#mcd original character

[bread-squid-uwu]

Aphmau OCs are still cool, right?

Decided to revamp my girl for a MCD design, and yes i'm fully aware the dress and choker make zero sense for MCD but hey man, it looks pretty and also she's a slut so. meh

Prepare for me to be annoying about her and her children lmfao because I still love them 💚💚

[bubbi-pop]

I TOLD Y'ALL I WAS COOKING !!!

I love this drawing I'm not even gonna lie to you dawg I'm very proud of it (me when I actually shade a drawing for once) and as much as I love the look (and speed) of not shading I forget how much it can set a tone for a drawing... showed it to my mom through the whole process and she immediately asked me if he was evil lol

This drawing is inspired by Father Paul Hill from Midnight Mass (absolutely brilliant show btw) and Claude Frollo from Hunchback of Notre Dame in a way, those two characters inspire me a lot when it comes to villains, the way they are so personally convinced that they're right when a million and one things show them that they're wrong because of their blind faith... that and blind unwavering faith being typically associated w heroes is gonna get me EVERY time (they are inspos for Gabriel in my miraculous au hehe)

(this is just inspired by religious imagery and isn't intended to be accurate)

[spiriiitt]

MINECRAFT DIARIES OC!!!

Omg.. they're so cool. They also have a masked version.

Word dump below 🤩🤩🤩

OKAY not solid on their name yet, give me any good elven name recs please, but to put it short they are a yggdrasil elf who ran away from the forest as an annoying emo teen, well maybe like when they were 100 or 50 or something I don't know, who just kind of was sick of being stuck in the forest and never being able to come and go as he pleased. Went to the guard academy after a while of roaming the lands and swore to Irene to never use his magicks in order to be accepted. Almost made the list of guards who would replace a jury member should they ever pass, however just barely missed the mark and is forever salty about it.

After leaving the guard academy he goes from village to village hoping to find a permanent spot to settle and become a guard, however there is still widespread fear and prejudice towards magicks users in Ru'aun and he's never in any place for long. Despite being an elf and a magicks user, due to the length of time he's gone without using his magicks it would take years to return to using his magicks to the capacity he had prior to the guard academy, so he finds the villages fears kind of stupid and bothersome.

Well acquainted with travelling groups/nomads and bandits across the region due to being outcasted from villages so often and becoming desperate for a community and somewhere to stay as he travels.

He's about 600 years old when season 1 of MCD starts and is probably staying somewhere around Scaleswind and O'Khasis at the time. He's about 400 years after Irene, however has a large fascination with Her due to his mother's love of Irene and claims that she knew her or that Irene had visited their part of the Yggdrasil forest as some point (Spirit isn't entirely sure he believes or believed her to be honest). Loves hearing stories and collecting small amount of history as he crossed Ru'aun again and again, and as he learns to navigate the forest that seperated the two sides of it.

I like to think he's visited beyond Ru'aun due to how long he's been alive, however we don't know enough about the places other than Ru'aun and a bit of Tu'la for me to say anything solid.

Probably encountered Aphmau while she was out exploring and stalked her back to the village after briefly conversing with her long enough to find out she was actually a lord and not just a traveller. I think they would have ran into eachother around the time they found Dante, with Laurance and Garroth. Was probably surprised to find another elf and magicks users within Phoenix Drop, and was surprised to be welcomed by Aphmau so easily into being a guard despite the fact he literally stalked them back to the village.

He's also a bit stupid.

He wanted to try hiding that he was an elf at first, however a characteristic of the elves from the part of the Yggdrasil forest he's from naturally have much larger ears and tend to be taller in general. Think like. 5'8 on average. So it became obvious very quickly that he wpuld have to be honest about his origins.

Anyways that's all I've got for now, kind of love this piece I started it yesterday when I woke up lol (including fully designing it from scratch). Name suggestions welcome, but also give me ideas for the type of magicks he used/uses lol.

I will write more one day.

[mentally-a-slut]

this is not a drill, through out my seemingly endless flare up of my multitude of illnesses, i have returned to my roots of aphmau's mcd and mystreet. i am obsessed. i want to grab these minecraft men by the face and smooch them to death.

they are all i can think about. i am having daydreams about writing fic for them. these stupid fucking block men are ruining my life once again.

someone please stop me before i start yet another full length fanfic about them PLEASE HELP ME.

[shroomyart404]

Aphmau's pinboard

this originally was just gonna be a doodle page but I got carried away

(higher quality on patreon)

[cozy-strawberrys]

Born to be siblings, force to be frenemies 😔🥀

Here’s some lore + outfits for my aphmau oc’s

[dilly-dahlia]

aphmau character sheets

welcome to my collection of character sheets. this is basically a series of posts where i yap about how i perceive aphmau’s characters and my own headcanons for them. i will definitely talk about how they are in my rewrite. i have also included my own ocs for the aphverse and what series of mine they’re from (since most of my x reader’s started as an oc). each character will have two posts, one dedicated to Minecraft Diaries and one dedicated to MyStreet. these posts are ever changing and will always have something that may be added to them

canon characters

Aaron Lycan — MCD | MyStreet

Aphmau “Shalashaska” — MCD | MyStreet

Cadenza Zvahl — MCD | MyStreet

Dante Accardi — MCD | MyStreet

Garroth Ro’Meave — MCD | MyStreet

Gene Accardi — MCD | MyStreet

Ivy Arden — MCD | MyStreet

Katelyn Caradime — MCD | MyStreet

Laurance Zvahl — MCD | MyStreet

Lucinda Nightingale — MCD | MyStreet

Nana Ashida — MCD | MyStreet

Nicole von Ronsenburg — MCD | MyStreet

Sasha Lopatkin — MCD | MyStreet

Travis Valkrum — MCD | MyStreet

Vylad Ro’Meave — MCD | MyStreet

Zane Ro’Meave — MCD | MyStreet

Zenix Daniels — MCD | MyStreet

original characters

Briar Nightingale — MCD | MyStreet

Cassandra “Cassie” Ramirez — MCD | MyStreet

Ophelia Fountaine — MCD | MyStreet

[joy-fires]

If you were easy to kill I would have done it already.

[jinkiesmariz]

Lapis Valentine’s Day thing!!

A little quick sketch of them :3 anyways lemme share like the shit load of art I have of them

Starting with like the colored stuff along with initial headshot + younger lapis. He is so itty- fun fact he gets fur on his arms and grows along his lower back around the time fall and winter roll around and then mostly sheds it off in spring

Also if they saw that aph has the Irene relic they’ll literally study her until he’s able to make a relic on his own

Anyways the kid drawing has a little story to it where Juniper (Lapis’ mentor and guardian) adopted lapis from the streets in order to have someone to pass their magic research onto and to continue it- like brings lapis to their house deep in the woods/kinda jungle area of Tu’la and sooner than later starts to work on a project/studying how enchanting works. They’re grinding up some lapis when they realize they don’t have enough on hand and offhandedly holds their hand out saying “Lapis.” As if asking for it, and ofc the kid gets confused for a moment since they’re just watching the process and instead of retrieving the stone she’s like ? Me lapis? Yes hi :3 and juniper felt too bad to correct them and felt they needed a name Anywyas so Lapis officially joins h the Voidkeeper family !!!

Family guy death pose + other art of them in MCD I’ll make a dump post of them and lu Wei + mystreet au stuff :3 cuz my phone is lagging ooops (last one is an old sketch of mystreet outfit whoopsies)

[aceyillustrations]

Minecraft Diaries AU | Layla and Jason Ross When the siblings get involved in my self-indulgent shenanigans

Anyway, meet Layla and Jason! They're siblings (Jason older, Layla younger) who guard their home town, Manarkia. They work under the lord whose also their dad.

Layla is a practicing magicks user, while Jason uses magicks every once in a while. (Fun fact, Jason's a premature shadow knight!)

[pushingdaisies1]

⋆ ˚｡ . .* , (^_^♪) 𝓎vette 𝓁ee °̩̥ ⭑ ๋ ˚̩̩̥ 𓂂 ✧✩ ˚ 🌿 ♡

a concept I have for a mystreet oc! (deer hybrid) (I know this isn't regular content of mine but in the spirit of things and the fact that I've been suffering from evil writer's block- I decided to tap into an old fixation I was once really into. Stretch my limbs a little since I want to try out more original character works, you know? Maybe in the future, I might expand into Minecraft diaries, who knows. but for now, I wanted to start off small! If you could even call later seasons of mystreet 'small' haha. Like the other original character I posted on here I plan on fleshing these out, hopefully.) (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ If you see this and are interested, send a request my way! I may be a little bit rusty on mincecraft diaries (have not fully rewatched it) , but I can definitely write for pdh-mystreet respectively. due to my account being a little bit of a 'work in progress' don't be afraid to hash it out with me in my inbox! I know mentioning this is a little bit random but I do still want to focus on x-reader content. I am just a little bit all over this place!

[laurancezvahlslefteyebrow]

OMG I FORGOT

a couples months ago i decided to make a skin for my mcd oc

her actual design under cut 👇🏻

i’m actually so proud of it because i’ve never made a skin before.. at least not well

[charonarp]

Here's a little sneak peak on what to expect on the page talking about the Tu'la region!

(Aka, basically most of the information out of what's likely going to be 2-paged section since there's not a lotta info on Tu'la lol)

Totally not sharing this because I made art I'm proud off .>. (Edit: I just realized there's some information I forgot to put into this, so the final version will have a few more words :p It's just the characteristics on cursed Meif'was - aka people who were cursed into being Meif'was)

I've said it before (somewhere), and I'll say it again. I want this pdf to be as beginner friendly as possible, whether it be for both new players and new DMs.

I won't be adding detailed stuff from specific sources, or be blatantly taking things from copyrighted material and directly placing them in here (I think the closest thing that might be iffy is stuff I've taken from Daggerheart that's intended to help players and DMs create custom societies/communities, but hopefully it's okay since I'm only taking the name and basic descriptions they give rather than the entire card). - This feature can also be applied to existing regions to flesh them out if you want to take things into your own hands and explore regions that have not been explored yet in MCD/DR.

Now, if you read it, I'm sure some people might be a bit upset that there's no homebrewed Meif'wa race made from scratch. Here's the thing...there's a lot or races in D&D 5e (2014), and there's even a "Lineage" rage from Tasha's, which essentially allows you to make your own race.

And to be honest...not much is known about the characteristics of Meif'was outside of them looking and occasionally acting like cats? Besides that, I couldn't really find anything that could help them stand out as their own race.

So, instead of making it a whole thing... I've instead put down a suggestion that, since the players are the creators of their characters, that they should be able to use any race (within reason) to define their character's appearance and function. This will also be applied to the Lu'pine/werewolf race, in some degree.

Personally, I'm someone who tends to view races, or "species" as they're now called since the 2024 version, as a guideline. Simply put, if I want my character to look a little strange or have a unique feature from the norm, I'll take a race that suits it best and change it up.

Take Tieflings for example. Tieflings are depicted to be devil/demon-like, but in most cases, even in D&D's Forgotten Realms, demons and devils can look like a lot of things, and there's even some anthropomorphic entities that are classified as demons/devils. What's stopping you from playing a fox-like character with an infernal heritage? Or someone who looks like a basic human but with infernal traits?

There's also the Owlin race, which is depicted to being an anthropomorphic owl that can be medium or small sized. I'm someone who likes to draw human faces, so what's stopping me from playing a human-looking guy with large bird-like wings?

I want this PDF to encourage creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. I've played with many players and GMs who are way too stiff with their creativity, mainly when it comes to character creation.

Sure, a human is meant to be generic, but what's stopping you from making them be more doll-like thematically? You're not changing the way they function, but you are changing the way they appear and behave. Systematically, this way of creativity is harmless.

There are subraces of all kinds, and all of them can't be covered entirely in official content. Another reason I'm not adding homebrew races or classes into this is not just because of balancing reasons, but because some DMs might not be open to homebrew, or some players might get nervous or uncomfortable with homebrew creations (like I am).

I do plan on making a page that'll be a kind of guide on how to "mix and match" certain things, though mainly in the terms of backgrounds. Did you know that, apparently, you can change your background feature to whatever feature you want if you're not happy with it? I DIDN'T UNTIL EARLIER THIS WEEK!

I'm also adding a few examples of homebrewed rules some games tend to have, since I'm sure some (or most) members of this community are not experienced in D&D 5e on a personal level. (Examples are bonus action healing potion, secret death saves, etc. I will be throwing in a personal rule I made for my games as an option.)

Anyways, enough of me rambling. Here's a closer shot of the Meif'wa guy I made! Was gonna make three to show range, but I got tired and I ended up liking him a lot -w- No name for him though... But I might just keep it that way for fun lol

Hydrate!

[mentally-a-slut]

thinking about writing a slice of life mystreet fic and by thinking about i mean drafting it up rn anyone interested?

[necrocrafter]

So, as a breather from the transcript, I wanna focus today's post on Zoey! I absolutely love and adore Zoeys character in MCD, but I felt sometimes she was really pushed off to the side instead of giving her more moments between Aphmau and the main cast. My brain decided she had to be the next victim after Donna. And here's what I got so far.

MCD notes

Zoey had a son a long time ago

She was married but then divorced

She was originally banished from the Yggdrasil Forest because it was forbidden for anyone but the high council to know/learn/use magicks

In canon, she was originally a fairy but later rewritten to be an elf when she became a more permanent character

Zoey has helped deliver many babies in her lifetime and absolutely adores them

Zoey gave up her immortality and more to bring Aphmau (and co) back from the Irene Dimension

◇ New Lore + Backstory◇

Zoey is half fae-half elf

Zoey used to be a wild child, terribly outspoken and spiteful. She knew what she was doing, and it didn't matter how long it took. She'd prove you wrong

The fae live in a pocket realm called the Rieiialavostreod Corridor. It is split between the main prominent courts: seelie and unseelie. There are other courts as well as those who don't associate with any court. Each court has different areas they live in, with them being either in the Malachite Corrie or The Leviathan Grove. Zoey was born in The Leviathan Grove, which is the home to those who fall under or are allied with the Unseelie. Zoeys' mother is a fae from a sub group closely associated with the winter court, who are allied with the Unseelie. Their court is made up of those who display raven/corvid, butterfly, or dragonfly traits. Meanwhile, Zoeys father is an elf from the main village that resides in the Yggdrasil Forest. For a long time, she lived in the LGrove before she decided to visit, stay, and bond with her father in the Yggdrasil Forest.

Zoey had grown up a wild child, thriving and exploring the world to her hearts content. She was seen as unruly by the other elves after living in such a "chaotic" realm. She had only really become "civilized" when her father taught her the ways of the mortal realm. In her curiosity of the wider world, Zoey constantly snuck out of the forest and would travel and learn about the world beyond before returning to the forest with trinkets and knowledge. Zoey had always been free to practice and learn her magics in the courts, it was encouraged and just a simple fact of nature, so she was highly unimpressed and very unmoved by the elf councils rules about magics. In retaliation, she consumed as much knowledge about magics as she could, interacting with other magic users so she could be just as, if not more, knowledgeable as that stuffy council. Seeing this act of rebellion, the council saw fit to try and punish her, to which her father stepped in, reasoning with them that it was only natural for her to try and do so; especially with her upbringing. They dropped the punishment but let her off with a single warning to never do it again. Her father understood why Zoey wanted to continue practicing magic but told her that if she HAD to do so, to keep it hidden away. Zoey reassured him she wouldn't, but in reality, she was furious with the council and dived deeper into her studies, eventually becoming so driven in her need to know, she ended up experimenting with highly magic materials that reacted negatively to each other, resulting in the a magical backlash; causing a accident that would haunt her for the rest of her life. In the ensuing blast, her father, who had just walked in to see the beginnings of the blast, jumped in front of her to take the brunt of it; being incinerated on the spot.

The house burnt down, and the surrounding areas were heavily damaged with many injured. The council was livid, placing magical inhibitors bands on her, to which in her grief striken state, she didn't fight. She was incredibly heartbroken and lost after that, not knowing what to do or even how to fix the situation. It took many years for her to come back from it, for which during that time, is where she met the man that would become her husband. Gabriel had originally been one of the many elves that had looked down upon her for constantly going against the council. However, seeing how depressed and utterly lost Zoey was, he put aside his hatred and, out of pity, decided to help her and encouraged her to find other ways to make her way in the world. She eventually found herself taking care of the younger children, helping first-time mothers, babysitting for those who needed someone. After time, she had gained the reputation of a reliable person in the village to watch over your children, even with her past. Many were relieved, having believed such a tragedy had "fixed" her, making her see sense in what the council was saying and how precious life and the rules were. Years later, Zoey & Gabriel fell in love, soon getting married and eventually having a son. It would seem like she was happy, after all, Zoey loved them both dearly, watching her husband eventually gain a seat on the council and find himself whilst she matured, raised her beloved son, and was improving her reputation. However, Zoey was never truly satisfied with the life she had. She loved her family, dearly so, as well as the accomplishments she'd made, but she KNEW there was so much more to the world and her life. It wasn't the same without magic. Their world was ingrained with it. SHE was ingrained in it. To deny the natural essence of her nature was unnatural. And Zoey would not be contained any longer than she had been. She'd been patient, kept a low profile, and acted as was expected of her, but she was really just keeping things below the radar; practicing her magic in secret.

One day she was once again delving into her magics when her husband walked in on her, causing an intense argument between the two. The combined energies from them, as well as the raw now uncontained energy she'd amassed, caused another magical shockwave that destroyed many parts of the village. Naturally, the council blamed Zoey, threatening to take her husband off the council and banish their family from the forest. The council gave Gabriel a ultimatum, he could keep his seat and they'd allow him and their son to stay in the forest, but Zoey would be banished as she was too dangerous to have around. It was put up to a vote of the village as a whole, with the villagers being asked if she should stay or be banished, which would then be backed by the votes of the ENTIRE council; Gabriel included. In the end, they all voted for her to be banished, including her husband. Her son was furious at her, stating at how they could've continued being a family but she couldn't have just been "normal" and listened. That he hated her, for doing this to their family, to him, and that he would always grow up with the shadow of her dishonor following him throughout his life. That'd he'd always be known as "the son of discord". He turned his back on her, cursing Zoeys name to the spirits. Gabriel tried to reassure that with her gone, it'd give her a chance to see reason and understand her mistakes while also allowing time for the council to calm down enough for him to persuade then enough to let her back. Heartbroken and incensed by all of this, Zoey divorced him in front of everyone, stating that he can keep his seat and his feeble excuses. Leaving, she travels for centuries under the glamor of a pure-elf merchant, selling her fairy lights to any who'd be willing. She'd end up joining up with many traveling groups and fellow merchants but would always truly be alone. Somehow, she winds up in a water village and she wonders how long she'll stay until she eventually aimlessly wander again until the faithful day a woman of wild dark raven locks, amber eyes, mysterious dark markings, and a spirit that just screamed unfettered, appeared in her life.

And that's all I really have for backstory rn before I get into the main plotline. I just wanted a basis to start with and expand upon. And well, that's what I got.

Now, onto appearance! Appearance wise, I know I want to go the dark skin, long elvish ears with blonde butterfly braids (I believe this is what they're called?? Fellow black peeps or anyone who knows in general, please correct me if im wrong) Alongside that, idk if any of you have seen peoples OC's that have the multitude of butterfly-insect wings on their faces but that's what I want her natural fae appearance to look like without her elf glamor! (I don't wanna use anyone's art without permission, so I'd definitely check them out cause they're super cool!)

She'll have wings, but she keeps them hidden. (I know, fae don't usually have them, but I think it'd be fun) I KNOW you guys have seen those feather cloaks/chest pieces. Yeah, those ones. I want her body to sorta be like that! Tall dark feathery shimmery body. I just think it'd be cool! Especially with Aphmau's whole wolf symbolism going on. After all, she's adopted by a werewolf and makes easy friends with wolves/dogs/werewolves. The Werewolf tribe sees her as "pup," and if you know anything about the symbiotic relationship between wolves/pups and ravens, you know EXACTLY where I'm going with this. Raven/corvid fae-elf Zoey with totally human with wolf qualities Aphmau.

Also, tell me that that doesn't just bring more opportunities for fun bonding!? Imagine mutual preening between the two! Imagine how sacred it'd be to touch anothers feathers, to be safe, comfortable, and TRUSTING of/with someone with such a sensitive part of you. Imagine them teaching Levin, Malachi, Garroth, and Laurance. There's so much that could be done with this! (And this is totally not to fuel my wing fic/au obsession...I'm normal, I swear.)

Okay, that's it for now! Thanks for indulging my nonsense, I'm back to the transcript o7

[laughroditee]

🔴 "Your Ghost" | Part 2 - XIII Death

Part 1 is here // Read on AO3 CW: this story takes place after Soap's death and contains supernatural elements, tarot, mentions of death and blood. this chapter contains descriptions of anxiety, mild violence, angst, and references to alcohol abuse. the series will eventually contain smut and be 18+. Characters in this chapter: Evangeline Stephens (female OC), Johnny "Soap" MacTavish, Simon "Ghost" Riley Summary: Evangeline reluctantly talks to Simon about Johnny at Johnny's urging. Word Count: 1969

Mood Music:

The ghost of John MacTavish looked down at me with a serious expression.  “I did.  I need yer help, Evangeline.  Yer the only one who can do it.”

“No,” I said.

He blinked. “‘No?’”

“No,” I repeated, my eyes a little too wide. 

“Ye haven’t even heard what I want from ye.”  John looked annoyed, his brows drawing down in a frown that lined his face. It made him look maybe just a little bit intimidating.  Having issues with displeasing someone, who me?

“Don’t want to.  Can’t.”  I shook my head for extra emphasis as if I needed it.  “Mm-mm.”

“Are ye always so childish?” 

Oof, right in the feelings.  “You want me to talk to someone, don’t you?” I accused, my finger jabbing the air at him.  

“How—?”

“Knight of Swords.  Air.  Communication,” I explained as if this were common knowledge and a perfectly logical conclusion to reach.  “You just have that very chatty air about you, and I dunno, man, I’m not about that life.  I have social anxiety.  I don’t play well with strangers because I’m too busy having a heart attack around them.  It’s just not a strength that I have.”

John looked momentarily apologetic before despair swallowed the expression.  This gave me pause.  Fuck me and my Catholic guilt.  “Fine!  Okay, alright, I’ll hear you out, but I can’t promise you anything.”  I sat down on the edge of the bed, just trying to quell the anxious jitters making my fingers shake, The Knight of Swords card dancing slightly in my grasp.  I placed it back with the other two in the reading and looked up at my ghostly kinsman.

John’s examining gaze was concerned as he stood across from me.  “Ye alright, lass?”

Reminding myself to take a deep breath, I simply nodded.

A single confirmation nod from John was all he gave before launching into his story.  “I was a soldier in life.  SAS.  British special forces.  We were on a mission a few months ago, chasin’ a Russian terrorist in the London tunnels.  Makarov.”  His eyes blazed as the memories washed through him, spitting his enemy’s name as if it were poison.  “We had ‘im too.  But the fucker was slippery.  My captain and I got shot while we were diffusin’ a bomb.”  John’s hand went to his shoulder as if to soothe the phantom wound.  “Makarov was about to finish ‘im off – my captain, I mean – but I managed to get up and clap the bastard, only… I ended up gettin’ shot in the head.  Killed instantly.  Then Makarov buggered off.”

I listened intently to John’s story, my heart squeezing in my chest for him.  “I’m so sorry, John.  I… don’t know what else to say.  You were really brave.”

He smirked.  “A lot of good it did me.  Still, Captain Price is alive, and I dunnae regret that.”  His eyes seemed focused on something far away, and I waited for him to continue.

When he didn’t, I had to prompt him.  “John?  What is it that you want from me?”

His eyes refocused on me, his mouth set in a grim line.  “I need yer help, Evangeline….  My boyfriend was there that day.  One of my teammates.  He’s not doin’ well.”

Shit.  I blew out a long breath as if I was trying to exorcise my demons.  “I’m so sorry,” I repeated uselessly.  “John, I’m… probably the last person you want to go and talk to your boyfriend about your death or literally anything else.  I suck at this kind of thing.  I never know what to say to grieving people, even if I’ve known them forever.  Words just aren’t enough.”

“Please,” he said, kneeling by the bed, his ghostly hand passing through mine as it lay on my lap, chilling me.  “You’re all I have, lass.”

Despite the urgency in his voice, I was hesitant for reasons that should have been obvious.  I stared down at the three cards on the bed once again, reinterpreting the reading as The Knight of Swords representing John, the Death card — for the first time in one of my readings — representing his literal death, and the Three of Swords representing his boyfriend’s subsequent heartbreak.  There are always multiple ways to interpret the cards in every situation; you just have to move through it and see what fits—a little like grief.

I looked back at him with an expression of resignation on my face.  “You’re lucky I like you.”

His face lit up.  “So you’ll do it?”

I sighed, coming to terms with the decision I was about to make.  “Yeah.  I’ll do it.”

“Sorry I called ye childish,” he said apologetically.

“Mm.”

“Yer beau’iful,” he tried again.

I gave him a grin.  “Aww, how kind of you to say.”

“Yes, I am kind. Now you compliment me.”

“Why should I when you just did it yourself?”

He chuckled before his expression sobered.  “Thank you, Evangeline. I cannae repay the favor you’re doin’ me.”

I looked back at him, noting how similar our eyes were.  “You can owe me in the next life, how’s that?”

“Sounds like a fair deal.  So, are ye gonna clean up this mess?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to clean yourself up.”

“Funny.”

I leaned down and started to gather my fallen tarot cards, picking out carpet lint and hairs occasionally as I stacked the deck.

”Y’know…,” he began, “ye make me wish I could’ve met you while I was livin’.  Think we coulda been friends?”

Deck neatly in hand, I looked up at him, a warm, bittersweet feeling blossoming inside my chest.  “Yeah, I think we could’ve been.  Could still be.”

He laughed.  “Well, bein’ friends with me is a blessing in itself.”

“I’m sure it is.”

We headed out by taxi to John’s old flat to see his boyfriend, Simon.  Simon Riley.  I turned the name over in my mind as we drove, wondering what kind of man he was.  It was odd traveling in a car with a complete stranger, knowing that you have a ghost with you.  I kept looking at the driver in the rearview mirror, paranoid that he’d be able to see John, but aside from my own awkwardness, the trip concluded uneventfully.

I stared at the door that I was supposed to be knocking on and felt immediately threatened, that familiar fight-or-flight feeling making my extremities tingle.  “Shit.  John, I can’t…”

“Easy.  I’ll be right here; I won’t leave ye.  But we have to get in and get to Simon, alright?  The eejit’s blootered.”

I stared at him in confusion.  “He’s what?”

John rolled his eyes, exasperated.  “Drinkin’, hen.  He’s right sloshed.  Now get knockin’.”

Stepping toward the door, I looked at John and said, “I feel like your Scottish level just increased.”  I wrapped my knuckles on the door before I lost my nerve and stepped back.

He smirked, though it didn’t reach his eyes.  “I think yer just too American to understand—“

The door flew open, revealing the personification of my Death card: an enormous man wearing a skull balaclava, no shirt, about one billion muscles, and an appropriately sized scowl.  His displeasure was evident despite the mask covering his features.  It radiated off of him in waves like heat, like the smell of alcohol that invaded my nostrils as it drifted out from him.  Piercing dark eyes stared down at me briefly before squinting, and then he slammed the door in my face.  I could hear his heavy footfalls retreating further into the flat.  I looked at John, at a complete loss, and maybe with a bit of anxiety.  Just a wee bit.

He sighed.  “Knock again, Evangeline.  He’ll answer.”  

“Why do you not look convinced?”

“Because I’m not.”

“I appreciate your honesty.  Is he gonna kill me?” I asked, somehow finding the nerve to knock again through my blooming dissociation.  It was a genuine fear.  What do I actually know about these guys?  Not much.  John hadn’t told me anything about Simon besides that they were both in the military.  He most certainly didn’t tell me about how absofuckinglutely intimidating his man was; he looked like he could just break me in half with those dark brooding eyeballs of his, no hands necessary.  My heart lurched, palpitating in my chest wildly like a canary in a proverbial coal mine.

“He won’t kill ye,” John assured me and my anxiety.

Ten beats passed. Nothing.

“Steamin’ bloody Jesus,” John said in frustration and then disappeared through the wall of the flat.  I could hear him swearing and yelling, all in vain.  He emerged, raking a hand through his mohawk in irritation.  When his eyes finally locked with mine, a silent plea filled them.

I didn’t like that look on John’s face; the pain and concern etched there was almost a tangible thing, and it hurt.  It made me feel edgy and a bit unstable, as if the ground beneath me wasn’t as sturdy as I believed before coming out here.  I stepped up and knocked again, louder, more insistent.  For him.

This time, I could hear the lumbering stomps of Simon’s gait as he approached the door to the flat, and I braced myself for whatever might come.  My hair sucked forward from the sudden vacuum the door caused, and I nearly expected the door to be ripped from its hinges, such was the velocity at which the door opened.  I hadn’t stepped back, but Jesus, I wished that I had.

“The fuck do you want?”  Simon’s voice was a low growl, his thick British accent raking across me like a physical attack.

There was that small animal voice in the back of my head as I looked up at the angry behemoth at the door, which said, with zero doubt, “You are going to die.”  He braced a forearm on the doorframe, leaning in closer.  My eyes widened fractionally with every millimeter that decreased between us.  Shit.

“Um… A-are you Simon?  Simon Riley?”

He blinked at me with unfocused eyes.  He’d been drinking heavily as he reeked of alcohol, which was wonderful for me because we all know that drunk people are totally predictable.  “Who’s askin’?”

My eyes flicked to John, who stood beside the door, nodding encouragingly.  “M-my name is Evangeline.  I’m here about John—"

“Johnny,” John — or Johnny — corrected me.

“Johnny?”  I glanced at my ghostly companion, who nodded.

Simon narrowed his eyes.  “The fuck you on about?”

“Look, I know this will sound crazy, but he sent me here with a message.”  This was a bit of a stretch since, now that I thought about it, Johnny didn’t actually give me a message for Simon.

“So, what, you’re a bloody fortune teller?” Simon asked, his gravelly voice seething with bitter outrage.

Shit shit shit shit shit.  “No, that’s not—“ I started, taking a defensive step backward, but he barreled on.

“What the fuck do you want here?”

“Johnny wanted me to—“ 

I had little time to react before he picked me up by my jacket lapels and slammed me against his door, the air quickly evicted from my lungs.  The back of my head stung as I looked in horror at him.

“Johnny doesn’t want anything.  He’s fucking dead.”

I froze under his gaze, which was both hateful and wounded, the cold rush of adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream.

Johnny interjected in a panic, “The first thing I ever said to him was,  ‘Let’s get ourselves a win.’ Tell him!”

I could feel my throat starting to close up.  I couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe.

“Shit.”  Johnny rushed forward, moving through Simon, trying to get him to loosen his grip, but it was useless.  Next, he passed through me, my body feeling the chill of his presence, a strange, otherworldly shiver as suddenly, my mouth moved.

“LT, let ‘er go.”  The voice was mine, but the speaker was Johnny, his Scottish inflection clear in my voice.

Part 3