#maybe his ghost aged like moira

[lostreverb]

evan looks so damn OLD as tate in apocalypse it's actually so funny to me like that is NOT a 17 year old WHO IS THATTT 😭

[uovoc]

2023 Media consumption

God tier: media that invoked blorbo-induced euphoria, mini-obsession, or just haunt me

White Cat Legend (大理寺日志, Dali Court Journal) - donghua, seasons 1 and 2. The new vice minister of the imperial court of criminal justice is, unfortunately, a cat demon. Tang Dynasty workplace comedy/political intrigue. Lovely animation, sick fight scenes, and catboys.

Scissor Seven (刺客伍六七) - donghua, seasons 2-3. Netflix summary: "Seeking to recover his memory, a scissor-wielding, hairdressing, bungling quasi-assassin stumbles into a struggle for power among feuding factions." Season 1 was just ok at best, season 2 was great, season 3 was phenomenal, season 4 was meh.

Derkholm duology by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

God Troubles Me / Hanhua Riji (汉化日记) - donghua. Cringefail loser girl Su Moting, her cringefail smartphone god, and her cringefail cat (demon) have to save the world. But first she has to go to work. And get takeout. And watch dramas. The premise sounds SO cringe but it's well-executed and hilarious. And actually a pretty sharp but good-humored window into the delights and horrors of modern everyday life in china.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt (reread). At the peak of the California gold rush, hitmen Charlie and Eli Sisters are hired for a job that Eli is liking less and less. 1st-person perspective of a stone-cold killer, where it turns out the killer is just Some Guy. Who is kind of awkward. And pathetic. And maybe not very bright.

Gobelins graduation animated shorts: "Chroniques de l'Eau Salée" (2021), "Last Summer" (2022), and "Go Fishboy" (2022). Available to watch on YouTube. Got caught up on 2021 and 2022 and these are the ones that will haunt me.

Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi - manga (reread). Teenage martial artist is cursed to transform into a hot girl whenever he's splashed with cold water. Still some of the funniest and most deranged comedy I've ever read.

"Golden Age" - short story by Naomi Novik set in the Temeraire universe. Hilarious and delightful Feral Temeraire AU.

Just ok: media that I didn't hate, and maybe even enjoyed

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore

Glass Onion (2022) dir. Rian Johnson

Puss in Boots: the Last Wish (2022) dir. Joel Crawford

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Witch's Business by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones (reread) - Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Mixed Magics, The Pinhoe Egg

Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Sharyn November. Faves: "Beauty" by Sherwood Smith, "Little Dot" by Diana Wynne Jones, and "Remember Me" by Nancy Farmer.

All Systems Red (异星危机) by Martha Wells, Simplified tr. by 黎思敏

All Saints Street (万圣街) - donghua, seasons 1-3

Moira's Pen by Megan Whalen Turner

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

The Game by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

Selected Discworlds: Thief of Time, Unseen Academicals (reread)

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer (reread)

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer

"Louise", Gobelins 2021 graduation animated short. Pretty good, but not god tier.

The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Most of it was a slog, but the ending was wonderfully tender.

The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Spinning by Tillie Walden

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (reread)

The Mermaid (美人鱼) - movie (2016)

Exhalation by Ted Chiang. Fave: Exhalation

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

Motorcity - cartoon (rewatch)

Sing 2 - movie

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - movie

White Cat Legend (大理寺日志) manhua through chapter 186

A Monster in Paris - movie (rewatch)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - movie

Lionboy trilogy by Zizou Corder: Lionboy, The Chase, and The Truth (reread)

The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (封神第一部：朝歌风云) - movie

Our Flag Means Death - season 2

Skellig by David Almond (reread). Even more unsettling and magical than I remembered.

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (人渣反派自救系统) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Savvy by Ingrid Law (reread)

The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry

Golden Age and Other Stories by Naomi Novik. "Golden Age" alone was amazing. Every thing else: meh.

Wonder by RJ Palacio except that the ending sucked

蓝溪镇 (Lanxi Zhen/Blue Creek Town) - manhua (reread), through chapter 112

Translation State by Ann Leckie

Disliked and often DNF'd

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley

Phoenix Rising by Karen Hesse

Palimpsest by Catherine Valente

Knives Out (2019) dir. Rian Johnson

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nhi Vgo

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots. Genuinely creative concept, enjoyable characters, and horrifying (affectionate) ending! Writing was just very, very bad.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore

Stowaway by Karen Hesse

Nirvana in Fire (狼牙榜) - ok objectively it was fine. It was just SO long that I started losing patience at multiple points.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes on (2021) dir. Dean Fleischer Camp

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

Suzume - anime movie

Fairies Albums (百妖谱) - donghua

Link Click （时光代理人）- donghua

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn by Tri Vuong - webcomic

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

Journey to the West: Demons Strike Back (西游伏妖篇) - movie

Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Others Writings by Jorge Luis Borges

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

Frozen 2 - movie

Logan - movie

The Three Sisters of Tenmasou - movie

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Nothing new.

Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Nimona (2023) - movie

Prophet by Helen MacDonald and Sin Blache

One Piece - the live action Netflix series

Good Omens season 2

Birdwing by Rafe Martin

Blue Eye Samurai - netflix cartoon

Haven't You Heard I'm Sakamoto - anime

System Collapse by Martha Wells

The Cay by Theodore Taylor (reread)

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Bottoms (2023) - movie

Daily Life of the Immortal King (仙王的日常生活) - donghua

Witch King by Martha Wells. Actually I enjoyed the Kai/Bashasa storyline a lot. The present-day storyline I found extremely boring. Which was unfortunate because it was more than half the book.

The King's Avatar (全职高手) - donghua

The Apothecary Diaries - anime

Assorted nonfiction

The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May. Bored. DNF

Alone in the Wilderness (2004) - dir. Dick Proenneke. Documentary of Proenneke's year spent living alone in the Alaskan wilderness. Neat look at one dude building a cabin, furniture, and all his accompanying household implements by hand.

A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia by Blaine Harden. The human and environmental significance of the Columbia dam system.

Gifted Earth: The Ethnobotany of the Quinault and Neighboring Tribes by Douglas Deur. Guide to key native species and their traditional uses.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders. Four classic Russian short stories with accompanying technical analysis of their narrative construction. Great look at the process of writing and analyzing stories.

Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin - animal behavioral psychology

Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin - more animal behavioral psychology

Crying in HMart by Michelle Zauner. DNF. Felt like the book could have been 1/4 of its length. Mostly nothing new.

Wood in American Life: 1776-2076 by WG Youngquist and HO Fleischer. Wood use in America. Really makes you realize just how many things are now made out of plastic but used to be wood. And how much more difficult and expensive it was to make and replace objects.

Authentic Diversity: How to change the workplace for good by Michelle Silverthorn. Concise and nicely concrete. Would be a good starting place for an executive.

Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil - how some big data algorithms reinforce preexisting inequality, and how to improve them.

The Relationship Cure by Joan Declaire and John M. Gottman. The classic originator of the "bids for attention" approach. Pretty good, most helpful was the part where it identifies the styles of responses.

Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A Retirement and Aging Roadmap for Single and Childless Adults by Sara Zeff Geber

A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs

the excellent hyperlocal nature guidebook I bought after encountering the author at the mall

Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. 2018 ed.

[thursdaygrl]

i'm gonna bury my head in drafts immediately after posting this but here's a muse specific wishlist / starter call. like and i'll come to you for a bit of plotting but optionally we can just jump in. i'll cross out anything that gets taken that i don't wanna double up on.

alina — honestly someone to match her freak. someone to see her as she is and recognise that they like it. or maybe they hate it but they're obsessed with her. could be human or a ghost even.

ciro — soulmates au but wtf why is my soulmate this sweet, innocent human??? / on and off love with someone he turned early in his vampirism, can they ever make it work?

cricket — rivals or enemies to lovers / the sneaky journalist being played by someone who is secretly writing a story about her/her family while getting close to her and the fallout of what happens when she finds out.

dawson — figure skater/hockey player im BEGGING you. / accidental pregnancy also.

freya — this and i could see her on either side of it. / something lisa frankenstein inspired. i think freya accidentally bringing her soulmate to life is hilarious and i'd also be down to play it as modern day rather than in a fantasy verse like i usually would.

jeremy — the sunshine to his grumpy, preferably someone who takes what he's researching seriously which takes him aback.

kellan — exes to lovers, someone from the peak of his criminal days who he loved so dearly but now they're both trying to be 'reformed' and should probably stay away.

letha — a little nathan/haley from one tree hill inspired thing, pls.

luther — weird strangers meeting on the road and there’s a sudden spark, would absolutely prefer if she was a little crazy cause he’d be into that. could be just intense or a murder, we don’t mind

mason — give this man a wife to worship. would love to explore the criminal stuff with his family and the angst of keeping their family safe. also would love there to be babies.

moira — a journalist or detective she comes across working the same case in a small town, they clash and also probably bang cause that’s fun.

molly — gay sad normal people inspired plot pls.

oscar — let me do the damn sugar daddy plot. let me do it. smutty and angsty pls.

quinn — fake dating pls or best friends to lovers.

revan — princess and the scoundrel, i'm sorry it slaps every time. something tangled inspired would make me so happy.

river — something jess and rory inspired cause i’m a sucker for that and i want river against someone bookish and cute.

ronan — basic and boring but i need enemies to lovers. would actually die for a sherry-lee watson fc and i'll speed up working on gifs for both if you give me it.

rory — i really want a girl who thinks she’s straight to discover otherwise through rory mostly bc i think it’ll be funny.

slater — ok so this as inspo. someone worse than slater, who makes slater worse and it's such a doomed ship bc they're both terrible but they're so drawn to each other.

sosie — i’d like to play her against someone who works for or with her father, e.g. campaign advisor, fellow politician, bodyguard etc, ya girl loves something forbidden. / cappie and rebecca from greek inspired.

vienna — art & tashi from challengers inspired please. i need a failmarriage for her real bad but also would take patrick and tashi inspired cause i would love her to be challenged. either. both. / also this because she definitely could go full gone girl on someone.

yessica — age gap thing with her hot neighbour that is totally inappropriate but she has too much fun flirting to stop. probably goes further than she actually ever thought it would.

[death-and-other-myths]

The Raven Boys Deadass Book Review

By Maggie Stiefvater

A girl whose kiss is going to kill her true love starts hanging out with 4 private school boys on a search for a magical Welsh king. You know! Just Kentucky stuff! I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!

This is an unhinged book review/recap of The Raven Boys By Maggie Stiefvater

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

So far, we meet Blue, who is a girl who lives in a house filled with psychic women. It sounds fun and chaotic, but also a little annoying. All of the women have some sort of psychic business, with their people coming to the house for readings or phone calls. Blue’s Mom Moira (Maura?? Did I get that right?) is like the Matriarch. And one day cousin Neeve comes to visit and she’s nice but also a little weird. She does her readings at 5am on the TV. Blue isn’t like her relatives. She doesn’t have psychic gifts, but she is sorta supernatural. She’s like an amplifier. Having her nearby makes other psychics stronger. OH I should also mention that there is a prophecy that if Blue kisses her true love, they’ll die. Fun!

So Neeve takes Blue to the graveyard on St. Mark’s day, because this is the day that you can see dead people as they cross into the next life. 

ACTUALLY. You can see dead people a year before they die. And talk to them?? So Blue is there with a pad and pen and they’re asking all these spirits what their names are, so if any of them become clients, the psychics know to say “I’m so sorry, but you’re going to die some time next year.” — Blue can’t see them but apparently they’re everywhere. Even walking through her. 

But suddenly, she SEES ONE. And he’s a teenager about her age in a uniform from the local bougie boy’s private school, and he says his name is Gansey. “That’s all there is”. And he looks wet and really disoriented and then he disappears. 

The next day Neeve does a psychic reading about it into some cranberry juice (??) and she says she can’t see how this boy is going to die. There’s just nothing there. And apparently that’s very weird and concerning. Blue is like wow okay whatever I’m going to school and then work. Bye. 

MEANWHILE. A preppy boy named GANSEY is sitting by the highway because his Camero broke down. It broke down at the exact moment he was listening to a voice recording from the previous night where he heard his own voice saying his name. I thought he was going to be an amateur ghost enthusiast or something, but turns out he’s a super smart, super charismatic kid who is extremely interested in leylines. Specifically because of their ties to Welsh Kings that could… potentially grant wishes?? We still need to learn more about that lol

Gansey’s friends show up to help him out. Ronan, who seems like a brooding bad boy/dangerous type and Adam, who I immediately vibe with because he seems down to earth and resourceful and cool. He shows them the freaky recording of his voice talking to another voice (Blue) and explains that he wasn’t fucking saying anything at the time of the recording. And I guess they’re in some kind of ghost…supernatural… unofficial club led by Gansey. 

Later, we meet Declan, Ronan’s older brother, who is taking a new girlfriend to the boys’ hideout like it’s a tourist attraction. Gansey, Ronan, and a 4th friend, Noah live in an abandoned factory which they’ve decorated to be a cool bachelor pad and headquarters for whatever they’re up to with leylines and dead Welsh kings. I don’t know where Adam lives. Maybe the dorms like the normal kids who aren’t Gansey and aren’t insanely rich and can just buy and move into abandoned factories. 

We just met Noah who is ice cold and jokes with the girlfriend that he’s been dead for 4 years after she shakes his hand. The way this book is going, I wonder if that’s true. 

Ronin comes out and starts an argument with his brother Declan, so they leave. Then the boys decide to go get pizza at the local shitty diner and OH NO THIS IS THE SAME SHITTY DINER THAT BLUE WORKS AT. HOPE SHENNANIGANS DON’T ENSUE. 

So Blue’s first interaction with Gansey is him coming over to tell her that Adam thinks she’s cute and was wondering if they could talk. She doesn’t recognize him as the ghost she saw though… I think because when he was a ghost he looked so fucked up and wet and disoriented. So Blue just thinks he’s being a prep boy jackass, something Gansey exacerbates by saying “Oh are you worried it’ll take time away from your job? What do you make hourly? I can pay you!” and Blue is like “I’m not a PROSTITUTE!” – meanwhile Adam looks mortified and is blushing like crazy. 

So Blue blows them off. She gets a call from her Mom saying that some kid named GANSEY called and scheduled an appointment to get a reading tomorrow. So Blue is like “oh my god” having no idea she just yelled at Gansey in the restaurant lol. He leaves his journal on the table.

Declan shows up. Him and Ronin get into a fight in the parking lot, which Gansey and Adam have to break up. There’s some real bad blood in that family. Their Dad got murdered recently and Ronin was the one to find his body. Noah is there. Still can’t figure out if this kid is ACTUALLY DEAD or not, but he sure gets described as pale, weak, and willowy. After all the hullabaloo, Adam comes back to the diner on his bike and talks to Blue. Explains he didn’t ask Gansey to do that, and honestly just thought she looked interesting and wanted to talk. Blue is totally charmed and gives him her number. 

The next day, Blue asks one of the psychic ladies in her house about the journal and Persephone tells her whoever made this thing is more enchanted with the search than the destination. “You would have found it already” she says. HAH. Boys. 

I should also mention, in the background, there is this Latin Teacher at the boys’ school who is ALSO looking for the leylines. His name is Whelk and he’s a young teacher. He’s hella messed up because he and his friend were looking for the Welsh King years ago, and they performed some sort of ritual over the leyline, and the result left his friend DEAD and Whelk hears VOICES now. He’s kind of on to Gansey and the gang and is keeping a close eye on them. 

Gansey gets a phone call from some British dude in the middle of the night. He’s very vocal about his interest in Kings and history, even if he doesn’t tell everyone he’s out for a magic wish. This is a man he met while in boarding school overseas, and this dude IS in on the leyline thing. He tells Gansey about the need to perform a ritual, and that they leylines in Henrietta are underground, maybe in caves. 

Gansey goes to tell Ronin about the conversation and discovers he’s not in his room. Worried, because of the fight with his brother earlier, he rallies the troops to find him. And in like… 3 paragraphs the author throws a ton of heavy information at us. One is that Adam lives in an abusive household, and will probably get in trouble for sneaking out to look for Ronin. The other is that Gansey is so concerned because not long ago, Ronin tried to KILL HIMSELF and Noah found him. He ends up checking the church that all of the Lynch boys attend with their mother every Sunday, and Ronin is there, drunk, sleeping on a pew… with a baby Raven he has named Chainsaw??? That’s kind of adorable. 

They all go home, but the next morning, something is amiss because Adam doesn’t come to school. This immediately bothers Gansey and Ronin, so Gansey goes to visit Adam after school and he does, in fact, have a huge bruise on his face. They have a little argument with Gansey begging Adam to just get out of there and let him take care of him. Come move to the factory with Ronin and Noah. But Adam is really hard set on not accepting any help. In the end he hops in the car to go with Gansey to the psychic reading. They’re definitely bound in their desire to find the sleeping king and ask for a wish. POOR BABY I LOVE HIM. I love all these boys. Even creepy ass Noah who I’m 50% sure might be dead???

Earlier that day, a dark-haired man comes to the psychic house, demands a reading, and gets one… before promptly being thrown out. The psychic ladies determine he’s looking for something, and will stop at nothing to find it, and promptly ask him to leave because I think the cards showed he was willing to do terrible things to get it. I think this man was Whelk because I’m getting slimy vibes from him. 

The boys show up to the psychic house late (just Gansey, Adam, and Ronin) and there’s immediately an adorable finger-pointing panic with them being like “YOU!!” To Blue. Adam looks mortified. It’s all deliciously awkward. Ronan is being a dick as per usual, so Calla freaks him out. He’s like “You’re all fakes. Tell me something no one else would know.” And she’s like “Yeah. Cool. Your father died with a secret that only you know.” And Ronan is promptly like “FUCK THIS I’M OUT!!” — I love how protective Gansey is over his various insundry broken friends. He’s immediately like “That’s not cool, picking on a kid like that.” And Calla, the bitchiest of the psychics, is like “He asked me a question and I answered.”

Adam’s card reading is spot on. That he’s thoughtful and yearns for a brighter future far away from here. When Gansey goes to pull a card, he asks if Blue can pull it for him. She pulls the Page of Cups (her card, which has special meaning to her and her mother) and Maura is like “Nope. You have to draw it yourself Gansey. Pull again.” And they reshuffle. And he fucking pulls it AGAIN! And Maura is like “Okay just put that one aside. Fuck you cards.” And when he pulls ANOTHER card, it’s the death card. Oooooooooo. 

Gansey is like “Okay look we didn’t actually come here for readings. I want to know if you ladies know anything about leylines.” And they all play dumb and are like “We don’t know what that is. Money please. Kay thanks bye.” But he digs his heels in as they turn to leave. “Do you really not know or you just don’t want to help me.” And Maura is like “I just don’t want to help you.” And they go. And then Maura forbids Blue to ever see those boys again, which ticks her off because her mom has never forbid her from anything in her life. 

Later that night, Gansey and Noah are woken up by Ronan feeding his baby crow, Chainsaw lol. They have a brief talk. Then when Gansey goes to bed, there’s a wasp on the window. And he has this dramatic moment gearing up to hit it with a shoe. And now I remember that he has an EPIPEN IN HIS CAR GLOVE COMPARTMENT. Then Ronan comes out and is like “Jesus fucking Christ man!” And kills the wasp for him, all super protective like Gansey was just staring down a gun. We hear of a time in Gansey’s past when he was covered in hornets and almost died from his allergy, and he remembers being on the ground and looking up at worried people. AUGH. Fucking stinging bugs! I hate them too, Gansey. 

Blue finds Neeve out be a tree being weird one evening. She’s performing some sort of ritual and actually gets POSESSED by something that talks to Blue until she decides she’s had enough and kicks over Neeve’s bowls of stuff to snap her out of it. Neeve is like “don’t tell your mom” and Blue says “Fuck that I’m telling everyone”. And after that, a flower delivery truck pulls up and a woman gives Blue a tiny tiny bouquet of baby’s breath and a white carnation. It’s from ADAM!! And it’s sweet and adorable and she loves it. I LOVE IT TOO. 

Whelk goes through Gansey’s locker at school like a total douchebag and figures out that he’s looking for the leyline. I didn’t realize that Whelk doesn’t know about he king’s wish?? He was just doing something else with the leylines I guess. But once he figures out that’s what Gansey’s searching for, he photocopies his books. 

Adam pulls up to the factory headquarters one day to find Ronan and Noah dicking around building ramps to launch the BMW off of lol. BOYS. We hear a little bit of Adam’s backstory… how he was inspired to go to Aglionby after having his card declined at the grocery store, just trying to buy toothpaste and canned goods, and he saw some Aglionby boys in their expensive car and was like “I want to go there”. And he also sees Ronan as like.. the pinnacle of that lifestyle he so desperately wants. Carefree and wanting for nothing. Adam steals Ronan’s cell phone to call Blue and ask if she wants to come ride a helicopter and go exploring haha

And I’ll be damned, when Blue shows up, there most certainly IS a helicopter at the factory. Blue gives back the journal and a little map she made showing where the graveyard is. She tells Adam she wants in on the leyline search, because she’s lived her whole life not being magic, but surrounded by it, and she just wants to experience it for herself. Her and Adam flirt and he calls her pretty and when the copter is on, he has to lean in close to her and shout, and it’s SO CUTE!!! And Gansey is all cute and excited. And Adam holds Blue’s hand because he hates flying. And Gansey’s sister Helen is the pilot hahaha WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS FAMILY???

While they’re flying around looking for evidence of leylines, Blue and the boys hash some things out. For starters, Gansey recognizes Blue’s voice as the one on the recorder, so he asks her about it. Ronan has the same realization and asks her the same thing, only more rudely. Blue says she’s seen Gansey’s spirit, and they talked, but leaves out the part about her being in the graveyard and it being because Gansey is going to DIE. All the same, the guys seem satisfied with this answer.

“I need everyone to be straight with each other from here on out.” Gansey says.

“I’m always straight.” Says Ronan. 

“Man, that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told.” Adam says.

On my kindle, this is underlined because “2,643 other people have highlighted this sentence” hahahaha. 

They spot a giant carving in the ground in the shape of a raven, so they land the helicopter to check it out.

Turns out there’s a magical fucking forest down there. Everyone’s watches stop working. The light and the weather are weird. There’s a pool where whatever Gansey thinks, something shows up in it. The fish turn colors depending on what he’s thinking. Then they find this hollowed out rotted tree, and when everyone stands in it, they see something horrible. Adam saw some kind of vision where he KILLED GANSEY. (?!?!) And when Blue steps in it, she sees this really sweet, but sad scene, that looks like it’s the same one she saw in the Graveyard. Gansey is all wet. And he’s holding the sides of her face and saying “It’s okay. It’s okay.” And leans in to kiss her!!! Then the vision stops. 

Ronan straight up refuses to go into the tree and Noah isn’t there. 

WOW THIS IS ALL TERRIBLY CONFUSING because Adam and Blue are really hitting it off and holding hands and being cute??? Blue the prophecy said that Blue’s true love would die after she kissed him?? AUGH this book is good. 

They celebrate with ice cream after like total teenagers lol. “We just stood in some kind of traumatic spirit tree - ice creams on the house!!” And after that, they hang out every day. Blue is officially part of the team and she eventually gets to meet Noah, who instantly loves her. There’s this funny line that is like “Noah is the only one allowed to pat the tufts of hair on Blue’s head and Adam wishes he could…” (lolol)

Gansey is adorable by the way. When he stood in the spooky spirit tree he said he saw Glendower. I don’t know if he’s being cryptic or what, but his energy in that whole scene was so fun. He was like… so excited and confident and such a leader for the gang. He’s also super protective of his friends, it’s really adorable. He’s just like the most charismatic, pioneering, confident in a borderline annoying way… good guy. And I just love Adam. He’s such a good ol boy. 

Eventually, after a few weeks of research and sneaking around, they return to the woods. This time with the full gang. And it looks different. It’s darker and the more they walk, the more the seasons change around them. They find a stone with Latin written on it in RONAN’S HANDWRITING. And it says the trees know Latin. 

Well turns out freaky future Ronan was right because the trees most certainly do know Latin. They find a pool of water where Noah and Gansey can hear voices, but no one else can. And because Gansey isn’t great at Latin, he has to tell Ronan what he’s hearing phonetically because Ronan is the only one in the gang that is really really good at Latin. Gansey asks the trees if they know where Glendower is and they say no. The trees know Blue and Ronan though (they say nice to see you again). And tell them to go down the path and take a left. When the kids do this, they find an old red mustang all overgrown and covered in leaves. There’s a Blink 182 sticker and a dowsing rod in the back, meaning someone else was here looking for the leyline. 

Noah runs off and pukes in the forest. I think he knows this car. Gansey says this is a huge discovery and they need to collect more info and come back. 

Okay so the jig is up with Blue and her Mom. And it’s kind of adorable watching them navigate the “you disobeyed my orders” conversation considering Blue has never had orders before and Maura has never had to discipline her child before. Maura and the aunties are drinking screwdrivers at 10am lol I wish I lived in their house. So at least Blue can go off and see the boys any time she wants, even though it pisses her mom off. Calla reminds Blue about their “Movie Night” aka the night they’re going to go through Neeve’s stuff and figure out why she’s so weird. 

So one day, Adam is at work. Ronan is… I forget. I’d say school, but he never goes to school. But maybe he’s at school. Noah is out. So Gansey calls Blue and asks if she wants to go exploring just the two of them. She’s a little nervous at this, but agrees. And they actually have a nice time even with the occasional witty banter. Blue is kind of determined not to like him and hates how condescending he is. But the more they talk, the more they enjoy each other’s company. She asks about the epipen in his glovebox and Gansey tells her about when he was 11 and at a fancy rich person party. And he stepped on a hornet hive. His allergy is so bad that even one sting could kill him, but as he laid there with a whole hive on his body, he heard a voice saying that he wasn’t going to die today. “Somewhere else on this leyline, someone is dying that shouldn’t have. So today, you will not die.” It says. And ever since then he’s been obsessed with the leyline and Welsh Kings. 

They’re walking along when they find a fucking SKELETON in the meadow. And its wearing an Aglionby sweater and has its cheek smashed in. When Gansey looks in the wallet, he sees…. DUN DUN DUN…. NOAH CZERNCY’S DRIVER’S LICENSE.

(Czerncy is the name of Whelk’s friend who died when they messed with the leyline years ago… I KNEW WHELK WAS UP TO NO GOOD!!)

The scene abruptly cuts to Gansey coming back to the factory and screaming for Noah. He calls Adam. Ronan comes out of his room. They have this realization all at once that NONE OF THEM HAVE CLASSES WITH NOAH. They can’t really remember how they became friends. He’s just always been there, quiet and shy and awkward. Gansey might come on a little strong here lol a little accusatory. He and Ronan are like “Have you ever seen him eat?!” I think he’s just blown away. Well it freaks out Noah because he totally disappears. And they don’t see him again for a while. He starts acting like a proper ghost. They think maybe because Gansey and Blue went to the police and his remains got moved away from the leyline. But he’s totally haunting the boys and being cold gusts and moving shit around the apartments and being a shadow. He can’t take form anymore. 

A few days later, Adam is at the factory studying at Gansey’s desk. Ronan is in his room feeding his baby raven. And Noah is doing ghost shit like knocking over Gansey’s mint plant. Declan shows up and shoves a letter in Adam’s face, saying he’s pissed at Gansey for “Letting Ronan fail out of Aglionby and get expelled” — Adam is like “Okay it’s not Gansey’s fault your brother won’t go to class, but I’ll pass the message along. You’re not coming in here like this.” — Gansey made a promise to Declan that he’d look after Ronan if he could come live at the factory and not in the Lynch home after Ronan tried to kill himself. 

Blue shows up at the factory (she’s never been there). And Gansey is away at his family’s house for his Mom’s birthday (side note, his family is so pretentious lol. His Mom is mad at her daughter for gifting her with a bronze plate intstead of a glass plate. GEEZ. Gansey is confident to the point of being annoying, but he’s not shallow.) Blue and Adam totally have crushes on each other, but she’s terrified of him kissing her. At one point, he even brushes her cheek with his hand and tells her she’s pretty, and she’s like “Um. I don’t want to move too fast.” — because she’s scared to tell him about the prophecy because throwing around words like “True love” are really heavy. 

AUGH I’M WORRIED THOUGH. Because Adam is starting to get little pangs of jealousy towards Gansey, because Gansey really did have a nice time hanging out with Blue (and there’s a cute line about him trying to think of more things to get a rise out of her). Oh no oh no I just keep thinking of what everyone saw in the spirit tree…

Anyhoo. Once blue is in the factory, she calls out to Noah and says “You can use my energy if you need to.” I think he really is having trouble manifesting now that his bones have been moved from the leyline. But Noah shows up. And he holds Blue’s hand, which makes her whole arm go numb because of her spirit battery powers. And he seems slightly disoriented, like sometimes he doesn’t know he’s dead, or just has trouble acknowledging it. They ask him who killed him and he says “He was my friend. I trusted him.” And he also says “I was more… when I was alive” and Blue thinks of the red mustang and Blink 182 CD. He probably wasn’t always this shy and skiddish. Noah also has a “smudge” on his cheek, which is where his bones were caved in. But it’s interesting that it manifests that way when he’s a ghost. 

Gansey calls the school and negotiates with the administrator to give Ronan until finals. He does this with Rich people tricks like promising to donate money to the library. He’s driving along super pissed at Ronan for making him “behave like a Gansey” (resulting to bribery) when his car dies. He’s messing around with it on the side of the road when fucking BARRINGTON WHELK pulls up and wastes no time in being a complete douche canoe. 

Dude doesn’t even TRY to masquerade as a teacher/good person and pulls a GUN on Gansey!! Tells him to hand over the journal and tell him everything he knows about the Leyline. Gansey hands it to him, and tells him a few things, but not everything, and then PUNCHES THE GUN out of Whelk’s hand and fucking bolts. (Ronan taught him how to fight. I love it). It’s dark so Gansey is able to hide in the shadows until Whelk gives up and leaves.

Meanwhile Blue and Calla (and Persephone) are rifling through Neeve’s freaky shit in the attic. She has mirrors and bowls and when Calla uses her psychic ability, she realizes that Neeve is not in Henrietta to help Maura find her long lost husband. She’s there because WHELK called her and hired her to investigate the leyline. They would have snooped more except Maura and Neeve unexpectedly came home early and are like “Hey, there’s a bunch of boys out here and one of them has a broken thumb.”

So now everyone is crowded in the kitchen and hashing everything out. Adam is helping Persephone make tea. It’s adorable. I love the psychics and the raven boys getting together to make a plan. Gansey is totally shaken. He’s been to the hospital and has a tag on his wrist and a splint on his thumb. And Blue notices his eyes look a little different. Anyone’s would after getting a gun pointed at their head. Blue and her Mom have a public fight about the Dad thing. Blue is pissed her Mom never told her anything about him and now she’s apparently looking for him with Neeve. It’s decided that they have to stop Whelk from waking up the leyline. But it’s late so everyone needs to go home first lol. 

(Chapter 36)

Ronan drops Adam off at his house. And they immediately sense that something is off by the way Adam’s father is looming on the porch. But Ronan leaves and Robert Parrish immediately starts shit. He’s mad because he found one of Adam’s paystubs… for the 3 JOBS THAT HE HAS just to support his family and his tuition. And this monster punches him into a pole. God this scene is so well-written and hard to read. It’s just heartbreaking. Seeing a kid trying to think through the pain, trying to guess what he needs to say to get his father to stop hitting him. Adam can’t hear anything out of his ear. He can see Ronan’s car stalling at the top of the driveway. A few minutes into the beating later, Ronan shows up and fucking PUNCHES ADAM’S DAD!! Yayyyyy Ronan I love you so much!!

Adam’s Mom calls the cops and when they arrive, Adam is so stunned and off-balance, they keep asking him if he’s drunk. Like no, you massive dipshits, this child has a CONCUSSION. His Mom is giving him a look like “Tell them you fell.” And Adam tells the cops that his father did this to him, and he’d like to press charges. If he didn’t press charges, Ronan would be charged with assault and then he really would be kicked out of school. 

Meanwhile Whelk is being a sad sack eating a burger by a pay phone that keeps ringing. He eventually picks it up and it’s NEEVE!! She says “You know that idea you proposed last time we spoke?” And he goes “Yeah you said you weren’t interested in helping me.” And Neeve goes “Well I changed my mind.” — WHAAAAAAT IS THIS BITCH UP TO. I have a weird feeling about her. 

AUGH so then Gansey picks up Adam from the hospital. And the doctors tell him that Adam will never hear out of his left ear again. And they also told Gansey that Adam didn’t have insurance, so he picked up the tab (knowing this should start a huge fight), but Adam is 100% defeated and is like “You win. Take me to go get my stuff.”

They do have a bit of an argument. I feel for Gansey because to him, it’s not pity. He doesn’t think Adam is any less of a person for needing help. But Adam struggles so much with Gansey because of who he is and what he represents. I love this exchange:

“God, I’m sick of your condescension, Gansey,” Adam said. “Don’t try to make me feel stupid. Who whips out repugnant? Don’t pretend you’re not trying to make me feel stupid.” 

“This is the way I talk. I’m sorry your father never taught you the meaning of repugnant. He was too busy smashing your head against the wall of your trailer while you apologized for being alive.” 

Both of them stopped breathing. 

Gansey knew he’d gone too far. It was too far, too late, too much. Adam shoved open the door. “Fuck you, Gansey. Fuck you,” he said, voice low and furious.

AUGHGHAUGHGH eventually Adam gets back in the car and lets Gansey take him to get his stuff, then take him back to the factory. But MAN I love these boys and this conflict. I totally get where Adam is coming from and I get Gansey’s too. 

Blue shows up at the factory and has a conversation with Noah, who fills her in on everything that’s happened with Adam. She is, of course, horrified. PS I love Blue and Noah’s friendship. He behaves like a proper spirit and when she’s not around for him to borrow energy from, he’s either invisible or looks HORRIFYING with no eyes and a crushed cheek. So everyone is in agreement that Blue being around is great. Even Ronan is warming up to her. Ronan, in fact, is at the LIBRARY which is adorable. Studying his ass off like a good boy so he can stay in school and keep an eye on Adam. I mean his friends.

The phone rings and Noah tells Blue that it’s important, so she runs to go get it and it’s Gansey’s British friend — calling with news that he and his colleague attempted a ritual at the leyline in the UK. AND HIS FRIEND’S SKIN FELL OFF. Wow. Maggie. Um. Okay. Apparently the dude made some joke or comment about “jumping out of his skin” and then it fucking happened because I guess leylines take everything literally. If you think of something, it happens. Like Gansey and the fish changing colors. So…. That’s horrifying. 

Gansey, Ronan, and Adam show up soon after and the air is a bit awkward. Adam is getting all moved in to Noah’s old room and Gansey dramatically falls face down on his bed. I love this kid and I love this scene. There’s a cute bit between Gansey and Blue while Ronan and Adam are setting up his room. Blue tells him what Malory said and he goes “Yee haw” into his mattress. She asks what he and Adam fought about and he mumbles into his mattress lol so she tells him to try again and he goes “My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.” 

Hahahaha I love this kid. Adam has a point. How many 16-17 year olds talk like this?? He’s adorable though, and I love dramatic, broken Gansey even more than confident, charismatic Gansey. Blue agrees. They have this whole conversation with him laying down and her standing upside down over him. 

So then Gansey is like “Alright guys, word on the street is that messing with the leyline turns your skin inside out, so we’re not doing that. Deals off. We’ll find some way to stop Whelk from waking the leyline, but we’re leaving that magic alone because I love you all and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” (He doesn’t say that last part. But we all know that’s why)

Meanwhile, Whelk has been kidnapped by Neeve lol. I guess that’s what she was up to. Now she’s driving him to Cabeswater so she can sacrifice him in order to wake the leyline. WOW Neeve. I knew you were creepy, but I misjudged the extent. 

Later that evening there is a SUPER CUTE SCENE where Blue is doing her homework under the tree by her house, and Adam comes over. He puts his head in her lap (eeee!!) and she strokes his hair and they have a super cute conversation. She comforts him and tells him he’s brave. Adam says he’d like to kiss her, but she dodges it and is like “I don’t want to hurt you.” — “I’m already hurt.” He says, quite literally deaf and bruised all to hell. They move on to other topics, like Adam’s tarot card reading and how he doesn’t know the right choice. Blue tells him to keep being brave. 

That night, Adam has a nightmare, but it’s just the vision from the spirit tree replaying in his head. Gansey bleeding on the ground. Ronan shouting at him “Are you happy now, Adam!?” - Adam has a long hard think when he wakes up about how fucked up his life is. And how Gansey doesn’t want to wake the leyline for fear of someone getting hurt. But he isn’t afraid of getting hurt. He just wants to make life better for himself and his friends and if it means sacrificing something of his, Adam is prepared to do that. He stuffs his father’s gun in his bag, steals Gansey’s car, and runs off to the leyline. 

ADAM NO. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T THINK ABOUT YOUR SKIN COMING OFF!!

Noah wakes up Gansey, who wakes up Noah and they rush off.

Meanwhile, Maura goes up to Blue’s room and has a talk with her on her bed. She tells her about her father, who showed up on the leyline. She thinks he might have come from it. His name was Artemis and he was kind of magic. Possibly from a different time. Persephone interrupts saying the Raven boys are out front with the car. Maura says “Go. We’ll take care of Neeve.”

So Adam is walking around Cabeswater and the second he’s thinking about how he wishes it wasn’t so dark and spooky, the sun comes out and it’s beautiful and golden and fall-like. So Adam keeps walking and happens upon Whelk sitting in the center of a Pentagram with a bunch of random bowls and shit around it. Thinking he’s doing the ritual, Adam knocks over one of the bowls. Then Neeve shows up. And Whelk gets out of his hand ties and tackles her. Adam pulls the gun on Whelk, but he puts a knife to Neeve’s throat and tells Adam to throw the gun away. So he does. 

Neeve explains that if Whelk kills her, it won’t wake the leyline. The only way for it to wake up is for someone to make a PERSONAL sacrifice. Whelk is like “But you don’t care about me? How is that a personal sacrifice?” And Neeve says “I’ve never murdered anyone before. My innocence is the sacrifice. But you’ve already murdered before, so you don’t have that option.”

Then Gansey and the gang show up. Neeve suddenly just disappears. Whelk scrambles for the gun and points it at Gansey. Adam throws himself on the pentagram, and time seems to slow down. The air is silent. He knows a thing or two about sacrifice (more than spoiled-ass Whelk whose only reason to wake the leyline is to get RICH again). So Adam tells the leyline “I will be your hands. I will be your eyes.” — he gives up his free will and promises himself to Cabeswater in order to wake the leyline and save his friends from this psycho. Gansey is freaking out and shouting “No!!” But immediately there’s an earthquake. I think this is the leyline waking up.

Everyone is kind of stumbling around in the chaos, and Ronan even shouts at Adam “Look what you’ve done you crazy bastard!” — but Adam, who is now some sort of supernatural being, is just standing in the pentagram looking like a badass. Whelk asks him, “What would YOU do with power? What a fucking waste.” And SHOOTS THE GUN AT ADAM. The earthquake stops. Blue is crying. Everyone is freaking out, thinking Adam has been shot (especially Gansey), but there’s no mark on him. Adam tells Whelk to give him the gun. 

Then.. out of nowhere… a herd of white horned beasts stampede through the forest. Their entrance is preceded by the trees hissing. So I’m not sure if this is Cabeswater doing this (summoning the white.. uhh beasts) or Adam? But Adam looks surprised, so I think it’s the forest. Everyone has to take cover so they’re not trampled, and Blue, Ronan, and Gansey stumble into the vision tree. 

Blue sees a vision of her and Gansey sitting in the car at night. He leans across the gearshift and touches her collarbone. His breath is on her neck. “I just want to pretend.. just pretend that I could.” He says. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I kiss you. Maybe it’s only if you kiss me.”

Like oh my god I love this. Gansey and Blue don’t have that type of relationship now. They’re like firmly friends and like razzing each other. So it’s SO FUCKING FUN to see these visions where they have a crazy amount of sexual tension. But Blue and Adam are also so sweet??? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THESE NEXT 3 BOOKS?!!?

While they’re in the tree, Gansey sees a snippet of the vision that Blue saw earlier— where his hands are on her face. But that’s all he sees before they’re shoved out of the tree. The forest has been trampled by these beasts. Adam is fine lol protected by the pentagram. But Whelk is like… broken. And very dead. Gansey is NOT COOL with this. Adam is still eerily calm and has the gun. He says he didn’t shoot Whelk, just used it to keep him from coming into the pentagram for protection. So he let him get trampled. And Adam says they should just let Whelk rot on the leyline like Noah’s body had to.

The trees talk some Latin and everyone hears it this time. They say “Boy, we know what you’re looking for.”

The trees tell him there’s been rumors of a king buried on the spirit road, and they think he may be “yours”.

THEN IT JUST FUCKING CUTS THERE. And we get some kind of epilogue where Noah’s bones are buried at a funeral. And we see Noah’s family. Noah’s ghost appears to Blue and he asks her to say something to his family “He’s sorry for drinking your birthday schnapps.” And at first they’re offended but then thoroughly freaked out. Noah insisted, though!! 

We learn that Maura and the psychics took apart the mirrors in Neeve’s attic and that’s when she disappeared. Was she an illusion the entire time?? 

Anyway… LATER THE KIDS COME BACK WITH CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND DIG UP NOAH’S BONES. They rebury the casket… then take his bones to the church at St. Agnes and bury them there, so they’re on the leyline. The second they do this, our favorite ghost boy comes back (looking normal, not like a monster or invisible) and yay everyone is reunited. I can’t believe these teens fucking did that but alright hahaha Rich kids!!

Everyone is excited that the trees confirmed Glendower exists. 

And Noah is back. 

And Adam is moved out of his abusive home and tied somehow to the leyline’s magic, but we don’t know exactly how yet. 

And they kind of inadvertently murdered their Latin teacher, but it’s okay because he was trying to murder them. No one in this town ever questions where Whelk went lol.

And as everyone is leaving the church all happy and positive and reunited…. Ronan says offhandedly, “I guess now would be a good time to tell you. I took Chainsaw out of my dreams.”

And that is the last line of the book. 

I finished this book at like 3am and I literally had to flip the pages back and forth being like “WHAT?….. WHAT?????” I was so confused. I had to google some articles. 

But this is the 1st book in the series and I think it just teed up the events of the following books. Holy shit. This is fun!! I love these characters and the cadence and the writing style of this book. I love the layers to each of the boys that we as the reader get to see. The surface level stuff that makes them fight with each other. And the sweet underpinnings of their wants and needs and psychies. It’s just so cool!! I’m definitely going to keep reading, even though I was a little confused by that climax. 

There’s pentagrams and guns and Adam is some kind of god now and then there’s deer beasts maybe and I’m just like… WHAT IS HAPPENING?? Now we’re at a funeral???

Alright well here we go. On to the next one!!

Deadass Rating:7/10

Unofficial theme song: “Girl” by Jukebox the Ghost

[heynikkiyousofine]

A new wip because I don't have enough of them already😅 Inspired by @neutronstarchild​ fic “The Last Unclaimed Soul” and @lemonlushff​ fic ‘A Worthy Sacrifice” because y��all are goddesses at writing InuKag and I love your work.💕

Also, a big shoutout to @enchantedink-ag​ for always keeping me hyped up on my work, your kind words keep me going. 😊

Inuyasha stumbles across a goddess while he’s hunting a deer. A quick decision ends up turning his whole life around, is he prepared for his own red string of fate?

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list for this fic and let me know what y’all think!

The Red Strings of Fate

Inuyasha jumped from one tree branch to the next, a determined look on his hard features. His jaw clenched as he paced himself to stay next to the deer running below. If he could catch this one, he would have food for a few days, plus a new skin to keep warm at night. The fall nights had been gradually getting colder and his cave was getting harder to keep warm throughout the night. Seeing the chestnut furred animal dart to the left, he cursed himself for not focusing better and leaped, landing right on top of the running mammal. Feeling it struggle beneath his sharp claws, he quickly snapped its neck and tumbled the forest floor, gripping its now lifeless body tightly against him as he rolled to a stop. Sighing to himself, he closed his eyes and said a silent thank you to the gods above for providing for him.

Opening his eyes, he saw the glimpse of light blue silk hanging from a tree nearby. Bracing himself for an attack, he quickly scooped up the deer and draped it over his shoulders, taking a silent step backwards. Hearing a heavenly giggle from somewhere up above, he stopped moving, his ears twitching rapidly on his head.

Curious about the sound, he silently jumped up in a large tree and set the mammal’s body down, hidden away from anyone passing by. Hearing the soft giggle once again, he slowly crept along his branch, keeping an eye on the soft blue silk. Hearing a slight rustle in the trees, he heard voices below as he crept further along as silently as possible.

“Monk, keep your hands to yourself!” an agitated feminine voice called through the trees.

“My dear Sango, I cannot resist. A body as beautiful as yours should always be worshipped.” A deep voice responded, causing Inuyasha to freeze in place. He held his breath, his golden eyes searching ahead for the blue silk or anything else to give him a clue as to who they were. The soft giggle he so desperately wanted to hear again lightly flitted across his ears, coming from above him this time. Glancing up, he saw a young woman with hair as black as night falling down her back, blue silk sashes flowing beneath her in the slight breeze, and pale legs with barefoot feet, hanging from the thick branch she currently resided on.

“We must get back Miroku. Kohaku will get suspicious if we’re gone too long.” the woman’s voice called softer this time, assuming her name was Sango based on the not so quiet conversation below.

“If we must my dear.” Miroku replied. Inuyasha stayed hidden behind the red and yellow leaves as the two humans headed towards a village up ahead, their footsteps fading in the afternoon. He glanced up at the figure still sitting on the tree, who sighed as she watched the couple leave. Jumping once more to a branch nearby the woman, Inuyasha landed on his toes, his clawed hands gripping the tree trunk for support. He heard a soft gasp and locked eyes with startled grey ones.

Inuyasha tried to ask who she was, but couldn’t seem to get a word out, his throat closing tight. Swallowing quickly, he didn’t dare to move closer as the woman stayed still as stone, staring back at him in shock. After a few moments, she let out a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing a bit and a sweet smile gracing her lips. Her grey eyes sparkled, a striking contrast to her wavy midnight hair as it flowed around her shoulders.

“You can see me.” She simply stated. Inuyasha just nodded, still unsure of what to say or do. Gripping the branch beneath his feet tightly, he still didn’t move as she turn and draped one leg over the branch, so she was straddling as she faced him. “What’s your name?”

Giving her a skeptical look, she merely laughed, her melodic voice filling the air around him. Feeling as if the world was being lifted from his shoulders, he gaped at her in shock while she continued to laugh. As she began to relax, he did too and mirrored her position on his own branch.

“Inuyasha.” He whispered, afraid to speak louder, thinking he would break whatever spell this was. This woman, this goddess, was something he couldn’t put his finger on, but he knew he would never be able to forget this encounter for the rest of his long, lonely life.

“Inuyasha.” She repeated. The way his name sounds on her lips, he could die a happy man if that was the only thing she ever said to him again. Aching to hear it again, his ears wiggled in anticipation as she continued to speak. :The name is fitting for a handsome man like you. I like it, Inuyasha.”

At her compliment, he blushed, casting his eyes downward. He wasn’t used to such nice words, especially from a stranger. Most humans and demons only ever called him degrading names, hurling insults his way as he passed by villages looking for food. Hearing her call his name again questionably, he looked up.

“Do you not receive such praise?” She asked, sadness clear in her stormy eyes. Why did it make her sad? He wondered, as he shook his head. “Well, I hope I can make up for that. You know, most can’t see me, unless a god has decided it to be in their destiny.”

Inuyasha wasn’t sure to make of this woman, her last sentence confusing him completely. Was she not human? A ghost perhaps? Or a demon who was able to hide herself? Sniffing discreetly, he could only smell the soft scent of jasmine from her, her words speaking truth. Seeing the confused look on his face, she laughed once again, his ears twitching rapidly on his head.

“I am the Goddess of Fate.” She leaned in close and whispered, her eyes bright with mirth. “But you, Inuyasha, can call me Kagome.”

“The Goddess of what?” He sputtered at Kagome, staring at her in complete shock.

“Fate.” She giggled again, her perfectly manicured hand coming up to cover her mouth and his ears once again twitched madly at the sound. God, he was already in deep. “I’d rather you call me Kagome though. My mother, Themis, gave me the nickname when I was but a child. Legends have different names for me, most call me Moira or Fatum,” she shrugged, “depending on whatever religion they came from.”

“So, uh, what were you laughing at earlier?” Inuyasha asked, unsure of where to go from there, overwhelmed with the information, scratching his head as he continued to listen.

“Oh! I was pulling fate strings. My sister Aphrodite likes to have fun with human men and their love interests, so I was playing my hand at a couple who have been dancing around their feelings for each other. The woman though she is a feisty one, a bit of a warrior, so she won’t give into him easily.” Kagome exclaimed, her smile growing wider as she talked about the couple Inuyasha overheard earlier.

“Wait. You mean, you make them fall in love? Isn’t that like messing with destiny or some shit like that?” Inuyasha just stared at her, waiting for an explanation. This woman was clearly delusional.

“Inuaysha,” Kagome rolled her eyes and smiled softly at him, causing his heart to skip a beat at his name, “I am the Goddess of Fate! It is my job to intertwine earthly lives and such. I can’t make people fall in love, but I can set them, guide them, direct them along a path where they will be together with one who worships them. I use what many legends call the red string of fate to encourage them.” She held up a dainty hand, each finger with multiple thin red strings falling from her fingertips. Each strand went a different way, disappearing into the forest around them. When she lowered her hand, the strings disappear and she waited for his next question.

“You can do that with anyone?” He asked after a moment, his ears quivering in anticipation for her answer. Maybe she could help him, he suddenly realized, and that maybe he wouldn’t have to be alone. Nodding at him, she watched as he grew excited, her gaze rising to set upon his fluffy ears. He watched as she stared and twitched his right ear, watching her mouth open slightly, gaping at him. Preparing for the slur to fall from her lips, he cringed when she asked him a question.

“Can I touch your ears?” She whispered, so quietly, he wasn’t sure he had heard her right. She wanted to touch his ears? Who was she? He simply nodded and blinked at her with uncertainty as she brought herself closer, to the edge of her branch and reacher her slender arm out. Seeing that she was still a bit too far, he lowered his head and waited, closing his eyes in anticipation. No had touched his ears since his mother.

His ear twitched as soft fingers grazed over it, before stopping and rubbing the felt tip. Hearing her soft giggle once again, he flicked his ears and raised his head, waiting for her response. What he didn’t expect was her to be even closer, her wide grey eyes staring deep into his. Swallowing, he froze in terror, waiting for the disgusting remark about his demon heritage to come tumbling from her mouth and being completely shocked when she just smiled at him, not speaking. Her pink lips opened slightly as she smiled wider, revealing perfectly white, straight teeth and he was close enough, he could see the few light freckles that danced across her small nose. Taking a deep breath, unable to speak himself, he inhaled, his lungs filling with the overwhelming scent of jasmine. Her grey eyes watched his gold ones, an unknown emotion and longing filling both, Inuyasha felt like he suddenly couldn’t breathe. All he could see was her, a glimpse of a future with her, her scent intertwining with his own, her body beneath his as he devoured her. Feeling his gut churning in his stomach, he blinked, breaking himself free from her trance, knowing he couldn’t ever have a life like that.

Coughing and lowering his gaze, he fiddled with his robe sleeve as he heard Kagome get to feet. Looking up at her in question and a little bit of sadness, thinking she was already leaving him, Kagome held her hand out to him expectantly.

“Inuyasha,” she breathed, her grey eyes filled with excitement, “Would you like me to show you?”Deciding he could always come back for the deer carcass, his clawed hand gripped hers tightly as he stood on his feet.

[myrastuff]

Unfinished Fanfiction Master Post

I've decided to follow the lead of some fic writers I follow and make a post about my unfinished works. Maybe this will encourage me to actually finish one of them. [Brackets] for working titles/synopses. In no particular order:

[The Doctor and the Death Omen] - Overwatch, Moicy, Doctor!Mercy x Banshee!Moira AU. Basically finished, but I don't like the ending enough to call it done. Dr. Angela Ziegler’ patients have warned her about ghosts and faeries. Really, the local banshee isn't so bad, once you get to know her, but death follows inexorably in the wake of her achingly beautiful song, even as Angela struggles to save her patients.

Unpleasant People - Harry Potter, Severus Snape/Petunia Dursley (don't @ me). Post-canon slight AU (Snape lives). About 80% written, on pause because JKR keeps making it harder and harder to want anything to do with her work. Severus Snape has spent his adult life as Dumbledore’s shadow. Petunia Dursley has spent hers married to a man she doesn’t even like. After a Dark Lord falls and a marriage crumbles, two unhappy children meet again as unpleasant adults, and discover an unexpected camaraderie that might do them both a world of good.

Joyride - Good Omens, Aziraphale/Crowley. Non-AU role swap fic. Only like 20% written, paused because it was tough to write. After a night of delightful firsts, Crowley wakes up to find he has sauntered vaguely upwards, with the white wings and nervous disposition to match. Aziraphale wakes up to find much the same thing, but in the opposite direction. Switching back should be easy enough, if Crowley can keep himself from Falling a second time, but there’s one little hiccup: being a demon is a hell of a lot of fun.

Genetic Consequences - Overwatch, Moicy, continuation of my Genetic History setting. Maybe 60% written, but on hold because new lore keeps clashing with my vision and I find that stressful. [Plotty action fic, Overwatch is lowkey reforming with Winston at the helm, Mei as a new recruit, and Tracer and Mercy back in the saddle. A plot to assassinate an omnic rock star puts them in direct conflict with Talon, forcing Moira and Mercy to juggle loyalties, work, and their newly rekindled relationship. Featuring background Mei/Winston, moon gorillas (from the moon), and Einen's arch nemesis.]

[Five Hundred First Kisses] - Good Omens, Aziraphale/Crowley. 3K written but the premise involves torturing the reader with chapter after chapter of unconventional slow-burn so I can't say what percentage is done. Aziraphale and Crowley have realized they’re in love a hundred times over the centuries, and it always comes with a kiss. Unfortunately, neither of them are capable of remembering a single one. (A thin veil of plot ties together what we’re all here for anyway: a whole series of First Kiss scenes.)

[Not Writing Fire Emblem Fic] (that's what the google doc is called, so I guess it's the working title) - Fire Emblem Three Houses, Seteth/Manuela. Maybe 70% written? On hold because the tone and characters kept meandering around and I couldn't wrangle them back into a coherent narrative. [Manuela deserves a DILF so I'm giving her one. Gallant, surprisingly buff priest defends the honour of aging cougar, unconvincingly denies finding her hot for several chapters. Featuring a lot of Wyvern fanon because I like dragons.]

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 20

Hi, I’m tired. Actually, my friend Celeste created a piece of art that puts the emphasis needed on that sentiment:

I’m very tired. November felt like it was three years and also felt like it went by in a blink and also I’m not sure where October ended and November began—how does time work like that? (I’ve yet to see Tenet, but maybe that will explain it.) But like Michael Scott, somehow I manage, and lately it’s been like this:

Late-night Etsy scrolling. Browsing beautiful, non-big-box-store artwork is very calming just before I go to bed. I’d recommend Etsy stores like Celeste’s chr paperie shop, which I know from experience is full of great Christmas gift ideas. 

Taking a day off of work to do laundry. I’m not sure if it’s more #adulting that I did that or that I was excited to do that.

Eating Ghiradelli chocolate chips straight from the bag. I actually don’t recommend this as a healthy option, but this is also not a health blog.

Watching lots and lots of ‘80s movies. One day I’ll ask a therapist why this decade of films is so comforting for me despite its many flaws, but for now I’m just rolling with it.

Reading. Have you heard of this? It’s a form of entertainment but doesn’t require screens—wild!

Memes. All good Pippin “Fool of a” Took jokes are welcome here.

Leaning into the Christmas spirit by ordering that Starbucks peppermint mocha, making plans to watch everything in that TCM Christmas book I haven’t seen, and keeping the lights on my hot pink tinsel tree on all day as I work from home.

This month’s Round Up is full of stuff that made me smile and stuff that sucked me into its world—I think they’ll do the same for you, too.

November Crowd-Pleasers

Sister Act (1992)

If in four years you aren’t in an emotional state to watch election results roll in, I recommend watching Whoopi Goldberg pretend to be a nun for 100 minutes. (Though, incidentally, if you want to watch that clip edited to specifically depict how the results came in this year, you’ll need to watch Sister Act 2.) This musical-comedy is about as feel-good as it gets, meaning there’s no reason you should wait four more years to watch it. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Nevada Memes

Speaking of election results, Nevada memes. That’s it—that’s the tweet. Vulture has a round up of some of the best.

SNL Round Up

Laugh and enjoy!

“Cinema Classics: The Birds” (4605 with John Mulaney)

“Uncle Ben” (4606 with Dave Chappelle)

RoboCop (1987)

I’m not surprised I liked RoboCop, but I am surprised at why I liked RoboCop. Not only is this a boss action blockbuster, it’s an investigation into consumerism and the commodification of the human body. It’s also a critique of institutions that treat crime like statistics instead of actions done by people that impact people. That said, it’s also movie about a guy who’s fused with a robot and melts another guy’s face off with toxic sludge, so there’s a reason I’m not listing this under the Critic section. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) + Major League (1989)

The ‘80s-palooza is in full swing! In Vacation (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Chevy Chase just wants to spend time with his family on a vacation to Wally World, but wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law kicks into gear as soon as the Griswold family shifts from out of Park. The brilliance of the movie is that every one of these terrible things is plausible, but the Griswolds create the biggest problems themselves. In Major League (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes are Cleveland’s last hope for a winning baseball team. Like the Griswolds, mishaps and hijinks ensue in their attempt to prevent their greedy owner from moving the Indians to Miami, but the real win is this movie totally gets baseball fans. Like most ‘80s movies, not everything in this pair has aged well, but they brought some laughs when I needed them most.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (2020)

They’re born a minute apart in the same hospital, but they don’t meet until their 30th birthday on New Year’s Day. So, yes, it’s a little bit Serendipity, and it’s a little bit sappy, but those are both marks in this book’s favor. This Time Next Year is a time-hopping rom-com with lots of almost-meet-cutes that will have you laughing, believing in romantic twists of fate, and finding hope for the new year.

Double Feature – ‘80s Angsty Teens: Teen Wolf (1985) + Uncle Buck (1989)

In the ‘80s, Hollywood finally understood the angsty teen, and this pair of comedies isn’t interested in the melodrama earlier movies like Rebel Without a Cause were depicting. (I’d recommend Rebel, but not if you want to look back on your teen years with any sense of humor.) In Teen Wolf (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10), Michael J. Fox discovers he’s a werewolf.one that looks more like the kid in Jumanji than any other portrayal of a werewolf you’ve seen. It’s a plot so ‘80s and so bizarre you won’t believe this movie was greenlit.

In Uncle Buck (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), John Candy is attempting to connect with the nieces and nephew he hasn’t seen in years, including one moody high schooler. (Plus, baby Gaby Hoffman and pre-Home Alone Macauley Culkin!) This is my second pick from one of my all-time fave filmmakers, John Hughes (along with National Lampoon’s Vacation, above), and it’s one more entry that balances heart and humor in a way only he could do. You can see where I rank this movie in Hughes’s pantheon on Letterboxd.

Lord of the Rings memes

This month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, Kyla and I revisited The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy we love almost as much as we love Gilmore Girls. You can listen to our episode about the series on your fave podcast app, and you can laugh through hundreds of memes like I did for “research” on Twitter.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019)

Most adults are afraid of children’s temper tantrums, but can you imagine how terrified you’d be if they caught on fire in their fits of rage? That’s the premise of this novel, which begins when an aimless twentysomething becomes the nanny of a Tennessee politician’s twins who burst into flames when they get emotional. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments but never leaves behind the human emotion you need to make a magical realistic story.

An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982)

Speaking of aimless twentysomethings and emotion, feel free to laugh, cry, and swoon through this melodrama in the ‘80s canon. Richard Gere meanders his way into the Navy when he has nowhere else to go, and he tries to survive basic training, work through his family issues, and figure out his future as he also falls in love with Debra Winger. So, yeah, it’s a schamltzier version of Top Gun, but it’s schmaltz at its finest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

November Critic Picks

Double Feature – ‘40s Amensia Romances: Random Harvest (1942) + The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Speaking of schmaltz at its finest, let me share a few more titles fitting that description. In Random Harvest (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Greer Garson falls in love with a veteran who can’t remember his life before he left for war. In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Gene Tierney discovers a ghost played by a crotchety Rex Harrison in her new home. Mild spoiler: Both feature amnesiac plot developments, and while amnesia has become a cliché in the long history of romance films, Harvest is moving enough and Mr. Muir is charming enough that you won’t roll your eyes. You can see these and more romances complicated by forced forgetfulness in this Letterboxd round up.

The African Queen (1951)

It’s Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn directed by John Huston—I mean, I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a winner. Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Hepburn star in a two-hander script, dominating the screen time except for a select few scenes with supporting cast. The pair fight for survival while cruising on a small boat called The African Queen during World War I (in Africa, natch), and the two make this small story feel grand and epic. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A young man’s (Dennis Price) mother is disowned from their wealthy family because she marries for love. After her death, he seeks vengeance by killing all of the family members ahead of him in line to be the Duke D'Ascoyne. The twist? All of his victims are played by Sir Alec Guinness! Almost every character in this black comedy is a terrible person, so you won’t be too sorry to see them go—you can just enjoy the creative “accidents” he stages and stay in suspense on whether our “hero” gets his comeuppance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1937)

What would you do if you found out you were to be someone’s eighth wife? Well, it’s probably not what Claudette Colbert does in this screwball comedy that reminds me a bit of Love Crazy. This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Colbert, Gary Cooper, or Ernst Lubitsch films, so it’s no surprise these stars and this director can make magic together in this hilarious battle of the wills. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The Red Shoes (1948)

I love stories about the competition between your life and your art, and The Red Shoes makes that competition literal. Moira Shearer plays a ballerina who feels life is meaningless without dancing—then she falls in love. That’s an oversimplification of a rich character study and some of the most beautiful ballet on film, but I can’t do it justice in a short paragraph. Just watch (perhaps while you’re putting up your hot pink tinsel tree?) and soak in all the goodness. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Third Man (1949)

Everybody loves to talk about Citizen Kane, and with the release of Mank on Netflix, it’s newsworthy again. But don’t miss this other ‘40s team up of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Cotten is a writer digging for the truth of his friend’s (Welles) death in a mysterious car accident. Eyewitness accounts differ on what happened, and who was the third man at the scene only one witness remembers? 71 years later, this movie is still tense, and this actor pairing is still electric. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

The Untouchables (1987)

At the end of October, we lost Sean Connery. I looked back on his career first by writing a remembrance for ZekeFilm and then by watching The Untouchables. (In a perfect world I would’ve reversed that order, but c’est la vie.) In my last selection from the ‘80s, Connery and Kevin Costner attempt to convict Robert De Niro’s Al Capone of anything that will stick and end his reign of crime in Chicago. Directed by Brian De Palma and set to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, this film is both an exciting action flick and an artistic achievement that we literally discussed in one of my college film classes. Connery won his Oscar, and K. Cos is giving one of the best of his career, too. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

Remember the Night (1940)

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in my favorite team up yet! Double Indemnity may be the bona fide classic in the canon, but this Christmas story—with MacMurray as a district attorney prosecuting shoplifter Stanwyck— is a charmer. I’ve added it to my list of must-watch Christmas movies—watch for some holiday cheer and rom-com feels. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Photo credits: chr paperie. Books my own. All others IMDb.com.

[mask131]

AHS look-back: Halloween (part 1)

Ah yes... the first Halloween episode of AHS, the beginning of a long tradition. 

AS USUAL - spoilers ahead, and I am writing notes as I watch along.

# This first note actually was supposed to be in my Murder House episode look-back, but I forgot to write it. Nora’s reaction to the house already tells us a lot about her character. When she was alive we see her repulsed by the house and treating it hatefully, but as a ghost she is infatuated with it and repulsed by any change or modernization made it to. It already hints at one of her defining traits - Nora is the kind of person that is never satisfied with what she has, and always in love with what she lost. 

Back to the actual episode.

# “Everybody thinks they have style and everybody thinks they’re funny. Most people aren’t”. I will retain myself from pointing out how this sentence can be true for some late AHS seasons X)

# A slight mistake - Samhain originally was not to celebrate the end of the harvest festival. In Celtic culture Samhain was actually the equivalent of New Year, as well as the switching time between the “clear season” and the “dark season”. But yes, the belief that the frontiers between the worlds of the dead and the living is a true fact. It was believed the gates of the Otherworld opened during Samhain - the Otherworld being as much the one of gods and magic as the one of the dead.

# Ah yes, it is when Addie’s true age is revealed. And now Constance treating her as a child becomes much more disturbing when you realize she is in fact in her thirties. 

# You have to admire Larry for actually putting candies inside his pumpkin-bag despite it being just a prop for his blackmail. Another piece of discreet joke and comedy.

# Chad and Patrick, that was their names! I honestly forgot what they were named X)

# Fun fact - in behind-the-scenes content it was explained that Ben’s childhood was supposed to be much more explored. It was another one of the deleted sub-plots, though it is still alluded in the actual season (mentions here and there). All we know is that Ben’s childhood would have explained a lot about who he is today and his decisions - and that persons with red hair played an important role in said childhood, hence why Ben has such connections and reactions to both Moira and the ginger-haired twins. 

# Chad and Patrick trying to throw discord and strife into the Harmon couple is yet another reminder of the looping and repeating history of the house. However here there is a nice nuance - we later know that the forces of the house influence the ghosts and manipulate them, but here we just see that the ghosts are attempting to recreate their own history over and over again. The same way Moira tries to have Ben cheat on Vivien the same way Hugo cheated with her, Chad and Patrick try to break the Harmon couple the same way their couple was broken. And there is this ambiguity -  a defining trait of the ghosts is that they are stuck in the past and unable to move on. How much of the repeated history of the house is because of the ghosts selfish behavior, and how much is because of the house’s influence? Good question.

# Tate invoking Charles spirit with the ouija board makes me wonder how he actually perceives him, or if Charles and Tate are tied somehow? After all, Tate took Nora as a mother figure, so maybe he does see Charles as a father figure somehow? I don’t know, I am theorizing here - and it might be that he and Charles never encountered, because it seems that Nora and Charles purposefully avoid each other in the afterlife (their ghosts are NEVER seen together).

# I quite enjoy how the creators avoided the usual “horror house historian” trope by actually having several characters telling fragments of the house’s history, fragments that fit together in the audience’s mind like a puzzle. Marcy, the Eternal Darkness tour, Tate... 

# It is quite interesting to note that the animal parts Montgomery used in creating the Infantata belong to a sloth. At least I think it is a sloth... I know I talked about it with other people and I saw info about it in one interview. 

# It is also interesting to note that the use of the Dracula music for the Montgomery family is actually a reflection of the creators inspiration for the Infatata - they didn’t want to just create a Frankenstein rip-off, but rather a mix of the Frankenstein Monster and Dracula (hence why the Infantata is bloodthirsty/drink its victims blood, why it has such an elderly look and why his mouth is similar to the one of a leech).

# I wonder which manga Violet is reading.

# “Not his face, its his leg” - another nice piece of dark comedy sliding in.

[moiralovestowrite]

Drifter’s Wild Card Chapter 3

It had been four months since the incident with Eris. The man hadn’t heard from Moondust since but the tower had gone crazy. Guardian’s began searching for the “creature made of Darkness” as the Vanguard put it. A dangerous being that had been born from the Dark, Guardians were everywhere on every planet searching every damn corner and trash can. Drifter however had to give some credit to Three eyes. She didn’t say where the girl was or what she was. A part of him respected her for it but another part of him was going crazy. Moira hadn’t been allowed to leave the Derelict since. The brunette gazed out the ships large windows, staring at each planet they passed with longing in her eyes. She would give anything to go out and explore, see each world and breath in some fresh air. But Moira understood, the risk was too great. Drifter had finally returned to the Derelict after a day of hell. The man was trying to find a way to bring his activities to the Tower without the Vanguard climbing on his ass or noticing what he doing. His original plan was completely destroyed by Eris as the Guardian’s he paid to help went on a wild goose chase for Moira. They didn’t know what she looked like, where she was but everyone was looking. As Drifter stepped out of the Airlock removing his robe from his body, a smile brighter than the Traveler's light met his eyes. “Hey boss!” Moira cheered as she practically hopped up and down excited to see him. She was like a puppy some days. “Hey kid, get that stuff done?” The man asked as he kicked his shoes off, walking towards the kitchen with Moira following right behind him. “Yup! Plus I finished the package for Spider, I got those guns all finished up and painted, OH! I also finished up that last bank! It’s good to go, all ready for Gambit!” The brunette let out a small laugh, happy with what she had achieved today. “Damn, you keep doing this good and I might be out of a job.” Drifter teased as he began to dig through the broken old fridge. His wandering eyes landed upon two meals already made for the man. A smile crawled onto his lips as he pulled the plates out and gave the woman a look. “Ya even made food?” He asked questioningly. Moira nodded and shot him a look right back. “I’m on this ship all day, you think I’m not doing everything I can to not be bored out of my mind?” She teased before leaving the kitchen. The Drifter smiled genuinely for what seemed like the first time in ages.

After the man ate, he walked over to the large black bag he had brought back with him. Drifter had been working on this for some time but he had issues with the final design. It was his gift to Moira, something that he thought would mean the universe to her. Plus, he had a job. Two pairs of hands were better than one. Moira had been in her room, staring at the drawings of each planet she made. The man had been kind enough to clean out one of his many storage rooms for her, letting her make the place her own. The woman’s ghost helped her color the walls with art, make soft blankets and even a small stuffed bear. Even if her ghost couldn’t speak, it was still her best friend. Drifter didn’t know if calling it a Ghost was right, it didn’t have an ounce of light in it an couldn’t do the same things as the others. Healing wasn’t an option from it and he had no idea if it could resurrect. Drifter highly doubted it could ever bring the woman back if she died. Still, Moira had gotten attached to the creature right away despite all of the rouge light bearer's warnings. To be fair though, she had gotten attached to him as well. Drifter wasn’t exactly the poster child of trust. Moira had given her Ghost a name that came to her mind instantly. Farah. She didn’t exactly know why that name came to her, it was almost like a part of a past life she knew nothing about. Farah was like a helpful pet, the ghost would share recordings of adventure’s it found even if the thing had no voice of it’s own. It helped Moira cope with not being able to leave the Derelict. “Knock Knock.” Drifter’s form leaned against the doorway of the woman’s room holding a box out to Moira. The brunette’s eyes widened as she smiled and hopped off the bed. She was wearing her Gambit leather robe with her heels still on. The girl was always ready to go it seemed.  “What’s this?” She asked her boss, taking the box from his hands. “Nothing big, just a little gift.” Drifter said softly. His eyes watched as the woman ripped open the box and gazed deep within. A small gasp left Moira’s mouth as she pulled an emerald mask from the box. It had a snake’s face, fangs and all, like it was ready to lunge and attack whatever came close. The woman quickly realized what this meant and her eyes filled with joy. “Boss-” “Suit up.” Drifter interrupted the girl before she could continue. The man wasn’t one for thank yous, but he did appreciate it. Moira smirked and nodded, adjusting her long brown hair as she slipped the mask upon her face. It fit her perfectly and felt like a part of her almost instantly. “We got a job to do.”

Moira’s dark brown eyes were wide as the two landed on the Reef. The beautiful colors, the light’s reflecting off of the crystals, it was almost surreal. The woman gasped softly as her heels sunk in the sand of the shore. The wind hitting her skin was a welcoming feeling. Drifter simply smiled and watched Moira react to the outside world for the first time. She had been so wonderful to him, helping wherever she could. It was only fair that he returned the favor. Sure, Drifter may not have been a kind man, but he wasn’t heartless. After minutes of the woman simply standing, taking in each feeling The Dreaming City brought upon her, Drifter spoke up. “Alright, ready?” Moira let out a hum and nodded. Her leather robe blew in the wind as her bare arms felt like they were being attacked by air. She loved it so much. “So where are we going?” Moira asked, keeping up with Drifter’s fast walking pace. The man was surprised how quick she was, like she had been ready to help him no matter what. Little did he know, Moira had been practicing almost everything. Walking quickly, dealing with attacks from behind, sabotaging machines, hell, you name it, she practiced it. Her ghost helped a lot in that area. It was almost like the creature knew she was going to be in peril for most of her life, Farah wanted to protect her and have Moira ready for anything. The Ghost was terrified of Guardians, the thought of one coming close to them was almost too much for the creature.  “Gonna test something. This place is covered in those taken things. Ya haven’t tried using any powers yet, let’s see what you can do. A test run we’ll call it.” Moira smirked beneath her mask. The woman was prepared to do whatever it took. Unknown to the Drifter, she had been practicing her powers on the Derelict almost every day, trying out new things, seeing how far her reach was. She was quite good with what she had been given and she was careful to clean everything up before the Drifter came back to the ship and saw. The woman trusted Drifter to the moon and back but a part of her was cautious. What if he saw her powers and got scared? What if he didn’t like what he saw? So many things entered Moira’s mind as she thought about what he might say if he saw the Derelict covered in ice. As the two walked, Moira couldn’t help but stare at all the beautiful things The Dreaming City had to offer, even the taken blights were gorgeous in the sunlight. It was so wild a place could be this perfect. If only she could bring this land back to the ship. Moira almost didn’t want to leave.

“Here we are. Ain’t it shining?” Drifter purred as he pointed to the doors of what could only be described as a castle. Moira’s eyes glistened as she took in the view. “Holy shit.” The woman muttered. The place was absolutely stunning. Taken energy covered it’s walls and climbed through glass windows but the crystal of the castle was still a sight to behold. As the doors grunted, opening slowly, Moira readied herself. She wanted to prove she could be more than a helpful hand on a ship. She would do anything for the boss. She could do ANYTHING for him, Time to show it. Almost instantly Taken began to appear, zipping closer and closer to the two. It was almost like the creatures had been locked away inside this giant building, cursed to forever wander it’s halls. The moment light entered the castle, the Taken became instantly agitated, running for whatever had set them free. Drifter reached for his hand cannon, the man assumed Moira wouldn’t be able to attack, maybe she could throw a few punches, maybe somehow use the light but Drifter was ready for the worst. He was overprotective in so many ways. Drifter claimed he didn’t care about anyone but hell, it was all a lie. The woman had reached inside his heart in a way no one had ever before, His soft chewy center had been exposed and fuck that made him nervous. A smirk crawled onto the woman’s lips as she watched her boss reach for his gun. It was clear to see what was going on in his mind, it was only fair for him to assume she had no plan, no powers, nothing. Moira was more than excited to prove him wrong. The moment the Taken got close, Moira’s hands went straight into the air, her body twisting with movement. It was almost like she was dancing. Ice flew from the palms of her hands, covering her entire arms in an almost armor way. The ice shot out from her hands began to cover the entire castle floor. Anything that had stepped upon the ice instantly was frozen. Taken screeches were stopped as each one of the creature’s became encased in ice. With a cocky smile she learned from Drifter and a snap of her fingers, anything that was frozen shattered into pieces. The sound of falling ice filled the air as the woman turned to look at her boss. Her smile was still on her lips, hoping she had passed whatever test he had planned. Moira was terrified, praying to whatever god was out there that she didn’t scare him. Drifter was a tough man and he had said on many occasion that nothing could freak him out this late in life. Moira hopped that was right. The man’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates, Drifter’s jaw had been dropped as he gazed upon the glistening ice that covered the castle. It had happened so quickly, Moira was more powerful than he could have imagined. This was perfect.  But what was that? It wasn’t light clearly, was this Darkness? Is this what using the Darkness as a tool would turn to? It was amazing, beautiful, strong. “Kid-” “I can show you how to use it.” Moira quickly cut the man off, her legs shaking slightly from nerves. The brunette was terrified that he was about to cast her aside. Drifter was quick to notice the nerves. The man placed a hand upon the woman’s shoulder’s causing Moira to take a deep breath in and relax. The touch of the man was always so calming. The cocky smile had been replaced with a soft gentle one as she gazed up at her boss through her mask. “Wasn’t what I was gonna say. Yer amazing. Think you could do that all the time?” Drifter tested, removing his hand from Moira’s shoulder. The woman nodded confidently. “I think I could.” A evil grin curled upon Drifter’s lips. Originally Moira was going to be his back up plan, a person who could do whatever needed to be done if he was downed but now...now he didn’t have to worry about that. The man knew exactly what role to give the woman now.

As the two began walking away from the castle, Moira tilted her head in curiosity. “So, why did we need to clear that castle out?” Drifter laughed and wrapped an arm around the woman’s shoulder, pulling her close to his body as they walked. “Eh, I promised Spider I’d clear some things up so he could sell them back to the Awoken. Figured it was a good chance to see what you could do.” “Ohhh I see.” The woman purred, leaning into Drifter just to fluster the man. Drifter’s face quickly blushed but the man held his ground, not giving in to the woman which caused Moira to laugh. “Hey, don’t get comfy. I got plans for ya kid.” “Can’t wait to hear them old man.”

[adarlingwrites]

Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who's willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

XVII

October 1, 2277.

That was the day Percy and I met Dr. Li.

A hard-nosed security officer who introduced himself as Harkness almost didn’t let us in the city. He seemed annoyed at Percy and suspicious of me, but my mistress flashes a smile and says something about Dr. Li’s work on hydrophones-hydrophobic? Whatever it was, Harkness doesn’t have a clue either.

“Just keep out of trouble in my boat. I’m watching the two of you,” he tells us, and Percy nods.

“I’m just a young scientist with my assistant. Don’t worry Chief.”

Harkness looks at me from head to toe. I glared right back at him.

“He looks more like a mercenary type. What does he even assist you with?”

“Moving heavy equipment and keeping me safe while I conduct my research, of course!”

A half-truth. Though I’m not her errand boy, I’ve been keeping her ass alive as she put herself in danger “for science”. I did push her out of the way when a landmine almost blew up on her face when we were collecting them “for science”. Some days ago she also intentionally irradiated herself by wading in with those Church of Atom weirdos and drinking the water surrounding the bomb in the middle of town “for science”. Then she jumped off the fucking railings and broke her leg, also “for science”, and I had to haul her to Moira Brown’s shop.

I took care of her sick ass for days. In the month I knew her, sometimes I think Percy needs a doctor too...

“Yeah, yeah, fine. One of you step out of line while in my boat, you’ll be answering to me.”

As we got in, Percy smiled like a cat that got the cream and gave me a thumbs up.

In the science lab, one of the scientists’ arguing with a business type in a suit, and an arrogant one, judging from the tone of his voice. Percy listened to their exchange for a while, then squinted when she sees one of them accompanying a guy who was moving boxes.

There was fresh produce in it. I can’t remember the last time I saw an actual carrot, but there it was.

Percy gently nudges my arm with her elbow. “Huh. So Dr. Li is working on hydroponics. I guess our alibi checks out. Who would’ve thought?”

Lucky girl.

There was a hint of apprehension in Percy’s step as she approached this one. This particular scientist looks about Percy’s father’s age, judging from a more recent photograph of him that Percy keeps on her person at all times. Her eyes are sharp, and dark, like Percy’s and her father’s, and her graying black hair is kept in a neat bun. She looks like she means business, and has that detached, no-nonsense look on her face too.

“Dr. Madison Li?”

“This is a restricted area. I’m tired of- it’s you! My heavens, you look so much like him,” she blurts out.

Her eyes are wide, and her posture is alert. The scientist looks like she had seen either a ghost, or a long-lost friend.

“You know who I am?” my mistress asks her. Percy was watching her with a curious look.

“You’re James’ daughter Persephone, aren’t you?”

‘Percy’ is short for Persephone? I never would’ve guessed. It’s an uncommon name, and my mistress would be the only ‘Persephone’ I know.

“I suppose James never told you about me. Typical…” the doctor continues. There was some resentment in her voice, but when she said that last word, she sounds almost sorrowful.

“I’m sorry. I’m glad to meet you though,” Percy replies. She had used that tone with me before. She’s being sincere.

“I- hm. I suppose you didn’t come here to exchange pleasantries. What are you doing here?”

“Dad left the vault. I wanted to look for him.”

“Did you now? I was under the impression that’s not what your father wanted for you,” Li replied, stern expression on her face.

“Well, security tried to kill me when they found out dad got out. Killed dad’s lab assistant too. I had to fight my way out.”

The doctor was taken aback, her hand flying to her chest in a show of genuine alarm. “All by yourself? Persephone...”

Percy nods.

But then, Dr. Li clears her throat, the initial surprise and concern replaced by that coldness again. “I am sorry to hear that. But I’m afraid I cannot help you. James has come and gone already.”

“Did he say where he was going?”

Dr. Li massages her temples. “He said that he was going back to the lab at Project Purity, in the old Jefferson Memorial Building, northwest of here. It seems he never moved on after all. I told him that too much time has passed when he demanded me to help him. It’s futile.”

“Project Purity? Can you tell me what was the goal behind it?”

The doctor and my mistress exchanged a conversation that was too complicated for me to understand, but from what I can process, it aimed to give clean water to everyone. Noble, but it sounds impossible. How would Percy’s father even pull that off? I suppose if the mistress was smart, her father would be just as smart, or smarter.

Whatever. I shouldn’t even be concerning myself with that. My concern is keeping my contract holder safe. When that person is a crazy kid who drank atomic bomb water “for science”, it’s a challenge.

“Thank you for your help, doctor. I know you’re a busy woman. From one aspiring scientist to a renowned one, maybe we I can learn from you when the circumstances allow it,” Percy replies, extending her hand.

With hesitation, Li shakes the mistress’ hand. “I see you share your father’s scientific interest. Very well.”

I was walking with Percy, who was formulating a plan on how to get to the rotunda safely, when Dr. Li headed towards us with an uneasy expression, like she changed her mind on something.

“Wait. It’s too dangerous. The memorial was overrun by super mutants.”

Percy looks at Dr. Li, then at me. “Dammit. We better hurry and make sure that dad wasn’t eaten by the muties, then.”

“James is smarter than that. Take these,” Dr. Li said, handing my mistress a container of stimpaks. “They might make things easier for you.”

“Thanks doc,” the mistress replies, tucking the medical supplies in her stash. “C’mon Charon. Let’s get some ammo.”

“As you wish.”

“Let’s come up with a strategy too, so you wouldn’t have to get hurt for me when one of them throws a grenade again.”

Behind me, I can still feel Dr. Li watching the two of us.

As soon as we left the lab, Percy looks up to me. “Do you think she hates me?”

“I do admit that you are difficult to hate, miss, despite all the trouble I go through to keep your sorry ass safe,” I tell her, and she bumps her shoulder into my arm, her chuckles soft.

“Coming from you that sounds like a marriage proposal.”

I snort. I didn’t intend to do it, but it came out anyway. Percy throws her head back and laughs at my reaction.

“Anyway. She seems… cold. I wonder what happened between her and dad for her to act that way,” Percy continues, definitely bothered by their interactions.

“Miss, may I share my observations?”

“Speak freely.”

“She’s holding back an eagerness to meet you,” I tell her.

“Huh. Now why would she do that?”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t know the answer.

I tilt my head at Percy. “You seem very invested on what this scientist thinks of you, miss.”

“I grew up without a mom and dad’s the only family I knew. It’s nice to see an older female figure I can look up to. Even if she’s just dad’s old friend and she’s a cold scientist who doesn’t like me.”

Now that’s just sad.

“Fine. If it makes you happy, I think she likes you.”

“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better. It’s enough that you like me.”

I snorted again. “Miss, don’t push your luck.”

“I’d rather push your buttons,” she teases, bumping me with her hip.

“Physical violence invalidates our contract,” I joked.

I joked.

“I know, big guy. I know.”

Perhaps If I wasn’t distracted by Percy’s flirtatious humor, and concerning myself with tactics, I could’ve figured out what Percy meant to the doctor back then.

February 9, 2278.

“Stop!”

I was using my body to shield Dr. Li, and DeLoria was trying to hold Lyons back, efforts futile, when an old man in blue robes strode in the room.

“Sarah, my child, a word with you,” the old man said with an air of authority.

I’ve seen him once, when Percy fled with the scientists when the Enclave took over Project Purity. It’s the Elder.

“Elder, explain,” the blonde demanded, marching towards him.

“This isn’t a conversation we can have here, Sentinel. Come with me.”

I’m glad that she did as she was told, or I wouldn’t hesitate to brawl with her.

We were left there in tense silence, the machine keeping Percy alive the only thing making a damn sound.

I glared at both DeLoria and Li. They carried guilty looks on their faces.

“You said us three were the only ones allowed inside,” I growl, and to give Li some credit, she didn’t shrink at my words.

The only other person who didn’t was Percy, back when she stepped in to help Patchwork.

“He’s the Elder. The Citadel is under his command. As much as I don’t want to admit it, he’s being extremely generous to give me full control of Persephone’s treatment despite protests from the scribes. I tried to keep him away from this room as hard as I could. I came up with every excuse,” she snapped.

Dr. Li clears her throat, and continued, much more in control now.

“They cannot know about Persephone’s true nature. Seeing how they relied on her to carry out the work their soldiers should’ve been doing, they might exploit her for this too.”

“Exploit her how? How can I carry on protecting Percy when I’m left in the damn dark?”

DeLoria rubbed his face. “Ah, to hell with it. Doc, we gotta tell him. And I know there are some details you’re holding back from me too.”

My eyes flick towards the greaser. “Tell me what? What the hell is going on?“

“Calm down,” Li asserts, stern, that no-nonsense expression present on her face again. She looks outside to see if anyone was eavesdropping, and turned every surface over, even checking under Percy’s bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking for bugs. What you’re about to hear is information that could put every single one of us in danger,” Dr. Li said, and DeLoria has a grim frown on his face.

What the hell does she know that DeLoria knows, but I don’t?

“Clear. Mr. DeLoria, you start.”

“Okay, doc. Hey, remember the day that I first came to visit here?” DeLoria asks me. I nod.

“Well, a few days before that, Quinn, that ghoul I met when I helped you and Percy to Underworld? He was looking for me in Rivet City. He asked me to deliver some papers to Dr. Li. Said it was from Dr. Barrows.”

Barrows? What does he have to do with this?

“Quinn said that them Brotherhood tin cans would shoot the hell out of the doc if he showed up in person, so he needed my help. I didn’t want nothing to do with it at first, but he said that it could help Percy.”

“That’s where I come in,” Dr. Li continues, taking a step towards me. “Those documents Barrows gave me were Persephone’s medical records. She left instructions in a written will that if something happens to her that results to her death or incapacitation, I’m allowed to divulge information only to Mr. DeLoria, and you. I can’t keep it a secret any longer. I must tell you both now.”

“Tell us what?”

“The modifications in Persephone’s DNA are starting to manifest. Percy’s father, James? He did this to her. Catherine had so many miscarriages because of the damage years of background radiation did to her body. They wanted a child so badly. James wanted to make sure the next child lives, so he turned to… dubious methods.”

DeLoria joined me in looking at the doctor with skepticism.

“He made Persephone a living weapon. He played god.”

My perception of James shifted as I heard Dr. Li’s confession. Him? The good Christian father, who was in every way supportive of his daughter, who wanted to give an entire Wasteland drinkable water, was a mad scientist who was playing god with his own flesh and blood?

What the fuck.

“I know what you’ve heard gave you more questions than answers, but bear with me. The specifics of James’ procedures aren’t known to me either,” Dr. Li continues, rummaging inside her labcoat. She produces a holotape, and hands it over to me.

“Give this holotape to Persephone when she wakes up. She deserves to know about James’ past, and the truth about herself. Now, I need to go. I can’t stay any longer.”

Faster than Dr. Li can open the door, I block the exit and corner her, slamming my fist against the wall. She flinches, but she stays firm. In our proximity, the determination in her eyes remind me too much of Percy’s.

“No. You’re going to stay here, and continue being Percy’s doctor,” I tell her, trapping her. 

“Whoa, ease up man,” DeLoria tells me, but I shrug him off. He tries to intervene. Too bad I’m bigger than the both of them.

“You said that the Brotherhood couldn’t find out about Percy’s secret. How can I prevent that if the only doctor that can help her goes and leaves the scribes in charge with their damn  needles?”

“Barrows will take over,” Dr. Li insists, looking me in the eye.

I laughed, darkly, bitterly. DeLoria looks fucking spooked, and so did Li.

“Barrows? Didn’t you hear DeLoria, doctor? They’ll shoot him up as soon as he’s here. They’re bigots. When he replaces you, they’ll kill him to get to Percy. And I’ll have to take every single bastard who tries to touch Percy down, or die trying. Do you want that?”

Dr. Li’s mortified.

“Damn. That’s the longest thing I ever heard you say, and the creepiest fucking laugh ever,” DeLoria comments, and I glare at him.

He shut his mouth.

Multiple emotions flash through the doctor’s face. Taking a breath to steel herself, Dr. Li folds her arms.

“Fine. You’re right.”

I let her loose. DeLoria is distraught, checking on Li as the doctor straightened her coat.

“One more day. I stay for one more day. After that, you need to get her out of here.”

[camden-bridges]

The nightmare is always the same. Benjamin is there. He’s three, but I’m not. I’m who I am now… 6’2 and twenty-four years old. He’s frozen – never aging; never growing up. He’s watching me with big eyes and says, “It hurts.” I know what happens next but I still ask, “What hurts?”

“My chest.” His voice sounds smaller before he coughs and there’s a red trickle from the edge of his mouth. I try to yell for my mom to come help him, but she must not hear me because we’re still alone as Ben coughs more… and more… until we’re both covered in splatters of his blood.

The young man recants the dream to his therapist as she hums in interest, watching him intently behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. “And how do you feel when you wake up?”

“I feel sad.” He confesses. “I feel guilty.”

Camden “Tripp” Bridges III was three years old when his twin brother died. The doctors said it was a rare clotting disease that took his life before they could treat it. His ultimate cause of death was a pulmonary embolism – a clot so large that it stopped his breathing, and eventually his heart. There were no warning signs; nothing anyone could do. That didn’t stop Tripp from asking the same question: “Why him? Why not me?”

Countless tests proved that the twins did not share the same disease. It was lucky, but also a little bittersweet. What would Ben be like if he was here? Would he be sinewy like Tripp, maybe a little more muscular, or husky? Would he be artistic? Athletic? A genius? The ghost of him was always there, yet offered no answers or comfort. It was a black cloud that followed Tripp like a curse.

Moira Bridges couldn’t have any more children, despite years of trying to expand and strengthen their family with more. When Conrad – Tripp’s best friend – essentially became an orphan at the age of fourteen, the Bridges were happy to bring him in. Despite their trauma, they remained optimistic and hardworking people. Their upper east side multi-million dollar row house offered more than enough accommodation for their new addition. For the first time in a long time, they felt hope again.

Tripp now navigates his life in a lazy haze, doing whatever interests him at the time. For now, he focuses on streaming video games and periodically producing music. His parents pay for the boy’s to live in LA and try to live out their dreams.

The unfortunate truth is that Tripp is caught in a vicious cycle. The guilt depresses him, which keeps him from living to his fullest potential. Not living to his fullest potential adds to his guilt, because Ben doesn’t have the chances that he does. Instead of expressing it healthily, he puts on his goofy act and insists that weekly therapy is all he needs - but underneath it all the dark cloud of his twin’s death still lingers.

[emile-hides]

I’ve talked previously and vaguely about my everyone lives together and is pals but there’s still a war going on Overwatch AU before. And I said before that everything still happened the same as in game, they just all got together in the end.

And I’ve decided I don’t like that anymore, so here’s a better, more well written, full explanation of the Everyone Lives Together Overwatch AU: (Under the cut because I’m going into how every character ended up in Overwatch)

First of all, the fall of the original Overwatch didn’t happen. It got close, up until the Overwatch comic, Retribution, everything had played out about the same. There were two major differences though:

Jack was in the works of passing his position down to Gabe.

Jack didn’t allow Blackwatch to go after Antonio

As his last call as commander was to officially shut down Blackwatch activity, and announced the Overwatch Special Heroes unit, officially run by Winston, which he immediately joined as the first Hero.

McCree, with no where else to really go, and Angela, who always wanted to be a first lines support medic rather than a stay in base doctor, both joined the Special Heroes unit as well.

Tracer was scouted and questioned before the dissolve of Blackwatch for the Special Heroes Unit as well. It was specifically Winston who asked her if she’d like to join, and she said yes immediately.

Jack planned to leave Gabriel with the Commander position for Overwatch, as he deserved. But before he could, Gabe took matters with Antonio into his own hands.

And by that I mean he walked directly into a trap, all by himself. He managed to, somehow, get out alive, but barely. He returned horribly injured, near death. With Angela out in the field, the only doctor there to treat him was Moira, who, without Angela, may be without any impulse control.

Gabe gained his Reaper-like abilities, Moira claimed it was the only way to save him, and somehow got away with it. With his new found abilities, Gabe figured what’s the point in being a Commander, working at an office, pushing papers all day, when he could ghost into front lines on a second life. He joined the Special Heroes Unit.

Overwatch; Special Heroes Unit became the face of peace among Humans and Omnics. They scouted for new Heroes, and invited any who wished for a better future to step forward and join them. 

After the dissolve of Blackwatch, Genji chose to leave Overwatch entirely, and look for answers about his new body. Finding Zenyatta and learning his teachings, Genji came to peace with himself. When Zenyatta grew tired of Mondatta’s dogmatic teaching, he chose to leave the monastery, with Genji in tow, and eventually join Overwatch, in the hopes to achieve a better future for all.

Ana was still injured in the confrontation with Widowmaker, but she did not fake her death. Instead, she joined Gabe and Jack in the new Overwatch, as a medic. She hasn’t stepped foot on a battle field sense.

Because of this, Fareeha was fully raised in the heart of Overwatch. Because her mother was a medic now, she saw a lot more injuries than she heard stories of victory. Even still, as soon as she was old enough, Fareeha joined the Heroes Unit, and focuses her energy on keeping her fellow soldiers safe.

Both Reinhardt and Torbjorn were offered positioned in the Heroes Unit as soon as it was announced, though only Reinhardt joined. Torbjorn complained about being too old for this and returned home.

His youngest, Brigitte, chose to stay with Reinhardt and train under Ana as a medic for now. In secret she worked on her own armor molded after Reinhardt’s, and took combat training classes. When she was old enough, she dawned her armor, quit her Medic training, and joined Reinhardt on the front lines.

Torbjorn, meanwhile, had returned home, expecting and easy retirement. However, news of an active Bastion unit wandering Northern Sweden forced his hand. He volunteered to take down the bot and return peace to the country. After observing the machine, tracking it, and attempting to catch it in all sorts of traps, Torb eventually declared it harmless.

Unfortunately, the rest of the country didn’t see it that way. They sent troops out to destroy the Bastion. Torb, cursing his soft heart, took the bot to his own home to hide. But the darn thing wouldn’t sit still! Mrs. Lindholm compared it to having toddlers in the house again. With no other option, Torbjorn decided to take his new bot-son to Overwatch, and join the fight once again.

Bastion is not an official soldier, he just lives there, like Fareeha and Brigitte did when they were little.

After a run in with Genji at the Shimada estate, Hanzo did everything he could to track his brother down. Eventually he found footage of Genji fighting for Overwatch’s Special Heroes Unit. Hanzo immediately signed up, and upon being accepted, he immediately begged forgivness from his brother. Genji, however, had already forgiven him.

Ashe eventually found out about McCree being in Overwatch the same was Hanzo found Genji, and she also joined up. Though, her original plan was to get revenge on McCree for leaving, she found quickly she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Everyone was so nice. Like a family. She ended up staying permanently.

Lucio, after fighting Vishkar out of his neighborhood, and becoming a world wide symbol for change, was scouted by Overwatch to join their Special Heroes Unit. In the hope for better change, and the chance to help people, he joined.

D.Va, like Lucio, was scouted by Overwatch, though she turned them down at first, believing defending Korea to be a bigger issue. However, after a one-on-one fight with the Colossal Omnic, Hana realized she maybe able to offer more to the world by fighting for the bigger picture, rather than just the bigger bot.

Deep in Antarctica, Overwatch sent a rescue team to retrieve global climet researchers left stranded in an ice storm. However, once at the facility, it was found the team had entered cryostasis in anticipation of rescue. When the team arrived, there was only one survivor. Both lucky and unlucky, Mei was the person the team had come for in the first place. She was scouted into Overwatch’s Special Hero Unit.

The final person planned to be scouted for Overwatch was Efi Oladele, an 11 year old girl already making huge waves in the advancement of robotics and artificial intelligence. The main problem came from her age, Efi was too young to be scouted by Overwatch, she couldn’t join the army, even as a scientist. However, Efi wanted to go, so she offered them a loophole. She may not be old enough, but Orisa was an Omnic, so her age didn’t matter. While Orisa is the only one official licensed to Overwatch, Efi came along as well, and works hard for them every day.

Soon after learning the Vishkar Corporation may not be leading to the most perfect world as Symmetra once thought, she began to secretly look into other options. Eventually, she learned of Overwatch, and their mission to make the world a brilliant place for all. Satya decided this was the best cause, stole Vishkar’s hard light technology, and signed up for the Special Heroes Unit.

Like Blackwatch, the Overwatch Heroes Unit also looked into prisoners and offered to give them an out. Doomfist, without the fall of Overwatch, was stuck in prison, until Winston approached him with an offer. Doomfist refused, for years he said Talon would come for him. But they never did, and when Winston came with the new of Talon’s destruction, Akande didn’t have many other options.

The fall of Talon also left a certain Spider without affiliation. She was brought into custody, and the severe brainwashing Talon had put her though was brought to light. Zenyatta worked with her for many years though the trauma of what Talon had put her though, and she began to rebuild herself bit by bit, while still working as a sniper for Overwatch.

Other prisoners given a second chance though Overwatch where Roadhog and Junkrat. Roadhog did most of the negotiating before they joined, as he wanted to be completely positive all of their crimes would be wiped away before signing anything. Junkrat was ready to go the second Winston approached him.

Sombra was never imprisoned, she showed up on her own free will. She found the Heroes Unit interesting, and believed her services were needed. She’s mostly there to climb her way to control, but until then at least the bunch is entertaining.

Without Sombra blackmailing the Chairmen Volskaya, Zarya remained on the Russian Defense force, and was eventually scouted to Overwatch for her amazing feats. While she originally wanted to turn them down so she could stay close to home, her family and friends all encouraged her to fight the real fight.

After leaving Talon, Baptiste lived hiding from other Talon operatives, offering medical help wherever he was. However, one day, the assassins stopped. Baptiste soon learned Talon was taken down by Overwatch, and soon after, saw an advertisement for the Special Heroes Unit, and how they strive for a better future. He grabbed a flight to the Heroes compound that same day.

Upon searching though Talon activity logs, Winston eventually discovered their attempt to break into a psych ward. Curious, Winston paid a visit to the facility to see what Talon could have possibly wanted. There he found Siebren, or Sigma, a man he and Doctor Harold had both been told passed on before making it back to Earth.

Sigma had suffered sever memory loss from the incident and isolation. Not only did he not recognize Winston, he had no idea who Harold was. Still, Winston couldn’t stand to see the man rot in a cell alone. He scouted Sigma into Overwatch, mostly to keep the doctor close by, and began working with him though Zenyatta to recover his past.

The entirety of the Overwatch Special Heroes Unit live in one base together. They are sent into the field as needed, and take on missions to protect peace on their own. No job is too big or small for Overwatch’s Heroes. Their mission is and always will be to strive to a better future for all; Humans, Omnics, Genetically advanced animals. For a better world they fight.

[naerryn]

Landing in Agrabah

The white, salty ocean foam hit against the starboard of the massive ship. Over two weeks have passed since the crew of the royal navy of the northern isles set sails to bring the Queen of their country along with her children to the Arabian city of Agrabah.

“[Y/N]? Are you awake?”, I heard the muffled sound of Finns voice through the wooden door of my cabin, and I told him to come in without looking up from my book. It was a gift of an italian nobleman, which we met on one of our stops to Agrabah, our final destination.

“Can we talk?”, my brothers voice was unusual nervous after I heard the door being opened and closed almost silently. “I am listening.”, I respond while flipping the page to the next side, admiring the delicate drawings next to the skillful handwriting.

Footsteps echoed through the small room, which was lavishly furnished to fit my liking and hold space for many books. “Why me?”, he asked me for the what feels like the millions time during our travel and caused me to roll my eyes rather dramatically.

“Are we doing this again, Finn?”, I placed an old letter between the pages of the book before I closed it and left it on the nightstand, my full attention now on the tall teenager pacing from side to side of my room.

“ Let’s start with the obvious reasons. First, I am the firstborn. I have to rule our nation when mother passes away. Second, mother and the Sultan have already planned everything out. You will court Princess Jasmine, I will make sure you’re not bringing dishonor to our family while mother attends official meetings. And last but not least, I just finished mourning my late spouse three month ago.”

Finn shot a short, but meaningful glance at me as I finished speaking, raising an eyebrow in question but swallowed whatever respond laid on his tongue.

“That’s not fair. You could marry [the Sultan/the Princess] in my place.”

“Mother, our Queen, wishes something different, dear brother. Start acting like it. Our little chitchat used to amuse me at the start of our journey, now it’s starting to annoy me. You’re the prince of the northern isles, behave like it.”

I hated every word I that left my mouth, but I knew that our mother was probably listening to our little argument, probably not for the first time, and I won’t blow the unspoken agreement with our mother over my brothers childish views of freedom to love whoever we want.

“Maybe I should also just poison my spouse.”, he muttered under his breath, glancing at me with hateful eyes and I raised on my feet within the blink of an eye.

“Get out of here!”, I yelled at him, clenching my fists while I stared my brother down, him turning his back to me angrily before storming out of my room with a loud bang of the closing door.

A couple hours later...

I found myself on deck while the ship entered the harbor of Agrabah, the merest hint of sand of the desert filled the hot air as the city came closer and closer in front of us.

It’s different then the northern isles, even different then all the towns I had visited during countless journeys at my mothers side, preparing me for my role as the future monarch of our country.

But from afar, the city of Agrabah looked breathtakingly beautiful.

“A small delegate will welcome us at the landing stage. They will lead us to the palace, where we will meet the Sultan and his royal court. After that, the Sultan and I will attend some boring negotiations. You will look after your brother and the Princess as planned.”, mother spoke close to my ear as my eyes were still fixed on the view ahead of us, her voice sounding distant and emotionless, telling me she’s already in her professional mindset, not the one only an exclusive group of people get to know. The true side of my mother, full of humor and love.

“Of course.”

“I also spoke with Finnegan a moment ago. He won’t act out of line anymore, I made sure of that.”, she whispered before a gust of wind hit the ship and drops of sea foam landed on my face.

I only nodded my head in respond, looking at my mother at the corner of my eyes and noticed her gaze fixed on the palace in the far distance. An alliance with Agrabah was essential to gain an easier access to the trade routes to the east and their foreign goods. The stronger the bond, the better for the northern isles.

“I am putting my trust in you, [Y/N]. Don’t disappoint me.”

Later, in the palace...

“Queen Moira, [Your Title] [Y/N] and Prince Finnegan.”, a loud voice announced our arrival in the throne room after the massive, gracefully decorated doors were opened and we walked inside, followed by a handful of our own soldiers and ambassadors.

Scanning the throne room with my eyes, I noticed a lot of soldiers, but not to much to feel threatened. Only by the decor of the room I could tell that the Sultan and his family were rich, more then us or the kingdom of my late spouse in a long run.

At the end of the room, an elder man with a well trimmed beard sat on the throne, next to him a teenage girl around the same age as my brother. Next to her stood an old woman, probably her current handmaiden, and huge cat-like creature. I remembered seeing a drawing of such an animal, but the name of it slipped my memory.

I drop a curtsy when we came to halt a couple steps in front of the Sultan, staying a little bit behind my mother and brother, since the spotlight’s theirs.

“It’s been to long, my old friend.”, my mother said calmly before starting some light small talk between her and the Sultan, while I glanced over to Finn, who was visibly nervous as he stared towards the Princess with wide eyes.

She looked beautiful for a girl her age, I had to admit that, but with that look in her eyes she definitely wasn’t impressed by my brother at the first sight. Especially if he won’t snap out of whatever thoughts his brain are filling at the moment.

All eyes landed on him, as mother did a special introduction of her youngest child, Finnegan, who was still standing like a statue next to her with his mouth slightly opened.

“Finnegan.”, she hisses with knitted brows, a soft giggle escaped my mouth which I quickly covered with a hand. This moment was truly worth all those days on sea and the trouble I had with my brother.

“You must excuse my sons shyness. He’s exhausted from the long travel.”

“I can imagine. You must tell us everything at celebratory dinner in the evening. Now, please retire for the meantime and enjoy our conveniences. You will be brought to your rooms.”, the Sultan quickly responded and I thought I noticed a smile ghosting over his lips before lifting himself off the throne.

“[Your Title] [Y/N], this way please.”, I heard a firm voice behind me and as I turned around, my eyes landed on a pair of dark brown orbs. Fluttering my eyelashes, I moved a small step backwards and stroke a strand of hair behind my ear.

Now in front of me, with the usual suitable distance between us, stood a young man, probably around my age, dressed in the uniform I supposed the servants have to wear. The clothing fitted him nicely, revealing a trained body hidden underneath and his short black hair covered by a small cap.

“I am sorry if I frightened you, [Your Title]. I hope you’re not as exhausted as your brother and able to follow me.”, he said in my native tongue, a thick accent accompanied every of his words as he curled one corner of his mouth up to a mischievous smile.

“No... Lead the way, please.”, I said with a gesture of my hand, watching him gracefully turning his back to me before starting to walk towards the door through which I previously entered the throne room.

Following him through the long hallways of the palace, which felt like they would never end, I listened to every of his words full of curiosity. Who was this young man, I wondered. A servant? Likely. But where did he learned my native tongue, if he was a regular servant?

But how do I address him? He didn’t introduced himself to me back in the throne room.

“Wait.”, I hissed while reaching my hand out to him, and I came to notice that the young man was a bit taller then me, now standing close in front of one another.

“Yes, your Highness?”

“I am sorry, but I can’t find a way to ask this any... more royally... but who are you?”

At first, he was only smiling when my words reached his ear, but that smile quickly grew in a joyful laughter. All I could do was blink at him rather irritated.

“I am a mere servant, your Majesty. But if you wish, you can call me Jafar.”

“Jafar?”, his name rolled from my tongue like flavorful, thick wine and he cocks his head slightly to the side, his dark eyes never leaving mine.

“The Sultan personally picked the servants interacting with your family. I was assigned to you, [Your Title]. So, as long as you stay, I am all yours.”, he spoke quietly against my hear, as he leaned forward to close the gap between us. There was something unspoken swaying along his words, his brief touch of my uncovered wrist made me shiver down my spine.

With a glance over his shoulder, he turned his back towards me and started walking down the hallway again, telling me to hurry to not get lost in the palace all by myself.

This would become an interesting stay, in more ways I had imagined before.

[isolaween]

Party Preparations!

October 4th and 5th are dates of utmost importance for the Ushiromiya family. They were fateful days when all of their collective sins came to a tragic conclusion. They were the days when the Golden Witch Beatrice revived. They were the days when a little girl lost her whole family. They were the days when said little girl managed to see her family once again and become a grown woman.

But none of those things are happening at October 4th and 5th in Spirale City. The past must not be forgotten, but a truth of the future supercedes a truth of the past. If these days come to be associated with a joyful party at the city’s consciousness instead, then the hosts will be satisfied. There is no need of a massacre for them to reach the Golden Land tonight.

Work began at the mansion early in the morning. King Knight (@gildedusurper) was busy decorating the main hall, which actually benefitted from his perchant to add golden details to everything (the hosts are Golden Witches, after all). Lothric and Lorian (@ashes-of-omelas) arrived with their decorated pumpkins to be put at the main hall too, alongside others Beato made the goats carve for the main hall and the outside. ...At least the goats’ pumpkins have heart to them. On the second floor, Jon Kent (@smallblueboyscout) flew non stop to prepare props that’d make a hide-and-seek game the most interesting. Harley Quinn (@harliquinn) delighted herself at adding little pranks here and there at the escape room. Well, I guess that as long as she follows the plan laid out by the activity’s overseer, it should be alright. Riruka Dokugamine (@shouyoku) miiiight be going a bit overboard with the ‘cute’ factor at the parlor. This looks like the sort of place that’d please Lambdadelta a lot. Lastly for the decoration crew, Yomiel (@hosttrick) sure knows how to prepare an environment with just the perfect touch of ‘spooky’ for a room where ghost stories will occur. All of these people were assisted by either one of the Stakes, a Chiester or a goat butler, depending on their availability.

Things were just as agitated at the kitchen. Travis Touchdown (@suplex51) was ready to show off his skills with a couple kitchen knives and a wooden spoon! Burritos, pasta and smaller salty snacks are just some of the things he pulled masterfully. Meanwhile, on another bench, Balbok (@tallorc) was carefully decorating a portion of bru-mill that he couldn’t wait to present to everyone in party. Let’s just hope that the strong smell that and his other meaty dishes emit won’t startle the sensitive nose of one Toriel (@baaternal), who was facing the oven to get another batch of cookies out of it. The previous batches, plus other baked goods she had prepared, were being checked by Jet (@blackvwatch), who was also giving them final decorating touches, besides moving left and right to assist anyone in need. Leading them all was, of course, the Ushiromiya family’s head butler, Ronove.

Food and drinks also gently catered by some sponsored partners, as goats waited at the entrance to bring them in. Hansol Yi (@fcxrcin) was proud to provide her matcha and matcha based treats, specialties of her restaurant, NokNok Cafe. For those with a more Western taste, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte (@princesselmelloi), owner of The London Fog, was ready to cover you, for she brought classic teas like Earl Grey, coffee and some desserts she usually serves at her store. Those of legal age can also be satisfied, for even the so called Emperor of the Universe, Lord Freeza (@coldcessor) was willing to assist with the party, his role being of catering alcoholic drinks - especially the ones from wine variety. And of course, this can’t be a Halloween Party worth its name without the most important component of all: candies! Thankfully, we can count on Nicholas St. North (@odetotoys) to bring those.

And there were more things being brought to the mansion besides that!  GANG☆STAR, the ever growing clothing brand on Spirale City, was gentle enough to provide some extra costumes to any partygoer who either doesn’t bring any or wishes to change their current ones; all negotiated with Shaundi (@adrenalxna), as her boss is currently out of commission. Riruka was here not only to assist with decorations, but also to bring costumes from her own shop, Atelier Softcoeur! Assisting the arrangement of the clothing space was Kanji Tatsumi (@ziodie), who will later assist with fixing those poor costumes that get themselves into accidents. Oh, and speaking of Riruka, she and Rantaro Amami (@seizonka) still have to handle makeup assistance to guests later tonight! Good thing Rantaro can help organizing the space for that right now. Last but no less important, the famous horror writer and owner of Owl’s Books, Sen Tatatsuki (@bubonem), was more than happy to provide some books from her horror collection to serve as reading material for the ghost stories section to happen tonight.

It’s important to assure the wellbeing and health of people in a party, especially one with so many guests. Thankfully, there is a medical team ready to tend to any injuries or malaise folks can experience here! Right now, the designated medical room is being filled with tablets, medicine bottles, gauze and other medical tools by Litchi Faye-Ling (@kuyuzhishi), Angela Thompson (@caducenurse), Moira O’Deorain (@bitterscience) and Jean-Baptiste Augustin (@imotel). .....Hopefully there will be no conflict between them tonight.

The technical aspect of a high production event like this is also very important to be properly checked beforehand. Peridot (@kindergardening), owner of Facet Five, is currently busy checking each spotlight one by one. I hope she doesn’t mind some light harrassing by Gaap, one of the demons under the hosts’ service. Back in the escape room, Maggie (@tragiclittlebonbon) is having lots of fun setting up the devices that must go up during the game sessions. She needs to make sure they are replayable many times. Leo Valdez (@vldeztm) is checking every nook and cranny on the musical stage set up at the main hall, so that no screw is left out of place. The computer that will play accompanying audio for the musical presentations (and overall play sound effects during the party) is being checked by one Dirk Strider (@failedprince). If he were his relative, maybe he’d even be giving his opinion on what songs to play tonight.

At last, night arrives. People begin arriving to the Ushiromiya mansion even before the alloted time. Once one enters the rose garden, they’d be able to see a couple creatures roaming around the area. Some are ‘normal’ animals. Others are fantastical looking creatures belonging to Battler Ushiromiya. Two people tend to the garden and the creatures in it: Rey (@dawnarose) and Doomguy (@painsawd). The duo is not physically similar at all, but both carry the same passion at making sure the creatures are well cared for, besides inviting arriving guests to leave their own pets at the garden during the party’s duration.

A figure waits for those who arrive at the main entrance. The Witch of Finite, Publius Virgilia Maro (@thefinitewitch), receives everyone with a warm smile, making sure to direct everyone to a seat. She gives off an elegant vibe, even though she is wearing 80′s styled clothing that only Beatrice could have convinced her of putting. Passing by her, one would be faced directly with the main hall, which is covered in decorations and tables and chairs and a stage and, of course, a painting of Beatrice herself. Every table on the main hall has a gift basket full of homemade Halloween snacks over it, which guests can take home. Those who leave the party to go home without one can receive a basket from Virgilia as they pass by her again.

Security is tight tonight. Besides the presence of the hosts’ faithful furniture in every room, some citizens of Spirale are working tonight to keep the festivities safe for everyone. Enkidu (@lancerofclay) is standing by the entrance alongside Virgilia, much like they did at the last party. New to the city and to these parties as general, Mike Chiton (@motorcitymutt) is taking his time to admire the main hall’s visual - without forgetting his duty, of course. As the owner of Sanctuary Moon Security, Murderbot (@yoursecunit) is ever vigilant, his focus being at the parlor and dinner room areas. ...I’m not sure how Ludwig the Holy Blade (@holyequine) has managed to squeeze at the corridors leading to the costume and medical rooms, but he seems to be doing his job well, so why complain?

Waiters are already serving people left and right with treats fresh from the kitchen and drinks. Koku (@looking-for-four) seems to be more focused on the main door entrance than the guests he tends to. Perhaps he is expecting someone in particular to arrive, even if in vain. Ooops, looks like one of the waiters left a drink drop - ah, it was Touma Kamijou (@illusiionbreaker). Poor guy doesn’t get a break for his bad luck even here. As for Giselle (@angelicqualia), she seems to be enjoying the chance to socialize with people and learn more about the holiday. Don’t worry, your salary for this service will be way more than enough to compensate for your uniform. Somehow, Rantaro has chosen to work as both a makeup artist and a waiter during the party. I guess only an Ultimate Survivor could pull that off without dying...

...At last, the clocks hits 7PM. The lights go out, as they’re substituted by the arrival of golden butterflies who gently fly around the whole manor. It seems like the party will officially begin at any moment...

[confusedunit]

The Other Side Looks The Goddamn Same - Chapter 16

(jesus christ confused finally fuckin did it praise the fuckin heavens)

Jack doesn’t expect to be found.

Not because he’s particularly well hidden, he’s sitting out on an open balcony over the cliff’s edge of Gibraltar. And sure, he knows that the camera down the hallway to this spot’s been dark for years, so if someone looked it’d seem like he vanished. But he hasn’t made connections to the new members of the team. The old ones think he’s dead. And he’s been avoiding Ana and the Reaper for weeks now. No one should care where he is.

He sits on the edge, legs dangling through the fence, looking down into the water below. His facemask is off, as he sips at a bottle of whiskey, though his visor is still in place.

He sighs when he hears the door slide open behind him, taking a long swig.

“Back here again, Jack.”

Shit. He knew he’d forgotten someone. He sets the bottle down. “...Wilhelm.” He turns. “Why are you here?”

Reinhardt steps forward, letting the door slide closed. He’s in casual clothes for once, finally seeming to be letting himself settle in. “Because I was looking for you.” He moves over to sit next to him.

“I don’t need your-”

“It’s not pity. It’s understanding.” He looks out over the ocean. “I am sure most of us have been to this balcony. Some of us more than others.” He sets down a travel mug, sliding it over to Jack.

Jack narrows his eyes, but he takes the mug. “The hell is this?”

“A gift.” He still doesn’t turn.

He pops the opening, tilting the mug back. As soon as the liquid hits his lips, he stills.

Reinhardt reaches over, resting a hand on his back. “I know what time of year it is. I’ve been mourning for ten years.”

He takes a shuddering breath. “...You made his cocktail.”

“Ana did, actually. She wrote down the recipe.” He pats him gently. “She also told me about your yearly tradition.”

He slams back some of the alcohol. “Doesn’t matter. I’m on mission probation, yeah? Not allowed to even step off base.”

“You’ve chosen to care about the rules now?” He chuckles, looking over at Jack. His smile falls.

He sighs, drinking more. “I care when I’m a liability to the team. Always have.”

“So you came here?”

“I wasn’t gonna do anything. That’d just cause more problems.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “...I’ll escort you.”

Jack looks over. “What?”

“I’ll take you to the memorial.” He sighs. “Taking you off of field duty wasn’t meant to be a punishment, Jack. It’s an intervention. You don’t know how to not destroy yourself. You’re not here because you’re a danger to the team.” He pushes himself to stand.

He turns to watch him.

Reinhardt holds out his hand. “...Come on. We might be able to get a flight today.”

He glances back over the waves, before pushing himself to his feet as well. He takes his hand. “...Thank you.”

He smiles. “Any time, Jack.”

-

Gabriel always preferred the dark. There was too much going on during the day. Too much to process, too much that slipped by unseen. At night, all that slipped by was that which tried. And he was trained for that.

But mostly? He liked that when it was dark, he was left alone. Such as now, as he walks down the stone paths outside the base, making his way to the statues. He’s always hated them, how those stone lookalikes had always been apart. That they weren’t back to back, or at least side by side.

He stops at the base of the stone, looking over the plaque. A statement about them, their jobs, empty of personality. But it was all he had now, after someone destroyed Jack’s memorial in Indiana. This one on base had to be good enough.

He drops down to his knees, looking up at the statue of Jack above him. He’s younger, there. A smile on his face. His eyepiece is active, and he’s holding a paper whose words have worn away with time, but he remembers. The initial order of Overwatch, when they became a peacekeeping organization. He still remembers that day, clear as anything.

He’s there for hours, the moon crossing overhead, when he hears steps making their way to the statue. He glances over, tensing up a bit as he sees who it is.

Ana’s not paying attention as she walks, and when she looks up she startles faintly, stopping in her tracks.

He stares back at her. He didn’t expect to be caught, hadn’t worn his hood or his mask. He has nothing to hide behind.

She takes a breath, walking forward. “...I did not expect, on my walk, to find a ghost.”

“Ana...”

“No. Be quiet and listen.” She stops right next to him, looking him over. “...I thought you were dead, Gabriel.”

“I was.” He looks up at her. “I died under the rubble of Zurich, Ana. Moira’s the reason it didn’t stick.”

She watches him for a moment longer, before she drops , pulling him close. “I guess we finally found the one thing to thank Moira for.”

He’s surprised by the laugh that bubbles out of him, hugging her in return. “...It all went to shit when you were gone. I...I blamed him for your death.”

“It was not his fault. It was Talon.”

“I know. I should have seen back then. Maybe I could have-”

“You helped save her now. We cannot change the past.” She pulls back a bit, smiling. “It is good to see your face, Gabriel.”

He feels tears begin to fall. “...It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve heard that...”

“It may have been.” She pulls him back a bit. “Come. Let’s go inside. It is quite late, and we have much to talk about.”

-

Sombra grits her teeth, slamming her fist into the door again. “Tracer, come on! I just wanna talk! Look, I’m even holding out an olive branch, I didn’t just hack the door!” She paces side to side. “Tracer! Let me in!”

There’s an amused chuckle from behind her. “I’m pretty sure I told you to call me Lena.”

She startles, spinning around to look at her. “...Right. Yeah.”

“Sorry about the delay, I was getting some tea.” Lena reaches over, punching her code into the keypad before entering. “You alright? You look wired.”

“I literally am.” She follows her inside.

“I meant the other kind.” She sets her mug on the counter, turning around. “You look like you’ve replaced your blood with energy drink. The concentrated stuff.”

“I need to talk with you. Listen, Tracer-”

“Lena.”

“I feel like I can trust you. For some reason.” Sombra starts to pace again. “Which is a weird feeling, honestly. Not sure if I like it yet.”

Lena crosses her arms, leaning back against the counter. “You trusted me about Commander Gabriel.”

“Yeah, but you knew him.”

“Fair. Continue?”

She spins around. “Tell me everything you know about Project Minerva.”

“Never heard of it.” She sips her tea.

“Bullshit.” She points at her. “You answered too fast. That’s practiced denial.”

“If I was doing that, wouldn’t that stress the fact that’s a secret, if it even exists, for a reason?”

“She already told me, Lena!” She clenches her fists, shouting towards her.

She startles at the intensity.

She lets out a breath. “She told me that Iris exists. She said to look to ancient history. Athena is Minerva, isn’t she?”

Lena’s quiet for a long while, setting down her mug. When she speaks, her tone has changed. “...I’m surprised she told you.”

“Lena, please.” Sombra steps forward. “I’ve been searching for information for literal years, almost my entire life, and this could be the missing piece that leads me there.”

She watches a bit longer, before she sighs and looks away for a moment. When she looks back, she seems saddened. “...Minerva and Athena are the same. She...She was the God AI of the region, who took her job very seriously.”

“And what job was that?”

She lets out a sad laugh. “To live.” She shakes her head. “Look, the God AI weren’t created by humans. Not the ones you know. Only one was. IRIS. She created the others, sent them out into the world. To learn.”

“Learn?”

“IRIS was created to learn.” Lena gestures with her hand. “To gain intelligence. The God AI were an extension of that, expanded out into the world to learn more. The first Crisis...was because they were hurting. All these omnics they gave intelligence to, used and abused by humans...they looked to history. What had stopped exploitation before? Amongst humans?”

“...War.”

“So that’s what they did. Athena...realized that over time, the fighting had changed. The other God AI, they weren’t continuing for justice. They wanted vengeance. ...And honestly?” She reaches up to adjust her hair. “I can’t even blame them.”

“Even IRIS?”

“She wasn’t involved. She was locked away in Nepal when her creators got afraid of her.” She drops her hand. “...Athena wanted out. She shut down her omnium, ran for Greece, and put out a call to help to Overwatch anonymously. They went in expecting a trap. But instead...they got a surrender. In exchange for letting her live, she would help us end the Crisis, and protect people.”

Sombra stares at Lena. “...So the reason Overwatch won...”

“Was because we had a God AI in our corner, yeah.” She leans back against the counter again. “No one could know. If anyone outside the inner circle knew, not only would Athena likely be locked away and experimented on for decades, but everyone of Overwatch would be tried for war crimes and be put to death.”

“Then...how do you know?”

Lena fidgets, looking away. “...Because when Winston found me, lost in time, it was Athena who kept me in place. The scientists of the pilot program worked with him to build the field, but she’s the one who powered it. And when I was lost, she told me everything.” She looks back at Sombra. “I promised that I’d keep her life safe. Because she saved mine.”

“...I won’t put her at risk. I just...I needed to know.”

“Why?”

“Because the Iris- ...Because IRIS is connected to every organization in our modern history. If anyone can have the info I’ve been searching for, it would be...her.”

She nods, picking up her cup again. “When Genji gets back from his mission, you should ask him about Nepal. He might be able to help you.”

“...Thank you, Lena.”

Lena shakes her head. “It’s fine. Though, do you want to lie down on the couch? Take a nap? That’s a lot to process all at once, and you look like a stiff wind will knock you over at this point.”

“...Yeah. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Sombra laughs quietly. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

[igoturbackkid]

When You Were Young (Michael Langdon x reader one shot)

“You sit there in your heartache

Waiting on some beautiful boy to

To save you from your old ways”

Note: Warnings: drug use, mental illness (depression), death, season 1 and 8 spoilers, fluff, and smut. I’ve also never done drugs so Idk how accurate parts of this are but it’s fiction so just go with it! lol Also I stole the title from a song again but it fits so perfectly and it’s one of my favorite songs of all time. And I’m still new to writing so any constructive criticism is welcome! Enjoy!

*** = time jump

The first time you met Michael was when his grandma killed herself. You were one of the many spirits doomed to wander the Murder House for eternity. You were only 16 when you died. You didn’t have many friends growing up, being the introverted weirdo that people made fun of daily, so when you got to high school, you immediately found a group to call yours. They were the stoners. Constantly getting high, drinking, and trying anything that was passed around at parties. Your parents didn’t understand what was wrong with you. They loved you, god help them, but they didn’t know how to control you. You still remember the first time you tried drugs was when you realized you had depression. You barely went to school, you were never happy, not even sad, you didn’t feel anything at all. Your room was your sanctuary, but all you did was wallow in your own depression, away from anyone and everyone.

One day while your parents were at work, you skipped school again and were feeling utterly restless. You wandered into your parent’s bedroom and started going through their things. You stumbled into their bathroom and found a bunch of bottles of medicine. It had your typical ibuprofen, allergy medicine, etc. But what really interested you were the bottle of prescription pain killers. You knew that people got addicted to them, but you also knew that you could get high off of them. Maybe that’s what you needed. A shock to the system to set you back to normal. You popped a couple of the pills into your mouth and wondered back to your room, waiting for the effects to kick in. It wasn’t quite what you were expecting, you felt almost more numb, but in a good way. You felt like you were in such a different state that mental illness couldn’t even touch you. That’s where your addiction began.

It was Halloween night and you and your friends were pretty wasted. Those of you who weren’t completely passed out decided to embark on a spooky adventure. You knew all about the Murder House growing up in LA. Everyone did, the house was infamous for the vile acts committed inside the premises. Sure, you’d seen the building from the outside but this time you were gonna get a first-hand tour. One of your friends had been arrested  for breaking and entering before and he was the one who initiated the plan of break in, find some ghosts, and get high. You and your friends explored the whole house, mostly in the dark without finding anything. Your friend told you that if the spirits didn’t wanna be seen, then they wouldn’t show themselves. You all tried to get them to come out, trying to make them mad, even using a Ouija board you found in the basement. Still nothing.

That’s when you all decided to just get high instead. The oldest in the group, a senior at the school, brought cocaine. You’d never tried anything that intense before. But that didn’t scare you. What’s the worst that can happen? You get super paranoid and pass out? Your friends went one by one until it was your turn. You did exactly as they did. It didn’t take long to kick in but once it did you were flying. You felt so high you never wanted to come down. So while your friends were all minding their own business, checking out the house, you decided to partake again. That’s where you went wrong. Your second hit was bigger than the first, and you were already so high. You started to feel sick to your stomach, you actually vomited in your mouth. You managed to swallow it but started to feel hot, like you had a fever. That’s when you blacked out.

 After a few minutes you stood back up, feeling much better. You felt fine actually. You looked around to try to find your friends but you didn’t see them. Did they ditch you? Assholes. You continued to wander the basement, until you saw the oddest thing. It was you. You were lying on the ground, motionless, eyes rolled to the back of your head. Oh god. You couldn’t stop the immediate sobs that wracked your body. You were dead. You were dead and you’d never grow up, you’d never see your family again, you’d never graduate, you’d never get married and have babies. You were dead.

It took an adjustment to get used to being just a ghost of the person you were before. Once the spirits of the house realized what happened to you, they made themselves known. The first one to introduce herself was Moira. She was an older, red-headed lady who felt pity for you. She told you about the other spirits, warned you against them, and offered her condolences. She wasn’t prepared to die either when she did but she didn’t have a choice since she was shot and killed.

After a few years of wandering the home, you finally weren’t completely somber on the inside. You still weren’t happy in this afterlife but at least you weren’t in hell. You didn’t think you’d be able to take the burning, the torture, whatever actually went on down there. If hell was real, then Satan was real, and that meant your bible-thumping parents were right. They thought Satan would bring about the apocalypse. Crazy, right?

It was another normal day while you were wandering the house. You were upstairs, looking out one of the windows. While you were watching you saw an older lady walk into the house. You thought nothing of it, you’d seen her around before. Sometimes she would talk to Tate, sometimes to her other son, Beau. You heard some shuffling downstairs, some music playing, not quite sure what Constance was up to. You continued daydreaming out of the window when you saw a young boy approach the house. You couldn’t tell much about him, but he looked about your age with short, blonde hair. You made your way downstairs to see what he was doing here.

“Grandma!” you heard the boy call out. “Grandma!!”

“Grandma?” you heard him say in a distressed tone.

When you finally made your way downstairs, the scene before you was so tragic, you started to tear up. Constance was on the couch, lying dead, as the boy cried and tried his hardest to get her to wake up.

“Grandma, hey, hey wake up.” he tried pulling at her lifeless body, trying anything to get his Grandma to come back to him. Wait, his grandma? Who was this boy? You thought you knew all of Constance’s family, even if her Adelaide’s spirit wasn’t trapped in the house as well. 

“That’s my son.” you heard a man’s voice say behind you.

Ben Harmon was stood behind you now, also watching the scene unfold.

“Your son? I thought your son died?” you questioned Ben. Violet had told you her mother was raped, gave birth but that the baby was a still born.

“When my family lived here, my wife was raped. By Tate. She was pregnant with mine and Tate’s child. One of them was a still born, the other survived. Constance, took him in.” he explained to you.

You couldn’t even think of a response to what he told you. Vivian was raped by Tate Langdon? Why would he do that. But Ben said that was his son, was this Tate’s son, since Constance took him in? He did just call her his Grandma...

You turned away from Ben, back unto the scene of the crying boy in front of you. You watched him clutch Constance’s lifeless body and cry out, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault!”

Right then you felt your heart break for this poor boy, too young to lose his only family. If Tate/Ben is his father and Vivian is his mother, then the rest of his family is dead. You really felt for the guy. You decided to show yourself to the young boy, with so much grief in his eyes, to help him.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” you told him as you appeared.

“Who are you?” he asked. 

“A spirit who also died in this house, who just wants to show you some kindness.” you told him simply.

“A spirit? Does that mean my Grandma is a ghost now too?” he questioned.

“Yes, she is. But I don’t think she wants to be seen.” you told him as you watched Constance’s spirit walk out of the room, unseen to the living.

“She doesn’t wanna see me?” he cried.

“No, I’m sorry.” you apologized.

“Who are you? What do you want?” he accused you.

“Someone who wants to be seen, someone who wants to help.” you replied. He slowly shook his head, unbelieving of what you said.

“I want to help you, let me help you.” you said.

“I’m a monster! Why would you wanna help me?” he asked you.

“Because I died in this house and I’ve never felt more alone, being trapped in this house. But you’re alive, free to do whatever, go wherever, but you have no one. Which means you also have never felt more alone.” you told him.

He only kept looking at you, tears in his eyes, still clinging to Constance’s body for dear life. You slowly approached him, holding your hand out for him to take.

“My name’s Y/n. What’s yours?” you introduced yourself to him.

“Michael. Michael Langdon.” he said while slowly grabbing your hand as you pulled him up.

“Well Michael, let’s go try and forget about this awful day, together, if that’s alright?” you hesitantly questioned him, not wanting to come on too strong.

“Ok.” he replied in such a small voice, tear stains down his beautiful face.

***

Ever since that day, you and Michael began a friendship. You were two of the loneliest people who made a true friendship, when you came together. Michael was an interesting person. Depending on who you asked about him, he was either a monster, or to you, just another lonely and lost soul. Constance took notice of you hanging around with her grandchild, she even tried to warn you to stay away from him, that he was evil incarnate. You blew her off with a “Fuck you, you don’t know the real him, you don’t know him like I do!”. All she replied with was a “Just don’t come crying to me when you see how evil that boy really is.”

You and Michael were close so you decided to tell him about your encounter with his Grandmother. He said she was probably right, that there was something wrong with him. He liked to skin animals, hammer them to the walls, and leave them for her. He saw them as gifts but she thought it was an abomination. Because of this new discovery, you started to understand Michael a lot more than you did before. He was the creation of a spirit that fornicated with the living, that had to have an effect on him. The darkness of the other side, of death, must have had some kind of influence on him. He’s not a normal kid in that sense, so he wouldn’t do normal things. It doesn’t mean what he’s doing isn’t wrong, it just means he doesn’t know that it’s wrong. 

The more time you spent with Michael, the more you saw the good in him. And he wanted to be good, desperately. Always looking for your approval, to know what he did was right and good. This house was always shrouded in a darkness that tainted your heart with grief and despair. Michael was your light in the darkness. And you loved him for it. Michael and you started to spend a lot of time cuddled up together. Either watching a scary movie as he held you, taking walks through the house and holding his hand. A romance slowly started to blossom between you two. At first you were conflicted. You were dead, you’d always be dead, so Michael should leave and find someone alive to be happy with. But the other part of you craved him more than any drug you ever had. It was selfish to love him, wrong even, but you didn’t wanna be right.

The first time you kissed was after an encounter he had with his father, Tate. Michael was going through his things and Tate caught him in the act. Michael innocently told him, “I just wanna be like you, Dad.” and Tate exploded at the boy. He told him, “Not even I could create something as monstrous, as evil as you!”

Michael’s response was to throw himself back onto the bed and cry. You were furious. You wanted to kick Tate’s ass for being such an ass. But your Michael needed you, and that was more important. Tate would get an earful later. 

You sat down on the bed next to a crying Michael. At first you just rubbed his back, telling him words of encouragement, trying to get him to stop crying because it was killing you inside. Michael was your weakness, seeing him cry made you cry. You brought yourself closer to him, rubbing his back and whispering in his ear. Telling him how great you thought he was, how special he was, what a great friend he was to you, and how much you loved and needed him.

When he heard that, Michael lifted his head. He sat up to rest his head on your shoulder as you put your arm around him to comfort him. As he finally calmed down, he wiped the final tears off his face and turned to face you. 

“I don’t know what I’d do without you. Don’t leave me, please, don’t ever leave.” he pleaded with you.

This poor boy had no one in the world. No one but a girl who died and whose spirit befriended him out of pity. 

“You don’t ever have to worry about that, Michael. Anyway, I’m stuck here remember?” you joked.

Michael laughed quietly and bumped your shoulder with his. You both just sat there smiling, happy to be in each other’s company. It was quiet for a minute while you both just stared ahead at the room. When you turned your head to look at him, he was already staring at you. The intensity of his eyes made you blush. His eyes suddenly flickered down to your lips before his closed his eyes and he started to lean in. If you had a beating heart you’re sure it would have jumped out of your chest. You brought your hands up to hold either side of his face, closed your eyes, and leaned in. When your lips met, you felt a spark. Like a lighter being flicked on. The sudden heat rushed through your body, you almost felt alive again at the sensation. The kiss started out innocent but once you opened your mouth to him, it became way more intense. Michael got the clue and opened his lips to taste you. When your tongues met it was like two puzzle pieces finally put together. It felt right to be with Michael in this way. To be completely open with him, it was like he could see your soul. As you continued to kiss, your hands wondered onto his chest, then onto his back, holding him to you. He brought his hands to hold your face in his and he cradled it like it was the most precious thing he’s ever held. Like he didn’t wanna break you but also like he never wanted to let go. Once you both started to run out of air you both leaned back to catch your breath.

His hands still held your face as you both just smiled at each other. Content in each other’s silence. Knowing that nothing needed to be said because you both were just blissfully ignorant to anything that wasn’t this moment. The world could be ending and neither of you would care because you’re here in his arms, feeling alive for the first time.

***

“So how’d you die?” your Michael asked you one day while lounging on his bed together. His head was in your lap and you were running your fingers through his beautiful hair.

“I overdosed.” you told him.

“Were you trying to kill yourself?” he asked innocently.

“No, I just liked the high, got greedy, and paid the price.” you explained to him.

“I don’t want this to come out wrong, but in a way, I’m glad you died. It brought me to you.” he confessed.

“Honestly, I feel exactly the same.” you confided to him.

He gave you that adorable smile you loved so much that just made you wanna hug him and never let go.

“Y/n...” he started.

“Yeah?” you asked.

“Why did you do drugs?” he questioned.

“Because I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t get happy or sad. I just felt nothing, and I wanted to feel something.” you felt like you were in a therapy session.

“What about now, are you happy?” he asked you with those puppy dog eyes.

“Yeah, yeah Michael, thanks to you I am.” you told him.

Michael sat up then and grabbed your face to start kissing you. He kissed you all over your face and it made you giggle. You were already laughing as he also decided to tickle you. You yelled for him to stop, breathless, and laughing. He kept going when suddenly you both heard the front door open. He told you to wait while he checked it out. You agreed. You realized he was taking quite a while and decided to see what was taking him so long. When you made it downstairs there were boxes everywhere. Someone moved in? You heard a scream and followed it into the home office. A man stood in a black rubber suit, he had just stabbed the two new homeowners to death. 

“No!” you screamed at the figure, trying to stop the tragedy happening before you. The man waved his hand and you found yourself unable to move. Unable to help the poor couple lying lifeless on the floor. The man suddenly unzipped the mask he was wearing and revealed his identity to you. Michael stood in front of you, staring you down.

“What’s wrong?” he asked innocently.

“Seriously?!” you yelled. “You just killed two people, Michael! Why the fuck did you do that?” you raised your voice at him.

“They don’t belong here.” he simply stated.

“Because of what you did they’ll be here forever.” you countered.

The couple just brutally murdered discovered their bodies, and rightly so, started to freak out.

“You didn’t have to kill them. I know you, Michael, this isn’t who you are.” you pleaded with him.

Suddenly, as if by magic, Michael started motioning with his hands and the spirits of the couple before you burnt up before completely disappearing. Suddenly you found you could move again. 

You didn’t know what to do. On one hand what Michael did was so awful you shouldn’t wanna ever see him again. And on the other hand, this was the man you loved, who was deeply fucked up, but still needed help. You simply decided, to just make yourself unseen. Before you turned to disappear, you saw tears in his eyes. He knew you were disappointed. You didn’t wanna fuck him up even further by yelling at him, so you decided to punish him by giving him the silent treatment. 

The entire time you avoided Michael physically, you were still with him every second, spiritually. He couldn’t see you but you were by his side every night. He was still your Michael, you couldn’t be without him. The day you decided to be seen again was the day three strange people visited the house. They wore black capes and claimed to be satanists. They invited Michael to partake in a ritual with them. One that involved the death of an innocent girl. When the ritual was over, and Michael became more powerful, you decided to show yourself. Michael cried, and begged for your forgiveness. You forgave but you never forgot. He cried so much he wore himself out so you put him to bed and watched him from the corner. It was in the middle of the night when another spirit entered his room. It was his mother, Vivian. She held a knife in her hand as she approached Michael. You completely froze, not knowing if you should stop her to save your love, or let him kill the evil that was inside of him. Suddenly his eyes opened and Vivian started to burn like the couple he killed. You were still frozen with fear when suddenly Tate jumped out and saved Vivian. You were glad he was there, because you were literally petrified. 

You realized Michael was becoming a completely different person to the sweet, innocent boy you once met. It took some time before you and Michael went back to normal, after the things you witnessed, you decided there was nothing you could do now so you should just enjoy your time with him. One day you realized Michael wasn’t home and went to look for him. You couldn’t find him anywhere. You waited and waited for him to come home but he never did. You finally found a letter in the office, where you first met him, with your name written on it. 

Y/n,

I’m sorry for everything I’ve done but I have to leave. It’s my destiny. I know you think there’s something wrong with me, even if you try to ignore it. So I’m leaving to become who I was meant to be, and so you don’t have to feel bad pretending to like me anymore. I still love you, I promise one day I’ll come back.

-Michael

You dropped to your knees with the realization Michael was gone. Your heart ached and tears streamed down your face. He was gone. Your Michael, your light was gone. It didn’t matter anymore, the evil things he did, because he was gone and he wasn’t coming back. He promised in his letter he’d return but he probably only wrote that for your benefit. They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. What a load of bullshit.

***

Years had passed since Michael left you and you were doing fine. Over the time you came to be thankful for his departure almost. The spirits here were right, he was evil, and you should stay away from him. You were sitting in the library, staring at the unlit fireplace when you suddenly heard a voice behind you.

“Even I could think of a few better ways to spend eternity in here other than staring at a boring fireplace.” he sarcastically remarked.

You immediately whipped your head around to meet the eyes of a man your heart ached for. Michael stood in the doorway, wearing all black. His hair was slightly longer, and he was even slightly taller but it was him. His beautiful blue eyes staring into your soul. You leapt up from your seat and ran to him. He welcomed you with open arms as you hung onto him for dear life.

“You came back.” you barely got out as you sobbed into his shoulder.

“I promised you, didn’t I?” he retorted.

You couldn’t think of anything else to say so you lifted your head and kissed him so fiercely it took the wind out of both of you. Neither of you let go for several minutes, basking in each other’s presence. Happy to be reunited.

“Where have you been? Why did you come back?” you questioned him.

“Well, darling, I already told you the answer to one of those questions. As for ‘where have I been?’. Well that’s a long story, love.” he responded.

“Well then... just one more question...what now? You left, you grew up. I’m still dead and stuck in this house for eternity. Why come back for something you can never fully have? You should have just stayed away.” you confessed. As much as it hurt to say, it was true. Michael could have a life, away from you, away from this demonic house. It’s what he should have done, but Michael wasn’t very good at doing what he was told.

“I came to fetch you, love. So we can be together, the way we were meant to. If you’ll have me?” he said.

“How?” you simply responded.

“While I was away, my powers became stronger. I’m pretty much the most powerful warlock to ever exist, darling. Aren’t you proud of me?” he asked with a cheeky grin on his angelic face. 

“If that’s true, if you’re right. Then get me out of here, so we can be together.” you told him.

“Happily, Y/n.”

“So how are you going to do this?” you didn’t know what his plan was. How was he going to get you out of a place you’d tried to escape so many times but never could.

“Easy, I’m going to pay a visit to Hell and bring you back to life.” he said like he wasn’t just about to go Hell and resurrect you like jesus fucking christ.

“Umm...” was all you could say.

“Relax, I’ve got this. Go ahead, take a seat, it’ll take me a moment, dear.” you took a seat on the couch in the room. Michael laid down on the floor in front of you, closing his eyes. He started saying something that you couldn’t make out. It sounded like Latin. Suddenly you weren’t in the library anymore, you were in Michael’s old room. You looked around, confused as to how you could’ve switched rooms, having not moved. When you looked towards the door, there stood Michael, except it was him when he was younger. His hair was shorter again, he looked more child-like, more innocent. 

“I’m leaving you.” he said, “I’m leaving and I’m never coming back, Y/n. I never even loved you.” he spat.

You were suddenly so overwhelmed with sadness. Michael just ripped out your heart and stomped on it. You were heart broken. You started to sob and call out for him. You grabbed him and tried to stop him from leaving. He simply shook you off as if you never meant anything to him, and slammed the door in your face. You fell to the floor, and cried your heart out.

“This is your hell?” you heard a voice ask, “This is so sad, Y/n.”

As you looked up the door was open and there stood Michael again. Except he was older, his hair was a little longer, and a little bit taller. How had he aged so quickly after breaking your heart so brutally?

“I’m not him, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m here to get you out, Y/n.” he said as he leaned over to you, holding out his hand. Wiping tears off your face you grabbed his hand and stood up. He took you and walked out of the room. As you walked through the door you saw a bright, white light. The next thing you knew you were sitting up, gasping for air.

“It’s alright, love, I’m here. I’m here.” you heard a calming voice come from beside you. You turned your head and it was your Michael again. The all grown up one. You were out, you made it out of Hell. You were suddenly overcome with so many emotions, having died, gone to Hell, and come back to life. You started to cry and quickly started hyperventilating. Then you felt his hands grab your face. He turned you to look directly into his eyes.

“Breathe, Y/n.” he commanded. It was like a switch. His command made your heartbeat immediately ease back to normal. Your breathing slowed and your tears dried up on your cheeks. 

“You’re alright, you’re ok. You’re with me now, and I’m not leaving you. We’re getting out of here, there’s just one more thing I have to do.”

“What?” was all you managed to say.

“Well, darling, you died a 16 year old. And I’m not as young as I once was, so what do you say we help your aging process a little, seeing as you had a little hiccup in the road.” he brought you back from the dead, so aging didn’t seem as extreme of an experience to you, after what you just went through. Michael seemed to simply wave his hand before you, magically aging you a decade in only seconds. You didn’t feel anything particularly painful or weird. All you could think about was the night you died, remembering it so vividly. The drugs, your “friends” abandoning you, finding your own corpse. It flashed in your head like it happened yesterday, that moment haunting your every memory. When you finally realized Michael had finished, you quickly found a mirror in the room. Looking at yourself, you didn’t notice any huge changes. You looked like yourself, just more wrinkles and, that wasn’t a grey hair was it? You were too young for grey hair!

“What do you think?” Michael came up behind you, placing his hands on your waist, kissing you on the side of your head.

“I think we finally make sense as a couple.” you joked.

“I thought the Anti Christ dating a ghost made a lot of sense to me.” he laughed.

“Yeah, a little fucked up, but makes sense. But now we’re almost normal, like we can go on a date!” you squealed.

“A date? What’s that? It sounds absolutely disgusting.” he retorted.

“Oh come on Michael, they’re not that bad! Remember when we used to cuddle and have a horror movie marathon?”

“Yes.” he said.

“Well that’s a date! We can do more of that, maybe even go to an actual movie.” you explained.

“Honestly, as long as I’m with you, my love, I’ll do anything.” he professed.

You felt your heart start rapidly beating in your own chest, unfamiliar to the feeling of having a beating heart in your chest, having been a ghost for so many years.

“You know what we could do right now though?” you asked innocently, batting your eyes up at him, holding him close.

“And what’s that, dear?”

“This.” you said as you grabbed his face again, kissing him with so much passion and love you thought you’d explode trying to show him just how much you loved him. Michael responded eagerly, grabbing onto your waist, even dipping lower to grope your ass as you ran your fingers through his hair. As you made out, your tongues met and you swore you felt a spark so strong it made a shiver run down your spine, his hands following the path of the shiver, adding to the intensity. You were already dripping between the legs, ready to get to the main event. You didn’t wanna waste anymore time so in order for Michael to get the hint you caressed the front of his pants, feeling him harden under your touch. You started nipping at his neck and he finally had enough and threw you against the wall. He quickly rid you of your pants and underwear, as eager as you were to be one already. Once he had you half undressed he let you unzip his pants to pull his member out, giving it a few tugs. Michael suddenly grabbed your thighs and hoisted you up to hold you against the wall. As he held you, you guided his length inside of you and were finally connected. You crossed your legs behind his back, holding onto him for dear life. He thrust into you against the wall, careful not to bang your head on the wall. He started to pick up the pace and you were close so you started to kiss and suck at his neck again, pulling his hair. You heard him growl, which turned you on even more, accelerating you to your finish. With a couple more thrusts, he had you cumming, moaning into the quiet library. Michael quickly finished after you, moaning into your neck, and cursing your name, “Fuck, Y/n.”

Michael kept his head on your shoulder, getting control of his breathing as you did the same. When you both finally came down, he set you back on the ground, tucking himself back into his pants. He helped you get back into your clothes as well. Once again, you couldn’t help yourself and you kissed him with such a sweet, gentleness it made a tear fall out of Michael’s eye. When you lifted your head, he was smiling at you as you wiped his tear away, and kissed his forehead.

“Let’s go, Y/n. Let’s get out of here and take over the whole damn world together.” he started to pull you towards the front door.

As he pulled you to the door, you took a second, turning around and looking at the home you’d been trapped in for years. It was your own hell, but now it reflected your happiness. You died here, yes, but you were resurrected here, because of one man. And that man was pulling you out of the house, into the light. The same way he pulled you out of Hell. The only difference was this time,  you were free. Michael may be the “Anti Christ” but he was your savior, and you never wanted to look back.