#really fits with any incarnation of them

[unicornblossom13]

Megatron [trying to devise a plan against the Autobots] This might be more complicated than I thought.

Starscream [laying on the ground, beaten after their last battle] I think I broke something…

Megatron: WALK IT OFF!!!!

[cvntroach5000]

LaDS men react to you getting a cat

Xavier

• Very happy that you're getting your own little buddy for your apartment.

• Brings your cat a bunch of goodies to welcome it to its new home.

• They immediately hit it off, since Xavier is naturally good with animals.

• Honestly, the cat starts to feel like a mini version of Xavier with how it immitates him. Or maybe he's immitating the cat?

• Sometimes when you're doing something, you catch them both looking at you with the exact same look of love and you think 'Oh. They're the same guy.'

• When he falls asleep on your couch, your cat, in turn, falls asleep on top of him.

• You have a whole photo album dedicated just for their naptimes, they're incredibly cute together.

• He gets one of those little cloth wrap bags to carry it around in, after it gets too big to fit in the pocket of his hoodie. He just walks around with it like a mom with a baby, and it happily rests and purrs.

Zayne

• He's so excited about this.

• When he meets it for the first time, he comes into your home dressed up and carrying gifts like he's about to meet your parents.

• Despite the bribes of cat toys and treats, the cat totally hates him.

• After it hisses at him and runs off, he just falls to his knees and stays in that position for a solid minute.

• "T-This was my only chance..." If your cat doesn't like him, no cat is ever going to like him.

• You don't think you've ever seen a reaction this dramatic from him.

• You do your best to assist him on his mission to get along with your cat. You instruct him to sit still on the couch and even sprinkle a bit of catnip next to him.

• Eventually, your cat makes its way over to him and becomes a comfortable little loaf next to his thigh.

• He's afraid to even breathe cause he might scare it away, but he's making intense eye contact with you that screams 'It's happening! Everybody stay calm!'

• The progress is slow, but any time your cat does anything to imply it at least tolerates Zayne, he's practically moved to tears.

Rafayel

• He cannot believe you'd do this to him

• This is betrayal. A breach of trust. Complete backstabbing move on your part.

• You try dressing it up in little mermaid and fish-themed costumes to warm him up to it but he just stares at it like it's Satan's incarnate.

• Much to his horror, the wretched creature adores him.

• You use that to try and butter him up with compliments, but he stubbornly refuses to accept your cat's love.

• "Why does it keep smelling my fingers like that?! That's disgusting!"

• "It must think you smell nice if it keeps doing that."

• "It's trying to eat me?!"

• He eventually somewhat accepts his fate of being the cat's favorite fishnip, but he still likes to whine about it. Will randomly text you to inform you he found fur on his clothes or, worse, in his mouth.

• Maybe he quite likes your cat. But only that one! Cause it's yours. Special privileges.

Sylus

• He is very pleased with this development.

• Gets you one of those fancy self-cleaning litter boxes and a bunch of other gadgets, like an automatic bowl and a water fountain. And, of course, large, high-quality cat trees for your cat to go apeshit on.

• To nobody's surprise, the cat loves him.

• The moment he makes himself comfortable on your couch, the little rascal is all over him.

• "Wait, Sylus, let me get you a change of clothes. You'll get fur all over yourself!"

• "It's fine. If the clothes get ruined, I'll just throw them away and buy new ones."

• He's completely unbothered and lets the cat make biscuits on his expensive black suits.

• Your cat also has a couple of crazy fancy collars. You don't really make it wear them, since you live in an apartment and your cat doesn't go outside, so there's not really a need for it. But they look really cute on it.

• Sylus does have pictures of the cat wearing every single one of the collars he's gifted it though.

• You actually got the cat accustomed to Mephisto since it was a kitten, so they make a surprising, fun little duo.

Caleb

• He's glad you have some non-human company while he's not with you. And he genuinely likes the critter!

• He always brings food and treats for you cat, and when he cooks he'll make a whole separate meal specifically for your cat.

• When he first met it, the moment you left them alone, he picked it up and said to it "You have to keep them company and keep them happy while I'm not here, got it? Do not blow this for us."

• Unbeknownst to you, he has saddled the blissfully ignorant creature with quite the responsibility.

• "Caleb, you're overfeeding the poor thing. It's going to pop from how much you let it eat! Animals don't have a sense of restraint like us."

• "Awww, so it's going to be a cute, chubby little cat." He cuddles it, giving it kisses on its squishy cheeks, "Don't worry, baby, Caleb will love you and take care of you, no matter what."

• This isn't about the cat anymore is it.

• Trying to reason with him is impossible, he's decided he'll spoil the cat rotten and that's that. You can't convince him to stop.

[brotherblaze]

doloroso ii —robert "bob" reynolds

—summary: You invite Bob to a makeshift picnic on the building helipad (sometimes makeshift patio) when everyone else is away. He realizes he doesn't know much about you. So, he decides to start somewhere.

—word count: 2,9k

—warnings: n/a

—a/n: bucky gets a b-plot because hey maybe I want to make a spinoff for bucky and reader's previous incarnation

—part 1 | AO3

Bob is improving. Slowly, but progress is progress. He keeps to his schedule and he takes his pills like a champ. He mingles with the team even when they bicker and threaten to throw each other from the top of the building. They have a fascinating dynamic and something inside you stirs every time you see them argue, see them help each other, see them sitting in silence in the same room, doing their own thing.

At times, they work like a well-oiled machine, other times they’re like a trainwreck in action. Try as you might, you cannot look away from them. Hard-headed, all of them, kind of assholes at times, but they make it work. There is so much care between them, so much reassurance buried under retorts with a soft bite to them. They orbit each other like binary stars.

Complete silence in the Watchtower feels foreign. The TV has been on for most of the day to project some artificial life into the place. It has done little to help.

You flip through the channels on the oversized TV (this thing could probably fit inside a movie theater). The collapse of cable TV really is a sight to behold; ads upon ads upon ads shoved down your throat at every turn, every chance. It's almost infuriating how they finesse product placements into shows and movies in a way that’s so incredibly unnatural. You turn it off in a huff.

“Wow, cable really went to shit.” Bob is standing at what should be the doorway if the open kitchen wasn't so open. He has a bowl in his hand. It smells sweet.

“I'm suddenly so glad I don't have a TV at home.”

“Seriously?” He lifts a spoonful to his mouth. Whatever it is, it crunches as he chews. “Bucky said they didn’t have ads back in the day. You paid for a subscription to see the channels.”

“Oh, so they’re double-dipping. You're gonna ruin your appetite, by the way,” you tell him as you stand, smoothing out the wrinkles on your pants. “I ordered takeout. I think it’s for the best.”

“I tried to cook once when they were away,” Bob pauses, scraping the spoon in his hand against the side of the bowl — how is he finishing that bowl already? — “and John almost suplexed me for messing up his spice cabinet.”

You snort and quickly cover your mouth with your hand. “Sorry. Any word on when they’ll be back?”

“Not yet,” Bob says. He shrugs. “It’s normal for them to be gone for several days at a time. Spy stuff, I guess.”

“And you’re alone here?” Your frown slightly, brows furrowed. “Isn’t it lonely?”

“Not — I mean, maybe. Sometimes.” Your eyes meet his from across the room. “But it’s fine, y’know. I’m not ready to go out there and they — they have their job to do.”

You hold his gaze and — he cannot look away. He should look away but there’s something about you that pulls him in like a whirlpool and he’s trapped and he’s trapped and he’s trapped like a rat in a maze. The feeling is all too familiar but he can’t place it. Then again, he remembers very little from after he got jabbed for his blood and waking up in OXE’s vault.

The ping of your phone breaks whatever spell you have on him. You look away first, pull your phone from your pocket and scroll through the notifications. “Food’s here.” You grab the throw blanket from the couch and fold it over your arm. “Can you grab it? They don’t deliver up here, right?”

Bob’s racing thoughts come to a screeching halt and he tries to ground himself back into his body, wiggling his fingers and toes. All in one piece. He wipes the corner of his mouth against his shirt sleeve and immediately cringes. “Sorry. Yeah — yeah, I’ll go grab it.” He leaves his bowl in the sink and rushes over to the elevator.

It takes longer than he would like to get the food. Not only does the delivery driver seem to wilt when Bob shows up, but he doesn’t want to hand over the food. Because the picture in the app is of you and not him. There’s something akin to disbelief that the driver doesn’t recognize Bob, that bubbles in his chest and then immediately this crushing weight pressing against his lungs. Because he’s a nobody next to the team, isn’t he? That’s what the driver was probably hoping for, to see Bucky or John or Yelena and not him. Just Bob.

The driver taps something on his phone and raises it to his ear and Bob fruitlessly tries to get a word in. The man confirms the address on the phone and then — his eyes gloss over. Somewhere in Bob’s mind, it pings as wrong and he simultaneously needs to flee, needs to get out of here right at this second, and grab the man by the shoulders to shake him awake, food be damned. The delivery driver thrusts the paper bag into his chest and turns around, stiff like a puppet on strings, and walks off.

Bob retreats into the elevator, finger spamming the button to the top floor until the doors close and the elevator begins its climb. There’s a jitter in his veins, blood rushing in his ears. He should’ve done something, he should’ve grabbed the man and shaken him awake. That’s what heroes do, right? But he’s Bob, just Bob, not what the rest of his team — his friends — are. Pain pulses behind his eyes and he pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to will it away.

When the elevator dings and the doors slide open he nearly sprints out of the small confined metal trap. He doesn’t spot you at first glance.

“Patio!”

He scrambles across the room towards the sound of your voice, so alluring and the weight constricting his chest eases.

There’s a large candle on the center of the patio table. He can faintly smell citrus. You’re fussing with the throw blankets from the couch, draping them over the patio chairs and then folding the edges so they don’t touch the floor. You wave him over with a smile and Bob mutters a quiet apology for taking so long. He doesn’t want to go into the details, doesn’t want to go back to spiraling about being just Bob, so he just unpacks the food, trying to make out what’s in each container.

You sit and pull the throw blanket onto your shoulders, reaching for the closest container. Whatever’s in it, seems to be fine and you pop it open.

The sun has set. The city is alight even when the sky's still blue. Could the team get out of the city for the summer solstice? He makes a mental note to ask for their opinion once they get back. The two of you don’t make conversation as you eat but it doesn’t feel empty or awkward. He actually sort of enjoys it. The people below on the street are like small ants, all of them rushing somewhere, organized and disorganized at the same time. Cars honk. The billboards glare reds and greens and whites in flashing advertisements. Despite everything, Bob feels calm.

“I never realized NYC has so much light pollution. And noise pollution." Okay, so you’re not a fan. Bob can’t help but chuckle. When he realizes, he splutters, coughs. Like he’s trying to hide his transgression. You think back to the rooms you’d dragged him through.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” he rushes to say, a string of apologies ready on his tongue but you don’t look at him like he’s managed to piss you off. The corner of your mouth is curled upwards, eyebrows raised slightly. He takes a moment to recalibrate. Different environment, different people, he reminds himself. “You’re uh… not from around here, huh?”

“Ha.” It’s something between a laugh and a snide comment and yet there’s no actual malice contorting your features. “No, I have a farm. Well, a sort of farm. Not far from a little seaside town.”

“A farm? Wow.” It dawns on him that he knows very little about you. You’re so proactive in conversations that the topic smoothly gets steered away from you every time. He turns his body towards you slightly. You mirror him. “Like, with cows?”

“Dogs.” You take a sip of your water. Your lipstick smudges against the rim on the glass. It catches Bob's eye. “I rescue them. Mostly from dog fighting rings. I have a whole network set up. Someone discovers it and if a case is bad enough, like, if they can’t get rehomed because they’re continuously aggressive and don’t respond to training, they come to stay with me.”

“So, they have retirement homes for dogs?”

You giggle, a hand covering your mouth. Bob’s ears flush. “Sort of. Yeah, I guess it’s technically retirement. There’s a lot of land for them to roam around. In the summer I usually take them to the sea to swim and in the winter we’ll go sledding on the ice if the ice is thick enough.”

“Oh, so you have seasonal activities,” he jokes and he doesn't even know where it came from but you laugh again and something in his chest flutters. He takes a bite from his kebab before he says anything stupid again. “So,” he starts again when a thought strikes him and immediately places his hand over his mouth. He forces the lump of food down his throat half-chewed because you’re looking at him like that again, with that small smile. He clears his throat once and washes everything down with water. Only then does he dare to speak again. “Is it a… passion? Rehabilitating dogs?”

“More like easy. Dogs are much more susceptible to being dominated than humans are. It’s easy for me to correct their behavior because of what I am. I figured why not give it a shot? Sometimes it’s good to be responsible for someone else; makes you get out of bed in the morning because you need to provide,” you say. “I know pet ownership isn't for everyone but…” you gently jab your elbow against his ribs, “I think it would do you a lot of good.”

“I don’t know,” he says, shaking his head slightly. His curls bounce. “Sometimes it feels like…” his expression fractures for a fleeting moment before he composes himself and gives you a wavering smile. “I can’t even manage myself, y’know?”

You don’t know. There it is again, that feeling in your chest, stirring, slithering, coiling around your organs. Something is missing. Something is wrong with you. So, you steer the conversation.

“Y’know, they make robot dogs now.” There’s a glint in your eye when you say it. He should rebut, refuse, thank you for the food and stand up and go crawl into his soft bed but the way you smile at him… “Those tiny ones with batteries, not the big ones they use for research and in the army — those are kind of creepy.”

“Oh, you mean the small purse robot dogs?”

“Exactly. Walker’s little hat is just the right size to carry one around.”

He laughs. He actually laughs and it feels good. He feels light and warm despite not picking up the throw blanket.

And then it’s silent between you again. A good silence. His nearly-finished kebab tastes better all of a sudden. He reaches for another one. You refill your water glass and then his, too. He mumbles a thank you between chewing.

When the food is gone and he feels full and fulfilled and so warm, sitting there on the patio with you, and you sit up to reach for something on the table, he catches the end of your throw blanket before it slides off your shoulders. He gently tugs it back up. Your fingers brush his as you grasp the two ends together in front of you. His entire face is on fire now. Maybe you won’t notice it in the dim summer night.

“The file Bucky sent on you,” you say. Bob’s thoughts screech to a halt and start racing, all at the same time. If the weight in his chest weren’t so crushing, he’d laugh at how you manage to make his thoughts mimic an episode of Looney Tunes. You read his file? There was enough for Bucky to put together a file on him and send it to someone? Wait, of course there was. He recounts his juvenile record, his involvement in OXE’s Project Sentry, his psychological evaluations pre-OXE and those more recent — that file must be thick. He swallows around the lump in his throat. “You traveled South-East Asia?”

That’s probably the last question he expected from you. There it is again; his need to recalibrate his thoughts and his presence and his existence in his own body. He rubs his palms together, taps the fingers on his right hand to his left to count them.

“Uh — yeah. Mostly looking for drugs.”

“Were the constellations really that different?”

“A little. The big ones are the same, just flipped.” He glances at the sky, and this is probably the darkest it’ll get. Not enough to reveal the stars. “Too bad you can’t see most of them in the city.”

“North Star,” you say, pointing to a star in the distance.

“That’s…” he considers if he wants to correct you (he really doesn’t) but you turn to look at him, head cocked to the side slightly. Like a curious dog. Maybe it is true that owners take after their pets but he wouldn’t know. “That’s actually Dubhe. Second brightest in the Ursa Major. That,” He reaches his finger out and attempts to draw the constellation, “is the North Star”. Your eyes follow his movements and then trace the sky again in that pattern, as if you’re actually able to see the stars that aren’t there in this light.

“North Star is the brightest one in the sky, right?”

“It’s the brightest star in the Ursa Major, but there are brighter stars out there.”

Your eyes meet his and there it is again, a crushing weight on his chest and his blood roaring in his ears. And then you blink once, twice, and the feeling eases, not as oppressive but still present and he can hear the sounds of the city again. You smile at him, tightening the blanket around your shoulders.

“Do you know any other constellations?”

Bucky stares at the locker. The steel is faded and scratched, the door bent. Someone has tried to put their fist through it. He pulls off his glove, traces his fingertips across the dumps and dents on the door. The padlock on it is rusted. It crumbles in his hand with ease.

The hinges on the door creak.

He never came in here with a specific plan. But he saw the sign next to the door and his body moved on its own accord. And now he’s here and he’s looting through a dead woman’s belongings. Truly, how low can he go?

There’s a half-empty bottle of perfume on the top shelf. He picks it up and lifts it to his nose. The rational part of him knows it’s gone stale and disgusting but the irrational part, the part that longs for a soft and warm hand of the very worst and simultaneously very best Handler he’s ever had, overrides it. He scrunches his nose when the smell does not jog a memory, does not bring comfort. Of course it doesn’t and his own thoughts jeer at his actions. Of a dog, pitiful and weak and utterly loyal.

He caps the bottle and places it back on the shelf. His fingers bump against something small and round. He reaches further into the locker, feels around the dust and cobwebs until he finds it. Small, cylindrical. Lipstick, he realizes. He stares at it, debates, wars with himself. He should leave it where he found it, not keep mementos like some sort of psychopath. He should burn this place to the ground and scrub his skin clean, shove his head back into that machine to powerwash his brain and scramble the lingering sentiment towards his Handler. Instead, he slides the tube of lipstick into his left chest pocket.

Her coat is still there. It’s not the one she was wearing when he… Bucky grits his teeth. Her mouth was always so warm. Even with his metal and flesh fingers prying her jaw apart.

He feels the softness of the fur coat between his fingertips. He recalls how much she loved velvet. She always wore velvet coats, no matter how impractical. Fur coats, though, were reserved for special occasions. Maybe she had plans that day he ripped her into pieces.

He takes care to fold the dusty coat over his flesh arm, turns and leaves.

He makes it out before the others. The summer air is stuffy this far inland and the heat of the day lingers. Still, it's better than the stale air of rot and death inside the bunker. The sky is littered with stars. Bucky traces the constellations with his eyes. Ursa Minor. Ursa Major. It feels like they’re laughing at him, at the way he clings to his goddamn Handler.

“Hey.”

Yelena stops next to him. She looks into the sky like he does, squints at the stars. If she notices the coat slung over his arm (of course hse notices, he chastises his thoughts), she doesn’t say anything.

“All done?” He asks.

“We should leave before Alexei loots someone’s skull to display on the fake fireplace at home.”

“What, you not a fan of his interior decorating choices?”

Yelena snorts.

banners by @/cafekitsune

[synchodai]

"Mystra groomed Gale" takes rustle my jimmies like no other. I get how some people who don't know much about her beyond BG3 may have this interpretation, but if you're like me, a woman who's been playing since the days of AD&D, you'd understand why accusing Mystra of being the bad person in this scenario may hit a nerve.

TL;DR: Did Mystra take advantage of Gale's devotion to her as his goddess? Definitely, she's a Faerûnian deity — they subsist on worship and adulation. Does that make her his abuser? Eh... man, maybe it's high time that a lot of us learn different terminology for unhealthy relationship dynamics other than abuser-victim. I've seen a couple of posts that are really gung-ho about forcing every companion character to be some sort of abuse victim, because that's what they've decided the game is about. I mean, they're free to interpret the game that way, but damn, we're really out here flattening god, the very concept of magic itself, into the role of an abusive ex, huh? A fantastical, nuanced relationship between mortal and immortal set against the backdrop of a rich palimpsest multiverse digested like a YouTube drama video.

Let me try to explain my perspective by going through the history of Mystra, how she's utilized in Forgotten Realms lore, and treated within D&D games in general.

MYSTRA THE MAN-EATER

Since her creation, she has always been depicted as the sexy goddess whose main purpose was to be a wizard player's muse as well as their patron. Back then, D&D (and TTRPGs in general) was a heavily male-dominated hobby, so Mystra (and Mystryl, her avatars, and all her other incarnations) was catered and shaped by that demographic.

Because it's the player characters and Wizards of the Coast who have narrative agency and many of them want to fuck a goddess, they make stories where Mystra comes on to them because their character is just so good at magic. They designed Mystra to be a mysterious, beautiful love interest because they wanted to use her as the crown jewel of their power fantasy of being a super cool and powerful magic man. You can pretty much see this in the Elminster books and the Avatar series with Midnight (one of Mystra's avatars). Gale himself seems to be an exploration of this typical kind of wizard character.

As far as power fantasies go, making the goddess of magic have an intimate relationship with a mortal character is fine. It's the ultimate validation for a burger-flipper when the god and all source of burger-flipping is head over heels in love with them. It also doesn't have to have a sexual component to have "magic" and the magic system itself enamored with a character — depending on the game and DM, Mystra's favor can be entirely symbolic and metaphorical. A fine power fantasy in the power fantasy generation game.

So because everyone literally wants a piece of her, you end up with Mystra having more Chosen running around than any other god. Understandable given what she has to do to maintain her massive portfolio. It fits her as the personification of magic — someone who entices ambitious young spellcasters but burns them out through obsession and overreaching. Consume any Forgotten Realms-related media, and you've probably come across at least one campaign, novelization, or character backstory that use Mystra for the role of sexy sorceress goddess that's the alluring (yet often demanding) patron of some magic man. Whomst amongst our wizards haven't been visited by Mystra in the night ordering him to do plot point, he rolls to seduce her, and she has no choice but to admit that she's actually attracted to him because the dice said so? It was a community inside joke passed around tables: Mystra the Man-eater.

But then some BG3 fans started taking the joke seriously...

MYSTRA THE GROOMER AND WHORE

This piece of dialogue has done so much irrevocable damage.

Some (Galemancers specifically) have interpreted this to mean that Mystra is known to go after young men. She does not. She has more documented Chosen than other gods due to her massive portfolio and power level, but there are just as many female Chosen as there are male Chosen. Minsc, like most of us in this fandom, is speculating and doing so in a way that uplifts Gale at the cost of taking a bit of a jab at Mystra.

"Mystra's a whore. She boned Kelemvor and Elminster and so many of her Chosen, taking advantage of them as a goddess," they say as if she didn't have her romantic relationships all as different people and in different bodies. Her avatar Dasumia was the one who had an intimate relationship with Elminster, and it was the human Midnight (who later ascended to become Mystra) who was Kelemvor's lover (who himself was a mortal adventurer at the time).

This is why Mystra is, how other people put it, "a whore." Because WotC canonized a handful of those stories where different sexy female mage love interests whom otherwise have nothing in common are slapped with the Mystra label for one reason or another. Sometimes they're mere avatars or magical projections, sometimes they're actual people possessed by Mystra, and sometimes they're destined to be the new Mystra but don't know it yet. But those sort of nuances are lost to people who learn their lore secondhand from deliberately provocative tweets and reddit posts, flattening extremely fantastical relationships to clumsily fit a more relatable framing that'll net them more online engagement.

I don't want to argue what is and isn't grooming. But I have encountered arguments taking Gale's mentions that he was "a young man" to mean Mystra groomed him as a child. But I doubt he would have said "young man" if he meant child...

Mystra took off the gossamer veils from her body to fully reveal herself to him — or whatever romanticized way Gale tells you that they were intimate. The man speaks in half-abstraction and metaphors because it's revealed later on in the romance that all their love-making happened outside the Material Plane. They were very intimate, but never physically had sex (or had any physical contact at all because gods are only allowed to interact with mortals through their avatars or projections). If Mystra "groomed" Gale, so did every other god who revealed themselves and made themselves vulnerable to their followers. Shar grooms her justiciars when she brings them into her dark embrace. Umberlee grooms her clerics when she swallows them up and gives them her wet kiss.

MYSTRA IS A FAIR GOD ACTUALLY

Look, gods in D&D-verses are, more often than not, dicks. They have to be or else there would be no need for adventurers to fix wrong-doings if the gods weren't so detached to the suffering of mortals and regularly making earth-shattering calamities.

Mystra, as a patron, is actually one of the more fair and hands-on dieties. She's one of the few gods who rewards benevolent ambition and punishes destructive hubris, knowing the line between the two. In the Elminster series, she (or one of her avatars) assists Elminster in taking down one of her rebel Chosen who has abused her blessing to become a tyrant. Azuth, one of her Chosen, has achieved godhood through her. In fact, she is divinely obliged — forced against her will, some might say — to help mortals she would personally rather smite. There have been so many instances where Mystra has to be the bigger person. As far as gods abusing their followers go, Mystra is low on that list.

There are barely any stories of magic abusing spellcasters, but there are cautionary tales aplenty of spellcasters abusing magic.

ON GALE SPECIFICALLY: HOW IS MYSTRA THE BAD GUY HERE?

Gale is the first to tell you that he "violated her boundaries." Mystra told him not to mess with the Tome of Netheril and he did it anyway, so he's fully aware that the orb in his chest and his fall from grace is his own fault. Mystra didn't cast him aside just because she felt like he was getting too big for his britches. His actions actively endangered her and the Weave.

(Mystra is wrong about certain details on the Karsite Weave if we're going by Forgotten Realms lore, but she's not wrong about its existence being a danger. BG3 takes a lot of liberties with the world Faerûn, so I can't definitively say whether Mystra being wrong was her lying, Larian rewriting canon, or this incarnation of Mystra not knowing the true nature of the Fall of Netheril. I could go on about what effects the Karsite Weave actually would have on magic, but this post is already long enough. )

Gale only starts to resent Mystra when she asks him to detonate himself. Elminster makes it sound like an order, but from the way she doesn't punish him in the epilogue if he chooses to keep the orb, it feels more like a suggestion. If Mystra wanted Gale well and truly dead, she has so many options.

Throughout Faerûn's history, Mystra herself has constantly been betrayed and taken advantage of — her power coveted by ambitious men who claim to worship and love her. Honestly, as far as goddesses with traumatic histories of being killed by ambitious men go, she's pretty chill about Gale. The fact that she allows him to become the god of ambition in the end if you choose that path? Well... let's just say she's not the one who looks like the evil ex who was only with their partner to take advantage of them in this scenario.

CONCLUSION

Mystra isn't the only goddess to have romantic relationships with her followers. I've already yapped on about how Forgotten Realms writers and D&D players love to make goddesses fuck their heroes, and all that pearl-clutching over "power imbalance" and "consent" is moot when the mortal party is actively rolling to seduce the divine entity.

But notice how the male gods rarely have intimate relations with their mortal charges? It's almost as if Mystra was objectified for years by horny nerds to be the sexy sorceress who validates the more important male hero. Fast forward years later, she's now being slut-shamed for all the lore of her sleeping with the more important male hero by a new crop of fans who would love to think they're more progressive than the horny nerds of the 80s, but fall into the same trap. Mystra has so much potential for complexity, but they choose to flatten her because they ultimately don't care about making stories involving complex female characters.

Instead, one of the most powerful beings in Faerûn has no bigger role in this universe than to be your girlfriend or your current boyfriend's evil ex. Wow, the realms of your creativity and respect for women truly know no bounds.

[oatmealdoodles]

Beelzebub soft redesign!

I spent a lot of time on this and I’m really proud of it, I hope you guys like it too!

I want to emphasize that actually quite like the direction they took with her design. For almost all incarnations of gluttony in media, it’s always just “make them fat” and thats it. But the HB interpretation isn’t just about food, it’s about the feeling of never ever being satisfied. She’s more like the sin of consumerism for me. And an influencer-esk raging party animal fits the bill really well. I just thought the design was a bit to cluttered and lacked direction, so I’m trying my take at it.

My changes:

By far my favorite and least favorite part of the og design is her lava stomach. I love this idea so much, my problem is that the first time I watched the ep i didn’t even notice it, because the design is so cluttered. So I thought if I put her in a black skin-tight suit that would add lots of contrast and really make it pop. I also added a sudo-spine thing just for cool imagery.

I made har hands come from her stomach, sort of symbolizing her hunger reaching out and grabbing things for her to consume.

The gamer headphones were just super self-indulgent i really wanted to add them. And it kind of makes sense because the stereotypical “gamer” is a junk food loving sack of potato’s melting into their chair. So it can be a little nod to that

I got rid of the blue hair puff ‘cuz I didn’t really see the point in it and it just made the design ghn more busy, plus I really like how her sticky honey hair emphasized the almost nauseous and sickly feeling you feel when you’re full.

I didnt see any bee imagery in the original exept for the bee wings, so i decided to scrap the idea all together and just keep the honey hair. I like the idea of her being a wolf since they’re master hunters and eat a lot. 

I made two versions, one where her stomach is the same color as her hair, and another where it’s blue. I thought the stomach was still blending in too much in the original and wanted it to stick out even more, and be the focus of the design. so making it the complimentary color felt right. But I’m not sure which one i like better. 

Also added teeth, because of the you know, eating metaphor. I removed it in case it would be too hard to animate

I might change this design over time but I’m happy with this for now.

also made a lil animation to make sure it was animation- friendly:

Took a lil under 2 hours

[somewhat-insane]

Can we get some general jealous headcanons for Sun Wukong, Macaque and the Nine headed demon? Pretty please?

OH MY GOSH ABSOLUTELY I LOVE THEM AND I LOVE WRITING THEM JEALOUS (even if I suck at it, we're not going to talk about that)

I try my best to balance fluff and stuff with more realistic traits like the more toxic aspects and stuff, and that might not be everyone's cup of tea. With a subject like jealousy it tends to skew more towards angsty traits because all three of these men have issues.

Per usual, I'm sorry if I go off request, I can not focus while writing for the life of me and I always get sidetracked. I'm working on it though. That's part of the reason this took so long- I had to keep deleting and rewriting everything because it didn't fit the theme-

~*Jealousy SWK, SEM, NHD*~

~Sun Wukong~

Surprisingly the least jealous of the three... on the surface, at least

Separation anxiety; he's a monkey so physical affection is really important for him

Poor clingy insecure whiner boy :(

Loves having his arms around you; will carry you if you let him

doesn't like sleeping without you close and if he wakes up and you're not there he's 100% panicking. Safe to say it will take a lot of convincing to let you leave his sight that day

He doesn't really mind much if other people flirt with you, he trusts you and doubts a couple of pickup lines from a friend or coworker or whatever will be enough to take you from him, he traveled with Zhu Bajie during the journey after all, he's used to watching people flirt and nothing come out of it

He uses disassociation as a coping mechanism so he doesn't get super upset if your attention isn't on him 24/7 because he's usually thinking about something else anyway, but in the times when he is present, he'll shut down and be pretty sad if you don't give him attention

He's a bit more... intense when it comes to physical contact though

In the case that you're touching someone else, hugging them, or patting them on the back or whatever, he'll get all pouty and won't stop looking at you like a pathetic wet cat until you give him attention instead

If someone touches you though he'll death glare them

Not afraid to show he's jealous

He wants you to know that he wants you by his side exclusively

If anything he's afraid of not showing you enough

Constantly trying to walk the line between "not being too controlling" but also "not seeming like he doesn't care"

On one hand, everything he's learned from his master tells him to take a step back and let things happen as they will, but on the other hand, he's tired of losing the people he cares about, ESPECIALLY when there are times he could've prevented it

Really just wants to be good for you

Hates the idea that there's someone out there who's better for you than him, but knows letting you leave would be the right thing to do (even if he cries about it)

~Six-Eared Macaque~

Kinda possessive and controlling but is doing his best to improve for you

Unlike Wukong who will sometimes be affectionate with the rest of the crew, Macaque only really trusts you, and sometimes Mk (Mk's a bit too loud and energetic for him most of the time though)

Abandonment issues incarnate (though he usually displays this by pushing people away before they can leave him... just expect a lot of silent treatments from him)

Wraps his tail around your wrist or ankle to assure himself you're close. He'll wrap his tail around your waist if he's feeling particularly possessive

Prefers to have you close by but doesn't rely on physical affection as much as Wukong

Likes being in the same room as you while you both do your own things

Wants to be the first person you tell any big news to (though knowing him he already knows from slinking through the shadows...)

People flirting with you ticks him off

How could anyone else think they deserve you? (This may or may not be him deflecting his own thoughts about how he doesn't deserve you onto other people)

He loves listening to you ramble or lore dump but he'll get all tense and cagey if you start talking about something you did with someone else

Doesn't mind if your attention is on something else, but does get kinda upset when your attention is on someone else

Feels the need to one-up anyone you say anything positive about

You liked the waiter's dress at that restaurant you went to? Macaque's showing up in an even better dress the next day

Will not hesitate to bad-mouth someone he's jealous of

Sees anyone touching you as a threat and he immediately feels like he needs to protect you

Sees you touching anyone else as him not being good enough and will either close himself off for a few days or obsess over being perfect for you

Afraid to show he's jealous

Has to keep his aloof demeanor or you'll think he cares too much and you'll leave :(

Still kinda believes power and manipulation are the best way to get what you want but is working on more healthy ideals like "communicating his thoughts" and "not sending people to the shadow realm whenever they get too close to you"

Doesn't want to hurt or scare you but he will fight to keep you by his side

He'll eventually relent if you really want to leave though, I don't think he would be able to handle trapping you with him if it's not what you want

~Nine-Headed Demon~

Pretty possessive and controlling and doesn't really plan on changing

Superiority complex

Has decided you're his and if you think otherwise you're just confused

The most manipulative on the list

I'm not entirely sure where to begin with his issues but there's definitely some insecurity

Gives you the illusion of choice and freedom

"You can choose whatever you want as long as you always choose me and no one else :)"

He knows he's better than everyone else but he's afraid of you not seeing that

Even if he's not the most affectionate person, he'll definitely get upset if anyone gets too affectionate with you or vice versa

Needs to know where you are 24/7 or he goes on a rampage in his full dragon form

Kinda the Mother Gothel of partners

If you tell him he's being too overbearing he'll get offended and try and convince you he's just doing what's best for you

He does genuinely think he's doing what's best for you

The only way he would ever change is if he failed to reach the chaos, but that's a story for another time

He refuses to admit to being jealous and instead insists he's just keeping you safe

I don't even think he knows he's jealous

~

Despite how much I adore NHD's design, I am incapable of writing him as a healthy partner-

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Thoughts are appreciated. I'm sorry NHD's was so short writing for Wukong and Mac is just a lot easier since we have multiple seasons worth of content with them.

[sambhavami]

I am so sorry. I just did not want to ask you this question. But my curiousity is killing me.

Do you think the disappearance of pradyumna as infant made Rukmini drift away from Krishna and limelight.

Or the age difference between them made it appear so. Like it happens when there is mismatch between couples in terms of age.

Also during The joking of Krishna,where she gets a panic attack she does counters him right.

Sorry 😔 i just want to know better

No worries! ❤️

The age difference between them didn't help their relationship, and neither did the Pradyumna thing.

There was always this power imbalance (like Krishna calling her a "silly girl" and a "scaredy cat" on many occasions, affectionately, but imagine that in public/semi-public, as the queen-mother with a daughter-in-law of herself). Also, consider Rukmi's personality- the way he handled the marriage situation, I highly doubt that Rukmini was ever taught to stand up for herself against her brothers/father. I am guessing the pattern continued with Krishna.

Also, she was married at a very early age (sources say 11), but, logically (for my own sanity), I'm going to say 13-14, as opposed to the usual 16-17 for other girls. Jambavati and Satyabhama are older, closer in age to Krishna, and have solid family support. They are therefore able to afford mouthing off to Krishna more often.

Krishna always wanted her to be an equal, voice her opinions and not just blindly follow him around. Instead, she listens to the 'society' around her and becomes this hyper-submissive 'devotee' almost, annoying Krishna to no end.

Rukmini's response too is understandable. When Krishna made that joke, Rukmini reacts quite predictably. She is already young, anxious and sensitive, and if Krishna were to throw her out of his house, she would have literally nowhere to go. For her, probably no one even taught her (given he mother also had passed away), what flirtations and jokes look like within a married couple, and she never learned to recognize the difference between jokes and actual abuse (maybe her brothers were rude to her and then said, oh I was just joking).

Now, Krishna is a drama queen, we shouldn't forget that. So, when he said what he said, he was acting as though he was dead-serious, and Rukmini was a bit too naive to catch that.

Dr. Bhaduri describes that situation as: since Krishna had come to visit her after a gap [of being with other wives], she had on this occasion, dressed up to the nines with the most expensive jewellery, like 7-8 necklaces and stuff, and then she sat had Krishna down on her white-sheet-fitted bed and started fanning him, massaging his feet etc. Just being quite extra.

We should also remember Krishna's childhood- where he started, and where he is now. Given his background, a princess of Vidarbha, noted even then as an incarnation of Lakshmi, acting like a maid in his presence, it embarrassed him.

Also, imagine the gossip! Satyabhmaa gets parijata, Jambavati gets him to do tapasya, and Rukmini gets whipped around by Durvasa! (Look at how he treats his youngest wife! The one who couldn't pay her dowry because her family won't talk to her! Look at how Krishna makes her work so much more than his richer wives!)

We, the readers, know that this is 110% just Rukmini (maybe, yes, she is overcompensating for not being politically or materially 'beneficial' for Krishna) being herself, but Krishna is getting bombarded with these accusations in public, that he cannot really counter. Even if he tried to explain, any sane person would still blame him, thanks to largely the age gap itself.

There is also a sense of failure and disappointment on Krishna's part, that he feels that even in so many years, Rukmini hasn't been able to trust him fully, or rather that he hasn't been able to give her a sense of security enough for her to lash out at or oppose him every once in a while. Instead, when he tried to get a rise out of her, she cried, fainted and got up and said, "You're my god and I am nothing."

[xxsinisterbunniexx]

⚠︎ BEN drowned ⚠︎

General Characterization and headcanons

My general thoughts on Ben as a character :3

Ps sorry I have not been as active recently school is killing me (ToT)

Ben is anywhere from a little shit to devil incarnate and it depends on the context of his situation. Going based off the original story, Ben is sadistic and controlling, which is a lot of how I characterize him. My big thing for him though is that I don’t think he’s the spirit of a kid who drowned (me when I go against the entire lore). I think Ben already existed long before the child in the story died. I like to think of him as like an evil entity that can manipulate technology and live inside the internet, but can also materialize and has a physical form. So not quite a demon or spirit but also not quite a computer virus. My headcanon is that in the original story, Ben was only posing as a child who drowned to get the story writers sympathy or interest, but Ben was truly never a kid who drowned.

If you were interacting with him as a fellow proxy it would be a lot different than interacting with him as a potential victim. He can make friends and has them, namely Jeff is one of his good friends. Those two are a BULLSHIT combo and they will roast you to filth. Ben is a huge prankster too and 95% of the stupid shit they do to people comes from Ben’s ideas.

He secretly cares a lot about what the other creeps think about him but he pretends he doesn’t. He’s capable of feeling empathy and being caring towards others but only for people he deems worthy which is such a small number of people.

He generally can be fun to be around, but definitely would be one of those friends you’d have to take in small doses and you don’t rely on them for any emotional support.

General headcanons:

⚠︎ Ben is either like the same height as Jeff or slightly shorter so I’m gonna say 5’7-5’8

⚠︎ he has his ears pierced, usually wears little black hoops

⚠︎ he has pretty boy swag

⚠︎ actually gets so pissy about video games like if you beat him he’s borderline throwing a fit

⚠︎ but his gamer setup is actually insane, puts a lot of effort into it since he’s chronically online

⚠︎ he’s really superstitious and will make you participate in it, so don’t split a pole if you’re walking next to him

⚠︎ paints his nails black just for the clout

⚠︎ has multiple low visibility tattoos

⚠︎ lowkey a really good dancer but like you’ll only find this out after like years and years of knowing him in a random situation where he dances for whatever reason

[acheronsociety]

✶ BALLAD OF FIRE AND ASH

summary: they say the muses abandoned olympus. what they don’t say is why. some claimed betrayal. others whispered that a god particularly feared their power more than any titan… but they didn’t die—they ran. disguised in mortal skin, hiding from the gods they once inspired. now the primordials have built the veil, a trap dressed as a game, and three have been caught. hunted. suspected. desired by the ones who should’ve protected them. and the games have only just begun.

MODT MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST

pairing: hades x f!reader ( melpomene ) word count: 1370 content warning: angst ✶ almost smut ✶ basically hades and you fighting through teeth and... tongue? something like that. a/n: this is the first drabble of the series "muses of drowned truths" and each god will be paired with a muse, so this means you will be assuming a muse form while reading ( hopefully you like them as much as me )!

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 was made of obsidian—walls smooth as oil, swallowing light. It matched him, really. All edges, no softness. The sort of place meant for interrogations, executions, or confessions ripped out with bloodied hands.

Fitting, you thought, that it was where you met him again.

He stood at the far end of the room like a curse spoken aloud.

Tall—imposingly so—his shoulders broad beneath a fitted black tunic, the fabric stitched with subtle threads of silver that caught the low light like veins of lightning. Your eyes descended upon his back, falling to his cruelly lean waist, as if the gods had carved him for precision. For war.

"You should be careful," Hades said without looking at you, his voice a ribbon of dark velvet sliding over thorns. "Fire burns out fast in a cage."

Your laugh was a flame of sound. "Better to burn bright than rot in the dark. Or is that what you prefer, Lord of Shadows?"

He turned then, slow and deliberate, and gods, his gaze hit like the crack of a whip. Cold, calculating, and far too amused. The kind of look that made you want to slap him—or kiss him just to watch that smirk fall.

Your eyes set on the scar that ran from the arch of his left brow, slicing clean through his eye before it crook-turned and vanished at the edge of his sharp cheekbone. 

How Hades had gotten it was still a mystery around Olympus, and you would have risked braving the Styx to unravel it. Instead, all the talk surrounding it was that the wound had made him more monstrous. You disagreed. If anything, it made him mythic.

"You mistake this for a cage," he said, snapping you out of your awful-timed thoughts. "This is a crucible. And you—" He stepped closer, each movement measured and menacing. "You're melting."

Your breath hitched when he got close enough. You didn’t back away, though. You wouldn’t. You were tragedy incarnate, not some simpering nymph who wept at the storm. 

Instead, you allowed yourself to brave the molten silver tempest that were his eyes. Not the delicate shimmer of moonlight, but the kind of molten that sears, that promises ruin. From a distance, they might pass for black. But up close, they gleamed like mercury set aflame. "You think you can break me?"

"No," Hades inched closer, his mouth brushing your ear. "I know I can."

A fire ignited through your chest at the sound of it. Fury and heat and a wanting so sharp it felt like grief. This wasn't love. It wasn't even lust. It was something more dangerous—a recognition. A mirror with jagged edges.

You shoved him hard, palms against his chest, pushing him into the obsidian wall. “Try it then,” you hissed. “Let’s see who shatters first.”

He caught your wrist—lightning-fast—and twisted, not cruelly, but with purpose. You panted as your body followed, spun until your back was to the wall and he was a breath away, pinning you there like a dagger. One of his hands still held your wrist, the other hovered at your waist, just close enough to feel the heat of it through the thin dress you were forced to wear once you were captured.

Your voice came low, raw. “Is this how you get your answers, Lord Hades? Cornering girls with gods in their blood and fury in their throats?”

He tilted his head, studying you like a predator might a storm. “I don’t need answers,” he murmured. “I already know who you are.”

Your heart stuttered.

“You hide it well,” he continued, voice soft as sin. “But your soul sings. Even here. Especially here.”

Your lips parted, words caught in your throat as one of his hands fisted your hair, forcing your neck bare to him. He was too close. His scent—pomegranate, smoke, something old and earthen—was curling around your ribs like ivy. You hated him. You loathed him. And you wanted to taste him like you wanted to scream.

"Let me go," you whispered. Hades came to his full height then, eyeing you through long lashes. His hair, as dark as ink, was carelessly tousled, a chaos that shouldn't have worked on someone so composed—but it did. Gods, it did.

He leaned closer again, lips brushing your cheek, your jaw, stopping just short of your mouth. "Say it like you mean it."

You cursed him then, softly, fiercely, in the ancient tongue of Olympus. And then you kissed him.

Or maybe he kissed you. You didn’t know who moved first—only that when your mouths met, it was war. Teeth and tongues, challenge and surrender. Your hand twisted into his hair and you moaned. It was so much softer than it looked. His fingers dug into your waist in response, pressing you closer like he needed to feel every piece of you to believe this was real.

It wasn't tender. It was violent. Like something sacred had been cracked open. Like grief and rage and centuries of silence had exploded into a single, breathless moment.

Hades's hands explored you like they’d done it a hundred times in secret dreams. Sliding low, purposeful, greedy—until they curved around your ass, squeezing, grounding you against the unforgiving line of his body. He pressed into you like punishment, like a promise. Hard, solid, cruel in the way that made your bones sing.

You arched into him with a sound you didn’t recognize as your own—half-moan, half-challenge. Fever took your blood then. You felt reckless. Wild. Your thoughts, a blur of heat and him and the danger of wanting something this much.

His mouth, that along the way went to the soft curve of your collarbone, crashed into yours again, teeth grazing, tongue slick and hot. You kissed him back like you hated him for making you feel this, and maybe you did. But gods, you wanted more.

You lifted one leg, hooking it around his waist, needing him closer. Needing to feel how far gone he was. The almighty King of the Underworld groaned into your mouth as you did so, low and guttural, hips grinding into yours with a precision that left no room for misunderstanding.

Then you felt it—thick, hard, straining through his clothes. Your breath hitched. A gasp against his lips.

Your fingers curled into his shoulder, nails digging in deep. And even though your lower belly recoiled in pleasure, the rest of you quieted. That stopped him. For a moment, everything stilled—frozen in the gravity of what would come next. You could feel it spiraling, dangerous and inevitable.

He pulled back just far enough to look at you, eyes like spilled mercury unreadable.

“Tell me to stop,” he said, voice wrecked, rough around the edges.

You blinked, and then the fog in your mind cleared. Your skin refused to subside its feverish state, but you lowered your leg slowly. You didn’t know what was the biggest tragedy—having lost your mind or having it read so well by fucking Hades. 

And then it was over.

You pulled back first, chest heaving. Your lips were red, swollen, and trembling—not from fear. From rage. From longing. From knowing this was a mistake and craving more anyway.

“This changes nothing,” you snapped.

Hades, maddeningly calm, ran his thumb along his bottom lip. “No, Melpomene,” he said. “It changes everything.”

He stepped back, letting you go like you’d burned him. Or maybe like he’d burned himself. The space he left behind felt colder than the dark.

The Lord of Shadows stepped out of the room with such a roaring bang to the iron gate enclosing you inside that it sent your back sliding down the obsidian wall behind you. 

Hearing your name escape his lips with such certainty was an arrow straight to the throat, one you had never seen coming.

Hades was one of the most powerful gods, if not the most. He knew for certain you were a Muse. He was never one to be fooled with glamours; you knew that. But which one… How could he have known it was you?

You didn’t move. Couldn’t. Your heart beat like a war drum, and in your ears, you heard a whisper—not your voice, not his, but something older, deeper.

He is shadow and silence. You are fire and fury. Together, you are ruin.

And ruin, you thought, had never tasted so sweet.

© ACHERONSOCIETY / 2025, all rights reserved. do not steal, repost, translate and/or claim this work as your own.

[weirdsht]

What if i have an idea and it's orv's "incarnation kim dokja will be killed at the hands of the person he loves most" BUT it's reader and cale

May Our Fates Intertwine Once More - Cale/Reader

notes: 1. Anon I'm sorry for taking so long to write your req; and 2. I'm sorry to everyone who saw the small preview I posted before and thought it was fluff.

tags: fluff, no gender specified for reader, novel spoiler (sealed god's test), hurt no comfort, angst, death, canon divergence from 620

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are open and welcome

Buy Me Dessert

Navigation Masterlist

One moment you were next to Cale then the next second you’re standing in the middle of an unknown place with this weird half-transparent blue screen in front of you.

[Quest List:]

[1. Pass the tutorial

2. Launch a widescale attack on the safe zones during the eclipse 

3. Die after fighting a magnificent battle at the hands of the person who loves you the most]

“What the fuck…”

You cursed as you read what the screen says. You tried to see if you could touch it but something else popped up as soon as your finger made contact with it.

[WARNING!! WARNING!!]

[All injuries sustained in this body will be mirrored in your real body!]

“This isn’t my real body? But it looks the same.”

It really does. The only thing that has changed is your clothes. You’re wearing something that fits the image of a deity.

Still confused, you look around you. There’s nothing you recognized. But it does look like you’re somewhere abandoned.

[A message has arrived! Tap here to read!]

You tapped the new overlay that popped up and it instantly brought you to the message.

[Are you enjoying your lover’s original world?]

The anonymous message said. Immediately, you had an inkling as to who it could be.

“What the fuck? You must be that stupid god presence we felt back there.”

[Such brash words while talking to a god… Anyway, are you aware of where your lover is?]

“His around here too right? What the hell did you do to him?”

[Nothing much. His just under my test to overcome his despair. I’m waiting for him to be consumed by it so he can take my hand.]

“Knowing Cale, I'm sure he’ll overcome it. He’d rather die than work with you.”

[That’s where you come in dear.]

You feel like you can hear the god’s vile laughter even through the screen. But you wondered how you’d help meet Cale’s demise. Unless a demon possesses you to the point where you can’t control yourself, you won't do it.

Then it dawned on you.

The mission.

[3. Die after fighting a magnificent battle at the hands of the person who loves you the most]

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re quite witty, aren’t you? On the bright side, I found out Cale loves me the most thanks to you.”

[It’s great, isn’t it? If you don’t do your missions you’ll be stuck here forever. If you do them you’ll die. Whatever you do you love must say goodbye. An instant recipe for despair.]

“We’ll see about that. You might be underestimating me too much.”

You pointed your middle finger towards the screen with messages before closing it.

Getting past the tutorial was easy. Turns out you have an inventory that contains countless supplies of food and other necessities. You also have the ability to summon monsters.

The same monsters your lover told you he fought in his previous life before becoming Cale Henituse.

“Ho? This is interesting. It feels like I’m playing a game of some sort.”

You said no one in particular as you read the descriptions of the monsters at your disposal. You spend the whole day navigating the screen that calls itself the “status window”. According to it, you have the whole day free today as the eclipse will happen tomorrow.

As you take yourself on a tour of your inventory one particular item catches your attention.

[Sword of Liubi Duplicate]

It was your sword. Well, a duplicate of it. It was given to you by Cale after you first met. Clicking on the sword, you read what properties would its copy have.

[A sword replicated from your world. It’s strong, probably one of the strongest swords on Earth 2 despite being nerfed. However, since it’s a duplicate it will only have half of its original prowess. It is still a remarkable weapon nonetheless.]

Some of the terms used like “nerfed” you don’t understand as they don’t exist in your world. But it still gave you a general idea as to what the status of your sword is.

Well, it’s better than nothing.

Plus you think the only time you’d have to use it is when you fight Cale so it’s better that it’s not as strong as before.

“Either way I die huh…”

You mumbled as you stared up at the ceiling of the abandoned house you found. Usually, a person would not be able to stay in such a place so leisurely. However, since the monsters won’t touch you it's a different story.

“What am I getting sad for? I was supposed to die way back! I’m just fulfilling it now…”

It’s the truth. If it wasn’t for your lover and his friends you would’ve died a long time ago. You guess someone bound to die early will die early.

You dismissed the thoughts of your death out of your head. Instead, you focused your energy on thinking about how you would get Cale to fight you so he could complete his mission.

With those thoughts in mind, you slowly fell asleep. 

“Okay, this is kind of fun… but I feel bad since Cale and the others are fighting the things I summoned.”

You’re on top of a building. A good distance away from Cale– no Kim Rok Soo’s safe zone but still near enough to be able to observe what’s happening.

“Is that Choi Han? At first I felt bad for them, but now I feel bad for myself. They’ll finish my babies in no time!”

Observing Choi Han and the others fighting, you kept summoning more monsters. The monsters you summon are regulated by the status window but you still find some joy in doing it.

It is getting tiring though.

You can’t believe you have to keep doing this for 24 hours straight. You’re not even getting paid…

[Alert!]

[One (1) of your “Grade 1 Taster Monsters” have broken from the pack]

[Alert!]

[Two (2) of your “Grade 1 Taster Monsters” have broken from the pack]

“What the hell? I swear my dearest must have an ancient power that allows him to gather powerful beings. His even stealing away my babies.”

You huffed in frustration as you watched two of your summons go over to Kim Rok Soo’s side.

“Isn’t this whole thing too good for me though? Everything I need to survive is free… And summoning monsters doesn’t cost anything.”

[It's the least I could do for someone bound to die either way]

That pesky god messaged you again.

“Well look at you being Mr. Nice. Are you flirting with me? Sorry, I’m taken.”

For emphasis, you brought up your ring finger that contained your engagement ring. As if flipping the god off.

[Blasphemous as ever. It tempts me to take you as one of my children. Too bad you won’t be able to take in the despair that comes as a price.]

“Yeah yeah. Just shut up. It’s not like I have any plans teaming up with a god.”

Sealed God shut up and you lived the next days in peace.

You have the monsters at your disposal that can do whatever you need them to do. And you have no quest assigned to you aside from that dying one. Your mind has also been at ease as you have a general plan as to how you’ll get your love to fight you one-on-one.

[New Mission Alert!]

[Summon one (1) Electric Eel in Gwangalli Beach]

Gwangalli Beach where is that? You have absolutely no idea. In fact, you’re tired of your status window acting as if you were from this world.

“I’m sure the monster will know where it is…”

Convincing yourself that your summons will know where it is you summoned a flying monster to take you to that place.

Luckily, your assumption was correct. In no time you were where you need to be.

“Status window summon one Electric Eel… Who named this thing? I mean it’s a snake that will be summoned from the sea, and has electricity as one of its powers. But Electric Eel? Seriously?”

After bashing the monster’s name a little, you summoned it.

“I’m sure you already know what to do…”

You mumbled to the monster before going away to hide before someone saw you.

All that’s left for you to do is watch and wait for your entrance.

3 days. That’s how many days it took for them to defeat the Electric Eel.

While everyone was doing that you were watching on top of the building. Your robed dress flows freely in the wind as you do so. There were a lot of instances you wanted to intervene. Wanted to go help the love of your life and the man you considered your brother.

But alas you couldn’t.

The status window with only one quest left reminded you of that every time.

[Are you ready for the final act?]

Sealed God messaged you again. As if laughing at your inevitable demise.

“Just watch my performance. It’ll be spectacular.”

For a moment you were tempted to curse him out as you usually would. However, you decided that if you’re gonna go out today, you’re going out with grace and elegance. It's only fitting as the fiance of a duke’s son.

[Player _____ will be killed at the hands of the person that loves them the most]

[The last arc of the game…]

[Starts Now]

Ignoring the status window, you ride the flying monster waiting for you. It’s the same monster that brought you to the beach before.

“I worked so hard just for you to defeat my baby.”

You gently spoke as you gracefully descended from the monster's back and onto the dead Electric Eel. 

“...That’s your baby?”

Kim Rok Soo mumbled quite mournfully. He was supposed to be your baby after all.

“Wait how are you even here?”

He asked. Looking at you curiously. 

“Oh, I’m the one summoning all the monsters you’ve been fighting. Was it fun? Ah, don’t ask me where they come from though. I have no idea where they came from. I can only summon them.”

You spoke as if there was nothing wrong. As if you guys aren't standing on the opposite sides of the battlefield.

“_____-nim…”

Choi Han, the man you have come to consider your brother, slowly called out to you.

“What are you doing?”

He asks, not minding the whispers from the people around you three.

“So that’s what happened to my Dark Tiger… Asking permission to borrow my things would have been appreciated, Your Highness.”

You addressed Alberu first before answering the swordmaster’s question.

“Don’t you still get it? Every play must end with the hero defeating the evil mastermind! And you Kim Rok Soo…”

The sword you summoned on the way here pointed towards your lover.

“You shall be the one who strikes the final blow.”

Kim Rok Soo’s brain connected the pieces. You smile while observing him. And that smile pissed him off.

Because you were smiling as if everything was okay.

As if you hadn’t just announced your death.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll be stuck here and die. You wouldn’t want that would you?”

“So I just have to kill you here?”

‘And then you’ll return to my arms in our world?’

You knew the silent question that lingered in the commander’s reddish-brown eyes.

“Yes.”

Yet you ignored it. Letting him believe that everything will be fine. That you will only die in this world. That nothing will happen to you in your world and all shall be well.

It was for his own good.

The only way for him to not fall into despair once more.

Drawing your sword once again, you beckoned for your lover to fight you.

“Everyone else stay back. I’ll summon another unranked monster if you interfere.”

“Follow what they say and just watch.”

You and Kim Rok Soo said before your powers clashed with each other.

Lightning after lightning struck you. However, your sword blocked most of them. Dodging the ones you couldn’t block.

When it was your turn to attack, you struck your sword towards Cale. Each slash either landed on the Indestructible Shield or was blocked by the Fire of Destruction.

“Your sword is stronger than this. I did not give you such a flimsy thing.”

Cale spoke as you failed to cut through his shield once more.

“Don’t worry this isn’t the one you gave– Ugh!”

A lightning struck you. Cale used it as an opportunity to land more hits.

“I was talking you know? You’re as rude as ever. Anyway, this one is a duplicate.”

Your sword managed to land a cut on the commander’s arm. Everyone else watched the two of you. People who don’t know you were wondering how can the two of you fight while bantering as if your lives aren’t on the line.

But not everyone in the audience didn’t know you. Two people in there knew you very well. 

“I’m going back first. Something about this feels off.”

Alberu told Choi Han who was gripping his scabbard tightly.

“His Majesty is going first?”

“Seems like it.”

You can Cale continued talking as you fight. It reminded you of the small talks he would engage you in as you train.

It reminded you that this is probably the last time you will be able to talk to him like this.

“Ow! That hurts you know!”

A particular attack from the Sky Eating Water rendered you unable to pick up the sword. Cale took this as an opportunity to hold you down using the trees summoned earlier to fight the Electric Eel.

You watch as Cale turns off his Sound of the Wind. He walks towards you at a leisurely pace, picking up your sword on the way. 

“I’m sorry.”

He said and you noticed his hand tremble ever so slightly.

“Don’t be. I’m happy that it’s you. Do you want to know what’s the prerequisite of my death?”

Cale did not answer but you said it anyway.

“I shall die by the hands of the one that loves me the most. That’s what it said.”

The commander’s eyes shook along with his hand.

“That’s why I’m glad…”

Blood spilt from your mouth as your sword stabbed your heart. From the corner of your eye, you could see Choi Han running towards where you are.

“_____-nim!”

Your brother called out to you as Cale let go of his control on the trees in favour of holding you instead. 

There’s still blood spilling from your mouth but that didn’t stop you from smiling at him. Your smile was weak and tired, but it was the best you could do at the moment.

“I’m fine…”

You assured Cale squeezing your hand.

“I’ll be waiting for you in our world. So don’t be sad okay? Remember you have to overcome despair.”

“Promise?”

Cale asked you as he cradled your body in his chest.

“I promise.”

You left out the part that you’ll probably be dead or dying when he sees you. 

Weakly, but full of determination you raised your left hand to link your pinkies together. The diamond in your engagement ring shone as you did. Meanwhile, your right hand is being held by Choi Han.

They said that your life will flash in your eyes at your last moments. No such thing happened to you. But you did remember a conversation that you and your lover had prior to this whole thing.

“So you’re birthday is on November 8th? Why are you only telling me this now? There’s so little time to prepare a gift for you!”

“What are you talking about it’s still so far away?”

“No, it’s not! It’s not enough time for me to prepare the perfect gift for you.”

That’s right, today is November 8 in this world. It’s Cale’s birthday…

“In Raon’s castle… My gift is there. He should know about it…”

“You can just give it to me yourself when we get back.”

Cale answered and you almost laughed at his cluelessness.

“...Happy birthday my love. May you always find happiness.”

Those were your last words before you took your last breath. Before your body slowly turned into dust in Cale’s hold.

But Cale wasn’t in despair even as you die.

He may be sad, but he wasn’t in despair.

It was because he was holding onto your words that you’d meet him back home.

That’s how Cale was able to pass the Sealed God’s test.

But why…

“MOVE ASIDE, LET PENDRICK AND SAINT-NIM HANDLE IT!”

Why was the first thing he heard as soon as he came back Alberu’s shouting when he was supposed to be in his castle making preparations?

“CALL FOR MORE HEALERS WE’RE LOSING _____-NIM!”

“_____ wake up. Please wake up.”

Alberu and Raon’s voice rang on his head. 

At that moment. Rosalyn and Eruhaben noticed that he was back. They quickly greeted him before calling over Raon and Sherrit to remove the barrier that surrounded him.

“What’s happening?”

Cale asks as he enters the room where the shouts are coming from.

The sight made him stop in his tracks.

Laying on a grass bed that’s similar to where he was just a few minutes ago was his lover. His fiance.

They were lying there. Bleeding.

On the heart.

Exactly where Cale had stabbed them back on Earth.

A realisation dawned on him at the moment.

You just promised that you would meet him back home.

You did not promise that you would meet him alive.

Cale, the fool, had only assumed you would.

[panlight]

One vampire trope that Twilight doesn't touch on at all is the "lost love reincarnated" thing. You see this a lot in Dracula adaptions especially even though it's not in the original book at all.

I'm of two minds about it. I did use reincarnation as a device in my Old Vampire Rules series but not in the 'lost love' sense. I often find it rushed, lazy and convenient in books and fic, mostly because the person always looks exactly the same which, IMO, is not what reincarnation is about it? It's about the soul, the essence, being reborn. There's literally no reason the body would look the same.

But the thing is it would fit weirdly well into Twilight lore? Especially with imprinting. I lowkey think it's kinda what SM was going for with that, but instead of the imprinter and imprintee having chosen each other in a past life, they chose each other in a pre-mortal existence like in some classic Morman literature.

And with vampires, the only way I can accept any sort of One True Mate conceit (which, IMO, isn't in canon anyway; SM says vampires can fall in love with anyone, it's just that once they are IN love, they don't ever fall out of it) is reincarnation existing, otherwise the odds of there only being One Person out there and if the immortal just misses meeting them during their brief lifetime all hope is lost is way too depressing for me. But with reincarnation on the table, then One True Mate can work for me, because if Carlisle missed out on meeting an incarnation of Esme in the 1700s and 1800s, he got another chance in the 1900s. Maybe Edward and Bella's whole thing is that she is the reincarnation of this girl he was into in his human life and the memories were lost to him in the transformation. It also solves my "why would this ancient vampire want to date this 19-year-old??" problem because it's no longer this centuries-old being drawn to a teenage, it's someone recognizing a legitimate lost love. Maybe Bella really IS an old soul and this is not her first go-around.

The other option is Fate Just Makes it Happen which, fine, can kind of dig it, but it's another thing that throws a wrench into the whole "this story is about choice" thing. If Jacob is fated to love Renesmee, then Bella had no choice but to continue the pregnancy, no choice but to choose Edward, Carlisle had no choice but to turn Edward into a vampire, the vampire who bit Carlisle had no choice but to bite him, etc etc etc. Nothing is anyone's fault because there's no free will and things had to happen this way. At least with reincarnation there's more wiggle room and maybe the timing doesn't work out in this lifetime but there's always the next one.

[lads-meta]

LADS: How They Always Find You

Regardless of where you find yourself, and even if you try to hide, the boys always manage to find you. They might play it off as a coincidence or just good luck, but they have a secret they'll never tell.

Xavier

As someone who has the power to manipulate light, his evol grants him abilities beyond what one might think. One such thing is his incredibly sharp sight. The world is much more vibrant and full of color to him. He can distinguish the slightest movement from his surroundings as he picks up on the light refraction. Over the years he's noticed more with his eyes, finding himself able to see the aura one has around them. Everyone seemed to have a unique shade, but the only one he ever cared to know was yours. He'd spend hours watching you, embedding the color of your aura in his mind. Throughout your many incarnations he's come to realize that your color doesn't change. It assures him that it's always you, the same soul traversing the stars as he did, just in your own way. That's how he always finds you. In a crowded place, or passing each other by, his eyes are drawn to your color, a color only he knows.

Zayne

His evol can be troublesome at times, but he does well to manage it. The coldness of the hospital worked in his favor, and the nature of his work kept him occupied. There was always something to do, never really a dull moment where he could dwell on his own problems. Although it was while in this field that he realized just how sensitive to the cold he was. When the temperature rose or fell he'd notice it immediately, but such a thing had its downsides too. Death was inevitable in this line of work, and the growing coldness of a patient weighed heavy on his heart. A sign of fading life only he could pick up on. Yet it worked in another manner too. When he came back into your life he couldn't help but notice your body temperature. Everyone was different, but he wanted to be familiar with yours. It would work to your benefit as he could tell when you were too hot or too cold, and if you were getting sick. Being attuned to such a thing also helped him find you in a sea of people. In order to get to you all he had to do was find a certain warmth and follow it to the source. Of course this meant you could never truly sneak up on him as he could sense you when you're nearby. Although he'd play along, as you didn't need to know he had a special way to find you.

Rafayel

It was only fitting that his evol match the burning passion he had inside him. Even if he himself comes off as aloof, and could be cold to the touch, the fire he creates could provide someone with the warmth they'd need. The only person he wished to do that for was you. In the depths of the sea, one was engulfed in the cold of the water, making any little bit of warmth stand out. On the surface things were different. With the change in seasons the temperatures around him blurred together so he couldn't distinguish them well. At least not at first. His affinity with fire let him distinguish the flame within each person, but he only cared to know yours. He had seen a special fire in you, one he adored and never wanted to see extinguished. It brought him comfort, and he learned how to distinguish it from the rest of the fire around him. It's how he always knew the person who had just walked into his home was you without seeing your face or hearing your voice. Even in the depths of the sea or on the vast land he knew he could always find your flame.

Sylus

As someone with many enemies, it was important that he was always prepared. Surprises were rare, but to actually be bested was practically none existent. No one could truly sneak up on the leader of Onychinus, not even you, but there was something about you that made you different, that made you special. You both had your secrets, but there was one you shared on a deeper level. Your souls may have been bound together, but a different type of power also made you kindred spirits. You were still learning about it and how to control it, but he had prior experience to look back on. He was drawn to power, and yours was like no other. The draw of an aether core was unique, especially when his own called to yours. He was always well aware of when that power was close by and could easily track it down to the source. He found it adorable how you enjoyed to sneak around him, and he'd let you, not necessarily wanting to lose these types of moments. Although he did look forward to the day you could find him just as easily as he could find you.

Caleb

With an evol like his, and his career choice, it was important to know how to use it. Countless hours of training taught him a lot about his own abilities. In order to manipulate the gravity of the objects around him, he had to be able to distinguish their own gravitational pull from each other. It got to a point where he didn't need to have something in his field of view to shift the gravity around it, he could just feel the object in question. The same applied to people, but he discovered something else while gazing at you. The pull you had was unique, with its own distinguishable features. He spent a lot of time learning it and memorizing it, so he could always pick up on your presence, regardless of where you were. He didn't need to see you to find you, just let himself get pulled in by your own gravity. With his sense always an alert, your presence was always welcomed in his life. Although he rather never escape your pull.

[ryuzakemo128]

Beneath Your Depths ..... Do You Feel Anything?

Pairing: Poly! 141 x Reaper! Forensic Pathologist! Female Reader

Masterlist - Prequel - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

Content Warning: Graphic description of you and what you really look like. You are Death aka the pale horse, the grim reaper, the main dude bossing around the little reapers under your employ thing. Prequel to the series of one shot parts I have written before this one.

Note: If you prefer to remain unaware about how I want to depict you. Feel free to skip this one. It won't affect the future parts or anything. Just like an extra plate of food, you are always free to say no thanks, I already have enough here.

I won't add a summary either because I don't want to spoil anything for this one, and I want to know if anyone will like this or not.

You are always certain you knew everything there was to be in life and death. Knowing both worlds so intimately. What else could you be?

Abhorrent. Antediluvian. Colossal. Eldritch by some people's standards. The creature standing before the four of them, the four men, it was nothing like they have ever seen before.

Ethereal. Most of the time you are formless. An incarnate of death in flesh, a silent spectator of mortality's dance. But now, as you stand before the creature, the air thickens, and your form solidifies. Price's eyes narrow, taking in your sudden presence. Soap's hand tightens around his combat knife. Ghost's grip on his rifle relaxes slightly, his gaze flicking to the side to assess the new player. Gaz's eyes, however, light up with an unreadable emotion.

Necromantic as you are in fact one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. You were huge. Bugger than any monster they have come across in the past. So otherworld, outer worldly and powerful, you could feel the tremor of fear emanating from the men. Fear of death. Common among humans. Uncommon amongst other monsters.

What did they have to fear from you? You were just as freakish as they are right?

A primeval they called you. A creature related to the beginning of everything. A creature so old none could possibly comprehend you without taking the overarching risk of madness over taking them.

Some priests and nuns claim you as unholy. But you are as natural as the earth beneath their feet and the air in their lungs.

After you consume someone or something a putrid smell clings to you, your flesh, your bones and the essence of your blood. Yes. You have blood. Yes. You can bleed. No. You are incapable of dying. But you are able to appear dead to anyone who would have or have tried to kill you in the past.

Your exoskeleton is there if someone where to squint hard enough to see the shape beneath the endless smog surrounding your gargantuan form. Born of star and moon, you have no reason to harm outside your predefined nature.

You have no reason of knowing why they were there before you. They weren't supposed to die just yet. There time had not come close to arriving. You knew this. Your body knew this and your soul declined their intrepid touch.

Necrotizing the living and bringing them unto the other side where they were supposed to come to when it was their time to go. Ritualistic in behaviour but never quite fitting in. This creature before them is you.

Predatory in nature much like the sharks, the bears, the wolves, and the many animals that kill in order to endure.

Insidious, malevolent, deranged and yet eerily benevolent. Not outright kind mind you. Death is anything but kind in the hearts and minds of mankind. But for you? It's a job. Its a promise. Its a wish. Its a release.

You don't wish to end things for the sake of ending them. No matter how many might find that hard to believe or reject it completely.

The ghastly chthonic array of the deceased walking past you like you weren't even there. Like you weren't the only who brought them there. A cycle of nature you were in tune with without having to remember the tune or even explain the why of it. Wave after wave like the ocean eroding away stone and metal beneath its watery depths.

Macabre. Visceral.

Charnel. Sepulchral. Thanatoid.

Abysmal in some aspects and reflected in most cultures as something or someone most feared. Yet here you are, a being of the void, standing in front of men who have seen hell and lived to tell the tale. You look into Price's eyes and for a moment, you see a flicker of recognition, a glimmer of understanding that you are not here to do harm but to uphold a balance that has been skewed.

It didn't matter what they thought of you, You have a schedule to keep in time with. You can't afford to mess any of it up. With each heavy footstep away from the four men. Each thump on the ground beneath your feet resonated through the air like a silent drum beat. You felt the tension ease slightly as your form grew more indistinct.

Price spoke up, his voice a gravelly rumble that seemed to echo around the abandoned warehouse. "What the fuck was that?" Soap's eyes didn't leave the spot where you had been standing, knuckles white around the grip of his knife. Ghost was the first to move, holstering his weapon and walking towards the spot where your ethereal presence had been. He knelt down, inspecting the ground with a keen eye.

"Looks like it left something behind," he said, picking up a small, gleaming object that looked out of place amidst the dust and grime. It was a tooth, shaped unlike any creature they had encountered before. The serrated edge and crystalline sheen hinted at a power that was beyond their understanding.

A small piece of obsidian with red under glow just beneath the surface.

[creature-wizard]

How the mythology of starseeds, indigo children, crystal children, rainbow children, etc. harms kids

Something I didn't talk about in my last post is how New Age is often harmful to young children, so I'm going to talk about it here.

Here's a quick rundown on terminology for anyone who doesn't already know:

Starseed: An alien soul incarnated in a human body, typically for the purpose of "raising the Earth's vibrational frequency" (read: convert people to New Age beliefs).

Indigo/Crystal/Rainbow Child: A child born with a spiritually advanced soul, whose life purpose is to bring the New Age into being.

If you do a quick websearch on any of these terms, you'll find that the alleged signs of being one of these overlaps with traits associated with autism and ADHD. Many websites will just straight-out say that these children are commonly mistaken for having autism or ADHD. Sometimes you'll find people who claim autism and ADHD don't actually exist at all, but were created by the conspiracy to control and suppress these kids.

What often happens is that New Age parents see their autistic and ADHD children displaying these "signs," and decide that their kids are one of these special souls. So rather than giving their children the help and support they actually need, they project and burden them with incredibly high expectations. We're talking about parents expecting their kids to be able to work miracles or have access to all of this incredibly advanced wisdom that they simply just don't.

Various people I've seen on this website who were raised by New Age parents have spoken about how this kind of thing messed them up. They basically have religious trauma from it. Deciding that your kid has special powers and a special purpose because they meet a very spurious criteria is not okay.

When I was a kid, I absolutely would have fit most definitions of a starseed. I believed in magic, fairies, aliens, and psychic powers. Sci-fi and fantasy was my jam. I loved to draw and play elaborate games of pretend. The idea of helping and healing people appealed to me majorly. And, well, I had undiagnosed autism and ADHD.

But you know what I didn't have?

The kind of special spiritual gifts and innate wisdom people associate with starseeds and the rest.

In fact, as far as I could tell, everyone around me seemed to be more psychically and spiritually gifted than me, for no reason I could ever work out. It was actually kind of traumatizing, because I felt like something was wrong with me.

So yeah, deciding a kid must be some special, extra-magical kind of soul because they have certain characteristics and interests is really not good. Parents who do this are essentially forcing their own egos onto their children, who will very likely end up traumatized from the whole ordeal.

[atamascolily]

Okay, so no release date for Walpurgis no Kaiten yet in spite of them selling advance tickets at Anime Japan this year (what), but there's a new key visual! I was away when it originally came out in March and I ended up sitting on what I originally wrote and thinking about it some more rather than posting it right away because I doubt we'll get any more news until September at the Aniplex Online Fest, just like the last two years.

Putting my thoughts under a read-more because this got very long.

Whereas the first key visual emphasized duality in the form of two different Homuras, this one takes a different tack by contrasting Homura and Madoka in their cosmic aspects. I think this is the direction that most people were originally expecting for Walpurgis no Kaiten (myself included), so it's interesting that they're going back to that after so much focus on multiple Homuras.

I also notice that each drawing has the same arch shape as the windows representing salvation from the Law of Cycles from Rebellion, except here they seem to be contrasting two different paths--salvation and destruction.

The Madoka panel is reasonably straightforward--both her gold eyes and her posture indicate she is being "possessed" (for the lack of a better word) by the Law of Cycles, which is emphasized by the doves, white feathers, and circle of clouds mimicking Gustave Doré's engraving of the Empyrean (heaven) from Dante's Divine Comedy, as many people pointed out back when that particular trailer came out.

(Re: the Doré engraving, I also want to note that it shows the sun at the center, while the WnK version doesn't really show us what's at the center--yet--and that scene may be one where our expectations are subverted. Though it's probably still a circle because everything is in this show ends up circular in the end, lol.)

The Homura panel gave me pause for a bit, because "which Homura is this?" is a reasonable question at this point. I was on the fence for a while because her eyes are red, but given everything else in this image, I think the situation is similar to Madoka's in that Homura is embodying her role here and that is indicated by her eye color. Yes, there's also a red-eyed Homura in the trailer, but given the headband and the outfit and the context, I'm leaning towards the "real" (for a given value of "real", lol) or original flavor Homura here.

The eye color shift also makes me wonder if "Devil" is a role that both/multiple Homuras can take on at different points, since the headband Homura with red eyes in one of the trailer is also shown with brown eyes in the first key visual. Eyes are not only "windows to the soul", they're also a key way of differentiating characters and their mental/emotional states. This would be fascinating, and go a long way towards explaining why the dopplganger!Homura dancing wth Madoka has red eyes in that scene but not in the key visual, where her eyes are brown, which had always flummoxed me before.

I'll also note that while Madoka's posture makes her embodiment feels more passive, Homura's embodiment is conscious and deliberate. Whatever this path is, she is choosing it--emphasized by the caption about fulfilling "the promise that we made that day" against Madoka's wishes, presumably referring to the scene from episode 10 where Madoka asks Homura to go back in time and prevent her from becoming a magical girl, i.e., the most traumatic moment in Homura's life that shaped everything that came after it.).

The flames are pretty obvious (Homura's name, as the show takes pains to point out, is a homonym for "flame") and fit with the Devil aspect, but it seems odd to me that the original Homura would destroy the world she spent so much time building. Would she if she thought she needed to? Absolutely--and she already did once before in Rebellion--but "burning everything down to ashes" is an odd choice if you're literally the system incarnate.

But that is what witches do... even though they also build them up, and of course, we have the cranes constructing buildings in the background; Walpurgisnacht being the "stage-constructing witch". In Rebellion, Mitakihara City reflected Homura's mental state and priorities, so what does it say that she is simultaneously building and destroying everything? Is she of two minds about this?

Or to put it a different way: If Homura is not fully in control here--if there is another being with radically different views of reality, who is working to build that vision from the ground up--then suddenly Homura burning everything down makes a lot more sense. And conveniently, there's at least one candidate--the other Homura, who shares her face and presumably her powers as well!

(While I think it's likely that this other Homura will either create or become Walpurgisnacht--i.e., metaphorical shadows and reflections will eventually prove to be literal shadows and reflections--you could also make a case for some other as yet unknown puppetmaster working "behind the scenes". TBD.

Also, as witches can only manifest in a world where the Law of Cycles is no longer fully applicable, Walpurgisnacht can only form if something goes haywire with the Law and/or Homura's world. Ether way, the only person who has been able to stop Walpurgisnacht in the past is Madoka, thus putting her in danger in spite of all of Homura's efforts to keep her safe. Oh, the irony! And given how powerful the new Walpurgisnacht is likely to be, only Madoka restored to the Law of Cycles will be able to stop her.

Unless something changes, history is doomed to repeat itself, but I do not think this series will return to the old status quo. Something will change, and I hope it will be Homura and Madoka working together to build a new system as equals, but again TBD.)

Much has been made of the costume shifts, but what's striking on seeing Madoka and Homura's magical girl costumes juxtaposed like this is how they have shifted to accommodate their current situations--i.e., the lock on Madoka's costume reflects how she is "locked out" from the Law of Cycles and her full memories/awareness of herself, just as the black feathers on Homura's shoulders resemble her devil form's wings. Given that costumes seem to reflect magical girls' self-image and also their powers or lack thereof (cf. Mami's costume lacking her ribbons, Sayaka in bandages, etc), this seems entirely plausible.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of these new costumes and I'm low-key hoping they are relatively temporary in the grand scheme of things, but you do you. The art style is also different, but that's probably inevitable after such a long gap between installments; things naturally can and do shift, even if it takes a while for me to get used to it.

It seems like the position of their feet are mirroring each other, but in reverse, in contrast to their different arm positions. Both of Madoka's hands are open and visible, but Homura has 1 closed fist and 1 hidden arm behind her back, which is reflective of their respective personalities but also their situations. We have a pretty good idea of what's going with Madoka, but Homura is not only a mystery, there's at least two sides/versions of her in conflict.

You can see the shadow of someone who looks like Madoka in front of Homura pointing a bow at her, which I find odd since she usually advocates for magical girls not to fight each other. Not sure what's going on there, but I think this may be one of those things that isn't necessarily what it appears to be at first.

But here's the thing that gets me. Look at what Homura is standing on. It's a stage, no? And in addition to the giant cogs, which have always represented the "gears" of fate and inevitability (and thus have been associated with both Walpurgisnacht, as the one who brings about that fate and Homura as the one who reverses time to overcome it), there's something else there that had me screaming when I noticed it. It's also her shield.

Or, more specifically, the two tomoe from her shield that hold the sand representing the flow of time.

I don't want to read too much into this just yet because the angle and the lighting aren't great, and it's unclear how much of this is going to end up in the finished film, but let's just say I'm very interested in where this particular piece of symbolism may be going, even if I don't love the CGI here.

Interestingly, Madoka appears to be floating over a different part of the clock/shield (in addition to the color shift). This was surprising to me because the drawings are otherwise the same, but you can see that Homura is standing over a series of cogs, while Madoka isn't. I'd originally thought they were supposed to be facing each other--and maybe they are--though if that's the case, it's even more interesting that the "Madoka shadow" we see on Homura's side is different.

Am I overthinking it and reading too much into a single image? Perhaps, but this is the only new thing to chew on for a while, so I might as well make the most of it, right?

I didn't notice this until other people pointed it out, but Homura's left hand (with her soul gem mark) is conveniently not visible, and the ribbon she's holding connects to Madoka on the other side, forming a loop. Great work, everyone.

[21loveatfirstsight]

My ted talk about Rio Vidal

Facts that we can’t or won’t deny:

She is the MCU incarnation of Death.

She is Agatha’s ex (wife).

Now let’s talk about her characteristics and behavior in Agatha All Along.

Episode 1: She shows nothing but love for Agatha when she “visits”.

We now know that Agatha gets a different version of what people say to her, or sometimes none at all or people stays silent but she gets a response in her version, only dialogue with pure, strong emotions come through; so maybe all of Rio’s dialogues are not completely what it seems. I assume all the dialogues about the case is the spelled version, or Agatha self-inserted dialogues to keep her in the “detective” persona; so let’s talk about some that seems out of place or have double meaning, because I think some of it actually get through the spell:

If you want to be in control, you can be + Is this really how you see yourself? Rio is showing support, encouragement, or at least that is how Agatha interprets it.

That’s not why I came over. I think this line got changed a bit to fit the scenario, but it still carries some of Rio’s intention, which is to break Agatha out of Wanda’s spell (to kill, marry, kiss her).

Do you remember why you hate me? This line may get delivered in a different tone in reality (Rio laughing, mockingly says it maybe).

Are you hiding evidence + Well, you’re only lying to yourself. This seems out of place. The reality version could be: are you hiding something from me (thought? Sus af).

These out of place lines show Rio caring about Agatha, or it could mean that’s how Agatha interprets Rio. Nonetheless, if they decided to show Rio’s pov, I will get back to this.

There’s nothing that needs to be said about the morgue scene, except maybe Rio stays and watches her ex-wife put on a show for her, lmao (I need someone to draw her making money rain as Agatha distressingly get out of the spell).

I suspect the painting has something to do with their past. I will wait for more information.

Yes, I know she came at Agatha all stabby stabby after Agatha woke up, but let’s be honest, that could just be how Death expresses love. And her words in this conversation also shows caring and love, it’s only Agatha expressed hatred toward her.

Also, I rewatched episode 1 and now just realize Billy witness all that domestic chaos bet them, yikes (kinda feel lucky that he can’t read their mind, because damn, that’ll definitely be something).

Episode 4: This is the episode that explores their dynamic the most.

Agatha knew Rio doesn’t belong in the coven, she can’t be part of any coven. But to show up in front of her now, she looks extremely angry and upset at Rio.

In the trials, apart from Agatha tricking Rio into saying “get my bodies”, I found 2 interesting exchanges between them.

Agatha told Rio “No”. She knows Rio’s identity, so I think she thinks Rio is here to collect someone’s soul (at the time, it’s “Teen” who she suspects being Nicholas).

Agatha told Rio “You’re too early”. Given the new trailer having Alice look alive and well, with that dialogue, maybe witches won’t die within the trials, everyone will come back at the ends or the last trial and that’s when things go batshit crazy and Lady Death comes to collect “her bodies” (could possible that’s how Agatha and Rio met too).

Now, let’s talk about the moment Billy is injured.

Agatha is panicked and upset, and she is showing it. When she told Rio “Don’t” (take him away again!), Rio changes from silently watching the witches fussing to slightly surprised, and then her eyes look down at Billy, look at Agatha like she is thinking something. She knows who Billy is, and now with how Agatha behaves, she knows Agatha actually thinks he’s Nicholas and cares about him. That can’t be good. So now she has to do what she hates: hurt Agatha, aka telling her the truth, which is like taking Nicholas from Agatha all over again. And what annoying the most is that she is the only one knowing and Agatha will trust with that kind of information.

There is nothing needed to explore about the “She’s my scar” scene, lol. So let’s dissect the hug scene. That hug is Agatha expresses her gratitude to Rio (for not taking her son), Rio takes a moment to enjoy it but she has to stop at the almost-kiss. Because she knows, if they kissed, Agatha will hate her more after she knows Billy’s identity. Better to rip off that band-aid early, right? Rio’s face after is showing that she still dislikes it though.

Episode 5: She is at her best, chaotic evil entity who is in love with Agatha.

I mean, she really enjoys Agatha’s trial at first, because she likes to see strangers trying to torture Agatha (like they possibly can anyway, lol). But the moment Evanora shows up, her demeanor changes. Yes, strangers can hurt Agatha, because they can barely scrape the surface even if they throw everything they have in. And Agatha can do what she does best, trick them into handling over their power, and Rio gets the bodies. Not to mention Rio can see Agatha’s emotions if those witches can poke through the bear (their relationship is so poisoned, i love it). But not the MIL, because Agatha will actually become vulnerable, which Rio won’t absolutely allow. Because that will hit Agatha deep, and that will make her fall, and Rio will lose her.

Also there is a small scene where Agatha climbs out of the trial, Rio’s look and music is kinda strange. Let’s wait to see what they will show us.

I won’t look past how Rio mysteriously disappears whenever the coven is in crisis, maybe being Death, she can’t intervene with what decides the fate of the coven.