#like he is so dead-set convinced he's some trickster figure

[yellowocaballero]

Fic's going well obviously why wouldn't it be going well can't you see it's going well etc.

[magicrowiswritingstuff]

Part 2: “Dead Trickster” – Gabriel x female!reader

Part 1 | Part 2 (you’re here!) | Part 3 | ...

Summary: This is the second part of “Dead Trickster”! So it ties into its story line which now takes place roughly during Season 2/3. The Reader is sure that the trickster couldn’t have been defeated so easily. Even though nobody believes you, you decide to keep an eye out just in case. It seems for a good reason when strange occurrences start to happen around you.

Warning: swear words, violence/fighting mentioned, slight suggestive themes (if any)

Category: general rating

Words: about 4.000

Note: I’m so sorry for not posting anything and my general inactivity. I’m having a very rough time and trouble concentrating on writing. 2020 is an absolute shit year and I feel like I’m constantly having a mental break down for the last couple of days. Fun :) On a brighter note, I finally managed to finish this chapter and the third is already in the works. Let’s pray I can get my shit together.

Note 2: Also! We almost hit 100 Follower ... I really can’t believe this. Thank you all so much for enjoying the little pieces I managed to post. Now I feel even more bad for not being that active ... Should I do something if we hit the milestone? I feel like not many people are activly responding to my writing so I’m asking directly: Is there something you want me to write? Something I can focus on to stop my thoughts? Just let me know ...

_________________________________    

Part 2 “Dead Trickster” – Gabriel x fem!reader

It has been many months now, maybe about half a year, after Dean had killed the trickster in that school and even though you had been so sure about it then, you slowly doubted if he really was still alive. Nothing out of the ordinary happened since then. Maybe he really did die that day. Or he was really good at laying low. You had stopped actively looking for any signs and just concentrated on the current hunts with Sam and Dean because you noticed you would get very grumpy after staying awake nights on end, trying to find any signs that weren’t there.

At the moment you were stuck in some small town in another motel room with Sam and Dean sharing the one next to yours. Apparently, there was a ghost in town that forced people to kill themselves just like the ghost had. You had stayed behind in your room researching the towns history, trying to figure out who the ghost might be while Sam and Dean had drove to the latest killing scene. You weren’t really in the mood to leave the small room so you had volunteered to stay behind. You texted Dean the last bits of information before turning off your laptop, setting it down on the coffee table and walking to the small bathroom. You refreshed your face with cold water, it was too damn warm in this town. You had bought some ice cream -another reason why you stayed behind today, you wanted to eat it without worrying Dean would steal it- and you were more than looking forward to it. But when you opened the small fridge you found nothing but the empty packaging there. Furrowing your brows, you froze. “What the hell” you whispered, grabbed the packaging and threw it in the trash. So much for your ice cream. Had Dean found it after all? But how?

Your phone rang before you could think more about it. You looked at the name on the display. “Perfect timing” you laughed and accepted the call. “Hey, (Y/N). Quick question: Are you sure-“ Dean started but got interrupted by you. “Dean, did you eat my ice cream?” you asked and sat down on the small couch. “What?” Dean sounded genuinely confused. “The ice cream I hid in the motel fridge?” you pressed. “You had ice cream? And you were hiding it from me?!” So, it wasn’t Dean then. “Dean, give me Sam” you demanded, interrupting his playfully offended speech. “Alright, but I’ll remember this, (Y/N). I won’t ever share my fries with you again, this is treason.” You chuckled: “Yeah, yeah. I’ll remind you when I’m stealing them again.”

Then the line went silent for a few seconds before you could hear Sam’s confused voice. “(Y/N), what’s the matter?” “Did you eat my ice cream?” you came straight to the point. “Ehm, no. What ice cream?” Sam also sounded genuine. How could it not be one of them? You paused. How could anyone steal your ice cream when the only time you left your room since you bought them was when you had gone to the bathroom just now? Sweet-tooth … “Never mind” you slowly said and absentmindedly stood up from the small sofa. You rotated around your own axis, inspecting the whole motel room. “Call me if you need me there” you canceled the phone call after that, completely forgetting that Dean had called to ask you a question (but he seemed to have forgotten it too) and put your phone into your pocket. Just when you thought you would never find any prove …

“I know it was you, trickster” you spoke into the empty room, feeling only the slightest bit silly because of it. Tricksters were sweet-tooths and how should have anyone else stole your sweet snack right under your nose when you had been in the room all day. “I knew you weren’t dead” you said, not able to suppress the smirk stretching your lips slightly. You waited a few moments but nothing moved, no one spoke up. But you knew it was the only plausible option. And even if you wouldn’t catch him now, he would show up again. He was a trickster after all and he wanted to play. You just had to wait.

 _______________

  “So, where exactly is the supposed vampire nest? Not just in the middle of this town, right?” you asked Dean. He had got a phone call from a hunter earlier that day who had told him that a new vampire nest had settled down somewhere here. The older Winchester shook his head. “No, it’s in a barn a few miles from this city” he explained and left the car without another word. You looked at Sam who only shrugged his shoulders and also got up to follow his brother. You sighed, grabbed your backpack and were about to leave the car as well when you felt the ghost of a hand on your shoulder. Flinching you spun around. But there was no one there since you were in the backseat. Furrowing your brows, you hastily jumped out of the car, trying to shake your paranoia off. You were here for a vampire nest and not a ghost hunt. You must still be a little spooked by the last one. You had seen many ghosts in your hunter life but that one had been the most terrifying looking yet. You shook your head, trying to get rid of the images. “Why are we here then? And not searching for the barn?” you asked after you had closed the car door behind you, jogging after Sam and Dean. “I need something to eat” Dean explained. You laughed when you caught up with them. “I should have guessed.”

The three of you walked into the dinner Dean had been eyeing all the time. The establishment was rather full but luckily someone left his seat just when you were standing in the door. They brushed past you which made you look up at them, meeting their golden gaze. You froze, letting the small backpack fall from your hands and to the ground. Your eyes followed the sound and when you looked up … he was gone. You looked around but he was nowhere to be seen and the door leading outside was untouched, still closed and no bell sound signaling that someone had just left. But you hadn’t imagined this. No, it had been him. You were sure. You remembered those eyes. “(Y/N)?” You tore your gaze away from the windows and turned to face Sam who gestured you to sit down beside him. You grabbed your bag and forced your feet to move. “Please tell me you saw him” you begged when you had sat down and suppressed the shivers of your body by tensing up. “Who?” Dean asked, looking up from the menu he had snatched from Sam. “The trickster!” you whisper-shouted. Sam and Dean shared one glance before looking at you again. “I saw him, I swear. He just left!” “I think you’re still spooked by the last hunt. There weren’t any alien sightings for months now, (Y/N)” Dean chuckled, putting the menu back on the table. You threw him an angry glance. “No!” you huffed. “I know what I saw. I told you that he wasn’t dead!” “Order some food and relax, (Y/N)” the older Winchester pushed the menu out of Sam’s reach and over to you. “You’ve been on edge ever since we left that school.” You rolled your eyes, shoving the menu to Sam and put your head on your palm, looking out of the window. You opened your mouth, about to give Dean a piece of your mind when you paused. A wide grin flashed threw a crowd of people, honey colored eyes starring right at you and the only thing you were able to do was to stare right back with your mouth wide open. A few people walked by the window and when they were gone the brown-haired trickster had vanished once more. Pressing your lips into a thin line you moved away from the window, muttering angrily under your breath. “Bullshit.”

“Not so happy to see me? I thought you were keeping an eye out for me.”

You flinched, looking over your left shoulder but the only one near enough who could have said something was the waitress walking to your table. But that hadn’t been her voice, you knew that cheerful tone that had whispered in your ear. When you glanced at Sam and Dean, they seemed unbothered. They hadn’t heard a thing. Oh, so that was how he wanted to play? Making you lose your mind trying to convince Sam and Dean about his presence when they weren’t able to see and hear him. You bit your tongue. “Fuck you” you whispered under your breath. “What?” You turned around to face Sam and waved him off. “Nothing. Just tired.”

The vampire nest had been dealt with the next day. They hadn’t begun turning the people yet, so it was rather easy to get rid of them all. Now you were back on the backseat of Dean’s car with your arms crossed before your chest and looking bored out of the window. The three of you had been on the road for about three days again. “Found anything interesting yet?” you asked Sam and leaned forward, putting your arms on the back of his seat. He slightly turned around in his seat. “Not yet, but you can help me if you want?” You eagerly nodded, anything to keep your mind occupied. You grabbed the newspaper Sam had bought at a gas station and was now handing to you. You leaned back in your seat again.

“What about these three deaths? Only a few days apart and all in the same part of a town” you suggested but Sam shook his head. “Already checked that one. They all died differently. No ghostly activity anywhere near there, no vampire nests or werewolf packs. No witchcraft or anything else” Sam threw the papers he had been reading on the floor and grabbed another newspaper. “Just ordinary deaths.” You sighed and got back to reading. Nothing really caught your attention so you just read an article to not get bored again. You don’t even know what it was really about, only paying half attention to the words on the paper. That was until one sentence suddenly stopped. Wait, hadn’t there been an article on that page? You blinked. The whole side was white. You turned over a page and then another and another. The whole newspaper was white and empty now. Except for one sentence. “Having fun yet?”

Your mouth fell open and you let the papers fall to the ground. You didn’t even notice that you were mumbling something until Sam turned around in his seat to face you with one eyebrow raised in question. “Did you find something?” You looked up from the newspapers whose pages were now covered by that one sentence. Shaking your head, you swallowed hard. “No-o” you cleared your throat. “Nothing unusual.” The younger Winchester only nodded and turned back around. Your eyes wandered almost automatically back to the papers on the car floor.

“Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Havin-“ The words seemed to blur in your mind, hugging your knees to your chest you sticked out your tongue.

“Oh, I’m starting to have fun, sugar.”

You flinched, looking over your shoulder but just like the last time there was no one there. Maybe you shouldn’t have challenged him so openly.

  _______________

  You weren’t having fun. Not at all.

The next prank he played on you made you shiver only looking back at it. For a good week almost every water bottle you opened would have a surprise for you. The most frequent was salt water but not limited to it.

The first time it happened you opened one and took a big sip (you had been running around all night because of a hunt) you immediately spit everything out, coughing for five minutes, leaving behind a huge mess in the impala. Dean had stepped on the breaks in an instant. With terrified faces, thinking the witch they had just killed had cursed you, they turned around to look at you. “It’s salt water!” you shrieked still coughing and handed Dean the bottle. He looked at it confused but took a sip. His eyes immediately darkened. “It’s regular, old water, (Y/N).” You shook your head in disbelieve and snatched the bottle back, warily taking another small sip. Your eyes widen in horror and confusion. “Tha-that’s not possible” you shook your head. “It was salty only seconds ago, I swear!” But Dean was right, it tasted like regular water again. The older Winchester looked at the water on the backseats and sprinkled on the front window and console before turning his gaze back to you. The death glare Dean had shot you made you shrink down in your seat (he made you thoroughly clean Baby the next day). Furious you looked at the bottle, while Dean sped up again, cursing the trickster under your breath until you saw something strange written on the label. “You’re the salt to my sugar, honey.” You cringed, opened the car window next to you and threw the bottle out while Baby was driving on full speed down the empty highway. You ignored the irritated glances from Sam and Dean.

This prank repeated over and over again though. Sometimes it was salt water, other times it was the most disgusting liquid you didn’t even dare to describe because you didn’t want to think about what might have been in it. Rarely it was normal water. You thought you were going insane because whenever you made the Winchesters try it, the water was completely normal again. You grew more frustrated the more it happened. On top of that the golden-eyed trickster had the audacity to show his face to you on more than one occasion. You could always see only a glint of him whenever you were in a town. Sometimes he even brushed past you but whenever you would turn around, he was already gone. And Sam and Dean were still unable to see him. It annoyed your greatly. You cursed yourself for calling him out for his illusion back in that school. Why hadn’t you just shut your mouth and waited for something to happen in silence? You could have kept an eye out for him without announcing it to him but oh no, you just had to make it obvious.

“Oh, I’m starting to have fun, sugar.”

You groaned. His words still echoing in your mind after weeks of pranks and annoyances. You weren’t having fun. You could barely concentrate on the hunts you were on anymore. Just like the one you were on now. Sam had gone into a library, searching for information about the old alleged haunted house of the city, while Dean and you questioned three teenagers who were the last ones to step a foot into the house. “I swear I saw something take Beth down the stairs!” a blond boy said, looking at his friends for reassurance. A dark-haired girl nodded: “I saw it, too.”

“What exactly did you see? A man?” you asked, still playing your FBI role. “A ghost!” the boy yelped. “A … ghost?” you slowly asked and looked at Dean knowingly. Normally you couldn’t really trust confessions about a ghost-sighting because there was always the change that it was just a shadow or their imagination filling up the gaps but since a girl had vanished two days ago after going into the house with her friends you had to believe them just for her sake. “Yes! Please, you have to believe me” the boy begged. “I saw it drag her down the stairs to the basement but-“ “But when we went down to look for her there was nothing in there” a dark-haired boy interrupted. “The room was empty!” “So, where exactly is that ‘haunted’ house?” Dean asked, sounding unconvinced by their statements. The girl of the group stood up from the bench she was sitting on and pointed down a street branching off from the market place you were at, at the moment. “Down there, the very last house.” You nodded and smiled sympathetically. “Thank you, when you remember anything else just call me, alright?” You handed them your number and then turned to Dean who was already walking back to his car with his phone in his hand, probably calling Sam. You were following him, passing through a crowd of people when you heard the voice again. “They can get your number, so what about me, sugar?”

You spun around to see chestnut-colored hair vanishing around the corner of a house. Without thinking you took one step in that direction but were stopped by a hand on your shoulder. You turned to face Dean. “What are you doing? We have to get to the haunted house.” You freed yourself from Dean’s light grip and nodded. “I just-“ you looked back at the corner the trickster vanished behind. He was probably long gone already. Sighing you turned and walked past Dean and to the car. “Never mind, let’s go. We need to get to the girl.”

You and Dean managed to distract the ghost while Sam dug up its body in the house’s backyard (the ghost was already so old that when the person had died his relatives just buried him there). Or rather, Dean fought against the ghost while you searched for the entrance to a secret room in the basement Sam had read about in the library. If the girl was still alive, she should be in there. However, searching for it in the darkness of the basement -the lights were broken down there and the ghost had flung you around the room and you must have lost your flashlight at some point- was hard. You let out a frustrated growl as you paused and held your head between your hands. “Where is the most plausible place to hid the entrance?”

“Need some help, sugar?”

You jumped away from the voice with a yelp, hitting the shelve to your right with your hip. A pained groan left your lips as you bend over, rubbing the sore spot that would definitely bruise. When you looked up you met the honey-colored eyes of the trickster, illuminated by your flashlight he held in his hand. “What are you doing here?” you asked confused, completely forgetting your frustrations with him. “Giving you a hint” the trickster said and walked past you to the desk that was standing next to the shelve you had hit. Taking a step back you tried to get more distance between you and him. “Why?” In the small light of your flashlight you saw the trickster roll his eyes and mutter something under his breath. “Because Dean is lying unconscious on the floor upstairs, Sam isn’t done playing ‘Where’s the pirate’s treasure?’ with a dead body and the ghost will be here soon to get his next play buddy.” “Who?” you asked, eyeing the trickster suspiciously. The brown-haired man turned around to face you. “You of course, stupid!” Your eyes widen and your cheeks grew hot as you crossed your arms before your chest. Just when you were about to give him a piece of your mind you heard the door to the basement open and the heavy steps of the ghost. “Shit” you mumbled and locked eyes with the trickster. “What now?” The trickster grinned at you and snapped his fingers, making the table move away from the wall and revealing a secret wooden door, barley large enough for you to kneel down and crawl through. There was no one there once again when you turned to look for the trickster, only your flashlight was lying on the floor. But you had no time left to curse him now, so you just grabbed your light and pried the door open, crawling through. On the other side you saw the girl sitting on a chair, her body slumped over on the table in front of her. You rushed to her and took her pulse, begging to not have arrived too late. There it was, faint but present. She was still alive. You let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding and heaved the girl from the chair. You had to get her out of here but how? Panicking you looked to the hidden door. The ghost would be here any second and there was no other exit. You looked around, trying to find a sign, a weapon or exit, anything. But the only thing your eyes found in the dim light was the trickster standing next to you. Biting your tongue, you tried to stifle the yelp that would have escaped you other ways. “Need a lift?” Before you could answer he grabbed your arm. And after a few blinks you realized that you were standing on the porch of the haunted house with the girl still in your arms and the trickster next to you. Furrowing your brows, you looked at him questioningly. But when you opened your mouth, he only winked at you and then disappeared. For a few seconds you just stared at the spot he had been standing on before shaking your head. You carried the girl to the car and laid her down on the back seat, taking her pulse once more to be sure that everything was still fine. Then you spun around and ran into the garden, helping Sam with the body.

Half an hour later you were standing in front of the city’s hospital, Sam and Dean beside you. You had burned the ghost and then drove there. The girl was immediately brought in for examinations but you were reassured that she was just very dehydrated and would be fine in a few days, at least physically. Now you stood there, leaning against the wall and just took a long, deep breath. “How did you get out of there with her?” Dean questioned after a while. You looked up at him and Sam, asking yourself if you should tell them the truth. But would they even believe you if you told them that the trickster had helped you? You didn’t even really believe it yourself and you were the only one knowing that he was still alive. “I dragged her up the stairs and laid her down in the car” you lied instead. Maybe you should get at the bottom of this first before you put the trickster back on Dean and Sam’s radar. “You didn’t run into the ghost?” the older brother pressed. You shook your head. “Nope, he must have been busy throwing you around” you joked, hoping it would lead to the questions being dropped. Why were you covering for the trickster? Why were you lying? You didn’t want Sam and Dean to get hurt because of you, you told yourself and nodded to reassure yourself. You had to figure out what his plan for you was before you might bring Sam and Dean in even more danger. You let your eyes wander over the street with a sigh only to catch a glimpse of chestnut-colored hair that disappeared immediately. You gulped and forced a smile on your lips as you shifted your attention back to the two brothers. “Let’s just go and find somewhere to sleep, alright?” You wanted to leave this city as fast as possible.

        To be continued: Part 3 is here!

_________________________________

[worryinglyinnocent]

Once Upon A Different Time - The Notes for 4B through 7

Here we go! These notes are nowhere near as detailed as the 4A notes and are very rumbelle-centric, but hopefully they’ll give you a good idea of what’s going on nonetheless. 

Under a cut because this got super super long. 

Season 4B - Queens of Darkness and the Author

General notes:

Maleficent is a major character this season, but only in flashback. Dead is dead, she’s not coming back.

In the past. Aurora’s parents (Stefan and Leah) made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, the price being their first-born child. Stefan has a trick up his sleeve, as prior to his arranged marriage to Leah he had been in a relationship with Maleficent that resulted in a pregnancy. He plans to take his and Maleficent’s child and give it to Rumpel as his first-born. 

Stefan attempts to take Maleficent’s child (Lily), and goes up against Cruella and Ursula. In the scuffle, Lily, Cruella and Ursula all end up in the Land Without Magic, scattered. Lily is taken into care (where she will later meet Emma, call back to season 4A), Cruella and Ursula separately vow to find each other and Lily and return to the Enchanted Forest. 

Meanwhile, Maleficent swears revenge on Stefan and Leah and goes to Rumpel for a sleeping curse. He tells her that it’s best administered straight into the blood, and on seeing his spinning wheel in the corner, Maleficent gets an idea. 

In the present. Cruella and Ursula have found each other in New York, and have recognised Aurora there (call back to season 3B when Aurora and Mulan were hiding in Neal’s old apartment in New York). They track down the apartment and break in, surprised to find not Aurora (who is back in Storybrooke at this point) but Rumpel (he and Neal are staying in the apartment whilst trying to find a way to reverse Rumpel’s darkening heart). The three of them have a discussion about the idea of the Author controlling everyone’s fates, and they make a plan to try and find the Author. 

Neal and Rumpel return to Storybrooke, and Rumpel sneaks Cruella and Ursula into town. (Belle and Neal are aware of this going on and whilst not entirely happy about it, are also intrigued by the idea of the Author.) 

Cruella and Ursula also want revenge against Aurora for Lily. Aurora points out that since Stefan and Leah are both now dead, hurting Aurora will not cause them any pain and their vengeance mission is pointless. 

Regina infiltrates the QOD Squad, also intrigued by the idea of the Author; but her cover is blown when Cruella and Ursula threaten Roland and she jumps in to save him. 

Cruella and Ursula want to rewrite the story so that they stay together and stay with Lily. Regina wants to rewrite the story so that she never killed Marian and she and Robin can be together. Rumpel wants to write out the darkness. 

Being back in Storybrooke, Rumpel’s darkening heart takes a turn for the worse and he ends up hospitalised, much like canon 4B but without Zelena (who is definitely 100% dead). 

The Author creates a new story which creates a brand new Enchanted Forest (foreshadowing for Season 7). Everyone except Henry is transported there, as Henry was never a character in the first storybook. Henry and the Author fight it out over the quill, with Henry gaining the upper hand and becoming the new Author. He writes himself into the story so that he can go and rescue everyone. 

In the new story. 

Cruella and Ursula are living happily with Lily. 

Emma is a mad witch living in the forest; Neal is the anti-magic witchfinder determined to destroy her. 

Regina is a bandit princess a la Snow, Robin is the Sheriff of Nottingham type figure tasked with bringing her down.

Snow as the evil queen and Charming as her henchman.

Belle is the Dark One, Rumpel is the light knight destined to kill her. 

Henry convinces them to fight back against their assigned roles, ultimately allowing them to come back to Storybrooke. The New Enchanted Forest is not destroyed, and Henry decides to just let it develop as a new world naturally. After they are all back in Storybrooke, he destroys the quill, vowing that everyone has the right to choose their own fate and the Author is no more. 

Back in the present, everyone remembers Rumpel is in the hospital and they rush there to find him flatlining. Belle gives him TLK, which pulls him back from the brink but also untethers the darkness from him. The Dark One heads towards Neal as the next in the bloodline, but Emma jumps in to save him. 

Emma vanishes, and Belle sees the name on the dagger change. End season. 

Season 5A - Camelot and Dark Swan

Not gonna lie, I have NOTHING for the Camelot arc, other than Merlin arriving and being badass and not dying, and some Dark One history. 

Dark Emma is increasingly unstable and goes to Rumpel for help with controlling the darkness. Eventually she does something catastrophic but unintentional that sends Neal to the underworld (he was saving Henry) and triggers the march of the dark ones. Rumpel takes back the darkness from Emma with Belle’s blessing - he’s taking it back to save Emma and make sure no-one else experiences the pain of being the Dark One, not because he wants the power. (This is the moment when Rumpel becomes the Guardian although this is not revealed till season 7.) 

Together, Merlin and Rumpel stop the march of the dark ones (combined power of the Dark One and the Light One). 

The usual suspects decide to go on a road trip to the Underworld to find Neal. 

Season 5B - Underbrooke

Hades is not a villain. Persephone’s a bit of a trickster (she’s a bit bored and wants to liven things up a bit), but Hades is a neutral overseer sworn not to interfere. The drama comes from the characters trying to get to grips with things, there’s no real villain in this half-season. 

Although I do want to have an episode entitled ‘Ghosts of Villains Past’ guest-starring Cora, Pan, Zelena and Maleficent (all the villains who died in Storybrooke so far - potentially also Cruella since I don’t know what happens to her and Ursula at the end of 4B...).

Hades gives them a compass to help them navigate the underworld and find Neal. It will point to Rumpel’s son, he says. It immediately points to Belle. “It’s not wrong, it just takes the path of least resistance.” This is how we find out that Belle is pregnant with Gideon. 

Neal is found and everyone is returned to Storybrooke safe and well having done a lot of character introspection. 

During this season, Neal and Emma and Robin and Regina get their act together and couple up properly, and there are various relationship difficulties to be worked through in...

Season 6 - Gideon and Black Fairy

In the Past. The Blue Fairy, seeking to become the ultimate Good Being, uses a spell to separate her light and dark halves. The dark half, the Black Fairy, is banished to a realm of Darkness, but Blue wants to destroy her completely. Likewise, Black wants to destroy her light half. Both realise that the key to destroying the other is the sacrifice of a child born of both light and dark. This child is Gideon. (This also leads to some hilarity as the Blue Fairy is very concerned to know when Gideon was conceived - if he was conceived during the brief period when Rumpel wasn’t the Dark One back in 5A, then he’ll be of no use to her.)

In the Present. Black Fairy escapes the Dark Realm, bringing Hyde with her. Hyde begins to recreate the serum that split him off from Jekyll. 

Regina uses Jekyll’s serum to split off her dark half, the Evil Queen.

Belle is visited by a strange figure in her dreams who warns her about the darkness. Belle thinks that the darkness he refers to is Rumpel’s darkness, but she actually, you know, talks to him about it. Rumpel and Belle dreamwalk to meet the strange figure, who reveals himself to be Gideon and that this is the only way he can speak to them freely. 

Blue accelerates Belle’s pregnancy in the hope that Belle will give birth at the convent and she can steal Gid for her own purposes, but it backfires - she ends up giving birth in the pawnshop with only Rumpel and Henry present. 

Black steals Gideon and takes him to the Dark realm to prime him as her weapon of mass destruction. Shortly after Gid’s birth and kidnap, he returns as an adult and starts wreaking havoc.

Belle and Rumpel travel to the Dark realm to save baby Gid before he can grow into evil adult Gid. Regina and the Evil Queen go with them. Whilst in the Dark Realm, Regina realises she can’t separate herself from her bad deeds, she can only try to atone for them, and she rejoins with the Evil Queen. In the Dark Realm, Rumpel and Belle are confronted by their own Dark Halves (Dark One and Lacey), but emerge triumphant and save baby Gid. 

Blue and Black are forced to merge back together and are defeated. The series ends with a bunch of happy endings - Belle and Rumpel are happy with little Gid, Robin and Regina are together and Regina is pregnant (with the baby who will go on to become Margot in season 7), and Neal and Emma are happy together. 

We end with a flashforward to 20 years later with Lucy arriving on Henry’s doorstep. 

Season 7 - soft reboot

This season focuses primarily on the next generation alongside adult Henry making up the main cast. Regina and Rumpel are the only recurring characters from the previous seasons, but most of the others will guest at some point. 

An eighteen year old Henry decides to travel to the New Enchanted Forest that was created by the Author in season 4B, to see how the new characters are getting on. He meets and falls in love with Rapunzel (still Jacinda, she’s just not Cinderella in this setting), and the Rapunzel-Gothel story takes centre stage. Tiana and Tilly are also here because they’re awesome. Rounding out the rest of the main cast are the now adult Gideon, Roland, and Margot. 

Gothel casts the curse to bring everyone to Hyperion Heights from the New Enchanted Forest. Everyone in other realms is unaffected. 

Robin, Regina, Rumpel and Belle are all in the NEF at the time of the curse being cast - they were called in by Henry, Gideon and Margot to help with the Gothel problem. 

The curse splits up the couples - Regina and Rumpel are in HH, but Robin and Belle are elsewhere in the Land Without Magic, so we don’t see them as regularly. Lucy has to convince everyone to go on a road trip to find them.

(There is NO. TIME. TRAVEL.)

During this season the idea of the Guardian is mooted - Rumpel is already the guardian after the events of 5A, he just doesn’t realise until the powers are at rest and he’s mortal again. Belle and Rumpel have been travelling the realms to find the Guardian. At some point during their travels, they find Tilly.

Tilly is Hook’s daughter in the Land of Untold Stories (call back to season 4A). She is in the care of an unscrupulous guardian after Hook has been presumed drowned. He’s actually gone through a portal to NEF. Tilly is the Little Match Girl. Rumpel and Belle rescue and adopt her and she grows up alongside Gideon. 

(Gideon’s traumatic pregnancy and birth mean Belle and Rumpel are unable to have any more biological children.)

At the end, Tilly meets up with Hook and has a Railway Children ‘MY DADDY’ moment after the curse is broken. She still sees Belle and Rumpel as her parents, but she’s glad to have her birth dad back in her life as well. 

Gideon is Weaver’s detective partner which leads to much hilarity when Lucy tries to convince them that they’re father and son.

The curse is broken, everyone is reunited, and everyone gets a happy ending.  

Gideon and Roland end up in a relationship together, as do Tilly and Margot, and Tiana and Hook look like they’re headed that way too. (Got to pair the spares!)

And... that’s all folks! That’s all I got. Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this rollercoaster!

[laora-inn]

Supernatural - Some speculations about the last 7 episodes of 15th season

Well, after 2 trailers, episodes descriptions on IMDB and some unfinished plot-lines of SPN story I’d like to share my own speculations. Some of them are definitely wrong. 

Destiel positive, happy end positive, don’t like - don’t read. 

Season 15 | Episode 14. Last Holiday

A filler - that’s how we anime fans call episodes which have no deal with the main plotline, though can contain some interesting moments and nuances. In “Supernatural” these episodes usually have no Cas in them. Sometimes they are very good... but mostly not. They are “just for fun”, and fans enjoy them, because they can be really funny. No angst.

Like this one - no angst, no Cas, a wood nymph who looks like Mary Poppins to me (or Mrs. Marple whatever). Some British origin of the character. 

That’s the episode which shots with Dean in purple nightgown are from (trailer short version).

I suppose the shot with Dean, Sam and Jack flying in the air could also be here from. But maybe not.

I don’t know where Cas may be. His absence should be explained to us in some way. In episode 10th he was missing because of talking to the angels. What’s now? Some preparations for the next Jack's trial? 

In this episode Dean should come closer to Jack’s forgiving.

Season 15 | Episode 15. Gimme Shelter

I have NO IDEA what this episode is about. Maybe the next trial for Jack? Or not?

I think the shot from the last trailer with Cas protecting Jack on the truck bed is from this episode. Also, some tortured person on the bed with the “lust” written above could be from it. 

And what about Sam and Dean? Where are they? 

I think they may have their own journey here, separate from Cas and Jack. Possibly the epic shots with them entering some building are this episode from. Possibly not. 

Season 15 | Episode 16. Drag Me Away (From You)

I don’t like this episode title. It looks like Destiel mocking to me - maybe, I just don’t have enough faith. I want to trust SPN writers but can’t. Somebody help me to believe, we all need that now! :)

THE ONLY episode in ALL THE SHOW except this one that had brackets in the title was 12x12, Stuck in the Middle (With You). Yahoo. 

Obviously, 12x12 was a parody to the Reservoir Dogs, a movie by Quentin Tarantino. Parody in a good sense of this word, but still. The plotline, the scenes (oh, this lunch scene from different points of view!), the scenes’ order, the roles, though changed - all of them. In case you didn’t watch Reservoir Dogs, just go and watch it, and then re-watch 12x12. You will understand. 

"Stuck in the Middle with You" is Stealers Wheel song which was in the OST of this Tarantino’s movie. This allusion should deal with boys’ and Mary relationship - because it’s her who betrayed them involuntarily, and now they are stuck in the middle with her. 

But somehow this episode title also deals with Destiel relationship. Maybe ‘cause that’s Cas who is dying, not Mary. Maybe ‘cause even on his deathbed he doesn’t confess something important - not about his betrayal, there was no one, but about his feelings. He says "I love you”, but then adds “I love all of you”, and Dean is literally stuck in the middle with Cas here. 

Back to the brackets in the episodes titles. Because of them I suppose that 12x12 and 15x16 could be connected. But how exactly?! That’s the question. I want them badly to be connected in Destiel way, but know too little. 

Back then I supposed that Dean could be dying in this episode and it would be his turn to confess something to Cas. But now I don’t know if there will be Cas in this episode at all, I just don’t have enough information. 

I hope he will. 

Btw, the words “Drag Me Away (From You)” are in Toto’s song “Africa”. And in case you didn’t know, in 2018 this song was used for half-an-hour Destiel video made by fan here. It covers ALL the Destiel moments then far. Link for this video is in Supernatural wiki, in the Destiel article. Half an hour, 10 repeats of the song, author’s comment: 

Along the way it stopped being funny and started getting insulting because this has been a literal decade (as of 2018 the vid features seasons 4-13) and the show has explored ALL of the tropes and yet and yet and yet...

I mean the fangirl shipper part of me also loves it. And then I get mad because I love it. I have a very complicated relationship with Supernatural but that's okay.

Have you heard the good news about Tragic Widow Dean?

TLDR: Have a supercut of all the DeanCas stuff set to Toto's Africa.

We can speculate a bit about this fact, but the truth is we know only about young Sam and Dean, who certainly will be in this episode. 

I think shots with Billie talking to Dean from the last trailer also belong to this episode, as well as shots with young Dean with Samulet, who is a ghost now. But these assumptions could be totally wrong. 

What circumstances will take us to the young Sam and Dean? Time travelling? Flashbacks? The parallel world?

Personally I think it will be the third option. Because how the hell young Dean can be a ghost in “our” universe? Unless it’s not Dean, though I doubt it. But if it’s not Dean, it can be a flashback, you know, with the young boys. Yep? 

We’ll wait and see.

I don’t think that Sam’s appreciative words to Dean refer to this episode. 

Also I don’t think Sam is going to sacrifice himself AGAIN (I’ve heard such an opinion). But maybe it’s my hope that makes me think in a wrong way.

Season 15 | Episode 17. Unity

I think some of Chuck’s shots are from this episode. Maybe the red lights in the bunker too. Maybe not. 

There also should be Amara and some angels. I saw Uriel in the cast! Maybe there also be some light lit on the all situation in Heaven now, when Jack made new angels. 

Some interaction between all of them + Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack should take place. Here the shot with sigil could be taken from. 

What side the angels will take? How it happened that Uriel is alive? Was he resurrected by Chuck or Amara? What plans does Amara have, how is she planning to deal with Chuck?

And what’s for Naomi? Will she come back or not? I think she won’t, not in this episode for sure, and I’m already disappointed ‘cause you know, she should be alive. Dumah said she is. For me Naomi is an important figure considering Destiel, and I think she’d be the best Heaven runner. 

All in all, in this episode should happen something that will make Cas happy. I suppose by the end of 15x17 or in the beginning of 15x18 they all will be sure that they have won the game, and Dean will forgive Jack for Mary.

The episode title may refer to angels’, Winchesters’ and Amara unity. 

Season 15 | Episode 18. Despair

Well, in Supernatural wiki I also saw “The Truth” title for this episode. 

Most of us are convinced that in this episode Cas will tell Dean about his deal with the Empty and will be taken by it. I believe the same. 

I think shot with Billie knocking with her hand rotten belongs to this episode. 

I have some doubts, but also think a shot with Dean leaning on Cas is from here. 

I’m sure that “You fought for this whole world” and Dean’s crying scene belong to this episode. ‘Cause you know. Despair. And the truth - about Cas’s deal and possibly about their fake win. 

Billie’s with her scythe and bunker intrusion symbols could also be from here (or from one the previous episodes ends, especially for Billie - as a cliffhanger). And it should be the case for Sam and Jack, I suppose. Because there is no other way for Dean and Cas to face Cas’s deal with just two of them. 

Destiel confession will be here, in more explicit form that it could be in 15x16, because there will be A TALK, but I don’t think we’ll see something real explicit. 

Maybe, Dean’ll say he loves Cas. Maybe not. I’m sure only about the fact that we’ll cry by the end of this episode. And that will be AN UGLY CRYING, just as Jensen said.

Well, maybe there will be a hint that Cas can be brought back, but I think it won’t. So prepare yourselves, my friends. 

Season 15 | Episode 19. Inherit the Earth

Here I think Sam’s appreciative words to Dean are taken from. They are definitely comforting. ‘Cause you know, Cas is dead, Chuck is alive. Possibly Cas was in his way and Chuck erased him by making him believe in their win.

I also think Dean’s crying words “this whole mission, saving the world” belong to this episode and will be in conversation with Sam. 

They still need to fight Chuck, and Jack is still alive. Here Michael will appear and helps. And there is one moment Sergey mentioned in 15x07, about the key to the Death’s library. He even described what it looks like! Cas heard that as well as Eileen. Well, if Cas is taken, then Eileen should return to the Winchesters, maybe with Sam and Jack, or just tell them about this key. 

I don’t know what they are going to do after. Open this library? How? Find how to kill God? Or not? Will they try to save Cas?

I think they will not talk about Cas’s saving. And he will be dead in this episode for sure.

Also I think they’ll deal with God in this episode, one way or another.

Season 15 | Episode 20. Carry On

This is a land of unlimited speculation!

I hope Dean’ll have Cas back by the end of episode. I think Cas’ll save himself from the Empty, ‘cause, you know, he has a big goal there. The Empty tortures all the dead angels and demons, as far as we know. It should be fixed - Cas’s already made a promise to Ruby. And we know that Cas has no problem with ruining something and messing it up - he is basically THE GREAT TRICKSTER of this show. 

Rebelling against Heaven and ruining angels’ plans? Check. Stopping Apocalypse? Check. Opening Purgatory? Check. Becoming a new God? Check. Bringing the Leviathans? Check. Casting all the angels out of Heaven and burning their wings? Check. Becoming human? Check. Becoming an angel by devouring other angels’ grace? Check. Getting an army of angels? Check. Giving up this army for one human? Check. Kidnapping angels’ prisoner? Check. Letting Lucifer in? Check. Helping “an abomination”, Devil’s son, to be born? Check. Annoying Empty so much that it brought him back to life? Check. Making a deal with the Empty? Check. 

It’s very dangerous to mess with Cas, you just don’t know what he could do for the greater good, and yep, in some way Dean was right when he said that Cas is “something that’s always going wrong”. So I think the Empty is in trouble here, not vice versa.  

Also, there is one more thing that bothers me. When Nick in 14th season was praying to Lucifer, he woke him up in the Empty. Theoretically, Lucifer can be awake by now. It could be a dead end, but still. Lucifer’s “true face” is similar to the Empty’s, sooo... 

I don’t know what to think about it and the fact that Nick could reach Lucifer and return him from the Empty, so let’s move on.  

I hope for the happy end for Sam (maybe with Eileen) and for all the hunters we know. They are family. 

NO MCD here! If someone’ll die - they shouldn’t be Sam, Dean or Cas. I don’t want to see Eileen’s death either. I don’t know what about Jack. I don’t want him to die, but he is 100% supernatural being, and I am not sure what it means for him to die. 

Monsters should stay, hunters should hunt them. We’ll see that the “family business” thrives.    

There should be an order on the all levels - in Heaven, Hell and on Earth. There should be the new Death - of they should return Billie. Rowena running the Hell would be perfect. Wonder if Naomi could run Heaven. Maybe it will be Chuck? If he will be redeemed. Or Michael. 

I don’t know what’s for the Empty and Amara. 

I don’t know what the end for Jack will be. I’d like he will be alive, but I just don’t know. He can’t be a human. That will be right thing for Cas, but not for Jack. 

I hope for Destiel endgame, as well as for Sam/Eileen. Cas should become a human, maybe, with some supernatural skills left.   

I doubt that we have proper scenes of these ships together or Cas’ humanity. Just hints. But they can be very obvious - especially if we’ll see Dean’s reaction to Cas’s returning. 

So, I hope to see them. 

But, as I said, it's a land of unlimited speculation. We’ll wait and see. 

What else should be resolved:

- Kevin can’t stay a ghost! It’s my main point here. He also can’t go to Hell. What will happen with him and in which episode? I don’t know. I just hope they won’t forget about him. 

- There is the shot with Bobby from? 15x20? He should be somewhere. 

- Also, there should be Charlie in this season unless something’s changed. Where is she?

- What are they going to do with alternative!Winchesters from 15x13? They will rest? They will make another HunterCorp? They will be gone?! Come on, something needs to be done with them! Of course, they are not so important here, so the writers can forget about them, but still, I’m interested.

What am I going to do:

I'm going to watch all the last episodes of the season. AND THEN, if there will be no happy end for the Winchester boys and Cas won’t be with them, I'm going to rebel. :) In every possible way - petitions, letters, actions etc. We are grown-up people here. We can fight for our rights, and it's my crucial right - to be happy about my favorite show ending. :) 

__________________

Feel free to ask me anything or to comment. My ask is working!

[allykakamatsu]

FE SS X DRV3 General plot

Once again, I’m back on my bulls**t. Got the basics for the AU sorted now so let’s take a look, as well as what most of the characters are doing

Plot Outline:

As I mentioned in the first post https://allykakamatsu.tumblr.com/post/649470604067717120/fe-ss-x-drv3 the reason the class is in Magvel in the first place is because Monokuma decided that trapping them in the game was gonna be the motive, where you either have to end the war/beat the game or kill someone from the real world in order to get out. The characters got sent to various points in the timeline, and as you can imagine, this changed quite a lot.

Shuichi Saihara:

•The last one to wake up, aka got sent to when the game starts rather than some time before like the others.

•Ends up unintentionally becoming Eirika’s bodyguard as they run into each other while the Princess is trying to get to Frelia and Seth has gone missing dun dun dun

•Sticks around as Eirika knows where Kaede is and because he doesn’t want to leave her on her own.

•Can use magic, but still needs to work on his aim. Aka, never let him fight an enemy that’s near a tree.

•Still better than when he uses a Lance, he just stabs wildly and hope it works

•Because he doesn’t get the pre-war time everyone else had to get ready, he does get the advantage of remembering other things, though they’re things he’d rather not remember.

Kaede Akamatsu:

•Was sent to Renais and ended up getting adopted by the royals, so she’s the Twin’s step-sister.

•Despite her accidental new status, doesn’t change too much, and enjoys her time with her new family even if she’s always scarred about when the war will start

•As such, she’s also very overprotective and always goes with Ephriam to his dumb stunts, under the guise of being all for it.

•Very over dramatic organ player.

•Like Eirika she’s good with swords, but tends to specialise in staffs.

•Is part of Ephriams four (well now five) man army trying to take Grado down.

Maki Harukawa:

•Woke up in Jehana but didn’t stick around for long due to not liking the heat.

•Ended up travelling with Tenko for a while as travelling mercenaries, but when Maki’s work started leaning on the assassin side again she left so the Aikido Master wouldn’t get involved.

•After that becomes an assassin for hire, and she works for people all over the continent, including with Rausten which (unfortunately) led to her seeing Kokichi again

•”If it wasn’t for the fact your Princess hired me I’d kill you”

•Eventually after several jobs making her infamous, she was hired by Kirumi to help protect Eirika.

•Agreed, and was extra motivated due to Shuichi being dragged into this.

Himiko Yumeno:

•One of only two who was over the moon to be sent to Magvel, because now she has real MAGIC

•Winds up in Lute and Arthur’s village, where she joins their friend group to become master Mages.

•Constantly getting on Lute’s nerves for napping during practice.

•More energetic than usual, but that just means when she’s out she’s out for the count.

•Specialises in thunder magic, but that’s mostly not to steal Lute’s thunder, well, fire in this case.

•Goes with Arthur to get help when the village is attacked by monsters to “make sure they don’t claw him to death��

Angie Yonaga:

•Ends up becoming a priestess in Grado.

•Doesn’t really like spreading the word of non-Atua figures, but sticks around because Atua said so.

•Also leads to her becoming friends with Natasha and also ‘friends’ with Cormag

•Was already growing weary of the Empire when she heard about the war, but when Natasha was branded a traitor she knew something was up and went after her.

•Still always smiling, which depending on the person is a relief to see someone keeping their hopes up, or disturbing cause “does she ever not smile?”

•Mostly a light magic user, but can heal and not afraid to staff bonk.

Kirumi Tojo:

•Was sent to Frelia and became a servant at the castle very fast.

•Joined the staff only a few days before ‘The Frelian Tragedy’ where the crown Prince was kidnapped and presumed dead.

•Because of this and the King being so busy, Kirumi ended up being the one to console the young Princess Tana.

•Ended up becoming a mother/big sister figure and was offered a change of position as the nanny. Ended up taking it and staying on maid duty, and eventually rose to head maid.

•More open with her emotions, but still quite reserved.

•Can use all weapons well, but prefers spears and staffs.

Kokichi Oma:

•Not known where or when he first arrived, but after 3 years ended up in Rausten.

•Wound up as part of L’Arachel’s entourage due to his battle skills and her liking his attitude.

•Dream tam for each other, nightmare for everyone else.

•Was rumoured to be part of the Frelian Tragedy, but no one can prove it or knows how.

•With L’Arachel for most of the war, but ran off for a bit to drag Renac back

•A full blown trickster class, so swords and staffs for him.

Kiibo:

•Since Robots don’t exist, he’s a dragon now.

•Excited that he’s living and breathing, but scarred because “How did I change species?!”

•Eventually finds Myrrh and she thankfully sets things straight.

•Proud of his new species, but does miss his old life.

•When Selena steals her dragon stone, he tries to get it back, only to get caught in some trees while in dragon form.

•After that accompanies her on Ephriam and Kaede’s path to get the stone back.

Rantaro Amami:

•A former wyvern rider turned pegasus knight

•Yes, somehow he got a pegasus to trust him enough to let him ride, to the confusion of everyone else.

•Was with Grado for a while, but jumped ship to Jehana about three years before the war.

•When he learned that the Queen’s son had run away, his big brother instincts kicked in and he volunteered to find him.

•His search eventually led to Carcino where he found Joshua alone with the rest of Eirika’s party.

•Agreed to tag along so he could keep an eye on the gambling Prince and so he could help out Shuichi.

•Good with lances, but way better with flying.

Miu Iruma:

•A wyvern rider from Grado, though an unconventional one (I mean, it’s Miu)

•She and Rantaro were part of the same squad, but she stayed unlike him.

•Good at making all her allies lives a living hell with her antics (RIP Cormag) but she’s kept around due to her skill

•Saw Valter kill Glenn, but while trying to tell Cormag, got sidetracked by seeing Selena try to take Kiibo’s dragonstone, which made her go “F**k it”, swear the Flurspar out, and switched sides to team Ephriam.

•The only wyvern who uses an axe. Everyone calls her crazy for it but hey, whatever works.

Tenko Chabishira:

•Was in Renais at first, but after being ditched by Maki she went to Jehana due to her unsurprisingly wanting to be in the nation lead by a queen rather than a king like the rest.

•Ends up bumping into Marisa on a job, and once it’s over she convinces Tenko to join the Mercenaries.

•Loves Tethys and Marisa, so she stays no matter what, but she does eventually get some respect for Gherik.

•Doesn’t stop her from thinking somethings up with Kiyo and the new recruit who won’t take his mask off.

•Would’ve joined up with team Eirika either way since everyone else agreed, Himiko being there just made her a lot more aggressive with it.

•Axes all the way baby!

Korekiyo Shinguji:

•Wound up in Caer Pelyn, which royally confused everyone, but they kinda just rolled with it.

•Stayed due to his interest in the village, but when he was about to leave Ewan stopped by, and after a misunderstanding about why he wanted to leave Kiyo gets dragged into the mercenaries.

•At first only stayed due to wanting to send his sister more ‘friends’, but after seeing Tethys and Ewan act like how siblings are supposed to act, he realised how badly he screwed up, so he ends up sticking around to find out what real siblings are meant to do.

•Gladly joins up with team Eirika once they show up not only to stay with his allies, but also to get some more ‘sibling role models’

•Good with dark magic and staffs, but is in the summoner class..... be very afraid.

Kaito Momota:

•Woke up in Carcino, but after realising the guys in charge were assholes, he left and started travelling all over as a mercenary.

•After seeing Ephriam and Kaede storm a castle with 5 people total and win, he got the bright idea to become a masked hero busting innocents Grado captured out of jail and just generally be a thorn in their side.

•Formed a bit of a partnership with Kokichi because of this cause hey, where else in Magvel are you going to get smoke bombs.

•Eventually met Lyon, and after they explained what was going on to him, Kaito decided to risk it all on them as he let himself get caught to help bust Knoll out of jail, which worked, albeit with a lot of extra help from team Ephriam.

•All and all, more or less the same, just in WAY over his head.

•Of course he’s in the Hero class, so that means swords and axes.

Tsumugi Shirogane:

•The only one who’s played the game before, and easily the most excited, especially as she ended up in Grado and to be more specific as Lyon’s adopted sister.

•Thought she could get everything she wanted due to this being a game, but ended up having a bit of an existential crisis when the world turns out to be harder to manipulate and more real then she thought.

•Not wanting to accept that fiction can be real to, decided to take the demon kings power that wasn’t in Lyon (this was before the stone was shattered so that means most of it) to try get control back.

•This, of course, backfires, as while her already wanting to cause chaos/drama meant she kept her sense of self for longer, her lie eventually crashed in as once Shuichi got her to accept that fiction can be real she got completely possessed.

•Has the same class as Lyon, though she’s less tanky in exchange for being faster, worth it when you’re dealing with dark tomes.

Well, that’s everything for now. Hope you enjoy!

[soukoku-rivals]

Summary

My darlings, it’s been over two years and we’re done with 2 part out of 3 of this comic. And I am amazed that I actually got this far, that you got this far. Really, without your support, all the comments, likes and reblogs, and of course the coffee, it wouldn’t be possible.

There is only one last part of this comic left - 3 chapters and an epilogue. But before that happens, you voted to the summary so here it is!

It’a very short and I probably skipped some parts one may consider more important than others but I hope it still serves it purpose.

Read under the cut!

Atsushi and Dazai go to a shopping mall where they meet Chuuya. Chuuya is angry at Dazai [as always] but he puts his feelings aside when the mall is attacked by a small gang aiming to rob the patrons. All three of our heroes need to work together in order to stop the bad guys.

Atsushi is amazed at Soukoku’s partnership and Chuuya ends up giving him a few helpful tips on how to fight. Chuuya also identifies the gang as the Wolf School whose leader is a Polish ability user, Sapkowski. The knowledge comes in handy when Dazai and Atsushi come back to the agency and it turns out that the Wolf School not only aimed to rob the shopping mall but also kidnapped a person.

The person kidnapped is Alexandre Dumas, a French ability user with the skill of The Three Musketeers which allows him to see what abilities other people have, can amplify them through touch or contact with his blood and can make regular people physically stronger. His partner, John Locke hires the agency to get him back.

It is again Dazai and Atsushi together on a mission and they meet Chuuya once more, deciding to join forces. This time Atsushi is supposed to join the shorter part of Soukoku and retrieve Dumas first before Chuuya destroys the Wolf School gang. Dazai hangs back.

Chuuya and Atsushi talk about Dazai and how Chuuya hates the other man for always manipulating and using other people. For manipulating and seemingly not caring about mafia while he seems to care about the agency. Atsushi still believes that Dazai is a good person but the conversation is cut short when Chuuya reminds them they have job to do.

They manage to find Dumas after killing two gang members guarding a room. Dumas is unconscious and Atsushi has to carry him out. On their way, however, they are discovered by other members of the gang members and this is when the fight starts.

Sapkowski is an ability user who can turn into mythological and fictional monsters with the help of his skill, The Witcher. However, using Dumas’ blood he amplifies his power and turns all his people into monsters and himself into a dragon.

At disadvantage with Dumas unconscious and needing protection, Atsushi and Chuuya hide when Dazai comes back with Akutagawa as the cavalry. Shin Soukoku face the enemy while Chuuya and Dazai have a talk about how Dazai manipulated Chuuya again with Dumas – kidnapping people and imprisoning them for fun seems to be a sensitive topic for Chuuya.

Before Dazai manages to say something in reply, Akutagawa gets badly hurt and then Dazai falls unconscious after a hit in the head. With three people down, and only Chuuya and Atsushi able to fight, Chuuya decides to take a drastic step. He tells Atsushi to get the other three out into safety while he himself activates Corruption to fight off the enemy after bestowing his hat to Akutagawa.

Dazai wakes up while Atsushi is already out with all of them and manages to get to Chuuya before he dies from overusing his power.

In the mafia infirmary Chuuya remembers how Dazai always used to be there for him after using Corruption, even gifting him with his iconic blue gem bolo tie that’s supposed to symbolize how Dazai will always love Chuuya and won’t let him die. Until one day Dazai is gone and so is the tie. Though Dazai seems to be wearing it now, and what does that mean for Chuuya? However, Kouyou is there this time, ready to comfort him.

Back at the Agency, Locke is there to pick up his partner. As it turns out, he has an ability as well and with it he can take away people’s memories. He erases all memory of Dumas’ power from the agency minds, unknowingly leaving out Dazai, who is unaffected for obvious reasons.

At night Chuuya decides to get rid of the remnants of Wolf School where he meets Locke. He figures out what Dumas’ power is and Locke says he has no choice but to take Chuuya’s memories as well. Locke’s power, Tabula Rasa, wipes the mind completely without Dumas’ The Three Musketeers to control it better and so Chuuya ends up as a blank slate.

Locke tries to get him back to the agency but on his way Chuuya is intercepted by an unknown person working for Fyodor while Dazai watches from the window, having no idea what just happened.

Later, Locke has nightmares caused by Chuuya’s memories and figures out his partner and Chuuya grew up in the same facility. He is in trouble for hurting his partner’s childhood not-friend.

[That was only part 1, this is so long, and I skipped so much, I’m sorry]

Part 2 starts with a flashback of how Chuuya and Dazai first met, Dazai already thinking about suicide and Chuuya desperate to have a happy life. They fight.

In the present, Dumas and Locke arrive at the agency hoping to find Chuuya there but mysteriously he’s not. Dazai invites them for a coffee to talk things through. This is when Dumas finds out what Locke already knows – Dazai is immune to abilities – and Dazai finds out that Locke and Dumas are members of Trickters, ability group specializing in mind control. While trying to contact Chuuya, Kouyou tells them he is missing.

Atsushi gets called over to test if Locke can actually bring memories back – he can – and to bring the footage of CCTV recording from when Chuuya was seen last outside the agency. Dumas identifies the man who took him as Mikhail Bulgakov, another ability user with the power of The Master and Margarita, which marks one person as the ‘Master’ and other as ‘Margarita’ and makes Margarita believe in every word the Master says and support them.

[This never came up but this is as good place as any to point out, I never said Alex can tell a person’s name just by looking at them. Bulgakov is actually a member of the Tricksters as well, and that’s why Hella works with him, and his code name is either Woland or Satan.]

Dazai is terrified of what that implies since Chuuya is with Dostoevsky and obviously, Fyodor would use that power against them. Dazai excuses Locke and Dumas saying he will contact them once they have Chuuya back. They leave not before advising Dazai that he may get Chuuya back as his boyfriend if he just tries, exposing Soukoku’s past relationship to Atsushi.

In the meantime Fyodor convinces Chuuya that they are actually dating. Of course, Chuuya being the loyal bastard he is, promises to prove his worth to Fyodor even after he lost his memories.

Dazai has a small breakdown and Atsushi is there to comfort him.

In another flashback we see smol Chuuya alone in the gardens as he help Rando/Rimbaud find Kouyou’s house. Rimbaud worried about the cold leaves Chuuya with his scarf and hat. Chuuya has very confusing emotions about all of this and is approached by Dazai who witnessed the conversation. Dazai explains that Chuuya bottles his emotions and that causes them to be too much and Chuuya to violently blow up hurting people around. In Dazai’s opinion, Chuuya just needs to let himself feel. Together they go back to Kouyou’s house, holding hands, and Rimbaud takes back his scarf after Chuuya thank him, but let’s the kid keep the hat.

In the present, it is quite some time after Chuuya disappeared. Dazai holds a meeting explaining which places is Fyodor most likely to attack using Chuuya. Kouyou is frustrated at the lack of their progress.

Meanwhile, Chuuya after all his training with Corruption is in a visibly bad state but still determined to carry out Fyodor’s orders still believing Fyodor is his partner and that he has friends there – Hella, Behemoth and Koroviev – who like to play poker with him. Of course, he can’t let them down.

Shin Soukoku and Kyouka [who, the author believes, should always work together, have you seen Dead Apple?] are observing one of the targets and lo and behold, Chuuya appears.

They notify Dazai, who immediately sets out with Yosano to their place, and set out to keep Chuuya there until Dazai and Yosano arrive. Chuuya has no trouble fighting the kids, apparently using Dumas’ blood which Fyodor got from the Wolf School, to control Corruption. Fortunately, Dazai arrives and pins him to the ground. In order to get out, Chuuya tricks him into kissing and then stabs him in the arm [aiming for the throat] and gets out.

In the last attempt to stop his escape, Atsushi attacks, slicing through Chuuya’s gravitational bomb and chopping off his arm. Chuuya, hurt and bleeding escapes. Dazai rushes after him and finds him in an abandoned warehouse where Chuuya loses his consciousness.

In another flashback we find out why Dazai ‘broke up’ with Chuuya by making Chuuya hate him and pretending to hate him in return. He tells Odasaku, that Chuuya loses his control when Dazai’s safety is involved and is willing to hurt himself in order to keep Dazai safe. Being the death seeking person Dazai is, he is worried Chuuya will end up hurt because of him and it’s better that they are not together.

In the present, Dazai understands that his ways were wrong and he should have spoken to Chuuya instead of just leaving him. He wishes for another chance but only when Chuuya is back to normal.

Atsushi arrives to see Dazai and Chuuya in the room together, Chuuya sleeping strapped to the bed and Dazai holding his hand. Dazai explains that Chuuya is most likely still brainwashed by Fyodor, even though he nullified The Master and Margarita and because of that they need to keep him from going back to the rat. It’s a hard decision for him, since Chuuya had his choice taken away from him since a very young age – being an experiment subject in a research facility in France and later caught and sold by human traffickers to Japan. He states that for Chuuya going back to the mafia would be the best.

Chuuya was only pretending to be asleep and heard everything but then he ‘wakes up’ officially and falls back into his old bickering with Dazai even though he doesn’t necessary remember him.

While in the ADA, Chuuya is visited by Kouyou and Akutagawa who show deep care for him and Akutagawa actually brings him the hat, Chuuya recognizes from the pictures he saw at Fyodor’s place. Chuuya is confused.

Later that night, Chuuya and Dazai sleep together, Dazai removing his bandages to keep constant contact with Chuuya in order to nullify his powers. Still, Chuuya escapes through the window taking Dazai’s coat and his hat.

We see Dazai open his eyes and call Atsushi telling him that Chuuya escaped as planned and is on route that should make him meet Dumas and Locke ready to give his memories back. Dazai predicts they may need Yosano.

Meanwhile, Fyodor dismisses Bulgakov and his group but tells Hella to stay behind. Hella is the daughter of Locke and has been spying on Fyodor for his dad and because of that, Chuuya was able to get to the agency safely and get his memories back so he can go back to Fyodor in perfect condition. Fyodor kills Hella for her services.

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite)

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite) CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 10/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS:  This is a rewrite of the original work of the same name.  Also on AO3 here

Loki gave Sigyn a warm smile, just as glad as she was that the soulbond was accepted, that their bond was there and only going to grow stronger.  “So, what exactly does this mean?” He asked and she could hear the touch of worry in his words. 

She looked up at him confused and shrugged “How should I know?  You mother is sending the texts to you room,” she reminded him.  They’d both get more information about the soulbonds whenthey could study them properly.  Sig realized that she might have also been misinterpreting what he was asking of her.  He wasn’t being particularly clear, which was strange for his silver tongue and spoke to just how upset he was. 

He sighed.  “I meant what does this mean for the two of us? Where do we stand in our relationship?”  

Oh.  She’d definitely been misinterpreting what he’d been asking. 

 “Geez, Lokes, you know how to ask the hard questions,” she sighed with sarcasm in her tone. That made Loki smile.  It was just like old times.  “We just found each other again. This,” she gestured to the green power lines on her arm “Doesn’t mean we have to rush into anything more than having my best friend back,” she was hesitant in her answer, afraid it was going to offend him.  What if he wanted to jump right into more?  She wasn’t sure she’d be opposed, but she wasn’t quite ready to jump straight from having her best friend back to having more.  It as too much all at once.

Loki nodded in agreement and seemed to share her sentiments.  He wasn’t one for rushing in and didn’t want either of them feeling pressured into a relationship they weren’t ready for.  “I can live with that. It would be better to get to know each other again rather than rushing into things,” Loki wasn’t irrational and knew how to think things through, unlike a stupid oafish Thor.

Sigyn sighed in relief that he was reasonable and rational, unlike his idiot brother.  She was also glad he wasn’t offended.  However, she couldn’t help smirk at him.  “How long until you start insisting I wear you colors?” she teased.  She knew the tradition well. Ladies on Asgard wore the colors of the noble gentleman she was being courted by.

He smirked in reply and it felt like old times.  “Technically, you already are,” he replied, indicating the green swirls of power up her arm.  

She couldn’t help giggling in reply.  “Yes, technically,” she agreed, looking at the beautiful lines of shining green magic on her arm. 

Loki looked concerned.  “Do you plan on hiding her mark?” He asked.  He wasn’t planning on hiding his.  He was still shocked that he was worthy of a soulmate, even though that wasn’t how it worked at all. But he was beyond pleased with the development.  He had her, his Sigyn, back from the dead, back in his life, and apparently his soulbond, his soulmate.  

He wouldn’t lose her again.

She shook her head and with a shimmer of power, her dress shimmered so it had short sleeves. “No, I only hid it earlier since I wasn’t sure if you wanted to keep it…” she told him softly. She didn’t want to upset him, but he had to know.  He just gave her a gentle understanding smile. She noted that the power lines on his arm were evident and displayed.  

“Green really looks good on you, darling,” he told her warmly, admiring the swirls of power.  He was correct, of course. Green looked fantastic with her coloring, her pale skin, sidhe red hair, and tri-tri-colored green and gold eyes.  

“That’s a good purple on you,” she replied.  It was a dark royal purple that shimmered in power up his arm, spiraling beautifully as it did.

“It’s not really part of my color scheme, but I like it,”

“It’s even more obvious because it’s not part of you color scheme, Lokes,” she pointed out with a smirk. Though something caught her attention, a noise down the hall.  She grabbed Loki’s hand.  “C’mon!” she told him and ran, dragging him into running after her.  In that moment, she was completely the Sigyn he remembered from his childhood.

He laughed and let her drag him along, hurrying to keep up with her, though his stride was much longer than hers.  “Where are we going?” He asked as he laughed and ran with her.

“Away from the oaf’s moronic friends,” she replied jovially as she ran.  They could both hear them now at the end of the hallway as they ran in the opposite direction.  When Loki could hear them too, he picked up speed, sweeping her up in his arms in one smooth motion.  She made a small surprised noise and wrapped her arms around his neck automatically, grateful for his longer stride to get away from the morons.  Loki took a few steps and teleported them both to his suite.  

They were both still laughing when he set her carefully back on her feet. “I figured you wanted to hang out with them about as much as I did,” she told him as she fought to catch her breath from laughing so hard.  

Loki finally managed to compose himself.  “Very true. They are my least favorite people in this realm. Besides the Allfather, of course,”

“Unless she’s changed, Sif isn’t bad,” she reminded him.  Sif had been her friend as children.  “The moron boys however…"

Loki nodded in agreement.  “Sif is the only exception,”

She gave him a warm smile, then looked around his chambers appraisingly.  Some things had changed over the centuries, of course, but it was similar enough to feel the same as it had all of those years ago. 

“Bring back any memories?” Loki asked, noting her gaze around the room.  

Sig nodded.  “Being back here, I’ve been remembering a lot of things.  It helps being home,” she replied warmly.  

“Good things I hope,”

She smirked.  “Mostly.  Except for that thing with the bilgesnipe…” she teased

He laughed, clearly recalling the incident as well “That was not entirely my fault, you know,”

She wrinkled her nose.  “Liar,” she smirked at him.

He pointed a finger at her with a mock glare.  “Do not pull my trick on me, little one,” he warned her firmly, though his eyes were full of mirth and teasing.

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.  “You can’t lie to a fae, Trickster,” she teased in reply.

“Two lie detectors in one room. Oh joy,” his teasing continued with sarcasm in his tone.  

She huffed.  “At least you can lie,” she grumbled.  Unlike most of the fae, she could lie, but it wasn’t easy and she wasn’t good at it, so she tried to avoid it whenever possible.

“I would not be me if I could not lie. Imagine, the god of lies not being able to lie. Preposterous,” he scoffed at the prospect.

She giggled. “Preposterous indeed,” she agreed.  “Instead, you just can’t lie in front of me,” she enjoyed the teasing torment of her Loki.  She was fae and could smell a lie just easily as Loki could.

He wrinkled his nose.  “Annoying fae magics,” he mock-grumbled.  

She couldn’t help giggling at him again.  “It’s good for you to have someone around you can’t lie to,” she continued teasing him.  It was fun and felt like home and normal. 

“Not when you are the god of lies. It ruins my whole reputation,” he whined playfully.  She didn’t know how rare it was now to see Loki being playful.  To her, it felt like home, felt like old times.

“Guess you’ll have to keep me on your good side then so I don’t betray your lies,”

He gave her a warm, genuine, smile.  “I think I can manage that,”

[neuxue]

Wheel of Time liveblogging: Towers of Midnight ch 8

Mat goes bar-hopping and contemplates obligations

Chapter 8: The Seven-Striped Lass

Oh it’s Mat. Well, enough people have told me Mat is better in this book than last, so if nothing else, confirmation bias alone should see me through.

(Though my indifference towards Mat extends further back than just last book, so… who knows).

He’s in a tavern, which should surprise absolutely no one, and thinking about how Aes Sedai are the bane of his existence, which… also should surprise absolutely no one.

Hey, now he and Thom can fidget with their Aes Sedai letters together. Safer than juggling knives in a world that doesn’t seem to have invented stress balls yet.

‘Master Crimson’? What is this, Cluedo?

And of course he’s not looking at women any more, definitely not noticing any of their, ahem, assets or anything, at least not for himself, you know, just keeping an eye out for his friends of course.

He’s also asking tavernkeepers for advice, because sometimes you just need a sounding board to convince yourself of what you already know. In this case, what to do about Verin’s letter and the conditions set on it. Which, to be fair, is a rather infuriating dilemma. When Verin plays games, she doesn’t fuck around.

“I could open it,” she continued to Mat, “and could tell you what’s inside.”

Bloody ashes! If she did that, he would have to do what it said. Whatever it bloody said. All he had to do was wait a few weeks, and he would be free. He could wait that long. Really, he could.

“It wouldn’t do,” Mat said

Aw, but wouldn’t it? I mean, Verin of all people would appreciate that kind of loophole.

“The woman who gave it to me was Aes Sedai, Melli. You don’t want to anger an Aes Sedai, do you?”

“Aes Sedai?” Melli suddenly looked eager. “I’ve always fancied going to Tar Valon, to see if they’ll let me join them.” She looked at the letter, as if more curious about its contents.

Light! The woman was daft.

Nah, she’s one of the rare sensible ones! Seriously, if I lived in a world with magic, in which there was a chance I could learn to do it, I would give approximately zero fucks about the reputation of the organisation that would enable me to learn it. (Yes, I know, it makes sense in this world that people are wary of Aes Sedai, but to me it’s one of those things like… oh, I don’t know, characters who decide they’re not actually interested in immortality because it would mean outliving their loved ones. Like okay, yeah, there’s a price, but magic. Immortality. I will never understand some fictional characters. Or maybe this just says something about me and which side I’d be on in these fictional worlds… but then, are we really surprised?)

“Can I trust you to keep your word?”

He gave her an exasperated look. “What was this whole bloody conversation about, Melli?”

‘Can I trust you to keep your word’ is kind of a… tautological question, though. And one that always amuses me, along with variations like ‘how can I trust you’ ‘I give you my word’. Because ultimately you’re still just left with the decision of whether or not you trust that person’s word. And no real way of knowing whether or not you should. Once again, I am perhaps exposing myself as not ideal hero material here.

I will say I’m impressed by Mat’s ability to not open the letter. Though I hope at some point we get to see what it says; Verin’s so good at this kind of thing it would be a shame not to see what game she set up here.

The bouncer doesn’t like Mat, which is kind of not surprising given that a bouncer’s job is to stop shit and the purpose of Mat’s entire existence is to start shit.

The paving stones were damp from a recent shower, though those clouds had passed by and—remarkably—left the sky open to the air.

I see what you did there.

Also I’m now trying to place this against everyone else’s timeline and it’s hurting my brain a little. The weather would suggest this is post-Dragonmount but I feel like Mat still had a bit of catch-up to do… ah well, I’m sure we’ll find out. For whatever reason timelines are something of an exception to my usual ability to retain details, probably because, weirdly enough, I often just… don’t care that much? In the sense that usually, when you actually need to know (or when it would be interesting or add something to the story to know), you’ll know.

Mat was not about any specific task tonight

Oh, wandering about at random are we? Which, if you’re Mat, means that regardless of how you started the night, you’ll almost certainly be about a certain task before you finish it. The Pattern has plans, after all.

Getting a feel for Caemlyn. A lot had changed since he had been here last.

Wow, okay, yeah, as the reader we’ve been in Caemlyn plenty over the past several books, but Mat was last here in book three. Damn.

A lot has changed since then. In Caemlyn, yes, but also Mat has changed quite a lot since then. It’s interesting, even in real life, going back to a place you either visited or knew well in the past. The sense of familiarity but at a slight distance, along with the memory of when you were there last, which can then serve to highlight how you’ve changed. And then all the things that aren’t familiar, though you can’t always be certain if that’s just because you’re seeing them differently…

Light, he had heard of paving stones attacking people.

What is this, the French Revolution?

Mat’s found a better tavern, by which I mean a worse tavern, but it’s all a matter of perspective and perspective is a funny thing at the tail end of a pub crawl, so let’s just not think too hard about it.

I’m suddenly very interested in the story of this woman with breeches and short hair dicing in a dodgy tavern with three dudes and not responding to any of Mat’s smiles, ahem. Yes I’m being pandered to, no I don’t care.

But Mat did not smile at girls that way anymore. Besides, she had not responded to any of his smiles anyway.

Alright, that’s much closer to Jordan’s Mat. The absolute lack of self-awareness in being able to think those sentences side-by-side, because hey, Mat, if you don’t smile at girls that way anymore, how do you know she’s not responding to them? (Plus the fact that Mat’s ‘best smile’ has, I’m pretty sure, not actually worked once this series when he’s actually thought about it).

From these first few pages in general, Mat does sound somewhat more how I would expect him to—the way his thoughts and actions contradict themselves, his tendency towards an absolute lack of self-awareness, the running joke of his ‘best smile’… though it also feels like it’s being laid on a little thick? Almost as if Sanderson has picked out a handful of things that work, or that have appeared elsewhere, and is studiously applying them and avoiding adding in too much else or deviating too much from those narrow bounds.

But that’s almost certainly me nitpicking and also looking specifically for this; it’s not really a complaint and at first glance this does seem better than the writing of Mat last book, so… fair enough. Point is, this is definitely not as jarring to read as that first chapter last book was. Still different, sure, but more within the parameters of the rest of the differences.

Mat’s more interested in the local gossip, which—ah.

“They found him dead this morning. Throat ripped clean out. Body was drained of blood, like a wineskin full of holes.”

The gholam’s back in town, then.

Well, in town, anyway; I suppose it hasn’t actually been to Caemlyn before, that we’ve seen. Hey, Elayne? Maybe listen to Birgitte and your bodyguards for a bit and actually take a break from your errands and adventures into the city alone for a bit.

Dice are landing on their corners and also starting up in Mat’s head, so looks like your night of aimless fun and tourism is coming to an end, Mat. Don’t forget to sign the guestbook on your way out.

It seemed impossible that [the gholam] could have gotten here this quickly. Of course, Mat had seen it squeeze through a hole not two handspans wide. The thing did not seem to have a right sense of what was possible and what was not possible.

Oh, well, in that case you two have something in common! Good, you won’t run out of things to say on your next date encounter.

Though on a less flippant note, I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about this before, but I like how Mat gets paired against or linked with opponents or entities who fall into the larger umbrella archetype of ‘trickster figure’ but in different or darker ways: the gholam, the Eelfinn and Aelfinn, arguably Fain/Mordeth… and then there’s Perrin, who is set against Trollocs (the darker side of a mix between animal and human) and Whitecloaks (who exist to force questions of morality). As if they’re both sometimes set against those who reflect a darker or warped version of some aspect of who they are.

It’s not a perfect like-to-like matching; they have other opponents who don’t fit that kind of classification quite as well (though I would still argue that just about any enemy they—and quite a few other characters—face highlight some aspect of themselves via contrast or by presenting a warped kind of mirror), but it’s just a little… random thing I quite like. Particularly Mat set against other types of trickster, because it fits with the very definition or idea of what a trickster figure is in the first place. This idea of looking into a kaleidoscope of mirrors and seeing theme and variation until they flicker at the edges.

He had sent word to [Elayne], but had not gotten a reply. How was that for gratitude? By his count, he had saved her life twice.

Sigh. I sort of thought they had reached an understanding as far as the accounting between them last time they spoke, but I guess we’re still doing this. Which, okay, before everyone comes for me on this, yes he has saved her life multiple times, and no she has not always responded immediately with gratitude, but specifically in the last instance she very much did, and it was a rather lovely moment where they both saw more in each other than they had before. Where they each realised that their previous (first) impressions were not necessarily the full truth, and that there was someone to like beneath that. A friend, even.

And I liked that; I absolutely have a soft spot for the friendship between Mat and Elayne, in part because they’re actually quite similar in a lot of ways. And so for both of them to start to see beneath the surface, to see more than just what they expect to see, was a nice moment of character growth for both of them.

Anyway, leaving the gratitude thing aside, it’s a shame Elayne hasn’t replied, if only because I wouldn’t mind seeing those two interact again. I just like their weird relationship. I like weird friendships between characters in general, really; it’s a good way to get to see a character from an ever-so-slightly different angle, or throw them into a slightly different kind of light. (In all honesty there’s a small part of me that would have been very open to an Elayne/Mat relationship rather than Elayne/Rand and Mat/Tuon, but mostly I just like them as friends who sort of… force each other to take a second look at things, and in doing so to realise some things about themselves).

For once, there had been a battle and he had missed it. Remembering that lightened his mood somewhat. An entire war had been fought over the Lion Throne, and not one arrow, blade, or spear had entered the conflict seeking Matrim Cauthon’s heart.

Yeah, well, don’t jinx it.

Also Mat you were sort of in the middle of some of your own battles and while you’re pretty good, you’re not quite good enough to be in two places at once. Still, can’t fault him for looking on the bright side, I suppose. Especially because there’s a rather large battle headed his way any day now.

Three inns in one night. Making a proper pub crawl of it, I see.

Though Thom’s more in the mood to play sad flute music, presumably over Moiraine. I mean fair; I, too, would probably play several laments for her sake. Bring her back already.

Caemlyn was seen as one of the few places where one could be safe from both the Seanchan and the Dragon.

Oh no doubt it’ll stay that way. What could possibly go wrong in this beautiful Camelot that’s been held up since Book 1 as an example of beauty and (relative) stability?

I’m pretty sure one of the first things I said upon seeing Caemlyn back in EotW was ‘that’s a nice city you have there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it’ and, twelve books later, I stand by that.

Mat tries to get Thom’s attention by snagging his coins, and Thom just tosses a knife through his sleeve without interrupting his playing. Respect.

***

Oh hey a mid-chapter break without a POV change. That’s unusual.

It’s something of a location change, though, because Mat’s back at the Band’s camp now, considering the pros and cons of horse meat. Well, mostly cons in his opinion but I would like to state for the record that horse is actually quite tasty. No of course I don’t know this from experience what are you talking about.

The gholam of course has an even less discriminating palate—or I suppose technically more discriminating, just less socially acceptable.

But Mat and Thom have moved on to planning for their fieldtrip to the Tower of Ghenjei, because, you know, these characters have it easy: just one thing at a time, all easily dealt with, no piling on of way too many problems and decisions and things or people out to kill them…

“Maybe Verin will come back and release me from this bloody oath.”

Unfortunately she had to take some rather drastic measures to release herself from a different bloody oath, so uh… sorry, Mat, you’re out of luck on that one.

“Best that one stays away,” Thom said. “I don’t trust her. There’s something off about that one.”

I mean, you’re not wrong. But you’re also not exactly right. Man, I’m going to miss Verin. She’s one I very much look forward to seeing on a reread: there was always something about her and it was great fun to speculate and try to work out exactly what her deal was, but it’s different when you know. And we got so very little time with her once that was revealed—it was a hell of a way to go out, of course, but I’m definitely excited to see how she reads when you know from the beginning.

“Either way,” Thom said, “we should probably start sending guards with you when you visit the city.”

“Guards won’t help against the gholam.”

“No, but what of the thugs who jumped you on your way back to camp three nights back?”

You know what this reminds me of? Birgitte scolding Elayne when Elayne tries to go out on her own. It’s far from the only thing Elayne and Mat have in common, but it does amuse me.

Talking to that clerk meant Elayne knew Mat was here. She had to. But she had sent no greetings, no acknowledgement that she owed Mat her skin.

Maybe because she acknowledged it last time the two of you spoke? Or have you forgotten? I think that’s what irks me here: they’ve already had that conversation. It made sense (more or less) for Mat to be annoyed about Tear, before Elayne and Nynaeve gave him their thanks and apologies, but after that fight with the gholam in the Rahad, Elayne and Mat seemed to clear the air between them, so it’s just… kind of weird and a bit annoying to have this dragged out again. It seems like it would make more sense at this stage for him to just be annoyed at her for ignoring him, rather than for not thanking him for… something she’s already thanked him for.

He does shift after that to wondering how to get her to set all her foundries to making Aludra’s dragons, which is a much more pertinent question. I now kind of want Elayne and Aludra to meet. I feel like that could be entertaining.

Teslyn Baradon was not a pretty woman, though she might have made a passable paperbark tree

This should sound insulting but for whatever reason I find it hilarious. Why is this so funny.

Maybe this is why we were getting Mat’s grumbling about Elayne not thanking him (again) for saving her life: because thanks are the first thing Teslyn, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, offers Mat unprompted. That would more or less fit with how these things are usually set up in Mat’s narrative, I suppose.

Though Sanderson doesn’t quite seem to have the hang of the Illian dialect; it’s close but some of the phrasing is just a bit off. But that’s me nitpicking again.

“It do be important to maintain some illusions with yourself, would you not say?”

Wiser words than you may even realise, Teslyn, given who you’re talking to. Though I think she does realise this; she’s quite perceptive, and she’s spent a fair bit of time with Mat now, and I think she very likely does see his tendency towards… perhaps not quite denial anymore, at least not as strong as it once was, but a degree of self-deception (and total lack of self-awareness, of course).

She nodded to him. A respectful nod. Almost a bow. Mat released her hand, feeling as unsettled as if someone had kicked his legs out from underneath him.

Yeah, this is what you’d expect from Mat. This is what he does: grumbles to himself about lack of gratitude, or Aes Sedai causing problems and having no respect… but then as soon as that gratitude or respect is shown, he doesn’t quite know how to deal with it. Because he’s not actually arrogant enough to accept it with haughty disdain, but nor is he self-effacing enough to truly not care about getting praise and credit. So you end up in this awkward in-between state that is, I think, actually quite common amongst people in general. It’s definitely something I see play out in the workplace, at least.

And so he offers her the horses that, last book, he refused Joline. Because she’s shown him respect and so he will return the favour. Because they’re treating each other as people, and Mat may push for what he feels is his due, but he won’t just take it without giving something in return. He’s better than he likes to think he is, as Thom once pointed out.

“I did not come to you tonight to manipulate you into giving me horses,” Teslyn said. “I do be sincere.”

“So I figured,” Mat said, turning and lifting up the flap to his tent. “That’s why I made the offer.”

And that’s it, really. It’s amazing what open and honest communication can get you, sometimes. It’s almost like that’s a running thing in this series.

There, he froze. That scent…

Blood.

Mmmm, dinner.

Next (ToM ch 9) Previous (ToM ch 7)

[isalabells]

can u pls give me all ur thoughts on clarissa franklin? im legit so curious!!

Let me preface this, anon, by saying that this might be the most challenging ask I’ve received to date. That’s why I let it sit there for more than 1.5 weeks while agonizing over it on every run I’ve been on in between. So hats off to you because dang!

Thoughts on characters in the DDF universe are generally a tricky thing because none of them – not even (or: especially not) our three mains – are designed to be anything but two-dimensional. This of course shouldn’t stop anyone from diving deeper into some kind of character analysis, but personally, I’ve always found it a bit off-putting alas I probably have fewer thoughts and headcanons on the folks inhabitating the Rocky Beach universe than one might think. I don’t even find it that compelling to look at from a meta perspective (where, in contrast, I could spend hours talking and writing about TKKG’s narratives. And in fact I have.) So what’s mainly of interest to me here is looking at Minninger aka the one who invented dear Clarissa, and to speculate about his motives for telling the Franklin stories the way he did.

In an attempt to look at it from an in-universe POV first: Amazing character, most likely the best female villain this series will ever see (food for thought: there haven’t been that many to begin with, and most of the ones we got were either written by BJHW or Minninger. MUCH to ponder on), personally, I find her way more fun than Hugenay, giving her two (or three, if the rumors are true) follow-up stories is more than deserved. Furthermore, her legacy is that she appeared in two absolute killer episodes, which many (rightfully) consider to be some of the best the series has to offer (so do I, but plot twist, the best for me is not Stimmen aus dem Nichts but Rufmord). 100/10, can relate to Bob Andrews bc I already grew infatuated with her and she didn’t even need to hypnotize me for that. A great cunning, devious, manipulative, stone-cold bitch ready to kill a man or two at any given point, it’s what we all need and deserve. Shouldn’t even be that big of a surprise that this role slaps so hard bc the majority of things Judy Winter does gain IconicTM status, it is the law. Ever since @charlyritter brought up the idea that Sabine Vitua would be the perfect choice to play her in a live action movie, I cannot stop thinking about this. (And ever since I mistook a picture of young Sabine Vitua with short hair for Bibiana Beglau I am slightly fixated on the idea that she’d be a great fit as well.)

  From a more sober POV: I’ve talked about this before but SadN is actually a very sloppily edited adaptation (e.g. Katharina Brauren most def was recorded separately, there are a lot of inaccuracies-that-easily-could-have-been-avoided-with-some-proper-research-and-a-capable-editor in the script etc.) AND most of it is just Minninger ripping off other stories published via EUROPA (I know none of you are aware of this bc y’all lack the refined taste to engage with TKKG, but the entirety of getting phone calls from the dead? Please listen to #82 Spuk aus dem Jenseits which got published in 1991 aka six years prior to SadN, which Minninger himself edited, and which imo is actually WAY more creepy, esp bc Wolf played a lot with elements from Hofmann’s Sandmann. While we’re at it, I might also drop that Franklin’s iconic line “Reiß Dein Maul nicht so weit auf, sonst schieb ich Dir eine Faust rein, an der Du erstickst“ also first appears, word for word, in TKKG #8 Auf der Spur der Vogeljäger. Well oops.) NEVERTHELESS I argue none of it matters in the long run bc the adaption makes it worth the while. Minninger himself is a trickster in that regard bc what he lacks in writing skills (lbr he doesn’t have any, his stories are mediocre at best) he makes up for in hedonism. As in: he mainly writes about what interests him most in a DDF setting (queer characters, middle-aged and/or old yet powerful ladies, horror vibes, scary, disturbing stuff bordering on the macabre and ludicrous) and designs his characters specifically so that he can cast all the actresses and actors he admires. (Honestly, that was actually a question I sent to him back in 2004 when his Fragebox at the rbc was still running; I wanted to know if he already knew he wanted JW to play CF, and he wholeheartedly confirmed.)

In this case, he got especially lucky bc I am firmly convinced he had no clue at all that Andreas Fröhlich and Judy Winter would play off each other so mesmerizingly. I mean, how could he have known? JW being great and killing it was not a surprise, sure, but Andreas was a far stretch away from being the hot shit he evolved into ever since. And if they hadn’t sold their two extremely unusual scenes so well… both episode and the character would have flopped, I think.

But it didn’t, and then Rufmord came along and the rest is history.

I have severe problems with Signale aus dem Jenseits ESPECIALLY bc of the way the narrative treats good ol’ Clarissa here, and I rather wish this ep had never gotten published in the first place. I don’t want to blow up this reply even further, but allow me to quote a snippet from the episode commentary I left on the rbc a while ago, as it sums up some of my troubles quite nicely:

“[Die] Wortwahl einer „Demontage“ Clarissa Franklins hat mich ins Grübeln gebracht. Vielleicht soll genau DAS die Krux der Sache sein – den Abstieg und Ruin einer Figur nachzuzeichnen, die einst bereit war, eiskalt über Leichen zu gehen und die selbst in Situationen, in denen sie auf den ersten Blick die Machtlose zu sein scheint, doch alle Fäden in der Hand hält und Menschen spielt wie Marionetten. In dem Fall wären die abgeschwächten Anleihen/Rezitationen/Referenzen an die Vorgängerfolgen natürlich geschickt (und bewusst?) gewählt und verstärken den Eindruck, dass Clarissa Franklin tief gefallen ist und mittlerweile nach jedem ihr sich bietenden Strohhalm greift (= Schmierenkomödie als Rache an drei Teenagern). Soll dies eine legitime Lesart des Textes sein, dann ist das Narrativ für mich allerdings falsch aufgebaut, weil es sich in zu vielen Nebenschauplätzen verliert.”

From the pov of my fangirl heart and all critical thinking put aside: Clarissa Franklin probably was the first character I was truly obsessed with!? In a way that I spent my entire Easter holiday break reading and listening to Rufmord 24/7. Thinking about her and her encounter with Just, Peter and Bob for hours each day. Desperately longing for more content with her. While my teenage self as evolved a bit, I’m still fond of her. So as much as I want Minninger to just let her rest, I am also hoping that his forth story featuring her only got postponed and not scratched entirely. The heart wants what the heart wants.

[the-delta-42]

All your little tricks

Based on This Post by @lenoreofraven

All your little tricks

Ladybug sluggishly got to her feet. Hawkmoth stood a few metres ahead of her and Chat Noir was behind her. Ladybug could tell this wasn’t going to end well, not after Lila stumbled over the fact that she was Marinette and managed to convince Damocles that the Fox miraculous that was in Marinette’s bag was hers, despite her necklace being in full view for everyone. Lila then reported her findings to Hawkmoth and things kind of just went downhill from there.

He had an Akuma set the Bakery alight, almost killing her parents, he had another Akuma knock down a wall in the school, which had harmed Rose. Volpina had been there for all of them, smugly gloating about how she always got what she wanted, that quickly changed when Ladybug conjured a knife and went to stab her. The Order of the Guardians had been visiting Paris, looking for Master Fu, only to find his successor in a 15-year-old girl.

It was safe to say that her training started off rocky, with most Guardians being close-minded, Marinette remembered that they were last in the world in the 19th Century, which explained their attitude towards her. Tikki and Wayzz quickly convinced them to change their attitude, now Marinette could be transformed for longer after using her power, she had also been taught how to conjure at that point and was now working to harness her emotion-influenced powers, at most she’d managed to set a bonsai tree on fire.

Each time Ladybug and Chat Noir encountered Volpina, her eyes changed, before they were cold and cunning, now they were a light with greed and a lust for more power. Ladybug discussed the possibility that Volpina would betray Hawkmoth.

“Let’s hope that we’re there when it happens, if she’s successful, we can nab the Butterfly and Fox in one, if she isn’t, then we can at least get the Fox back.” Said Chat, his arms folded. He had told her that His father was more concerned with work than he was his own son.

Chat slowly got to his feet behind her.

“How the mighty have fallen.” Sneered Hawkmoth, as Volpina picked up Ladybug’s discarded dagger.

“Why are you doing this?” Asked Ladybug, clutching her side, “Why are you terrorising innocent people?”

“Simple,” Said Hawkmoth, “I want to get my wife back and I need your Miraculous to do it.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir stared at him.

“Really?” Asked Ladybug, dumbfounded, “And the first thing you do is become a domestic terrorist? Actively trying to kill innocent people, all because you’re stuck in the past?!”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Snarled Hawkmoth, as Volpina drew closer to them.

“Oh, no,” Said Ladybug, glaring at Hawkmoth, “I understand completely. We’ve been fighting to bruise, right from the start, whereas you have been fighting to kill to fuel you own sick deluded fantasies!”

Volpina went to stab Hawkmoth in the back, only for Hawkmoth to grab her arm and force the dagger she was holding to go into her own chest.

“Did you really think, I wouldn’t take all your little tricks into consideration?” Growled Hawkmoth, as Volpina struggled to breath, “Any trick you have ever tried, were mine long before they were yours.”

Hawkmoth then violently thrust the blade into Volpina’s heart, the girl coughing on her own blood and collapsing.

“That, was unfortunate.” Commented Hawkmoth, turning back to the young Heroes, only to have a sword narrowly miss his head.

“Chat, get the Fox and take her to the nearest Hospital,” Commanded Ladybug, fire dancing in her eyes, “I have some pest control to deal with.”

Ladybug spun the broadsword in her hand, before lunging towards Hawkmoth, quickly gaining the upper hand. Ladybug’s sword pieced Hawkmoth’s gut, cutting through his spine. “That, was for Luka, Juleka and Rose.”

Hawkmoth started to slump against the blade.

“Don’t worry.” Said Ladybug, withdrawing the sword and allowing Hawkmoth to fall to the ground, “There are paramedics at hand to keep you alive. I just couldn’t have you running away again.”

Ladybug discretely broke one of Hawkmoth legs, before a Paramedic rushed over.

“Nothing major was punctured, well nothing that can’t be repaired.” Said Ladybug, quietly vanishing the sword.

A quiet thud alerted Ladybug to Chat Noir’s presence.

“She going to make it?” Asked Ladybug, looking at her partner, having a little piece of hope for Lila.

“She was dead before she got there.” Said Chat, quietly, looking down, the Fox Miraculous tight in his grip.

“They are going to demand his head then.” Said Ladybug, looking over at Hawkmoth, as the paramedics treated him, “I cut through his spine, so he shouldn’t be able to walk.”

“How are we going to deal with him?” Asked Chat, looking at the villain, “I mean, he went after your family and killed three of our friends.”

“Minou, I have a feeling he’s going to get a massive surprise in the morning.” Comforted Ladybug, “After all, everything he owned is now yours, considering he’s probably going to be classified as insane.”

Chat remained silent, before marching up to Hawkmoth and yanking the Butterfly Miraculous off his chest. Gabriel looked up at Chat, while the Paramedics stared at him.

“A-Adrien-” Gasped Hawkmoth, before Chat turned away.

“Let’s go.” Growled Chat, as he reached Ladybug, “If I’m here for any longer there isn’t going to be much of him left.”

Ladybug nodded, before launching her yoyo to the nearest rooftop.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Asked Ladybug, as they reached her balcony, “The trickster was out tricked.”

There was no humour in her tone.

“We won.” Said Chat, hollowly.

“Then why does it feel like we lost?”

AYLT

Adrien kept getting looks and whispers at school the next day. One person actually tried to fight him in the middle of the hallway.

“You’re blocking the way to my class.” Said Adrien, trying to go around them.

“Tough,” Sneered the student, “you need to be taught a lesson.”

The student cracked their knuckles until Marinette stormed up to him.

“ALFRED!” Yelled Marinette, her tone promising death, “What’s this I hear about you threatening my classmates?!”

“It’s only Hawkmoth’s son.” Alfred tried to defend himself.

“And who’s dad is locked away for being a serial killer?” Said Marinette, sharply.

Alfred didn’t say anything as his face went red.

“You have no right trying to take the moral high ground,” Snarled Marinette, getting up close to Alfred, “if I remember correctly, someone tried to do the same thing to you and who stepped in?”

“Toby.” Mumbled Alfred, looking down.

“And where did that get him?” Demanded Marinette, her hands on her hips.

“Hospital.” Said Alfred, still looking down.

“So, what give you the right to bully Adrien?” Marinette demanded, as a scattering of mutters broke out.

“What give you the right to stop it, Dupain-Cheng?” Sneered Chloe, glaring at Marinette and Adrien.

Adrien tried not to feel hurt as his once childhood friend treated him like he was dirt.

Marinette slowly turned at glared at Chloe.

“Tikki,” Said Marinette, her voice cold and calm, “Spots On.”

A flash of light later replaced Marinette with Ladybug.

“Spots off.” Said Ladybug, turning back into Marinette, before she stalked up to Chloe, “I have more right than you do, you pathetic bitch. You worked with Hawkmoth and exposed the rest of the team, all because you didn’t like being told no.”

The temperature of the room started to drop as Marinette spoke.

“You provided yourself to be the catalyst for hundreds of Akumas and, when trying to play the hero, you almost killed dozens of people, myself and my parent included.” Said Marinette, as Chloe tried no to wither, “So, let me ask you again, what gives you the right to bully anyone?”

Chloe gawked, “My-my Daddy will-”

“Will what? Hear about this?” Asked Marinette, “Will hear about how his infantile brat of a daughter decided to run her mouth off to the wrong person and was knocked down a few pegs? How the city embarrassment made an absolute tart of herself? I always felt sorry for you, you never had any stable parental figure, your father doesn’t want to spend time with you, your own mother doesn’t even love you and you try to make everyone feel bad because you hate it when you’re not the centre of attention.”

Chloe resembled a goldfish, as Marinette took Adrien’s arm and dragged him to class.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Said Adrien, quietly.

“Adrien, if I didn’t, who was?” Asked Marinette, as she and her partner entered the classroom.

In a matter of seconds, Adrien and Marinette were on the ground buried under the rest of the class.

“Ivan.” Groaned Marinette, “Get. Off.”

Ivan only decided to go dead-weight, getting more groans from the class.

“I’m glad Kagami isn’t here to see this.” Said Adrien, as he and Marinette wriggled out from the bottom of the pile.

Only for Kagami to tackle to two to the ground.

“Me and my big mouth.” Said Adrien, as Marinette tried to get up, only for Kagami to frag her back down again.

“You know what?” Said Marinette, after Kagami pulled her down for a third time, “Fuck it, I’m going back to bed.”

Adrien looked at his girlfriends, all the while trying to think up an explanation for Mdm. Mendeleiev when she arrived.

[inkribbon796]

Snakes and Ladders

Summary: Deceit goes to confront Dark about messing around in Deceit’s business. It’s not exactly how Deceit thought he’d be spending his birthday.

The League was a carefully walked tightrope. With people like Wilford and Anti who could be as murderous as they were impulsive, and Google who had his own murderous streak to boot, a villain or any renown or ability had to learn to read the room.

Deceit prided himself on being the best at reading any situation he was in. The Light Sides had taught him a couple things: they were never going to trust a known liar; and two, he wouldn’t last. Patton’s crutch was to be ethically accepted, and Logan refused to help Deceit convinced Patton that he was wrong. Then there was Roman. Gullible, excitable, energetic Roman.

The League was the only beneficial choice for him and Remus.

So he was standing in the hollowed out shell of the abandoned orphanage that the police had tried to investigate before it had been set on fire. So he was standing in it, an illusion over the dark Side to make him look like a perfect copy of Dark on the outside. However because of the fact he didn’t know Dark nearly as well as he knew the other Sides it was more like an outer shell at best. If he tried to use Dark’s pockets it would shatter the illusion almost completely because they weren’t functional.

It took a bit longer than Deceit thought it would for Dark to confront him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Dark growled at him, stepping out of the Void.

Deceit made a show of checking a watch on his wrist, “Getting your attention. We’re overdue a long conversation.”

Dark clasped his hands behind his back, “If I wanted to have a conversation with myself I would have brought a mirror and just took your head off your shoulders instead.”

The trickster side just smiled, and turned back into himself. His typical smug look on his face. “I needed a place the heroes wouldn’t overhear. A place they gave up on seemed like a good location.

The Entity still didn’t look too impressed, motioning with a hand for Deceit to continue. An air of impatience heavy in the room, a shrill ringing that always accompanied Dark’s presence. “Leave Anxiety to me, he was my apprentice, he is my problem. Stay out of it.”

Dark chuckled a bit, as if finding this conversation endearing instead of insultive. He took a couple Something Dee didn’t believe for a second. “You were a big fish in a very small pond. So I suggest you tread very carefully before I throw you off this building and see how functional you can make your illusions.”

Deceit dared to scoff, taking his own step or two forward. “Remus would stop listening to you if you did, I am the only one who could ever hope to contain him. Unless you want a fourth chaotic entity in the city you have to manage, I don’t think I’ve run all the sand in my hourglass out quiet yet.

The greyscale Entity seemed to give it some actual thought, but whether he was seriously considering just following through with murder or just maiming Deceit wasn’t clear, “Careful, shapeshifter, overstep your bounds too much and you might get your toes cut off. That’s usually not very lethal.”

“What are you using Anxiety for, you’ve killed more important to you over less?” Deceit demanded.

“Virgil has some sort of honor to him, very useful, if a bit gullible,” Dark bragged. “How you thought he was ever suited for the League is beyond me, it was obvious for me from day one that he lacked both the bite and the determination needed.”

“They why humor us?” Deceit scoffed, not showing the visible discomfort he had at Dark knowing Virgil’s chosen name. “His powers?”

Dark chuckled at that, “That might be true, if he wasn’t obviously petrified of his own power. No, it got boring to watch him fumble about and it became abundantly clear to all of us that you have no plans on following him.”

“If you have no need for him within the League, leave Anxiety out of your business,” Deceit warned. “You have enough thugs.”

“Oh, you and the heroes can have him back, after he completes his end of the bargain,” Dark threatened. “I gave him a chance to back out, and he didn’t take it.”

“If he’s done, I suppose you’ll be done to him?” Deceit asked.

At Deceit’s words, Dark just laughed. “Yes, I suppose, no matter what he returns to me with, I doubt he’ll be of much further use to me. Not with that pathetic doctor and the rest of the heroes taking pity on him. You should have been rid of him years ago.”

“And should be rid of that puppet you have at city hall,” Deceit warned. “You can practically see its hinges and strings when you move it.”

“My business is not of your concern,” Dark growled.

“Leave Anxiety be, and I won’t care about what you do at city hall,” Deceit threatened back.

Dark just smiled again, and Deceit decided that Dark’s smile was probably his most obvious lie he had. They were dangerously close, but Deceit made sure not to flinch. The Entity was obviously waiting for it, like a wolf surveyed a herd for its old and feeble.

“Then you better help him find what I want, so that you can have him back,” Dark ordered. “Like I said, he’s unfit for the League.”

“You better,” Deceit reminded.

“Well I have to say,” Dark’s smile didn’t fade, neither had the ringing. “You never cease to amaze me, Deceit. You and your little attempts to undermine me. If you weren’t so useful, I probably would have killed you by now. But I’ll offer you this, I’ll give you back Virgil if you can tell me one thing.”

“Which is?” Deceit was eager to just be done with this whole mess.

“I want Captain Morality’s real name,” Dark told him. “Or I want him brought to me alive. I can have him unmasked either way.”

It took every ounce of control and illusions not to show any type of emotion. Not the concern and actual fear he felt at whatever had gotten Patton of all people singled out by Dark and not Logic. Or the desperate clawing need to get Virgil untangled from Dark’s network.

So he managed a chuckle, “Morality? What could that manchild be doing that could threaten you or your Network?”

Dark didn’t like that, his aura starting to curl around Deceit’s feet, “It is my belief that he’s seen something. I aim to figure out what he knows and strangle it out of him. The issue is, as far as Gainesville documents suggest, he has no paper trail beyond his superheroics. Which couldn’t possibly be true, because Average and Marvin have paper trails, so Morality is either being hidden by someone.”

Deceit felt a dangerous tap at his chest, glancing down to see Dark’s aura before casually looking back at Dark’s face.

“Or he’s not nearly who I think he is, and I’m looking in the wrong place.”

“So, I get you the oblivious Captain, and Anxiety is mine?” Deceit inclined his head, going for nonchalance.

“Immediately,” Dark promised, still smiling.

“I’ll give it some thought,” Deceit dismissed. “Morality is no threat, and I’m more intrigued by your need to have him over his cohorts, than turning him in.”

“Either way, I will find what I want to know,” Dark took a step away. “Besides, you’ve given me enough information to start.”

“Best of luck,” Deceit smiled.

Then Dark stepped through a tear in the Void, leaving Deceit “alone” with nothing but the city below and silence.

Checking the streets, Deceit turned into Logic in full costume and left the scene. A couple citizens tried to stop him, but Deceit gave his best impersonation of the side he knew all too well.

He just went back to the apartment he’d been staying at with the other Dark Sides. He felt drained and didn’t want to loop Dark around to Patton. As frustrating and infuriating as all the “Light Sides” could be, they were still Sides. Deceit still needed Virgil if he was ever going to form the Dragon Witch again. The serpentine Side was almost positive that if he was ever going to be Thomas again he needed Logan.

The instant he walked in, Remus physically jumped on him. The unexpected attack almost knocking Deceit over.

“Do you mind?” Deceit glared at him. He took stock of the apartment to find that, to his amazement it wasn’t completely trashed. Orange was on the couch, watching the Room, ignoring both of them.

“Hey, Dee,” Remus smiled, face dangerously close to Deceit’s.

Deceit grumbled, “Remus, you need to take a bath, you smell like sour garbage.”

The dark green villain just smiled, “Why thank you Dee, I’ve been dying to know when you would recognize my new cologne.”

He gave a little shoulder shimmy against Deceit’s arm.

“Ugh,” Deceit pushed him away. “Get off of me, before you make me smell like you.”

“So how’d the meeting go?” Remus asked.

“As well as could be expected,” Deceit took off his fedora to get some ash from the burned out shell he’d been in off of it. “Virgil’s gotten himself into trouble and Patton is not helping.”

“When will they learn to enjoy life?” Remus jumped onto the little table they had, assuming what he usually called his “paint me like one of your French boys” pose. “They’re no fun, Patton least of all. I mean, he’s even making Virge boring.”

Before Deceit could do anything more than stare at his hat, trying to figure out how to frantically dig the other Sides out of the hole they were digging for all of them, Remus took the fedora and placed it on his own head.

“Look at me,” Remus said in a poorly constructed Deceit impresion, even holding his hand up to pretend like it was talking. “I’m Deceit, I whine about everything, and worry too much to have any fun. Blah. Blah. Blah.”

Deceit glared at him, “Give me my hat back.”

Remus shrugged and took it off, reaching his whole arm inside the hat. Which was a talent that would have worried Deceit if he hadn’t become completely desensitized to it years ago. His face scrunched up and Deceit was mentally braced for the intrusive Side to pull out just about anything. He’d once reached in and used his powers to pull out a dead pigeon for a laugh, and that was currently on the hopeful end of Deceit’s expectations.

But to Deceit’s surprise he pulled out a beautiful lion heart lily. The yellow tips perfectly curled. The black and yellow flower looking out of place in Remus’s hand. Remus handed the hat, now looking like it was full of the black and yellow lilies, and knelt on the table to place the lily he’d been holding behind Deceit’s ear. “Happy birthday, my little snake.”

Deceit was completely speechless, just staring at Remus as he took his hat back, looking down at the flowers. Finally he managed out a, “Thank you.”

As if completely unaware of the effect he was having on the other Side, he jumped off the table like a feral raccoon, almost knocking the whole thing over.

“I’m bored, let’s go bother Roman,” Remus decided.

“Sure,” Deceit smiled at the flowers, gathering all five of them put in his hand to admire them.

“Then we can steal and ice cream truck,” Remus grinned.

“Sure,” Deceit was still admiring the flowers, remember to take the lily behind his ear and place it in the vase with the others.

“And drive it into the hero’s base,” he summoned a glass vase with skulls and snakes on it.”

“Sounds like fun,” Deceit place the flowers inside the vase. He carefully set it on the kitchen counter.

“Come on,” Remus told him, grabbing his hand in his. “Ory, try to burn the house down for me, I never got around to it.”

Orange flipped him off, but Deceit could only laugh, his mood greatly improved.

“Let’s go,” Remus pulled him out of the apartment, the two off to cause trouble.

With a hand still tangled in Remus’s, Deceit had to admit, as frustrating as Remus could be, he was a familiar type of frustrating. And the Deceit would take that over any type of villain or hero in the city.

[javocjovian]

Breaking Point, Ch2 - SPN Kink/ABO Bingo

Title: Breaking Point (chapter 2) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22868905/chapters/54811465 Square Filled: Clothing Sharing (Kink Bingo), Cherry Blossom / Vanilla / White Lotus (ABO Bingo) Ship: Sabriel Rating: E Warning: referenced Samifer rape and torture Tags: Trauma, Pain, Mild blood/injury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Grace Healing, Protective Gabriel, Masturbation, Shame, Alpha!Sam, A/B/O dynamics Summary: Gabriel has raised Sam from Hell after being kidnapped by Lucifer, but Sam struggles to deal with the aftermath.The trauma he endured is overwhelming, he isn’t sure if he can trust the presumably dead Gabriel, and the torture has sent Sam’s body into rut. Canon divergent. Set anytime between seasons 11 and 13. Word Count: 3340 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |

Quote:

"Look at me, Sam. I'm real. You're not in Hell anymore. You're safe." Gabriel kept repeating himself, watching angry tears gleam in Sam's eyes. Sam looked ready to fight to the death, with or without a weapon. Gabriel didn't know what to do. He could just enter Sam's mind, force him to consent then show him the truth, but would that make him any better than his brother?

For a long time, Sam's world was darkness. A part of him knew he was unconscious, just floating in nothingness, not feeling or seeing or knowing. A part of him was relieved by it. He could tell there was something awful on the other side, and he was happy to drift along, never quite breaching the surface.

But soon something began intruding on Sam's solace. It crept and swirled and invaded his nothingness, and Sam realized it was a smell—a strangely familiar smell. It was so familiar that it felt like someone was there with him in the darkness. It was a sweet, saccharine, exotic smell. Sam realized that if he was smelling that meant he had a body, and if he had a body that meant he was alive. Just like that, the nothingness broke.

Sam felt himself lying on something soft. He was wrapped up in something, but it wasn't rope. He could move his arms and legs. He was cool, but it felt good against the distant pressure in his body. Sam knew that feeling intimately—it was pain. But the pain was attached to something else. Something shameful.

Sam opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed in a plain, dark room. It smelled of cherry blossoms, white lotus, and something sweet, like vanilla. He was dressed in a plush red robe, which he realized was the source of the smell. He was, in fact, alone.

For a moment he couldn't remember what was happening or where he was. It looked like a typical, dingy motel room, but there was only one bed. Were they on a case?

Sam sat up and felt that distant pain shoot through him in an unusual way. He reached up and rubbed his neck. His skin was smooth and warm, yet he suddenly remembered blood. He pulled the covers back and his heart dropped.

Dried flecks of blood covered his thighs and lower stomach. Sam's body went cold. He could see Lucifer's hands, painting tallies on his naked flesh.

It came back to him all at once, like someone shot the memories into his brain at point blank range. Sam had been kidnapped by Lucifer. He wasn't in a motel room, he was in Hell, again, and this was one of Lucifer's tricks—an illusion of safety and warmth to make the pain of his reality all the more unbearable. Sam knew this torture well.

The shock of the realization was too much. Sam hung his head and tried to calm his thoughts. His body ached, and he could feel shadows of the pleasure, the pain, the way he'd arched on Lucifer's cock...

Sam wiped his eyes and got up, refusing to acknowledge the strange yet horribly familiar pain. He needed to do something. He needed to act. He pulled the robe closed, which was too short for him, and went to the small bathroom beside the bed.

Sam flicked the lights on and squinted. As his eyes adjusted to the sour, yellow glow, his reflection came into focus.

For a moment Sam wondered if he actually was dead. The person in the mirror looked pale and sickly. There were red rope marks burned into his skin. But Sam knew he wasn't dead. He'd been dead before, and this wasn't death. This was much worse.

Sam dragged his eyes away from his grim reflection and turned on the faucet. He washed his face with lukewarm water, then cupped his hands and drank as much of it as he could. It tasted like iron and sulfur. The taste hurt him like a wound.

Sam shifted his legs, assessing the damage Lucifer had done. He knew that kind of pain well, despite not having incurred it for years ago. Yet it wasn't as bad as he knew it should be. Was he that numb? He reached down and felt himself. He was sore to the touch, but there was no blood. Sam didn't understand. It hadn't been a dream. Had he been healed? Or was he dreaming now? Was he going to wake up, covered in blood?

Part of Sam wanted to curl up on the floor and just wait for the illusion to be lifted. Lucifer would appear, looking dissatisfied that his rouse didn't work. Or Sam would wake up and discover he wasn't in a motel bathroom at all. He stared at the chipped tile floor, wondering what was happening to his body.

Then a thought came to him as if from another life. He wondered if Dean was in a motel bathroom, too—a real one, somewhere far away, trying to find a way to get Sam back.

Sam covered his face. Tears dripped down his chin and hit the porcelain. He never thought he'd be in this situation again—All those old wounds, presumably healed, forced open anew. It took his last bit of strength to stifle his sobs. Lucifer could torture him all he wanted, but he wouldn't break him. What would Dean say?

Sam looked up into the mirror, resolved to stay steady and endure whatever Lucifer had coming. Then he noticed a crack in the top corner. Like a clock being wound, Sam's hunter brain began to stir.

Without blinking, he carefully prized the broken corner of the mirror out the frame. He cut himself a few times, but he kept working. Soon a razor sharp sliver of a mirror fell into his palm. He found the best place to grip it and practiced holding it. He looked at his distorted reflection in the mirror piece and knew what he had to do.

Sam heard a door close in the bedroom and held the makeshift weapon tight. He took a steady breath and walked back into the room.

Sure enough, someone was waiting for him. The dark figure eclipsed the curtain drawn window, casting Sam into darkness. Sam was ready. He gripped the mirror shard and gritted his teeth. But when the figure extended a hand, it wasn't holding a weapon. The person snapped his fingers, and the bedside lamp flickered on.

Warm light doused the room, temporarily blinding Sam. He held the mirror shard out in front of him, ready to fight, but something was wrong—Lucifer was too quiet.

Sam blinked a few times and realized that the figure wasn't Lucifer at all. He was too short. It was an Archangel, but the very last Archangel Sam had expected to see again.

Sam's knees shook and he felt the motel wall hit his back.

"Gabriel?"

The shortest Archangel, Gabriel, stood before Sam, an uncharacteristically sympathetic smile softening his mischievous face.

"Hey, kiddo."

Sam swallowed. He felt dizzy. The flowery, sweet smell overpowered him and Sam slid down the wall and landed on his butt on the musty motel carpet.

Gabriel's face fell. He crossed the room quickly and knelt down to help, but Sam lashed out with the mirror.

"Sam...stop…" Gabriel tried to hold him steady, but Sam was determined to throw him off. Gabriel didn't want to hurt him.

"You're not real! You're dead! I saw you…"

"Sam, stop! It's me…"

"No... you're dead. I saw you die! You're not real!"

Gabriel managed to grab Sam's bloodied hand and make him drop the glass, then he forced Sam's face up to look at him.

"Look at me, Sam. I'm real. You're not in Hell anymore. You're safe." Gabriel kept repeating himself, watching angry tears gleam in Sam's eyes. Sam looked ready to fight to the death, with or without a weapon. Gabriel didn't know what to do. He could just enter Sam's mind, force him to consent then show him the truth, but would that make him any better than his brother?

Gabriel noticed the cuts on Sam's palm from the mirror and gripped his hand tight. Sam tried to pull away, but a light engulfed both of their hands. Sam froze.

The space between them glowed gold for a moment. When the light faded, Sam's cuts were healed. At least Gabriel could do that.

Sam stared at his hand in shock, then slowly looked up to Gabriel.

Gabriel rose his brows. He released Sam's hand, watching curiously as Sam rubbed his healed palm.

When Sam looked up again he murmured, "Gabriel?"

Gabriel smiled in relief. "In the flesh."

Sam's breathing slowed. He calmed down somewhat, although he didn't take his eyes off of Gabriel. "You're… dead..." He said, as if trying to fight through his own thoughts.

Gabriel sighed. "No. My clone is dead. Me? I escaped."

"But, he…" Sam swallowed. Gabriel's eyes hardened subtly. "Lucifer. He killed you."

"No, Sam." Gabriel said quietly. "You know the greatest trick the Trickster ever taught me? Never reveal your true strength. Lucifer thought he killed me. But what he killed was the greatest illusion a Demigod could create—more than enough to fool an overzealous Archangel."

Sam supposed it made sense. Except, if it were true, that meant… "But, you're here now. Lucifer will know he didn't kill you."

Gabriel shrugged in defeat. "There are some things worth making yourself vulnerable for. I just wish I knew that sooner."

Sam was in too much shock to process that fully. He still didn't look convinced Gabriel was real, but Gabriel figured it was as close as he was going to get.

"Come on, back to bed." He offered his hand to Sam, who took it cautiously and stood up.

Sam was still shaky, but Gabriel was able to get him on the bed. Gabriel smelled like the robe, and Sam finally realized why it was too short on him.

"Now, try to relax, okay? I can't keep healing you." Gabriel said.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Because, lifting you from Hell took a lot of grace, and now I just sent more grace through you to heal you. Twice. Human bodies aren't built for that."

Sam listened, but it wasn't clear he understood. He was still staring at Gabriel like he was trying to see through him.

"You… lifted me from Hell."

"Yup."

Sam swallowed. "So that...that light…in the dungeon... that was you?"

"Mmhm." Gabriel nodded.

Sam looked away. Gabriel thought he understood why. He pulled the covers up over Sam a little more. Sam was grateful.

Sam looked around the motel room, his expression conflicted. His eyes settled on the piece of mirror Gabriel had put on the bedside table. Sam reached over and picked it up.

Gabriel watched Sam examine his reflection, allowing him a moment of quiet contemplation. But before Gabriel could stop him, Sam dug the mirror shard into his other palm.

"Sam!"

Gabriel seized Sam's hand, but Sam's undamaged hand grabbed Gabriel's arm.

"Don't! Don't heal it. Please," Sam breathed. "I need it."

It wasn't a deep cut, but it was enough to stain the bed covers with blood. Sam gave him a pleading look. Gabriel sighed and let go.

"What do you mean, you need it?" Gabriel asked, fighting his own impulse to just snap his fingers and make the mirror disappear.

Sam didn't respond. He pressed his thumb into the palm of his injured hand and winced. Lights blossomed in his corneas as fresh pain coursed through him. Sam kept applying his thumb, grounding himself in the pain.

"It's real. This is real." He said, more to himself than to Gabriel.

The fresh pain was starkly different than the throbbing, distant pressure still afflicting him from Hell. Sam looked up at Gabriel and placed the injured hand in Gabriel's imploringly.

Gabriel watched as Sam squeezed Gabriel's hand. Sam's expression tightened in pain, but Gabriel thought he understood. He squeezed Sam's hand back, and Sam gasped.

The pain. The pain was real, and so was Gabriel. They both looked at each other for a moment, then, finally, Sam said, "Gabriel?"

Gabriel smiled in relief. "Yup."

Sam stared at him. He closed his eyes but it was too late. Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks. Sam held Gabriel's hand tight and Gabriel held it back instantly.

"Sam…" He said softly. He pulled him into a hug, their hands clasped tightly between them. "You're safe. You're home. Lucifer can't get you here."

At last Sam believed him. He buried his head into Gabriel’s shoulder, overcome with a relief so powerful that he couldn't speak. When they broke away, Sam wiped his eyes.

"Where… where are we? Where's Dean?" He cleared his throat.

Gabriel chuckled. Sam was back to normal.

"I already contacted him. He's a full day’s drive away, so… he'll be here in ten hours."

Sam smiled weakly. He rubbed his palm as he began to think. "Gabriel, you're really alive?"

"Alive and kicking."

Sam smiled again, but it was muted. "How did you… Is Lucifer...dead?"

Gabriel's expression faded a little. "No. I was just focused on getting you out. But I did kill about a thousand demons."

Sam nodded, still massaging his palm. "Good."

Sam looked like he wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come. Finally he said, "Gabriel… thank you."

Gabriel smiled sadly. "I owed you one. When I sent you that hint about the rings, I… if I had known how you were going to get Lucifer in the cage…"

For the first time in Sam's memory, Gabriel looked troubled. But then he took a breath and put on a false smile.

"...well, I might not have ditched the party so soon," he said. "Then when I heard he was back, I knew he'd come after you again. So I came." Gabriel's expression became inscrutable. He looked on the verge of apologizing to Sam, but Sam realized he didn't need to hear it. He’d already forgiven him.

Suddenly, Sam winced and bent over. The distant, pulsing pain overpowered him, and he rubbed his palm harder than ever.

"Sam?"

Sam got up, ignoring Gabriel's hand on his back. "I'm fine… just… one sec…" he muttered and went back to the bathroom, almost knocking a lamp over.

Gabriel watched the door close in concern.

 Sam lowered himself onto the edge of the mouldy looking tub. He'd felt a distinct kind of pain ever since he woke up. It had been masked by every other discomforting sensation, but he could no longer deny what it meant. Dread surged through him. There was a sharp pressure in his groin, throbbing and aching. He felt feverish. He released the grip on his hand. It wouldn’t help him anymore.

"Sam?" Gabriel called through the door. "What's going on?"

"Gabriel…" Sam panted. "You need to leave. Go… go find Dean, or Cas."

Sam's heart sank as, instead, Gabriel graced the door open. Gabriel's expression was severe and Sam was immediately reminded that Gabriel was in fact an Archangel.

Sam looked up at him helplessly. He was bent double and holding the robe tightly around himself. "Gabe… I… it's a rut. What happened in Hell, it…" he swallowed, "... it triggered a rut. You need to leave."

But Gabriel didn't budge. "I'm an Archangel, Sam."

"But your vessel's not!"

"My vessel is a duplicate of a Demigod's. A copy. It was created specifically for me. You can't make me go into a rut or into heat or anything."

Sam's brain was working furiously, even as relief swept through him. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Gabriel knelt down beside him. "I'll go get you some supplies, okay? It'll only take a minute."

Sam didn't acknowledge this. He looked like he was holding something back. Finally he asked, "Can't you just… can you make it stop?"

Gabriel frowned. "I've used too much grace on you already. It's not safe." Gabriel's heart sank at the look of pained acceptance on Sam's face. He'd been expecting that answer.

"Yeah. Okay. No problem."

"I'll be right back Sam," Gabriel said quietly.

Sam nodded again, then with a rush of air Gabriel was gone, along with the sweet smell of exotic flowers.

 The only rut Sam had ever remembered being so bad was his first one. Luckily Dean was there. He’d had several ruts by then and knew what to do. But why was this one so intense? Was it just because of Hell?

Sam looked over his sweating, heaving body in the yellow bathroom light. His wounds were gone, and so were his scars. The pain he'd felt when he woke up seemed so real. His body had been tender and raw. But now that he thought about it, all of those sensations seemed to have come from deep within him. From his soul, rather than his body.

Did Sam have a new body? Was this his first rut? He had to know for sure. He had to check and see if he really was undamaged from Lucifer’s assault.

In the privacy of the bathroom, Sam reached beneath his robe with his uninjured hand. He maneuvered himself so he could gently feel his entrance. It was extremely sensitive. Sam spat in his hand then, as slowly as he could, inserted his fingers.

The stretch was painful, but it was that distant pain again. Sam realised it wasn't coming from his body at all. The robe drooped down his shoulders as he probed deeper. He winced a little, but felt unmistakable sparks of pleasure. He began idly stroking his cock, trying to focus on the pleasure rather than the pain. He passed the first knuckle, then the second, but still he encountered no wounds and no further pain. Sam could come to no other conclusion: When Gabriel lifted his soul from Hell, his body had been remade completely.

Sam didn't give it much thought. In fact, his brain had slowed dramatically since he started stroking himself. His rut seemed to have eased up, too. So Sam rested his head on the cool porcelain sink and masturbated on the edge of the tub. He pressed his fingertips into his prostate in time with his strokes, and his body sighed in satisfaction. The world became a blissful blurr, although he started to smell the robe again. The sweet, exotic flowers overwhelmed him. He held the robe to him, feeling it's plush fabric on his bare skin, and let himself get lost in the smell while he brought himself to orgasm.

Sam felt himself begin to knot, then his body tightened up and he came onto the bathroom floor with a shuddering groan.

Sam pressed his head against the sink while he caught his breath. His body rang with satisfaction. His rut retreated momentarily. He felt like he’d just gotten a nap. But as his head cleared he found himself nearly spooning the robe and he immediately came back to reality. He'd just masturbated to Gabriel's scent. His shame compounded and he suddenly felt sickened with himself.

Sam got up and tried to calm himself. He cleaned up the floor and patted himself down with cold water. As he turned to dry off, something caught his eye in the broken mirror.

A handprint. A red, swollen handprint gleamed on the back of his shoulder. Sam stared at it in shock. He remembered Dean's handprint and realized at once where his had come from.

Sam reached around and put his hand over it. He felt a rush of affection for Gabriel, and even more shame.

Just then, he heard the door open in the bedroom. Sam was still knotted, and the robe was definitely too short on him now, so he tugged it down as far as he could, then stepped into the bedroom, slightly red in the face.

Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a bag on the floor. Sam walked over and opened it curiously.

It was filled with supplies for an Alpha. Rut-calming pills, wipes, lubricant, and an embarrassingly large masturbation toy that was the perfect size for Sam. He went even more red in the face and was glad Gabriel had given him a moment alone to open this.

Sam could feel his rut stirring in him again. He sighed and took the bag into the bathroom.

[nekoabiwrites]

Of Princes and Potions - Chapter 1

So, here is that Royal AU I made that post about. 

Many thanks to @doces-e--tuga for the title and throwing around ideas with me for this, along with @not-so-innocent-bi-sander as well <3

This is mostly an introduction to all the characters and their roles, as well as some of the backstory. The true conflict/plot/pairing stuff will begin in the next one, and oh man, I am so excited for that.

If you haven’t seen the general post I made about the AU, you can check it out here

AU: Royal, Fantasy Pairing: None, in this chapter; Logince in later chapters. Words: 2857 Warnings: Mention of war and conflict and death, Talk of injury and scarring, Mention of someone being malnourished, Sympathetic Deceit. Anything else, please let me know!

The Kingdom of Phasta was a peaceful kingdom, ruled by a long-standing and well-loved royal family. Its scattered towns and villages housed its inhabitants, most living fairly mundane yet enriching lives as tradespeople or merchants. It had not always been this way, however.

Years prior, when the current king was merely a small child, a war between supporters of the royal family and a tribe that resided on the opposite side of the kingdom broke out.

The Yitra were frustrated from years of dehumanisation and prejudice. For as long as anyone could remember, the tribe was treated with caution. Whether it had to do with their reptile-like features or if it came from the folk tales surrounding evil tricksters coming and ruining lives, no one could truly tell. The last leader had come to reign over the tribe only three months before the war and was able to convince his people that the royals were the instigators of the hatred, even though the royals had always been kind and welcoming to them. The king at the time had even gone so far as to publicly support the Yitra and attempt to dispel the harsh rumours. That was seen as a performance, by the tribe leader, and so he took his people and began the war.

The Yitra tribe was massacred. Many of them perished in the fight as they were severely outnumbered and outmatched by the skill of the people they fought against. Some were taken as prisoner and still reside within the castle dungeon to the present day. The final day of the war is now celebrated as a holiday, a party and celebration that spreads across the whole kingdom.

Far across the land, the Yitra’s home was destroyed and left in ruin. Years passed, and the ruins were left alone by the kingdom, though some adventurers and curious travellers have stepped foot upon the dead ground. Some see the remains as a warning to those who think they can defy the royal family, though those close to the royals would be able to tell you otherwise. The ruins are left as a reminder of the tragedy, a reminder of what once was. Many parents tell ghost stories to their young about the war, about the ruins and about the Yitra. Even though it was only a short time ago, the tribe have almost become something of a legend.

In the castle that resided in the back of the capital city of Dawnwich, the current king was reflecting on these past events with a heavy heart. He knew his actions back then were the correct ones, even if his people would have said otherwise. King Patton was sitting on his window seat, a plush cushion held in his arms as he looked out the large window. He sighed, “Why can’t I sleep tonight?” The king spoke to himself, well aware that the room was devoid of any other humans.

He glanced over to the extremely comfortable bed that he should be asleep in, the question ringing in his ears. Patton was so distracted by it that he flinched when something came to sit with him on the large window seat.

Patton made a quiet noise of surprise before realising that the addition to his seat was his large, white, fluffy Great Pyrenees. The king quickly smiled and reached forward to pet the dog, who was watching him with questioning eyes, “Sorry to worry you, Marshmallow.”

The dog moved closer, resting his weight over Patton’s legs in order to briefly lick his owner’s cheek, which had the royal giggling. Upon seeing the smile, Marshmallow’s tail began to swing back and forth.

“Thank you, boy.” Patton pressed a kiss to the top of the dog’s head before getting him to hop off of the window seat. He followed suit and made his way across the room towards the bed, sliding under the incredibly soft sheets. Patton called Marshmallow up, the dog more than happy to obey. Both of them found the most comfortable positions and lay down to sleep, Patton’s mind having been quieted by his beloved companion’s concern.

All light within the castle windows was gone, except for one. The tallest tower’s window still held flickers of light, if one were to look close enough. Within it’s walls, the royal wizard was hard at work deciphering yet another spell from a large tome he’d acquired.

“Petriectum Noctindo…” Logan Pendry muttered to himself, before reading the description below. He meticulously noted down the translation of the incantation and its effects, casting requirements and all other information that was on the page. He only paused when a ruffle of wings sounded behind him.

Logan ended the sentence he was translating before placing the quill back in its holder. He turned with a fond gaze to the tawny owl that sat on the perch next to the open window, shaking his head softly as he noticed the small animal that was held in the beak of the bird. He held his hand open under her beak, which was the signal that had the animal being dropped into it. Logan stored it away in a jar, along with other animals that were in various states of decay.

“Thank you, Strix.” The wizard carefully pet the owl, who was watching him with interest. He let out a snort of laughter before reaching for another jar. He held out the small treat, which Strix almost immediately stole out of his fingers. “Sometimes I wonder if that’s all you want.” Logan thought aloud as he placed the treat jar back onto the shelf.

The owl made a soft noise before leaning into his hand, which was back to petting her, showing him that he wasn’t just a source of treats for her. It was times like this when Logan wondered if she was just an extremely smart animal or if there were more secrets to Strix, but he pushed that aside for now.

Logan stared out the window and watched the night sky for a moment, “It is late. I should probably put my work aside for the night.” Strix hoo’d lightly, showing him that she agreed with his statement while also giving him a look that made Logan feel like he was being scolded.

He left the parchment unrolled on his workbench but lay a piece of string between the pages of the tome before closing it for the night. After putting all the candles out, Logan climbed the spiral steps up to the higher floor of the tower where his bed sat, pristinely made from the morning. He didn’t immediately lay down under the sheets, however, He instead opened the trap door in the ceiling and crawled out to the roof. Logan stared up at the twinkling stars, almost filled with a child-like wonder as he thought about them all.

If Logan would have looked down, he may have been able to make out the figure of the animal handler sluggishly entering the building where his bed resided. The wizard would have been a little curious as to why the man was up as late as he was.

Demitri Candor was a very interesting man for most. He seemed to have no true origin, having just been brought to the castle at a very young age to be nursed back to health. He’d been found with his face gashed open and many scars littering his body, weak and malnourished as if he’d been abandoned. After taking a few weeks to recover, Demitri had never left the castle. He stayed as the animal handler after he showed a natural talent for working with the royal family’s horses.

But right now, the man was extremely tired. His day had been long and arduous, mostly due to which animals needed the most care today. Demitri was muttering under his breath to himself as he stripped out of his protective gear, “What a stupid Pegasus. So demanding? It’s his fault, he needs to teach it better.”

He crossed the room to the large tank that sat at the foot of his bed, up on top of the well-used set of drawers that housed most of his clothing. Demitri fondly smiled at the resting snake, his most precious pet. “You’re not like that picky feathered horse.” He spoke to the snake, despite the fact he was fully aware she was deep in sleep.

Demitri stood and admired his pet for a few moments longer before crawling under the plain sheets of his bed and laying down to rest. He nestled into the corner of the pillows he’d set up around the head of the bed, almost finding that it made him feel safe despite him not really being able to explain it. The animal handler yawned, “Goodnight, my little Pretzel.” He smiled softly to himself before falling asleep.

Finally, all was dark and calm in the castle. Barely a soul was moving, excluding the general toss and turn of someone in their sleep. The night passed uneventfully, and the morning sun rose, bringing with it the orders that the now-busy staff had to carry out. Kitchen staff woke with the sun and set about creating breakfast, while the rest of the castle began their usual routines.

In the high levels of the castle, down a heavily decorated hallway lay the rooms for the Sanders princes. Two members of the staff silently approached the opposing doors at the end of the hallway, knocking softly. When neither heard a response, they entered the rooms.

The left room was for the younger of the king’s two sons. The young lady who’d entered the room smiled softly at the small boy who was still sound asleep. She didn’t wish to wake the young prince, but it was her duty to make sure he woke and was ready for breakfast. With as much care as she could, the servant shook the young prince’s shoulder, “Your Highness… It’s time for you to get out of bed and get ready for breakfast. Your Highness?”

The lump under the blankets groaned and wriggled further under the covers, “Nooo, wanna sleep…” came the tired voice that made the servant stifle a gentle laugh.

“But Your Highness, you-” Before she could begin to try to convince the prince to get up, the sound of something running down the corridor reached her ears. She did attempt to walk to the door and open it in preparation, but the creature was just too fast and slammed the door against the wall as it bounded inside.

A large white blur crossed the room and jumped up onto the bed, immediately diving for the young prince who squealed happily once the creature began to lick his face. The boy laughed and squirmed about in an attempt to avoid the loving attack, “Marshy, stop!” Marshmallow did immediately stop his assault, panting happily as he lingered above the child, who was now definitely awake.

Marshmallow moved to the side when the prince started to climb out of the bed. Prince Thomas stretched before noticing the young woman standing in his room. He grinned and ran towards her, throwing his arms around her legs in a hug, “Good morning, Sara!”

The servant smiled softly and carefully returned the hug, “Good morning, Your Highness. You’re having breakfast with your father today.”

That got Thomas very excited. He bounded back and looked up at Sara with sparkling eyes, “Really?! Is Ro-Ro coming too?!” When she nodded, the young prince seemed extraordinarily pleased as he squealed. He ran over to the large closet, quickly rushing inside to get dressed. Marshmallow followed after a silent order from Sara asked him to.

Across the hallway, the other servant was accompanying the crown prince as he attempted to find the right outfit for the day. They stood just inside the double doors of the positively enormous walk-in wardrobe, watching as the prince held up items of clothing to himself and he appraised them in the mirror.

“No… that’s just not right…” The elder prince turned and clicked it back on the rail before picking up the next one, “Oh, this one…” Suddenly, he turned towards the servant, “What do you think?”

“It is perfect, Your Highness.” They responded with a gentle nod.

The prince pouted and seemed a little annoyed as he turned back to the mirror, appraising his outfit choice once more, “Oliver, how many times must I remind you? You’ve been here for long enough and woken me up every day, you are allowed to call me by my name.”

Oliver stiffened slightly and drew in a deep breath, ready to start his day off as usual, “Of course, Prince Roman. I forgot, once more, that you allowed me to do so.”

“Yes, you did…” Roman said, clearly distracted as he now moved to looking for the final parts of his outfit, “Be sure to remember, alright? It is tedious to keep telling you over and over.”

“As you tell me each day, Prince Roman.”

The slightly annoyed response had the prince laughing loudly. After throwing his signature red sash over his body and securing it in place, he walked towards the servant and clapped his shoulder firmly, “Oliver, you truly are unique.”

Both of the princes managed to leave their rooms at a similar time, meaning the two met as they headed down the corridor. Roman was just a few steps down the hall when the young voice of his brother called out to him.

“Ro-Ro!”

The elder prince spun on the spot and crouched down in preparation. Immediately, the small boy was in his arms and Roman picked the boy up, carrying him down the hallway over his shoulder, “Morning, Brother.”

“Put me down!” Thomas thrashed about, giggling all the while. It was only once they reached the end of the hallway that Roman did put the younger back on the ground, mostly because he heard the two servants exiting their rooms and he would likely get some kind of grief from his father if Sara even saw what he’d done.

After a short walk, the two brothers walked through the large doors of the dining room, taking their usual seats either side of the head of the table. It was a little strange that their father was not there before them, but it didn’t worry either of them too much; Thomas was still in the process of truly waking up and Roman was in conversation with some of the waiting servants that stood nearby. Recognisable voices began to approach the room and both of the princes looked towards the door in order to greet their father.

“Good morning, you two!” Patton grinned as he turned into the dining room. He was shortly followed by the captain of the guard, who had quickly stopped conversing with the king as his attention had been taken by the king’s two sons. “Thank you for letting me know, Sir Virgil. I’ll be sure to come and visit you in order to finish our conversation, but first – how about you join us for breakfast?” Patton offered, gesturing along the large table, “We have more than enough space.”

Virgil bowed slightly, “I appreciate the offer, Your Majesty, but I have morning drills to go through with the new recruits. I will have to take you up on it another time.” As he turned to leave, he gave Patton a wry smile, “Also, you know you don’t have to use that title, Your Majesty.”

“And you know the same.”

A moment of silence passed before Virgil snorted softly in amusement.

“Speak with you later, Patton.”

“Of course, Virgil! Don’t forget, you are always welcome to join us.” Patton grinned and patted the guard’s shoulder.

“Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Virgil turned sharply and headed down the corridor towards the exit that led to the guards’ barracks. He breathed more easily now that he was away from the pressure of talking with the king. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the ruler of the kingdom; they were actually good friends that went back years, it was more that he was constantly wary of others as they’d walked the halls together. In front of fellow knights and servants, Virgil wanted to keep the professional and commanding nature he was known for as well as show respect for Patton.

He was still lingering on his thoughts and the trip through the castle as he entered the training paddock where the new knight recruits were standing around, waiting for him. Virgil immediately managed to drop the thoughts and go to his usual persona that could strike fear into the heart of even the bravest solider they had.

“Alright, recruits.” He called out in a simple monotone shout, causing all of them to stand straighter, “Let’s get to training.” Virgil walked to the side and picked up his helmet, slipping it over his face and beginning to lead the session. As he stood before one of the training dummies and raised his sword, Virgil had a feeling that this would be the easiest session yet.

Next Chapter

My other stuff: http://nekoabi.tumblr.com/myworks Mobile Accessible Masterlist: http://nekoabi.tumblr.com/post/181954641376/fic-masterlist

General Tag List: @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @didsomeonesayprince @llamaly @justanotherpurplebutterfly @iaminmultiplefandoms @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @lowkeyvirgilobsessed @louisthewarlock @fangsandrainbows @xxladystarlightxx @sleepyssnail @ao-koshka

OPAP Tag List: @notalwaysthevillian @frankiprowsworld

[powerbottomblake]

RWBY:Ragnarok or predictions on the Atlas arc

Building on my previous post about how the RWBY arcs parallel seasons and the archetypal narrative structure linked to each season, I’ve established that Atlas corresponds to winter, aka themes of darkness, dissolution, the return of chaos, and the defeat of the heroic figure, but what I’m going to be developing here is how winter is linked to Götterdämmerung myths, a.k.a Ragnarok, otherwise known as the death of the gods in Norse mythology. So yes, Atlas is definitely a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Time for our heroes.

The thing is, that isn’t the only Norse mythology allusion tied to Atlas, be it the cast, the location or the events of Ragnarok itself. This post will be about delving into all of these allusions and find how Ragnarok’s narrative beats find equivalents in RWBY and how it might help predict the Atlas endgame (or at least part of it) as well as figure out some general plot points.

But before that, I feel like you need to familiarize yourself with the G.U.N theory (though I don’t know if I’m 100% in the scope of it with this post). I think the person that best explained it in a concise way would be @alexkablob in this post but basically the nitty gritty of it is that all RWBY characters aren’t allusions to a single myth but have layers of different allusions to several myths, and decoding them makes it possible to predict the beats of their narrative. Think v6 made it all too obvious with how Adam was Prince Adam (a.k.a the Beast before any character development or growth), the Rose curse and Gaston all wrapped in one (plus some references to Anakin Skywalker too apparently!); or how Yang is Goldilocks, Beauty and the Beast simultaneously (amongst others).

So characters that you know are allusions to a certain myth/fairytale, might have allusions to other ones, less obvious but still just as significant in determining that character’s fate and their overarching character arc, and the Atlas arc of the story is just full of these other allusions, all Norse mythology themed.

I’ll start with the allusions tied to the central figure of Atlas’ plot, aka the man himself, James Ironwood, then branch out on the connected cast’s allusions and how they’d fill their respective roles in Atlas’ version of Ragnarok.

So, as we all know James Ironwood is supposed to be our Tinman from the wizard of Oz. Thing is Ironwood also refers to a location in Norse mythology, Járnviðr (literally old Norse for Iron-wood), where a witch gives birth to giant wolves that are alluded to as Fenrir’s kin, one of them in particular being dubbed snatcher of the moon, who will swallow the moon come Ragnarok.

Before delving deeper into this, who is Fenrir?

Fenrir is a monstrous wolf who’s bound until comes Ragnarok, where he breaks free, wreaks havoc on the realm of the gods, and kills Odin, the patriarch of the Norse mythology pantheon and one of its most powerful figures.

I’m gonna go ahead and assume that CRWBY will merge all the monstrous apocalyptic wolf figures into one because that’s the decision that makes the most sense, and I’m gonna refer to it as Fenrwby to differentiate it from the original Fenrir (listen I couldn’t come up with anything else).

So now we’ve established that Atlas harbors or will get invaded by this giant wolf, Fenrir, who announces the apocalypse and swallows the moon.

Damn, I wonder which character is always closely associated to moon symbolism, incidentally also alluding to a tale called Dead Moon (again @alexkablob got you covered) and whose death circumstances are still a mystery till now?

That’s right I think Fenrwby will be confirmed to be the reason Summer died. Another point that absolutely convinces me of it is that he(it?) refers to. A gigantic evil wolf. Or you could say. A Big Bad Wolf. And guess where Little Red Riding Hood is headed right now?

But before eating Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf eats the grandmother first.

Yeah, this might very well be the last time Maria’s making the trip to Atlas.

But let’s go back to Ironwood. There’s yet another allusion to him and that’s the Norse god Tyr. Tyr was a war god, but also presided over law and justice, which aligns with Ironwood being leader of the military, headmaster and even has the Council (which I assume is executive and judicial power) bow to him.

Tyr’s most striking act and for which he’s most known though is that he’s sacrificed his arm when the gods first bound Fenrir, the arm the wolf bit off being the right one, and lo and behold:

James Ironwood is indeed missing a right arm (well a whole right side because he’s also Tinman, but you get me). From this we can already surmise that the mission Summer was sent over to was probably the containment of Fenrwby, and it cost Summer her life and Ironwood his right side.

That leaves us with one question: who/what is Fenrwby and where did he come from?

We’ll have to go back to the original myth for a bit here. In Norse Mythology, the trickster god Loki fathers three children with a giantess:  Hel, a woman that becomes a sort of queen of the Underworld, the world serpent Jörmungandr and the world wolf Fenrir. All three siblings are prophesied to be big trouble to the gods but what sets Fenrir apart is that:

He’s the one foretold to announce Ragnarok; his unbidding decides it

He’s the one destined to swallow Odin himself whole

He’s the only “hellish” sibling who’s raised right where the gods live, in Asgard

Beyond the similarity in how the names sound, I do believe Atlas’ design takes after Asgard and is meant to symbolize it.

For further reference here’s Marvel’s take on Asgard:

And here’s our first look at Atlas:

Atlas even has those threads attached to Mantle below which I suspect act as anchors + elevators/transportation conducts (most of it probably dedicated to Dust transport) between Mantle and Atlas, but also are a visual reference to Yggdrasil's roots, the Norse world tree, extending from Asgard to the other realms below.

So Fenrir is raised right in Asgard, but the wee pup is growing at an alarming rate (plus is prophesied to destroy all of it) so none of the gods is keen on approaching him. None except one brave god that is the only one to get close and feed him. And who would that be? That’s right, Tyr a.k.a our basis for Ironwood.

Ironwood hosting and hand-rearing a monster that will ultimately cause Summer’s death and the Atlaspocalypse sounds extremely unlikely, but there’s one scenario where this makes sense.

Atlas is known for its technological advancement and its constant development of new weaponry. I believe Fenrwby was born out of such a project, under the general leadership of Ironwood, but someone must have taken the experiments too far and ended up creating something so terrible Summer Rose herself (and maybe all or a combination of the remaining STRQ team), a silver-eyed warrior, had to be dispatched to neutralize, dying in the process.

Now is the time to remember that Fenrir is Loki’s son. In the original myth, Loki, an Asgardian god, gets eventually banished and during Ragnarok sides with the enemies.

So we’re basically looking for a disgraced Atlesian, who was possibly a scientist and is now currently working with the enemy.

And here is our Loki, none other than Arthur Watts himself, whose fallout with Atlas is yet to be explained.

I believe the reason he left Atlas was because he’s the one responsible for Fenrwby’s creation and in its immediate fallout, evaded arrest.

Another reason that leads me to believe Watts is our Loki is that Loki’s ties to Hel, Norse queen of the underworld, who was described to be “half-black and half flesh-colored”, which is a dead ringer for Salem.

Arthur Watts’ name also seems to refer to Arthur Conan Doyle and John Watson, the first one being the creator of Sherlock Holmes and the latter his dutiful companion and side-kick, so I believe Watts might be a combination of (evil) Sherlock and Watson. This is further supported with how Watts’ appearance seems to be a blend of both (Watson is described as tan, with a strong build and a moustache and Sherlock as tall and lean) and his outfit being Victorian-era inspired. He is referred to as Doctor by Salem, first to affirm his status as fallen scientist from Atlas but also most likely as a nod to Watson who was a skilled doctor and often would be referred to as Doctor as well. Sherlock Holmes is known to be an emotionally detached analytical machine with a caustic (and at times callous) kind of humor, having a usually dispassionate and cold demeanor, all of which match what we see of Watts. How is this linked to our Ragnarok? Well one of Sherlock Holmes’ most well-known stories, one where incidentally Watson has a very proactive and prominent role, is the Hound of the Baskervilles. The story is itself based on the legend of a “monstrously evil man” who sold his soul to the Devil (Salem) and after his death led a pack of phantom, evil hounds.

Evil hounds, monstrous wolves...Watts always gets linked to big bad canidae one way or the other.

Which brings us to our next question: now that we know who made Fenrwby, what exactly is Fenrwby?

Ok so this is the part where the theory gets tentative because there isn't much to go off of, so bear with me.

Watts is partly based on Sherlock Holmes, who is indifferent and detached usually, unless he's in the midst of an investigation. He then turns driven, getting tunnel-visioned and borderline obsessed (he can even go without food for so long he faints) until he solves the mystery. I think Watts is much the same. He carries himself with cool composure mostly but there was one instance where he showed a sort of zealous fascination: when he saw the seer Grimm.

Ok so I have an inkling that Watts is fascinated by the Grimm, and his forbidden experiments involved Grimm creatures. This is further supported by the Baskerville allusion to a pack of phantom hounds, which could very well reference the Grimm.

So going off this, Watts experimented on Grimm - since Atlas is very much wolf-themed, maybe Beowolfs? - and out of them he made Fenrwby.

But what could possibly be combined to Grimm in a way that’d defeat the combined forces of Ironwood (whose entire right side got severed) and an experienced silver eyed warrior like Summer?

I think we can make an educated guess based off the two major technological breakthroughs we got to witness during V1-3, namely Penny, the first synthetic being able to generate aura and the aura transfer machine. You’ll have guessed it, I think Atlas was dabbling into aura experimentation and Watts rerouted it to his own Grimm endeavors. What if he succeeded in equipping Grimm with something similar to Aura? Something that would hijack the Silver Eyes. I’m just bouncing ideas here but I’m pretty sure Fenrwby is the result of Watts tinkering with Aura and Grimm, and I think Watts staying with Salem is in large part because she’s the crystallization of the divide that fascinates him, being both human (having a soul, so in theory having aura) and grimm. Salem is the long running case study Watts is pursuing in a way.

So. Now that we’ve established what Fenrwby might be and who is behind it, we can delve into the narrative beats of Ragnarok. I made a synthetic list of Ragnarok events that seem relevant and connect to RWBY as a narrative:

Fenrir swallows Odin

I think Ozpin having Odin references in his character is common knowledge enough in the fandom. Odin is the king of Asgard, is associated with wisdom, knowledge and sorcery amongst other things, and is known for having two raven familiars (Raven and Qrow), all of which fit Ozpin.

What could Odin being swallowed mean for Oz and Oscar?

Of course, this could simply be an indication of Oz/Oscar fighting Fenrwby with Ruby, and losing.

But we can take it further. Oz lives inside Oscar through the merge between their souls, their auras connecting. We’ve established Atlas has been studying and experimenting on aura; Watts has most probably even toed the line of what is morally acceptable in terms of experiments. What if Fenrwby, or one of the machines Watts has been “tinkering with”, is able to sever the connection, effectively trapping Ozpin’s soul or at least sending it in another reincarnation cycle? This is a reach, I’ll admit, but something about Odin being swallowed somehow does not bode well for Ozpin.

Thor fights Jörmungandr

Can’t talk about Norse mythology without talking about Thor! And incidentally we have someone in the main cast based off him. I’ve always found it weird how V4 gives Ren a comprehensive backstory but never an explanation for how Nora is just there, beyond “random Kuroyuri orphan”  (How did she get orphaned? Why was she in Kuroyuri? Who were her parents?). I think Nora’s backstory will be fully explained in Atlas as I have a feeling Weiss isn’t the only one coming home. Thor’s home is Asgard after all.

So Thor fights the giant serpent that is Loki’s other son and Fenrir’s brother. One of Jörmungandr’s most striking features is his venom, as he’s described spraying it through air and sea, and it’s how he kills Thor even as he’s slayed by him, poisoning the god to his death.

Our Jörmungadr equivalent thus needs to wield poison, and be sired (or fixed) by Loki aka Watts. That would be Tyrian.

I believe we’ll have the second round of Team JNR vs Tyrian - as foreshadowed by Tyrian’s interest in Jaune - and it’ll end with Tyrian dying and Nora being gravely wounded.

The frost giants join the fray against the gods

I’ve already expanded on this in my previous post, but Jack Frost, Jacques’ fairy tale basis, is said to be based on the norse frost giants. This, coupled with the “Jack and the beanstalk” references, pushes me to think Jacques is going to betray and cause the death of Ironwood and help team W.T.C.H steal the relic.

Gamr, another big hellish hound, kills Tyr

Gamr is another monstrous hound who breaks free of his bindings in Ragnarok. As I said before, I believe all hounds/wolf imagery is going to be compounded in a single entity in RWBY (especially when they sometimes share identical characteristics), so this is Fenrwby getting free of whatever binding Summer put him under (maybe the Silver Eye power petrified him the way Ruby did the giant Nevermore?) and killing Ironwood.

Surtr, a fire giant from Muspelheim, the realm of fire, covers the entire world with fire with his flaming sword

Surtr is a fire giant that guards Muspelheim, a hot and glowing land of fire, and who sets the world on fire with his flaming sword at the end of Ragnarok. This signals the destruction of the world, but also announces its rebirth with the surviving gods and humans meeting afterwards and leading into a new era.

So the guardian of a sword of destruction (Vacuo’s relic), coming from a hot unforgiving land (Vacuo), crashes the fight. I believe this is when the Summer maiden gets introduced, and she uses the relic to end the fight and save the thoroughly defeated team RWBY so that everyone may escape to Vacuo as Atlas’ destruction is complete.

So, to TL;DR this extremely long post:

There is a Big Bad Wolf kind of monster/entity in Atlas I’m tentatively calling Fenrwby

Watts created this monster by dabbling into forbidden experimentation, probably on aura and grimm

Summer Rose sealed said monster but at the cost of her life and the fight cost Ironwood his right side

Fenrwby is unleashed on Atlas, either by Team W.T.C.H, accidentally by Ironwood, or a combination of both

Jacques sides with W.T.C.H and helps them steal the relic

Fenrwby kills Ironwood and Maria

Oz is either defeated, sealed away from Oscar or sent in another reincarnation loop

Nora is from Atlas and we get her extended backstory

Team JNR fight Tyrian and are able to defeat him but Nora is gravely wounded

the Summer maiden arrives in a bind and with the relic of destruction ends the fight and takes team RWBY to safety

[romijuli]

They’re here. I’m affectionately calling this project Schrodinger’s Chosen One; theoretically this universe’s Chosen One is dead, and thus the end of the world is coming, but no one found his body, so there’s a lot of people who still have hope. Or, you know, he could’ve been a fake Chosen One. (Theoretically press F for good ol Goswin)

This was sorta brought on by how much I fuckin love Octopath and in general stories about a bunch of randos whose stories eventually intertwine and also just. Thoughts on Chosen One stories. And the ocs are 3 of my dnd chars/ideas thereof PLUS Jay, who’s...special.

ANYWAY

Twenty-Seven: Twen, as they often shorten their name (which they chose because it sounds nice), is already a peculiar sort, considering they’re a shapeshifter who prefers to stick to just the one form, for the most part. Moreso than that, however, they’re...not the most observant, considering they decided to set out to find their purpose immediately after the announcement that the Chosen One died. Oblivious nature aside, Twen’s a pretty firm believer in the concept of fate; that what needs to happen will happen, somehow. Maybe that’s why they don’t pay much attention? (Note: Twen is a rogue in a oneshot i’m currently doing, and also this dollmaker does NOT do justice to their terrible style. I WILL draw this terrible outfit and apply color. Also, the decision to make them an arcane trickster was a direct result of writing Eleven as one in Troublerouser and enjoying the hell out of it; Twen’s name is a nod to that)

Mai: Directly responsible for training our Chosen One for his grand destiny or whatever, Mai took it pretty hard when the Gloombringer announced his defeat. But the prophecy said that the Chosen One would defeat him, and there was no body found, so surely he’s out there somewhere...right? Her only real guide being her intuition, she sets off on a grand mission: find the Chosen One, wherever he may be or whatever may have happened to him.... (Note: I’m off-and-on playing Mai in an episodic-ish campaign with some irl friends! She’s broken as hell. Also she does not look her age here; she’s 45!)

???: shortly after the Chosen One’s supposed passing, they woke up alone, remembering nothing of themself, not even their own name. Upon finding the nearest civilization, they dubbed themself Asphodel, Dell for short if you must, and set their mind to a goal: try to figure out who they were before, or at least figure out what to do now. (Note: Asphodel started as an NPC for a theoretical dnd campaign set in the world I used for this, but now they’re kinda a backup for whenever I can find something that makes sense for them.)

Jay: Healer-turned-necromancer Jay used to be a pretty decent spellcaster for the Gloombringer and his army of despair, but upon the announcement that apocalypse was coming, she felt...regret, for the first time in a very long time. She soon defected, coming to a sudden realization: surely, if she were to revive the Chosen One, wherever the Gloombringer had assuredly taken his body, she could convince the world that resurrective magic is something to be respected and cherished, and rectify the wrong that drove her to the Gloombringer’s side in the first place! (Note: Jay kinda flits between stories, popping up whenever I need a minor antagonist, except for the few stories where she’s a major player. Like my theoretical Interstitial campaign! Her presence as a reformed baddie happened because of that, actually; she was a baddie through and through until I accidentally started liking her.)

[pinkpuffballdude]

Who is Celestia sparrow and what happened with the wizard :0

OKAY. SO. I am HONESTLY not in the mindset to write this rn because some SHIT just went DOWN in our campaign but ALSO this is a great way to destress. Anyway if this comes off as uhhh real weird that’s why. Let’s go.

So to start: me and my friend, @clericjester, have been playing Pathfinder together with my brother and two of his friends for about eight years. Celestia is my character, and has been that entire time, and Thela is Sage’s character. Both of us are rouges, but I multiclassed as... multiple things now, but mostly a bard, so I’m the charismatic one of the party. We’re also the two hardcore RPers of the group, so we’ll go off and do side adventures sometimes, when they come over and were like “hey dad*. Pathfinder.”

*my dad is our DM. It’s very convenient. 

This was one of those times.

It started with an already canon event, where the party split up in a city to go off and find... something, it doesn’t really matter now, but Celestia and Thela went off together and ended up in a bar. Thela got approached by some random thug and offered a TON of money to go and rob a house. We, being a pair of greedy bastards, of course accepted, and hashed out a plan in which Thela would go do the actual breaking in, being the sneakier one, while Celestia stood outside and distracted the guards so they wouldn’t bother her. And that’s what happened! 

Except Mr Thug Man neglected to mention that it was a fucking powerful magic users house that we were stealing from, and so after we got away unscathed (okay that’s a lie, Thela broke into his writing desk and got some cool shit, but also set off some kind of alarm? maybe? and nearly got caught by a pair of GOLEMS) he CHASED US DOWN and has been sending us to this crazy bullshit dimension occasionally where everything explodes.

But first! We thought we’d gotten away! We ran away from the building, the guards didn’t catch us, we met back up with the group, it was all good! Until my DAD was like “okay so you’re on the road to where ever, here’s a map, arrange yourselves in this square” and we’re all like OH GOOD COMBAT and two GLASS GOLEMS you know, the two from the wizards house, came up the road and made a beeline for Thela (and Celestia got on her riding dog and RAN away because FUCK that, but they didn’t care about her cause she had no loot!) and Thela climbed straight in the air and the party almost left her to die, but defeated the golems instead and then turned to both of us and were like WHAT DID YOU DO and ever since we’ve been denying our wizard crimes.

Note: we don’t actually know if he’s a wizard! we don’t even know if he hates us! we just call him a wizard for ease of discussion. 

Later, we were all in a tower in a mad scientists castle, and us two were trying to figure out what the hell the stuff we stole actually did, by trial and error. We already knew that the rods we’d gotten were Immovable Rods, hence the climbing into mid air, and a couple other things, and had moved on to the fountain pen we’d stolen. We scribbled all over the walls of that tower, writing whatever we wanted to, trying to figure out what the hell it’s purpose was. “It’s just ink you can see with Detect Magic!” we said. “It doesn’t even do anything cool!” Okay, said my dad. So you can see it with Detect Magic. “Yeah!” So you can see any of it with Detect Magic. “Right!” From anywhere, he said, with great patience. We looked at each other. We looked at the walls, now absolutely covered in whatever random shit we could think of, in magical ink, visible from anywhere, written by a pen we stole from a wizard who was actively after us. “oh no,” we said, in unison, and immediately jumped into bed and pretended it never happened. Continue lying about our wizard crimes.

I think... after that he met us on a road somewhere, just. literally in the middle of the road, as we were travelling, whole parties there, and the BASTARD teleports us to aNOTHER DIMENSION, and LEAVES US THERE, and tells us that we should “hurry up, wink wink nudge nudge”, and gives us a timer, thing. We are in the middle of a jungle. long story short we make it to the check in point with minutes to spare, and as we leave the ENTIRE FUCKING PLANET EXPLODES. ALL THE OF THE TREES ARE EXPLODING, THERE’S A GIANT DUST CLOUD OF ALL THE DIRT GETTING KICKED UP, IF WE’D MISSED THE CHECK IN WE WOULD HAVE FOR CERTAIN DIED. Thankfully we get teleported out, and the Bastard confiscates all the cool samples we took from there and lets us go. And we go on our merry way! We’re miles from where we started! Stop being such a trickster god!

Later on we were staying at a hunting lodge, right, and there was some stuff that we still hadn’t figured out, like a silver bracelet that as far as we could tell didn’t do anything when you put it on. So we’re at this lodge, it specialises in werewolf hunters, right, so this lodge is FULL of werewolf hunting fanatics. This is important. There’s been a string of murders within the lodge, and no one can figure out who’s doing the killings and we’re going all detective on this shit, which means the party is split up. It’s fine, were safe, whatever, but this does mean that Thela and Celestia are alone and outside under what turns out to be a full moon (I bet you can see where this is going). We’re at a dead end, we can’t find anything, so THELA thinks it’s a GREAT IDEA to pull out the bracelet and just. put it on. We hadn’t actually put any of the items on, or used them that much, until we knew what they did, but no! she just. Pulled it out. And put it on. 

And immediately turned into a fucking black wolf, bit Celestia, and jumped over the twenty foot high wall (that’s about six meters for all you metric heathens out there). Sage was not in control. Thela woke up the next morning in their shared room! and they had one of the hunters track her trail from the yard all the way around to their room, which as soon as he got there they regretted because a fucking werewolf had gone into their room and Thela was now a werewolf who became an npc when she was a wolf oh my god what are we gonna do. The answer to that, of course, was keep it hidden until she fucking JUMPED UP INTO THE BOYS ROOM AND RAN THROUGH THE HALLS, AS A WOLF, TEARING SHIT UP, THROUGH THE WEREWOLF HUNTING LODGE, WOLF THELA NO. Anyway that’s one of the proudest moments of my life because Celestia was able to convince the most bloodthirsty of all the hunters that the boys were simply playing some sort of game, that for some reason involved running through the halls screaming WEREWOLF, THERE’S A WEREWOLF IN THE BUILDING. I peaked. So Thela ended up hiding in the shadows (and Celesia’s room) for the next three days until the full moon ended, by witch time we were able to talk the boys down and get on with our lives, and the adventure. Also the murderer was the soft drunk boy, as possessed by an angry murder werewolf ghost. That was a trip.

Fun fact about Thela’s lycanthropy: I don’t think it’s true lycanthropy, because 1) shes got a silvery tattoo that 2) tells her which animal she’s gonna become that 3) changes, depending on what turns out to be multiple factors. One of them is location, but right now she can always be a tiger because she’s wearing a tiger belt. 

The latest and greatest wizard shenanigans were when he showed up and teleported us and a monk named Balance (who was aptly balanced on a fucking chain when we met them), and who he for some reason wanted to stop guarding a randomass bridge, BACK to the exploding planet. This time, pre exploded! There was actually stuff to find there, and we got four exploding snails out of it*. AND a bunch of samples. The check point this time was a moving platform because this man only finds joy in our suffering, but he didn’t meet us when we got out, AND we’d gotten to our destination in three days instead of three weeks, so...

And Thela’s tattoo didn’t show anything while we were there? Like, either she couldn’t shift or if she did it would have been into the Void? We didn’t test this. 

*so they actually rapidly compress into spheres when threatened, creating a shockwave similar to a bomb. Reusable slug bombs!

And today after our Lovecraftian Experiance (which I can also talk about, if you’d like) the tattoo looks. Twisted. But only to Thela. I think hallucinations are in order. Also I want to peel off my skin, but that has nothing to do with Bastard Wizard.

So that’s the story of our wizard shenanigans, thanks for asking!