#magick is real ;; alice

[spkyscry]

@cxactin sent: autism creature meet furry pink creechur eimi.

They're communicating... scary.

[spkyscry]

When the group arrived at the cave, it wasn't a surprise that the ectonurite descended from the sky to meet them. What was a surprise, however, was his adamant statement for them to hang back so he could handle it.

The last Alice checked, he had openly admittedly to having been easily bested by them― with his friends there with him, at that. The witch was halfway to reminding him of that fact when, like a whip cracking through the air, bandages wrapped around the would-be ghost. She simply paused, giving a bit of a wave just before Ben was unceremoniously snapped into the cave.

"So, we held up our end of the bargain, now we can just-" Raven began, only to hear the growl and once more look more than a little annoyed at the situation her sister had gotten them into with her somewhat carefree attitude. All they could really do was watch the triplet of werewolves leap down to intercept them, as Alice readied her staff. They definitely looked a little weird, but...

Much to Alice's surprise, one of said 'werewolf's' mouths opened to reveal a splitting maw and some kind of attack ready to spill over. In an instant, she's diving out of the way, as the others scramble to get into fighting position- a sudden miasma of disease enveloping them from a machine strapped to Raven's back- whilst Alice is getting to her feet to cast a spell.

Said spell causing sigiled rings to alight before her, homunculi forming from the ground below and charging hectically at the nearest 'werewolf' to pummel it with their bodies- grasping at appendages to tug wildly. Clearly only given enough sentience to know panic and mania.

Gwen and Bolt, meanwhile, are assailing another of the pack. Bolt himself slamming fists together and pointing to attract attention whilst Gwen points a blaster attached to one arm at them-- everyone able to watch a stream of sugary nectar erupt from it like a fire hose. It... was certainly an attack! Clearly meant for some other type of foe, but high pressure streams hurt either way.

"Scream twice if you need help!" Alice called over the carnage into the cave, prepping to start raising walls of calcium from the ground to protect from the counterattack.

In retrospect, a birds-eye perspective wasn't really the most useful thing considering the surrounding forest, but thankfully it did let him watch the group of four head on with a clear direction in mind, the specter following from above; even when the overhanging branches got a little too thick to see well through, the light kept them in sight.

Eventually, another clearing in the trees opened up around the entrance to a cave, where the same trail of damage went from the trees to the ground, and eventually even to the stone, as by the looks of it someone exceptionally strong was dragged into it.

The trailing Ectonurite floating down to examine the scene right as the group reached it, nodding at the sight.

"Yep, Kev is definitely in there." He says, not sounding the least bit concerned for his friend's safety despite the scene, before turning his gaze down to Alice. "This'll be pretty dangerous, so I can handle things from here." He said with complete confidence, in spite of the clear disparity between him and the group, and the fact he'd already admitted to losing. "Appreciate the help. I'll seeya to return that favor aft-"

The Ectonurite's words of gratitude were abruptly interrupted by what might've been recognized as the animated bandages of a mummy, dusted with an odd glowing purple substance, launching out of the darkness of the cave, instantaneously wrapping the ghost up, and after a comical pause of blinking, yanking him inside.

Before the heroes could attempt a rescue (or decide whether they'd even try), the sound of a rumbling growl rang out from up above.

Several beastly silhouettes outlined by the night sky atop the mouth of the cave, dropping down between the group and the poor stranger that just got whisked away, revealed to be... werewolves?

That's what it'd initially seem like as the small pack of three took a clearly hostile stance against the four, fangs bared...

... though, when the centermost wolf's jaws suddenly split into four and unleashed a tree-splintering sonic howl in their direction, that might've made them seem less likely of being normal werewolves.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 6 part 1

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

ooh the "magick" mitzvah? I've been puzzling about the connection between william and billy, that's an interesting detail. I'll elaborate in a minute

I've seen a lot of irony about joe locke clearly not being 13 here, but the thing is, sometimes boys do suddenly hit puberty and have an insane growth spurt! and then you get the hilarious visuals of some guy sitting in a tiny desk in a classroom full of children.

my point being, they should have had joe dancing with a bunch of actual 13 year olds, it would have been so fucking funny

I love mama and papa kaplan, and it really gets to me that they lost their boy and don't even know it. I was worried about billy's episode because I thought it would be just a bunch of marvel tie-ins with no heart. glad to report I was wrong

lilia who hates witch stereotypes performing those very stereotypes in order to not fucking starve

william's reflection is billy reversed

lilia foresees william's death and billy's takeover, and she is SO sorry for him. patti as usual conveys so much, you can tell her heart is breaking but she's being kind and lying in order to not scare this poor kid. and this is exactly why being a Seer has always been a burden to lilia, how do you form any relationships, how do you love someone when you've already seen the day you're going to lose them?

“The Tower Reversed.” disaster, destruction, sudden upheaval. but reversed, it means miraculous transformation.

and there is something about lilia choosing this moment as the most representative for billy, a moment that symbolize both billy and william. this is future!lilia embracing her own strength and reclaiming the coven and the community she denied herself her whole life. and not only she includes billy in it, but also william as a fundamental part of billy, a kid that she protected and cherished despite meeting him only briefly.

not only lilia goes above and beyond for william, hiding the truth from him, inviting him to enjoy the party she knows will be his last. she hides the sigil on him so she can protect billy too, because she knows that another little boy is about to wake up in a strange reality and be so lost. she tells william he's a good egg, but she is the goodest egg.

I love the little choices here. wanda's voice on the radio, pretending she's in an idyllic sitcom marriage. and a real life marriage where wanda's 1950s tropes are reversed, rebecca is the one who drives and grabs her husband's hand to reassure him.

another great detail: the dissolving Hex reflected in the car window.

the parallels are taking my breath away. two moms, agatha and rebecca, fiercely loving and protective. both would blame themselves for their sons dying.

but sometimes, boys die. and to quote jac shaeffer, that is tragedy enough to fill the universe.

you can hear william's heart slow down and stop. then, when billy takes over, it starts beating like crazy.

and here's alice, who's also never met william (or billy) before, but she will unquestionably do her utmost to help.

I miss you so much, alice

he's so scared. the way he shakes his head and doesn't know where to look.

imagine being born yesterday, and suddenly you are in a different body and your head is cracked and you're surrounded by strangers. and your brother is nowhere.

that is the worst omelet I've ever seen in my life by the way

(also I know billy is used to instant growth, but imagine switching from child to teenager just like that, it's like going through puberty in two seconds. kafkaesque nightmare fuel)

and it's just so realistic and so moving that the kaplans are presenting a united front even though they are crumbling underneath. and they won't say any of it out loud because they are good fucking parents and it's their job to protect and worry without their kid ever feeling guilty about it. (billy does end up reading their minds because they're not equipped to parent a superhero yet. not that they wouldn't RAISE TO THE FUCKING CHALLENGE. I love you rebecca and jeff kaplan)

william liked classic movies, board games and magic tricks. there were budding hints at a goth vibe too, with dario argento quotes and creepy victorian posters. it doesn't seem at all incompatible with the person billy will eventually grow up to be, I know he had to settle into william's life, but he didn't revolutionize any of it, he kind of followed in william tracks. I think that yes, william died just as wanda dissolved the hex and it was a wrong place and wrong time kind of situation, but he also had to be a compatible donor - as similar as billy as possible, I don't know if genetically or soul-wise or what. they even look a bit similar, same ears, same nose, same eyes, same chin, same triangular face.

these guys really like doing mirror shots, don't they

by the way I will keep calling him Boyf because it's so damn funny, but I do know his name is eddie and I'm really really happy for the representation. there won't be any particularly deep meta about these two because gay boys are so, so far from my realm of interest or expertise, I'm sorry if you were looking forward to it. if you want to add context or ideas about them please do!

another possibility is that billy's soul, while not having any of wiliam's memories, was still shaped and conditioned by his dna and brain chemistry and past experiences, so in a sense william is still in there. you put software in a different hardware, it's gonna affect its performance.

I'll say this about boyf, he's very sweet. billy gives him this crazy story and he doesn't flinch, he just tries to understand and be supportive.

*cough cough* nerd

but look, he's pulling a detective agnes! he really is an agatha mini me.

ah yes, the future coven looking after billy even before meeting him. lilia giving him the sigil, alice being first responder on the site of the accident, jen saving his dating life by teaching him good skincare (he's a teenager! he's got pimples!)

you guys, I hope you don't mind me dedicating some time to billy alone, but I do like this episode a lot.

and tomorrow: it's the return of butch agatha!

go to episode 6 part 2

[lilia-calderus-pet-goat]

The Self-Fulfilled Tragedy of Agathario - Study / Analysis.

Agatha met Rio over the bodies of her original coven. She was scared, at first. “I didn't do it.” She said. Rio simply said, “I saw.” In a soft voice, “your power is beautiful. Don't ever feel guilty about your talent. You survived.”

Death was the only consistent comfort in Agatha's life — “this is the me you fell in love with.” Agatha wasn't scared of it, not for a long time.

Why should Agatha value life, when death loves her so intimately? When only Death understands her sorrow? When Death is the only one who tells her that she wasn't born evil—because Death is the natural order of all things?

They did live together, in that cottage, for a while. Agatha, “took power from the undeserving—” who *she* deemed undeserving, as said in WandaVision—and Rio collected the bodies. They never had to be apart. Death was her satellite, orbiting around her endlessly, holding her hand because no-one else would. (“I hold Death's hand in mine.”)

But Rio cannot be present for long if there is no body to collect. She needs to be everywhere, in every place, all at once. So she'd be gone for long periods of time, back whenever Agatha would kill and stick around to see her. Split across the fabric of reality, always reaping, collecting, guiding the souls to their afterlife. She may not be the only reaper—but she's the personification of Death, not merely a deity who carries the title. She is finality. She is the “end,” the “goal” the “completion.” The “telos” where all roads lead to. She isn't “decay” but a cycle coming to an end. Transformation. New Beginnings. Change. Growth. She is thr Green Witch, as all living beings return to the earth that gave birth to them.

Nicky came from Agatha's love for Rio, just as Billy and Tommy came from Wanda's love for Vision. There was no spell, no need for incantation. Nicky came from Scratch. Life from Death, like the Green Witch's trial. And that, indeed, is why he was a stillborn.

And because Rio merely appears wherever there is death—the moment she appeared during the childbirth, even though no one else was around, no bodies to collect—Agatha knew immediately.

Rio was inevitable—and she could offer only time. She bent the rules for the woman she loved, because she couldn't bear the thought of Agatha hating her.

And suddenly, the form she fell in love with was terrifying. Because she now had something to love other than death. She didn't find it to be a beautiful comfort amidst her darkness anymore, but a cruel reminder of her son's mortality.

And though once she killed and stayed—to keep death close—like the protagonist of an ancient tragedy, seeing beauty and eroticism and peace and quiet and divinity in Rio—she was suddenly met with discomfort and fear and grief. And so she killed and ran—to keep Death busy. To keep Death occupied. To keep Death away. To earn more time, to delay the inevitable. To not see her face again. “Why do we kill witches?” - “To survive.”

The same Death that rescued her from her mother's cruel arms and cradled her in hers was now the very reason she couldn't be a mother herself. The very reason she couldn't see her son grow.

The very Death that once re-assured her that she wasn't born evil was now a cruel reminder that maybe she was. And you know why?

Her mother treated her as evil because her magick 'takes'—and 'gives' nothing. For Agatha, that's what evil means. That's why she insults Rio by telling her she gave nothing—she *took.* “And that's usually your move, right?”

And the real tragedy of Agatha Harkness is that her villainy was self-actualized. A self-fulfilling prophecy. Agatha hates her powers, even more so when looking at her son. Because, “I cannot heal you, (Jen) I cannot protect you from what's coming, (Alice) and I cannot divine (Lilia) when she (Death) will return.”

So she hates her power, because unlike the others, Agatha cannot—by design—give anything to her son. She can only 'take' from others. She can only 'give' to *Death,* and that's why only Death has ever loved her. And that, now, to her, verifies her mother's statement: “you were *born* evil.”

Not like other witches—like Jen—the 'deserving.' “I left you alone, because what you were doing was important.” “It was bind or burn.”

Because she couldn't save her son. She never could have. And to Agatha, that's because she was “born evil.” Because she never was living—she was surviving, with Death's hand in hers. Her power could only drain life, not better it. The very song that Lorna Wu used to protect her daughter was a cruel reminder that Agatha couldn't protect ber son.

Agatha could never see Rio the same. She could never face her like she had before. Because now, Death was her deepest shame. And she was Death's scar.

She left the world thinking that she sacrificed her son because it's better to be feared than pitied. Easier to blame herself and blame Rio than to admit and register that it was inevitable.

She slept that night without killing witches to spare Nicky's feelings—because he wasn't evil, like her, and she'd never let him think it like her mother did to her—and she assumee that Rio would wait. That she wouldn't strike in the night. What Rio saw as mercy, Agatha saw as the cruelest betrayal.

Rio never stopped pursuing her even as Agatha could never face her. And their love was so powerful, so passionate, but it couldn't overshadow the pain and the grief of something so human as losing a child. Though despite the baggage, they never could be too far from each other. Even within Wanda's hex, even when Agatha didn't remember her own name—she remembered her deep feelings for Rio. Her love, her hate, her passion. Even when she didn't remember why

Rio can't understand why Agatha doesn't want her. “No-one in history has had special treatment like you“ - “Why don't you want me?” - “this is the me you fell in love with” - Because as The Green Witch, the personification of Death—she is the natural outcome of all things and cannot conceive the human aversion to death. “Evil? You're calling me evil?” She doesn't **get it.** She doesn't find her nature cruel, just as she doesn't find Agatha as “born evil.” She sees her as she always had—affectionately. She bent the rules of the universe for her sake. And so she doesn't understand the aversion at all. She feels rejection. And all she wants is to have Agatha again, who keeps evading her for something she couldn't help. And she's devastated, because once, Agatha loved her for the very thing she now hated her for.

So Death can't fathom humanity finding her cruel. Because she knows she can be gentle, and kind, and patient. Because she has been, a million times over. Because she's the one thing that everyone has in common, as Lilia's Maestra said. But what she *can* fathom is grief—because she knows love—“because what is grief, if not love persevering?” And so grief is a feeling of longing, beyond Death. More powerful than her.

And the longing never stops, even for death. And so Agatha tries to kiss her on the road after the “she's my scar” scene. She can't stop herself. Is it because she's desperate to convince herself that Nicky's soul lives on in Billy, meaning perhaps that Rio allowed it to? Is it because, despite knowing it's not her son, she's vulnerable, and thankful that Rio didn't take him too? Is it because she's reminded of the past—and love is beyond death? Beyond fear? Because grief is love persevering?

Regardless—because I could not stop for death, she kindly stopped for me. And Rio doesn't take advantage of the vulnerability. She reminds Agatha of the raw, cruel, heavy truth. “That boy is not your own.” Nothing is better. Nothing is fixed. Agatha isn't kissing Rio here because she's accepted Death, but because she's denying it. And so it's not real. They can only kiss when Agatha finally accepts Death.

So in the finale when Agatha turns to Rio and kisses her, at first Rio doesn't believe it—that she finally wants her again, that she finally accepts her. As if finally letting her grief settle, accepting it as natural, sharing it with Rio.

She forgives Death, but she doesn't necessarily forgive herself. Because she HAS become a villain, because she has used her sweet boy's innocent song to kill, tainting it as to not face Death all these years, when she was stuck in limbo between blaming Rio and Herself.

Now, she only blames herself. She doesn't let it happen again, with Billy. Agatha embraces Death just as Nicky once did, because she wouldn't.

But she's still not ready to pass on. And maybe she never will be. She is a tragic figure with no catharsis, even as she's faced both hubris and nemesis.

And that is the real tragedy of Agatha Harkness, who loved Death above all and feared it all the same.

[myheartisbro-ken]

Okay, I've been having some thoughts about the actual dangers of The Road as created by Billy, and despite me previously believing Billy subconsciously made the trials deadly because people kept telling him The Road will kill you (I still believe that's some part of it) I don't think Billy had a part in anything that was actually dangerous aside from the the ceiling of swords, which I think it was more a representation of his struggles than anything else

Hear me out!!

Yeah, they were all poisoned in the first trial, but they were also given the exact ingredients needed for the antidote, and the only reason Sharon died is because they forgot about her while making the antidote and didn't add her hair in it, so she was given a potion that wasn't made to work for her. Billy/The Road didn't kill Sharon, Jen's potion did.

Lillia was the one who said they were going to have to face their fears, and like Rio said 'magick took the path of less resistance' and gave them an existing poison that makes people hallucinate. And it was Agatha breaking the glass that made it possible for the water to get in, and even so, it only broke fully after the timer went off.

The second trial only unleashed Alice's existing family curse. Billy didn't know, couldn't have known, that the curse left the burning scars, that it was physically clinging to Alice's shoulder all that time, he didn't make her lose her jobs before they met, the curse already existed. For all Billy knew, Alice was fully protected against it because of the tattoo.

Agatha's trial was literally just a regular ouija session that went wrong because Agatha broke the rules because she didn't like what her mom's ghost had to say. The only real danger there was Agatha and her powers. Which was what killed Alice, as we know.

The Salem's Seven weren't Billy's creation, nor did he call them into The Road, Rio's summoning was what left the trail for them to follow Agatha.

The swords, I feel like, were the most physically dangerous a trial was just because, and that was basically all of the witchy clich��s shoved in a room. And we all understand Lillia died from her own choices, right?

Sure, Billy created The Road in the image of what he pictured it would be, shoved with all the witchy clichés he surrounded himself with, because he was desperate to belong with other witches and be accepted by them and have a coven of his own. But he was not all that responsible for the actual dangers they were presented with.

[shutupineedtothink]

Post Ep 6 Theory: Billy Is Casting Agatha as the Villain

Well I really have no business writing theories at this point since I’ve been wrong multiple times but like maybe I really got something this time, you know? Isn’t that the point? Can’t I be right one time?? My Capricorn stellium is raging at having all these theories disproved. And I love it at the same time. 😅

Whatever. Potential spoilers under the cut.

So I’m fully on the “Billy magicked the Road” theory, he is Wanda’s son after all and tbh there’s just too much evidence to ignore it at this point. I won’t go into all of it, House of R pod does a great breakdown in their episode 6 review, check that out if you’re interested. The basic points are: Billy created the Road probably subconsciously, Agatha knows it, she’s trying to figure out how he did it and what his goal is, and also get her power back and not die from the Seven. Cool.

My theory is an offshoot of the Billy theory, and speaks to where he and Agatha are going to end this season (aka coven two). Ready? Ok.

Soooo if we take as fact that Billy conjured the Road, because he can’t control his magick and more broadly because he has some shit to work through (again, same as Wanda) then how do we explain Agatha’s trial within that framework.

Why was the trial to “punish Agatha?” If Billy, subconsciously or not, is in control of everything that happens on the Road, why do that?

Well, subconsciously, he’s angry at Agatha. Whether he’s actually angry at her specifically or just angry about what happened with the hex, it doesn’t really matter. He has a lot of suppressed anger that needs somewhere to go. And who’s the closest available probably evil witch? Ya girl, Agatha Harkness.

Someone he saw as his friend, possibly, in the hex. Someone who fought his mom and tried to take her power. And someone who ultimately, by disrupting the status quo, led to his literal world being destroyed. By that logic, I’d want to punish her too.

Billy, in his (probably subconscious) magic-fueled rage, grief, and sadness over what happened to him, his family, and his life, took all of that and blamed it on Agatha. In his fantasy of his own hero’s journey on the Road to find his brother, to get his family back, he has (spell)casted Agatha as the villain.

So when Agatha “can’t control” her power in episode 5, siphoning Alice, it’s not because she has issues with her own control of her powers. It’s because Billy was making her do it (again, probably subconsciously). She essentially blacked out at that moment, and turned into the evil witch Agatha Harkness. And when she comes to, she seemingly has no idea what she’s done.

So when she says she couldn’t control it, she’s not lying. But it’s not because she’s never been able to control her powers. She’s probably had control of them for centuries. It’s because in that moment, Billy was writing the narrative, not her. And then he confirms it to her face — you’re lying, you want power, that’s all you’ve ever wanted. Essentially saying, you’re the villain here not me not my mom.

And then it clicks for her, what he’s doing, subconsciously or not. And she turns on the evil villain persona herself to take back the narrative from him. And we get, you’re so much like your mother. Creating the Road, creating this whole story to serve yourself and the narrative you want to believe. Making me the bad guy. Undertones of fuck you.

Okay great, so where does this leave us now and how does this play into the show as a whole? I think the question the show is asking, as it relates to Agatha’s character, is who really is Agatha Harkness? Is she the villain? Is she the hero? Is she both, or neither? Is she her reputation, as Lilia reads in ep 2, or is she more than that? Can she be more than that? Can she be good?

Now here’s where it gets real juicy y’all, because as much as Billy has made Agatha the villain in his hero's journey, he's also made her the Guide.

He goes to her to lead him down the Road. He's constantly asking her questions and trying to learn from her. On some level, maybe a more conscious level, he does idolize her. He wants to see her as a witch to look up to. He even wants her love. Just look at his crestfallen face when she says she didn't put the sigil on him in ep 4.

She's the Yoda to his Luke, the Dumbledore to his Harry, the Moiraine to his Rand. And once again, subconsciously he knows it. And he wants it.

He says in ep 6, I don't know if I ever needed you (a mouthy teen if I ever heard one), but then his power immediately fizzles out. She calls him out on it, all that power and no access without a temper tantrum. He needs her. He needs to learn. Again, in this version, she has control over her powers normally, just not in her trial. So she can provide that knowledge.

He went to her to lead him down the Road. And she's been subtly teaching him this whole time. (Once vengeance is unleashed, you can't reel it back in. It's about selflessness, Teen.)

Now for her part, I don't know if she realizes she's mentoring him. But she definitely cares about him, as we saw at the end of ep 4. Again, partly a reaction fueled by Nicky, but I think she's been at least 80% sure it was Billy this whole time. So she genuinely cares for him too.

If I had to bet, I'd say Agatha very much knows the different parts she's playing, the villain evil witch, the guide, and somewhere under even that, the real Agatha.

She's just playing along, some times more willingly than others, because she needs to see where this goes. And she doesn't necessarily want to break his baby brain in the process.

It's almost the more subtle version of her leading Wanda through her memories in WandaVision. She's guiding him along the Road, partly to see what he can do and get her powers back if possible, but also for his own good.

So prediction time, where does this leave us in the finale.

I won't speak to the remaining trials, but I'm thinking there has to be a big showdown between Agatha, Billy, and Rio.

If we're going for Agatha becoming her most true self, and Billy seeing her for who she actually is, my money is on a reversal of the Agatha stealing Alice's power scene.

Rio's going go to after Billy, and Agatha, to save him, is going to start siphoning his power. It's going to look like she's killing him, being the evil witch of her reputation. But then she's going to stop (because she's been capable of control this whole time), taking just enough power to get her purple back. He has more than enough to spare.

Also fun fact, Wanda's power (red) -> Billy's power (blue) -> Agatha's power (purple). Do I want this to happen just because the colors make sense... maybe.

Ultimately, Agatha and Billy become a team, a coven two, a master and apprentice. They both see each other for who they are, imperfect, powerful, but capable of good. Rio is fended off/bargained with somehow. Maybe Agatha offers up her own soul in his place but Rio can't do it. Idk that's all wild speculation.

Point being, this is all about self-discovery, self-actualization, and deconstructing false narratives you have around others, and in Billy's case, around his own life. Dealing with your trauma to become a more whole version of yourself.

And as with WandaVision, dealing with grief and loss, but in this case, also finding a companion, a familiar, a family you never expected beside you All Along. 👀

What do you think? Can you believe I wrote this the day before ep 7 drops?? 😂

[jadoue1999]

Kaleidoscope of Destiny

Next parts: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22

Summary:

What might have happened if Agatha had succeeded in draining the coven? What was her plan with Billy after?

This is this story.

Chapter 1: Power

“Are there any real witches here? Because all I see are have been and could have been.”

Alice’s magic hits her first and it feels like a full breath after years of panting. She hears someone scream in protest before another wave of magic hits her. Lilia’s. She had been scared that her earlier warning would foil her plans but it seems like the old crone was too caught up in emotions to be rational. She’s surprised when a third beam joins the rest. Of course, she knew that a coven’s power intensified when reunited, but she didn’t think it would be strong enough to override Jen’s binding. And it isn’t, not completely, but the sparks she gets are strong and only fuel her more. She can feel their lives slowly slipping away as their powers are drained and it’s the best she’s felt in 3 years.  

While she wishes she could stay in this moment forever, all good things must come to an end. Agatha feels their magick dwindling and stops, so she cuts the binds and vaguely hears their bodies hit the ground. She opens her eyes to see a terrified Mrs Hart trying to escape. She doesn’t have the energy to deal with her, so with a quick mind wiping spell she removes the memories of what happened and sends her back home to her flowers. She can hear commotions upstairs which she assumes is the kid with the Salem Seven so she decides to intervene. 

That’s when she notices a glowing door on the ground. 

At first, she doesn’t know what to do, there’s never been a door after singing the ballad. With a flick of her hand, the heavy wooden doors open to show steps leading down into the earth. The path is lit with blue roots and emanates powerful magick. She can’t understand what she’s seeing. It’s always been a con, a way to lure gullible witches to steal their powers. She’s always set the rules and the reasons why it would never open if she weren’t there. She’s always made sure that witches would come to her. And in all that time, not once had a door actually appeared. What has changed now?

“Agathaaaaaaaa,” says an approaching voice and that’s when it hits her.

It’s him.

That child who is protected by a sigil, that child who somehow broke her out of Wanda’s spell. The child that she can’t learn anything about. The child that was so desperate to embark on the Witches Road that quite literally manifested it, in the same way that his mother had lost herself to her grief and conjured up her own sitcom life.

This is Wanda’s child. 

She has seconds to react as he’s barreling down the stairs and she decides to quickly cast an illusion to hide the door. She doubts the kid knows what he’s done and she wants to crack him open herself. She closes the doors with a wave of her hand while she’s at it so no one falls into the unseen hole. 

“We have to hurry, they’re coming!” The kid exclaims. His running comes to an abrupt stop when his eyes land on Jen, Lilia, and Alice’s corpse. He looks up at her, eyes full of fear and horror. “W— what happened?”

She has a choice, she can fool him into thinking that she was the victim or she could confront him about who he is. She has to weigh the plus sides and the downsides. The Maximoffs can be… reactive if her encounter with Wanda taught her anything so Agatha has to tread lightly with a scared teenager. 

She goes for the victim act.

Her eyes water and she shrinks onto herself. “The door didn’t open and— and I suppose that they got mad. They blamed me and attacked me.”

Teen looks at the corpses, unconvinced. “And they’re dead?”

She gulps exaggeratingly. “I have the ability to siphon a witch’s powers, and I can usually control it but… but I haven’t had powers for three years, and I don’t know what happened. It was like finally taking a full breath after being underwater for years, I couldn't stop myself.”

Agatha’s been doing this for long enough that she knows exactly how to present herself when she wants to look vulnerable. She can see the teen… Billy, if she remembers right, hesitates, he’s trying to see if she’s being truthful or not. There’s no time though, because the door bursts open, and the first of the Salem Seven crawls down the stairs.

Okay, yeah, even she can admit that it’s creepy as fuck.

“Agatha!” Shouts Teen as he moves behind her. “What do we do?!”

She blasts the witch before she can reach them. She hits the wall with a crunch and Agatha hopes that it’s enough. Two more barrels down the stairs and she does her best to deal with them. Her magick is a trickle of what it once was and doesn’t hit as strongly as it did. She’s getting frustrated, she can feel Teen’s power and yet he’s not doing anything. He’s panicking, trying to find something to hit the witches with but he’s just wasting time. As the last four witches join them, she can’t take it anymore.

“Billy!” Agatha shouts. 

The kid immediately freezes as she says his name. “How do you—”

“There’s no time!” She yells, blasting the fox looking witch. “You have to help me over here!”

“How?! I can’t blast, or shield! I can’t do anything!”

He’s panicking, and apparently clueless about his powers. Just her luck. “You have power, you just have to release it.”

“I don’t!”

“Billy!” She screeches just as the raven witch manages to hit her. 

She hears the teenager whimper and Agatha looks over to see him being surrounded by two witches. She briefly wonders if they can feel who he is. The air around them starts vibrating just as he curls onto himself and she knows just what it means. The Salem Seven don’t, obviously, because they barge right at the threat the moment they sense the power radiating off Billy. Are they seriously expecting to win against a freshly realized son of the Scarlet Witch? 

Agatha watches eagerly as sparks light up his fingers and his eyes briefly glow a bright blue before he closes them in fear. Survival is often the reason that witches unlock their powers; it seems that Billy will be no different. Billy screams and power quite literally explodes from him. It’s fascinating. Agatha might be cruel and a killer but she recognizes potential. She’s always loved to see powerful magick in action and the teenager is certainly fulfilling that criteria. She watches as the Salem Seven realizes just how doomed they are as the blue magick hits them. The feral minded coven doesn’t just die, they quite literally disintegrate at what looks like a molecular level. As the witches fall apart, Billy’s magick, exploding as it is, passes through her. Her body reacts to the involuntary attack, grabbing onto the magick and siphoning it. It takes her a few seconds to realize what’s happening but she doesn’t want to stop it when she does.

Billy’s magick is delicious.

It’s somehow even more exquisite than Wanda’s, and any other witch she’s ever consumed. If Lilia’s, Jen’s, and Alice’s magicks were like a cold glass of water after a drought, Billy’s is a tsunami. It’s endless and powerful and unrestrained. She hadn’t known what she wanted to do with him before, but she knows now.

She wants to drain him until the very last drop.

Billy soon notices what’s happening, and his eyes fill with fear. His teeth are clenched tight as he tries to stop the flow of magick, but Agatha knows that unless she breaks the link, she will be feeding until the end. 

“Stop, stop!” He pleads in a voice that might have made her reconsider if she didn’t know who he was. She can see the panic growing in his eyes, and his magick tries to defend him but all it does is give her his powers faster. “Stop, please. Please stop!”

She cackles at that if the boy really thinks that she’s going to—

“STOP!”

The link is cut, and Billy falls bonelessly to the ground. Agatha looks at her hands and then at the teen loudly catching his breath, trying to understand what happened. He’s full of the wrinkles that show how much she’s taken but they smooth out in seconds. No one has ever made her stop, no matter how much they had pleaded. But then again, she hadn’t stopped out of her own volition, had she? He had compelled her to stop.

Just how powerful is the son of the Scarlet Witch?

She can’t wait to find out.

***

Notes: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! This fic is born out of me wondering what the hell was Agatha's plan ever since we saw that she wanted to kill everyone for their powers and yet kept Billy away. This story is pre-written and I'll be updating every Sunday and Tuesday. Strap yourself in, this is going to be a wild ride!

Tag list: @trampledore @hannah-0730 @fyregrl @lanfear-is-my-darkmistress @lover12345abcde @astronglywordeddm @tiredwitchmachine @lesbiifem

Comment if you want to be added!

[thimbledoll]

The Dressing Doll - Interview with the Coven

This story is a continuation. Click here to view the previous entry. Click here to view the first entry.

Context: This story was submitted as part of #EmptyOctober's prompt for day 30, "Coven."

"So it's my understanding that you wish to join our coven, Mister Alist—"

"Miss. Alice," the applicant firmly interrupted.

"Ah, right! Miss Alice…" the coven leader repeated, letting the name roll over her tongue experimentally.

Between her close-cropped silver hair and the custom-tailored suit she wore, the elder witch had the air of a woman trying to keep her finger on society's pulse. Her one bit of traditional adornment was the hat, the symbol of her sisterhood, that she hung from her chair.

Her office in general exuded professional authority. It was covered in more awards and accolades than most witches could ever hope to achieve; Ink 500's top CEWs, multiple publications in Magick, even a photograph of her hobnobbing with the Agatha Harkness.

In one corner, her smiling face reflected back at them from behind the glass frame of a rainbow-splattered New Salem cover page on which she proudly featured. "Duvessa Cross Speaks Out! The Importance of Coven Inclusivity and Intersectionality," it boldly proclaimed.

"Gosh, I'm sorry about that," the real Duvessa said, attempting to start over. "That's so hard to get right, you know? Especially looking at your history here." She held aloft a ream of parchment; the resume Alice had sent in as part of her interview.

"Ah yeah… I guess there are some… standouts there," Alice admitted, trying not to show her embarrassment.

"I'll say! A letter of recommendation from the dean of the Academiae ad Maleficum himself? Most impressive. Those are not easy to come by. He's quite the demanding sort."

"You… don't know the half of it," Alice responded, laughing uncomfortably. "He was my direct mentor before he was granted the deanship. He could be… quite exacting…"

"Truly! But such a fine establishment for a young warlock like yourself to come up in."

"Witch."

"What?"

Mustering what waning patience she had, Alice explained, "It's a fine establishment for a young witch. You said warlock."

"Oh, I suppose I did. But it is an all-boy's school, so you were a warlock at the time. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, but… nevermind…"

"That does segue rather conveniently though. Tell me, when did you first feel Lilith's call drawing you to the witch's art?" Duvessa inquired. "That must have been quite the thing to experience given your… circumstances. I can't imagine it myself."

"I mean, it's only now that I realize I'd been hearing it all my life. I always just shrugged it off, thinking it was something all…" Alice paused, tensing before continuing, "…warlocks heard but… she never stopped calling."

"And yet it's taken you this long to decide to answer?" The coven leader's tone betrayed more than a hint of disbelief. "You must admit, it's a bit late for a... career change... at your age. Is it not?"

Ignoring the slight, Alice responded, "I suppose, however there are resources your prestigious sisterhood possesses that I would draw on to further a new direction in my craft. As you know, the Academy has precious little aid to offer one investigating the mysteries of Dollcraft"

"Yes… well… I must admit, what caught my eye about you was not a novice Maker seeking my sisters' secrets." Duvessa's countenance took on a hungry, predatory glare. "You bring knowledge, experience, and talent in Magicks we sorely lack here; Academy Magicks."

"I'm… I'm trying to leave those behind," Alice stammered, trying to bring the conversation back on track. This interview was not going anywhere close to how she had hoped. "I said as such in my application. They are… ill-suited to both my current craft and my current goals."

"Yes. Yes. Your 'experiments.'" The elder witch didn't even bother to hide her disdain. "What I'm proposing is far grander though. An exchange of secrets. Your Academy learning for our coven's knowledge. It's a fair trade."

"It was my understanding that all is shared freely within the sisterhood," Alice answered. "'To not share with one's sisters is a betrayal of Lilith's gift.' Those were your words according to one interview. That hardly seems to square with the offer you're extending me."

"Yes, well, that's for our… fully-fledged sisters," Duvessa said, bemusedly. "I'm not entirely sure that one of your talents is quite the right fit for that. You understand, don't you? Regardless, we could both stand to benefit a great deal from each other. Come. Work with me."

"No… No, Miss Crosse, I'm afraid this interview is over."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. My door is always open to one of your… unique qualifications, Miste—Miss Alice. Should you ever change your mind."

"Don't count on it," Alice spat back.

_______________________________________

Elsewhere, two dolls were busying themselves, seemingly attempting to burrow a channel in the flooring of their Maker's manse as they paced anxiously back and forth.

"She's going to hate it," said Natrium.

"It's ugly," said Celestine.

"This is a terrible plan."

"The worst."

"It was that one's bright idea!" shouted one.

"That one agreed to it though!" retorted the other.

The two were about to descend into mutual awawas when suddenly the front door burst open, their Mistress silhouetted in the doorframe, the air around her shimmering with curses.

"Stupid fricking covens…" The entryway rug completely unwove itself. "Stupid academies…" The door shut itself with a cacophonous slam. "Stupid supposed sisterhood…" A nearby vase shattered. "Arrrrrgh!!" Alice roared as she crossed the threshold.

The two dolls got straight to work, pulling off Alice's cloak and boots and guiding her to her favorite seat without interrupting a single step. A fresh pot of tea was already brewed and steeping, though they both worried that chai wouldnt be strong enough for the mood she was in

"Six times now! Six! How many more of these humiliating interviews am I going to have to sit through for even one to take me seriously?!" Alice cried out rhetorically.

Pouring a cup of tea from the pot, Celestine cautiously asked, "So… they didn't give Miss her Big Hat?"

"No, no my dear doll, they did not. Those are for 'fully-fledged sisters,'" Alice mocked.

"This one is sorry, Miss," Natrium apologized faultlessly. "You deserve your Big Hat."

Dejection filled Alice's voice as she sighed, "In due time… I'll just have to… apply elsewhere."

The two dolls saw their opportunity.

"If it please you, Miss…"

"…these ones had a thought."

"That's a dangerous thing for dolls to be having," Alice mused, perking up slightly, despite the simultaneous spike in anxiety. "What was your thought?"

"Well, we heard once…"

"…that sometimes if you can't make something on your own…"

"…store-bought is fine."

"So we thought…"

"…'Why not the reverse?'"

"If they won't give you your Big Hat…"

"…then making your own is fine, right?"

From behind their backs, the two dolls pulled out the most comically oversized witch's hat she had ever seen. It was ostentatious. It was gaudy. It would certainly be the Biggest Hat in any room. Alice would have to figure out by what Magicks they hid it behind their backs later.

It was also far beyond their sewing capabilities, she noted.

"You… how did you… this is… where did you get this?" Alice stammered.

"Well, she told us not to say…"

"…but Satin stitched it."

"It was this one's idea though!"

"Nuh-uh! It was this one's!"

"Satin made it…?" Alice asked, interrupting the two before they got too into it.

"Uh-huh! She said it was…"

"…'for a new sisterhood.'"

"Whatever that means."

Hearing those words, it was all Alice could do to not drop the tea cup she'd been handed. Placing it down, gently as could be, she accepted the hat from the two dolls, eliciting the widest smiles she'd ever seen them wear.

Placing it atop her head and taking a moment to adjust the overly wide brim, Alice declared, "Yes. You're absolutely right. Making your own is fine. Now come, you two," she said, grabbing her dolls by the hand, "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

End 🧵

(Can't believe I forgot to post this one here... Well, with that I believe my entire archive is here now, so that's nice. Now hopefully someday I'll actually finish one of the six fricking drafts I have sitting around. All I seem to do lately is start new ones though... Oh well. Such is the way of things.)

[sororalice]

On The Blessedness Of Fire

A homily for Beltane 2024.

Dearly Beloved,

A very blessed Beltane to all those in the Northern Hemisphere and a very blessed Samhain to all those in the Southern Hemisphere!

The Gaelic word “beltane” means “bright fire”, and historically the celebration of Beltane involved the lighting of the Beltane fire, around which cattle were driven, over which people leapt and danced, and from which the extinguished fires of the community—the fires of their hearths and stoves, lamps and forges—would be ceremonially relit each year. And likewise Samhain, celebrated now by our siblings in the Southern Hemisphere, has historically been celebrated with great bonfires. Given this dual significance to this blessed moment, I am moved to speak today on the blessedness of fire.

As apprentices, we learn that fire is one of the five elements, and that it signifies passion, intensity, and inspiration. Perhaps we learn formulae like that of the Tetragrammaton and the Pentagrammaton, and thus learn that fire is a beginning, a holy place where a spark gives rise to all creation. And like all true formulae of magick, we find that science comes to agree with us, that now the physicists and cosmologists agree with the ancient mages that all existence began with a spark, with an explosion, with fire. The insight of our ancestors into fire was a real insight, not mere symbolism or metaphor: reality indeed began with fire. So what else can we know about fire? What else does fire have to teach us? What is the essential secret of fire?

Fire burns.

Fire, when balanced with the other elements and unified through spirit, provides dynamic motion and action to the gestalt that is the Formula of the Pentagram, thus guiding us in both our magick and our mysticism. Fire is our inspiration, and it is upon our inspiration that the Great Work depends. And fire is our passion, which motivates us and gets us moving when the forces of inertia would otherwise keep us still.

But like all of the elements, fire is a dual phenomenon. It can warm our homes, cook our food, and give us light by which to see…and it can cause devastation beyond all imagining. Within its beautiful flickering lives the secrets of both life and death. Magickally, spiritually, and physically, fire is often the agent of transformation, rendering the fixed fluid and the fluid fixed, and transformation can be painful, even excruciating. For generations, we have lived in fear of atomic fire raining down from the clouds, and the “Book of Revelation” of St. John of Patmos teaches that our universe will someday end in fire. As it was in the beginning, so it shall be in the end:

Fire burns.

But what does fire burn? What is its fuel? As pagans, we believe in a naturalized theology, so what can nature teach us about fire? In nature, fire requires two things to burn: air and fuel. Air, of course, is our reason and our communication, the blade and the bridge, the stick and the rope. But what is the fuel? Well, water can’t be fuel for fire, obviously; water can boil away, but it cannot properly burn. And fire cannot be its own fuel, because left to itself fire just burns out. So we are left with earth…the physical realm, the planet itself, and our own bodies.

That’s right. We’re the fuel. Fire burns. It motivates and transforms and inspires…and it will eventually burn us up. It will give us heat and drive, passion and transformation…and one day it will be finished transforming us. Our ancestors leapt and danced over the flames to take them in, to be inspired and fertile with the power of fire, and we leap and dance with them in our celebrations of this moment, this sacred and blessed moment when the light in the north returns and the light in the south recedes, and we remember the holy secret, the lesson of fire:

Fire burns.

Happy Beltane and Samhain.

In love,

Soror Alice

Art: Walter Crane, “A Garland For May Day”, 1895

[cronaz-diary]

my introduction !! ᯓ★

𝅄⠀࿙࿚ ︶ ⠀♱⠀ ︶࿙࿚ 𝅄 ⠀⠀⠀⠀꒰ 𝓭𝓪𝓴𝓸𝓽𝓪/𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓸/𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓪/𝓰𝓪𝔃 ꒱ (𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓪 𝓸𝓷 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓸 𝓹𝓵𝔃 !!)

ੈ✩‧��˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧

(stop doing the font it takez 4ever) my prnz !!

She/It/He/Clown/Honk/Fizz/Gloomy/Gir/Void/static/Candy/Kandi/Doll/Static/Blade/Gore/Creepy/Weird/Patch/Boop/Rawr/Tooth/Gash/Gamzee/Mono/Nya/Mew/rot/corpse/magick/nap/sleepy/omori/sunny/something/zim/entity/needle/crona/scared/monster/puppy/angel/organ

(u can use any of them:3)

im a pangender lesbian and acespike and polycule !!!

autism + bpd + tourettez

16

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ

im a crona gorgon fictionkin and delusional attachment !! (yez i am crona go cry abt it if u think itz not real or wtv) im also a mikan tsumiki and sophia (d4dj) fictionkin ! (plz dont reality check it rlly doesnt help me)

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆⋆༺𓆩

stuff i like r- invader zim, american mcgeez alice and alice iz dead, omori, hazbin hotel, lomando, d4dj, vocaloid, mlp, ptp, sanrio, gloomy bear, jjba, death note, genshin impact, soul eater (duh), homestuck, fashion, cosplaying, pop team epic, misao, mad father, IB, lavender (rpg game), danganronpa, LOVEPOWERTEMPLE, welfare center (webtoon), school buz graveyard, cursed princess club, everything iz fine, stalkerz tango, PIGPEN, (lotz of more webtoonz loll) monster high, pokemon, ig demonophobia?? (just the story the game iz weird af), hell girl, bludgeoning angel dokuro-chan, rosaria+vampire, undertale, fnaf, the path (tot) uhhh thatz prob not it but thiz iz looonggg ill update thiz if i feel like it... AND ALSO I COSPLAY:33

MY STYLEZ/AESTHETICZ

˗ˏˋ✩ˎˊ˗

scene

morute

yami kawaii

kawaii kei

clowncore

decora

trad goth

kawaii goth

weirdcore

creepycute

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

!!!!|┛*｀Д´|┛・・~~┻━┻　┳━┳

DNI- proshipperz, reality checkerz, annoying ppl, BOTDF fanz, racistz, sexistz, transphobez, homophobez, anti semiticz, any kind of bigot, thatz rlly it i think idc abt other stuff ig jsut dont support bad ppl too

plz interact if u have any of the same interestz, also a da or fictionkin (esp soul eater) and not annoying:3

⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚���｡⋆⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡

other socialz-

spacehey https://spacehey.com/m0n0c0cain3

insta https://www.instagram.com/sw33t_cavity/

tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@sw33t_cavatity?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

discord sweet_cavity (౨ৎ⋆˚｡⋆CRONA˚୨୧⋆.)

i only give my snapchat if we close:p

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊

[vulpine111]

It's hard to decide what books I want to read. I'm going to make two lists. One featuring books I already have access to, and one with books I intend to buy.

I'll try to rank them by priority, but it's hard to figure out what's most important in this regard. The shelf I bought from Target is already almost full. I will have to order another shelf fairly soon.

BOOKS TO BUY:

Drawing Dynamic Hands by Burne Hogarth

Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogarth

Lemegeton: The Completed Books I-V: Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria

Enochian Grimoire: Marchosias Courage Magick

Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami

Romancing The Shadow by Connie Zweig and Steve Wolf

Meeting the Shadow of Spirituality by Connie Zweig

Disability Intimacy by Alice Wong

Dying With Confidence: A Tibetan Buddhist Guide to Preparing for Death

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Don't Throw Me Away by Lex Voytek

Real Service by Joshua Tenpenny & Raven Kaldera

The I Ching or Book of Changes

Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer

Persephone's Pathway: Wisdom, Magick & Growth

BOOKS TO READ:

Meeting The Shadow by Connie Zweig

Finding Water by Julia Cameron

Keep Going by Austin Kleon

So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

Towards Bodily Autonomy by Justice Rivera

Reclaiming Pleasure by Holly Richmond

The Knot: Michael Gira

[spkyscry]

How I look at you beaming the desire to write w/ me into your mind.

[swynlake-rp]

A magical forest teeming with wildlife and magical beings, a pristine lake, drama and intrigue, and a bustling small town main street, what else could you need to bring these characters to life in a magical town?

Iridessa St. Elmo (Iridessa, Disney Fairies) - The thing about curiosity is that it grows, and grows, and grows– until it has you considering venturing into the human side of Swynlake! Ah! But if you’re to ever study astronomy, you’ll have to…but maybe if you just give up your hobby of studying the stars, you can avoid it. Which will you choose?

Imelda Rivera (Imelda Rivera, Coco) - Some say anger is poison. You say anger is what protected you, at a time when you needed it desperately. Your anger has waned but that doesn’t mean you’ve gone soft; on the contrary, you’re more shrewd and prepared for whatever the world can throw at you than before. It’s why you mustered the courage to come to Swynlake, chasing after a mysterious clue…

Cheshire Fields (The Cheshire Cat, Alice In Wonderland) - You’re always smiling but is that always a good thing? One can never tell if it’s kindly or mischievous, or what secrets the town’s favorite invisible barista is hiding…

Roland Doyle (Rolly, 101 Dalmatians) - Lucky owes you an apology…for something you did! Yeah! That’s right, that’s totally how that works. Whatever! It’s Lucky’s fault, ultimately, that the band split up and the family secret was revealed. Nevermind what you did to provoke it…so where’s your apology, eh? You’re in town to get it!

Simon James Paladino “Gazerbeam” (Gazerbeam, The Incredibles 2) - If prison taught you one thing, it’s that the world isn’t FAIR to magicks like you! That’s why you linked up with MAFIA, determined to show the world that they shouldn’t step all over you. You’re practically living a real life comic book!

Xīshuài Aoyun (Lucky Cricket, Mulan) - A gift shouldn’t be able to hurt you. You think about this a lot as your fairy gift of Luck seems to only put you in danger. Will you be safe in Swynlake, far from anybody who knows about your unwelcome gift?

[anticute-marshmallowmars]

see the thing i struggle with and don't know how to reconcile is:

how the show operates, tonally. specifically: how much i enjoy how raw it is, but also - it's too much at the same time for what you WANT to see - which is a degree of hope. which the show just never allows to really happen. but also - at times, it makes narrative sense?

like - i grooved hard in s1 how they showed how magick is Not a Fix

when you typically do see magick as this wonderful, fix-it all, and overall: a positive thing, in media.

but instead, the magicians plays with the idea that magick is not an all-encompassing force of good.

like: magick being sourced from misery. (how very magica madoka of you lol)

also: encapsulated in dean fogg telling quentin (:cccc sweetie) - "sure go ahead and use magick to dominate the world. we don't' care. we're here to teach, you graduate, you do whatever you want"

(which is so utterly true? school gives you skills/resources. and if you do end up doing bad acts with them, that's not actually their responsibility. it's up to you.)

like, there's a degree of lawlessness which is kind of compelling. it's the wild west, but magick. there doesn't appear to be any actual pOLICING of use of magick. there's factions, but not really. magick and people just....exist.

and then there's the exploration of how there's a certain selfishness inherent in each character, that magick really just either consumes, or exacerbates.

also bc typically, sorcerors/magicians in stories are characterized as: quite all-powerful, but also quite selfish in the pursuit of whatever it is they are dedicated to. which is usually the discovery of magick/limits of ability. i also appreciate the commitment to the characterization of magicians as wanting to obtain knowledge, but losing themselves - or not caring about the consequences. this characterization - selfishness - is pretty consistent. even if it is, at, times frustrating. but i LIKE how unlikeable the charas are, when they are so dogged in their efforts at the expense of others.

in general, it was/is interesting. to present magick as so utterly real, in the sense of grounding it in the murky waters that is humanity.

cool! what a twist of expectation! subversion of what you see in narrative storytelling and tropes. literally the thing the show is actively working to do from plot devices, characterization, etc, from DAY ONE.

(i need to make another post of how the beginning REALLY was a slow struggle and i think it was on purpose and that's really quite masterful.)

and as an english major, i LOVE it. i really do. i love how the writing is clever at this very project. i love the way plots/arcs SEEMINGLY appear to be repeats, but are actually different. with just a small twist. it's a really good show if you're looking at a narrative standpoint and the mechanics of writing - in the actual construction of storytelling.

if you're looking at characterization? less so.

if you're looking at it in the lense of hope, less so.

bc this show does not take care of its characters. and it won't take care of its viewers, if you're looking at the show in a certain way.

if you're going to look at the show from a storytelling point of view; if you're going to look at the show and how it really does delve in the rawness of humanity, and the rawness of the human experience - you're going to be fine.

and of course, we now arrive to quentin's death, and my conflicted feelings.

on one hand, it narratively makes sense. s1/s2 had a certain vibe that 'oh. quentin's going to sacrifice himself for the greater good.'

he's a coward. he has other people do the work. he evades Being The Hero or doing Acts. or things just miraculously fall in place, so he doesn't have to be the one doing A or B.

see: him giving alice the knife. which arguably - arguably - created the issues we see play out.

(this is not saying i don't love quentin. i do!)

but when we talk about heroes, and the show subverting heroes - that is what quentin is.

he is unremarkable. he is smart, but he doesn't do anything big.

he toes the line of: is this chara actually a 0-level chara, where he doesn't have anything special in him; OR is he one of those heroes that SEEMINGLY has nothing, but actually all along is The Most Powerful of All and is just super OP?

and the shows doesn't actually ever commit to the latter idea. it pretty much commits to Yeah Quentin's Just Like That

and his superpower is just his friendship

and you would think that would be lovely to have!

and yet the show punishes him for it?

and irrespective of whatver was going on behind the scenes

it DOES make narrative sense for him to die.

the execution, however, was POOR.

or not poor? the fact that he dies - suddenly in the midst of all the action

see: "it just happened so fast"

is yes - heartbreaking! see the line above. iT happened so fast and the way jason ralph delivers it is CRUSHING.

but it's very real, very raw - which, again, tonally? makes sense.

the fact that he didn't get a final convo with each of his relationships? heartbreaking, but real.

so again, i return back to: when the show is real, and raw - it is really quite beautiful. if you have the mental space to appreciate it.

(i guarantee you, if i was watching this show YEARS ago, i wouldn't be able to. bc i want media to escape. i don't WANT real/raw)

(in fact, i couldn't stomach julia's rape storie, but that's another post of how i feel about how the show handled rape and other controversial/tough topics.)

it just still sucks with a chara death, even if you have to admit on some level... it makes sense.

it just had implications that could have been dealt more sensitively. but again - it does make narrative sense.

(but also pls do not give me eliot having prospects of a happy ending and then RIP it from me pls and thx)

(quentin :cccc)

I'M TORN.

[fearsome-series]

“...there’s bad vibes in here. Bad energy,” Summer said, holding the egg. “We’ve gotta clear it up.”

“You’re sure this is a real ritual?” Asked Amina, Summer’s sister, once her fraternal twin and now her twin twin.

“It’s in my book. You put the bad energies into the egg and smash it.”

“Where did you find the egg? Our parents are vegan.”

“I borrowed it from the kids next door.”

“Don’t we typically burn sage for this type of cleansing?”

Summer rolled her eyes. “Burning sage is, like, racist or something? I don’t know! But the book says to use an egg.”

“There are non-appropriative alternatives to sage, Sum.”

Summer grunted again. “But we don’t have any of those, and we’ve got bad vibes we need to clear out.”

“This ritual isn’t from a spellbook you stole from Barnes and Noble, is it?”

Summer eyed 1001 Real Magick Spells: Love, Money, Power, a lavender tome, on her bedside table. “No. Yes.”

“This ritual isn’t approved by our coven…”

“Our coven is boring. They’re, like, a religion. Witch church. This is the real shit.” She rubbed something over the egg. “Do you think the bad energies are in the egg?” Amina shrugged. “Well, then it’s time to banish -” Summer tried to dramatically raise the egg for some book-mandated chants, but it tumbled out of her palm instead and cracked on the floor. “GODDAMNIT!” She kicked the air.

“You made the bad energies wet,” Amina said simply. Summer just groaned and stormed out the door, tracking yolk in her wake.

***

Manuel was easy to get onboard, which meant Laura was easy to get onboard; Emily found him in programming class, and asked him “you know about ghosts, right?” Emily knew that he had hunted a ghost with Laura, since they wouldn’t shut up about it, but Emily didn’t believe Laura - though, and she couldn’t begin to explain how this worked, she did believe Manuel?

Manuel eagerly agreed, to help keep things safe, of course, and Manuel promised to tell Laura, so that was two.

Summer was also easy, which meant Claire was easy. Emily cornered Summer at lunch, and though she had a backup plan in mind (“you’re the reason I’m a werewolf, you better help, etc etc”) Summer leapt at the chance to do “witch shit”. Claire did not, but she leapt at the chance to go with Summer, and so that was four.

Alice…

Hmm. Alice.

She needed to make her move before or after band, but Alice was first of all distracted by Maddie. Maddie was as tall as Alice, with bowl cut light brown hair and freckles; she wore an olive hoodie and jeans. Alice was, as always, in her red jacket. Alice had finally begun talking to Maddie, after much encouragement from Emily, though Emily knew why Alice was flustered by Maddie and Alice…Alice didn’t know, or chose not to know. She waited for her chance…

“You’re Alice…?” Maddie said.

“Yep, I’m Alice. Maddie?”

“Maddie.”

“Alice.”

“Yeah.”

“Yep.”

“You’re new here?”

“Yeah, we just moved up from Gates County.”

“Gates County? I’m from Centralia.”

“Gwinnett.”

“Wow.”

“Wow…” Maddie fumbled for something in her bag, and the two of them left their ‘talking’ phase. That was Emily’s window.

She came over, still thinking over her strategy. Wait, Alice would be too flustered around Maddie; Emily waved her over instead, and Alice squinted and came over - halfway there, she swiveled around and waved to Maddie, who was still looking through her bag, so Alice walked backwards a few steps before turning to face Emily. “Em?”

“There’s a pack event tonight. We’re going to a haunted house and…trying to…exorcize the spirits…with…prayer?”

“The pack.”

“Yes, not like there’s any other way to exorcize the spirits. Definitely not anything…occult-y going on here.”

“Where’s the house?”

“A couple blocks from my house. We’re holding the exorcism at 6, maybe 6:30 if anyone’s running late.”

“Alright…”

“You can confirm for the exorcism on Discord, it’s in the events.”

“Alright…”

***

Dr. Valley - her first name was Jacqueline, and she went by Jack - was an older woman with sandy hair, a worn face, and a long, white jacket. According to Sjöberg, she was a doctor on the surface - namely, part of the campus’ medical staff. She had an “office” down here, but it was just a bed and a table of equipment set apart from a stone chamber by carpeted room dividers, which she presided over the couple days a week she was usually in. Today, that was an exam.

“This teeth situation, it’s normal?” She grunted.

“All my life,” Eliza replied.

Valley let down the magnifying glass. “You don’t exactly have a good medical history.”

“I was born, I went into stasis for a bit, I woke up.”

“Short and sweet. Next.”

Eliza stepped outside the “office”, where only Melissa waited in line.

“Hi,” Eliza said.

“Hi,” Melissa stepped inside, but backtracked right out. “What’d she say to you? Getting enough blood?”

“The ghost didn’t hurt me. Thanks for asking.”

“Right, the ghost you and Laura saw. How’s Laura doing?”

“What do you care about Laura?”

“I don’t,” Melissa said, stepping into the doctor’s office.

Returning to her room, Eliza found Malphas perched on her desk; Malphas told her Sjöberg wanted to speak to her, so Eliza went right back out and walked over to Sjöberg’s office.

“Miss Ortega has contacted us to ask if you would like to accompany her to a case tonight,” Sjöberg said. “Some manner of seance.”

“I’ll go help Wolfgirl. Me and Malphas will -”

“I would prefer if Malphas remained here, due to his current awkward condition. If you are to go, you must retrieve the pendant from Lensa, and you must find someone to accompany you. A member of staff.” Sjöberg said the last part more insistently.

Eliza agreed, and she found Lensa. Her pendant was off, and the goatwoman with daisies strung around her horns was leaning down by a cage in the zoo, trying to untangle a hoop snake.

“Hey, Goatdoc,” Eliza waved. “Can I have your pendant for the night…?”

Lensa nodded gently, and fed the disconnected hoop snake an Almond Joy bar - with the wrapper still on - before reaching into her vest’s stitched-on pockets and pulling out the pendant.

“Thanks,” Eliza said. “Are you busy tonight? I need someone to go with me, someone from staff…”

“There is only one pendant,” the goatperson said. “I believe everyone else is busy. Besides…”

Jainaba walked in from the other side of the cage. “What did I just get drafted into?”

***

Emily arranged her gear: the Ouija board, for one. The rest…was her phone. She didn’t have a “spirit box”, so she downloaded an app for it…she couldn’t borrow her family’s digital camera, so she was going to use her phone…

There wasn’t an app for how to explain what she wanted to happen, though. How she didn’t really care about the creepy house. How she hoped she could contact…

Sigh.

Emily zipped up her hoodie - it was thick, since it was a chilly mid-September night - and stepped outside, gear in her backpack. She walked over to the house: looked over its two stories, its dark windows, the peeling paint on its porch and the stones neatly placed all around its edges.

She stood alone on the street, and she waited.

[spiritcarrier]