. She wasn’t self-conscious, but the situation was strange enough without an Inhuman royal exposing herself in the middle of a now heated conversation. “You’re acting like children.” She shook her head, Luna now out of the sling and in her arms. “Wanda is family. Vision too, I suppose. If they’re hurting it’s your responsibility to ease it.” The Inhumans had strong and pointed views about family, to say the least.

CAROL: "Yeah, this just screams respect. Drop the act-" she was ignoring both Sam and Steve at this point, her tunnel vision only focused on one thing. "-And get professional about this. Do you think I care if you respect me? Do you think I care if you think all I do is throw my abilities around to what, show off? Only show up for the big showdown? Fine. Paint whatever picture of me you want to in your mind to get you through your day, but drop it for now. This isn't about what I do or don't do with the powers, this is about resolving a hostage situation and this is the last place to bring in personal matters. Drop it, for fucks sake."

TOMMY: Tommy rolled his eyes “Please, i don’t have shame.” He waved it off and quickly resumed his serious demeanor at the comment of not actually being Wanda’s children. “Yes we were. Not in body, but soul. Otherwise, explain.” He wagged his finger between both their faces. “I bet if you tested our genetics we’d even read as twins on that. She may not have given birth to us but I shouldn’t have to explain reality warping to a reality warper. Our biological parents brought us into this world but we wouldn’t be us if it wasn’t for her. All I’m saying is she isn’t going to destroy you for the version she made in there — on some level she knows it isn’t real. she’s not going to hurt you.”

SCOTT: Scott could tell Crystalia was feeling a bit restrained by the presence of her infant daughter. Being a parent himself, the instinct to help was all too powerful, and he stepped toward the Inhuman royal and gently tapped the redhead on the shoulder, “Mind if I—?” Gesturing to Luna, he gave her the option to free herself up for a brief bit.

PIETRO: Pietro’s eyes instantly narrowed at Scott as he so much as breathed near Crystalia, much less the baby. In a small gust of wind, he appeared behind the ant man, hands clasped comfortably behind his back. Pietro cleared his throat.

CRYSTALIA: She was a bit taken aback when her shoulder was tapped, but Crystal only blinked once before handing the baby over without much of a second thought. She had been raised by wet nurses. While she wanted to more present she still found the constant extra assistance had made her a little lackadaisical in who had the baby. Noticing that Pietro had moved behind Scott, Crystal shrugged. “He offered. She wouldn’t stop screaming before we got here.”

PIETRO: Pietro watched in horrific slow motion as Crystalia....simply....handed...Luna over. He gaped at her from behind Scott, quickly masking the gut struck shock as he quickly became irritated. “Ah—who the hell is this?” Pietro asked, tilting his head at the strange man holding his daughter.

CRYSTALIA: “--he’s....” Crystal looked to the man holding her week old daughter in hope’s that he would finish the sentence. “One of the good guys if he’s here. And he knows how to hold a baby.”

PIETRO: “Two theories in which you decided to test at once with our newborn child?” His brows slipped up into his hairline.

SCOTT: Scott gently accepted the baby and cradled her against his shoulder, memories of holding Cassie as an infant came flooding back instantly. He glanced at Pietro for a moment, then back at Crystalia, “I’ve got a daughter of my own - “ he replied, careful not to speak over the greater conversation, “ - it’s instinct at this point.” A warm grin was sent in the mother’s direction as Scott’s gentle swaying lulled the baby into a much calmer state, “See? Nothing to worry about.”

MONICA: There were so many instances in her life where Monica had learned to choke back her rage and dampen the sparks in her blood that were waiting to turn into an inferno. Maria had taught her daughter a lot about what it looked like to be a Black woman in modern America and the privileges they were denied -- especially when it came to perception and actions. Carol had none of those restraints and she blew up - literally and physically - whenever she felt like it. Not Monica. She didn’t have that daily luxury. “Once, Carol,” her voice was tired. “I did. It would have meant the world to me. You were one of my favorite people in the galaxy and I cared so goddamn much. It sucks to grow up. It’s because of my mother -- because of Maria that I put your name on the invite list. Because she means everything to me, no matter how I feel about you. I’m being polite because that is what my mother instilled in me. Common courtesy, respect. There’s a lot I want to say but I ain’t got nothing to drop here. Captain Wilson. Rogers.” She clasped her hands so tightly her nails dug into her palms. “Thank you. Do you have any kind of monitoring tech available?”

TOMMY: “Billy. c’mere.” Tommy placed a hand on either shoulder and brought his brother a verging on uncomfortable proximity. He stared straight into his eyes. “Why would Wanda destroy the town she wants to live a fake life in to save it? How does that make sense?”

PETER: Peter tentatively approached Scott, Crystalia, and Pietro, “That’s Scott Lang. Ant-Man. He’s a good dude. Trust me,” he noted, reassuringly as they watched Scott continue tending to the child. “He’s a bit weird,” Peter shrugged, watching with confusion as Scott began singing some gibberish of a lullaby, “—but you have nothing to worry about. Promise.”

CAROL: For a brief, inkling of a moment, Carol felt herself deflate, the tender memories of her brief stint on Earth back in the 90's reforming in her mind. She'd never truly forgotten them, but Carol wasn't a selfish hero that swooped in for glory and fame. She cared about the souls she saved, and that had built so many relationships in her mind that she'd momentarily lapsed on why Monica, of all people, would be so callous and cold. Instead of inflating again, like she happened to do naturally, Carol simply closed her mouth and sat back down, grinding her molars as the anger rolled through her.

STEVE: Steve nodded “We do.We can get you and Woo set up in one of our intel rooms upstairs, should have anything you’d need.” he said to Monica.

BILLY: Staring into a face that was damn near identical to his own save for a few minor cosmetic differences was something Billy would never get used to, not even after spending almost 5 years with Tommy as a twin. They had a natural connection, one they'd always had since being born, but it'd never made sense until they were face to face. He sighed again, rubbing thin fingers into his eyes and down his cheeks. "Wanda wants Vision. Wanda wants her kids. Wanda doesn't care about the fact that we're right here -- we've always been right here, Tommy. I know it's not the same for her, I can't argue that, but if we try to take that away from her, or if she thinks we are, she might just say fuck it and poof," he made a motion with his hands. "If she can't have it no one can, you know?"

SAM: The deescalation was already underway. Sam still crouched by Carol’s chair, dark head bowing towards hers. “Cool off. Whatever family drama you got, let it go.” He knew about Maria Rambeau. Monica too, by extension. He just didn’t know where it went south. “You really think the Sokovian Accords are relevant here, huh?”

PIETRO: “Ant-man.” he repeated, musing over the name. Pietro looked at the kid with the webs and surveyed him up and down. “I don’t know you either.” Tolerating the scene before him for only several more seconds, Pietro had lost the thin thread of patience he’d been holding on to, to being with. “I’d like it if you handed me my daughter back, now.” Pietro said. It wasn’t exactly a secret he was obnoxiously protective, and if anyone had thought that was annoying with Wanda, they were in for it with Luna. Actual light of his life.

SCOTT: Scott paused in his subtle rocking of the child against his shoulder, nodding at Pietro’s repeating of his hero moniker, “Mhm. That’s the name, don’t wear it out,” he joked, but his light expression fell when the speedster all but demanded his child back, “Oh, uh - sure, yeah. Of course.” He was only trying to help, but not one to want to get on someone’s bad side, he quickly acquiesced, gently passing Luna to her father.

CAROL: Carol's gaze flicked to Sam, the anger from her confrontation with Monica still present beneath her skin. She tried to reign it in, but it felt impossible in the moment. "The Accords were put on the table for a reason, Sam. We watched Wanda's powers get out of control the first time and she killed innocent people. Now she's taken a town hostage. I understand what you and Rogers fought for, but it's not ridiculous to think that maybe regulating abilities is more important than free rein. She's hurting people, Sam. She's destroying families, all for a fake life. If we had regulations in place before this, this wouldn't have happened."

CRYSTALIA: “Pietro.” Crystalia sighed, watching the baby get passed from one set of hands to the other. “Thank you, Mr. Lang. I appreciate it. It’s exhausting to be a mother at these functions.” That being said, it was really her first time with the baby in public and she felt oddly self-conscious about being seen in the light of motherhood.

PETER: The friendly smile on Peter’s face quickly dropped as Pietro briefly addressed him. As heroes go, he was pretty well known, in more ways than one unfortunately, and Peter could say the same for Quicksilver. The rebuke stung briefly, but Peter shook it off, turning his attention back to the growing conflict at hand, concealed web shooters at the ready if need be.

SCOTT: Scott nodded to Crystalia politely, opting to ignore Pietro, “I understand completely. If you need anything else - just ask.”

PIETRO: His demeanor relaxed the moment Luna was pulled into his arms. In truth, it had nothing to do with Scott — he didn’t like anyone holding his daughter, much less strangers. He’d barely let Erik look at her. “Why do they call you Ant-man?” Pietro asked scott, a deep crease forming between his brows. “Do you...turn into an ant?” he asked puzzled. Then he looked at Peter “And you—what is that you shot at my nephew earlier?”

SAM: “You know who I am.” Sam’s voice was gentle but firm. “You know what I believe in and what I don’t. Even with regulations, Wanda could have gone rogue. We needed better support systems, ways to handle trauma. I was a PTSD group leader and I didn’t even check in on my friends the way I should.” Why was it, still, that Sam felt everyones wellbeing was his duty? “Wanda’s powerful enough to get around Accords or laws. We knew that. We knew her, and now we’ve got to help. Coming to blows with Rambeau won’t do anything on that front.”

SCOTT: “Oh,” Scott spun around to face Pietro, mildly shocked the speedster was addressing him again, “Ha, I wish—“ he joked, but the tone quickly fell flat, “—uh, no actually. I can shrink. Really really small. Subatomic even. Although, that? Not as fun. So not as fun.”

CAROL: Carol kept her gaze affixed to his, finally relinquishing the tension in her shoulders and letting out a breath through her nose. "We've seen what this world looks like with no laws in place and now we see what Krakoa looks like with laws in place. It's hard not to compare the two." In this instance, she was speaking generally, not about Wanda in particular. "We had no clue what happened. We had an agency reach out to us to tell us that one of our own had become a terrorist. There's too many of us for one man, even two-" she was referring to Sam and Steve in that moment, "-to keep track of. Too many for any of us to keep track of. We need better support systems and we need better regulations on abilities. Sam, we can't have people like Wanda or Jean Grey running around freely. Do you not remember what happened with the Phoenix?"

PETER: Peter was reluctant to reveal his web shooters, instinctively tugging his sweatshirt sleeves down past his wrists, his hands practically swimming in the fabric, “Just web fluid,” he addressed Pietro as well, ever so slightly timid in his response, “My own invention.”

PIETRO: Pietro’s look of confusion remained as he mused over lang’s response. “What does that do? —getting small.” He was genuinely curious. “Might someone....step on you?” He asked.

SAM: He leaned back slightly, thighs aching dully. It had been leg day, unfortunately. Almost every day was now. “No offense, Carol, but you really don’t. You weren’t here. Ultron, Sokovia, the Accords. You weren’t here and we were, tryin’ to make it by.” He pursed his lips together. “I believe in justice. Balance, order. But we can’t have them running around freely? Really, Carol? What do you propose? They get locked up for the rest of their lives? For the most part they didn’t ask for it and they’re good intentioned. I know Wanda. Well, actually. No matter how big this mess, she’s still a person.”

PIETRO: When the boy answered him, he watched him tug at his sleeves while Luna played with Pietro’s pale hair.  “You made that? By yourself?”

CAROL: She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. "No, of course not. We knew Wanda had reality warping abilities. We did nothing about it. We just let her...be. Now let me ask you something -- that kid over there," she gestured towards Billy again. "He loses that boyfriend he cares so much about. Who's to say he wouldn't do the same exact thing for the same reason? Maybe he loses Tommy too and we end up in Westview 2.0. But we knew all along he could warp reality and we just....trust he'll never do anything nefarious with it? There has to be a middle ground here, Sam. We can't just pretend like good people won't go bad. Especially when those people have powers that could destroy everything."

SCOTT: “Suuure?” Scott replied, wary of the implication, “But I don’t know if I’d recommend it. I’m pretty damn strong at that size. You know how ants are... it’s the schtick.”

TOMMY: At the second jab at Billy, Tommy got mad. “Hey!—“Tommy slapped two hands on the table and stared Carol down directly. “What is your problem? My brother hasn’t done shit. You’re the one with an atomic bomb rolling around inside you and you’re sitting here prattling on about people being too dangerous to go on freely. You’ve been on this planet for what, like two seconds and already you’re trying to get people kicked off it?”

PETER: Peter knew the silver haired man had seen them - he wasn’t doing too good of a job at being stealthy. But the risk of this backfiring on him didn’t feel super high. His spidey senses weren’t on high alert anymore, so what was the harm? Showing the tech to Pietro, he smiled softly, boundlessly proud of the creation that had become so ingrained in his being, “Yeah, I did. Took a while to figure the web formula out,” he gently prodded at the trigger, but not hard enough to release any webbing, “-and the rest is history.”

ERIK: “With all due respect, Miss Grey is a matter of Mutant relations and will be kept out of this conversation. Especially from the mouths of those that don’t actually understand her situation or the trials she has faced involving the Phoenix Force.” Erik had been quiet for some time, choosing the diplomatic approach of listening so that he could later inform the Council and Charles of the matters involving Wanda.

PIETRO: “No, not really. I’m not overly familiar with ants.” Pietro admitted, and he was still struggling to figure out how being tiny was useful. “So shrink, but get stronger?” he cocked his head.

CAROL: That was it, the last shred of patience Carol had. She stood so quickly her chair kicked back far enough away that there was little hope of her reseating again before this meeting commenced. "We're talking about the fact that your mother is destroying people's lives and we could do nothing to stop it because we had no means to. You think that couldn't easily happen again?" She shifted her gaze to Billy, who was straightening his shoulders, unperturbed by her eyes on him. "We always put our faith in the good guys and then the good guys lose a couple of people and we get our asses kicked. People die. We bury them. We memorialize them. We mourn them. And then we rinse and repeat the process and at some point it needs to fucking stop." God she was so angry again. "

TOMMY: “It won’t, and I hate to break it to you but if you can’t stomach it, get out then. Go live on some other planet somewhere like you did before. We’re perfectly capable of handling it on our own. You keep throwing Wanda around like she woke up one day and decided to take over a bunch of peoples lives and didn’t just wake up in that fucking bubble and have to figure it out at she went along. We’ve all got shit — we all lose people. I blew up a fucking school on accident the first time I got my powers and they stuck me in a prison and poked and prodded me with needles and metal. Is that what you fucking want!? You want all of us to get locked up becuase we make you scared!? You sound like the mutant haters and we have plenty of them! We don’t need more.” He was yelling now, his temper well past a peak. His hands were beginning to shake and as much as he’d love to blast the fucking table into a billion splinters it’d just prove her right. he waved his hands around as they spasmed “Oh no, I better not fuck anything up or Carol’s gonna come put me in fucking jail—what, you’ve never fucked up Danvers??? You never made a mistake? Must be fucking nice!” By now Steve had stood and started to pull Tommy away, and Tommy did little to fight him, though it was bold of the former Captain to touch him right now considering it could destabilize him in a blink.

STEVE: “Alright, take a couple breaths.” Steve told him.

CRYSTALIA: As Carol once again blew up Crystal edged closer to Pietro, reaching out to take her daughter. “Give me my baby.” She commanded gently, knowing Pietro was more likely to get involved in the situation.

PIETRO: Pietro handed Luna over to Crystalia and stayed firmly planted in front of them — his nephew certainly had his temper and a few abilities he hadn’t even discovered yet. “He’s fine.” Pietro assured her.

WANDA: They were gathering. Of course they were gathering. It had only been a matter of time. Still, shivers ran down in her spine as she was doused with the cold dread that hid under the silver screen smile she had glued on. Monica’s time in Westview had left an imprint of sorts, an afterimage Wanda could still trace. They had stood outside the Hex and threatened her. Now they were calling to arms less than a hundred miles away and she was laying in her bed staring at the ceiling, half tempted to speed up time so it was morning and the opening credits could roll. Vision was still beside her. Synthezoid's didn’t sleep, per se, but they did turn off at night to process the days information. With a heavy sigh she rolled out of bed and wrapped her body in her robe, the ever throbbing vein of anger that had pulsed through her for the last two months rapidly gaining speed. Red ate its way across the town as everyone stilled in their beds. Would they dream? Maybe. Maybe she would let them as she made her way past Ellis Ave. The border glowed red with static as she approached, one palm resting against it. The Hex was alive. It hummed and spoke to her, reality warping under her fingertips before it bent and allowed her to cross through. Her robe and pajamas were gone, replaced with her corset and long coat. The flight to their location took little time but felt like an eternity. For every second she was away from her home there was a paralyzing fear that someone would sneak in and erase all her hard work. Boots touched down on the gum crusted sidewalk only a second before she snapped her wrists and red broke the door open. “It’s not nice,” she strode in as the wind from the now broken door blew in. “To speak about someone when they’re not present. Not like this.” Some faces there were familiar but her blinders were on. “I told you to leave me alone. That was your warning. I took care of S.W.O.R.D. Don’t make me turn you into clowns as well.”

PIETRO: Maybe he felt her coming before she did — or maybe he was still on edge from the outburst between Carol and Tommy, but every hair on his body stood up on end just seconds before she came through the door. A heavy blanket of ice chilled the room to a stand still and he half expected to see his breath fog up the air as he exhaled. His hand stilled on Crystalia as he stared at her, Wanda — and then. and then, and then, and then — before he could even think about thinking about it, he was standing in front of her. a little gust of wind kicked a few tendrils of her strawberry red hair and he just stared at her. For several seconds it was like water stilling in a lake, his chest rose and fell to the rhythm of hers and for the first time in six years they breathed the same airspace. “Wanda....” he was afraid to speak, like his voice would blow the mirage away and he’d have hallucinated the whole thing.

CAROL: Every bone in her body was demanding, insisting, Carol send a flare of energy over her limbs, but as she turned to face Wanda, she commanded her abilities to stay down, deep down. The last thing they needed was a confrontation, not when Wanda could erase the very fabric of their existence. She followed Pietro with her eyes but made no move at all, which was an unnatural but strategic response.

STEVE: When the door blasted open, Steve half thought Tommy blew a fuse—or Carol, but to be fair he was the one shaking violently. When he turned and saw Wanda walk in, his jaw nearly dropped. Then, instantly, his head snapped to Pietro — only to find his spot empty. Instead, the twins stood toe to toe in the center of the room and everyone held their breath praying it’d be enough.

BILLY: Billy rose slowly from his seat, gently tugging on the sleeve of Tommy's shirt as he did so. Taking a step back, he watched Wanda carefully as he spoke lowly to his brother. "She left the town. Tommy, we have an opportunity."

WANDA: Monster. Terrorist. Out of her mind. Monster. Delusional --. Everyone had an opinion, didn’t they? Ratings were hard to keep up. The world was composed of critics and this was no different. If there was one thing that could have stilled her to silence it was him. The only problem was that he was’t here. Here he was, her twin, haunting her waking dreams. “Not now, frate,” she tsked. Still, one hand rose as if to brush his cheek before falling to her side. Her train of thought was derailed when she saw the twins, heads bent towards one another in that familiar tableau of mischief. “Boys?” Surprise laced her voice, accent instantly falling away to be replaced with the smooth American syllables they knew her to have. “Why aren’t you at home?”

CRYSTALIA: It was out of instinct that Crystal took a step back, tucking Luna against herself. Wanda had no reason to hurt the baby, but she still felt a sharp maternal instinct. She was outmatched. That went without question.

TOMMY: Tommy was in shock to see her to say the least, and if it weren’t for Billy tugging on his shirt, he may have stood there with his mouth agape until drool came out of it. It took him a quarter of a second to process the words after they’d left his mouth, but as he did he wasted no time — Tommy grabbed Billy by the back of the shirt and jerked them both to a more hidden corner of the room. With Steve, Natasha, Sam, Carol, and —jesus christ, everyone gathered around their mother, they made for a good wall. “Do it.”

LORNA: Nearly falling out of her chair, Lorna straightened up and looked to Erik for guidance. Her hands clenched into fists, green nearly sparking from them. If she hadn’t been afraid of Wanda seeing and overreacting she would have done something. Instead, she just stayed wary with the metal chairs on standby.

PIETRO: As Wanda addressed him, a wave of — something settled in his stomach, like spoiled milk. It took the breath out of his lungs and nearly dazed him. He stared at her, for once his brain struggled to process the moments at all, much less quickly. He’d waited for this, wanted it for weeks now— months. It’d been an ache that never fully left him. It rose with him when he pried himself out of bed in the morning and it snaked through his blood stream when he went to sleep at night. The dismissal was killing him. “Wanda, please. Just talk to me for five minutes, hmm? — five minutes.” he’d lost the delicate approach from before, too easily slipping into the comfort of being able to take hold of her wrist, he nearly held it to his chest, once again coming between his sister and the mix of Avengers and X-Men behind him. “I know you think this isn’t real, I know, but it is — I can prove it. lasă-mă să te aduc acasă. nu trebuie să fii singur. nu esti singur.” (let me bring you home, you don’t have to be alone. you’re not alone.)

BILLY: Billy blinked dumbly at this woman he'd had tea with regularly only a few months before - until the two days a week meetings turned into one and then turned into every other week, and then once a month, and then not at all. Billy had Teddy and Tommy had his new relationship he wasn't doing much to hide and Billy was still experimenting with his abilities --- he'd chosen to fall into the busy life and not wonder about what Wanda was up to. She was so smart, and capable, and strong. He just assumed she was busy, like he inevitably was. He heard her accent slip away and for the briefest of moments, Billy wanted to step towards her, wanted to lean in to the warmth and concern in her tone. This was the woman holding a town hostage? This was the...terrorist? Swallowing, Billy opened his mouth to speak, "Wa-Mom, what are you do-" but before he could finish, Tommy was pulling him back, knocking him right back into his senses. "Did you not feel that?" Billy asked his brother, his hand coming up to rub against his chest, momentarily forgetting what his original plan had been.

TOMMY: Tommy’s body froze as Wanda addressed them. Similarly to the way a toddler would if his mother caught him on the chair digging into the cookie jar. It was a warmth that crept over the back of his brain, tangled with the twinge of a burn — like alcohol slipping down his throat. Warm, but uncomfortable. “I don’t like this.” Tommy muttered to his brother. He felt like a mouse in front of a hawk and all he wanted to do was turn invisible — why?? Why couldn’t that be his power. Tommy’s grip tightened on Billy’s shirt and his legs twitched with the urge to fucking bolt to James right then and there. but he didn’t. His knees locked up and he just fucking stood there. “Billy, do something.”

PETER: Everyone was walking on eggshells right now, and Wanda’s startling shift in tone and accent sent a shiver down Peter’s spine. But he didn’t let up, eyes flicking around the room to gauge any potential items of use he could web and fling in Wanda’s direction. The only other thing on his mind right now was how horribly horribly wrong this could all go. Wanda could sneeze and erase them all from existence if she really wanted to, and MJ’s voice echoed in the back of his mind, offering him words of encouragement wrapped in her usual dry wit. It was something positive to latch onto, but it didn’t do much to quell the absolute panic in Peter’s bones.

WANDA: She had a purpose. Of course she had a purpose if she had come all this way from the comfort of her warm bed, next to her loving husband while her two boys slept in a nearby room. That was where she belonged. Not here in this dirty room with people who wanted to burn her at the stake like a common witch. They didn’t get it. They didn’t have to. In the end, they didn’t matter. None of them mattered. Not when she finally got to make the rules. “I don’t have five minutes,” she muttered, more to herself than to him. Then his hand was on her wrist and her body was spinning to face him, face to chest. How many times had she rested her head in the crook of his neck, breathing becoming more even as he guided her through the panic? Pietro had always been there... until he hadn’t. He was gone and she was tugging her hand away from him. “I have a home.” She replied firmly in English, tone glossy and bright. “I have a family. A husband, a brother. Sons. And that’s real. This? All of this is irrelevant. You can keep it. I know what I want.” Gloved hands coming together, Wanda drew them apart as a line of red magic extended between the appendages before shooting across the room. Scarlet covered the surfaces as they became clean and put together. It looked the conference room in the Avengers Compound before Thanos had destroyed it. Her mind pieced together glass and metal furniture as it remembered one of the last places she had been put on a public trial. The ripple that crossed the room moved the people to the side, a path clearing between Wanda and her sons. “I’m sure none of this makes sense,” she spoke slowly as if aiming to not spook them. “I can explain it in the morning. Your father is going to be worried.” There were threads moving between her and the twins, connecting the three in magic. Wanda funneled the time she had spent with the new twins towards them, reality slowly webbing them in. “And he won’t be happy you aged yourself again. Let’s go home.” She was standing before them then, arms extended.

TOMMY: You know, he was kind of hoping Pietro would have pulled it off. “Oh, no—n-n-no” he could feel her creeping in, it was like trying to outrun a hurricane with his thoughts, he could feel them all slipping away like walking into a room and forgetting why. Just when he’d find something else to hold on to, it’d slip away in exchange for another—and another, and another. The room started to shift and he felt the panic bubble up. It was like drowning on land. Tommy felt himself get ripped forward, and it didn’t matter what he did there was no escaping it. What little still stuck around from his current life had him gripping onto the ledge of the table for dear fucking life until the fear of losing his grip became so great, it just obliterated right out from beneath his finger tips. He gasped, sent one last look to billy and then that was it. Curtains drawn. Lights out. Let the credits roll.

PETER: Everything that had been moving in slow motion was now progressing much too quickly for Peter’s liking. Grunting in frustration with the others as the red magic pushed them aside, Peter watched the Scarlet Witch approach the twins. Her comment on their ages didn’t bode well, but neither did the ‘let’s go home.’ Before he could formulate another thought however, Tommy vanished in the blink of an eye, and Peter panicked, surging forward with a shout, “Wanda! Wanda, wait!”

BILLY: Billy could feel the familiar weave of magic as it mingled with his own, his mutant abilities reaching out to greet Wanda's like an embrace after years of being apart. The walls around him were tinted a shade of yellow, slightly dulled by a stream of pale light. He could hear the patter of feet across hardwood floor right onto carpet and the familiar burnt smell of toast filled his senses. But it felt so welcoming, so warm. At some point, Billy had reached down and interlocked his fingers with Tommy, so when he took a step forward, his own magic reaching out to meet Wanda's, he was pulling Tommy along with him, his eyes fixed on Wanda's glowing red hues. "Dad," his voice didn't sound like his own, but the magic swirling around him was so familiar and comfortable he couldn't even find the urge to resist it. "He'll be so worried." They were only a few steps away from Wanda then and Billy reached out with his free hand, extending it towards her. "Let's go home." he parroted.

WANDA: It was a sweet relief when the twins relented. Wanda loved them in an intense, soul crushing sort of way. She had been thankful to not know loss in her life ( her parents. pietro. the vision. )  and the idea of losing them sent her reeling. What would she do if they were gone? She couldn’t even pretend to know. It was Tommy she reached first, his embrace brief as she felt his mind slip away. Tommy, her first born. Billy, the one Vision had loved so dearly that she had no choice but to manifest in her womb, the perfect counterpart for her son. Billy understood. He was a sensitive boy and the red light in her eyes were reflected in his own. “He loves you dearly, you know that.” She leaned over, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Take care of your brother. I’ll see you two in the morning.” With that the image of the boys flashed red as static overtook their body and they dissolved from sight. Eyes returning to green, Wanda glanced around the room. “Sorry about that. Kids, am I right?” Her laugh was strained as she looked to the boy who had burst out. “I’m sorry, where were we?”

PETER: Peter swallowed harshly, reaching up to remove the hat from his head, hair mussed with sweat. Fiddling with the brim in a gesture more akin to some starving Victorian orphan, Peter proceeded with utmost caution, “Wanda! You don’t have to do this. You’re not alone out here. I promise. Bring Tommy and Billy back, Wanda. Please.”

CAROL: Carol watched the twins dissipate with a slightly widened expression, one that didn't betray too much but her sheer shock was simmering just below the surface. "Wanda," she said, almost breathlessly, having watched the only person with first hand knowledge of her abilities willingly disappear into Wanda's fake world. "Wanda what did you do,"

PIETRO: Watching it all was one thing, but to do so slowly? Even worse. He knew it’d been a shot in the dark, but he didn’t think here and now with all these minds available to her that she’d still just see a ghost. Her mind was so imbedded in West View he couldn’t even feel her slinking around in his head like he used to. Not that she ever violated his privacy but it wasn’t like he’d ever put up a wall between them. And to be honest neither had she, not until now.  But she couldn’t avoid him forever. Try as she might there was a subconscious part of her that was reaching for him, there had to be. Because he wasn’t the one initiating a dream cycle every night. Couldn’t if he tried. He watched her take them, tendrils of red reaching out with sticky fingers to take the twins. Pietro watched Tommy struggle, wincing in the opposite direction as Billy seemed more accepting. And as the scarlet in the room faded out, he exhaled heavily from his seat on the floor, a weight settling down on broad shoulders. Well, fuck. “Fine.” he scoffed. “You don’t want to talk now.” he stood, nodding his head as he moved to the edge of her vision once more, only this time several feet of space separated them. “We’ll talk later. You can’t run from me—” he leaned forward some then to meet her gaze—if she would. “I’m faster.” The edge of his lip quirked just a fraction of a hair despite the bitterness and hurt that ebbed beneath. You can pretend i’m dead in your little bubble with your awful version of me, but you find me when you need me. he thought the words rather than say them, but there was no telling if she’d heard him. he took two steps back from her, falling back into place beside Crystalia and Luna.

WANDA: “You know,” one hand momentarily covered Wanda’s mouth as she thought. “The twins do need more friends. The neighborhood has been so quiet.” The boys leaving had shattered part of her illusion. They were gone and she wasn’t just Wanda Maximoff: mom anymore. She was the Scarlet Witch and this wasn’t a game, theatrics aside. Her real voice was lower, heavier. It betrayed just how much she had seen, even if the words seemed disjointed to the tone. “Thank you for volunteering.” She pointed at Peter for a split second before the Hex sucked him up, personality absorbing into the barrier. He wouldn’t wake up right away in his new bed with his new life. Unlike the twins he would be in a holding pattern, stuck in stasis until she could cast him. In that moment there was just too much going on to focus on anything except what was in front of her and keeping the town frozen. “I sent them home.” Wanda drifted through the crowd, gaze passing blankly over her father and sister. “Back to Westview, where they belong.” She paused at the sight of an infant, face softening. “And what are you doing here? She’s so little. God, I miss these days. They go by so quickly.” Way too quickly in the Maximoff case. She blinked and they were grown. The mother of the baby made a motion of protest when Wanda reached out, but red glowed underneath her temple and she handed the baby over wordlessly. “We can make this easy,” Wanda kept her gaze trained down on the sleeping face, her magic keeping the infant asleep. “But you need to let it go.”

PIETRO: No—n-n- no, no, no. His entire body went rigid as Wanda took Luna. He could have never imagined a moment in his life where he’d have believed for even a second that the sight of his baby in his twin’s arms would terrify him. Yet here he was. “Give her back.” he appeared beside them both then, voice splitting into a tremor. His already rabid heart stammered against his sternum as his tongue went dry in his mouth. He couldn’t even think straight,  “Wanda, te rog — ea este a mea.” (please. she’s mine.). The knot that formed in his throat made it difficult to breath, bleeding his fear out into every shaky exhale. He’d been terrified a number of times in his life, but this one was coming uncomfortably close to bringing him right back to Sokovia, when he was 10 with a bomb three feet from his face. “Let her go, both of them. I’m begging you. For me. Please.” He couldn’t look anymore, his eyes shut and he just hoped with everything in him she’d let them both go.

WANDA: Home was where the heart was, and right then her heart was aching to return home. This wasn’t her reality anymore. It was gray and dull. It lacked the carefully curated sheen of Westview. In some ways Wanda had become a puppet with scarlet strings tying her to the town. She couldn’t escape it even if she wanted to. But the boys were home now, the Vision as well. Even Pietro, as unsettling as his new face was. She finally had something to live for again and it pained her to be away from it. Kissing the crown of the babies head, Wanda handed her back to her motionless mother. “If she’s yours, Pietro, she belongs with her father and he’s back in Westview.” There was a flash of red before Crystal’s arms were empty and the Inhuman started back into motion.

MONICA: “Wanda.” Monica shoved her way to the front. “Stop. That was his baby. Your brothers baby. You have to give her back.” Her voice was firm, shoulders rolled back. Maybe it was too late to try and fix things, but they couldn’t combust. “She won’t hurt her.” Monica turned towards Pietro slightly. “That’s not what the Hex does, and she’s little. She’s okay.”

CRYSTALIA: One minute she was holding Luna and the next her arms were empty. There was a gap in the middle where Wanda had blocked everything off but now her eyes were wide. “---Where is my baby? Luna. You have to bring her back.”

PIETRO: “I’M HER FATHER!” the roar that erupted from his chest was explosive to say the least, and a volume that which he had never used with her before. “Why are you doing this to me!?” He could barely register Monica’s presence much less her words at this point. “You said metastasizing cells.” He whipped around to acknowledge Monica for the briefest of seconds, only to remind her of the very dangers she’d been so keen on expressing earlier. “What is this, huh — “ He looked back at Wanda “you want me to feel as alone as you did when I died, is that it, ah?” The emotions here piling on top of one another now, a mass of raw nerves that had been exposed day in and day out for weeks now and she just lit the match. On the verge of tears, the way he looked at her now, the betrayal dug deep into the lines of his face . Defeat hollowed him out. “I can’t even look at you.”

CRYSTAL: “And I’m her mother.” Pietro was yelling but Crystalia couldn’t stop crying. It was her fault. She had been holding the baby. She had let Luna go. Unable to look at Pietro, she moved towards his twin and clasped her red clad arm. “She’s two weeks old. She needs her mother. You have to send me to be with her.” Did she trust Wanda? Not in the slightest. The people in her Hex were suffering. Crystalia would suffer every day if she needed to if it meant her daughter wasn’t being neglected or forced to live with a new mother. The Inhumans could live without their Princess. Pietro could live without whatever she was to him. Crystal could not fathom living without Luna. “Please.”

WANDA: He had never yelled at her before. Never raised his voice, never yelled. Maybe snapped, but this was different. Why would a dream yell at her like that? Look at her in such utter disgust? Tears welled in Wanda’s eyes. They were always there, waiting to fall. She had hurt him judging by his response. The scarlet whisper told her it didn’t matter, but it did. He was her twin. Half of her heart, she had always said. For a moment she actually considered what it would mean if he was here and she had crossed the line of stealing his child. But that couldn’t be right. Pietro was home. He had an American accent. He was wrong, wrong, wrong. Pietro was --- Lip trembling, Wanda took a step back. Her tears had always ended their fights as children but this exceeded that. “I -- I’m trying to make people happy. She’s happy. She’s where she should be.” No, Wanda. You’re trying to make you happy. Don’t forget it. Blinking, she looked down at the hand on her arm. Light eyes trailed up her form before the Princess dissolved in red as well. “See? Just making everyone happy.”

PIETRO: For a moment he was conflicted — immediately regretful of yelling at her like that, but then glad that he had because for several seconds she seemed...present. And for a singular beat, his heart thudded with a flicker of hope—and then it was gone. It faded right out of him just as Crystalia slipped away, red tendrils swirling and evaporating like smoke. He felt stunned, akin to the aftermath of a bomb and the way his ears would ring and the world felt like it was held at an arms length. Several breaths went by and he didn’t know if he should be relieved Crystalia was with Luna or devastated they were both gone. His gaze trained vacantly in the space where she’d been, and when they shifted to Wanda they were not more lively. Merely pools of exhaustion and the soul draining fear of thinking he may actually never see either of them again. Whether they’d be different — his realities versions — or something else....if they survived. “You’re not making any one happy. You just took it.” The words fell out of his mouth with out a whisper of emotion and he turned away from her. As he walked away, he felt beyond heavy, and he didn’t have it in him to run.

WANDA: Her lips pursed together, the resole that had driven her there once again energizing her weary bones. “I’m leaving now.” She announced. “And I hope you realize how serious I am about all of this. I have what I want. No one is taking that from me.” Desperation threaded her voice, words cracking slightly. “So I’ll amend my policy. Westview is wonderful. Some of you would really enjoy a visit. Besides, it’s about time for my family to show up. People keep asking. I’m European and that’s apparently funny, but they need faces.” She also needed people with the power to stop her or the ones who could have ideas off the table. “Welcome to Westview.” She smiled at the group, serene before her magic erupted around the room. Abigail Brand, that S.W.O.R.D. director. Bucky and Sam, two familiar faces. Steve, who had always been there for her. Erik and Lorna to complete the picture of a happy family. Magik, who had threatened to stab her. Susan Storm, that scientist. They all flickered red and disappeared. The rest were left in the wake of her magic, the sound of static that had been growing louder now softening to a whisper in the background. She had been sloppy, slightly. She knew others who weren’t in the room had been pulled into the Hex as well but she’d deal. Wanda tilted her chin up in defiance. “They’re happy. They’re safe.” Lie. Maybe truth. “Leave me alone. Leave Vision alone. Don’t hurt us again.” Without waiting for a response Wanda turned, red propelling her in flight out of the room and back towards her quickly growing home.

NATASHA: Left in the aftermath, it felt all too much like the dead silent moments after Thanos had snapped his fingers the first time. Her husband was gone. He had been sitting right next to her but there wasn’t even a pile of ash left behind. “Wanda.” Her voice fell flat, knowing Wanda was gone and wouldn’t hear her. She shook her head, trying to catch her breath and remain calm. “Shit.”

SCOTT: Mouth agape, Scott stood by, staring at the place where Crystalia and her baby once stood, the spot now empty. Blinking slowly, he glanced around at the others, the silence deafening, “—- now what?”

MONICA: Breaking into a jog, Monica made it to the door and stuck her head out. “Maximoff!” She called at his retreating form. “Wanda just kidnapped your daughter and a foreign royal along with a handful of Avengers. The only time I saw anything out of Wanda was when you snapped. We need you. Luna needs you. That being said, she was still going in. She had to, especially if Wanda had upped the ante like that. “We’re going to fix this.” Her voice wavered slightly as she addressed Scott. “We’re going to -- we’re going to get this under control, okay? We’re going to keep it together.” That was aimed at Pietro. Of course it was Steve and Sam ( who had vowed to help Monica ) who had been taken. “We’ll get equipment, monitor the show. They may be trapped but we can see them. Wanda will show us if they’re okay. We don’t know that everyone in Westview will have the same biological response as me. It could have been from being thrown through the barrier.” Could have also been the former, but she was trying to ease frayed nerves. “And then we’re going to fight like hell because she doesn’t get to take from us and win. We’re gonna get them back.”

PIETRO: He stopped halfway down the hall, listening to her yell at him. Christ, where did she get the energy? After a beat, he pivoted on his foot and reappeared in the doorway as Monica delivered the rest of her speech to the room.  He noted it was about half as full as it had been, which meant his sister had gotten a case of sticky fingers and plucked them clean out. Wonderful. That was what, Steve, Sam, Bucky— that annoying blonde girl—actually, that was kind of funny. “Lead the way.” he said.

MONICA: “The episodes are edited,” Monica exhaled a sigh of relief when Pietro came back. “By Wanda. But we can keep visuals on everyone. It’s a start while we try to get in.”

NATASHA: Rising, Natasha slipped her hands into the pockets of her coat. “Scott, come back to the Compound with me. Call Hank and Jan on the way over. Maybe they can help. I’ll call you, Monica, with what I found. And Pietro...” She gnawed on her lip for a moment. “I’m choosing to believe Wanda isn’t lost. I don’t know what life looks like for her after this, but it’s not the end.” With one last tight smile she left to her apartment where Steve’s side of the bed would be cold.

SCOTT: Scott nodded, giving Natasha a halfhearted salute, “Got it, chief.”

PIETRO: Pietro surveyed Natasha, and somehow her words did help. Somehow. At any rate she’d lost something now too — at the very least if no one was inclined to help Wanda before, they all had their own stakes in getting someone out now. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. After a moment he turned to Monica. “I don’t presume you’ll be sleeping tonight?” A not so subtle way of asking whether or not she’d begin work now or later.

MONICA: A low chuckle left her chest. “Didn’t sleep last night, so I see no need to start now. It’s my turn to get coffee. Jimmy did it last time. After that, I have a few sheets to go over. Why,” she inclined her head to the side to stretch her neck. “Need a way to pass the time? I can only read so fast.”

PIETRO: He should sleep — purely for the chance to talk to Wanda, but it’d likely be day for her in Westview. He’d have his chance later. “Lucky then that I can read a book in seconds.” Despite the light nature of the comment, it never really reached his eyes—or his tone. “I can take you to the surveillance room steve mentioned.” He offered. “There’s a coffee pot.”

MONICA: They had a lot of ground to cover and not enough time. Monica had known they were poking the bear by gathering everyone together but she had instigated anyway. Now where were they? Definitely down resources from before and with less morale. Natasha’s vow to help was nice but didn’t ease Monica’s concerns. “We’re going to fix this.” She repeated, mind stuck on a loop. “I don’t care what Wanda or Hayward says. We know what’s real.” Pietro offering to help was more than Monica expected after everything that had just gone down but she wasn’t stupid enough to turn him down. “Okay.” Resolved settled over her. “Let’s do this.”