#she got no memory she just spawned with a sword one day

[infintasmal]

...you guys were babies? can't relate.

[kayawolfhorse]

Day 14 — In the Webs We Weave

—☾—

The chatter fades softly behind Pearl as she marches across the map with stacks of terracotta in her pockets and a mission on her mind. She’s had enough distraction for one session; she’s got to get a move-on with this task if she wants any chance at regaining her lost hearts.

Even still, Pearl can’t keep the smile off of her face. Though it cost her valuable time, she’d be hard-pressed to regret the impromptu get-together.

Her base had been filled to the brim with jokes and laughter as almost the entire server crammed in together, sat upon or sprawled beneath hastily crafted trapdoors. It was chaotic and completely unnecessary, and Pearl’s heart couldn’t have felt warmer, tucked beside Scar on her recently-installed floor.

The feeling lingers between her ribs as Pearl scopes out a suitable hill at the border’s edge to enact her plan. After a glance over her shoulder to make sure she’s alone, she digs out a shallow cave in the hill’s side just large enough to hold a single block and a few instruction-bearing signs.

A perfectly adequate goose, Pearl thinks, stepping back to spellcheck her scrawled writing. Now, for the chase.

With each block added, the lines of terracotta shape into bright red trails looping across the plains, each leading to the cave. If that’s not tempting enough to investigate, Pearl doesn’t know what is.

It’s quiet in this empty corner of the map, and unexpectedly peaceful. The day around her is pleasant, and the task at hand is tedious enough for Pearl’s mind to wander.

Her thoughts turn back to the congregation at her base, and Pearl holds the memory close. She’s never known a base to feel as close to home as her silly little mound did in that moment.

So early into this game, her allies are newly forged and her enemies are hardly made; relationships are blank slates. Nothing and everything matters from previous runs. How strange is it to have sat beside those who have hunted her and those she’s hunted in turn lifetimes ago?

She’d laughed alongside Scott like she had in their shared base deep beneath a cottage covered in moss years ago, even though she’s fallen twice by his hand since. She’ll never get enough revenge on him. She resents how he’s stolen every attempt of it from her.

Impulse was among the first to claim a trapdoor, stacked above Pearl. When she looked up at him, she’d seen the kindness he'd shown her, the axe he’d wielded against her, and his blood dripping from the tip of her sword in another life. Bdubs had died from her blow, too, and now he’s a fellow Mounder.

BigB had been a loyal ally—friend—when Pearl needed it the most after her lonesome win. When he killed her, it was at her demand. In the round before, he hadn’t stopped his soulmate from cursing her name.

Gem appears on the horizon, and Pearl can’t help but wave, before quickly remembering she’s trying to avoid being spotted. She yanks her hand back and drops to a crouch behind the closest bit of terracotta, but it’s no use—Gem’s already started towards her.

“Hey-yyy, Gem,” Pearl says as casually as she can. “Have you, uh, seen this shiny red trail? Very suspicious.”

“Uh huh.” Gem squints at her. “Definitely the thing here that’s suspicious, yep.”

“Glad you agree! Would you, by any chance, be interested in following it?” Worth a shot, right?

Gem snorts. “I actually have someplace I need to be; just figured I’d say hello first.”

“Right, right,” Pearl says. She must look disappointed, because Gem giggles.

“If I see anyone looking for a weird, suspiciously random path to follow, I’ll be sure to point them this way, how’s that?”

“Oh, you’re the best.” Pearl grins.

Gem grins back. “I know. See you around!”

Pearl bids goodbyes to Gem’s retreating back and waits until she’s out of sight to start working once more. She thinks about how much longer it’ll take her to reach spawn. She wonders how Gem will fit into the threads woven between the players and games.

Block by block, her wild goose chase grows. The sun dips lower over the horizon, and by the time Pearl makes it to spawn, the sky is full of twinkling stars.

Pearl returns to an empty mound, clears away enough of the mess to collapse into bed, and hopes someone happens upon the terracotta before she must approach the Secret Keeper in the morning. When she finally falls asleep, her dreams are bathed in red.

[razzberrydazz]

OC Meme - get to know Rana

Got tagged by @mynthara to do this oc info meme, tagging uhhh anyone else who wants to do this if ya want (@larissel I choose you if ya wanna blab about Nashira :3)

I put a readmore for possible game spoilers ahead for BG3, and for potential content warnings (mentions of Dark Urge antics, kink dynamics, and brief mentions of SA), cuz Rana's life pre-tadpole was Not a happy one. Enjoy all the pics of Rana I stuffed into this!

BASICS

Full Name (pre-tadpole): Rana the Gray, ie the Bladedancer, ie The Dark Urge, ie The Red-Eyed Dagger

(Rana loosely translates to Lesser End/Minor Destruction in Drow)

Full Name (post-tadpole): Rana'rox La'Rouge, ie Rana, ie Durge

Gender: Nonbinary/Agender

Sexuality: Pan

Pronouns: They/It (They/Them for Rana, it/its for their Urge)

Age: Mid 40s? Rana doesn't quite remember how old they are.

OTHER

Family: Bhaal (progenitor), Orin the Red (Half-Sister, Bhaalspawn Bloodkin), Mala (Rana's daughter - a product of SA and incest - that they had smuggled away as soon as she was weaned, in order to protect her from the Bhaalist cult and from their Dark Urge; Mala ended up adopted by Jaheira and her family. Mala loosely translates to Secret Breaker in Drow)

Other family: Adopted drow (seldarine) mother called Rox La'Rouge (deceased, killed by the Dark Urge), a pet Displacer Beast called Chewy (deceased), a human man called Rook Haven (deceased, killed by the Dark Urge) who was the ringleader for a traveling circus called the Raucous Rooks (all members killed by the Dark Urge when the Urge first fully manifested in Rana), and several unnamed children both deceased and surviving as Bhaalists (Rana doesn't remember them, the Brain Trauma is Strong).

Birthplace: Spawned in the Cloakwood forest near Baldur's Gate, then found and raised by Rox La'Rouge and the Raucous Rooks circus shortly after.

Job: Originally a bard and acrobat in the Raucous Rooks circus, then became a Bhaalist assassin, then the leader of the Bhaalist cult in Baldur's Gate, then during the events of BG3 acts as an altruistic adventurer. Rana hopes to one day join a new carnival or circus as a clown or daredevil acrobat.

Phobias: Succumbing to the Urge, Pregnancy (Ironically has a breeding kink), The color Red (specifically when it's the Urge), loss of control, succumbing to insanity.

Hobbies: Rana works to teach themself Drow (they never learned to speak it fluently as a kid, and are trying to catch up in adulthood), and other languages in their free time, and write in their journal extensively. They enjoy collecting and sharpening daggers, sword swallowing, juggling, reading, dancing, singing, and playing instruments such as the lyre and lute. They also like trying new clothes and learning new rope-tying techniques.

MORALS

Alignment: Chaotic Good - Rana will go out of their way to do what they believe is good, laws and consequences be damned, if only to counteract their Urges. Sometimes that involves killing someone doing a great wrong, or breaking into buildings to steal food to feed the hungry, or intimidating guards into turning a blind eye to someone just trying to survive, or purposely isolating themselves from others so as to not hurt anyone.

Sins: Wrath (the Urge), Lust, Envy

Virtues: Patience, Courage, Kindness

Introvert / Extrovert / Ambivert

Organized / Disorganized (memory problems)

Close-minded / Open-minded

Calm / Anxious / Restless

Disagreeable / Agreeable / In between

Cautious / Reckless / In between (save yourself I'll hold them back)

Patient / Impatient / In between

Outspoken / Reserved / In between

Leader / Follower / Flexible

Empathetic / Unempathetic / In between

Optimist / Pessimist / Realist

Traditional / Modern / In between

Hard-working / Lazy

OTP: Shadowheart, Minthara, and Lae'Zel (Rana is polyamorous and kinky, and wants to share and be shared with their partners. In an ideal situation, they act as service top and Submissive in a D/S dynamic with Minthara, Shadowheart, and Lae'Zel; Minthara also acts as the Domme of Shadowheart, Lae'Zel, and Karlach. Minthara only agrees to this dynamic if it's a Hierarchical relationship with her at the top.)

Acceptable Ships: Karlach, Halsin, Astarion, Dame Aylin and Isobel, and Abdirak (If Shadowheart and/or Minthara give Rana permission, they'll happily be with other people)

OT3: In a polycule with the entire party (Rana wants to get passed around like a blunt)

Brotp: Karlach, Wyll, Minsc, Astarion, Gale

Notps: Jaheira (sees Jaheira as a mother/grandmother/mentor figure, but is entirely willing to platonically help Jaheira with her kids, considering they find out Jaheira's the one who adopted Mala ie Rana's daughter),

Gortash (Rana's ex-boyfriend from before the tadpole amnesia, whom enabled their Urges and vices. Rana wishes things could have gone differently, they saw potential in Gortash, and mourn what could have been had he not turned to tyranny and extortion. They resent him for what he did to Karlach, but can't bring themself to hate him, because in his own ways he managed to help them by crafting a prosthetic eye specially made for them, and they at one point held some strange distorted love for each other),

Orin (not only did Orin give Rana the brain trauma and tadpole that resulted in their amnesia, but Orin also SA'd Rana during the time before they became head of the Bhaalist cult, which resulted in Rana going into hiding for a year and a half to have their daughter Mala and smuggle her away to a family that would protect her. Rana feared what would've happened if they raised a child within the cult, knowing the traumatic hell of Orin's own incestuous conception and cult upbringing. There was a high likelihood they would have killed the child due to the Urge, if they kept Mala within the cult. Even so, the good still in Rana wanted to find a way to forgive Orin, and drag her out of the cult kicking and screaming. If they could have found a way to renounce Bhaal without being forced to kill Orin, they would. Alas, they couldn't find a way to save their bloodkin from the lash of Bhaal.)

Raphael (Rana already felt like their soul was forfeit by virtue of being a Bhaalspawn, they're loathe to chain themself to a manipulative devil as well, even though they find his honeyed words alluring and the idea of being a devil's plaything is...not entirely unappealing for someone who enjoys being a service submissive like Rana.)

Link to the lil dagger dividers I used for this post

[marshmallowloves]

HELLO CICI MY BELOVED PLEASE ANSWER 📆Calendar and 🕯️Candle for Koci my beloved 🥺

~ @princess-hope-selfships 💖

Doing this for BOTW/TOTK Koci (rather than ALBW/PH Koci) cause I think I've fleshed her out the most asjfhsjg (and...also I think that's the version you meant anyway fjdhfj) Also hi yes hello my lovely friend I'm sorry this is late and also long af but you unlocked the BOOK OF KOCI so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

🕯️Candle: Do you/your self-insert have a secret? If so, what is it and why do they keep it to themselves? Is it dark and mysterious or something small, yet impactful?

Koci's a pretty open book about most things... Her only true secret is one that even she doesn't fully understand. Ever since Link pulled the Master Sword and she started travelling with him, an infrequent but recurring nightmare began to ail her.

It started as a very simple premise - she would find herself in a dark stone and dirt corridor somewhere underground, locked behind bars in some sort of prison cell. She would hear the anguished screams and cries of other people further away, but couldn't see who or where they came from.

As time passed and the calamity drew near - and especially when she and the champions camped nearer to places infected with malice - the nightmares became more frequent and detailed. She would see someone who looked very similar to herself in the cell across from her. Faceless Hylian soldiers began to patrol the corridor and would sometimes drag that person away and out of sight. Eventually the soldiers would taunt Koci through the bars and take her away, though she always woke up before she could see where - and often did so gasping for air or crying out in her native Kokiri language.

Though it was obvious that she was having these nightmares, Koci was always too afraid to tell anyone what they were about - especially on the rare occasion that the faces of the soldiers would become those of her friends. Rina was the only one who knew for quite some time, but even she couldn't say much about why it was happening. Koci had always suspected that it was either a vision of the past or an omen of the future, but it wasn't until Link and Zelda first explored beneath Hyrule Castle that Koci realized there actually was a connection - the screams that only she could hear down there were the same ones from her dreams. Even then, she still never told anyone - even when the nightmares became less frequent before the Upheaval, or when they started coming back the closer they stayed near Gloom that had spawned after.

It would only be after Zelda's return following the defeat of the Demon Dragon that Koci would feel safe in revealing exactly what her nightmares were about. With Link and Zelda promising to keep her safe, they would explore below the castle a second time so that Koci might finally put those suspicions to rest...

📆Calendar: What was the most special day to date for yourself/self-insert? It could be anything!

Because of how long she's lived already, Koci has a lot of moments and memories that are particularly special to her, and it's hard for her to pick a favorite.

There was of course the day she was paired with her guardian and closest friend in the world, Rina. By Kokiri standards, Koci had really only just been born, knowing next to nothing about the world around her, but Rina was there to answer every question and curiosity she had. It seemed like she knew everything about...everything, from how things were made to history and customs across different cultures and anything in between. Koci never questioned how Rina knew so much, and to this day she has no idea that her guardian fairy is much, much more than meets the eye... but they're inseparable all the same.

There was also the day she learned that Link returned her feelings, even though their individual duties meant they had to wait a while. Over several years since meeting him, she got to see more of what he was really like beyond his role as a knight and grew to adore it quite a lot, but she worried that his job would keep him from ever seeing her as more than a travelling companion. So naturally she was overjoyed when he proved her wrong and told her that he actually felt pretty similar - he also wondered if she really wanted to be as close to him as it seemed, or if that was just because she was sworn to the blade he carried. And even before that, she seemed sort of intimidated by the fact that his role was so important, so it came as a pleasant surprise to both of them that they actually had feelings for each other.

Then there were moments, as the calamity inched closer, where she and Zelda would act more as friends. Initially, Koci was intimidated by the Princess' role and status, similar to how she first felt about Link. And in the beginning, she didn't understand why Zelda seemed to hold such disdain for her. But when she later learned that it was for the same reason the Princess initially felt contempt for Link - because he was able to fulfill his role when she couldn't - Koci and Zelda began to understand one another more. Koci also didn't feel very confident about her role - it was given to her as something she just had to do, and made her feel like more of an accessory than a person among her companions. The moments when Zelda would come around and the two would share stories and laugh with each other helped Koci feel more welcome in the place she was supposed to be.

Then there came the point when she and Link decided to settle in his home in Hateno Village after Ganon's defeat. It was the first time after they'd admitted their feelings for each other that they could finally rest and spend true quality time together. It wasn't something either of them ever expected to want when they were younger, but after everything they went through over the previous years, it was special to each of them.

But the most important day (or days, rather) for Koci, whether she realized it at the time or not, was when Link came to claim the Master Sword - both the first and second time. For a few years prior to the first, she had been preparing for the moment the hero would appear to claim the blade she had guarded all this time, but she had no idea just how much of her life it would change. Getting to know Link both as a knight and as a person, going from a sheltered and simple life in the forest to experiencing the vast and unfamiliar kingdom of Hyrule, doing so alongside the Champions and getting involved with the royal family, making new friends in all of them... All of these things not only opened her eyes to a world outside the one she grew up in, but also allowed her to live and mature within it - something that, from what little she knew of her own race's history, no Kokiri had ever been able to do before.

[empty-pizza]

thoughts on harrow the ninth (actual) chapter one and also chapter two

man i got confused. apparently i read parodos last time, not chapter one. also i hadn't noticed the prologue was the night before the emperor's murder. i promise i am paying attention now. also i accidentally read some of chapter two before chapter one because i mixed up what i had already read.

and as someone paying attention, i am noticing that at the end of the prologue, harrow says three syllables. and i am big time on the train of saying that some timeline (or memory) fuckery has occurred. so i think those syllables may be GI DE ON.

anyway onto chapter one.

lol harrow doesn't get it. you gotta listen to the sword. seems fairly, uh, literal, that she vomits when holding it, though. is the sword magic, or is this some kind of psychological issue?

it's a great sword. the kind gideon used. maybe harrow's body (lowercase b) recognizes gideon on some level and knows something is wrong.

i am also very curious about the line about the body making it so time can be relied to work right. hmmmmm.

now, chapter two.

god has SERIOUS gamer energy. i will not elaborate.

this man is very reasonable and sensitive. too much so. the vibe i get is that he could rationalize anything. he is happy to show his sensitive side because it makes you sympathize with him.

i wonder how many of harrow's secrets are out. we're sending a bunch of new people to her house. does god realize she puppeted her parents? is that water under the bridge?

i can imagine many reasons why the cost of resurrection might be too great. but i have to wonder why the cost of returning to the houses is also too great. that's a funky one.

there's a really interesting paragraph in here where i can't tell if it's just describing things in a fancy way or if it's implying that the Body is harrow's? then is harrow, say, in gideon's body? or does the Body just look the same as harrow? or am i reading the completely wrong thing from this?

this planet stuff is neat. so planets get converted from thalergic to thanergic, which is very confusing. is that why we lack much agriculture here? they turn the planets from something that can sustain life to something they can draw necromantic power from?

so big g resurrected everyone because the planets died and a bunch of Resurrection Beasts spawned. imma be real: this is extremely cool. like extremely fucking cool. incomprehensibly powerful beasts that are near-impossible to kill? fucking baller.

ah so they chase big g. so that's why he can't go to the houses. not even for a day? I mean, how far away are they. hmm.

all of this, however, might not be as true as it seems. that's the thing about this god fellow. he really does not seem like a liar. that makes it extremely dangerous if he is a liar.

okay. that was all fun and games but we're getting to the serious stuff:

what the HELL is with this body shit?

the body of the locked tomb had been with harrow for a long time. again, this really seems like something harrow would have acknowledged back during book one. the more details we get the less i can believe that this was going on all along. there is fuckery about.

the body has not spoken to harrow since the night her parents died. THIS IS NOT TRUE. we just saw the body said "This isn't how it happens" when Harrow was talking to Ortus. i repeat: there is fuckery about.

harrow walked with her? dreamed of her? there's all this history? tf????

what made harrow half a lyctor. she seemed a pretty proper one last time.

they're saying ortus died. like. tf???? that dweeb? he is not the one that made a sacrifice for harrow's lyctorhood. the suggestion that it was ortus makes harrow SICK!

what does mr. god suspect? he said the name a third time, almost like he was experimenting what effect it had on harrow.

there is absolutely fuckery about, of the major variety. the question is whether it's time fuckery, memory fuckery, or extremely clever fuckery i can't suspect. like this could be something like gideon jumped into a hole that makes her retroactively never have existed but the vestiges of her soul push into reality through harrow's perception and try to help her. or it could be that nothing crazy happened and this is just all one giant con that the narrative is somehow cleverly pulling on me. but it's gotta be SOMETHING. if the book tries to gaslight me i'm pushing it away and gaslighting myself.

the body could be gideon in some form, but it could also not be. what the hell would have magically associated gideon with the locked tomb itself, making her the Body of the Locked Tomb? it could be some incarnation of that girl harrow saw inside the locked tomb, too. man who fucking KNOWS what this shit is.

harrow names colors that the body's hair could have once been (she says in death, not in life) and does not mention red as a possibility.

[splendidissimus]

1998, Easter Break -- The Slaughter at Malfoy Manor

((A note: The movie had all the Malfoys standing by stonily bearing witness as Voldemort slaughtered the goblins after Gringotts was robbed. The book only had one or two sentences of description from Harry's dream POV of it, but that included Lucius and Bellatrix throwing people behind them to get away. That's much more telling, I think: not only are not even Death Eaters safe from his blind rage, but not even his favourite Death Eater is safe. It paints a much clearer picture of how Voldemort cares nothing for his people and what it's like to be in the power of an unstable psychopath.))

((Content warning: fear, disassociation, murder, blood, gore, Cruciatus torture, abandonment))

Genre: whump

Romance level: minor

Angst level: 4/5

Draco's headspace: terrified

((words: ~3200))

------------------------------------

When he entered the memory left for him in the Pensieve, Theo appeared in the drawing room of the manor during the day, with the drapes open to show the blooming flowers in front of the fountain. There were four goblins, one with a sword, and half a dozen wizards in Gringotts uniforms, plus a solid number of Death Eaters who were congregated around the doors, almost like they were blocking the Gringotts people in. 

When he saw the goblins, he knew what was going to happen — Draco had told him about Voldemort's massacre here. He wasn't in a great rush to see it, but he had been directed to this one for a reason… There was something he was supposed to see. And anyway, curiosity was a pretty defining characteristic of his.

He'd gotten adept at feeling out who a given memory belonged to, and this one was Lucius'. He didn't know why, but he imagined he'd find out.

Bellatrix was acting as the leader of the Death Eaters. There were almost a dozen of them in a rough semicircle around her, backing her up, with all of the Malfoys together to the side nearer the floo, on the edge of the group. Theo was gratified that at least his father wasn't among them. "Do it!" she was ordering Draco. Draco looked away in sullen passivity, not quite rebellion, just resisting for as long as he could get away with. 

Narcissa held onto Draco's shoulders protectively. "If you want the Dark Lord here, Bella, call him yourself. I seem to recall you squabbling over the privilege only a week ago." 

Bellatrix suddenly slapped her, hard; the very un-witchly violence startled Theo into taking a step back. "You have no right, after you and your failure of a spawn let Potter escape—!"

Narcissa pulled Draco behind her with one hand, snatching out her wand with the other, expression as angry as the bright red mark on her pale face. Bellatrix drew a wand as well, Death Eaters jeered for a fight, and then Lucius got between them, holding Narcissa's wand hand and pulling her back away. "It isn't worth it," he told her quietly.

"Yes, hide behind your snivelling husband!" Bellatrix sneered. 

Narcissa did lot look any calmer, and Lucius pulled her out of the room before she started cursing Death Eaters. Theo was impressed it was possible to even do that — she seemed like she should be immovable when she didn't want to be, but she didn't actually really resist him. Because it was natural, in a memory, to follow the owner, Theo found himself stepping through Death Eaters in the doorway to eavesdrop on them, though still watching Draco. 

"You know her favour; don't test it," Lucius was warning. She allowed him to take her back to the corridor going past the staircase, toward his study, before she refused to go further, and he didn't press it. "Getting yourself killed won't do anything for him."

In the drawing room Theo was still watching, Bellatrix pointed imperiously at Draco. "Call him." Draco just defensively crossed his arms and refused to look at her.

"If he needs to be called, if someone has to do it, then you do it," Narcissa demanded out in the hall. "Don't make Draco." 

Lucius didn't answer that. "I'll send him to you as soon as possible." 

Theo would never know if he actually would have done it. Bellatrix suddenly grabbed Draco's arm and pulled it free of the other, twisted it, forcing up his sleeve to expose the Dark Mark, and they stumbled together into the wall as he tried to fight her off. The Death Eaters crowded around them, aside from one who was guarding the Gringotts people with a wand, and there was some jeering commentary like "grab him" amid the commotion. One of the Death Eaters pinned his shoulder to hold him against the wall for her, and she managed to grab his other hand and force it against the mark. From his hiss of breath, it seemed like it hurt him. 

She laughed triumphantly and stepped back just as Lucius returned. Draco glared sullenly at her as he pulled his sleeve back down, and his father pulled the shoulder of one of the others to  part the circle hemming him in. 

"That's done, then," Lucius said, holding out his hand until Draco joined him, then set his hand at the top of Draco's back, seemingly oblivious to how tense that made him. He steered Draco behind him to the doorway, not entirely turning his back on the rest of the Death Eaters. 

They were only just over the threshold of the room when the massive front doors down the hall blew open, with such force that they shook the walls when they struck and several portraits crashed to the floor. And then Voldemort was there, floating, flying down the hall, black robes billowing so that he seemed to bring the night with him. 

Some of the less confident Death Eaters scattered deeper into the drawing room. Draco didn't have the chance. Voldemort pointed his wand, and a spell Theo didn't recognize ripped Draco away from Lucius and held him in the air; from the way Draco was acting, choking and clawing at his neck with erratic kicks twisting in the air, it looked like some great unseen hand had grabbed him by the throat. And that explained why all of the Death Eaters were fighting not to be the one who called him: he was already this angry with them. 

"I trust," Voldemort said in that whisper-quiet voice like a knife, "that you have a very good reason for calling me…"

Draco just choked desperately, but he didn't have to answer. "There has been an incident with Bellatrix's vault," Lucius announced, and at nearly the same time, Bellatrix said, "There are Gringotts goblins here with news," and shot Lucius with a fiery glare. 

Voldemort paid no attention to their attempts to undermine each other; he blew open the drawing room doors so that they slammed cracks into the plastered walls and tossed Draco down against the side of the room by the floo, sweeping toward the knot of Gringotts workers. The braver or more sycophantic of the Death Eaters followed him like attendants, including both Bellatrix and Lucius, while the others gave him space, pulling back toward the edges of the massive room like an audience; Theo was more focused on Draco, and watched him pick himself up slowly, coughing and pressing himself out of sight, hopefully-out-of-mind against the wall.

"The vault," Voldemort demanded.

"Gringotts has been robbed," the goblin with the sword said. He seemed to weirdly enjoy it. But, honestly, Theo wasn't even great at understanding the emotions of other people, let alone magical creatures — there was something alien and strange about goblins that made it so much harder. It was just unsettling. The Gringotts wizards seemed to feel it too, and mostly shifted away uneasily. 

"The. Vault."

"It was entered by Harry Pot—"

Lucius was the first to sense the danger — it probably wouldn't have been obvious in the moment, but as an outside observer Theo could see how he moved a second before anyone else, and more decisively than anyone. He was already running when the first slash of blood flew across the room, and then everyone was fleeing, Death Eaters and Gringotts alike, and they were just as indiscriminately cut down. Perhaps the first thing they had ever agreed upon, Lucius and Bellatrix were identical in grabbing other Death Eaters and throwing them bodily behind them as shields against Voldemort's wrath so they could get away. The man Lucius shoved back fell right into a curse and went down with a pitiful scream in a spray of blood, his entrails pouring out of him.

Draco hesitated too long — or maybe he froze. He didn't run for the door with the others. He pressed against the wall, and flinched violently when that Death Eater died, and then it was too late to run, and he cringed back into the corner of the fireplace, trying to hide, one hand clamped over his mouth to keep from adding to the screams, jerking back into the marble with every new curse that flew. Guards and goblins were cut down as they ran for the door; one goblin fell with his head almost severed and bent back on his shoulder, face toward Draco's hiding spot, and Draco's wide eyes were fixed on him.

It took less than a minute for everything in the room to die. Theo realised he had forgotten to even look at Voldemort since the first of them started running, and it was already over when he did. The Dark Lord was standing in the centre of a nest of bodies that had fallen where they dled, twisted, mangled, in spreading pools of blood. He was showing no signs of exertion, not even an identifiable sign of anger on his distorted, snakelike face.

The room wasn't completely silent — it was quiet enough to hear blood dripping to the floor, and the ticking of a clock in the hall. One of the bodies made a horrible gurgling sound that a human shouldn't, not yet quite dead. Theo didn't think Draco was breathing — he couldn't hear it.

Voldemort took one step. The sound of his foot on the slick stone made Draco's whole body flinch into the side of the fireplace like he'd been struck. 

"Clean this up," Voldemort said in a terrifyingly normal voice, no sign of his murderous rage,  no sign that he was speaking to someone who thought they were hiding from him so they wouldn't be killed. Then with a gesture of his wand, the massive front window exploded out over the garden, and he soared away.

Draco finally began to breathe, sharp futile gasps through his trembling fingers, and he slid down the side of the fireplace, shaking so uncontrollably he couldn't move. 

Narcissa called for Draco from outside the room, and was the first one there a moment later. Theo hadn't even known she could show that much emotion — the expression on her face was terror that she was going to find him dead. She slipped in the blood as she ran to him, and knelt in it and didn't care. "Draco…" She cupped his face and made him look away from the bodies, making him look at her so he didn't have to see. "Come here, come on." She was trying to coax him to his feet, but he couldn't. 

Theo crouched beside them, wishing he could touch people here — wishing it was possible to comfort Draco, though he knew it was just a memory. He'd never seen fear like that. It was beyond screaming, crying, fleeing — he just stopped, like his body just gave up. His eyes were wide and faraway. He'd had no idea. Draco had told him about this, but just glossed over the actual act — he'd described the aftermath, like the cleanup was the bad part, and kept this part to himself. 

Lucius came to the doorway and said "He's all right," and Narcissa whirled up in a rage. Theo had the sudden feeling he was missing something and froze the memory. 

He gave a last, reluctant look at Draco, then he stood up again, twirling his wand to turn back time around him, watching Draco's family skitter back out of the room, Voldemort soar back through the window, then the corpses jerk back to their feet and the blood pour back into them. Back to when the slaughter began, moving outside to the hall this time before he let it resume. 

Lucius and Bellatrix led the charge out of the room, past him, followed by the screams. Bellatrix ran up the stairs, ahead of her family; Lucius ran past the staircase, down the hall, and caught Narcissa on her way toward the screams. Theo followed him. 

"Draco!" she demanded, trying to pull away. Lucius actually covered her mouth before she could call out for him and physically dragged her into the game room. It was weirdly visceral — he grabbed her wand hand so she couldn't use it, she elbowed him hard in the chest, and he still managed to hold her against him so she couldn't run out to find Draco.

"Don't draw attention," he breathed over her ear, holding them against the wall behind the door, like he thought Voldemort was going to hunt them down and burst into the room. "He's all right, he'll be all right… He'll have run…"

It was, begrudgingly, probably smart — one thing you could not deny Lucius Malfoy possessed was unusually acute survival instincts. There was no way to know Voldemort wasn't going to keep going and clean house, if the one room hadn't been enough to sate his anger… or if he heard something, like her yelling for Draco, that annoyed him… Theo leaned in the doorway to look out of the room, but there was nothing moving out there, just the screaming and a house that seemed to have miraculously emptied.

The last of the screams stopped, and they both went still, watchful. Lucius grew even more tense, waiting for the sound of footsteps or a cold voice.

Finally they heard the sound of breaking glass at the front of the house. He didn't relax, but she refused to be held any longer; shoving him back, she ripped out of his hands and ran from the room, calling for Draco, danger be damned. 

Lucius followed her at a somewhat more controlled pace, but quickly. The other Death Eaters were beginning to come out as well; Bellatrix was on the stairs, and Avery and Mulciber were coming from the direction of what was now Draco's study. Lucius checked all of them to see if Draco was among them and discarded them when not, and didn't let any of them get ahead of him.

When they came to the drawing room and found her kneeling in the blood, Theo saw him scan the room for Voldemort, watching her back, before even looking at her and Draco. "He's all right," he said, but there was no way he could have actually known that; from their vantage point, Narcissa was mostly hiding Draco as she knelt before him trying to get him to stand, her voice an unclear murmur, and the carnage in the room was on full display. He had no way of knowing she wasn't kneeling over his body. Perhaps he was saying it to will it to be true.

Narcissa whirled around, back to her feet, with her wand out. "Crucio!" He staggered back into a side table with a strangled noise, knocked its vase to the floor, and then fell, convulsing, though not screaming. The other Death Eaters behind him gave her space — Mulciber laughed, and that was the only sound. She was a terrifying vision in her bloody dress; showing true emotion on her face actually made her more beautiful, even though that emotion was rage.

Bellatrix wasn't driven away; she stepped on Lucius' chest on her way into the room. "Too soft, Cissy. You know anger isn't enough. Want me to show you?" She waggled her wand.

With what seemed to be a monumental effort, Narcissa yanked her wand down against her side and released her husband from the curse, breathing a little hard. "Get out," she snapped at her sister.

Bellatrix ignored her. She turned around in the drawing room, taking it in, and laughed in what seemed to be joy, skipping among the corpses like a child in a field of flowers. It was just puddles of blood instead of rain she was gleefully stomping.

Draco had regained enough control over his body to begin to push himself back to his feet, using the fireplace for support. Narcissa noticed him moving and immediately turned back to help him. 

Bellatrix also noticed. "He let you live." She snatched his hand out of Narcissa's and pulled him stumbling away from the fireplace, out into the room where he could see the full extent of the carnage. His eyes skittered over lines of blood sprayed across every wall and the bodies sprawled on the floor and furniture, but found nowhere safe to land. "He let you see…" Her eyes were shining and her voice was breathy. "Tell me, was he not glorious? Our Lord…" 

He pulled his hand away, staring at her in mute horror, and she danced away into the bodies alone, humming off key and raising her face to the blood dripping from the chandelier.

Narcissa put her hands on Draco's shoulders and pulled him out of the room, scattering Death Eaters with her glare. 

Lucius had regained his feet and composure while she dealt with her sister. Her look for him was pure disgust, and he stepped aside like the others and looked away instead of following them. 

That was where the memory ended. Theo stayed there at that last image instead of returning immediately to the real world, considering the scene thoughtfully. His thorough disinterest in Lucius Malfoy as a person was unchanged, but this raised an interesting question: why was this memory here? 

There were three basic reasons people removed memories for storage outside of their heads: to share them with someone else, to inspect them objectively, and to make them easier to live with. Extracting a memory didn't actually remove it from your mind, but it did change it. The way it affected the memory varied from person to person, perhaps based on how their mind worked or their relationship with their memory, how they remembered things. For some people, it removed the emotion in the memory almost entirely. For some, it made memories more distant or vague. For some, it was an actively unpleasant experience. That was why people typically did not extract pleasant memories — because making it less pleasant in your head wasn't worth it. 

So why was this memory here? To share it? Certainly not. But to inspect it? That seemed possible. As he'd shown by staying in the drawing room to see the massacre while Lucius was down the hall, there was a little spatial leeway in memories, and you could use it to see details you hadn't been aware of at the time, or see what was going on without you. If he wanted to have a record of this event, now he had it.

Though, it was possible it was the third thing — that this was a difficult memory. He studied the frozen Lucius and how he had his gaze averted, and thought maybe it was shame. He was ashamed he had run away to save his own skin and left his son behind. 

Good. Maybe he'd actually recognised how sorry an excuse for a man he was. 

Theo moved through Lucius and the other Death Eaters to take a last look at Draco. He wasn't looking at anything, but his eyes were down and empty and his shoulders were hunched; every impression was that he was letting his mother move him, not moving under his own volition. Like his mind was still paralysed with the fear, even though his body could move again. 

He tried to touch Draco's cheek to ease the ache of pathos in his chest, but of course he could only move through him, not help him. Not in the memory, anyway; maybe in the present.

[night-gay]

Into the Anthill pt 29 - Heroes Reborn

The Heroes Reborn event is set in an alternate universe created by Franklin Richards to save the heroes who sacrificed themselves facing Onslaught. I really wanted to skip this, but since the characters are still the real ones (just reality-warped with fresh amnesia) I couldn’t. It wasn’t really worth worrying about since Hank was in almost none of it and Doom brought them all back after only a year anyway.

My one positive note here was that I liked his Heroes Reborn costume a lot more than the one he wore when he got back.

🐜🐜🐜

Avengers vol 2 #1-4, 7-12

Hank Pym is introduced as the lead scientist in the lab on the newly founded Avengers Island. Since his previous lab assistant Vision was now a member of the Avengers, Hank created a new robotic helper to work alongside him: Ultron. Ultron would continue to upgrade himself to a new, more capable body each issue to better assist his father, but after Janet hit him for trying to be affectionate toward her and scolded him for calling her “mother,” his disposition grew cold. When Vision’s body was damaged and brought to Hank to examine, Hank tested out his new “micron gas” to shrink down inside him. Ultron-4 attempted to trap him inside by cutting his escape cable and told Jan he hadn't seen Hank all day.

S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually confiscated Vision’s body, unaware that Hank was still trapped inside in his Ant-Man suit and fighting for survival against Vision’s internal defenses. He found that Vision’s memory data was being downloaded out, generating copies of his old enemies to fight the Avengers. Hank was able to stop this and escape by shutting Vision down completely, but this caused a meltdown that nearly destroyed the Helicarrier. Reunited with the Avengers, Hank discovered a crack in the universe from which the real Thor appeared with his pre-Onslaught memories mostly intact. 

Heroes Reborn: The Return vol 1 #4

Dr. Doom, Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, and Ashema the Celestial worked with Franklin Richards to return everyone to their home dimension, allowing Ashema to preserve this world within her for eternity. Doom tried to steal Franklin’s power on the way back, but he was stopped by the heroes and their journey was successful.

Avengers vol 3 #1-4

The heroes who had been displaced by Onslaught and believed dead were doing their part to settle back into their lives when, all at once, Avengers all around the world were attacked by Asgardian monsters. Captain America, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp, and Thor decided to gather together every possible Avenger to make sure they were all aware of the situation. Thor, who had discovered Asgard abandoned and the Rainbow Bridge lying in pieces, believed the monsters had spawned from places where the shards of the bridge had fallen. Turns out Morgan le Fay was in possession of the Twilight Sword and the Norn Stones, and she used their power to transport the Avengers back to a medieval-England reality warp. Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man channeled the power of every Avenger to defeat her, but Simon appeared to die in the process and Vision’s body was badly damaged.

Several days later, the founding Avengers met with their new federal liaison to reduce their roster down to a more manageable number yet again. Cap, Thor, and Iron Man signed on, but Giant-Man and Wasp returned to inactive membership again. Scarlet Witch, Warbird, and Hawkeye filled out the roster while Justice and Firestar were brought on as reserve members for training.

Minor/Cameo appearances from this period:

Fantastic Four vol 2 #12-13

Iron Man vol 2 #12-13

Captain America vol 2 #12-13

Uncanny Origins vol 1 #11

Marvel Heroes and Legends

Unlimited Access vol 1 #2-4

Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual #1

Spider-Man Unlimited vol 1 #18

Thunderbolts vol 1 #11-12

Captain America vol 3 #3

Conspiracy vol 1 #1

[theregoesmylurkerstatus]

SPOILERS AND ASSUMPTIONS FOR CAMPAIGN 1!

OKAY, let me start by categorising what spoilers I know as best I can, going (mostly) in chronological order AFAIK:

Clarota betrays them (VERY sad, when I first watched those first 10-ish episodes I was fully behind Keyleth’s ‘trust him’ train)

Vax loses a foot to lava and also his snake belt rip

Kima and Allura are the cool, trustworthy PCs, as is everyone’s favourite, Gilmore, a shopkeep with a black belt in karate

The dragonborn guy’s homeland gets dunked on and then later he dies offscreen

Percy’s sister is alive and betrays them but only kind of? I think? She was held captive by the Briarwoods for years and Percy thought she was dead, but she was blackmailed/brainwashed/tortured?

Vax gets cornered by the Briarwoods alone by accident (classic)

There’s a chick called Ripley who makes guns A Thing for the wider world

Something about a sun tree? It’s a creepy tree? They hallucinate their own corpses on it? Or something?

They probably kill one of the hottie vampires at the end of Percy’s arc, I think the male one? Because the lady vampire shows up later?

Percy dies in his arc and it’s the second res ritual they do, after Pike’s one pre-stream

“Take off the mask, darling.” I still don’t care about romance but I feel obligated to mention that I know that famous line

I also know the equally famous “I thought he’d never leave” bubble bath bit, ah Laura

There’s a CHROMA CONCLAVE attack right at the end of Percy’s arc, somewhere

Rashian is a dragon or something, everyone laughs at Liam for not knowing this. I know nothing else about who the Chroma conclave is (3-5 chromatic dragons??? One of each colour????) or what they want, except Vax levels up in the middle of fighting one and Keyleth yells at one

There are communication earrings. There is also a weird black powder man. Victor?

They actually have a permanent home/keep unlike the Mighty Nein?

Vex dies because Percy didn’t check for traps, this is the start of some deal of Vax’s with the Raven Queen which means he multiclasses into paladin?

Vax can fly, he can fly, he can fly!

Uhhhh there’s a couple cursed swords or something in there lol

Percy sells his soul briefly? Genius move Smart Guy lmao

Feywild??? Somehow????? They meet Artagan and make a deal with him for a doorway, and they spend an episode as cows somewhere in here?

Keyleth has Mom Trauma, I don’t know how much this will feature in the campaign

Vax and Vex’s dad suxxx or something, mother is dead

Scanlan hits on his surprise daughter and everyone screams

They have some kind of year long adventuring group break for some reason?

Keyleth makes a storm on an airship (???) and this is cool. Also she turns into a fire elemental a lot and this is also cool.

There’s a kraken fight? It goes really badly, like LEGENDARILY badly, and ngl I’m kind of looking forward to it

Scanlan #LOSESIT and has his legendary ‘what’s my mother’s name?’ rant, after which he leaves for an undetermined number of episodes and is replaced by Tary

This leads to Grog spelling C-A-T for some reason and this???? Makes people cry???????? Truly something you had to be there for

Pike tries to commission drawings of VM for Tary (who calls Vex “little elf girl” and braces for impact when Laura’s nostrils flare) and this goes Very Wrong in a funny way

Tary’s dad sucks

He writes a book

Some NPC reads said book in campaign 2, hence why I know about it

Grog has an arc to do with the other Goliaths who beat him up for defending Pike’s dad?

When Scanlan comes back he tries to sneak in, Vex chases him and he panics and casts modify memory on Vex, it fails several times, an angsty moment becomes comedic very fast

He is received with Mixed Emotions lmao

Keyleth turns into a goldfish and kills herself, this is both apparently extremely painful and extremely funny

Vax gets disintegrated and dies in a beholder fight (rip)

Gilmore is not a dragon but everyone was fully convinced he was. He also gets bodysnatched or something at some point to freak out VM, but they figure out very quickly it’s not him

Scanlan is Ioun’s chosen? Whatever that means, something to help fight Vecna I think

“It was an honour knowing you” sad! Sad! Sad line! Gilmore doesn’t understand, cheekily responds, and leaves!!!! Liam looks on the verge of tears!!!!!! SAD!!!!!

There are so many true love nat 20s. I don’t know what any of them are except that Pike has one and Ashley looks like she’s about to cry

They win the Vecna fight and Keyleth gets the HDYWDT, Scanlan wanted to save a Wish spell for Vax but couldn’t, so he stays dead

Everyone cries here but at least the rest of the party is okay

Keyleth is the last woman standing and everyone cries at this too

And then Grog uses the deck of many things, spawning two oneshots to clean up his mess

Also somewhere in here Vex steals a broom from a guest (lol)

Assumptions!!!!!

More tears than campaign 2 I think, since there are at least two resurrection rituals we see on screen that I know of

The fights might be more stressful since they’re higher level?

Scanlan is going to be the most sexual and lewd character because he is played by Sam

Vex is going to be the second most sexual and lewd character because she is played by Laura

Vax will still instigate most of the one-on-ones so Liam can have as many heavy conversations as his theatre kid’s heart desires

Keyleth will try and fail to make the group more moral

Pike will not try to be moral at all despite being four feet of blessed armour and adorable hair

I think other characters try to make Percy feel remorse for Murder Reasons, but I suspect he’s not going to feel that guilty (I will likely support him in murderous endeavours unless they are FAR more messed up than I currently believe)

From what I understand Grog is Loveable but not hugely layered or complex, and I know Travis was proud he didn’t cry this campaign. I suspect I may be surprised at the character depth Travis gives him, however.

Keyleth also thinks the gods are overrated and I AGREE

Percy is three feral and eldritch raccoons in a trench coat, held together only by sheer force of will and the fragile shell of a posh accent. No one notices because it’s a really cool accent.

There will be a lot more money/shopping/drinking elements than in campaign 2, since I know Vex is a haggler, Percy is a Lord, and Keyleth is a day-drinker? As are Grog and Scanlan

It will be funny for me to see Taliesin play a smart character and Travis a dumb one, though I know that the whiplash went the other way for most people lmao

Vox Machina will be less team-heavy than the Mighty Nein? I gather they’re more of an ‘individual hero’ makeup than an ‘everyone has support abilities’ makeup

It will be more fast-paced than campaign 2? It seems like a lot of the arcs lead directly into each other, with only the occasional shopping episode break

It feels like it might be less friendship heavy than the Mighty Nein? Like they seem more like ‘we’d die for each other’ pals who otherwise spend all their time trying to draw dicks on each other’s faces

They have a more clear “party leader” than the Mighty Nein, who might be Percy and/or Keyleth

I think most PCs and NPCs are more morally clear cut than in campaign 2, like most towns and people in positions of power are either “cool guy who can pitch in” or “get rid of this abomination immediately” territory

I think my favourite character will be Vex, Percy or Keyleth. I just feel it in my bones. 

I think I may also get an extreme soft spot for Grog and Pike, however

My main sources of surprise will be, I think, how things fit together? Like I have no idea WHY they’re in the Feywild, or most other places really, or what any villains’ motivations and backstories and personality traits are, and how they end up fighting any of them in any particular place for any particular reason. I don’t even really know characters’ abilities or literally anything done in any of the fights, aside from “they win/nearly die” and “Scanlan uses Wish and Bigby’s Hand against Vecna”

I assume most plot threads all lead into each other fairly solidly and that they don’t actually seek most of their stuff out?

This assumption will either be fairly right or hilariously wrong, but -- I assume that I already know almost everything important or shocking? I tried really hard to avoid it but being active in campaign 2 meant that over time I got exposed to more and more of campaign 1, and I genuinely believe that I have almost everything down, if not details or order. I don’t think I’ve missed any big moment or impactful arc

Let’s see if I’m right

[chubbyreaderchan]

The Twins & the Mimic | Sesshomaru x human!Reader | Yashahime AU | 1

A/n: I can’t stand sessrin. So I am fixing in this fic. Pedomaru isn’t actually Sesshomaru and reader is the real mother to Satsuna and Towa. Reader is also from modern times just to be more inclusive! Don’t @me. Also female reader. Also not super accurate cuz I stopped watching the shit show after episode 4 so.... hahahah. Complete au.

“Delicious,” a deep voice spoke. 

An image of Sesshomaru, frozen in glass mid transformation was imbedded in the walls of a cave. Nearby, was his mate. His beautiful, human mate was also frozen in place nearby. Sesshomaru was stuck in a frightening pose and it would be quite a surprise for anyone who may stumble upon the image. Fifteen years ago they were trapped here by a mimic demon. 

A mimic who now wore the face of Sesshomaru and changed the memories of anyone who was even close to either of the two before him. Sesshomaru’s loyal subjects were just a few feet outside of the cave, yet Jaken hadn’t a clue that his masters were inside, trapped. 

That this Sesshomaru was an imposter. 

He made everyone believe that Rin did not marry Kohaku but ended up in the arms of Sesshomaru. The change in memories was delicious and the taste of power, though just a quarter of Sesshomaru’s was tantalizing. He didn’t care that the young half-demon spawn of the two were left alone. It didn’t matter.

The only thing that mattered was power and hunger for the demon who only got lucky. He licked his lips after absorbing Sesshomaru’s demonic aura.

The fake Sesshomaru stepped out of the cave and joined Jaken once more. 

“What do you do in there m’lord!” Jaken shouted, concerned. It felt strange to the elderly imp, but his mind said that it was normal. It felt to him that something was off but he couldn’t decide what. 

- 

Something was different this time when he left. His power weakened this time. The weakness seemed to be just enough, as a large crack began run down the center of Sesshomaru’s glass prison. It was just enough to allow his demonic power to materialize. With a flash of golden light it shattered into dust. 

Sesshomaru was free. 

The real Sesshomaru was free from his prison, angry. Beyond angry. His memory was fuzzy, for the last thing he remembered was telling his mate to go off and hide his pups. Everything after seemed blank. 

The demon lord turned on his heel to inspect where he was only to see his the beautiful mother of his children (Y/n) suspended. His rage boiled harder in his chest at the sight of his woman in such a state, and where were his pups? They were only a few weeks old when he was under attack. He glanced down at his hips to check for a sword but it was gone. 

Sesshomaru growled, his claws tinged green with his toxic nails which he used to weaken and destroy his lover’s cage. Without grace, she fell directly into his arms. 

“(Y/n).” Sesshomaru’s voice said gently. “Wake up.” 

Time like this he wished he still had the tensaiga’s power. His worry was quickly dissipated when he locked eyes with her. “S-Sesshomaru?” 

Her eyes widened, remembering the same things he had, only she came back to try and help him foolishly. 

“Wha--?” her body shot up. “Where are my babies?!” 

“Where did you leave them?” he responded carefully. Her face turned into a frown, tears welling in her eyes. “U-Under the tree! I left them with Rin and Jaken... I--” 

“Silence,” His tone was cold but (Y/n) knew he meant well. He wasn’t one for tears or comfort, but he did care about her. He also cared about his offspring and his adopted daughter Rin just as well. 

“Hold onto this Sesshomaru,” he said coolly. Her arms wrapped around the dog demon lords neck as he rushed out of the cave. 

"Something... is wrong,” She said softly, as Sesshomaru moved to the last place they had been before the attack. He tensed slightly, he was feeling it too. “What if--?” 

“Silence,” Sesshomaru repeated, he didn’t want to think of the worst. He couldn’t. 

He had landed them right at the last thing he remembered. Just outside of the old village where he had once left young Rin to learn and once again left her there when Kohaku had married her. They were visiting with Towa and Setsuna that day. 

“Sesshomaru! They aren’t here!” She called, she ran off into the woods when they had arrived. “Rin--... I---” Panic was settling into the young woman. Where were they? 

“Maybe Kaede?” she looked to her own husband. Hope filled her eyes, he simply nodded allowing her to take lead in the search for their young babies. “Maybe Kagome has them!” 

It was a hope. She hoped they were with them, (Y/n) just knew her friend wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her babies. 

They arrived in the village. It had changed. A lot more young adults around but yet not much had changed besides that. 

“Is Lady Kaede home?” (Y/n) asked a young man who looked oddly like Miroku. 

He looked at her in surprise. “Lady (Y/n)?” 

“Have we met?” 

“Not since I was a child... Wait...” he frowned, eyes widening, thinking over the recent events. “Come with me. Lady Kaede should be in her hut” he glanced up noticing Sesshomaru behind her. However, he stayed outside upon arrival to her hut, knowing it kept the peace this way.

A look on his face was both surprise and confusion. He lead them to Kaede who looked busy creating some form of medication. 

“Lady Kaede... please. Tell me you know where my daughters are!” there was no time for formalities in her mind. Her poor babies were probably hungry. Who knows how long it had been since they nursed. Kaede froze, dropping the bowl in her hands. 

It was as if she was frozen in time, as years of memories flooded her mind. “Please”

“... (Y/n)...” she spoke her name slowly. The old woman said it again as if she were tasting it on her tongue. “Do you know how long it has been since you were here, my child?” She turned to face them, visibly much older than the last time she had saw her. 

The look shocked (Y/n) for a moment. “H-how long? Maybe a day or--”

“Fifteen years, (Y/n).”

Her lip quivered.

“Your daughters are fine but--. Sesshomaru,”

“He was trapped with me.” 

The elder’s eyes widened. Her memories were foggy. Flashes of Rin with twin girls being birthed in her hut and Sesshomaru running off showed in her mind. She frowned once the idea shattered like glass. In her mind it was quickly replaced, she wasn’t in her hut. No, when the twins were born they were in Sesshomaru’s mother’s palace. The chosen home for (Y/n) wanted her to be apart of her children’s lives since her own family wouldn’t be able to be there. 

Kaede remembered her birth being long and difficult. Kagome and Inuyasha were even there despite Sesshomaru’s protests. 

He had only wanted Kaede, his mother and Rin at the birth. 

The birth was long and hard but in the end (Y/n) and her twin daughters were happy and healthy. 

He never took them away. He never was cold towards his wife after the birth of his children. Sesshomaru sat on the mat in their room, holding tiny Towa while (Y/n) held tiny Setsuna. Why did she remember otherwise? 

Why did she remember Rin being the mother? That would have only--. 

“Your daughters are fine... but whoever stole my memories must have been the one to abandon them... and... Rin...”

Without hesitation (Y/n) left the hut. 

“Sesshomaru... we have to find them.” 

[bobthebobking]

Character headcanons: Niko, ST!Link, ST!Zelda?

TY FOR THE ASK!! niko HCs here. This is gonna get super long so it'll be a read-more

Spirit Tracks Link:

Realistic HC: He has brachydactyly type d :] His in-game model and official art have really small thumbs so it's just canon to me now. That one's short (ba dum tss) so another HC I have about him is that he's really empathetic toward animals. He doesn't hurt bees when they're chasing him. When possible, he blows the train whistle for moinks/bullbos if they're on the tracks instead of using his cannon. He loves findols, but worries about whistling his train around them too much. Even with scarier animals like wolfos or keese etc, he'd rather just avoid them instead of going out of his way to hurt them.

WAIT another HC I wanna mention. He absolutely mimics Niko sometimes with pirate slang & accents. He and Zelda will be messing around being goofs n he'll jokingly call her like. Idek a filthy sack of seahat spawn in a pirate accent and everything will just Freeze n she's like "Link what the fuck?"

Not realistic, but hilarious HC: ST Link cannot read regular maps that don’t have railways marked on them. His whole career and life revolves around the train tracks, so if he suddenly had to use a map with Just natural landmarks he. wouldn’t survive. He would probably draw out all the spirit tracks from memory onto it just so he could use it properly. And if its a map for an area outside of the tracks’ reach? There’s no hope for him. Sorry buddy!

Heart-crushing HC: Link never wanted to fight, never wanted to learn to wield a sword- all he ever wanted was to serve the people of New Hyrule with his train. He doesn't usually carry a sword or shield around in every day life, he keeps them locked away on his train just in case of emergencies. Also, after realizing Link doesn't have the Lokomo Sword in the ST credits, maybe he didn't have the heart to keep it. Anjean told him in her last moments to help Zelda protect New Hyrule, but how could he? He'd never wanted that. Was he supposed to just carry around that sword, phantom sensations of steel forcing its way through bone sending shivers down his back? A constant reminder of Zelda's shaking fingers desperately gripping the hilt with him, a reminder that there was no way in hell that he could have ever beaten Malladus on his own? I think he took the sword back to the tower and locked it up on the top floor where no one but the wielder of the Bow of Light could get to it. He'll do just fine with the standard recruit's sword, thanks.

Unrealistic, but fuck canon: ST Link thinks kids are so cool. He wants to hang out and have that big brother energy so badly, but he cannot for the life of him figure out how to talk to them. Any time he tries, kids either get mad at him or prank him. Link gets pranked so much by the kids in Aboda. They're ruthless. He's probably been talked into rolling into that beehive tree a dozen times just because he wants them to think he's cool. He wants to be their friend so badly. He's too nice and every child he meets sees it as a sign of weakness.

Spirit Tracks Zelda (ive posted about some of this before but oh WELL):

Realistic HC: She’s very physically affectionate. She loves hugs and holding hands and high fives and bumping shoulders and and and. Post-canon Zelda is like a whole different person compared to before Malladus. Zelda never realized how much she held herself back around Chancellor Cole. Once she’s got her body back she’s never letting the chances pass her by with the people she cares about. She probably gave her teacher a bone-crushing hug when she saw him again in Castle Town.

Not realistic, but hilarious HC: Post-canon she has like an adjustment period like astronauts do where she’s not used to being a solid person with gravity and everything. She’ll go to do a little floaty sitting pose n just fall on the floor. She’ll try to go through a doorway a little too far to the left expecting to pass through the door jambs an just ram her shoulder right into it. She’ll shoulder-check Link while rushing past him and he has to take a solid 5 minutes just to breathe through the pain while she’s worriedly asking how she can help and how sorry she is oh Spirits Link it was an accident!!

Heart-crushing HC: She frequently experiences depersonalization. Having her soul ripped from her body, and then hopping in and out of various suits of armor before getting her body back left her feeling detached. She’ll have moments where her body feels a bit fuzzy, like its not actually hers. Like she’s still a ghost watching someone else puppet her body around. She’ll feel like she’s as tall and big as a phantom again and have trouble reconciling that sensation with the small body she actually has control of. She never brings it up, but Link is always the first person to notice the difference when she’s having an episode and he tries to help however he can.

Unrealistic, but fuck canon: Zelda trains to fight with a sword. She learns to fight without one. She perfects her skill with a bow and arrow. She becomes a fighter so she won’t be helpless ever again. Nintendo would never do it n that’s the only reason its unrealistic. She works and trains and exercises as often as she can in order to have as much control over her body as possible. The strain and exhaustion that comes from training helps her feel grounded and she loves being able to help Link with the occasional monster problem since she knows it’s not really his thing.

[themadauthorshatter]

OTP PARENT HEADCANONS PART 2

Because I'm bored.

And I want to give myself some serotonin.

And because I've put this off for a long time😅

RED QUEEN:

Shade and Coriane were never afraid of monsters under their beds because Cal would "scare them away" with a really bright flashlight.

Both children have a little bit of buidling and tinkering in them. Shade showed it by switching out lightbulbs and pointed out the ones he was putting in would be better at being adjusted than the ones before and Coriane showed it by fixing a clock.

Mare isn't exactly the best at cooking, but she's at least better than Cal. And her mother; sorry, Ruth.

Both children are excellent swimmers, much to Cal's chagrin.

Coriane remembers meeting her great Nanabel, and the smile she had at the sight of her great granddaughter.

Shade didn't really have a chance to meet her.

Both children wish they could have met their uncle on their mother's side and uncle, grandfather, and grandmother on their father's side.

Both Samos siblings are allowed to see the children, and neither of the children were excited; they'd heard "scary stories" about them and their father, who sounds scary; no, Cal didn't make it clear that Volo was dead, all he said was the Samos patriarch had fallen down and didn't get up, so they assumed that meant he couldn't use his arms anymore.

They were all pretty surprised to meet each other.

Ptolemus was more like a fun uncle than the berserker they all knew.

He did explain that Volo did indeed fall, but couldn't get up because of how high he fell.

The electricons love how entertained the children are with their lightning abilities.

Tyton is a pretty good babysitter. Coriane is allowed to stay up, but only after Shade has gone to bed.

Kilorn is not allowed to teach either child how to swim; there was an 'incident' where Cal tried to be brave and go swimming and Kilorn scared the living hell out of him.

That's fine because neither children like swimming.

Yes. Just because the children are good at swimming doesn't mean they enjoy it.

Mare has told Gisa she doesn't need to make the children outfits, but Gisa did it anyway because she loves her niece and nephew.

The court ettique stuck with Cal, which has led to him raising the children to be very formal.

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL(I'm naming Tedros and Agatha's son Anthony):

Both parents were kind of scared Anthony was mute because he didn't start talking until he was nearly a year old. He's not mute, he just doesn't talk much.

You have to catch him at just the right moment. Anthony is completely silent around large crowds or assemblies, but with his parents he's half of a chatterbox, at least.

Anthony and Agatha can have full conversations with nothing but facial expressions.

Tedros had a hard time getting Anthony to open up to him, and decided to give the boy space for a little bit.

It was absolutely worth it for the heart to heart they had.

Hester and Anadil hate kids, but Agatha's and Tedros's little demon spawn is the only exception to that statement.

Anadil was won over by how he didn't cry and even 'said' how her rats were cute.

Hester, however, only warmed up to him when she spent a longer time with him, and after getting a chance to watch him because Aunt Sophie kept stepping in.

On one such occasion, where Anthony was surprised by Hester's watching him, the boy was overjoyed to see her, hugging her closely. He then backed up and stepped back, giving her a wave and smile. As she understood his silence better than Sophie, Hester wrote to him on a paper, 'Did you miss me THAT much?' Anthony nodded and wrote back, 'Yes!'

Sophie is not a helicopter aunt, but she loves Anthony a bit too much for his liking.

She NEVER talks about how she'd been hoping he was a girl.

Anthony isn't a fan of pink, but he doesn't hate it. Pastel is fine. Anything more vibrant makes him puke.

Both Tedros and Agatha were surprised to see how good Anthony was on horse back.

Heart attack angst moment: A former supporter of Rhian and Japeth snuck into the castle and made an assassination attempt on the royal family, more specifically Anthony. Tedros threw his son behind him and drew hus sword and Agatha shot a spell at him and proceeded to tackle him to the ground, not caring about her dress or the fact that the assailant was still armed.

Anthony colud not watch the execution because he hates bloodshed. He's a vegetarian/vegan and tries to eat as little meat as possible because he often spends time in the stables and around animals.

Agatha and Tedros are aware of this and are okay with it, though Tedros has him eat a single steak for dinner and teo eggs for breakfast once a month on seperate occasions, just so he doesn't lack any iron or protein.

To clarify, by separate occasions, I mean that Anthony will eat the steak one day and the eggs later another day within the month. After that, he can indulge in as much vegan/vegetarian food as he wants.

Have fun trying to convince Tedros and Agatha to let him attend the SGE; it's not that they have unpleasant memories, they just want him to try and have as normal of a life as possible.

On a walk, and when the Tagatha child was a teen, Tedros noticed some girls trying to flirt with Anthony and that his son barely reciprocated their actions. He pointed out that they were showing an interest in him, and Anthony admitted that he knew and he just didn't really feel the same way; he didn't exactly see why they were so flirty when he didn't feel like giving it back to them.

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS(The triplets I'm naming Jacob, the eldest boy, Luna, the middle girl, and Daemon, the youngest boy):

Jacob is 98% the triplets' father; he'd be a spitting image if it weren't for his mop of hair, he's sharp as a whip, but still puts the E in idiot(please tell me you git that Jenna Marbles reference!!!).

Luna is arguably the smartest, but good luck getting a, 'you don't say' out of her. She won't tell you she's smarter than you, she will show you. Good thing Jack and Sally keep her in check.

Daemon is the family's "underdog." He has the last minute, 'this will work,' Jack Sparrow plans. He's quiet, he sews, he sings, and if he's not trailing behind Jack, Sally, or his siblings, he's probably touching up his clothes.

Jacob was the idiot kid that got electrocuted to the point his red hair turned black. He barely remembers it, but now all he tastes is cold peanut butter. Daemon has often suggested and offered to do it again, but Luna stops him. Pro: he's spending more time with Luna and Jacob is safe. Con: he's spending time with LUNA and Jacob still doesn't remember.

Jacob, as the oldest, attends 'meetings' with Jack and the Mayor. It doesn't bore him, he just gets tired of the Mayor's whining.

Jacob doesn't get Christmas. Luna has the basic idea of it. Daemon is the only one that understands, but doesn't explain it fully out of spite; Jacob called him scatter brained because of an incident where, at the table, a cockroach crawled out of his eye socket.

Daemon is the only one of his siblings to have eyes.

Even though she's literal bone, Luna has stitches that are very close to Sally's.

Neither Jack nor Sally have nicknames for the children, besides terms of endearment.

You know you're in trouble when Jack looks at you and looks ready to dig your grave himself.

All three triplets have Jack's fire power, but no one's gotten hurt because of it, even though Jacob and Daemon had one close call.

Neither parent would ever even dream of raising a hand against the children.

It's safe to say that Luna and Sally use common sense the most out of all five of the family members.

Daemon smells like pumpkin and cinnamon. He finds both himself, cinnamon bark and small, apple-esque pumpkins, and eats them like skittles and popcorn.

Another result of the electrocution, Jacob is hard of hearing where is left ear would be, if he had ears. He can't hear at all in the "ear." Not even a ringing sound.

The only reason Jacob doesn't like something is because he doesn't get it. At all.

Luna sees the glass as half full, Daemon sees the glass as half empty, and wonder if it belongs to someone who drank out of said glass, hence its being hald empty, and Jacob just sees a glass of water, now can he just drink the rest?

Luna, the best with herbs, has poisoned her brothers. Sally found out and she was grounded.

Daemon, to see how much he could take, dived off the roof of Dr. Finkelstein's tower. It took Jack, Sally, Luna, Jacob, and Zero all day to collect all of him. He was grounded and locked in his room.

Jacob got grounded for a few things: setting his sister on fire(no one knows who started that fight.), hiding in a morgue to scare people only to end up falling asleep, even as they tried to cremate him, and then waking up in front of the humans, pretending to be one of the hanging men on The Hanging Tree, and dancing on top of the tallest Pyramid in Egypt.

The children do misbehave sometimes, but their parents love them.

Jack and Jacob don't see eye to eye exactly, but they still get each other.

Luna loves both her brothers, but she will hang out with Daemon more than Jacob.

Daemon has a lot of glow sticks he collected and they all still glow when it gets dark. Jacob used his thinking cap and had a moment of big brain time, and drank some of the glow stick juice.

One more thing he got in trouble for.

Daemon also got in trouble, but he was allowed to keep his glow sticks.

Luna is a good singer, Daemon is a great dancer, and Jacob is the best at succeeding their father

[liquid-luck-00]

Connections 8

Chapter 8

this is based on @thepeacetea daminette soulmate au

Masterlist *** First *** Previous *** Next

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner went as normally as it could, but that only means that Grayson and Todd were arguing about something or other. Damian was quiet and sent Stone glares from across the table.

First, she leaves me underground and then I find out she knows our secret. She is a loose end that needs to be dealt with.

Alfred was binging out a plate of macaroons when Todd seemed tired of speaking with Grayson.

Stone took a couple of cookies and was going to leave when Todd changed targets.

"What was that about after school?" he asked "Demon Spawn, Pixie either of you want to explain."

Damian moved to grab his katana from under the table, he didn't need to hide it since she knew of their nightly activities, but she moved quickly.

She was now between the two of us, shoving a cookie into both of our mouths.

"I really don't know what you want to hear Jay, but we had a study hall at the end of the day. Damian went to the library and must not have heard the bell" she answered.

Damian grumbled shooting daggers at her, but she held her ground as he left. He doesn't know why but he decided to listen at the door.

"Honestly, Mari what happened today?" he heard Todd, ask in a soft concerned voice he had never heard before. "Damian isn't the" he doesn't know what was going to be said because Stone cut him off.

"That is what happened whether you believe it or not. And I will not be told how to think of anyone, including Damian, without giving them a chance." she stormed out, while he ducked into the nearest door.

---

I went up to my room and was about to turn in there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Damian, is there something you need?"

"How much do you know about me?" that was not what I was expecting him to say. So, I motioned for him to come in. I sat on my bed and he sat at the desk.

"Obviously, your Robin, you are Bruce's only biological child, and your brothers call you Demon spawn."

"Anything else."

"Just what I've observed at school. Oh, and your murder attempts on Jay and Tim and your fight with Dick.

"They haven't said anything else"

"They've tried" he stayed silent as if telling me to continue. "I dunno they try to tell me, but I don't think that is fair to you."

"What is that to mean" he snapped at me. "You gather information, if it is being given to you, you take it. It does not matter if it is gained fairly or not." he seemed to scold me.

"Wow"

"Wow, what Stone" he barked.

"I think that is the most I've heard you speak in one go" he only blinked at me, that was the only indication I got that I took him by surprise. "let me guess. You think I am naive for wanting to get to know someone myself."

"Tt. yes"

"Fine you can play it sensible, the king of conventional but I don't have to.” I flopped backwards laying on the bed.

"Say that again" now I sat up when I heard the confusion in his voice.

"I don't have to"

"before that"

"King of conventional"

"I've heard that before.” That was when a memory surfaced.

"I can cut you free. Out of the drudgery and the walls you keep in. So, trade that typical for something colorful. And if it's crazy, live a little crazy, you can play it sensible, a king of conventional."

"You" he shouted accusingly jumping up.

"Me” I smirked, having finally recognized this Damian as the Damian I met in Paris years ago.

"How long have you known?"

"I just figured it out actually"

"Figures that the aggravating girl from Paris would be you."

"Ya well you are still the intrusive kid who doesn't seem to know how to have fun."

By now we were yelling at each other.

"Did you know?" he asked glaring at me.

"know what?" she retorted with a huff.

"That I am or rather was an assassin then" he yelled.

"I'm sorry what?" my voice was softer and the only thing I seemed to be able to do is blink at him.

His reaction was much like my own, but shock was clearly in his eyes.

---

"You didn't know” I whispered more to myself than to her. I don't know why I told him she

didn't need to know so why?

She took a few steps to close the gap between us and just enveloped me in a hug. We didn't say

anything to one another, Damian silently cried into her shoulder hugging her tighter. Why am I crying. I should not be letting my emotions control my actions, But I feel safe. Why does she make me feel safe?

We stayed like that until I spoke again,

well it was more of a whisper into her hair. "Why aren't you running away from me?"

"Do you want me to?" she asked just as quietly. I shook my head holding her tighter. "stay, please"

she hugged me tighter "You're stuck with me Wayne"

I chuckled at that, genuinely amused, as we stepped apart "And you with me Marinette"

"Good" she then grabbed my hand and dragged

me to the living room.

"What are you doing?"

"We" she pointed between the two of us "are going to watch movies until we fall asleep" she stated as if it was the most obvious thing "You choose the movie and I'll go grab some blankets"

"Anything you want to see?” I asked before she left.

"I dunno" she shrugged "something with magic" she came back soon with a pile of blankets and a bowl of popcorn. They ended up watching the first three Harry Potter movies before falling asleep.

---

That was how everyone found them coming up from the cave. Asleep next to one another wrapped in blankets.

Three things occurred that shocked everyone the next day.

1. Damian smiled. Marinette the sun child she is get him to smile. He smiled and it was as if he was actually a kid it was just as bright and infectious as one of Mari's smiles. However once Dick took a picture his scowl was back.

2. They argued, civilly no yelling no swords, well it was more of a discussion of which house they belonged in. It was the longest argument that Damian was part of that didn't end with him with a katana in his hand, and that was almost frightening. It was settled that Damian was in Slytherin and Mari was in Gryffindor only after they took the Pottermore quiz.

3. Still more shocking was whenever Damian spoke of or with Mari it was Marinette not Stone. Damian had been with them for months, but he only referred to them as Father, Grayson, Todd, Drake, and Pennyworth. But in comes Mari and she is called by her first name before any of them.

So as a family of detectives they tried to figure out what changed with their youngest member. Because he only seemed to let down his guard around Mari. They couldn't understand it, it was an enigma with no true answer. Hell, they even found them sparring with Damian correcting and teaching her to sword fight. In turn she taught him gymnastics for when he is grappling through the city.

Two weeks passed quickly, and they were saying goodbye to Mari, but they still hadn't figured out the change.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist🐞🦇

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[acraftedmistake]

Nether Time!

Cassie and Petra need to get stuff from the Nether! It’s been a while since they’ve done this.

“Nether time!” Petra sang as she leapt out the portal.

“Nether time!” Cassie Rose chimed as well, landing right beside her friend.

The two exchanged big grins with one another. Cassie was holding onto her outfit so tightly she thought it’d tear.

It’s been ages since they’ve been in their house together. Everything still looked and felt the same. The red and teal carpet was still covering the netherrack floor, still stained and torn, the walls were that weird combination of wood and netherrack that she remembers so fondly, shelves and counters surrounded them, holding both their’s and the previous owner’s items. Those four cushioned chairs they placed in the upper left corner of the house--the ‘kitchen’--have yet to move. The kitchen itself was just a few chests filled with food, a battered stove that stopped working years ago, and a cauldron with strange splatters in it. There were also the remains of their kitchen table. Used to be fine, sturdy wood, but when they first arrived at this house, monsters were trying to break in, so they had to use the base of the table and the legs to fend themselves. The decorations were still hung up too! Bells, chimes, other sorts of art pieces attached to strings that hung from the ceiling, just as Cassie remembers it.

Well, it technically isn’t ‘their’ house. Their portal just happened to appear inside this strange old place one day, and they claimed it. Finders keepers, you know? Besides, the previous owners were probably long dead.

“Come on, we need to get your pumpkin.” Petra made her way to the counters beside the portal. The countertops were covered with broken weapons, ores, and strange nik naks they found over the years, and sitting in the middle of it all: Cassie’s white pumpkin.

Petra grabbed the hollowed fruit and spun it around in her hands, “You’ll be happy to hear I’ve been taking good care of your other pumpkins back at the cave.”

“That’s impressive, considering you somehow managed to kill a cactus that one time.”

“Hey, I already told you that stupid cactus killed itself. I was gone for one day, and when I came back, it was dead. I did nothing wrong.” Petra denied as she tossed Cassie her pumpkin.

Cassie quickly dropped her extra set of clothes to catch her it, “Did you water it when the soil got dry?”

“It’s a cactus. Water’s irrelevant.” Petra avoided Cassie’s little glare by facing the counter again and sorting through the random items.

Cassie held the pumpkin in her hands and stared at it for a moment. It’s been a few years since she’s worn it last. Memories were flooding through her. She still remembered how she first got her hands on her first pumpkin; she stole it from a crazy old guy’s backyard. She just happened to spot it while walking through a random town one day, Petra told her ‘If ya like it, get it.’ And she did exactly that. It was a real strange pumpkin. When the two cut it open, it hardly had any guts, and the inside smelled like… Nothing. Well, it smelled ‘wet’ if that was possible. The sorta wetness you’d smell in a forest after it’d rain. They were surprised at how durable it was too, which soon sparked the amazing idea of shoving her head inside the pumpkin and using it for protective gear. It sounds ridiculous--heck, it probably looks ridiculous--but it works, and Cassie likes it, so that’s all that matters.

Cassie ended up planting the few pumpkin seeds years ago, and before she knew it, she had a bunch of = pumpkins to last.

Cassie can trust Petra with the pumpkin care, but she always makes sure to check in on them. That white pumpkin got her into plants, she even has a few houseplants back at home, but she’s still too embarrassed to tell anyone yet.

“Oh!” Petra snapped her fingers. She dashed back to the portal, shoved the upper-half of her body into the vortex, then came back out with her Wither Skull in hands. “Nearly forgot this bad boy.”

“I’m surprised that thing’s still in one piece.” Cassie said while she watched Petra grab a cloth from a chest in the kitchen.

“Right? This thing’s insane!” Petra exclaimed as she cleaned the inside of her painted skull. “One time I forgot it outside, a quake happened, and when I ran out to get it back, a tree landed on it and it was still in one piece.”

“You ever thinking of repainting it?” Cassie asked. She began putting on her long, oversized, dark blue pants over her leggings.

“Nah, the stripes are iconic. “ Petra tossed the cloth aside then shoved her head into the skull.

Cassie let out a grunt as she struggled to put her large long-sleeved shirt over her hoodie. She knew she was going to be drowning in sweat with three layers on, but that’s three extra layers of fire protection. When she finally got it on, she began tying the belt around her waist and slipped on her thick, brown gloves.

As she was adjusting her gloves, Petra handed her a crooked pickaxe and a worn-down sword.

“If I knew you were comin’ over today, I would’ve made some better tools for you.” Petra said. She was holding a blue backpack in her other hand that’s seen better days. One black strap had been completely torn off while the other was just barely holding on. There were holes where the buttons used to be. Hopefully it’ll be able to hold their stuff.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Cassie said, holding the tools by the sides of her arms. “We’re just gonna pick up a few things anyways.”

Cassie stuck her head into the pumpkin.

“You ready?” Cassie asked, her voice muffled. She took the weapons out and held them firmly.

“Super ready.” Petra smiled as she watched Cassie twirl the tools around before shoving them into her pockets.

Petra swung open the front door, and a horrible heatwave rushed in and hit their faces. Cassie’s eyes watered. You’d think after all those years of exploring the Nether, she’d get used to it, but it always seems to get worse each time.

Petra held the door open with her foot and the girls made some quick, last-minute readjustments with their outfits.

Cassie glanced to the side and spotted a familiar sign hanging under the doorknob. It was a piece of oak wood with the words “No Boys Allowed” that she made as a joke. That was way back when they first spawned into this house.

“Why do you still have that old sign up?” Cassie asked, surprised it hadn’t burnt to a crisp.

“To keep the boys out.” Petra said casually as she closed the door.

“But we’re the only two here though.”

“All thanks to the sign.” A little smirk formed on Petra’s face.

Cassie rolled her eyes and gave Petra a playful shove as they went out into The Neighborhood.

The Neighborhood… A sweltering ghost town. Awakening members used to live here years ago. Their ‘homes’ were just hollowed out holes in netherrack hills, making the place look more like a Hellish wasp nest than a cozy neighborhood. The openings were usually covered in old wood, and their front doors were rather busted or missing. And the way these houses were placed in such unorganized clutters just felt… Wrong. People weren’t meant to live in the Nether.

Any leftover space was taken up by Nether portals. It didn’t matter if the space between the houses were huge or cramped, people found ways of making the portals fit. Maybe the Neighborhood looked real pretty when the portals were all activated, but they’ve been deactivated for years, and Cassie and Petra weren’t planning on lighting them up anytime soon. It was bad luck to reactivate dead portals.

“So what things you lookin’ for again?” Petra asked.

“Gold’s high on the list,” Cassie replied, “we also need extra iron, extra flint, and some netherrack just in case.”

“Awh shoot, what?!” Petra froze. Her tone turned serious.

“What? What’s up?!”

“Do you know how hard it is to find netherrack!? We’ll be looking around for hours!” Petra exclaimed, standing on the netherrack floor. Surrounded by netherrack hills. With a netherrack covered sky.

Cassie couldn’t see Petra’s face, but she KNEW she had that big, dumb smile.

Cassie gave her a quick bonk on the skull and bent down to gather an arms-full of netherrack chunks, all while Petra was laughing.

“Damn, talk about lucky.” Petra teased, “You always had a good eye for rare items.” She slipped the bag off her shoulders and opened the flap for Cassie.

“Yeah, yeah. You gonna be messing with me the entire time we’re here?” Cassie rolled her eyes as she shoved the netherrack into the sack.

“Awh, come on, it’s been almost two years since we’ve done this. I’ve missed ya.” Petra said. The two began walking again. “It’s really boring without ya, you know?”

“Man, has it really been two years?” Cassie stared at her feet, a feeling of guilt starting to gnaw at her.

“But I mean--mentally, it’s only been two days.” Cassie said, looking back at Petra.

“Ex-ACT-ly. Time doesn’t move unless we’re together. Common knowledge.” Petra gave her a grin. Cassie couldn’t see most of it, but she could feel it. It was reassuring.

The two stepped over a wooden bridge that was splayed out over the ground. It’s been there since day once, wood planks, rope, and all. They kept telling themselves they’re gonna move it, but they never do. It’s not like it’s a huge obstacle or anything.

There was a lotta stuff like that around the Neighborhood. If you looked up, you could see more bridges hanging between the hills, many of them missing their planks or dangling by their threads, and a bunch of the houses built into the top of the hills had staircases, ladders, or ramps that stretched all across the area. Cassie and Petra had the “fun” experience of finding out which ones were stable or not.

“So, shouldn’t we start looking through the houses or somethin’?” Cassie asked, her eyes scanning the dozens of houses they’d have to scour through.

There were still items in these houses. Even though this place was abandoned years ago, a looming presence remains. Dirty dishes sitting in cauldrons, rotting meals on kitchen tables, unfinished letters on desks, wrinkled blankets on unmade beds, all signs that this ghost town was once full of life. Petra and Cassie have spotted many weird trinkets The Awakening members have made; chunky jewelry, small dolls carved from nearby materials, chimes, and masks that lacked eyeholes. Many, many art pieces included the Awakening symbols: A red flower with hundreds of petals, their empty eye, and the Hero. Another thing many homes seemed to have were mirrors, but they were never in one piece. Instead, they were often broken into several large parts and tied to strings that’d hang from the ceiling, or arranged in odd shapes on the walls. Sometimes the shape would resemble their eye, but most of the time it looked like nonsense.

“Nah, I have a different place in mind.” Petra replied.

“Have we been there before?” Cassie tilted her head.

“Perhaps.” Petra said, “Just gotta wait and see.”

The two stayed on the path, which was a mix of netherrack, gravel, and soul soil, passing under the hanging decor above.

Wooden poles were on each side of the path with rope tied to the tops, connecting them together while chimes, flags, and glass hung from the threads. When a hot breeze came by, the Neighborhood would create its own music. The clinking of the glass, the flapping of banners, the clattering of metal chimes, and the creaking of wooden doors created this strange but soothing sympathy to fill the silence.

“How’re things with the other Jesse and Olivia goin’?” Petra asked, swinging her sword around.

“Frustrating.” Cassie huffed.

“Oh?”

“Things were kinda going okay until Aiden decided to basically blurt out what was happening to our Jesse. Now Stella’s all stressed out, and we gotta keep an eye out for that cult creep, and Aiden’s probably gonna be super bummed that he made poor little Jesse upset--” Cassie ranted.

“I remember bout Aiden spillin’ the beans.” Petra commented. “Sorry everything’s been stressful.”

“It’s been so freaky with those two around! I dunno if I should be happy, upset, but Hero, everytime I look at them for more than a minute I start to feel sick.” Cassie felt that familiar queasy feeling rising in her stomach, “I’m not saying they’re bad people or something, just that… Everything sucks. And having our Jesse running around isn’t helping.”

“I mean, it’s a weird situation. Don’t blame you at all for feeling that way. Heck, even when I first saw them I was thrown off. Felt like two freaks wearing Olivia and Jesse’s skins.” Petra noticed her friend falling behind and waited for her to catch up.

“That’s a fun way to put it.” Cassie said, trudging along.

“Jess and Liv,” Cassie mumbled, “they’re nice, but I can’t wait for them to go home. I wanna forget this ever happened. They make me miss those two all over again.”

“I can imagine.” Petra went quiet when Cassie joined her side. The sounds of the Neighborhood filled the air.

Petra extended her arm out, “I’m here for ya, though, ya know? If you ever wanna complain, cry, or get angry about that Radar guy, I’m always here.” It was hard to see it, but through the gaps of the skull’s teeth, Petra was giving her a smile.

“Thanks.” Cassie took one hand out of her pocket and went to lock arms with Petra, something they used to do years ago, “I mean it.”

“Course.” Petra said.

And with that, the two picked up the pace.

Petra glanced at her friend then glanced at the various portals surrounding them, “I’m gonna guess Jesse and Olivia didn’t walk through an obsidian portal, right?”

“No, some weird blue portal. Probably lapis. I wish it was somethin’ as easy as obsidian.” Cassie sighed. “I’m guessing you haven’t seen Jesse recently?” She asked.

“Nope.” Petra lied, “Not yet. I’ll let you know though.”

Cassie gave her a nod and looked ahead. They were nearing the Nether Fortress. Their Nether Fortress.

Seeing this place after so long… It was like seeing it for the first time again. The broken, tall towers, the bridge stretching across the sea of lava, the ruined railway system, it was so otherworldly. The only thing missing were those hundreds of monsters crawling around the place that Cassie and Petra used to beat up.

That wide open bridge over boiling magma--with the Fortress being so close--was just begging Cassie to run across it.

Petra noted Cassie’s excitement and unlocked arms with her.

“Go ‘head, I’ll be right behind ya.” Petra said with a grin, and on cue, Cassie bolted off to the entrance.

Memories of the two of them raced through Cassie’s mind. The hot air hitting her face, the colors blurring together, her feet stinging each time they hit the ground, it was just like old times. This was liberating.

“Hey, I’m winning!”

Cassie whipped her head at just the right time to see Petra taking the lead.

“Not for long!” Cassie hollered as she picked up the pace.

They were both set on the entrance. Cassie could see Petra out of the corner of her eye. She could feel the confidence radiating from her, like she knew she was gonna win. But not this time.

When Cassie was just feet from the entrance, she dived. She crashed into the ground, her pumpkin making a loud THUD when it hit the floor.

Before she could push herself up, Petra fell on top of her. She must’ve had the same idea.

Both of them were laying on the ground, panting and laughing.

“Pretty sure I won.” Petra finally said.

“Nu-uh, my hand made it past the entrance first!” Cassie shot back, still breathing heavily.

“Yeah, but your hand didn’t touch the ground first, so technically--”

“Since when were you about technicalities?!” Cassie exclaimed. Petra could hear the laughs between her words.

“Alright, if it’ll make you happy, then I’ll admit it…” Petra got up and helped Cassie to her feet. “We tied.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Welp, guess we’ll never know who won.” Petra shrugged. Cassie gave her a playful shove.

“Yeah, yeah.” Cassie adjusted her belt. The two stopped and faced an intersection of three hallways.

“Which way do we need to go?” asked Cassie.

Petra glanced at the wooden arrow signs above then pointed ahead, “Straight, then a left, then straight again.”

“Got it.” Cassie started walking and couldn’t help but snicker at the words on the signs. There were a bunch of those signs hanging around here, their original words have long since faded, so she and Petra took some creative liberties.

Cassie recalled those directions, they were heading towards the ‘Spicy Abyss’, which was the second bridge on the other side of the Fortress. It's in ruins, so the two of them just like to sit on the edge and enjoy the view.

The middle sign was ‘Lotsa Boxes’, which is the hallway they’re currently walking through. It’s a rather wide hall--nearly as wide as the bridge they just crossed--that’s filled with abandoned stalls, carts, and chests. The stalls had boxes in, on, and around them, the old carts had boxes in them, and the chests--the chests were already boxes. This place must’ve been a Trading Hall, a storage, or even a marketplace for the Neighborhood back then. The way everything was arranged reminded Cassie of the night-market in Obsidian Town; lots of trading, buying, and selling, except not in the middle of the blazing-hot Nether.

Banners hung from short poles in the walls, all shades of red, turquoise, and gold while covered with symbols and faded words advertising goods. When Cassie and Petra first found this place, they were surprised at how many tools, ores, and old books were left behind, so of course they gathered them all up and sold ‘em. Made them a great deal of money!

The two took a left and continued down another hallway. They were pretty close to ‘Petra Fell’; those were the words on the last sign. It was one of the three tall towers you could see through the windows. It was the shortest of the bunch, it’s upper half is completely missing, but it was the best place to climb and get a fantastic view.

Cassie and Petra haven’t been on top of that tower in years. The last time they were, Petra was playing around near the edge, stumbled, and nearly fell to her death had it not been for Cassie catching her. Petra’s been terrified of heights since then. Cassie can’t blame her.

It’d be nice to rush through that tower again with Petra, even if she didn’t want to go to the very top, it’d be a great… The tower…

It looked different.

Cassie couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was off. She could feel it.

“Hey, did that tower get shorter? Or have I just been gone for too long?” Cassie asked.

Petra didn’t even glance at the tower, “Already noticing my hard work, I see.”

“Hard work?” Cassie tilted her head. Petra didn’t elaborate. Cassie kept pestering her, but she wouldn’t budge until they reached the end of the hall.

Where there used to be a big, gaping hole was now covered up by tons of banners. They were sloppily sewn together, trying to hide every piece of the other side.

“So,” Petra began, “Remember how I said I had a different place in mind to find those items?”

“Yeah?” Cassie answered slowly.

“And remember how we always wanted to build that bridge to the other side of the Nether?” A grin grew on Petra’s face as she watched Cassie’s eyes light up.

Cassie gasped, “No, nu-uh, you did not!”

“I did.” Petra raised her brows. When Cassie took another step forward, Petra yanked the banners off to reveal a magnificent bridge that stretched across the sea of lava and connected to the other side of the Nether. It was a mish mash of netherrack, nether brick, gravel, and even some obsidian. There weren’t any rails on it, and Cassie was certain it hardly had any support underneath it.

It looked dangerous.

It looked fantastic.

Petra watched Cassie take all this in. She was bouncing in place, hands over her mouth, all excited like a li’l kid. Man, Petra could only imagine what Cassie’s face was like under that pumpkin. Her eyes were probably sparkling and she had that big, dorky smile that’s bright enough to light up this entire fortress.

“Oh Hero, oh--Oh I canNOT believe you!” Cassie exclaimed, grabbing Petra and shaking her excitedly before giving her a big hug.

“Hey, we always wanted to see more of the Nether together.” Petra chuckled, “Thought this would be a nice little surprise for when you came back.”

Cassie let go to look at the bridge again; Petra took a lungful of air.

“And don’t worry, it’s stable.” Petra said, “I’ve tested this bad boy out hundreds of times and only had several near death experiences.”

“Perfect, great! All I need to hear.” Cassie was revved up. She dug her feet into the ground, ready to blast off, but she stopped herself. “Agh, wait. I promised Aiden I’d come back home soon.”

“How soon?” Petra leaned against the wall.

“Like, by the end of tomorrow, I think?”

“Well, you got here at a pretty good time, so we got, what? Several hours to work with?” Petra tapped the skull’s chin, “If we’re fast enough, we could see some good sights and get your stuff. So whaddya say?”

Petra got closer to Cassie, “Wanna see how fast we can blast through this sucker?”

Despite the skull hiding her face, Cassie knew Petra was smiling, and Cassie smiled right back at her.

[alicemitch09writes]

the catastrophic history of us

PAIRING: ryoumen sukuna x reader

SUMMARY: This is a story of two people - one was destined to see all while the other was destined to be all-powerful.

They came from different factions of society, though not entirely different if you compare a humble hut versus the slums.

This is a love story.

But it is not a happy one.

A/N: This is a continuation and sort of prequel to 'written in the stars' which gives light on why exactly Sukuna killed the reader and what he meant by 'waited a thousand years for this'. It's been in my head for a while and was an idea I wanted to try.

From what I've researched, Ryoumen Sukuna is said to hail from royalty while some he was just there, so I kinda wanna explore more on his background and ended up crafting my own. I'm sorry if it's kinda cliche. I ended up using the already existing lore about him, but added a bit of my own to fit the story and the narrative I want.

also available on ao3.

disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.

This is a story of two people - one was destined to see all while the other was destined to be all-powerful.

They came from different factions of society, though not entirely different if you compare a humble hut versus a grandiose palace, a benevolent being versus a power-hungry one, one who dances with the mystic arts versus one who challenges the fates, one royal highness and his royal spiritual advisor, - two very different beings destined to meet, destined to fall together, destined to be together.

This is a love story.

But it is not a happy one.

This is a story of two star-crossed lovers.

But again, to reiterate, this is not a happy story. There is no happy ending here.

Legends speak of a name, so feared and great that just the mention of it sent shivers down the spines of many – young, old, human, curses.

Just the mention of his name was akin to devastation and disaster, killing all forms of life regardless of status.

Ryoumen Sukuna.

Also known as ‘King of Curses’.

Call his name, and you are invoking yourself to a life of damnation, of no return, of death.

However, once upon a time, Ryoumen Sukuna was once a simple man.

A prince to be exact, son to the Great Emperor, heir to the throne, general commander of the royal army, and quite possibly, the strongest warrior in the land.

Once upon a time, Ryoumen Sukuna was a man of great power and privilege.

He could take soldiers with a swift blow of his sword, could conquer lands in a day, with only a swagger down the road that could bring the mightiest men quaking, could overpower just about anyone with only his presence - his menacing and great presence.

Wise beyond his years, versatile in combat, cynical, ambitious, and wicked – these were the traits of the soon-to-be Emperor? How unsettling. The kingdom would no sooner meet its demise and burn into flames than to shine brightly with a ruler with blood and warfare on his mind.

Many had thought so as well, yet did little.

For what can they do against someone who can promise dominion and power? They can all but kneel and acquiesce to his bidding.

He did possess a younger twin brother, but compared to his brother, he was passable at best. The brother doesn't talk much, says very little, but paid close attention to his surroundings, his companions, even to his older brother, whom he admired greatly.

It was sometime during his time as a prince when fate decided to play their hand.

But no one saw it coming.

Save for one.

The Emperor’s royal spiritual adviser, the kingdom’s revered onmyouji known only by the name (Y/N).

"That's quite the look on your pretty face, (Y/N)."

Sighing, the (h/c)-haired woman ever so carefully dipped her brush into the ink well before continuing her writing.

"Oya? No wisecracks this time?" the voice drew near, she could feel his hot breath beside her ear. "Is that any way to speak to your future king?"

Unfazed, she dipped her brush into the well again, careful strokes bleeding into the paper. "Truly not worth his royal highness' time if I even breathe or say a word."

Even without looking, she knows he's smirking. He knows he got what he wanted, ever the child.

Silence filled in. She, continuing on with her scrolls, and he, lazily perched himself awfully close to her side, sliding his gaze from her eyes, her face, to her kimono, to her nimble fingers.

From the first moment he laid eyes on her, he was fascinated by her very being. More so, when she revealed that she was to be the royal onmyouji with the ability to see all. 

Technically, her position was better suited for a man, especially a man from a renowned jujutsu family – for trivial reasons.

However, no man could ever compete with one with an all-seeing eye, with impressive control of her cursed energy other than this woman, this strange woman.

No one else but her.

He would like to think that he became a man no long sooner after their first verbal spat, after their second introduction – having differing ideals and morals, never backing from the other despite their status. He and his twin had just turned 18, a prime age for the king to be. It was what drew them together in the first place.

From the moment their eyes met, he had unwillingly declared this fascinating woman as his and only his.

When she was finished writing, just as she laid her brush aside, a hand slammed on the table. She didn’t flinch, even as the man effortlessly picking her up into his arms. "Surely you must be bored from all that gibberish writing, eh?"

Allowing herself a genial smile, (e/c) eyes alit with life, she draped her arms around his strong shoulders. 

"Must I remind you time and time again that they're readings?" Fingers slipped and carded through his locks, grabbing tufts of hair playfully. Tilting her head, she used her free hand to ghost over his strong jawline. “Your great kingdom would crumble would it not be for said readings. Lives would be lost. Blood will be shed. Your name tarnished and damned-”

"Blah, blah, blah, is all I can hear you say," pushing her against the wall, he welcomed himself between her legs, drawing himself ever so close to her. “Don’t you ever get tired of spouting bullshit?”

“Surely you would know,” she gasped as something hard pressed against her core. “that’s all your mouth is good for: running your filthy mouth.”

He met her smirk with his, hot breath fanning hers. “And here I thought you’d be this docile diviner.” Scoffing, he drew close. “Thank fuck I was wrong.”

Hot lips pressed against hers, just as the ink dried out and the shadows danced in the dark.

"We order you to join forces with us destroy Ryoumen Sukuna."

"I refuse."

Even she can't deny that the man she loved was a danger to everyone, probably to all of humanity. He was quick to be enamored with power, sadistic even in his means to achieve greater feats and exploit his foes.

Eventually, she saw how the man she came to love drastically turned into the cynical, malevolent King of Curses he was.

Mad with power, ambition, and glory, in order to achieve all and more he sought out the dark mystics that made him murder his younger twin brother granting him his grotesque figure - two faces, added appendages, and dark marks littering his body.

It started with a vision. Then came the prophecy.

Overnight, a brother was murdered in cold blood by his own, through his blood spawned the King of Curses.

Many months were soon bathed in more blood as he sought nothing more but destruction and chaos,

In the end, she knew what she had to do, what must be done, what must happen, what was foretold – even if it ends up breaking her heart.

"Could you do it?"

"...I have no choice."

This is it, she thought. The end.

The end of the beginning.

Fire licked throughout the field, soot rising from the ashes, craters, devastation lurked wherever the eye could see. There was even the occasional ice covered in blood, sometimes encasing 

It had been a long, treacherous, arborous, and exhausting battle – sorcerers and Imperial soldiers against fellow sorcerers and curses.

Jujutsu sorcerers – especially the high-ranking ones from esteemed clans, set aside their petty differences for this one battle, to put down the King of Curses.

Ryoumen Sukuna.

It was a hard-earned battle, as Ryoumen Sukuna had with him a rather interesting set of warriors to fend off against them.

But finally, they got him.

In the middle of all this madness and bloodshed, a victor was finally declared.

And it wasn’t him.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" He screamed, binding spells forcing him to his knees, his whole body weakened and paralyzed by countless battles and countless spells against him. “(Y/N)!? HOW COULD YOU!?”

She forced herself to hold him down as the sorcerers around her continued their spells.

Amidst it all - the undeniable pain, the humiliation of being pinned, the utter betrayal - Ryoumen Sukuna turned to her and only her, red eyes burning her very being, as though ready to incinerate and devour her on the spot.

At the front line, that’s where she was to be – supposed to be, as she was their leverage to get close to the King of Curses.

She was leverage at best, the one thing that can keep Ryoumen Sukuna down - despite the countless claims that no one and nothing can do so.

"In this life, know that you were always the man I hold closest to my heart, the warmth on a cold winter's day, the joy from a day's tiresome work. There is no one but you, Ryoumen Sukuna," she was openly crying now, uncaring of anyone and anything. "But in this life, we cannot be."

The spell had been cast, paralyzing Sukuna, allowing the rest of the jujutsu sorcerers to attack.

With the final blow, she poured a bit of herself into her final, most powerful spell. Sealing him and vaporizing any memory of her in it, emptying his being until he was but an empty husk.

"YOU BITCH! YOU LIED TO ME!" Despite being in constant pain, his body slowly reddening and wax appearing all over, he found it in himself to spout angrily at her. "WAS EVERYTHING A LIE!?"

Memories upon memories - of their first meeting, their first verbal spat, their next meeting, him cornering into a corner, of their first kiss, of their first night, of their many nights, of promises under the sheets, of eyes searching, of eyes yearning, of eyes hurting - voided one after the other.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU DEAD, YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He doesn't mean it, she tells herself, adding more spells that caused him to scream in even more pain.

"Y-YOU FUCKING BITCH! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!" His eyes were blank, regarding her with all the hatred man could possess. "YOU'LL BE THE FIRST PERSON I KILL THE MOMENT I GET BACK!" choking on blood, he feels himself weaken. "I SWEAR IT! I'LL KILL YOU THE FIRST MOMENT I GET!"

A sob escaped her, as much as she tried to swallow it down. To no avail, she cannot fake her remorse, her pain. She knew it was the right thing to do, for the betterment of all – humans and sorcerers, but it cost her so much sorrow and pain.

"Nothing is a lie," she croaked, feeling the last of her energy leave her, tearfully gazing into the eyes of her beloved. "But I have to say goodbye."

And just like that, the King of Curses was no more.

And when the fighting was over, the Seer vanished without a trace.

It came abruptly.

Without warning, without a sound, without a whisper, without a call.

The end of the beginning.

Of when fate decided to try its hand with life, changing the course of all.

For a thousand years ago, the jujutsu society was at its high boasting about great families within their ranks and a seer to guide them all.

The seer, who were specialists in the mystics and great beyond, who helped build empires, defend against curses, win wars - the great seer revered, respected, and treasured. 

Alas, this seer fled, vanished, and doomed the jujutsu society.

For without her visions, how can the sorcerers ever know of the truth and lies that the future holds, to protect them from whatever threatens them? Of the corruption that would soon waste them away? Their arrogance and overdependency on her visions became their downfall, yet few could actually attest to that.

The jujutsu world was a strange, fickle, archaic, and destructive kind with an equally disturbing system. A system unwilling to change, unwilling to adapt, willing only to lead by example.

After her disappearance, they were left with crumbs to pick up, on where she'd be for their next life - for without her visions, how would they be able to secure safety for themselves?

(how selfish of them)

Lo and behold, a thousand years later, and she would appear again, outside of Japan and born half a Gojo! What tremendous luck they have!

Without wasting another second, they sent their best sorcerers to abduct the child and took her by force from her mother, bringing her all the way to Japan.

Only they could have their hands on this seer, one they've waited for thousands for years, one who remains theirs, rightfully theirs, one who has to atone for her sins of leaving the jujutsu society vulnerable all those years ago.

Yes, this child must bear the sins of her ancestors, must live a life for the future of the jujutsu sorcerers.

She is theirs.

Theirs and theirs alone!

But alas, Gojo Satoru caught wind of the other Gojo, singlehandedly took her from them and took her under his care.

How dare he!

So long as he was alive, no way would they ever get their hands on the seer, the great diviner, the all-seeing eye!

How dare he!

Gojo Satoru who manages to effortlessly insert himself in situations he shouldn't be, halting or stopping decisions entirely, establishing his presence as the strongest sorcerer - a title that many of them cannot deny, with much disdain, he, who is without a shred of doubt, a threat.

The Gojo seer continued to live her life, foolishly and blissfully unaware of her true value. Foolish little girl!

The past and present converged into one another, tightly wounding and bounding, meshing and mixing in between the seems, for a future nobody knows, a future nobody is prepared for, but a future nonetheless for all.

However, unbeknownst to all - even to the jujutsu higher-ups, the Great Gojo Satoru, and his beloved little sister, the future in store was not kind. No.

It's as though the past comes back to haunt, to call out for sins to be repented.

Strange as it seems, it all went according to plan - Gojo Satoru finding out about his sister, Fushiguro Megumi sent to Sendai, Miyagi to fetch a cursed object and meeting Itadori Yuuji, Itadori Yuuji ingesting said cursed object and hosting Ryoumen Sukuna, reviving the King of Curses after a thousand years. Yes. Marvelous. All according to plan. 

The characters were set, ties looming into each other. Glorious.

It was inevitable, that these characters had special ties connecting them with each other, keeping their lives intertwined, for such was the plan for the grander scheme of things.

There was nothing.

A sea of nothing.

Endless nothing.

It went on and on and on and on and on and on.

It was a nothing that comforting, a nothing where nothing existed, a nothing where nothing was felt.

It was a nothing with that - nothing.

The perfect word for it would be void, however, voids can still have something in them.

And there was red.

A field of red spread across, going on forever and ever and ever.

Curious, she got to her knees to inspect. A flower, it was a red flower with six umbels and a long stamen, blooming outward, as though seeking life. Fingering through its petals, her eyes followed along millions of them spread.

Suddenly, a cold chill ran down her. For some reason, she looked up, meeting nothing.

And yet, she remembered the feeling dwelling in her in a sea of nothing.

Yes, she remembered this feeling.

She knows that feeling.

"Where am I?" a voice cut through the nothing.

In front of her stood someone who looked exactly like her, except, one pair of her eyes had the trademark Six Eyes of the Gojo clan, there was a streak of white running down the right side of her hair, and she was dressed in clothing much different from hers.

Recognition fell upon her, blinking calmly as a faint smile graced her lips.

“Who are you?” asked the girl.

Her smile turned sad as she approached, crushing the flowers under her feet.

The same recognition fell unto her mismatched eyes, but probably not the same kind of recognition she had.

With the gentleness akin to a mother, she eyed the girl before her.

“I’m sorry,” she cried, her voice echoing in the dark. “I’m sorry to have cursed you – all of you,” confusion crosses her face, it hurts her even more. “to have you all carry my burden." The red all around them seemed to glow, a vibrant, blinding red. "I’m sorry.”

Confusion continued to riddle her features, which makes this meeting just more bittersweet.

And then came rain, pouring down on them.

It washed over them, over the flowers.

And then nothing.

Come a thousand years later, and there they were.

A promise foretold, enacted finally.

He, a man resurrected from the dead, free from the curses that kept him away, taking what was rightfully his with her beating heart in his.

And she, a shell of a woman in the form of her now empty descendent.

At last, he had his comeuppance, at last, he got his revenge.

As he devoured her heart, feeling the remaining pieces of his powers return, as did the memories. What a cruel twist of fate.

Suddenly, his mind felt like a rush of water downstream. He could feel his immeasurable power returning, could feel in pumping his veins, yet at the same time, there were tears.

Elsewhere was Fushiguro Megumi, screaming over and over the name of the woman he had just killed – a scream of desperation, anguish, and pain. Why did it sound so familiar?

Finding a blackened uniform, hovering over a body laid in her own pool of blood, the boy continued to scream and scream.

Fushiguro Megumi was a man he couldn’t wait to see at his full potential for battle, another in his list of to-kills, having shown great potential as a jujutsu sorcerer and as part of the wretched Zen’in. But this was far from the man he knew, all he saw was a weeping boy, a boy who lost his mind as he was grieving, begging over and over a corpse, the corpse of his beloved.

Satisfied, he should be, right? Yet, why doesn't he feel it? Why does a part of him feel a great loss? Why does a part of him feel as though he was the one with a ripped soul?

A flash of white came to view, standing next to the crying boy, his stance was rigid, apart from that nothing with his back turned.

Kneeling, Gojo Satoru let his fingers press against the dead girl's eyelids, closing them shut. His hands fell to her cheeks, engulfing them in his large fingers, lingering, thumbs caressing her ice-cold cheeks. Once filled with warmth and life.

"Megumi," says Gojo Satoru, cursed energy just radiating off him. "mind if ya take yourself and (Y/N) aside?" lowering his blindfold, his cursed energy increased in power, reeking of maliciousness. "Things are about to get messy."

He met Gojo Satoru's murderous look head-on, finally getting that fight he long promised him.

And yet, as he stood there, tears leaked from his eyes.

Even with all his powers returned, him being at his full glory, his heart felt more hollow than before.

[cuuno-moved]

And He was Nothing (A Jack Manifold Story)

tw for blood, death, self-deprication

Jack was nothing.

He’d never been anything. He was the kind of guy you met once, then forgot, a friend of a friend.

“Oh, you know Jack Manifold?”

“Yeah, the skinny kid with the broken glasses and the bald head?”

“That’s the one!”

He was nothing, and no one, and because of that, he’d always expected to die, in the way that background characters always die. It wasn’t going to be a martyr’s death, but maybe he’d even get a line in first.

He never expected it to hurt.

Of course it hurt. He’d heard the stories before, he thought he knew what to expect.

He’d heard from Tommy, back before he was exiled, the boy squirming at the memory as he talked about the pain, the cold, the fear.

He’d heard from Punz, the man laying on his back, staring at the sky in a strange, melancholy sorrow as he described the feeling of his body turning into nothing.

He’d heard from Skeppy, the trickster’s voice trembling as they sat together and watched the waves crash on the waves as he talked about sacrificing himself for someone he loved more than life itself.

He’d known it would hurt.

He hadn’t expected it to hurt this bad. The firework stuck in his stomach didn’t kill him instantly, burning, popping, destroying his guts bit by bit as he collapsed. He heard others cry out, but he was in too much pain to do anything.

It took nearly five minutes for his mind to give up, for his body to go limp for the last time.

The void was probably scarier than the dying by a million times. He just floated there, in the dark, in the cold, in the nothing, his eyes straining in the pitch black, his hands reaching for something. Anything.

He respawned among a dozen others, all of them sobbing and clutching their guts. He was in pain. He was in so much pain, but he didn’t say anything to Niki when she handed him a bottle of regen and told him to help out one of the others.

He did, helping around Pogtopia, cracking jokes, trying to raise people spirits, but after a while, he went back to Manburg, went home, and cried himself to sleep, trying not to remember the feeling of his body being torn apart.

He never went back to Pogtopia after that, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stand listening to people speak of their own deaths as if it made them special, wouldn’t be able to hear Tubbo talk about his execution as if it made him a hero, when dozens others went out the same way.

Pogtopia was full of heroes, and he was just a guy.

Tubbo and Tommy were both just as dead as he was, both just as fucked as he was, so they were in the same boat, and it was sinking fast. The two of them just had life jackets.

The battle of Manburg happened, not that he cared. He’d built a house on the outskirts of Manburg as he watched the world crumble.

Not a lot of other people stayed neutral, he noticed. George was oblivious to the destruction, the Badlands seemed to switch sides as they saw fit, and Karl had his own plans in mind, but Jack just shook his head and went back to setting up his new home.

He declared himself separate from L’Manburg, and Tubbo had agreed, telling him he was officially his own state, Manifoldland, and had nothing to fear from L’Manburg. He’d believed him.

He should not have believed him, especially when Fundy and Quackity showed up at his door with sadistic grins spreading over their faces.

They offered him a deal, in the end. Rejoin L’Manburg, or lose another life.

It wasn’t much of a choice.

Things were a sickening blur after that. Dream threatened L’Manburg (again), Tommy got exiled (again), and Tubbo caved to the slightest bit of peer pressure (again and again and again.)

Finally, Jack grew tired of being ignored, being treated like he hadn’t been there in the first war, fighting alongside the others, he needed someone who would treat him like a human being, not just a joke. Fundy was a dick, Eret was a traitor, Wilbur was dead, Niki was busy and Tubbo had bigger things to worry about.

Which left one person to talk to.

“Tommy! Hey, how’re y-”

He was cut off by a fist in his gut. The next thing he knew, he was dangling from the narrow walkway by his arms, legs kicking the air violently as he tried to get back up. Tommy did nothing to help, just staring at him as he did everything he could to just stay alive .

Then the boy was screaming at him about loneliness and friendship, and he didn’t know what was going on. If course Tommy was his friend, it wasn’t that he didn't care, he just didn’t realize the younger boy even remembered him anymore.

It wasn’t like Tommy’d ever made much attempt to act like a decent fucking human to Jack.

Jack begged, pleaded, sobbed, but Tommy had just shaken his head, and kicked his old friend into the lava with a fake salute.

That death hurt the worst.

It was also the coldest.

And the loneliest.

Jack had tried to lighten the mood. He stole Tommy’s prized possession then, a scarecrow he called his girlfriend. He thought things would get better, Tommy trying to get back at him, and him getting back at Tommy. A prank war, like back in the good old days.

But Tommy had just shrugged, and turned away to go back to Dream, and Jack felt something in his heart crack.

Tommy committed suicide a few weeks later, according to Tubbo, using up his last life, and Jack felt so goddamn guilty, so goddamn stupid.

And then Tommy was back, with Technoblade, the bastard who’d killed Jack the first time and he had no idea what to think.

Tommy had betrayed Techno, turning from his eldest brother to face Tubbo, and faintly, Jack wondered if the warrior was feeling the same dread, the same heartache he’d felt when Tommy had pushed him that last time.

The next day, Techno and Phil and Dream were back, and Jack was so so tired.

He stood his ground, with everyone else, charging the withers, fighting the best he could, watching as Techno spawned more, and more, and more, nine withers swooping through the air, sending people sprinting. He watched them close in on his house, and he felt a strange urgency well up inside him.

He had nothing. He had nothing but that house. That house was his only escape, the only thing on this server that truly belonged to him. So he ran, and he killed three withers, all on his own, and he looked around, hoping someone, anyone would notice and smile at him, a simple, ‘Good job, Jack, that was good’, or a nod, or any form of acknowledgement.

But he was Jack Manifold, and so he was left with nothing.

No one had even noticed, he realized. He did everything he could to help them, and when he needed it most…

He was alone.

When it was said and done, L’Manburg a smoking crater in the ground, the L’Mantree burnt down, and his home singed and damaged, he just laid down in the grass, and stared at the sky.

Suddenly, laughter echoed through the crater, and he crept to the edge. Those three bastards stood at the bottom, revelling in the destruction.

Dream, the man he and his friends had fought against for so long, who had destroyed this nation, this land, while barely raising a finger, stood with his back to Jack, long dirty blond hair in a high ponytail, casually leaning against a chunk of concrete.

Phil stood beside him, smiling lightly, face streaked with soot and blood. The little gems that hung from his hat and robes cast sparkles around the ruins, and Jack almost felt something like wonder, or admiration, or… regret? He looked like an angel, with his wings folded behind him, his eyes bright and fiery.

Technoblade was the one laughing, his curly hair spilling off his shoulders, the white-blond color it once was, now stained a dark pink with blood and clay. His single good eye glittered maniacally under his pig skull mask, and his arms swept in a wide arc as he twirled slowly, deep red velvet gown floating over the ground and causing pebbles to go skittering.

Jack remembered that laugh. The laugh of a man who pointed a firework down at him and smiled. The man who destroyed him, destroyed his home, destroyed his friends.

He stood up, almost expecting someone to step in, stop him, but no one noticed as he marched into the pit, to the three gods gathered in the center.

No one ever noticed.

Techno noticed, of course, stopping his revelry to gaze at the young man walking up to him, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Jack really really didn’t want to hear it.

He wound back his arm, and slammed his fist into Technoblade’s mask, as hard as he could.

Something in his fist cracked, but he pulled back, and punched again, and again, and again, aiming for the head, the chest, the neck. Finally, a voice that sounded so similar to Tubbo’s yelled his name, yelled at him to stop, but he didn’t care.

He was shouting something too, something wild, and garbled and furious. People were turning to stare, gazing into the crater at the mere soldier slamming his clearly broken hands into the Blood God’s chestplate, tears pouring down his face. Good. Let them stare. They weren’t going to remember him anyway.

Suddenly, two huge hands caught his wrists, forcing him to stop- almost a pitying gesture- and he stared up at the amber eyes of the most infamous killer in the dimension, and he felt nothing but rage. He slammed his head forward, into Techno’s mouth.

It didn’t do much, apparently, other than amuse the warrior, and he gave the boy a half-pitying smile before turning to glance at Phil.

“Mmmm… Thank the gods that L’Manburg has the great Jack Thunder Manifold here to keep them safe.”

Jack felt his heart plug as soon as his name left the lip of the other man, and he gulped. How did he know his name? He was nothing, a speck of dust in a ruined city. Finally, Techno turned his gaze back to him, and released him. Jack stumbled back a couple steps, before watching the other man pull out his sword.

He was going to die. He was going to loose his last life right here, right now, and he smiled.

“Do it.” His voice shook, but his heart burned with an intensity he was almost scared to acknowledge. “Kill me. I’m done. You win.”

Technoblade frowned at him, levelling the sword at his neck, but he paused. “...Do you have any last words, Jack Manifold?”

Jack hesitated. Did he? He’d never really thought it through, last words were something for heroes, for people who appeared on the book cover, for people who were worth remembering. He couldn’t think of anything, other than… “Just get it over with, bitch.”

And then Techno pulled back the sword and swung.

That death was the least painful. There was a moment of agony, as there always was, but it bled out quickly, along with the boy.

So he was in the void. Forever alone. Cold, tired, and alone.

Jack cried then. He hadn’t really cried in a long time, he realised, but sitting alone in the void seemed like the best time to do it.

“Hello.”

“...Wilbur?”

“Jack.”

“You look... nice.”

“Thank you. Pros of being dead, I suppose. I can make myself look good, and I don’t even have to shower.”

“Oh. Makes sense. Am I…am I here for good? Like, I can’t leave?”

“I’m… not sure? Everyone’s souls split in two when they die, the ghost bit and the soul bit. Your ghost is probably down there, somewhere, but hypothetically, you can switch with it-”

“No, I don’t want to be a ghost. I’ve met yours, he’s a bore.”

“...Ouch?”

“No offense. I don’t want to be a ghost, I just want to be me.”

“... Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“You weren’t much to begin with. Why go back?”

“What?”

“You… you were kinda the least… well, the least person I knew. You really want to try so hard to get back, when no one would even notice?”

Jack didn’t respond to that.

He just started walking.

For a while, Wilbur walked with him, trying to get him to stop, but, eventually, he gave up, letting him go.

He walked for hours, until the nothing turned into something.

The Prime Path.

He went home, and got a bowl of soup, and went to bed.

Everyone noticed he’d died.

No one noticed he shouldn’t have respawned.

He didn’t care.

He marched to Niki’s house, first thing in the morning, with his proposition.

Tommy was the main character, and Jack was nothing, but he’d be damned before he let himself get ignored.

He was everything, and he was nothing, and he knew the secrets of the universe, and he’d stared God in the eye and called him a bitch.

And Jack Manifold became a villain.

[themonkeycabal]

Wandavision Ep 6 Spoilers

No really, spoilers. 

Previously on Wandavision — Wanda told SWORD to shove their drones right straight up their asses, Vision woke up to the reality that his utopian sitcom life was in fact a dystopian hellscape, their children were extremely creepy, and Agnes was being bizarre as hell and super sus. In the real world, Acting Director Dick was a dick, and Darcy and Jimmy welcomed Monica into their sciencey weird-crime-fighting team. Monica also mentioned an aerospace engineer she knows, which some suggest may be the first mention of Reed Richards in the MCU. I have conflicted feelings about the Fantastic Four. Mostly I never liked them. But, I'm open to revising my opinion.

Oh, and also X-Men 'Verse Pietro showed up suddenly and that was fun.

Anyway. the roommate and I tried to sort out a timeline — so Monica unBlips and goes back to work at SWORD three weeks later. AD Dick tells us Wanda stole Vision's body nine days previously. That means, just three weeks ago Wanda was in the middle of a battle, lost her boyfriend, was Snapped, was then unsnapped to fall right into the middle of another battle. Lost THREE additional teammates. And then sometime in the following week found out a shady government agency had Vision's body and she probably went "OH HELL NO". Because that's what I would say. So she goes to SWORD, dents a few doors, takes Vision's body and swans off to New Jersey. Look, she's been through a hell of a lot in the last couple weeks, is what I'm saying. I don't blame her a tiny bit. But, also, I don't think she's entirely behind this.

10-year old boy plus video camera = the 90s. Obnoxious opening credits. But, you know, I kind of liked them (as a one off). WAYYY better than last week's.

It's Halloween, and *sigh* Billy is breaking the fourth wall and narrating to the camera. There's childish twin bickering as you expect, Tommy's the wild and crazy twin, and Billy's the buttoned up twin. And Pietro is passed out on the couch at 4 in the afternoon. Living his best life. He teasingly scares the boys, chases them around, and there's awkward child acting.

Wanda comes down the stairs in the classic Scarlet Witch costume, and says she's a Sokovian Fortune Teller. Sokovia was more wild than I realized.

Genuinely funny flashback to Wanda and Pietro trick-or-treating in Sokovia as kids, 'the year we got typhus'. lol. Was it the fish that gave them typhus? Or was that just a special treat? Wanda doubts this version of events, and Pietro suggests she suppressed the memory due to the trauma. This gives Billy the chance to tell the camera that mom's been weird since uncle Pietro turned up to crash on their couch.

Next it's Vision's turn to appear in the classic Vision costume. Yikes. Wanda thanks him for humoring her, and he says there were no other clothes in his closet and they have a very weird second where he's not playing along and she's not sure what to do, and then he breaks into sitcom character says something about "just kidding, i know how much you love mexican wrestling" like it's a luchador costume, and then there's some super weird flirting. TMI you two.

Meanwhile, Pietro is a large child and the kids love him, of course. So there's that.

Back to Wanda and Vision, she's ready to take the kids out trick-or-treating, but Vision says he can't go, he's on the neighborhood watch and must patrol the streets ever-vigilant for wild gangs of child hooligans who might TP trees. He's gone off-script and it takes Wanda a second to figure out how to play this. She says it's the boys' first Halloween so he has to be there. Pietro breaks up the almost argument and says he can be a father figure-type and he'll help with the boys. Vision's still pretty off-script but Wanda doesn't fight it but looks uncertain, and he goes off to protect the night — or early afternoon.

Pietro is a child hooligan and wants to go do hooligany things with the kids. Wanda says he doesn't have a costume and he grabs Billy and they speed off only to return dressed in classic Quicksilver duds. Well, cheap-looking, thrown together Quicksilver duds. I laughed. The hair. lol. Good one.

Outside in the real world. The Hex field is still kind of glowing red and making bad force field noises. It only started doing that when Wanda got pissed in the last ep. Oh, goody, it's Acting Director Dick. I've learned his name is Hayward. I don't care.

Blah blah Stompy Mc-I'm-In-Charge blah. Monica is not pleased about the whole trying to kill Wanda with a missile while she was talking to her plan. AD Dick just says "now we know who we're dealing with". Um … what? You tried to kill her and her response was to tell you to go away. Yeah, boy, she's a monster.

Darcy is there to helpfully remind AD Dick that Wanda made him look like the fool he is. ILU girl. "Hey, there he is; the guy who almost got murdered by his own murder squad." Jimmy just makes a 'i'm so disappointed in you and your choices' face at him in the background.

I despise characters like Hayward. They are so tedious. Narratively they are there to incite conflict, but given the situation conflict naturally exists, surely there are other ways to bring up/drive that tension without the trope of the government heavy ready to solve the problem with the most extreme amount of force available to him. OH no! Our plucky heroes will have to find a way to save the day and fight the Man! Can they do it? Boring. It's too bad General Talbot went insane and then died; he could probably give tips on How Not To Be That Guy.

Anyway

Hayward wants to know if Darcy works for him and she's like "dunno my dude", Monica claims her, AD Dick says "which one of you is the sassy best friend" and Jimmy's like, that is quite enough Acting Director Not Very Nice Man. "There's no time to diminish your colleagues when you're about to start a war you can't win." AD Dick just wants to take out Wanda so the whole nightmare ends. Monica's like um, we literally do not know what's going on. Like, for real we have no clue. So that might not, in fact, end the nightmare, Director Murder Britches.

They argue a lot and Director Dick goes off the rails. Dude's like more unhinged than seems warranted. Unless he's just so embarrassed that he pissed himself when Wanda returned his murder drone to him, he's decided SHE MUST BE DESTROYED FOR THE GOOD OF … NEW JERSEY AND MY SOILED UNDERWEAR OR SOMETHING. 

"Captain Rambeau, you are an impediment to this mission!" Oh no! He's gonna tell her all about how hard it was to survive in a post-blip world, all those lucky blipped don't know what it was like! You just can't understand! Monica tells him not to use that as an excuse to be a coward. I'm so bored with this scene. Let me guess, the trio will have to go behind his back to save the day.

"Maybe it's a good thing you weren't here with your mother died. Because, clearly you don't have the stomach for this job." … non-sequitur much? Or is he saying she would have inherited the Director-ship (which should probably not be how that sort of agency works, let's be real). Is this scene five hours long, or does it just feel that way?

The Dick banishes the trio from his base.

"Hayward is way over-stepping his provisional authority". Jimmy Woo, you're so great. Monica says he's up to something. Yeah a tactical nuke and murder. Clearly he doesn't want to actually solve the problem, he just wants the problem to go away with a big show of macho explosions and whatnot. I suspect he might be in over his head, like he was not meant to be Acting Director, let alone Director. Also, he's a boring cliche stereotype and I loathe it.

JIMMY! I legit did not see that coming. He just pure hauls off and clocks one of the soldiers escorting them off the base, to a transport truck or something. Monica seems just as surprised for a second but then she's like "hell yeah!" and jumps in. Darcy sort of stands back and watches. lol. "Why didn't anyone tell me the plan?"

Oh look, it's my shipping container! They put the soldiers in there. Guys, it was for Hayward. Come on.

The trio disguise themselves with ponchos, which is a big step up from the usual MCU disguise of "baseball hat". That was a good bit in Ant-man and the Wasp "it's not a disguise, it just looks like us at a baseball game" (I watched that like last week. I missed Luis). Anyway …

Back in the sitcom world. The kids are ready for their early afternoon trick-or-treating. They're still talking to the camera. It's so awkward. I'm not a fan. I get it's meant to reproduce the very 90s Nick-era sitcoms and so, you know, it's spot on. Still, though.

Pietro is encouraging and supportive. "Unleash hell, demon spawn!"

Dang there are a lot of kids in that neighborhood. Wasn't Vision wondering last episode why there weren't any kids? Is the program correcting itself?

Wanda tries to test Pietro, asking him about some kid at an orphanage when they were kids. Pietro calls her on it, and says he knows he looks different. Wanda wants to know why that is. He says, "You tell me. I mean, if I found shangra-la, I wouldn't want to be reminded of the past, either." Hmm.

The kids speed off with uncle Pietro. Wanda wanders over to talk to neighbor Herb, who has a g-man earbud in and is clearly part of the neighborhood watch. In the background Pietro is stealing all the candy and smashing pumpkins and spraying the place with silly string. The hijinks are so wacky. Wanda tells Herb maybe Vision can help out with the chaos, and Herb says Vision isn't on duty. Oh no, he lied to her!

Herb goes weird "is there something I can do for you, Wanda? Do you want something changed?" Hmmm.

Elsewhere Vision is wandering the wild streets of Westview. He finds people caught in some type of weird decorating loop, the woman seems trapped but aware.

Commercial time!  What the fuck was that. "Yo-magic! The snack for survivors." No, really, what the fuck.

Night has fallen, the twins and the twins walk the streets. Wanda's making the boys give back all the candy they stole. She says Pietro is a bad influence. He says "I'm just trying to do my part, kay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the brother-in-law, stir up trouble with the rugrats, and ultimately give you grief. I mean, that's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"What happened to your accent?"

"What happened to yours? Details are fuzzy, man. I got shot like a chump in the street for no reason." AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! no really AHAHAHAHAAH! Thank you, Pietro! Holy shit, perfect. That's some delicious shade. I expect to see this gif'd fifteen different ways when I load tumblr today.

"Next thing I know, I heard you calling me. I knew you needed me."

The kids interrupt. And now all of a sudden Tommy can zoom. Character development!

Everyone is so careful to give Wanda what she wants. Why? She's not cruel. Who wants to keep her pacified? And whoever it is cannot possibly be pleased with AD Dick messing things up. Assuming it's an outside or outside-ish force/entity, of course. I mean, I don't think she's doing this entirely, she might be the battery powering it, but despite her thing last episode to get SWORD to leave her alone, she does seem a little confused about the where, why, and how things are going.

"Don't go past Ellis Avenue." Just a kid thing or a boundary of the sitcom control world?

In the real world, our heroes are sneaking through a tent city and into the server room. The scene with Pietro and Wanda discussing his accent is playing in the background. Darcy seems put-out that Pietro was recast. lol. "He brought the wrong face."

Darcy hacks into Hayward's devices. "Hayward figured out a way to look through the boundary." "And he didn't share it with the group." I don't like Hayward. 

Something is blipping on the map on the computer. Jimmy asks if it's Wanda, but Darcy says "it's tracking the decay signature of vibranium". So Vision. Monica wants to know why Hayward is tracking Vision. Well, I'd super like to know what SWORD was doing with Vision in the first place, because they weren't just storing him, they were doing something. So …

Jimmy notices that there are other dots, the ones closest to Vision, who are other residents. Jimmy says the ones near the edge of town are barely moving.

Back to Vision. He's found a cul-de-sac to patrol. Everybody's frozen in place, the street lights flicker. Eerie. They're all dressed for Halloween. Does this mean the field is shrinking, or the effects spreading and so it's closing in, slowing and then freezing people who were earlier moving about just fine? Vision is unaffected by this whatever it is. He turns himself into himself and flies off, up above the town. part of the town is dark, and part alive with voices and laughter.

He spots a car at the edge of town. It's Agnes. She seems frozen-ish, but when he asks what she's doing there, she says "Town Square Scare. Where is it?" all robotic like. Vision helpfully tries to give directions. lol. "Took a wrong turn, got lost" she says.

Vision touches her head and she wakes up. "You! You're one of the Avengers. You're Vision. Are you here to help us?" "I am Vision. I do want to help. But, what's an Avenger?"

Hmm. Well, I guess he did say last week that he couldn't remember anything before Westview.

"Am I dead?" she asks. "No, why would you think that?" "Because you are."

What was news coverage after the Snap like, do you suppose? I mean, ridiculous, of course. But, like, I think they had bigger problems then wondering about snapped/dead Avengers, didn't they? Well, maybe not. "WHERE ARE AVENGERS TO HELP US?" or "HOW DARE THE AVENGERS NOT HELP US!" "TOTALLY THIS IS ON THE AVENGERS!" "WE'D ALL BE DEAD WITHOUT THE AVENGERS!" "NUHUH! BOO AVENGERS!" "EXCEPT VISION WHO DIED HEROICALLY, WE ALL LIKE THAT AVENGER!" "TONY STARK AND PEPPER POTTS SHARE THE DECORATING TIPS THAT TRANSFORMED THEIR RUSTIC RESTORATION PROJECT INTO A CHARMING FAMILY HOME".

Agnes starts screaming "Dead" at Vision. She's not coping well. Vision says he's going to try and reach outside town and try to figure this all out. "How? No one leaves. Wanda won't even let us think about it." I SUSPECT YOU, AGNES! Why would Wanda keep everybody trapped and miserable? I could see if she did it on accident, but this implies she's purposefully hurting people. I don't buy it. Agnes, again, seems to be in the right place at the right time to make Vision doubt Wanda. You're a very suspicious character, Agnes.  

She starts to laugh. "All is lost." Vision touches her had and she resets to sitcom Agnes. Somehow she can move again, she turns the car around on Ellis Ave and heads back into town. So, that answers that.

Vision walks across the Eillis Ave to the field beyond.

Meanwhile, Darcy continues to hack. Monica gets a text and says "that's it! My way back into the Hex will be here in an hour." Jimmy's all ready to boost a ride to take her to meet her aerospace buddy. But, Darcy says, nope. Can't do it. Monica's been through the Hex twice, and it's rewritten her cells. "It's changing you." Monica is undaunted. "I know what Wanda's feeling and I won't stop until I help her." Alrighty then.

Jimmy's finally going to get to hotwire a car! But wait, Darcy's not going with them. AD Dick has something hidden behind one last firewall. Darcy thinks it's big and can help them. She's going to find it.

I don't think Jimmy had to hotwire that humvee. It just started right up. Motorpool, pfft - they always leave the keys.

Back in Westview. Halloween continues at Town Square. Pietro asks Wanda where she was hiding all those kids. Whu? Says Wanda. "I assume they were all just sleeping peacefully in their beds. No need to traumatize beyond the occasional holiday cameo, amiright?" What is Pietro. "Hey don't get me wrong, you've handled the ethical considerations of this scenario as best you could. Families and couples stay together. Most personalities aren't far from what's underneath. People got better jobs. Better haircuts for sure."

"You don't think it's wrong?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm impressed. It's a pretty big leap from giving people nightmares and shooting red wigglywoos out your hands." No, really, what is Pietro? "How'd you even do all this?" Hmmm.

"I don't know how I did it. I only remember feeling completely alone. Empty. Just endless nothingness." She looks back at Pietro and for a second he's dead Pietro. Poor Wanda.

Darcy continues to hack Hayward's systems. Cataract classified weapons something something. They're still tracking Vision. Who continues his walk across the field and comes to the hex. He tries to push through it. Looks painful. SWORD rolls out to go overreact at him. He makes it through the barrier, kind of. It's a struggle.

Hayward standing there looking like a jackass "he really does want out, doesn't he?" Like he’s just amused by this turn of events, or watching a lab rat try to get out of the lab. 

Darcy's standing behind watching all of this. Bits of Vision sort of fly off and back into the Hex. Darcy says "oh no!" and runs towards him, screaming for them to help him. Way to give away your sneaky hiding, girlfriend.

In Westview. Billy looks up, he can hear what's going on outside. "I hear daddy in my head. He's in trouble."

Vision calls for help, while SWORD prioritizes arresting Darcy. Phil Coulson would never have behaved like this. Boo to SWORD. Vision is dissolving. It's kind of gross and sad.

Wanda asks where Vision is, and Pietro interrupts "Don't sweat it, sis. It's not like your dead husband can die twice." Wanda wallops him with some red wigglywoos.

Billy sees soldiers and thinks Vision is dying. Wanda stops everything and makes a big red boom. The Hex appears to be expanding. Whoops, now you've done it AD Dick. He runs away like the brave brave guy he is. They leave Darcy handcuffed to a jeep. "Are you serious right now?"

The Hex overtakes Vision and then Darcy. Trapped soldiers become clowns, and we're in the circus. Well, SWORD seems like a circus, so Wanda's not wrong. I'm pretty sure Jimmy and Monica made it, but sadly the bravest Director who ever braved also escaped. He deserved to be a circus clown. Better luck next week, Wanda.

Credits.

Well, I just don't know anymore.

Hayward doesn't care about Wanda, except where I think because of this someone will figure out what he was doing to Vision's body. And Vision is ultimately the thing he cares about in all this. I hope Wanda drops a house on him.

Hmmm.

Quit suggesting I watch Age of Ultron next, Disney. It’s not happening.