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kayipavci · 2 years ago

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Smashing Watermelons || Ceyda & Lil

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @lilian-adamson & @kayipavci SUMMARY: After Lil offers to help Ceyda with getting rid of the vampire watermelons in the community garden, the pair meet up and thoroughly crush some watermelons. Just girly bonding things.

The plot in the garden that contained the biting watermelons was far larger than Ceyda would like it to be. Though in all fairness, she preferred there to be none of the pesky fruits in the community garden at all. They were dangerous, especially if you weren’t expecting your hands or ankles to be nipped at by a plant of all things. When she’d first come across it, she hadn’t known any better, but thankfully she had thicker skin than most. One of the pros of being a ranger though she wasn’t even sure she deserved the title these days. The offer for help Lilian made was a welcomed one. She wasn’t sure Aylin would qualify this as a way to make friends, but they had a nice chat over gardening things. That had to be something, she hoped.

She had some large shovels and thick gloves set up near the plot. Ceyda could tell the not so little melons were eager to bite despite their seemingly normal looking appearance. When she heard footsteps approaching, she made note until the gate to the garden actually opened before turning around so it’d be a normal range of noticing someone coming near. She saw who she presumed to be Lilian so she smiled and waved a bit awkwardly. “Hi,” she said, “Lilian?”

Lil needed to be out in the world, and not just dealing with hauntings. She’d gotten used to the town, and the lulls in exorcisms that when they dramatically increased she really was out of her depth. She spent more of her nights outside now, and she was getting pretty tired and worn out. She might deal with the dead more than most people, but it didn’t mean that she was immune to the grief that came with it. So, there she was a nice afternoon away from any spirits and getting ready to do something physical. Maybe she could even forget everything for a little bit. Lil had remembered her boots pulling them on in her car.

She walked into the gate and gave the other a wave back and a smile. Ceyda looked pretty normal, and she noticed that she’d gotten an extra shovel. “Hey! Yup. I usually go by Lil though. You must be Ceyda.”

Already, Ceyda was not off to a particularly great start. Conversations online were so much easier to navigate. There was no pressure to respond quickly so she could gather her thoughts and not make an ass of herself. She was sure to note the nickname and hammer it into her head so she didn’t use Lil’s full name. She chewed her lip as she was silent for a moment before shaking her head and responding, “Sorry about that, Lil. And duly noted.”

“But yes, that’s me,” Ceyda quickly added and wished she remembered what she was supposed to be doing with her hands besides trying to keep them from splintering the handle of the shovel in them. She shifted it awkwardly between her hands before she got the bright idea of gesturing toward the patch. “So, uh, we have the biting melons over there which thankfully seem to be reserved to only one plot. I think we smash the big ones first. Then have some gloves so we can pull the roots out and burn them.” Which would draw more attention to them than she’d like, but most weren’t out quite this early. “Figure fire permanently destroys most things.

Lil saw the signs of nervousness, but she wasn’t quite sure why. She wasn’t really good at reading people, but she hoped that it wasn’t something that she had done. It was nice, doing normal (ish) activities with others after all. At the sorry Lil shook her head, “No worries. Its my fault for keeping my online name as my full name. You wouldn’t believe it, but there’s a Lil Adamson in Texas that got the username first.” She gave the other a smile and a chuckle, really not bothered. She really only cared when people kept using her first name.

“Grand, I’m glad I was right,” Lil said looking towards the patch the other was gesturing too. The melons looked normal enough, but Lil knew that they always looked normal before they chomped. Bastards. Still like Ceyda had noted they seemed to be in only one area, which was a relief. “That sounds like a good plan. I wouldn’t have thought about the roots but burning them should keep them from popping up again. Do you mind if I borrow one of your shovels? Mines in the car and it’s not as big.” Lil’s hand went to the back of her neck to rub at it, not sure if that was too much to ask.

At least the minor slip up in name hadn’t upset her partner in smashing watermelons. Ceyda knew that names could be sensitive and it was something she wanted to get right, she just found navigating in-person conversations to be incredibly difficult. Most of her time spent with people that weren’t family before had been on hunts where not much was happening in the way of conversation. At least she could still pick up on the nuance of a joke. She smiled, “That Lil Adamson in Texas is really killing your… brand? I think that’s what my niece calls it.” She hoped she got the context of that right. Aylin was trying to teach her more modern phrases that she “couldn’t get from reading some old book” and she was trying to take it all in.

“I’ve found when all else fails, fire is usually a good go to,” Ceyda responded with a shrug, “And of course, I brought plenty in case one of the little ankle biters takes a handle off.” She turned back to her supplies and handed Lil one of the bigger shovels. “This should do the trick,” she said, feeling a bit more confident now that they were in familiar territory. Killing things, she was good at it. Instructing on how to do that? Great! ��I appreciate the help with this,” she offered genuinely, “I’m not sure who keeps replanting them or why, but the thought of someone else getting bitten by these things isn’t pleasant.”

She approached the bed filled with fanged watermelons. This was going to be messy at best, but Ceyda was already eager to put her strength to good use. It was something that never quite faded, even if her hunting had been more infrequent these days. “Well, here goes,” she said as she gestured to the patch and raised her shovel as she approached. Her instinct was to go for the largest first and she did just that, repeatedly smashing it with her shovel until it was smashed to bits.

Lil was happy that her joke landed, the other’s face turning into a smile. She was never quite sure what would make people more comfortable around her. It wasn’t that she was awful at interaction, but most of the people she knew were very serious and well she was mostly dealing with hard times in people’s lives. Still at the joke Lil let out a bark of a laugh, “That’s a good one. I haven’t heard it said like that before. I’ll have to remember that.”

Lil nodded at the observation thinking it was a good one. She wasn’t exactly an expert on most supernaturals, just hearing bits and pieces from places but she could imagine most things weren’t fireproof. “I appreciate the shovel, and of course. No one should have to smash watermelons alone. Besides between the two of us, hopefully we can get this cleared before folks come in. I’m not good at the whole - you know,” Lil gestured vaguely. She’d been on the road a lot, so she’d never actually had to hide anything about the supernatural world. When you only talked to people who were being haunted, it didn’t really matter what they knew or didn’t know about ghosts before. So Lil had always been pretty open about everything, which might not be the best quality now. She did assume though that the other must know about the supernatural in some way, even if she wasn’t going to ask how.

Lil followed after Ceyda noticed that she was strong, lifting up the shovel easily to smash the melon below into bits. Lil wasn’t exactly a lightweight in working out, supplementing some of her lack of will into working out to be helpful to other exorcists, but that was pretty astounding. She made a note to not make Ceyda mad, and went to another melon far enough away that she wasn’t splashing the other with melon bits. The shovel was a lot easier than her knife, and she was going to have to invest in one of these. Smashing her first into bits she paused for a moment catching her breath, before going to move on. “You have any leads though? On someone who’s planting them? Cause I think they owe us both some coffee or something for cleaning up their mess.”

“Not good at the whole supernatural thing or covering it up,” Ceyda asked and really hoped it was the latter. The last thing she wanted to do was drag someone who wasn’t familiar with all of this, well, into it. Given Lil had dealt with these kinds of watermelons before, she had to assume it was the latter and if it wasn’t, at least she had some experience. Ceyda wasn’t too keen to put all her cards on the table, especially with how well known her last name was in the hunter world. If she were alone, she wouldn’t care, but her world seemed to be fixed around Aylin more often than not these days. She smiled, a bit more relaxed now, “It is good to have company.”

As much was true, Ceyda had never had a ton of friends, but she had a community. Her whole life it had been enough and in the absence of it, she found she felt incredibly lost. Moments like this made it easier, a companion and a bit of a fight. The bits of watermelon splattering across her clothes weren’t quite the blood of a wolf, but it was satisfying all the same, to put her full strength into something, to let out all the pent up energy that came with pulled punches at work and a restlessness that never really settled these days. The melons were starting to bite at the shovels, but she made quick work of them, having the strength to slice them fairly easily. That didn’t stop the other melons from coming to see what all the fuss was about. She felt one latched onto her boot and laughed, “I’ll have to keep an eye out or better yet, ask Old Man Paul to keep an eye out. It’s rare he’s not here.”

Ceyda raised her leg to stomp down on the one that clung to her boot. When she put her leg down, she put the full brunt of her power into it and smirked at the satisfying sound it made as it crushed beneath the sole of her boot. “Ha,” she exclaimed, “Got ya, orospu!” It’d been far too long since she’d felt the crunch of something under her boot which only fueled her to continue smashing away. “I prefer tea, but I’d take a coffee at this point. Or even their seed supply so I could burn it, too.”

“Covering it up. I don’t usually have too,” Lil said looking at the next melon in her sights. Maybe other exorcists did, but her family never stayed in one place for very long. After all, ghosts were relatively rare and calls pulled them across the country. She never stayed around long enough to have to answer anything, and frankly she didn’t think it was her job to. Frankly, she thought more regular folk should know about ghosts, it would make them call for help sooner - but that really wasn’t her decision either. Maybe it was for the best to cover it up. She did at least agree that other supernatural creatures probably shouldn’t be broadcasted to everyone. Granted, she was hardly an expert on that subject either, knowing just enough to help when they got - well possessed. “Yeah this is going much faster than last time,” Lil said with a smile broken out of her thinking about what was good and what wasn’t.

It wasn’t exactly getting easier for Lil, but oddly the hitting the melons was cathartic. Solid things were almost a treat for her, and as she scoffed as one tried to bite the shovel she still couldn’t hide the smile on her face. These were tasks she could do. There wasn’t anything complicated about it, and she wasn’t going to go home to tired. Lil couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face from growing when she managed to make the other laugh again. She liked it when she was able to make people smile and laugh, it didn’t normally happen. Not through any fault of her own, mind you she just usually was a bit more serious.

“Yeah I thought it was a bit odd. I usually don’t make it around here this early though,” Lil said amused partially as one of the melons tried to bite her foot only to realise her boot was metal tipped. Lil laughed at Ceyda’s - well probably true but humorous plan of burning someone’s seed collection, “ That’s a good idea. It would save us a lot of trouble. Oh? what kind of tea do you usually like? I’m a coffee drinker myself, but that’s what you get when you have to work later shifts.”

“Hm,” Ceyda pondered as she kicked another melon away from her boots to focus on the one at hand, “You are good with the supernatural, though?” There was a gnawing feeling in her stomach about what Lil could possibly be. She wasn’t a wolf or beast, that much she could tell though her radar was becoming harder to distinguish with her shift in focus. Perhaps Lil was another hunter, but it was hard to tell. She did first go for stabbing the pumpkins which seemed to be a very common hunter reaction. Stab first, ask questions later. Either way, this was enjoyable, having someone to hunt alongside again. “An extra set of hands certainly helps, usually this takes me the better part of a morning,” she agreed with a determined look on her face as she smashed another one of the melons.

The motions of destroying each watermelon released a good amount of pent up tension from every full moon that passed that Ceyda was at home with Aylin. The number of melons were dwindling, but she enjoyed each hit and stomp she could get in. Watermelon juice coated the leather of her boots and soaked into the grass and soil around them. It smelled just as delicious as it felt though she didn’t think she’d be eating watermelons any time soon. They both seemed to be enjoying the moment which pleased her. She’d hate to drag someone into a supernatural situation they weren’t at all prepared for.

“Whoever planted them must be coming at off hours, but Paul spends a good deal of time here, he may know,” Ceyda noted as she smashed one of the last few remaining watermelons. The leather of her boots was beginning to look a bit scratched up with all the attempted chunks the watermelons attempted to take from her, but better her shoes than her person. Well, mostly. She had thick skin so she didn’t mind the occasional wound. It was all part of the job. “It depends on the time of day. I love a good floral black tea blend early in the morning or early afternoon. Green tea and matcha are also good. Herbal in the late afternoon and evening. I tend to enjoy floral notes though.”

Tea was one of the things Ceyda could actually talk about in length without feeling strange, so it always made her happy when someone asked. In turn, she asked, “What do you do that entails the later shifts?”

At the question Lil snorted a little and realised that might be a little rude. She hadn’t actually said anything to the effect of against or pro -supernatural and she didn’t know her companion well enough to guess what she may be. “I deal with ghosts,” Lil said simply thinking that would help explain. Most supernaturals wouldn’t mind at all - unless she was a demon but Lil was willing to think she wasn’t. “I’m an exorcist so usually not a lot of cleaning up that needs to be explained. It is pretty nice to have help doing stuff like this.”

Lil didn’t expand on herself being an exorcist, just hoping that it was a neutral enough statement. Sure, she knew a lot of people on both sides of the argument but everyone called her when they were possessed. Instead of thinking of supernatural politics, and her place in them, she continued hitting the watermelons wondering who would put effort into these things. She might have been overthinking it, knowing the town was full of pranksters, but she couldn’t help but want to connect dots as of late. “Maybe it would be worth asking. I’m sure he’d tell us.”

Lil kicked one of the watermelons in the mouth, smashing the tip of the shovel down on the top of it’s head as it thought it finally got a good bite in. She really should wear these boots more often. Not that ghosts normally tried to bite her, but if she could get iron on the tips of her boots that might be an interesting way to annoy a ghost that broke a circle. She’d have to think of that one more.

“Ah. I hadn’t realised there were so many different teas for different times. I always had a black tea or - I think it was a green tea. My aunt was always more of a tea drinker so when she was having it I would drink it with her. Sometimes she made some with lavender and sometimes lemon , but I couldn’t figure out what the tea was.” Lil was caught on what June might have made. When Lil had gotten to visit her when she was little, she could remember her Aunt making her tea in fancy teacups and getting to play pretend. Maybe she should find them, if only to send a picture to her siblings to ask them if they remembered.

“Oh I’m a bartender. At Dell’s Tavern. I mostly have the latest shift,” Lil said with a shrug looking at the now mostly destroyed patch. “ With that and the ghosts, I’ve always had to be a night person. I think we’ve got them all. Do you see any left?”

An exorcist. That explained how Lil approached the watermelons with a deal of fearlessness and hadn’t been all that fazed by their existence. Ceyda had only met a couple of exorcists back in Michigan. Exorcisms required both bravery and grit so she was reasonably impressed with the woman smashing watermelons beside her. “That’s good to know,” Ceyda said with a nod as she sent her shovel colliding into another watermelon, “Hope I never need one, but don’t want to be hard pressed to find one if I do.” Each satisfying crunch and splash of her shovel going through the watermelon further relaxed some of the tension that had been building up in her muscles. “I’m a hunter, ranger,” she explained, “If you ever run into any problems with beasts.”

Given Lil was here helping her and likely helped people with their ghost problems, Ceyda could assume she was a trustworthy enough person. She also knew how dangerous exorcisms could be. She’d only played bodyguard for one in the past, but there was something unsettling about it. Beasts, she could fight all day with little mind of her own wellbeing, but something about not being able to see what was projecting objects around the room was unnerving. Things like these watermelons were much more straight-forward and simple. “I’m sure he would,” she agreed, “He’s quite sweet though I’ve noticed not everyone is as nice to him.”

Just another social thing that Ceyda couldn’t wrap her head around. Others perceived the man to be strange, but he was simply kind and really cared about the well-being of the garden. Most days, he could be seen sitting under an apple tree in his grass-green fold up chair with a large thing of water and a straw hat upon his head. Hopefully they could finish before he arrived for the day at least. This would be an alarming thing to walk in on and he seemed generally content in the garden. She kept stomping and hitting away at melons that were nearly gone now. “Oh, yeah, there’s a lot of different teas. My plot actually has a bunch of different tea leaves and herbs I use to make tea blends. I could make a blend for you if you’d like.”

Even if she preferred coffee, it seemed like the nice thing to do to offer up a blend if she was interested. At least, Ceyda assumed as much. As she crushed what appeared to be the last of the biting watermelons, she let out a contented sigh. “Ah, Dell’s. I’ve only been there a couple of times, my niece likes it there. Late shifts make sense then,” she gave the plot another once over, “It looks like we’ve got them all. Just wanna get everything towards the center of the plot, including the roots and soil before dousing it in lighter fluid to burn it.”

“Well, if you ever need an exorcist you can always let me know,” Lil said with a nod. It was something she said a lot, but lately it seemed to be signing herself a lot of contracts without realising it. Still, exorcists were rare in the world and there were charlatans out there too. If she was someone’s only connection to exorcisms she wouldn’t hesitate to help, or maybe if people called her back they would get a better one to help them. Lil nodded at Ceyda’s explanation of who she was, and it made a lot of sense. Lil had a general sense of hunters and honestly knowing a good amount of them would be nice. She’d always seemed to get along better with them than other exorcists, although she didn’t really like to admit it. They tended to agree with her about ghosts needing “Noted.” Lil said with a soft smile her hands still working as the melons became less recognizable as melons.

Lil nodded at the sentiment thinking about the man, and thinking she might get some of the seeds her Aunt left to give to him. She found that a lot of people were somewhat misunderstood. Especially in this town where everything was a bit scary and most definitely haunted. Still, most people Lil had met here were at least trying to just get by, and she’d rather give a chance than not. A small smile and wave, maybe a hello there or a how’s it going really could help people. It - well it was something that would have made her feel less alone, at the very least so now that she could be apart of a community she wanted other people to feel that.

At the offer Lil looked up a little at the other, not expecting it and said, “Oh - I mean that would be wonderful and very kind of you, but I wouldn’t want to bother you with it. That probably takes a lot of time to do.” It was almost automatic, Lil not wanting to be a bother, but she figured that it was more complicated then the other let on, and hardly the same amount of work.

Looking around with the other woman Lil nodded seeing that the melons had thoroughly been squished. She’d have to give her boots a good cleaning later - but it was worth it. “Yeah? Next time either of you are in, you should come say hello if I’m on shift. Sounds good,” Lil said, moving to gather the roots and all the other bits of melon they had smashed to the middle carefully scooping it up with the dirt underneath the pieces. “ Hopefully they won’t grow back after all of this.”

“It wouldn’t be a bother at all,” Ceyda noted, “But if it’s not your thing I completely understand.” She didn’t want to be pushy about the tea, that’d be strange. Or at least she assumed it would be. Since she was getting along seemingly well with Lil, she didn’t want to push her luck. Either way, she would store that bit on being an exorcist in the back of her mind. Her scope of supernatural knowledge was limited to beasts and she knew when to call in a second opinion.

“We’ll do that,” Ceyda said with a bright smile. All in all, this was one of her more successful interactions with someone in her own age group and it hadn’t been entirely about hunting stories. She went over to grab the lighter fluid as well as the flame retardants she brought along to keep the whole garden from burning. “I figure fire permanently gets rid of most things, so maybe they will be gone for good this time. At least I hope so.”

Ceyda began to douse lighter fluid over all the dug up roots, seeds, and shells before pulling a box of matches out from her pocket. She flicked it against the box to start the flame and carefully dropped it on the top of the watermelon remains. “Back up,” she warned before the flames took hold. She watched them, somewhat fascinated in the shapes they took, but mostly to keep them from spreading. The lighter fluid made it relatively quick work for the fire to catch and turn the watermelon remains to ash. Once they were gone, she put the flames out and turned to the woman she hoped was a new friend. “I think we’ve finished them off for good. What do you say we treat ourselves to that tea and coffee?”

#wickedswriting #p; smashing pumpkins #p; lil #p; lilian #lil #lilian

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queenlilith43 · 4 years ago

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Alrighty so here is my stupid, stupid theory about the Wicked Powers and the Eldest Curses.

I'm adding a keep reading option because everyone will thank me for this later. And it contains serious Eldest Curses and Last Hours spoilers. (YES. I will drag Chain of Iron into here because I want to.)

So I want to talk about what I think the antagonists in the Wicked Powers and what will happen because of it. And how the antagonists will show up.

So who do I think the antagonists are? Whelp, here's the list:

Thule people

Faerie court drama

The Cohort

Lucifer + other permanent threats

I'm going to explain the antagonists and what I think will happen. I will explain how much of a problem I think they will be.

Thule

Well, Janus is going to be in there. He had established himself as a villian from Ghosts of the Shadow Market. He's what Jace could have been if he had stayed under Sebastian's power. That is to say, a very evil Jace.

Janus had been tasked by the Seelie Queen at the end of Queen of Air and Darkness to find actual Jace Herondale. Do we want Jace kidnapped? NO. Will this cause problems? YES.

Thule as a world is a problem. Part of it leaked into our world in QOAAD, causing the warlocks to start to turn into demons. (Including a very cute purple poodle that was Malcolm Fade.)

Shadowhunters can't use their weapons and runes in this world. I wonder if it was able to influence the Shadowhunters in this world enough to stop that.

And Sebastian is still alive in Thule. We know how much of a problem he is. If he ends up in our world . . . We should be worried.

I think Thule can be a problem. It might be a huge problem. It all depends on how easily the main characters can deal with Janus.

I personally want then to deal with Janus and Thule by just yeeting him into a Portal. I can imagine Kit doing that and then dusting off his hands.

If someone can get rid of Thule easily, things will be fine. If Thule isn't dealt with early on . . . Everyone is screwed.

Faeries

We have met the First Heir of the courts. Also known as Kit Herondale. We also have the Seelie Queen, who is very evil, ruling over the Seelie Court. Along with that, Kieran is ruling the Unseelie Court.

And as we know, the Seelie Queen made Janus try and find Jace. So she ties into the Thule plot.

I feel like there is going to be some major faerie drama. Kit is going to have to fight to unite the courts, whether he wants to or not. It is his destiny to do this.

The faeries wouldn't accept Kit as their king, because he's mainly a Shadowhunter. (As we know, Shadowhunter blood breeds true.) I am hoping Kieran emerges as the king of the new courts and is able to have a good life with Cristina and Mark.

Kit is going to have face his faerie side and the powers that come with it. I'm going to love seeing his character develop through all this.

The faerie court drama is going to be in there, and part of Kit's character arc. It is needed, and if Kit and Kieran get rid of the Seelie Queen fast we might not even have to THINK about dealing with Thule.

However, this plot will need at least two books to resolve itself. That means Thule and the faeries will be involved. I'm going to touch on Thule at the very end again.

The Cohort

Ugh, I hate these guys. Especially Zara, who is the one person everyone in the fandom wants dead.

Considering what the Cohort represents and everything that had happened, they are going to reach new heights of evil. That was already in the playing cards, but I just KNOW they'll be worse than we thought they were going to be.

And the Cohort is trying to hurt the Downworlders. Alec is over there, trying to help them, but the Cohort loathes him for that.

I really don't know how important they will be. But when I talk about what I believe a main plot will be, and how Shadowhunter-Downworlder relations factor into it.

Lucifer

This one is where the Eldest Curses ties into the Wicked Powers. And this is what I think is going to be the main antagonist after a certain point.

Before you question me on this, hear me out.

The Shadowhunters have always known they will face an end to the world. It's been an idea since the very first book, City of Bones.

Jace talked about how there were more demons coming in every year, and less Shadowhunters to fight them. This was in the FIRST BOOK. And of course we had bigger fish to fry, but it's an idea that stuck with me.

I feel like even in the Infernal Devices series everyone knew there would be a demon threat so great the world could end. It wasn't as obvious, because Mortmain wasn't an antagonist that posed a large problem. His clockwork monsters were easy to defeat, and it was in Britain, which is technically an island. So they couldn't go they far unless they hopped on a boat and sailed around the world. Along with Mortmain just being a mundane.

In the Last Hours, the idea of a demon threat that could end the world is even more real. In Chain of Gold, we had to deal with demons that attacked in broad daylight, something that had never happened before.

And there was Belial, who might be planning something that messes with their weapons. (Although he won't get far. He's a terrible, even laughable villian who is being set up like this for future reasons.)

Now we have Lilith, who is a danger to this world. With Cordelia as a paladin, Lilith could have enough power to mess with the world. It's more real, but with this being a prequel, we know things will be fine.

Back to the main series, the Mortal Instruments. In the latter half of the series, Lilith shows up, and mentions her past. And this includes Sammael.

Sammael is a Prince of Hell. He poses a threat to the world. He is the one who weakened the wards in the first place with Lilith to let the demons in.

Thankfully, Simon turns Lilith into salt. We don't have to deal with her, but the threat and the demons she knows remind us how fragile this world is.

After Lilith, we have Sebastian. His demons blood makes him unstable, and he created this army of Endarkened Shadowhunters. But was his existence a threat to the fabric of the universe itself? Not really.

It could think our world, but not in the way an actual demon could. He is powerful, but Sebastian loves in pain. The demon blood in his veins weighs him down, and he has weaknesses. Clary defeated him once, and she can deal with Thule Sebastian later.

The Dark Artifices introduced the concept of the world ending. Not with Malcolm, but with Thule. Thule was a real Hell dimension, a place where the demons have taken over. A ruined world, and one where Sebastian rules over the land with an iron fist.

The only way Sebastian was able to rule over Thule was because Lilith showed up at just the right time. And strangely enough, it was shortly after she was lost from our world. Coincidence? Well, it could be, but knowing these books, it probably isn't.

In the Eldest Curses, this idea was introduced just a little on the first book. Asmodeus was there. It was a flash of it, but it seemed like the demon threat was mentioned.

The second book mentioned that idea again, with Sammael showing up. That's right. Sammael, the Once and Future Devourer of Worlds.

He really seemed to show the threat of demons. The way that no matter how hard the Shadowhunters would fight, the demons would win in the end. It said in that book Sammael would destroy the worlds in the end, no matter what.

And oh my god the epilogue. He had all the Princes of Hell in a room. And now, they are going to summon Lucifer.

Why do I think Lucifer will be outside the Eldest Curses? Because he is important.

In the folklore (my inner Swiftie is showing) Lucifer is the angel who started the rebellion in Heaven. He looked into the face of God, and turned away into the darkness. He is a force to be reckoned with.

But what happened to him? We haven't even heard of him in the Shadowhunters universe until Chain of Gold, where he was confirmed as a Prince of Hell. At first, I thought Sammael was Lucifer, because that is one of his names.

But they're two different demons. And one is more powerful.

Because Lucifer hasn't even been mentioned before, I think his sudden existence is going to be in the Wicked Powers, along with the rest of the Princes of Hell.

Belial is being set up as this whiny, sexist demon to make the other Prince of Hell so much WORSE.

The Wicked Powers is supposed to be a threat that the Shadowhunters have never faced before. And the LITERAL DEVIL? Yeah, they've never dealt with a force like him before.

But the only way the Shadowhunters can defeat the demons once and for all is by teaming up with the Downworlders. It's been hinted at. When the Shadowhunters and Downworlders work together, they are able to fight the demons off.

This is where Clary's Alliance rune comes in. Her rune, binding the Downworlders and the remaining Shadowhunters together, and they will fight.

The Cohort is going to hate this. But it's the only way to deal with Thule (which I'm going to talk about in another post) and Lucifer is with the Downworlders.

And Magnus if ping to be important. Every time Magnus is there, the Shadowhunters win.

But one my other theories is that Magnus dies. Because this is the end, and Magnus is in every single book. So for him to die, it would mark the very end.

So I guess Magnus would fight bravely in the battle and then die, to make an end to these books.

Any thoughts on this? Please reblog!

#the last hours #the wicked powers #tsc #chain of iron #the eldest curses #its crackpot time now #chain of iron spoilers #the shadowhuter chronicles #tlh #tec #magnus bane #alec lightwood bane #alec lightwood #magnus lightwood bane #clary fairchild #kit herondale #kieran kingson

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thevindicativevordan · 3 years ago

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On Xa-Du the Phantom King

Figured I'd write about a minor Superman Rogue who I don't think will ever arrive on the big screen but who totally deserves to: Xa-Du the Phantom King.

This dude is amazing, a mad scientist space mummy necromancer who wants to rule over a world of superzombies. He's so delightfully hammy in every way from his speech patterns to his appearance, an utterly insane, rotten to the core threat to all life everywhere. I'm so happy that he somehow managed to stick around after Rebirth basically swept Morrison's Action run out of canon, and is going to be popping up elsewhere beyond just Superman & the Authority such as in Cloonan & Conrad's Wonder Woman run. He's been used in DC Universe Online of all places, and I am hoping against hope he shows up in My Adventures With Superman.

Why I Like The Phantom King

You might be asking yourself why you should care about another Kryptonian bad guy, especially when Zod and Bizarro already exist. Now I don't want to get too in-depth here because I want to make a Zod post down the line, but the simple answer is that Xa-Du helps circumvent the "Zod Dilemma" and also helps Zod himself escape that dilemma as well. What is the "Zod Dilemma"? Writers are pulled between wanting to homage the Terrance Stamp Zod incarnation since that's basically the whole reason Zod is popular in the first place, and also wanting to play up Zod's more sympathetic attributes in order to make him a deeper character who can play off of Kal in more interesting ways. The problem is those two things are mutually exclusive. You can't have a guy screaming "KNEEL" all the time and also portray him as an antagonist with depth. Stamp was fantastic, but his performance owed a lot to his acting, which doesn't come across as well in comics.

This is where the Phantom King comes in. Like Zod he was banished to the Phantom Zone by Jor-El, and he swore revenge on House El. Unlike Zod though, Xa-Du doesn't seem to have had a sympathetic reason for doing so, he doesn't have that past friendship with Jor-El, and he's not portrayed as someone we should feel bad for or empathize with. He's also flat out insane and wants to turn the whole world into his playground. In other words, he lets you have the hamminess of the Terence Stamp Zod without the pull to make him sympathetic getting in the way. He's a piece of shit who is entertaining for that exact reason, and he frees Zod up to go be the full on sympathetic understandable bad guy Zod works better as.

He's also a great "face" for a very important and underserved area of Superman lore: The Phantom Zone. The Phantom Zone should be a Lovecraftian Dimension that is full of horrors and Xa-Du should be the closest thing that place has to a human "face".

How I Would Write The Phantom King

That's not to say there couldn't be some changes to Xa-Du's deal to differentiate him even more so than Zod. I think Morrison made a mistake in giving him the typical Kryptonian powerset, they should've given a powerset more in-line with how he's portrayed as space necromancer. I believe Morrison intended for Xa-Du to be utterly warped by the energies of the Phantom Zone, so changed by them that he has to wear that suit in order to maintain a physical form outside the Phantom Zone. That's a great start for differentiating him from the others.

He should still be strong and tough (not as strong or invulnerable as Clark or Zod or a regular Kryptonian though), but here's a big caveat: He literally can not die. Any time his physical body is destroyed, he will eventually reform in the Phantom Zone.

In that way we play up the "space lich" aspect of him. He's the Ghost of Krypton that Superman will never be permanently rid of, always trying to breach into our world whenever he can. But to take that analogy further, Xa should be able to pull Phantoms (creatures or people still imprisoned within the Zone) from the Phantom Zone at will, and unleash them on reality. He should be able to raise the dead with PZ energies and force them to serve him. Pak had him able to reach out and whisper in peoples ear, and I loved that.

The Phantom King should be the number one villain of the Zone, knowing secrets of the place that Jor-El and even Zod do not. If you've been following PKJ's Action Comics and read the recent Annual (go read it if you haven't, I loved it), you know the PZ is the domain of a slumbering Lovecraftian Horror who "dreams" the entire dimension into being, Aethyr. I would have Xa-Du meeting Aethyr or another "god" of the Phantom Zone (I think there should be multiple), and that being the event that warps him both physically and mentally. It's through Xa-Du that Aethyr becomes dimly aware of the "real world" and he transforms Xa into the Phantom King, his agent tasked with spreading Aethyr's reach outside the PZ. It's not just his own sadistic whims Xa is serving, but that of Aethyr as well.

Ultimately Xa-Du doesn't care if Aethyr destroys all life or not, he just wants his planet full of superzombies. You could get a lot of mileage with Xa-Du trying different ways to fulfill Aethyr's whims, or break free of his servitude. You can have him running experiments in the Phantom Zone to breed better slaves for his next fight with Superman, reaching out to whisper instructions to Aethyr cults hidden in Metropolis, and testing the limits of his own powers. He's a fantastic villain who really deserves to be one of Superman's top Rogues.

I'm praying PKJ plans to use him because he would be perfect for PKJ's interests given his seeming desire to use the PZ, his love of dark fantasy and world building, and his taking Superman in a more epic direction that plays up Clark as a SUPERman. Hopefully the Annual is meant as a precursor to an Action Comics arc set in the PZ, and both The Phantom King and Aethyr will play a role in whatever the future holds for Clark.

#superman #the phantom zone #xa-du #the phantom king #action comics

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anymal28 · 4 years ago

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Okay, This is going to be my last little "rant" for a while.

One. Can we all just remember that the "It was never meant to be" line was said by Eret first. A lot of people are giving it more attention with Wilbur, and I can understand that since Wilbur's thing was a lot bigger than Eret's. But Eret is the one who started the fame of that line and it doesn't seem like it's matching with him as much anymore.

Two. I have mixed feelings about Philza right now. It's almost like he has no care for his children. First, he sided with Techno to destroy L'manberg. He also knew that Friend was still in L'manberg when they blew it up. He didn't even try to save Friend, not even for Wilbur's sake. Can we just imagine Wilbur's thought process right now. First, he begged his father to kill him, and he did. Then his father killed his friend without a second thought. Phil didn't even take into consideration how it would affect Wilbur. Yeah, Wilbur's dead, but that doesn't make him any less of a son! Technoblade isn't even canonically his son anymore! Phil went along with destroying L'manberg. He didn't care what happened to it or the people that lived there. He knew how Tommy felt about L'manberg. But Phil wasn't really a good father to Tommy to begin with. Phil took Tommy's brother away, and then abandoned him. Phil chose Techno over his own children.

But here's where I'm divided between liking and hating Phil. Phil took Ranboo in. Phil gave Ranboo a home and actually treated him like another human. Ranboo is still technically a child, so I guess Phil technically adopted him. Phil convinced Techno to let Ranboo stay with them. Ranboo is a mess right now, he's vulnerable to many things. Either this is just a good act out of the kindness of Phil's heart, or Phil and Techno have plans for Ranboo.

Maybe I'll take Quackity's warning into consideration too. Maybe I'll stop trusting so many characters, maybe all of them.

Three. Techno is not the one who betrayed people. When he first joined this fight, he joined Wilbur and Tommy in Pogtopia. Techno was under the mindset that they would get rid of the government completely. And Wilbur helped strengthen this idea with his talk about blowing it all up. Techno laid out his plans right in front of everyone, he made his intentions very clear to everyone. But at the same time, they made their intentions clear to him. So he compromised. He decided that he would help take down the government, and only the government.

But one thing still confuses me about his intentions. Remember the first festival, the Manberg Festival? Techno was ordered by the president, a government official, to execute a citizen. Like Tommy pointed out, Techno followed the orders from the government when he murdered Tubbo. Techno used the excuse that he was under peer pressure, but if he really hated the government so much, would he have given in to the pressure? Right in front of him was the president and the vice president, he had the firepower and the chance to kill them both, but he decided to follow their orders instead. Techno also made a fair point though. Wilbur and Tommy could've easily stepped in and helped him at any time, but they didn't. I do think that Wilbur wanted Techno to kill Tubbo, just because he was insane at the time, and Tommy was following Wilbur's orders because Wilbur was still his general at the time. So maybe that's why they didn't step in.

And history repeats itself, over and over and over in an endless cycle. Again, Techno laid his plans out clear in front of Tommy. Tommy knew he couldn't stop Techno. Tommy decided to run back to Tubbo and L'manberg at the last second. If anything, Tommy betrayed Techno. They were a team until Tommy saw the opportunity to get what he wanted. Techno yet again wanted to destroy the government, and this time he knew that the only way he could permanently do that was to destroy the country. Techno is not the traitor here, he was on his own side throughout this entire thing, and his side just so happened to win.

Four. Tommy is also not a traitor. I don't want to favor one over the other as they both have different ideals and mindsets, so labeling one as a traitor would be unfair. Tommy's intentions were to get his discs back and live a nice life in L'manberg. That's been his goal since the beginning. Tommy never once betrayed Wilbur or L'manberg, even when Wilbur lost it. Tommy was so driven by the fact they'd finally get L'manberg back, that he didn't acknowledge Techno's intentions. So when they won L'manberg back, and Techno started killing everyone, Tommy saw it as a betrayal. And now, Tommy knew of Techno's plans, but I think he was too set on getting his discs back that he barely acknowledged Techno. All Tommy knew was that Techno was willing to help him. But when the discs were no longer a problem, Tommy just wanted to get back to L'manberg, so he joined with Tubbo. And he didn't really process how serious Techno was about blowing it up, so when Techno actually did blow it up, it was seen as another betrayal through his eyes.

Five. The bottom line is that, depending on what your personal intentions are, there will almost always be a traitor to you. Techno's intentions were different from Tommy's so when Tommy started fighting for his beliefs, it was seen as betrayal in Techno's eyes. And when Techno started fighting for his beliefs it was seen as betrayal through Tommy's eyes. You can't label someone as a good or bad just because their intentions are different than yours.

For the love of god do not apply real world crap to this. Obviously things work different in the real world than they do in a block game.

This is just a roleplay. Anything said or done in the game does not apply to real life. All the decisions made are more than likely scripted, or they've been talked over with all participants. Do not start hating on any of the creators for things down in the roleplay.

#dream smp #minecraft roleplay #tommyinnit #l'manburg #wilbur soot #philza mcyt #philza #the eret #technoblade #ranboo #mcty fandoms #dream team smp

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years ago

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Alright, we’re reaching the end. let’s at least see if I can reach 100k words!

@petrichormeraki

and also @helleborusangel I’m worried about you. You haven’t touched your tumblr in about 2 and a half weeks. if anyone has heard from them, please let me know, I am worried aaaaaaaaaa.

An explosion shook the room, making Grifter use his wings as cover for both himself and Sense. A moment later he flapped his wings to clear the air and see what had caused the explosion. He growled upon seeing a group of people at the door, recognizing that most of them were hermits. Standing there were both Xisuma and Xannes, Joe, Zedaph, Scar and Cub. There were also two non-hermits, one of which being Techno since he had brought the other hermits. The last was someone Grifter recognized all too well. Kristen. And she was also holding onto both Grifect and Sefter.

Grifter tried not to look angry or yell and attack, even using a wing to keep Sense back. “Oh thank goodness you all came! This is going to help so much!” Grifter couldn’t say more before a trident was thrown at his head, him barely dodging it. “What are you doing, I’m the good guy here?”

“I have a hard time believing that.” Xannes huffed, but Grifter gestured to where Nightmare lay dazed on the floor.

“No, you don’t understand. He’s the bad guy in this situation. He was after both Theseus and Tommy. I was told I had to deal with him. I didn’t have any choice!”

Xannes scoffed. “A likely story.” And weapons were pointed at Grifter. The avian’s eyes continued to go between Nightmare as well as Kristen as she held his kids, but he held his arms up in surrender.

From behind the group, Xisuma made his way over to Tommy. Grifter paid no attention to him, But Sense did, pulling out a weapon. Techno was the first to move to stop the attack, but Grifter beat him to the punch, using his wing to hit the weapon out of Sense’s hand. “As I said. Good guys here. Unless of course you are here to hurt Tommy, then things change.”

“You destroyed half of the server.” Techno said.

“I made sure to take precautions. None of this is permanent. Everything is backed up and I made sure everyone could respawn. Meanwhile you’re got Grian running around with one of his sons, not even worried about the bug in his system.”

“What-” Someone started to say, Grifter wasn’t sure who, when Nightmare moved. Grifter moved out of the way, having been watching the admin. Nightmare’s attack missed, but he quickly adjusted, his axe aiming for Xisuma’s neck. Sense pulled out another weapon and pointed it at Nightmare, firing it. The blast hit Nightmare’s wrist, making him lose his weapon, but in order to take the shot, it also went through part of Grifter’s wing.

“There…” Grifter said, holding his wing. “Believe us now?”

Weapons slowly moved from pointing at Grifter to pointing at Nightmare. A quick glance around the room let him know that Xannes seemed to be the only one left with his guard up, but that was fine, he wasn’t the most dangerous one here. Cub and Scar both had vex magic, but only both of them working together had been enough to break Grifter’s barrier, so while they could potentially be dangerous, they also weren’t the biggest threat. Techno was probably the least threatening of the bunch, Xisuma as a close second. He may be admin, but this wasn’t his server, so for now he was essentially powerless.

But the last three were much more dangerous. Kristen had the same aura around her that his dad did, meaning she would have to be death here. But it also didn’t help that she wasn’t the only one with that energy. And then of course ‘Joe Hills’. He was arguably the most dangerous, but he also had an easy weakness right now.

“Do any of you know someone named Eret?” Grifter spoke up, glad to see Joe look up and over at him.

“I do. Why’re ya askin’?”

“We couldn’t quite get down there, but there seemed to be some prison cells and someone with that name was there. I was pretty sure the name was familiar, but of course, since this is another dimension, I figured I’d ask you guys.” Grifter explained, then hissing slightly as Sense tried to help with his wound.

Joe briefly looked over at Xisuma, who nodded. After taking one last look around the room, the man left the room. One down, two to go. Kristen was off the table with the boys in her arms, but if push came to shove, they could take care of themselves. Grifter used a bit of magic to heal himself, noticing that the world setting had been changed, letting people naturally heal and respawn again. He quickly changed that back and readied his magic for an attack.

Both of the Convex noticed something was up and they started to say something, but Grifter was faster. He flew into the air just enough to get a height advantage before attacking Zedaph with such a powerful attack, he broke through the floor. At the same time, Sense pulled Xisuma away from Tommy, messing with his helmet and breaking the filters on it.

Xannes tried to grab Grifter, but the Listener was prepared and he drew a swirl symbol in the air, and a moment later Xannes was gone. Grifter was left panting and he couldn’t do much more after using so much magic. Sense was busy taking care of the Convex, so he couldn’t help much more. Grifter barely managed to get out of the way of Techno attacking him, but it just moved him closer to Kristen.

“What did you do with Phil?” She asked, just making Grifter chuckle.

“Nothing bad. And even if it was, I doubt it would affect Dad.” He laughed again. “So, why are you here? I would have thought you’d stay away.”

Kristen didn’t answer as Sefter’s hand changed into a sword and he stabbed her in the side. Her shock made her drop both him and Grifect, who quickly ran to Grifter’s side. “Awe uwu okay dad? Uwu wook tiwed. I'm sowwy I messed up.”

“Aww, it’s okay pumpkin. You did just fine.” Grifter patted Grifect’s head and Sefter faced Techno, ready to fight him. “Now now everyone. I’m sure we can all stand down at this point.”

“You were the one to attack first.” Techno huffed, making Grifter pout.

“You all barged in here ready to attack me with my children as hostages. Now they are free and everyone is fine.”

“Xisuma is suffocating!” Cub yelled, and Grifter rolled his eyes and used a bit of magic to fix the helmet.

“There, is that any better?” Grifter huffed, still panting a bit. “You’re all ready to work with Xannes but I try to help and suddenly I’m the worst thing in the world.”

“Even he hates you.”

“And he also hates his brother, but you guys are fine with him. But sure, make that the defining answer.” Grifter grumbling, trying to ignore the nudge in his side from Sense. “Now how about we just all calm down, I deal with my job, and we all go home safe and sound.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Scar asked, and Grifter nodded his head in Kristen’s direction, as well as Zedaph’s as he was just pulling himself out of the hole he had been stuck in.

“What are we talking about?” Zed asked, looking around, not having any context.

Kristen gestured to Grifter. “He’s got a request from Death that he needs to finish.”

“What? I never gave him anything like that. Was that you?”

“No, I assume it came from one of those in his world.”

“Oh yeah, that would do it. Oh by the way, look who I found!” And Zedaph helped Grian, Ranboo and Grumbot out of the hole.

“Oh for fucks sake!” Grifter growled. “I just managed to salvage this two fucking times. Why aren’t you all dead?”

As soon as he had said that, everyone turned on Grifter once more, though this time he wasn’t trying to wriggle his way out of it. “Perhaps we should-” Sense started to say before the Listener slapped him. “Shut up! I don’t care how it happens, I am getting rid of that son of a whore admin! Now stay alive long enough to come back.” And three portals opened up next to Sense, Sefter and Grifect, pulling them in.

“Fine. Gloves are off now.” Grifter said, staring directly at Grian, who knew exactly what that meant. Grian moved to pull Grumbot closer to himself while Kristen was the first to move and attempt to attack Grifter.

Before she could cause any harm, Grifter placed down some TNT which immediately exploded. The explosion blocked her view just long enough for him to move elsewhere and get the upper hand, shoving her to the floor. “Oh please, Dad’s already terrified I’ll kill him and become the next death or something. And seeing as how my uncle never shows his fucking face, I’m guessing he keeps shaking in his little pink lined boots.”

Xisuma was the next to attack, but Grifter kicked at the man, boots starting to tear at the seams. “And your brother is too much of a cocksucking ditz to cause any sort of trouble for me. Hacking skills or not. I had to deal with plenty in Deevo. And that’s when I was still learning everything!”

Grifter was whacked in the back, causing loose feathers to go flying. He turned to see that Techno had attacked with an axe, blood now dripping down the avain’s back. “You’re an improvement over the original at least. Euro’s one of the biggest cowards I’ve seen. I can hear when he kills himself from a mile away. It’s too bad he keeps getting to respawn, but when death doesn’t want you dead, it doesn’t happen.” One of Grifter’s wings hit Techno, the feathers stiff and sharp, opening wounds all over the piglin hybrid.

Next, vex magic attacked the Listener from both sides, leaving him cornered. “You two. Hah, now this is a challenge. Sort of. But I don’t give a fuck right now!” And Grifter pulled out a shovel, not having a better weapon readily available. He walked towards Cub, not caring as the magic started to burn away his clothes, revealing the discolored skin beneath. Cub did his best to increase his power and move away, and for a few moments it worked, pushing Grifter back, but then the shovel connected with his skull, knocking him to the ground. A few more whacks followed from Grifter for good measure, staining the metal red.

“Now, who’s up next?!” The Listener asked with a laugh, turning to face everyone. His outfit was a mess; torn and bloody, hanging limply on his body while his boots lay shredded to the side, talons having replaced his feet. His eyes were glossy, cataracts covering them leaving him essentially blind, but his ears had shifted, changing into something few had seen, the ears of a warden.

“What the heck?” Ranboo asked, having stuck by Grian’s side. “What is that?”

“Listener.” Grian responded, horrified. “When Watchers, and I guess also Listeners, use too much magic, their body shifts to better use it. I’ve apparently gone off the deep end once or twice and ended up something like that. Basically, if he was dangerous before… it’s worse now.”

True to what Grian had just said, Grifter moved swiftly, at Zedaph’s side the moment after he took a step. He was thrown against a wall, winding him before a metal clamp covered his mouth, making it so he couldn’t speak. As he pulled at it while also catching his breath, Grifter yanked out a handful of his feathers, blood pouring from the freshly plucked wing and the Listener’s own hand. He threw the feathers at Xisuma, them acting as throwing knives sent at the admin. A good number of them missed, but a few hit and sliced into his armor, fortunately also missing his helmet.

Kristen attacked Grifter next, getting an upper hand and using some of his own stray feathers as weapons. The Listener just stared at her, smiling as the edge of the blade like feathers pressed into his skin, drawing blood. “You aren’t going to kill me. Are you? You can’t. That’s how it works~ You’re the one who can’t interfere~ That’s your brother’s job. And oh, sounds like he can’t do that right now, can he?”

Kristen was going to do it. In this situation, she wasn’t bound by the laws of death. Grifter wasn’t from this dimension, so she had free reign. But the Listener’s words got to her, and for a split second, she looked away. Suddenly, Grifter’s wings moved and a number of his feathers were embedded in her chest, him laughing evilly. “Now don’t die~ I wouldn’t like that happening. Especially since he’s busy.”

Techno tried attacking Grifter again, but he was just swatted to the side. Scar was at Cub’s side, having pulled out some crystals to heal him. Zedaph was busy trying to free himself and Kristen was dealing with her own wounds. Grifter stepped closer to Xisuma before picking him up and breaking one of his helmet’s filters with his hand. Though it wouldn’t kill the admin, it would certainly cause him plenty of pain.

Tossing Xisuma aside, Grifter finally made it to Nightmare. “Now, I should have been finished with you ages ago!” The Listener spoke, his voice filled with stifled laughter. “But this ends now. Dream? He’s easy. Everything’s already in a console because he was a little bitch who used children for his own benefit. I may not have many lines to draw, but I still have some.”

Nightmare started screaming as green magic surrounded him. For a moment, a figure of a second person stood next to him before it dissolved, disappearing completely. “Next, we need to get rid of those silly little admin powers you have because Dad wanted you dethroned.”

As Nightmare started to scream again, Grifter was attacked from the side. Out of all the people he expected, this was the last. Tommy stood, balanced mostly on his uninjured leg, holding a sword he had gotten from Xisuma. Grifter tisked a few times at Tommy, crossing his arms. “Theseus, Theseus, Theseus. What are you doing? Trying to get your revenge? That’s the same fucking mistake that put us in this situation in the first place. Why’d Dad even let you out?”

“Wrong person.” Tommy said weakly. He was light headed from blood loss as well as standing there, but he still swung his sword in an attempt to hit Grifter.

“Right, right. Well, I’m not called a Listener for no reason.” And then a wing swiped across the ground, hitting Tommy’s feet out from under him. “Stay out of this before you make it so much worse.”

Grifter turned back to Nightmare, continuing to use magic on the admin. No one had enough energy left to do anything as they listened to his screams. Slowly, they grew strained before it was finally quiet again. Grifter frowned and kicked Nightmare, the limp body giving no resistance. “Aww, it’s broken. Hmm, I guess I can have a little more fun with it.”

He started stomping on the body, making absolutely sure Nightmare was truly dead, damaging the body beyond recognition. The whole time, Grifter was smiling and having fun. Around him, everyone was slowly tending to each other’s wounds, the Listener not caring. Kristen checked on Grian who was helping her with the feathers still stuck in her. Zedaph assisted Xisuma with his helmet, managing to not make it more complicated than it needed to be. At the same time, he helped Tommy out a bit as the two were right near each other. Scar was still helping Cub, and for lack of anyone else to help out, Techno stayed near Ranboo and Grumbot.

Finally, Grifter stepped away from Nightmare, hands on his hips as he ‘looked’ at his work proudly. “Well, that could have gone better, but it was still nice! Now, since you all caused so many problems, who do I get to have fun with next?” When no one answered, Grifter pouted before turning to Tommy. “Hmm, let’s see-”

Before he could say anything else, Kristen was in front of Tommy and Grian was attacking Grifter from the back. Grifter growled, using plenty of magic to attack them back, nearly killing Grian in the process. But just as it looked like Grifter was going to win, he was suddenly thrown against the throne with enough force to break it. “Now why’d you go and start without me?”

Joe had entered the room, followed by Eret. “I’m sure we could have found a much more non-violent approach, left everyone in much better shape.” He stopped over at Zedaph, helping get the metal covering his mouth off. “I’m guessing he’s dead?” Joe gestured to Dream’s body.

“Eh, that’s Krist’s side of things, not mine. I’m busy keeping an eye on her husband.” Zedaph replied, jabbing his thumb off in the general direction of Phil. “That’s part of the reason she’s here is because I filled her in.”

Joe nodded and walked over to Kristen, who was sitting on the ground next to Tommy. “Zed said to check in with you. How’s he looking?” Joe gestured to Dream’s body again.

“It’s a bit complicated with the fact that a hels person got mixed up with things, but for all intents and purposes, they’re both dead.”

Joe nods. “And how’s Tommy doing? Not too hurt?”

“No, he’s doing fine. I’m… more concerned about Grian.”

Joe looked over his shoulder to look at Grian. In attacking Grifter with Kristen, he was using magic he really couldn’t easily use, leaving him in a similar situation to Grifter. At that moment in time, Grian had plopped himself down on the ground and was summoning plenty of wheat. “Oh yeah, he’s fine. I’d say you should get him to stop using magic right now, but it’s nothing dangerous and he could use a break. Maybe stick around a bit.”

“I’m not sure. With my job-”

“Zed takes breaks all the time. You can let yourself have a few too. I mean, you must’ve taken a few to have a family, take some more to spend time with them. I know that’s what I’m planning to do.” And Joe half gestured to Eret, who was currently looking over the damaged room.

Kristen wanted to say more, but then Grian came over and started dragging Tommy away, Kristen quickly following behind. Grian had used the wheat to make plenty of hay bales which were spread out in the approximation of a nest. Tommy had been placed down within it in a rather cushy area, glad for something other than the hard ground.

Grian doted on Tommy for a bit more before hopping away, leaving Tommy chuckling. “Pfft, bird brain.” He then leaned back, putting his hands behind his head and looking over to Kristen. “So, seeing you is different.”

“Hi Tommy.”

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draven-imani · 3 years ago

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Journal 5 (Part 2)

So. Yeah. Commander Irabeth Tirabade gave me a temporary field promotion. Although she said there wasn’t much of the Raven Corps left to speak of at the moment. Apparently, a certain Golden Boy had commandeered as many people as he could convince to come with him on a mad quest into the Worldwound after the attack and our group fell underground. He has an entire legion following him, which he dubbed the Silver Legion. She said it was likely he’d be back soon for a supply run.

Damn. I always knew Leto would go far. But to rally the troops on his own without any preestablished backing and just…go for it? I don’t know how he does it. We walked the same path and yet somehow he’s always been in a completely different league than me. I don’t envy him, not in the slightest. I’m in awe, more like. It’s like looking at the sun. It’s incomprehensible.

Ah. I wish he were here instead of there, though. He’d know how to handle this whole ‘Acting Captain’ thing. I feel in over my head already. I don’t want a position of power. I don’t want people’s lives in my hands. I only thought I wanted to go up the ranks when I was an idealistic kid with no idea what that meant. Now…the idea of giving the order that gets someone killed sickens me…

But if Commander Tirabade is the one who gives me that responsibility, I don’t think I’ll be able to say no.

I was starting to doubt…a lot, the last couple of days, honestly. Everything about Luna threw things into question. And then we found out Baphomet cultists infiltrated the church. And then Auriel died. And then I first talked to Radiance…and heard their threats. The threats from a holy weapon that sounded like they should have come from a demon. That stung. That shook me.

But then we met Irabeth Tirabade. And even in person she represents everything I have ever strived to be. Both in the sense of a former Raven Corps member who pulled herself out and into a position to actually be of use to the world, but also in the sense of how an Iomedae worshipper should carry themselves. She’s noble and strong and honorable, but she’s not quite so stuck in her ways as Auriel was, she seems to see things the way they are, and have been in the past, and she seems to be willing to admit when things are rotten and need to be fixed. I respect her. A lot. I…don’t want to disappoint her.

Aaaaand that means, if she gives me a responsibility, I have to rise to the task…even if I really really reeeeeeeeally don’t want to.

Commander Tirabade told me to give her a full report of everything that had happened. Which is exactly what I’d been keeping this journal for. So I gave her my report, and had the others chime in where my memory or note taking didn’t serve adequately. Then I showed her Radiance. I didn’t really think about it, because I thought since she was a paladin that Radiance wouldn’t be quite so ‘I’m going to flay you alive’. Or maybe I just wasn’t thinking, because she was Irabeth Tirabade and I’m dumb. That’s more likely. Anyways Radiance started burning her hands, so I quickly took them back.

And I may have admonished them out loud for doing that. To which Radiance basically asked ‘what part of chosen wielder don’t you understand?’ which…fair, but I guess I kind of thought Radiance was the one deciding whether or not to start hurting someone for touching it with how they’d worded it last time. I didn’t think it just happened.

The others were looking at me like I was crazy and asked if I was talking to my sword. So then I had to explain that Radiance is a magic intelligent weapon and also really picky about who wields them.

(And I got a little off track figuring out Radiance’s pronouns here. The answer boiled down to ‘I don’t conform to your mortal view of gender, call me whatever you want’, so I’m sticking with they since it’s neutral. Must be nice being a formless weapon spirit who can just give a copout answer like ‘I don’t conform to your mortal view of gender’. I’d not conform to my mortal view of gender if I could, but I have a flesh prison with all that gender-y stuff that comes with it.)

So then one of them, I forget who, commented about me being the chosen wielder of Radiance. And I think I laughed. I corrected them. No, I wasn’t the chosen wielder. The others pointed out I was wielding them, it sure looked like I was. So I explained what Radiance had already explained to me. That Auriel had been meant to wield them. That I was only holding them now because Auriel didn’t make it this far, and because Auriel’s soul vouched for me.

Commander Tirabade gave her condolences to us about Auriel, and asked that I tell her as much as I could about him later, as someone was going to give a eulogy for all who had been lost in the battle against the demons soon and she would make sure given his heroic sacrifice that he was given the send off he deserved.

Then Anevia rejoined the conversation, having been listening in on the sword talk. She called Irabeth over and asked her about the sword she had lied about selling. Anevia proved even with a sweet voice and a smile to be scarier than the much larger and more fearsome looking commander. Commander Tirabade admitted that she had sold her sword in exchange for an anniversary gift for Anevia. A potion that permanently changes one’s gender.

Aaaaand looking back I really hope the talk about pronouns was not uncomfortable, I was legitimately trying to be polite to the sword, despite Radiance never once extending the same courtesy to me.

Anyways.

By the end the Commander determined that it would be a good idea for us to continue taking out the safehouses, but she had another mission for us as well once that was done. Something big. She told us that another of Deskari’s generals was on her way here—the witch Arelu Vorlesh. We had heard rumors of this from drifters on the streets as well. The crusaders had managed to get information that Deskari’s cult had holed up in Old Kenabres, making a stronghold of a temple to the Inheritor known as the Grey Garrison. There was a piece of the wardstone left still intact, and Arelu was coming to corrupt it. If she was successful, the Commander believed Arelu was going to turn the wardstone into a weapon that would decimate the crusaders on the battlefield.

With that in mind, she had a librarian from the Blackwing come forward with a magical rod. I’m not one for the arcane, but Hiskaria sounded extremely in awe and almost equally disturbed by the implications of the rod, a ‘rod of cancellation’. The important part I gathered was that if Hiskaria used the rod on the wardstone, then it would destroy it.

Melody was hesitant, wondering if there was any way to eventually fix the wardstone and restore the barrier to save the city. Commander Tirabade said no. It had been created hundreds of years ago, when times were less turbulent, and with divine intervention. We had neither the means nor the time, and every moment we left the wardstone intact was a moment Arelu could return to attempt to corrupt it to her own purposes. Better that it was destroyed than in enemy hands.

We agreed. The Commander said that she would not order this strike until we had cleared out all of the safehouses, so that they had nowhere to fall back to, and no reinforcements to call upon, or else the strike would be a suicide mission. But once we had finished ridding the city of their other bases of operations, she would have an army march on the main forces of Deskari, drawing their attention, while our small strike force took the Grey Garrison.

With a plan in place, we decided that today we would at least take down one more safehouse before we rested. I was the only one really in need of any rest, and Commander Tirabade offered that the clerics of the crusades were at our disposal before we left so that we would not have to use our own limited supplies. Once my remaining injuries from those blasted vultures were healed, we set out.

We came upon some looters, who had overturned the caravan of a handful of survivors and were picking through it. We discussed, and decided we didn’t particularly want to kill these guys, just spook them. So Luna pulled up her hood and donned her Butcher persona, then went after the looters, threatening that she would add them to her pile of the dead if they didn’t abandon this cart to her. It worked, and they fled for their lives.

Luna removed her hood and we approached the survivors. They were frightened after that display, but glad to have their supplies back. We pointed them in the direction of Defender’s Heart and gave them the passcode, and told them to let them know we’d sent them, as we’d seen a number of refugees being housed safely there.

After that we continued on our way, until we came upon the Tower of Estrod. From the note we’d gotten off Hosilla, there was a passcode, “I’ve new material for the archives”. Since we knew this, and we knew Hosilla’s face, we formed a plan. Melody was able to use the magic of her scale of Trendalor to disguise herself as Hosilla. I was to pretend to be one of the Baphomet worshippers who was a false Iomedaen. And Luna was merely being a more exaggerated version of herself, using her infamy as the Butcher of Balestreet to her advantage. Hiskaria didn’t want to go inside and be stuck in close quarters, so she remained outdoors on lookout, listening for any sign of things going badly. After some discussion, Melody had handed off Auriel’s scale to Hiskaria, and explained how it worked to her. The scales couldn’t be used together, so Melody needed to hand it off regardless, and it seemed right that since Hiskaria was going to be helping us for the foreseeable future, she should be the one to hold it. And as an archer the levitation ability it granted would be of more use to her than to any of us.

With a plan in mind, the three of us walked into the proverbial lion’s den. Two cultists of Baphomet were lounging about on the bottom floor. Believing they recognized Melody as Hosilla, they let us in, and told us to meet with a man on the upper floor by the name of Faxon. We followed Melody’s lead, and went up the stairs. At the top of the tower, we found a tiefling with a scorpion upon his shoulder. He spoke smugly to ‘Hosilla’, and had a very…slimy feel about him. I got the impression that he and Hosilla were not on good terms, perhaps even that Stauton Vhagn pit them against each other and that’s why he was having Hosilla check up on him, just to rub salt in the wound. Unfortunately, Melody didn’t quite know how far to press, and backed down too soon, after making her ‘report’, agreeing to return downstairs with little bite back. When questioned about what I knew, I did the safe thing and pled ignorance, claiming to merely be Hosilla’s guard and not someone in a position to have information. When asked, Luna said she was just there for the kills, nothing more nothing less.

As Melody went to have us return downstairs, Faxon called Luna back to him. I had a bad feeling, but Luna shrugged it off and said to go on without her. Melody decided that maybe we could take out the cultists downstairs quietly while he had whatever discussion he wanted with her. I agreed, although we never got the chance. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the sound of violence broke out upstairs, and the two downstairs were alerted that something was amiss. Melody and I decided it would be best for us to guard the stairs and make sure these two couldn’t sneak up on Luna from behind first before going upstairs to try to help her finish with Fenox.

I took care of one of the cultists swiftly, with Radiance spurring me on, the both of us eager to put an end to the evils of these worshippers of the Minotaur. The sounds upstairs began to die down, as Melody took a stab at the other from the stairs with Hosilla’s glaive. He tried to flee. Melody wasn’t going to allow that. She leapt from the stairs, and with far less regard for a glaive that isn’t her family’s sentimental one, she used it to pole-vault at the cultist, landing behind him and swinging around to stab at him once again. Still he was up. He almost made it to the door.

Just in time for Hiskaria to open the door and shoot an arrow in his face.

Somehow by some twisted luck he was still going, but Melody caught up with him once again, and maaaay have decided to show off a little to our new companion as she leapt in the air and skewered the man, finally dead.

All was quiet. I was about to be concerned about what might have happened to Luna, but then Hiskaria told me about the absolutely ridiculously amazing one sided one on one ‘fight’ she’d had with Fenox. As if I should have been worried about Luna. Hiskaria had heard the commotion and used the scale to levitate up so she’d she the last half of the fight. The upper floor didn’t have a roof, so she had been intending to shoot an arrow right into the other tiefling’s skull, but it ended up not being necessary.

See, there was a wall bisecting that room, with a door. He’d shut and locked the door to put it between him and Luna when things started looking bad. Luna had shown yet again just how little walls meant to the Butcher of Balestreet when she used the glaive she’d been holding holding for show as a means to pull herself up and over, then came down on Fenox with her axe. The Butcher one, Baphomet zero.

We met with her upstairs, where we found a shrine to Baphomet and a minotaur shaped object on the wall that was causing the room to be desecrated by its mere presence. There was also a treasure chest, so we decided that while the others went through the loot, I was going to take Radiance and have a bit of fun.

It took some time, that minotaur head was damned sturdy. But when it did break, Radiance’s voice echoed through the room. It wasn’t just me that heard it that time, but everyone. Their voice faded after only a moment. The others seemed a little shaken by that. I don’t really blame them. Radiance is…a lot. They’ve gone back to just being in my head now, which is probably for the best. Them quieting down entirely would probably be better, but I’m not lucky enough to have a normal holy sword that doesn’t demand the blood of demons and cultists as we fight. Ah, well. At least we agree on who our enemies are.

The chest had holy symbols and the favored weapons of multiple faiths, pointing towards the cult’s penchant for infiltration. We decided we would return them to the clerics at Defender’s Heart. Looking back I kind of wish I’d asked if they’d be okay with me keeping one. My wooden holy symbol’s seen a lot of use, and isn’t exactly the sturdiest material. Silver to match Leto’s wouldn’t have hurt. Ah, well. Hindsight and all that.

We were feeling really good after how well that went. We’d been planning on calling it a day after the tower, but since we’d used virtually none of our resources we agreed that unless we ran into particularly nasty trouble on the road we should try to clear out Topaz Solutions, report back to the Commander, and prepare to storm the Grey Garrison tomorrow.

Topaz Solutions was quite a bit farther than the tower had been from Defender’s Heart. Which meant more time for attacks from demons or other things lurking about.

First we were attack by two barbed creatures which made a terrible howling noise. Their barbs were painful when we got too close, but we cleared them out quickly enough with little trouble to speak of. No one ended up with any of the barbs stuck in them, which was a blessing. That could have proven difficult.

Then…we came to Balestreet. The demons had left the street as much a gory horror scene as one might have expected of Luna’s namesake. Here, two cultists of Baphomet tried to ambush us. Big mistake. Luna decided she was eager to make true to her nickname, and took her axe to them. They didn’t go down.

Then two arrows went straight through them, ice burst from one’s injuries, and both fell dead on the road. Hiskaria looked a bit sheepish, asking Luna if she shouldn’t have done that, since Balestreet was supposed to be Luna’s thing. Luna shrugged it off, saying it worked either way.

Remind me not to get on the bad side of the ladies in our group, they can cut quite the fearsome characters.

With that we were on our way, the rest of the walk to Topaz Solutions uneventful. The apothecary was being looted by a couple of thugs when we arrived. Luna decided to do her thing and scared them off with a few threats from the Butcher. Then we started looking around. The looters had taken anything of value, but Luna after some poking around found some ‘really nice door technology’, and opened a secret passage that led into a hidden basement. Luna and Melody snuck down first.

After a minute of waiting, Hiskaria and I heard Luna and Melody call us down, saying there was a strange mechanical doll and an image on the wall they couldn’t identify. I went down first. As Melody stepped forward to let me in, the minotaur head on the wall began to speak. It taunted us, saying it hoped we were Iomedaens so that this surprise from Baphomet wouldn’t go to waste. Then the doll began moving, and smashed a bottle, releasing a small plant creature.

There was also some kind of…gas I think? Something was in the chamber after that which was causing us various issues. Melody and I both started finding it hard to breath for instance—not so much that we were suffocating, but enough that we were wheezing and likely would have been unable to easily move stealthily.

Worse was that plant. It was in a thick patch of vines that it could move through with ease but which we struggles in. It screamed in such a way that it caused both Melody and Hiskaria to become nauseous, forcing them to flee upstairs to safety and leaving me and Luna to deal with it by ourselves. And it was small and tricky, dodging around many of our attacks in the most frustrating manner. Luna did finally squash the blasted thing, and I went over to the minotaur head and broke whatever the device was that was releasing gas into the room.

Then we searched the room and found a chest with a mocking note claiming we deserved a reward for besting the trap. Within were a number of stolen holy symbols. Luna stopped us from taking them, noting that they were covered in a contact poison.

I have decided I rather dislike this Igon Topaz, and do hope he survived the attack on the city. If only so that I may someday bring judgement upon him myself.

With all three safehouses cleared out, we’ve returned to Defender’s Heart for the night. We reported back to the Commander, and we spent some time unwinding and preparing for tomorrow. There are some merchants set up so we were able to get some supplies. And, more importantly, we got some drinks.

And even more importantly, Leto’s back.

He showed up while we were making preparations, all smiles and charm as always. He thought I’d died in a pit, I thought he’d been killed by demons, same old same old.

He looked amazing. He’s been doing well for himself. He really was the picture of a paladin in that silver armor riding up on a holy steed. Although I guess to him I must have looked maybe a little impressive with the holy sword Radiance at my side. Ah, if only he could have a conversation with them, he’d quit being impressed real quick.

Leto played up his knight in shining armor role well, flirted with Hiskaria even though she’s twice his age and a convicted murderer, and got on well with Melody. He…did not get on well with Luna. He tried, certainly, at first, but then she threw some misplaced insults about him being Raven Corps which I corrected, and then she brought up how all the reports of her being a murderer are vastly exaggerated by the Raven Corps and…it was just all around awkward, I think.

So then he introduced us to his horse, Charles, instead. He got a kick out of the fact he’d given his holy mount such a mundane name instead of something more heroic like—

Hold up. Charles.

Charlie.

Chalie Horse.

…that blasted tiefling, I’m going to wring his neck next time I see him.

I can’t decide if I’m mad about the pun, mad I didn’t catch it when we were talking about it, or mad that I didn’t think of it first.

Named his holy steed a pun, the nerve of that man...I wonder if anyone else has caught on. Commander of the Silver Legion, Leto Jules, the tiefling so charismatic he managed to sway 50,000 people to his banner…named his holy steed Charlie Horse. Inheritor help me I don’t know what to do with him.

Or how to outdo that.

Which is frustrating.

Oh well. What’re you going to do? Some days you find out your brother is not just still alive but now leading a legion on the back of a horse named Charlie and you just roll with it.

I’m glad he’s okay.

His Silver Legion is going to be joining the fight against the main forces tomorrow while our strike force goes into the Grey Garrison. So that’s more for me to worry about. But Leto’s always been a lucky bastard unlike me. He’ll be fine.

After the fact Melody, Hiskaria, and Luna decided it was really important to whisper amongst themselves and to send me away. So apparently it’s rumor time again. Yay. I’m fairly certain with them it would be nothing bad…but I can’t fathom what they could have possibly been whispering about. I suppose if they think Leto and I are related by blood it could have been about that, if they think I share his demonic bloodline…but Hiskaria is a tiefling as well, I see little reason why they would need to be secretive about it if that were the case. And quite frankly Leto and I don’t look alike. At all. Even if he weren’t golden, we don’t share even close to the same features. So I don’t think we could be mistaken for blood relatives.

I don’t know, and there’s really no use in speculating. It’s growing late, and we have a temple to siege in the morning.

#journal entry #pathfinder #pathfinder wotr #pathfinder wotr spoilers #Draven Imani

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dirt-cup-draco · 4 years ago

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Remus x Reader- May You Love Her As I Love You

Can I request an scenario with Remus Lupin having a fiance that disappeared for 13 year because of the Death Eaters but then she came back because she was found. But he was married, so after the war ends and after thinking a lot about it he asks for divorce to be with her again.

Hogwarts had been turned into a battlefield, carnage everywhere. The sun was high in the sky as neither side wanted to give any slack. They had to keep their boundaries while trying to push forward. The Death Eaters were greater in number than Remus had anticipated and he was growing tired despite trying to keep them back.

While dodging spells and trying to save overwhelmed students and cornered professors, Remus had caught sight of someone darting behind a corner with such speed he was certain he’d imagined it. More than that, he was certain the person he’d seen, or not seen, had to be imaginary. You had been dead for years and that was a burden Remus still bore on his shoulders.

Remus shook his head violently right as a bob of brown hair returned into his view. Tonk’s hand was warm in his and she dragged him out of the wreckage and into a momentarily unpopulated space of the castle. “You’ve got to pay attention,” She stressed with urgency in her voice.

Remus took a deep breath and nodded, kissing her forehead in thanks. “I know... Silly as it sounds right now I just felt like I’d seen a ghost rounding the corner of the school,”

“I hate to say it love, but we’ve got ghosts all around us now,” Tonks frowned deeply and Remus stroked her cheek before pushing the corners of her mouth up. “I’d like for you to not be one of them,” She spoke through his poking and it brought a more genuine smile to her face even if it didn’t reach her eyes. It wasn’t the time to smile.

“And here I thought you were trying to get rid of me,” Remus teased, kissing his wife softly- afraid he would lose the chance to do so.

“Oh hush, you old grump,” Tonks poked fun, kissing him back before her posture stiffened and that fiery spirit filled her back again. She’d needed to see Remus, needed to know he was okay. Now that she knew he was, she could go back into the heart of the battle. “I love you,” She reminded him, squeezing his hand before running away.

“Love you too,” He called out after her but he doubted she could hear him over all the noise. Remus clenched his fist, holding onto the warmth a bit longer. Tonks had been his peace of mind and a reminder that there were still good things in the world. James and Lily had been ripped from him in a second. Sirius being sent away had seemed like the worst that could happen. He had spent so many years hating his best friend and believing lies that when Sirius had come back he’d been too relieved to think anything could get worse.

He had been wrong and when Harry had come to him with anger in his heart and tears in his eyes he had known that something had happened. Losing Sirius all over again had caused him to block out the people he cared for most and he had neglected Tonks for months after. It had been his sudden fear that if she stayed with him, she too would lose her life. He’d already lost one wife and losing another seemed unbearable.

It had been nearly two decades since he last saw you. You’d made a gorgeous breakfast while he’d been getting ready for his day and he’d come downstairs to see you setting the table, humming as you twirled about the kitchen. You’d worn some shorts and an old Gryffindor t-shirt of his that was faded nearly beyond recognition. It had always been your favorite and when you snuck into his dorm at night to fall asleep curled up beside him you always requested (demanded) to wear it.

You had both spoken of trivial things that morning, reading the paper and rolling your eyes over the gossip articles. He’d held your hand while he drank his coffee. You’d snuck a chocolate bar into his jacket pocket when he wasn’t looking. When the clock struck seven, he had rose from his seat and you’d followed him to the door.

You’d kissed him like you always had and he had smiled against your lips because no matter how much time passed he would never get tired of the feeling of you pressed against him. Everything had been blissfully ordinary.

Remus hated remembering what had occurred next while he had been away. He’d gotten home to find the door to your cozy one bedroom home wide opened, the wood splintered around the handle and one of the hinges had come loose. He’d gone into a panic, running around your small home screaming your name. He’d found a vase shattered on the ground, drops of nearly dried blood on the carpet. You’d been stolen from him, but worse than that he hadn’t been there to keep it from happening. He’d eaten the lunch you’d packed him, talked to coworkers, done paperwork. All while you’d been dragged, kicking and fighting and afraid.

It didn’t take long for Dumbeldore to come to him with the same pitying look he’d grown accustomed to over the years. His adolescent life had been full of dreams and hopes for the future. He’d dreamed of having a home with you and having all his friends over for dinners. You’d all see each other at least once a week and you’d all grow old together with kids of your own who would befriend one another. Instead, the friends he considered family and the woman he loved more than there were stars in the sky, were taken from him and he was left empty.

He loved Tonks, was happy she could love a man like him, but painted on the backs of his eyelids were the faces of everyone he’d lost and your loss still pained him the most. You had been his soulmate and he hadn’t gotten even a fraction of the years he’d wanted to spend with you. A not-so-distant boom, accompanied by a bone rattling quake through the stone beneath his feet shook Remus from the nightmare he found himself trapped in every time he closed his eyes.

With a muttered curse and the resolve to ignore his ghosts, Remus ran back into the chaos.

You nearly tripped over a slab of concrete when you’d seen Remus. He’d been standing still, eyes surveying the battle as he caught his breath. He looked old, defeated. But he was still the same handsome man you had loved with every bit of your heart and more. You forgot yourself for a moment and when he began to look your way you gasped and darted around the corner, legs moving quicker than you had in ages.

There wasn’t much to do when you were in hiding, you could only jog up and down the stares so many time to cure the boredom and you had read every book you owned four times over in the past thirteen years. You cleaned every square inch of the place to pass time but even that grew difficult as you found you didn’t have much to clean when you did it every day. Alastor Moody had kept you some company when he could, he would bring your groceries and despite the permanently sour look on his face you found a good friend in him.

When he’d stopped arriving, you’d gotten the terrible news that he’d been killed. It was hard losing another friend. Especially when you couldn’t reach out to the ones that were still living, still growing and laughing and smiling and loving... You had so hoped that Remus would be one of them and that he hadn’t forgotten how to love once you’d disappeared. It had been Dumbeldore’s decision to tell him you were dead.

“We cannot know how long you will have to stay hidden... Why give a broken man hope when that hope may be the thing that destroys him? It is, regrettably, our only decision. You will only bring him pain otherwise,” He had told you in the first week of your disappearance when you had grown restless and wished to have your husband by your side. Remus and you had been inseparable since your first year of school and being without him had seemed like hell. It was hell. You thought sourly, the past thirteen years having gone by slowly and painfully.

The headmaster had given your love some time to come to terms with the tragedy that supposedly befell you, and then he had torn the bandaid off the wound that was bound to fester and told him you were killed. You tried to believe that was the best decision. And now, it seemed you were forced to.

You rounded the corner but paused once more as you heard Remus’ voice floating from an empty hall. There was a chunk of the wall that had been blasted out and you could easily hide behind a crumbling slab without being seen. You watched as a pretty woman held Remus to her, love and concern vibrant in her expressive eyes. His smile was small, hesitant even with the current events, but genuine. He was in love. It was hard to see but you knew it would have been harder to see him lonely. Just like you.

As he ran off you righted yourself, grip around your wand tight again as you searched for stragglers who intended to cause more destruction and the wounded. Minerva, Moody and Dumbeldore were the only three who knew you were living and well. With two of your secret keepers dead, Minerva had taken it upon herself to tell you of how grievous things had become.You hadnt taken a moment to think about it, you had gone to her and asked how to help.

Despite her initial upset, it was decided that when a battle began- “and there will be one, I can promise you that Miss. Y/L/N” Minerva had said- you would join and help fight for the children. You were not to approach Remus and it was in everyone’s best interest if you stuck to the shadows. Dependent on the outcome, you’d be free or a dead woman.

Collecting yourself, you weaved through the wreckage with sharp eyes, tuning out the screaming voice in your head that told you to go to Remus.

It was with bated breath that everyone waited when victory was announced. Victory was a bitter taste in the mouths of all who had lost a parent, a child, a friend. It seemed too good to be true that the war was over, Voldemort defeated once in for all. It seemed like a nightmare that the living couldn’t wake from. Many crowded to view the bodies, hidden by white blankets. Some looked peaceful, their expressions like that of someone sleeping. Others died with a scream that had been permanently etched onto their face. Some were missing parts of them, the sheets soaked through with blood.

The wails of mothers and the disbelieving expressions of the students around you were nearly too much to bear as you walked in the shadows. The mourning was stifling and deep and you hid behind it- observing. Your heart pounded with fear as you tried to get a look at the killed and injured. Was Remus there too? You had to know, despite Minerva’s warnings. She’d been the one to tell you when he married again and you loved and hated her for it. You were glad to know he was happy but a bitter and lonely part of you hated that he was happy without you.

You could only feel relief now however as you spotted Remus’ wild hair, his pants tattered and a very obvious hole at his knee. Dirt was smudged against his cheek but you could see a clean trail through it as he cried. Exhaustion weighed him down as he slouched. His hand was intertwined with someone’s and your heart twisted as you recognized the woman as his wife. You hadn’t asked Minerva for her name, not wanting to hate someone who you knew was probably a lovely person.

She was laid out on the ground, eyes closed but you noticed, with a bittersweet feeling, that her chest was still rising and falling with determination. It seemed you had stared a bit too long however, because the next time you went to observe the man you had hoped to spend the rest of your days with, he was staring right back. The blood had drained from his face and his mouth hung open.

You were frozen to the spot as he ran a shaking hand through his hair as he continued to star at you, his wife’s hand falling from his grasp as he rose on trembling legs. His mouth moved, a whisper of your name that didn’t quite reach your ears but you had stared at those lips more times than you could remember and it wasn’t hard to know what he had uttered. He took one step toward you and it caused your chest to restrict with panic.

Run you fool! Apparate! Anything! You aren’t a ghost and he’ll realize it soon if he hasn’t already. He’s happy and you’re ruining it!

It seemed no matter how much you demanded yourself to you were stuck in the same position, knees locking into place and arms stiff. When you failed to disappear, Remus’ steps grew more reassured and determined. He was nearly upon you, you could hear the sound of him breathing and see the stubble dappled across his cheeks and the fuller mustache that he had always been adamant he’d never grown when you’d first been married.

You were so close you could touch him and oh how long it had been since you’d felt his familiar warmth... Your breath hitched and his eyes grew wide at the sound of it. Your time was running out.

You ran.

Remus stared down at Tonks, her face free of wrinkles and worries as she lay unconscious. He held tight of her hand and stroked the skin there with his thumb, wishing she would give him one of her gorgeous smiles. “Please wake up darling....” He begged as a few tears escaped him. She gave no response and his battered and beaten heart ached in his cheat.

It was then that the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and a chill traveled down his aching back as he sat up straighter, rubbing the tears away as he searched around the crowded area. Death hung heavy in the air and when his eyes found the source of his discomfort he was sure that you had come to haunt him. You looked as beautiful as you did the day you’d been taken.

Yet, you looked older. Your hair was longer than he remembered, wrinkles apparent on your forehead as you looked the the left of him, your eyebrows knitted together in thought. Your gaze shifted and suddenly he found your eyes staring into his. He thought he imagined it when you went still, eyes wide and lip tugged between your teeth. It couldn’t be. He told himself yet he looked to Tonks and set her hand down gently against her cot.

“Hold on love, I’ll be back soon,” He promised to his wife as he tried to find the strength to go to you. Had he died? He wondered as he walked on autopilot past his mourning peers. Was he one of the dead, buried beneath a sheet and now roaming aimlessly. Had you come to collect him?

It seemed impossible solely because of the ache that permeated his entire being. Surely death would have freed him from his pain, not trapped him within it.

“Y/N,” He tried, the sound of your name odd in his mouth and guilt sunk in his stomach like lead in water.

You stayed frozen and he nearly feared that he was hallucinating until he was only a few paces from you. Your chest rose quickly and he heard your sharp inhale. Y/N, his Y/N, was breathing. The sound knocked his own breath from his lungs and he hesitated long enough that when he came back to the present, you were spinning on your heel and darting from the ruined castle.

“Wait!” He hollered after you, voice cracking like it had when he was a teen. You’d been quick to defend him back then when Sirius’ and James’ teasing had become insufferable.

You didn’t seem to hear his words, or you chose to ignore them, as you continued to escape him. His legs were growing stiff in the joints from endless, brutal full moons. It was hard to keep up with you but he was determined to reach the ghost that had been torturing his sleeping and waking moments for thirteen years.

Your feet carried you all the way to the Black Lake, a place where you and Remus had spent many evenings watching the sun set. You paused, head spinning on your shoulders as you caught your breath, wondering where to run next.

Remus charged forward with renewed vigor and caught your forearm in his grasp. You involuntarily jerked away and he tightened his grip. He had been half expecting his hand to phase through you and now that was proven incorrect, he wasn’t sure what to think. He opened his mouth to speak as you turned towards him with pain in your eyes. Unsaid regrets and untold secrets swam in the depths and he wanted to dive in and learn the truth.

“Rem-” You were the first to speak and the sound of your voice nearly broke him as his knees buckled. Your own legs felt weak beneath you and you sank beside him as he kept a tight hold of you.

“Why?” He interrupted, breaths coming quick as he stared at you. Remus didn’t know if he was furious or crushed or over the moon. Maybe all three. “Why is my dead wife haunting me?”

Your words betrayed you as they got stuck in your throat. Your eyes were quick to well up with tears and you gripped his shoulders to steady yourself.

“Why are you alive?!” He croaked, voice rising with his mounting confusion and hurt. How could you be here? How could you be in front of him, living and breathing and wonderful while the woman who had stayed, the one who had picked up his broken pieces was back in the crumbling castle fighting to stay alive?

“I’m so sorry,” You choked out, cheeks glistening with tears. “I so badly wanted to tell you...”

Remus felt like the world had slowed but his thoughts had sped up beyond his comprehension.He didn’t know what to think, what to feel. He was waiting for you to fade away, a distant memory brought on by the battle’s trauma. Yet your hands were warm and strong against his shoulders and it couldn’t be denied that you were living.

“I had to hide, we’d be killed otherwise and I couldn’t risk you!” You tried explaining. “I wanted so badly to tell you, to let you know I was okay but Dumbeldore h-he said it’d only bring you pain if I said anything and I couldn’t do that to you...”

Remus scoffed. “You think I haven’t been in pain? How would you feel being abandoned by the only person you have left? I had no one! James- dead! Lily- dead! Sirius- imprisoned and then murdered!” Remus’ voice was growing in volume and you winced against the painful truth he spat at you.

“I watched the people I loved most die and disappear around me and all I had was you to keep me together. You made it bearable, you made it okay to look forward to another day. And you’re telling me you faked your own death to keep me from hurting? I will tell you one thing Y/N, I never stopped hurting!”

His tears were burning against his eyelids as he let them fall to the grass beneath him. “I never once stopping missing you, wishing they’d taken me instead. I went to your grave every day for months until I couldn’t bear talking to stone any longer. I married the most brilliant, loving, forgiving woman in this world and I still only see you when I close my eyes. Because I love her, but I love you...” He choked out as the truth burned him.

Remus felt sick as he fell apart in front of you, your own sobs mingling with his as you leaned against one another. “H-how am I supposed to face her knowing you’re alive? How am I supposed to go back to her and pretend that you aren’t out there somewhere?”

“No,” You shook your head, eyes startled and so, so sad. “No Remus, you can’t say that! You are going to go back to your wife and you are going to forget this ever happened,”

“I can’t! I can’t forget you no matter how much I wish I could!”

Your heart was being torn in two. You couldn’t be the woman to take Remus away from the life he had built here, yet you wanted nothing more than to be that woman. You wanted to have him as your husband again, you wanted to find another sleepy little cottage to live in. You wanted to make him breakfast in the morning and read the newspaper, you wanted to fall asleep beside him after tracing his scars and playing with his hair. You wanted him back.

Your bottom lip trembled and Remus cupped your cheek in his gentle hand. You let out another sob as you leaned into it. How many days you had woken wishing to hold his hand, how many nights you had fallen asleep wishing his hands were on you. “How can I ever stop loving you-” Remus whispered. “When I know you’ll always look at me like that?”

You gave him a weak smile as you held his hand against your cheek. His nose brushed against yours and you had to bite back a whimper when his lips hovered less than an inch away from yours. “I love you Remus,” You reminded him as you began to shake.

“I love you too,” He mumbled as he connected your lips. You kissed back with all you had held back in the years you couldn’t be with him. Your tears mingled with his and all you could taste was salt and not the normal sugar you came to relate with Remus.

You had to pull away as your breath was stolen from you and another sob wracked through your body. You let out a pained cry as you began shaking your head. “I love you so much,” You hiccuped. “Please forgive me,”

“Of course!” Remus rushed to say, hands cupping your cheeks. "I forgive-”

“Somnium” You interrupted, lips skating across his once more as his eyes rolled back in his head, shoulders slumping as you gathered him up in your arms. You held him tight against you, knowing your time was limited and the sleeping hex wouldn’t last long but you weren’t ready yet. You didn’t think you’d ever be ready.

Despite the longing that was ripping you to shreds, you couldn’t let Remus tear apart the love he’d found. You had been so ready to be his again, to find that cottage and live that dream. But he had been right, she had been there putting him back together and you hadn’t. You’d left him alone and vulnerable. You couldn’t put her in the same position by stealing away the man she adored, and the man that so clearly adored her. “I hope you meant it when you said you’d forgive me,” You cried out, placing a tender kiss to Remus’ forehead.

Closing your eyes, you shielded yourself from the face that would make you hesitate. Your hand shook as you attempted to raise your wand, pressing the tip of it gently against Remus’ temple. “May you love her as I love you. I am only but a ghost to you now,”

Obliviate.

Tag List: @angelinathebook @thehumanistsdiary @cleopatera

#remus x reader #remus lupin x reader #fluff #angst #ask #request #anon #anon ask

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aelaer · 4 years ago

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How about Stephen being infected with a symbiote, but to prevent it from destroying humanity, he merges its existence with the cloak's essence (read: badass venom!stephen)!

This is my oldest prompt - I think over a year now - largely because I knew nothing about Venom or symbiotes; that's one part of the Marvel universe I haven't explored. Some time on Wiki later, I guess this is one of the "corrupted" symbiotes, though I honestly can't figure out how one of them is supposed to destroy a whole planet if it doesn't like, create duplicates of itself to infect millions of beings at once. I guess there's something I missed that I can't find on wiki, but I'll assume it's very dangerous haha. But I threw something together, or tried to, on the off-chance this anon is still around. I don't know if symbiotes all talk disjointed like Venom, but this one really doesn't - sorry if that's not fully accurate. Maybe this one has a better command at English.

Defying the curse that has taken hold

The moment he understood what was happening to him and knew what being had attached itself to him, Stephen threw himself into the Mirror Dimension to isolate himself from all others.

What is this place? said the foreign voice in his head. It is different and yet the same.

"Mirror Dimension," he answered, forcing his voice to a calmness he didn't feel.

The alien parasite—this symbiote—could feel everything, though. Of course. You understand me now, it answered. You know what I am. And you are afraid.

There was little point in trying to deny the accusation with the creature in his body. It could probably sense the subconscious changes that caused shifts in the chemical balances within him, that charged his emotions. "I know that your species has destroyed entire planets with but one host to start." And despite rumors of more benevolent symbiotes, this one certainly was not. He had felt the strange, sudden urges of blood lust several times throughout the week. It was that symptom in particular that had eventually led him to the awful discovery.

It laughed. It is my nature. And yet you still try to fight. That is pointless. I am amongst the eldest. I have eaten many worlds. You will be mine and this world will be like the others.

Like hell he would. "You underestimate me. If I cannot find a solution to neutralize you, I am fully prepared to die."

Again it was amused. And I move to another host.

"You won't be able to from the Mirror Dimension," said Stephen. "This place is inaccessible to most of humanity. If I die, you are forever stuck here."

It scoffed in disbelief. Your pontificating is quaint. I will enjoy consuming you.

Oh, this thing had no idea what it was getting into.

—— —— ——

This is tedious, said the symbiote five weeks later. It had been quiet for a couple days until that point, as if finally realizing that Stephen was more than willing to make good on his threat. The lofty gestures of destruction and grandeur had also fallen away to something a bit more casual.

Stephen couldn't help but smirk. "I've been through worse tedium." Dormammu came to mind. Hell, even parts of med school were worse than this. This alien parasite really had no idea what war it had started with him.

In the beginning, it wasn't at all difficult to create a portal far from his body, then cross the astral plane to visit Wong with his impromptu plan for the foreseeable future. Wong, in turn, left food and books in a designated drop spot twice a day at designated times. It was easy to avoid it during those times, and Stephen effectively kept himself quarantined within the Mirror Dimension as he researched and experimented on getting rid of the symbiote.

The bad news was that nothing was removing it from his person; the symbiote was too strong for what tricks his research had unearthed this far. The good news was that the symbiote was a good deal less patient than Stephen.

There was silence again for a little while, and Stephen thought it would be quiet again for some time. So when it spoke again about an hour later, he was surprised.

I'm not leaving, the symbiote said. Stephen raised his brow; the tone was interesting. It was less haughty. You know I feed off what you call hormones. You normally make much more in one of your days than I see in other mortals. It's very satiating.

"And yet you still wanted more. I felt your attempted encroachment upon my mind and your desire for blood, and I will not allow it."

There was silence for a moment. I… might be convinced to live with your hormones. There was a lot in the beginning. It was delicious. I especially liked what you call adrenaline.

Stephen pressed his lips together. "That might suit, but from all I've read, your species absorb key nutrients that my vital organs need at an unsustainable rate. I'm afraid the human body simply isn't enough to provide for you long-term." He looked back at his book. "Now that you're more agreeable, perhaps I could place you in a dimension with no organic lifeforms for you to kill."

But that's boring! it whined. It actually whined. I want more adrenaline. You've given me so little.

"You're ignoring the fact that I just told you my body physically cannot handle you." He grimaced. "Even if I could make you swear not to harm Earth or its residents, this isn't sustainable."

Stephen felt a grudging admiration that wasn't from himself. I can't do anything you don't want. I've tried. No one's ever stopped me before. You're strong. There was a pause. I like your strength. I want to stay here—even if you'll only give me hormones.

"Did you not listen to a thing I said about my body's ability—"

You're a sorcerer! the parasite argued. You don't have normal mortal inhibitions. I can feed off many things. I can feed off your magic and you can keep your body's nutrients, as you say.

Stephen felt a spike of alarm. "I need my magic. You cannot have it."

I'm not leaving, it said again, stubbornly.

"I'll find a way to remove you," Stephen promised.

—— —— ——

Another two weeks passed. It was nearing the end of their second month quarantined in the Mirror Dimension and they were still at an impasse. The symbiote was in no way going to break through Stephen's mental defenses, and Stephen was having a hell of a time getting the creature either out of him or dead.

And the news that came with Wong's morning drop that day made Stephen realize just how permanent his situation might be.

The Cloak could immediately feel his resignation as he read the letter and tapped at his arm to ask why his mood changed. "Wong says that the Masters need to look into a new Master for the New York Sanctum if this is not resolved soon." Stephen clenched his teeth; he gave an oath to protect the world, and if this was the only way to do it…

Cloak has an idea, said the symbiote unexpectedly, breaking a three day silence.

That caught him off guard. "Beg your pardon?"

Cloak's volunteering to contribute part of its own magic. It has a significant amount.

Stephen blinked as a number of questions were raised by that statement. The first that was vocalized was, "The Cloak talks to you?"

Not exactly, the symbiote said. It is what you call inorganic. I am of the same kind. But what you call free will is powered by other forces that you have no word for, and in that way I can understand its intentions and it, mine. It was very annoying at the beginning, it ended with a light grumble.

Stephen lifted a hand to one of the gold clasps of the Cloak to indicate it to detach itself. While communication was limited, the cloak could do quite a bit with gestures and touches. "Is what it says true? That you can communicate with it?" he asked as the Cloak came to face him.

The Cloak bowed its collar in confirmation and Stephen pursed his lips. "And you are offering to give part of your magic in order for me to survive and leave here?" Another nod in confirmation. Stephen hesitated. "I don't want to see you harmed."

It won't hurt it, the symbiote said as the Cloak shook its collar and reached out for Stephen's hand in reassurance. Its magic is much older than yours. It is better than yours to sustain me.

Stephen frowned. "I cannot let myself out of here if this symbiote's words do not match his intentions. Can you see its intentions, and does it speak the truth?"

The Cloak nodded twice as the symbiote said, Magic tastes interesting. It is an acceptable substitute for blood, and tastes well with your adrenaline.

He thought about it for a moment. This may be an acceptable solution, as he trusted the Cloak with his life and knew it would not lie. "I do not know what magic would accomplish this."

You don't need to do anything, said the symbiote. It's between Cloak and me. So we'll do it, then we can get out of here.

"Wait," he said before they could start anything. "I will need approval from my peers. If they think it too dangerous, I am obligated to stay here."

He felt annoyance from the symbiote. Fine, it grumbled. It at least knew how futile arguing about this would be.

Stephen wrote a note in response and set it back at the drop point, then waited until the evening to leave his body and travel across the astral plane to meet Wong there. He got there just as Wong stepped through, and as he began to read the note, Stephen broke through the barriers of reality to speak with him.

Wong gave him a look. "You think it's safe?"

"I trust the Cloak."

Wong nodded towards the portal as he went towards it. "Still, you'll need to convince the others."

—— —— ——

Let no one say that Stephen Strange was anything but a very, very good debater. The meeting took two hours as they went through everything that could go wrong and Stephen's answers to why that wouldn't happen, or what they could easily do to prevent catastrophe. Part of him was partially convinced that he won them over through sheer stubbornness.

(It probably helped that they really didn't have any great candidates to take over the New York Sanctum, too. They were still spread too thin and no one really wanted to lose him to a threat that he seemed to have now under control.)

When Wong let him back into the Mirror Dimension, he floated his way back to his body and settled within it.

Well? the symbiote asked.

Stephen frowned as he noticed something off. "... did you try to move me while I was gone?"

... possibly. It must have felt Stephen's irritation and continued, I couldn't really do anything. You've blocked your mind even when outside your body. And Cloak got in the way.

He huffed his annoyance. "Well, if we're going to live with each other, that can't happen anymore."

So they agreed?

"They did," Stephen said. "Now promise me you won't try moving my body while I'm elsewhere."

He felt the pang of disappointment. Fine.

He pressed his lips together. "Right. Well, if the Cloak is still in agreement, you two do what you need to do."

The Cloak shifted. It reached forward on the left side so that it was fully covering his heart, and the right side lifted to cover his head, wrapping his face within the folds of the fabric. He blinked in surprise, but otherwise didn't move.

A short moment later, Stephen could feel the threads of magic about him and entering his skin. This magic was an old magic, a very ancient magic that weaved the very fabric of reality, the inherent magic of Earth that helped create a universe that could support the other magics borrowed from other dimensions that they used in various spellwork. He understood that the Cloak was ancient, but he truly did not realize until that moment the sort of power that was interwoven within each of its threads.

The power was breathtaking and exhilarating.

When the process stopped, Stephen had to remind himself to breathe. Slowly he exhaled, and the Cloak lifted itself off him completely to face him.

It had changed in physical appearance. Its checkered interior lining, formerly a faded red and grey, was now streaked with jagged black lines that spilled like ink from the collar downward. On the exterior, the darker solid red checkers were now pitch black, and the embroidered details upon the lining, the collar, and down part of the back were now made of black thread rather than the lighter red.

"How do you feel?" Stephen asked the Cloak. It spun around once in able movement, then settled down upon his shoulders as if to comfort him.

Cloak's fine, said the symbiote. This feels quite interesting. Tastes good with your adrenaline. Give me more.

"Say please," he muttered, even as his heart, already beating fast from the transformation process, kept its steady, fast beat as he created a portal back into the world. "We'll have some more ground rules to establish if you'll be staying for an extended period within my watch."

I look forward to it, the symbiote purred as Stephen stepped through the gateway and to his new chapter in life.

#prompt fill #stephen strange #doctor strange #symbiote #marvel #mcu #fanfic #my writing #my fanfiction #ask #answered #anonymous #mcu fanfiction #the cloak of levitation #doctor strange fanfic

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ayameakuma · 4 years ago

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Hi guys!

(It has been a while since I last posted something)

Welp, today I kinda wanna just post here some ideas/prompts for fanfics (either one-shots or multi-chapter ones) and if anything catches your eye and you have the drive to write it then just go ahead and start writing (if you post it just tag me or sent me the link to your work cause I really wanna read it)

Welp, here it goes:

1. Prompt/Idea #1: Boku no Hero Academia and Pokemon (crossover)

Izuku begins his pokemon jurney in a world inhabited by both heroes and villains. Now he has to deal with: his very much aggressive starter Eevee, the angry and clearly "not dangerous" hero-wannabe Bakugou Katsuki (and his class of superpowered kids), villainous organizations that want to either get rid of him or take his pokemon away, his dead father who is not so dead anymore, Pokemon Hunter J who wants to ... er... adopt him? and many others. Well, at least he is closer to earning every badge and every ribbon from Kanto through Kalos...

Izuku: "This jurney won't be that hard, right?" Famous last words, Izuku.

2. Prompt/Idea #2: Miraculous Ladybug and Animal Crossing (crossover)

Marinette is still bullied by Lila and, just as the liar said, everyone turned their backs on her. Things take a turn for the worst when Lila decides to get rid of Marinette in a more ... permanent way. Now, in an induced coma, Marinette's consciousness travels to another dimension. This one may look peaceful but the inhabitants (why are they all humanoid-like animals that walk on two legs!?) have been dealing with huge and powerful Black Butterflies that have destroyed their homes time and time again. The villagers call this particular city Arcadia and apparently they have lost their mayor a few years prior to Marinette's arrival. To say she is surprised about all this is an understatement, but Marinette is Ladybug and Ladybug always helps getting rid of Butterflies - even if Tikki is no longer with her. Maybe - just maybe - she can start anew here. And who is this cat named Fèlix and why does he seem so... human comparative to the other villagers? Meanwhile, in the real world, with Marinette in a coma, a new Ladybug must show up and Kagami is up for the task. If it means beating some sense into Agreste's and his classmates' heads then all the better. Look out Lila, your days as the queen of the class are numbered.

3. Prompt/Idea #3: Boku no Hero Academia and Yo-kai Watch 1, 2 and 3 (crossover)

At the young age of 10, Izuku is mostly used to being treated like trash. When his childhood friend turned bully dared him to go in the heart of the woods and bring back a ball from the infamous "Cursed Gotcha Machine", well, he wasn't surprised. What surprised him was that he got a ghost butler? and a fancy watch out of this (Not that Kacchan will actually believe him) And now he is able to see what the butler - Whisper - said to be "Yokai". Izuku is making friends - albeit not all are human beings, so maybe he can also become a hero with this watch and with the help of his Yokai friends. (As long as he can keep them from murdering Kacchan..) Navigating new friendships, learning how to love himself and how to let go of friends from the past is already hard enough. If, along the way, he ends up falling for another tormented child who may or may not be able to see yokai as well and whose father is a literal walking flaming trash can, well he will deal with this too.

4. Prompt/Idea #4: Boku no Hero Academia - Otome Game AU

Akatani Mikumo is a 35-years-old office worker who leads a plain life devoid of any amusement. People find him boring or unpleasant so Mikumo always finds himself alone, the moment of his death is no exception. Alone in his appartment who went up in flames while he was sleeping, Akatani Mikumo died ... and in another universe, 6-years-old Midoriya Izuku woke up on a bed with people - his parents? servants of the house? - surrounding him and crying of happiness. Apparently, Izuku almost died from a deadly disease, but only he knows that it is not their Izuku that woke up on that day. Mikumo wants to fulfill the kid's last wish: to keep both his family and the people around him happy for as long as he can. A tall order for 35-turned-6-years-old Mikumo but he can try. Now if only he can remember where did he hear the names of these nobles and why does the word "Quirk" seem so... familiar? Watch as Mikumo navigates life, makes friends for the first time, bullies nobles and, unwittingly, makes everyone he meets fall in love with him.

5. Prompt/Idea #5: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Pre-Calamity setting AU (original take on Link's past)

Growing up, Galahad was best friends with Raphael. Their friendship survived until today and is still going strong, and with kids on the way the two decide to make sure their children will also become friends. Fast forward 10 years later, Link (Galahad's son) and Haruto (or you can put any name you like here) (Raphael's son) live up to their father's legacies - both in friendship and career. Both were blessed with above average skills in hand to hand combat and swordsmanship. However, they never fought in a real battle against the monsters inhabiting Hyrule yet. But, after a mission in which their fathers dissapear, a fairy by the name of Fi - self-proclaimed a messenger of the Goddess Hylia - tells them that they have 1 year to save them from the Yiga Clan's clutches. In exactly 1 year, the Yiga Clan leader will sacrifice Galahad and Raphael in a ritual to awaken Calamity Ganon, believing the two to be the Hero who wields the Sword that seals the Darkness and his Shadow's reincarnations. Now, Link and Haruto need to travel across Hyrule and get stronger in order to save their fathers. While they overcome the trials put on their path by the Goddess, the past unravels itself to them and they might just face a bigger foe than the Yiga Clan - their own self.

(Bonus points if the two meet the pilots of the Divine Beasts and befriend them - yes, even Rivali for all his pride shall fall into the clutches of friendship - before Link is announced as the Hero that wields the Master Sword)

Welp, here they are. These are just 5 of my ideas. Maybe this will become a thing that I will do monthly, who knows.

If you are interested in anything from here or you want more information on one of them, just send a message and I try to reply as fast as I can. If not, then happy writing.

Bye! 🤗🤗

#my hero academia #miraculous ladybug #legend of zelda #midoriya izuku #otome game #fanfiction ideas #animal crossing #pokemon #yokai watch #someone help me I have toooo many ideas #prompts #maybe?#story ideas #god bless whoever writes one of these #Monthly Fanfic Ideas

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quiltslope9-blog · 4 years ago

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Lots of clients will certainly additionally begin to see the noticeable outcomes of the treatment within days of their treatment. These visible outcomes will typically consist of greater contouring in problem locations, in addition to reduction of fat in these parts of the body.

CoolSculpting gadgets have a built-in security setting to make certain nothing else bordering tissue or fat is harmed throughout the procedure. Within days the damaged fat will have totally left the body and contours will have been considerably improved. Fat cells can not reform as soon as eliminated but, as not all fat cells are gotten rid of throughout the procedure, a healthy diet plan and also workout regimen have to be kept. Our Fat Freezing gadget is the most sophisticated of its kind to day, providing more precise outcomes than any other cryolipolysis machine. The portable applicator enables more locations of the body to be treated for a comprehensive treatment. Due to the nature of the vacuum-like suction and also sub-zero temperature levels, patients can anticipate to feel quite cool whilst experiencing some unusual stretching experiences.

There is significant research study that shows the effectiveness of Cryolipolysis treatment and also this can be seen by clicking onto our resources web page. As a result of the nature or non-surgical as well as non-invasive treatments that we provide, we can not guarantee results. Aspects such as lifestyle, medical history and age can impact your outcomes and also the long life of outcomes. Although the number of fat cells are minimized during Cryolipolysis therapy, clients are still suggested to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle as this will help keep their outcomes.

After a brief while this is replaced by pins and needles as well as you can sit back and also unwind whilst those fat cells are zapped away. When your therapy has pertained to an end, your targeted location will continue to feel cool yet after a few minutes, the skin will certainly begin to thaw out and also return to regular.

You can duplicate an area in an additional 6 months if required relying on your body objectives. When the fat cells are removed from the body they are gone for life, and also as our body consists of a fixed number of fat cells they will not recreate. Nonetheless extreme calories consumption could cause continuing to be fat cells raising in size.

Are Cryoskin results permanent?

Cryoskin Slimming is comparable to CoolSculpting, as both treatments reduce fat via cryolipolysis. You'll see your initial results within two to three weeks of your first treatment and optimal results about three months after your last session. Results are considered permanent, as the destroyed fat cells won't return.

Their cryolipolysis treatments are readily available in a number of beauty salons across the UK, among which is the Omniya center in Knightsbridge. Perfecte' Me are a company that are experts in non-surgical weight management, as well as fat freezing is among the numerous solutions they supply. The fat cells are drawn right into the therapy tool, frozen and destroyed by the therapy as well as normally eliminated by the bodies body immune system. Fat Freezing at Beautology is a fairly peaceful 60 minute procedure during which you will certainly be able to see a fiolm on your laptop computer or tablet computer, make service calls, sleep, checked out a book or listen to music. A pleasant Beautology aesthetician will delicately outline the targeted locations of flesh with a white pencil and a membrane with included air conditioning gel prior to positioning the Cryolipolysis mug on your skin.

Does Cryoskin tighten skin?

Cryoskin is a painless non-invasive way to reduce stubborn body fat, by freezing fat cells away, while also tightening the skin and promoting collagen growth. Mainly, areas with stubborn fat.

Although you might not see a distinction in your weight on the ranges, individuals can expect to see a considerable reduction in their body fat structure. The 3D Fat Freeze treatment capitalizes on an all-natural bodily procedure called cryolipolysis that is accomplished by the lymphatic system. This suggests that fat freezing is typically just as reliable as a surgery such as lipo, without any surgical intrusion. I have had numerous various therapies from Este medical in Birmingham to all which have been to an extremely high requirement. The personnel are really friendly, the therapies have actually offered such remarkable results. At this visit we'll review your fat reduction worries, way of living as well as nourishment, address your inquiries and also recommend a bespoke course of treatment for you. The most up to date 2020 machine as discussed above deals complete vacuum cleaner capability cold with a wide range of differing mug sizes and also placement choices.

After the therapy, you can just set about your usual activities.

HIFU neck as well as face lift therapy has actually revealed to be both preferred as well as efficient treatment across the UK with lots of stars attempting the therapy for themselves.

HIFU treatment for face was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for eyebrow lifts.

This is unquestionably the greatest visual center I have actually ever before been to!

You can have repeat top up therapies must you require them.

Considering that the treatment targets deeper layers, the surface area of the skin is not affected.

The gadget was additionally cleared by the FDA in 2014 to enhance lines and creases of the top chest and also neckline (décolletage).

The HIFU treatment depends exclusively on the body's natural regenerative capability, meaning its really all-natural as well as results slowly create over the 3-- 6 month period, although a lot of clients see results within weeks article treatment.

I would never ever put my face or body in the hands of one more visual doctor she is the very best I have actually ever fulfilled and am so thankful to her for the confidence I have actually reclaimed.

body and face toning is lowered to 30-- 35 minutes and also the temperature level used is a more comfy -2 to -7. This latest innovation is the most significant that we have seen with Cryotherapy and the most detailed overhaul considering that the therapy's arrival in the UK. Outcomes are near on dual to the previous fat freezing/ warmth as well as trendy technologies because of the overall freezing location of the mug with live temperature adjustment sensing units that adjust to keep optimal outcomes throughout the treatment. Cryotherapy (additionally referred to as 'fat freezing') is the most up to date non-surgical fat reduction method. Currently one of the most effective option to invasive lipsosuction. We specialise in this therapy and have done considering that 2013, this allows us to concentrate considerably on the equipment we can provide you. Perfect for those locations of persistent fat which do not ever before seem to shift despite how much you diet plan or exercise, the CoolSculpting fat freezing treatment has the ability to destroy and also get rid of fat cells in tummy area plus others.

The outer layers of healthy and balanced skin cells, muscular tissue and nerves are preserved and also continue to be lively after the treatment, while the targeted areras of fat are wonderfully shaped, contoured, slimmed as well as toned. If you intend to make sure the treatment works in addition to feasible, you can additionally integrate it with a program of superhigh frequency (also pain-free) which will assist get rid of the fat and also tighten the skin. Fat-Freezing beneath the buttock, as an example, is especially reliable when combined with cavitation to thaw fat as well as radio frequency to raise and also tighten the skin (causing what's referred to as the non-surgical 'Brazilian Butt Lift'). Regents Park Aesthetics selected 3D Lipo Cryofreeze, for instance, which makes use of the exact same science to ice up fat cells. Or listened to colleagues as well as friends whispering regarding the brand-new way of burning fat without striking the fitness center? It's time that the enigma around the treatment ends-- so we head to Regents Park Looks find out what all the difficulty is about. You can reduce fat on several locations of your body as well as additional sessions might better enhance your outcomes.

Can cryotherapy kill viruses?

In cryotherapy, plant pathogens such as viruses, phytoplasmas and bacteria are eradicated from shoot tips by exposing them briefly to liquid nitrogen.

Fat Freezing causes and increases the body's all-natural process of 'apoptosis'. When fat cells are subjected to cool temperature levels, they quickly die. Our body after that identifies these dead cells and also gets rid of them naturally gradually, leaving you with less fat. CoolSculpting ® is the leading non-invasive fat-reduction treatment. † It's a medically tested way to contour your body by cold unwanted fat. With more than 8 million CoolSculpting ® treatment did worldwide, ‡ people anywhere are getting a different sight of themselves. Following a fat freeze procedure, period for seeing outcomes can vary among individuals.

real housewives Of Cheshire celebrity Tanya Bardsley Stunned audiences When She underwent The Femiwand vaginal firm therapy

Does cryotherapy help you sleep?

Exposing your body to extremely cold temperatures in the whole body cryotherapy chamber will help diffuse inflammation and pain in the body, which will make you less restless while you sleep at night. Cryotherapy can also benefit your sleep patterns because it creates positive hormone responses in your body.

It is additionally extremely essential for us to be able to monitor your measurements after your Cryolipolysis therapy. RT Aesthetic appeals request 2 adhere to up appointments at weeks 6 and 12, there are no additional charges for these comply with up appointments and also forms part of your aftercare. Ought to you have any type of concerns or inquiries either before or after your treatment after that please contact us. Effective Results - Loose in between 25% - 40% fat reduction per therapy area with remarkable and also natural looking results. Just one cryolipolysis treatment is required per location to lose approximately 40% fat.

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The device consists of wise panels that will tactically freeze your fat without interrupting the remainder of your cells. To defend against human error, each panel is computer system checked by a temperature controlled security sensing units. With Cryotherapy Coolscuplting Fat Freezing there are no lacerations, no scars, no anesthesia and no downtime.

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 5 years ago

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15x01: an allegory for Dean’s psyche. Part 2: the town

In this post I offer a possible analysis of the graveyard scene as an allegory regarding Dean. Now I’m going to use the same lens to analyze the other part of the episode, the one set in the town, Harlan, Kansas. This is intended as a possible interpretation and a non-exhaustive one, that does not exclude multiple readings (I won’t discuss here in depth the subtext regarding Sam or Cas except where it meets Dean’s).

The first we see of the town is two girls, playing around with makeup and toy jewelry. They comment on one of the girls’ mother buying her a lot of stuff because she feels guilty after the divorce--“divorce is awesome”. Of course the connection we are supposed to make is Dean and Cas, the couple going through a breakup after Jack’s incident.

The girls are playing at femininity--and they die. They’re killed by Bloody Mary, a ghost that was tied to the idea of guilt. It’s likely that the girls in this episode did not carry the guilt of getting someone killed, but Chuck’s tantrum gave a “boost” to the ghosts. It’s still significant that one of the ghosts evoked by the episode is one so closely connected to guilt... and she kills two characters specifically portrayed in the act of dressing up with symbols of femininity, while a song about needing the boyfriend of your dreams is playing in the background... it’s almost like we’re supposed to make a connection between femininity and guilt.

Meanwhile, on the road, the woman in white has targeted a man in a car. We know nothing about the guy, but what we’re supposed to focus on is the song playing inside the car, a song about being in love (which also says “if you ever depart from me / I’ll live in misery”, more reference to separation/divorce). Metaphorically, if Bloody Mary punishes femininity, the woman in white punishes love. If Bloody Mary represent guilt in a more general sense (she punished people who carried the guilt of getting someone killed), Constance Welsh represented a more specific kind of guilt: she destroyed her children in revenge for her husband’s betrayal, and punished men guilty of the same kind of betrayal, unable to get to rest because of her actions towards her children. In the pilot she represented both John and Mary, guilty in different ways of destroying the lives of their children and spouse; now Dean was placed in the position to kill his child and himself in revenge, but refused to do so, although that still caused the child to be killed by a different, more “traditional” father figure. But Constance also represented Dean, unable to “go home” because of trauma.

And then the third ghost, the serial killer clown John Wayne Gacy. He targets a family: it seems that the husband, and possibly other children, have been killed, while the wife and one child are trying to escape. It seems to be a pattern: femininity, love, family/domesticity are being targeted by the Chuck-revived ghosts.

The mother runs with her child into the garage, but the power goes out and the buttons won’t open the door. The manual handle breaks, trapping them inside (and she is unable to get help from outside, the noise doesn’t reach the passer-by). We are seeing another closed door, after the doors to the crypt that they bar to protect themselves from the zombies but also trap them inside to starve unless they find a proactive solution to the problem outside. We have a series of doors: the (visually reminisced in the crypt scene) fridge door that trapped Michael in Dean’s mind last season, that trapped a threat inside, but was an unsustainable solution and eventually failed; the crypt door, that trapped a threat outside but was an unsustainable solution because they couldn’t survive inside; and now a door that traps the victims inside together with the threat. (Also, Bloody Mary appears between the girl and the door as she begins to head for the door, preventing her escape.)

The girls punished by the embodiment of guilt for performing femininity are a Dean mirror, the car driver playing love songs punished by the embodiment of the inability to deal with trauma due to family tragedies is a Dean mirror, and the terrified mother trying to carry a child out a monster-infested house and trying to reassure the child despite her own dear is a Dean mirror.

Cars are also heavily featured in two of the three attacks: the woman in white targets a person in a car, and the mother and child hide in a garage, and the ghosts circles the car, expecting them to be hidden inside. In fact, he first checks the garage window, then the car windows. We could say that one element connects the three: glass, either mirrors or windows (which also function as mirrors). Bloody Mary appears in the phone screen and the mirror inside the girl’s room, we see a flashback of the woman in white appearing in the rearwiew mirror, and the clown serial killer is reflected on the car windows. Just in case it wasn’t clear we were talking about mirrors... Sam and Cas are also mirrored in the episode, of course, but I’ll keep this post about Dean.

Well, maybe not, because here the mirrors merge. Cas investigates the Bloody Mary house, Sam the John Wayne Gacy house. If the girls are a mirror for femininity punished by the Big Father Figure through the embodiment of guilt, that works for both Dean and Cas. (Femininity obviously is to be intended in a very loose manner, as what femininity represents in the language of the show, which can be roughly summed as the opposite of toxic masculinity and cycles of abuse and control, with all that represents.) Both Dean and Cas have always struggled with their respective father figures and what they represented for their lives, finding an identity outside of that and the guilt that comes from that.

Sam and Dean are mirrored by the child and mother (the visual of the mother carrying the child in her arms to escape a house is reminiscent of Dean carrying Sam out of the house when Mary died), trying to escape the supernatural threat that is going after them and trapping them in their literal house (the Winchester family dynamics?). The serial killer clown is simultaneously God and Michael and Lucifer and everything else (yes, the Lucifer connection is clearer as clown imagery has been used in this sense before, but I think in this case the clown also represents the way the supernatural in general has trapped them, and we know that Lucifer and Michael and all have just been pawns in Chuck’s hands anyway). Not a coincidence, Sam tries to save himself and Dean the child and mother from the supernatural threat, but can’t do it on his own, and Cas intervenes to help.

Meanwhile Dean has been hanging with the representation of queerness in our allegory. Belphegor now needs ingredients for a new spell, this time salt and a human heart. Salt is obviously a symbol for the hunting life; I wonder if the heart is supposed to represent the opposite of it, connection where the hunting life (in John Winchester’s “old” model, of course, not the recent developments) is lonely, emotionality where the hunting life needs you to harden and close off to emotions, love where the hunting life means losing your loved ones. I wonder whether the spell represents the combination of the two: hunting life and love, hunting life and connections, being a hunter and allowing yourself to open yourself to others. A “human heart” is also what Castiel has essentially been accused of having by the other angels...

Now Dean gets associated to the woman in white, but I’ve already talked about the significance of this association. Something else that has grabbed by attention is how Bloody Mary attacks the little girl and her mother from a pond, from water, which is still a reflective surface but definitely something that deviates from the norm. The visual of the child standing above the water is reminiscent of the boy Lucas in the episode Dead In The Water; and I know I’ve been saying that the girl in this episode represents Sam while the mother represents Dean, but now the parallel seems to widen to include Dean too--after all, Dean is both mother and child, terrified parental figure trying to do their best to keep their child safe and little child muted by trauma (again reminiscent of Lucas). The embodiment of guilt tries to grab them and pull them under water... which makes me think about the entire Michael arc last season, which was about Michael, i.e. his trauma, drowning him (first with possession that Dean describes as drowning, then the hallucination loop where Dean is in this enclosed space while water pours outside, then the box-in-the-ocean conundrum).

Belphegor traps the ghosts. The ghosts are still there, the effects of the abuse and manipulation from God and the angels and John and everyone else is still there, but confined. Of course this isn’t a permanent solution, they’ll need to get rid of their trauma and the effects of their abuse definitively, and we’ll see how that goes...

#my spn thoughts #spn meta #spn 15x01 #spn

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hermitcraft-dnd · 5 years ago

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Prologue

Cleo could feel the moment the others entered her domain. There were two--no, three?--fast approaching from the north. She asked her first mate to send up some food for her guests and made her way to the captain’s quarters. She wasn’t sure why they were coming since she didn’t get guests often, instead visiting the others in their homes, but if they were entering the land of the dead it must be important.

It was Doc who entered first, carrying Ren in his arms, then Grian right behind him with a large black book in his arms. Doc was frantic and panicking, and such an unusual expression had her standing up from her desk.

“What--” “It’s Ren. Grian found something in the Jungle and now he’s all grey and he won’t respawn!” Doc told her, setting Ren down on the desk. Cleo glanced over him, taking in his blotchy grey skin and shallow breathing. His skin was cold, closer to her own temperature than the heat he should have, and he was barely breathing, but it was his energy she was worried about. It was as if it was being attacked, infected, replaced with a sickly, rotten feeling instead of the steady earthly feeling she knew Ren by.

Like sticking your hands in fresh soil while gardening, she’d once tried to describe it.

“We’re lucky. There should be enough time to purge him of whatever parasite Grian found.” Cleo told them. Grian’s wings sagged in relief and Doc’s scowl lessened somewhat, but she was too busy feeding her own energy to Ren to notice.

“What were you thinking, going into that place?” Doc barked at Grian. “I’ve told you--” “I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt! I just wanted to see what you were hiding!” Grian held up his hands in a pacifying move, though it didn’t do anything to actually pacify Doc.

“I’m not hiding anything! That place is dangerous, and--”

“Well I didn’t know that! You just told me to stay out, I thought it was something like Area 77--”

“You should have stayed out of there too. If you hadn’t been so nosy--” “If you hadn’t taken my project--”

Cleo sighed and lifted her hands off of Ren, interrupting the argument.

“I’ve fought the infection back enough for Ren to recover on his own. Grian, what did you find in there?”

Doc’s glare switched from Grian himself to the book in his hands. Cleo reached out and Grian handed it over. When she opened it the pages were covered in words in a language she didn’t know, which was strange since she’d learned almost every mortal language from her ghosts. Even though she couldn’t read what they said, she could tell that there were lists written in the book, two columns per page, and they stopped about halfway through.

“I was investigating the Jungle and Ren followed me. He tried to tell me to leave, but I wanted to see what was up, and then I found the temple. It wasn’t big enough to explore properly but it had a book on a lectern. I picked it up and Ren took it, he convinced me to bring it back to Doc, and we were leaving when he fell, and it looked deadly but he didn’t disappear to respawn like he should have--” Grian’s panic increased as he retold the story to Cleo, so she interrupted him before he could work himself up into a panic.

“He’ll be okay. We should call the others though and let them know what happened. If it can affect respawn it’s dangerous, and we could all use the reminder about how dangerous the Jungle is.”

“You stay here with Ren. We can go get them.” Doc told her firmly. Cleo nodded and turned back to Ren, dismissing them. She heard Doc telling Grian who to go after as they left, and Grian was feeling too guilty to argue with him.

It was nightfall by the time everyone managed to make it to her ship. They arrived in groups of twos and threes, and by the time Grian and Doc had returned the cabin was looking very full.

“I think that’s everyone we can find,” Grian said as he entered. “Or at least, that’s everyone I could think of.”

“Same here.” Said Doc. “How did you manage to dig up TFC?”

“He has tunnels under Sahara. I went to the entrance and got one of his bunker people to grab him.”

“So what’s all the fuss about?” The hermit in question asked gruffly, arms crossed. “I’ve got duties to get to.”

“This shouldn’t take long,” Cleo assured him. She gestured to Ren. “Grian went into the Jungle--” “Dude!” Bdubs said, giving Grian a betrayed look.

“--and he found this book. We think it has some sort of corruption powers, and it messed with Ren’s respawn. We need to figure out what to do with it.”

“Destroy it.” Came from Iskall, who looked especially upset with his friend’s state. “Burn it or something.”

“We should study it first!” Scar countered. “Make sure it doesn’t get to anyone else and find a way to fight it.”

“Area 77 is still there, even if we don’t use it anymore.” Doc offered. Impulse shook his head.

“I don’t want to take the risk. If this thing interferes with respawn it’s too dangerous to mess with.”

“I agree with Impulse. We shouldn’t mess with something we don’t understand.” Xisuma added, making Jevin laugh.

“This coming from you.”

“It just means I know what I’m talking about!” Xisuma defended. Tango raised his hand, covering it in his hellfire.

“Just give it to me and I’ll get rid of it. Then we can all go home.”

“We don’t know how it’ll react to being destroyed though. It might fight back. We should lock it away.” This suggestion came from Cub, who was eyeing the book suspiciously.

“Again, Area 77 is right there. We’ve got vaults that we could keep it in.” Scar gestured at the book. “Even if we don’t study it we can keep it safe.”

“I’m not sure how secure it really is since Grian and Ren and Impulse managed to break in.” False countered. “We should try hiding it somewhere instead.”

“It was hidden, and Grian stumbled across it anyways. Who’s to say it won’t happen again? If everyone knows where it is, no one will find it on accident.” Doc argued.

“But putting a great big keep out sign is pretty much an invitation to go in!” False retorted, gesturing to Grian.

“Hey!” He protested. “If I know what’s in there I won’t go looking for it! I can stay away from something I know is dangerous.”

“Grian, I literally gave you a big red button with “Unstable farms, do not press” on it and you pressed it,” Mumbo spoke up. “I’m not sure how much faith I have in your self-control.” Grian sent him a betrayed look.

“This isn’t about Grian’s self-control, this is about the book.” Xisuma reminded everyone, stopping that argument before it could get too out of control. “We need--” He was interrupted but Ren suddenly rolling over, coughing violently. Everyone went quiet as Cleo rushed over to him, rubbing his back and making sure he didn’t fall off her desk. He coughed a few more times, almost choking, until a wave of energy hit everyone and he vomited black sludge onto the floor. Several hermits made noises of disgust and stepped away, and Cleo took a moment to silently bemoan the state of her cabin floor. Smaller pieces of sludge flew out of Ren’s mouth as he coughed, but he seemed to be breathing easier now.

“Ren? You good buddy?” Doc asked as his coughing wound down. Cleo checked his life force.

“He seems to be mostly clean.” She offered. “But I’d bet there’s still some of it infecting him.”

“Is there a way you can get rid of it?” Iskall asked, joining her in supporting Ren. “I don’t want him to risk up having a messed up respawn.”

“We could send him through a cycle of reincarnation. That usually fixes any problems with respawn.” She suggested, still inspecting Ren’s life energy. But now that Iskall was so close, she noticed something off with his.

“Iskall, do you mind moving away from him for a moment?” He looked reluctant, but he stepped away without arguing. Cleo made sure Ren was comfortable and stood up to follow him. She frowned as she checked his life energy as well.

“There’s something wrong. You’ve got traces of the infection too.”

“How could he get infected? He hasn’t touched the book or anything!” Mumbo protested. Cleo glanced around at the others.

“It could be because he was close by. I need to check over everyone.” There was some grumbling at the surprise medical inspection, but no one tried to stop her. They’d seen what this did to Ren, if they were in danger too they wanted it to get treated as soon as possible.

Cleo looked more and more worried with each person she checked. When everyone was finally done she made the announcement.

“Everyone’s been infected.”

There was panic, questions and accusations being tossed around, everyone speaking over each other until Xisuma stepped up and took control.

“Cleo, you said the reincarnation cycle could cure Ren?” He asked. She nodded.

“It sort of resets your soul. And when you die as a mortal you end up right back here.”

“I’ve done it before. It’s not that bad.” Stress added. Xisuma nodded.

“Then we should all go through it once, just to make sure we’re all clean.”

“That thing never works right for me.” TFC grumbled. Zedaph offered him a sympathetic look, but that was the only reaction he got.

“Is it safe for all of us to go at once?” Keralis asked, glancing between Xisuma and Cleo.

“It can handle everyone going through it at the same time, yeah.” Cleo agreed. Xisuma nodded.

“And I’m sure our domains can handle themselves for a little while. We can leave our seconds in charge if we have them.”

“But what about our projects?” Impulse protested.

“Making sure we’re all safe is more important,” Xisuma said firmly. “And what would happen if one of us stayed behind and got infected while the rest were gone?”

That put an end to most of the protests. Nobody wanted anyone to die permanently, and nobody wanted to be left behind.

“I can take you to the River of Souls. Once you jump in your soul will be placed into a mortal body.” Cleo instructed. “If you need to write out messages to anyone here I can have my first mate deliver them, but I don’t know how long this will take to spread. We should get going as soon as possible.” Most of the group got paper from her and wrote out messages and explanations to their subjects back in their territories, either giving instructions on how to run the domain or just telling them where they went.

Once everything was settled Cleo led the group out of her ship, Iskall and Doc helping Ren. The spirits of her ghost town watched them respectfully as they passed, making several members of the group uncomfortable. Trying to keep an eye on the surroundings instead wasn’t much help. Cleo may have built a town here and filled it with ghosts, but this was still the land of the dead. Faces could be seen in the water if you looked hard enough, and the entire place was cold. The voices of the spirits around them were unsettling, off in a way that nobody could quite define.

Xisuma wasn’t too disturbed by it since the Void was very similar.

Cleo brought them to a river just outside of town. The water was slow, with the same disturbing wrongness of the ocean.

“I’ll go last to make sure everyone gets through okay.” She told them. “Who’s going first?”

Everyone eyed each other silently, not wanting to volunteer, until TFC sighed and stepped forward.

“Let’s get this over with.” He looked around at everyone and gave them all a brief nod of farewell. Cleo stepped aside, gesturing to the river. He marched in, water swirling around his ankles, and dove under once he got deep enough. He disappeared once he was completely submerged.

The rest followed, supervised by Cleo. Some went together, like Bdubs and Keralis, and some went alone, like False. Finally, there was only Xisuma and Cleo left.

“See you on the other side.” Xisuma offered, smiling under his helmet. Cleo smiled back, and they both walked into the river together.

The gods had left the celestial plane.

Back at Cleo’s ship, her first mate was collecting the messages from the captain’s cabin. She didn’t notice that the sludge Ren had vomited had disappeared, even though no one had been sent to clean it up.

In the forest just outside of the ghost town, the Grimdog opened his eyes.

#Hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanfic #Dungeons Dragons and Demise #after this i'll go back to making character sheets #there are 18 hermits in demise and each one is getting a character sheet #i'll also be posting info on the lore of this au #you don't have to read everything #but it might help some stuff make sense

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 4 years ago

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As someone who's followed your blog for a while and noticed you are a Timeless fan, I'm curious: What are your thoughts on the finale? (the real finale, not the abomination that never happened)

Ooh, I’m very glad you asked! I loved it! (Well, most of it.)

Seriously. It was a wholesome, happy ending for the Time Team - and that was really all I wanted. Structurally, I think it’s fantastic that the first half was the climax of the series, and the second half was the falling action. Part 1 was all action, part 2 was a character piece for all the leads. “Amadeus” was a history piece, and “Homecoming” had the team literally in limbo. It combined science fiction, a historical story, and the amazing cast. It did what “Timeless” does best. Most of the gripes I had weren’t really the fault of the finale, since they came from things established in earlier episodes. (Mainly bringing back Emma.) But almost every scene had me absolutely immersed. I’ll admit, they basically gave up on having the time travel rules be consistent or make sense, but it’s not like the show was ever that iron-cast about the rules, even in the early seasons. It made the story better, so bring it on.

Some disconnected thoughts and notes.

I had almost forgotten about the phone call from S4E1, and I was really worried even when I first read it that it would never be explained, especially as the Amy mystery fell by the wayside more and more. But this was like...a perfect conclusion to that phone call? An amazing bookend? They not only remembered it, but they actually gave it an explanation that makes sense, and I really liked it - how did they manage that?

I kinda love that Rufus was the one to activate the Recursion? That at the end of it all, he was the one to basically blow up the universe. No idea why he did it but somehow, Malcom Barrett’s performance made it compelling anyway. And he wasn’t even giving a performance. Just, the one he gave in my head made it work. I dunno. I suppose he was spiraling after he thought Jiya died? I could follow it. Speaking of...

Okay, the destruction of the Lifeboat was the stupidest moment, period. Sorry, but it spontaneously combusts because it carried an extra passenger? I don’t remember it doing that at the end of Season 1? It was just a way to get rid of the lifeboat. Which wasn’t necessary, when all is said and done. Rufus would have just destroyed it later anyway. Loved seeing him blow up the Mothership, by the way.

Wyatt. And Jessica. Having a conversation. This is all I have wanted for two seasons and it’s wonderful. The point they’re at with each other is so wistful and sad, but there’s a kind of realism to it. I’m not the biggest fan of what this continuation has done with Wyatt, but I’m so glad he got to have this closure. And I’ll admit, “You always loved me more when I was gone.” was some cold, hard truth. I’m just glad Wyatt got reunited with Sarah. But um...what happened to Jessica?

Rufus and Connor’s reunion actually made me cry. Don’t even get me started. With Rufus trying to bring him back, I just can’t even. Also, you made it the entire season without a Harry Potter reference...and you just had to bring them back now, huh? For old time’s sake? Ah well, they bash Harry’s naming skills, so I’ll let it slide.

Flynn and Lorena’s break up. Amicable and mature and beautiful, and at this point I’m just going to break down because why couldn’t Lorena come back? It wouldn’t have disrupted Garcy, and Iris deserves to get her mother back after everything she’s been through. Iris has lost both of her mother figures. I guess Jessica made the choice not to turn back her clock, and that’s why she’s not here? Who knows. Maybe Lorena returning would have been too happy.

Emma’s chapter of the Recursion actually broke my heart for her. It was perfect how she was the only one who refused to engage with the other people who were present, insisted they weren’t real - but we know from the other visions that they were. Her setting her house on fire was fitting, and I actually expected her to turn up dead in the real world. Not gonna lie, really didn’t like how she ended up trapped in the Recursion and how cavalier Rufus was about it. Dude, this season brought her back from the dead just to trap her in a permanent hell? I know she’s evil, but why was that necessary?

I’m so happy we got to meet Jiya’s dad, after learning about him in Season 2. That and Denise’s father accepting her just made me very happy. I live for the wholesome moments like that. But so long as everyone’s parents are here, and even Connor is here...I have to ask: Where the hell is Carol? Seriously, that’s a reunion that could have been interesting, and with everyone else’s parents returning, Carol’s absence is very noticeable. Sure, she was awful, but maybe she could have undergone post-death character development? I mean, Emma is awful too, and she came back.

Iris and Sarah are just. So amazing as a duo. Any time we get to see their friendship, I just get smiley. Iris is just wonderful as a character in general if I’m being honest. Her being so ready to sacrifice her own life to kill Emma. Her awkwardly wondering if she’s welcome and Rufus and Jiya’s wedding (Thank you for showing it, and thank you for having Wyatt as Best Man. I would have thrown many hands if he wasn’t.)

Amy is such a wildcard and I’m not sure what to make of her. She apparently “let go” of Valkyrie which allowed her to return to being young. But I guess Jessica didn’t want to let go? So is she just dead? Again? I like Amy though. I much prefer her and Flynn living happily ever after with Lucy to some stupid babies ever after ending where she goes full Harry Potter and names her children after them.

In the end, I have a lot more to say about Homecoming than Amadeus, but don’t misunderstand - I definitely loved both episodes. Unsinkable is still the best episode of the season, however.

#Timeless #NBC Timeless #Timeless S4 #Lucy Preston #Emma Whitmore #Rufus Carlin #Wyatt Logan #Garcia Flynn #Jessica Logan #Connor Mason #Denise Christopher #Jiya Marri #Carol Preston #Amy Preston #Iris Flynn #Sarah Logan

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nikky-the-writer · 6 years ago

Text

Ghost from the past

Diego x Reader

Part 3

Warning: cursing, mentions of death, spoilers for the show, blood, sad, mentions of suicide attempt… Past is written in italic!!

Summary: Diego still can’t accept what happened when he was younger and he isn’t the only one….

As always please tell me what you think!!!

______________________________________________________________ Today was the day; it was the day when you will be going home. However not just by yourself, but also with your three favorite people. Today was the beginning of your new life, you were sure in it and you weren’t far from the truth. It indeed was the beginning, but not of what you thought, it was the beginning of the end. It was the beginning of your end and you soon realized it as the needle pierced your skin just as you placed the last sweater on your bed.

Your body had no time to fall as it was caught by Reginald. He didn’t bother in glancing around your room, or to start to disguise that you were leaving, he just turned around and walk out with you in his arms and with Grace following behind. It should’ve been simple; he was just supposed to keep you away from others until you change your mind; until you decide to cooperate. It was supposed to be simple yet the moment you opened your eyes everything changed. They just entered the basement with you when your eyes opened. It seems as the dose of sedatives was too small to keep you asleep however it did keep your powers in check for a while. Just a moment later you wiggled your way out of his hands terrified as your mind was hazy and you were disconnected from your powers. Your eyes were wide and they only got wider as Reginald moved closer with a new syringe in his grip, but you were quick to grab the old scissors from the nearby table. “Get away from me!” you screamed with your gaze moving to the doors searching for a way out. Your eyes settled on the woman behind him, who just stood staring at you. “Number 8, put that down,” Reginald ordered but you didn’t do as he asked. You didn’t want to find out what the punishment for you will be as through the years you had seen and experienced more than anyone in the house. This wasn’t a home, it was an asylum and it already messed your mind too deeply for you to ever get rid of the darkness in you. “Mom…” you whispered needing her help as she beside your grandmother was the only thing close to a mother you had. However, as she stayed silent your heart broke and your eyes welled up. “Number 8, obey me,” Reginald yelled at you stepping closer to you. “No,” you whispered with tears falling down your cheeks as you stared at the man who destroyed you. “There is no way out?” you questioned and he stayed silent. It finally all came to you, you finally realized what you had become and what you actually were. You were a monster, an outcast and of course, a murderer and those titles were permanent. “There is no way out?! Answer me!” you shouted at him before turning the tip of the scissors towards your body. “My mind will never listen,” you said silently as you sniffled trying to stay calm as you were breaking down. He finally did what he told you he will; he broke you down although you had been broken for years; he shattered you. However, before you could do anything Reginald grabbed your hands. But it didn’t matter as even after fighting him there was blood, there was blood on your body. There was blood pouring out of the wound inflicted by him. And as you stared at the ceiling you could see the light, but the chaos around you didn’t fade, but at one point the light did as you closed your eyes. “Forgive me,” you whispered while having an image of the people you will miss in your mind as well as the one you wronged.

______________________________________________________________

“So, where is she?” All the eyes were set on Five as the silence fell upon them as well as confusion. Diego was the first one to speak as others stayed silent. “Mom?” Diego questioned only for Five to roll his eyes at his assumption. “Y/N,” Five said and if it was possible everyone became even more confused. There was a chance that his mind got messed up with time travel, but as he stared at his siblings he wandered what messed up theirs. “She is dead,” Vanya said softly with her voice almost as a whisper. She couldn’t understand why Five would ask for her as they were never even close and as he did came from future at least he said so. “She isn’t, Vanya you even said that she went back,” Five pointed out before taking another bit of his sandwich and not understanding why nobody wanted to tell him the truth or why they were messing with him. He didn’t have time for all of that, he had to stop the apocalypse but before that, he had to see you. “What do you mean?” “You said that you lost her, not that she died. I…We read your book,” he said correcting himself however it didn’t seem that anyone noticed or if they did nobody questioned it out loud. “She is alive and she would’ve come here to make sure he was dead.” “How would you know what she would want? You don’t know her,” Diego stated glaring at his brother. “I know her better than you ever will,” Five said staring back at him as if it was a competition. “What do you mean?” Luther questioned not bothering with their childish behavior. “She practically raised me.” “What are you talking about?” Vanya was the one to ask. “So that’s why you said we, hmm,” Klaus pointed out and Five nodded before explaining. “She survived the apocalypse, she was there for me, she took care of me until she died.” “Five, Y/N died fourteen years ago,” Vanya assured him. She was even ready to remind him how the time travel could mess with his mind but Five interrupted her. “How?” “She…” Vanya started but stopped as she wasn’t completely sure. She turned towards her other siblings, but everyone’s eyes moved around searching for anyone who had an answer. “Your father killed her,” Pogo said appearing at the doorway. He knew the moment he saw Five that it will be probably brought up just as Ben’s death. “What?” Diego stood up as the anger in him grew. Not only because he didn’t tell them during all these years but also because he could’ve told him earlier. But the actual real reason for his rage was that their father was dead now and he couldn’t kill him on his own for what he did. “The day she died, your father found out that she was leaving,” Pogo stated with the bitter taste in his mouth however he was finally ready, to tell the truth to all of them together. “He sedated her and took her downstairs I don’t know what exactly happened, but two hours later your mother came out covered in blood not aware of what happened.” “Why would you keep quiet about that he killed her, h-” “She is not dead! How many times do I have to tell you?” Five shouted cutting of Diego and leaving the room not wanting to listen to them anymore.

______________________________________________________________

A/N: Thank you for reading!!! Guys, please tell me what you think!!!

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