#she seen at least three dead people. Two of which died in front of her. Intentionally. And her best friend was just revealed to be a serial

[thatoneluckybee]

when you finally find a character that shares your name but all she does is experience the Horrors

[alexdelray1]

Mizu x Fem Reader dating headcanons.

WARNINGS: Mentions of grape! Strong language! Mentions of death and etc. My first language isn't English.

Hope you'll like it ;)

First things first, you met Mizu when you went to the blacksmith for a new sword with your father, who is a samurai. The blacksmith turned out to have an apprentice, a boy your age who you started to like. The boy didn't talk much and while the blacksmith and your father were talking, you tried to start a conversation with him, which didn't really work.

And that's how your first meeting was like.

Your second one was when your father died in a fight and you wanted to return the sword without getting the money back becouse you didn't have any other male relatives who would be able to use the sword.

When you reached the blacksmith and wanted to return the sword he told you to keep it at least as a reminder of your father. There you saw Mizu who was in his teens like you. He was training outside. This weirded you out. Why does the blacksmith's assistant trains like a samurai?

You asked him and the only thing he said was:

"It's not really your business, curious."

Your third meeting was when one night some bad men were robbing and killing people from your village.

One of them got into your house when you were sleeping.

You opened your eyes and saw this man in front of you with a disgusting smirk. You knew what he wanted to do.

You killed the man with your father's sword that was under your futon. When you got out of the house you saw a lot of dead bodies. Not only of the people from your village but also the murders were dead. Then next to you a man who was proprably hiding next to your door, started forcing you to go with him by kicking and hitting you.

You closed your eyes and then the man's hand that held you, you don't know why but fell. You opened your eyes and saw a man with straw hat that hidden his face. He was holding a sword with blood on it. You looked down and saw the man's dead body. You looked at the strange man again.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"We haven't seen each other in a while, curious."

HC:

Mizu then took you with him and confessed that he's actually a woman. Which suprised you.

She didn't want to leave you somewhere and let you get sold and raped or just raped so she asked you if you want to seek revenge with her.

You accepted the offer but also promised to train so you won't be such an easy target for enemies.

Mizu at first wasn't very open to you at first but with time she started to really like your company. You being a woman proprably had to do something with it.

She started to have feelings for you and wanted to confess them to you in the hot springs while you two were naked which was in her mind 'romantic' and 'good moment'

But then a man named Ringo stopped the whole conversation by appearing and changing the mood.

When Ringo joined you two Mizu started to get little bit more annoyed becouse she was jealous. You and Ringo had very nice conversations while she was too nervous to even join in.

One time when Ringo had some things to do alone, she took you to some old temple and confessed. You ofc said that you love her two.

Let's just say that you two quickly blessed the temple.

When you three met Taigen he quickly assumed that you two are a 'normal straight couple'. When you and Taigen got a moment alone he asked you.

"Aren't you scared that you're going to get pregnant while this mission or whatever Mizu is doing? Everyone heard you two and I don't think you two pull out."

"Let's just say that me and Mizu have our own way of not having kids."

Hope you guys liked it :)

[projectbluearcadia]

Welcome To The World Of Tomorrow!

Lucifer: Annelie? You're...

Annelie: I'm okay. I'm okay, honey; you don't need to cry.

Annelie hugs Lucifer tighter, and Lucifer wipes at his eyes. Barbatos slumps over.

Barbatos: So it was... that way...

Barbatos' eyes flutter, and he falls unconscious.

Diavolo: What... just happened?

Annelie: ...I think I have an idea.

Lucifer: You... You do?

Annelie: Uh, so... remember how I accidentally took like most of your soul out of you.... y'know, back in that... place?

Lucifer's eyes widen.

Annelie: Yeah... I think I might've.... done that. With maybe some damage control since I took it from three people this time. Maybe a little disproportionately.

Diavolo and Lucifer glance over at Barbatos.

Diavolo: Well... I'm glad.

Diavolo smiles with relief.

Diavolo: Lucifer, take her back home and make sure she gets some rest. I'll take care of things here.

Lucifer: I want to hit him again.

Diavolo: Later. I've never seen you so upset before, and I think you need some time to recover from this. I'm saying this as your friend; I want you to take a few days off at the least. Annelie, don't you think so too?

Annelie sends a brief, malicious glare towards Barbatos.

Annelie: Yeah. Let's go home and split a nice bottle of demonus. We'll listen to your record of Danse Macabre.

Lucifer: ...okay. Anything you want, Annelie.

Lucifer kisses her forehead, her cheek, and then her lips as he hugs her, still squeezing one hand.

[ timeskip ]

Mammon: So, uh... Is nobody gonna ask what happened?

Mammon points at the scene in the living room, where Lucifer is laying on Annelie's lap, his face turned into her stomach. Annelie herself blinks at Mammon slowly, her disconcerting eyes making him shiver as she pets Lucifer's head.

Annelie: Shh, Mammon, stress is bad for the baby

Lucifer: Oh, shut up.

Annelie: I'm kidding; don't get snippy.

Beel: Omgroph guffs worph...

Belphie: Yeah, I agree with Beel. Seriously, I've never seen him act this clingy.

I will continue not to understand how these two comprehend each other.

Annelie covers Lucifer's ears.

Annelie: I kind of almost died in front of him again. So he's been really on edge lately... I can't imagine how traumatizing it was for one of his closest friends to try to kill me while he couldn't do anything.

Mammon: Hold the hell up, what?

Satan: Yeah, what?

Annelie: Just please don't talk about it in front of him; I want to give him some space from the whole shitshow. Fill in Levi and Asmo later when they come downstairs.

Satan: You can't just drop something like that on us and expect us not to ask questions.

Annelie: I wasn't---

Lucifer finally swats at Annelie's hands and sits up, revealing his haggard face.

Lucifer: Barbatos thought she would be better off dead, so he tried to kill her. Apparently, the future he saw with her in it was grim.

The brothers fall silent, and Annelie sighs.

Annelie: We'll take care of it as best we can, just like we always do. Diavolo texted me not too long ago that I nearly killed Barb trying to resurrect myself, so I feel like we're even.

Satan: I have more questions than I started with.

Lucifer: That makes two of us.

Lucifer rubs his face.

Lucifer: Among other things, Annelie clearly awakened some kind of power, which I suspect is a stronger variant of what she already has. Which is a problem, given that according to Barbatos, the vaccine is only effective towards treating surface level symptoms.

Annelie: He could have just been a little delulu, considering he admitted to being romantically attracted to me.

Lucifer: Annelie, you can't pretend to me that you haven't felt something change. Don't coddle me.

Annelie: ...hah... Sorry. I just... I don't want you to be at your wits end because you're worried about me. It's bad enough that you're afflicted with whatever succubus bullshit that makes your love for me border on blind devotion. I want you to worry about you first right now.

Lucifer: ...I will try. That is all I will promise.

Annelie: Fine. Good enough. And anyway, I haven't really felt much of a change. Except for a ridiculously strong desire to...

Annelie's face pinkens, and she whispers in Lucifer's ear.

Annelie: ...to see you tied-up, red-faced and begging me in the most obscene way possible for the slightest stimulation.

Lucifer's body shudders, and he clears his throat.

Lucifer: Of course, you didn't have breakfast this morning. I should fix that.

Lucifer takes Annelie by the hand and leads her upstairs while she grins. Satan groans, facepalming.

Satan: Please tell me I'm not the only one who hates it when he makes that euphemism.

[coolcattime]

capsize is kinda like kaede if you think about it a lil

Okay, okay.

So you are so goddamn right for this take, to the point that I'm gonna discuss this on two fronts.

Spoilers for V3 and also Mianite I guess

Though before I go into this. I just want to make something clear for things I will be saying later about V3 will be saying later: V3 is the only one of the main three Danganronpa games where I don't dislike any of the students. I really like the cast as a whole and the worse I feel about any of them is neutral.

Now going into Kaede and Capsize.

They are both trying to take a place in the story that isn't theirs

Kaede begins V3 by literally saying that she is the protagonist of the story. This is a funny little fourth wall break, a nod to the ‘true nature’ of V3, and not fucking true.

The protagonist of V3 is Shuichi. As we the players learn when control switches to him during trial one because Kaede is the blackened of the trial.

And, I think if we were somehow able to watch Mianite from Capsize's POV, I think we'd get a really similar vibe.

Capsize believes herself the person that is meant to save Ianite. She gets to the champions and is confronted by Jordan.

Now Jordan is not Shuichi because (as I'm going to go into later) Shuichi is one of few people who is consistently nice to Kaede and Jordan is not that to Capsize, in fact he's the damn opposite. But he does fit the role of basically taking over her mission and role posthumously and being the one to tell her story.

So like yeah, first part of this take: Capsize got those Kaede vibes because she is essentially the false protagonist of her main mission in life.

Now for my second point where you really got the brainworms going:

Posthumous legacy when the other characters misremember them

Now once again beginning with the obvious character: posthumously Capsize gets remembered as basically Jordan's girlfriend. Her own people are all either dead or disappear from the plot (read every pirate but Capsize in s1), so her story is exclusively told by either Jordan who tells his own not true version of their relationship or characters that never met her like Martha and Mot.

The most obvious way that Kaede is misportrayed post death starts before she actually died and it is the manipulation of Rantaro's death and Kaede's crime by--

AGAIN SERIOUSLY V3 SPOILERS UNDER HERE LIKE STUFF FROM THE LAST CASE AND CONCLUSION OF THE GAME (and let's be honest with how some DR fans don't know what V3 actually stands for I know some of you haven't seen 3-6)

Tsumugi, the Mastermind. Tsumugi is the real killer of Rantaro. And she frames the crime on Kaede and executes her for it.

Now: let me make it very clear. Kaede did fully intend to kill someone. She set up a trap and sprang it with the full intent to kill. However, she failed at this, her shot put ball missing and Tsumugi actually being the one to make the final blow.

Tsumugi takes away all evidence that she committed the murder and that Kaede's plan failed. Kaede is executed, Mugi lives until the end of Chapter Six.

Tsumugi initially taints Kaede's legacy to portray her as a murderer, then later literally tries to start pinning the mastermind role on her as well briefly (by noting that Kaede has a twin, just like Junko, in the final investigation).

But that is kinda par for the course because Mugi is the villain. Like the spends the game manipulating the cast.

But everyone else also kinda remembers Kaede. Because she's kinda portrayed as this guiding light, optimistic Makoto like figure, but basically no one likes Kaede in the first chapter of V3.

Honestly, that might be like a double take of a description, but while Kaede is this upbeat, positive, and optimistic - at least in my eyes one of her main character traits is being heavily bullied.

In her first introduction as the Ultimate Pianist, she says that everyone calls her Piano Freak. Which I think is meant to be a write off joke about how she's that(™) into piano, but it feels like a particularly mean way of putting it.

And then, at two different points in Chapter One, basically the whole cast jump on her and start laying into her. Like the only two I know for sure are never mean to Kaede are Shuichi (who never speaks up to defend her) and Kaito (who no one in the cast respects the opinion of at this point in the story).

(To note, it has been a while since I have played V3 so I cannot for the life of me remember if Tenko and Gonta are ever mean to Kaede. I think they also aren't but I don't want to speed through V3 to check)

There are two quite long scenes of everyone telling Kaede that she is in the wrong. And I mean that Maki literally says that she believes this is Kaede's fault in one of the scenes.

After one of the two scenes, Kaede retreats to her room, cries, and then doesn't know why she's crying. And idk, I know this is inference but it really does read to me that Kaede has been shit on so much throughout her life that she doesn't understand why she's actually upset that everyone is yelling at her.

But suddenly by the end of Chapter One, everyone loves Kaede. They want to stop Kaede from dying.

Unlike Jordan with Capsize, I don't blame Shuichi for the way that he portrays Kaede posthumously. He did really only see the optimistic side of her and she was to him the guiding light that got him to be more optimistic. And frankly he was literally willing to kill himself and fourteen others just to not have to admit that she killed someone (also Claire de Lune still makes me cry and look I just do really love Shuichi's arc), but I do definitely give the side eye to the rest of the cast.

(Genuinely: I really wish that Kokichi's poor Tenko bit towards Himiko had been done about Kaede to the rest of the cast. But I do understand that it was maybe a bit early in the game for that and I wouldn't want to take it away from trial three either)

But to get back to the point, Capsize and Kaede both suffer posthumously from being portrayed as people that they were with relationships that they didn't have.

Had I realised earlier that Capsize has Kaede coding, she honestly might've become the protagonist of my Danganronpa AU. Heck, she might've gotten the Shuichi treatment with Red as a decoy protag. But now I've planned the au with Sonja as a protagonist (though one of my three OC Danganronpa AUs does have Katherine - my OC based on Capsize - as the protagonist with mega Kaede vibes so many I just need to write more of that).

Thank you so much for this ask for just letting me get some brainworms out.

[kennyomegasweave]

My live thoughts on The Sign Special Episode

Let's go!

IS MY BABY DEAD IN THE FIRST GODDAMN TWO MINUTES AND THE HOT CAPTAIN TOO??? Oh wait, it’s one of Tharn's dreams that hasn't come true yet.

I'm dying at Tharn waking up from a terrible dream where three of his homies are dead/hella fucked up, and Phaya's just like "what about some dick to start the day?" I know he's stayed on that man every day since he came back.  FUCKING RIGHT UP ON THE DOOR??? NASTY ASS. I love that for Tharn. I love that for Phaya. I love that for me. 

OH A FINE ASS WOMAN CAPTAIN HAS SHOWN UP ACCUSING THE FINE ASS MAN CAPTAIN OF STEALING HER CASE They have ~tension~ are they exes? Cause damn the fine ass Captain is reading her down. No matter what happens, I am choosing to believe they're exes cause like this feels ~personal~ 

Aww there's a cute little baby here. And everyone is just watching her cry and talking about her like she's not right in front of them. Can someone act like they've seen a child before? Damn. lol Oh fuck my boy is gonna talk to her, and I love him, but I know he’s about to make it worse. Well I guess Thongthai ain't getting a baby anytime soon cause Khem just made this little girl cry. lol At least Mayris hugged the baby. But I am crying at the fact that the room was obviously full of Team No Kids cause they had no idea what to do with a crying kid. 

Yai being all "aww don't be worried about me, I got people looking out for me" is, in fact, making me worried. lol Not Phaya getting jealous of Yai. That is his brother!

Khem and Thongthai coming up with the gossip! I love one messy ass couple. That's how you know they've been together too long cause they're just here for the mess. Not Tharn and Phaya going in on gender inequality and KhemThongthai standing there like ...well we just wanted to gossip but now we feel bad. 😬😬😬

As always, I'm crying that Khem and Thongthai are not only allowed to work together, but on the same team. Khem is just touching him all the time and calling him baby. That's not professional in the office, not at all. And they've been like that for 14 years, I know this in my spirit. At least Phaya and Tharn handle their shit better. lol

Okay. Phaya. Tharn is telling you how sad he was when all his people died and he mentioned his asshole bestie and you're just trying to fuck away your jealously. Phaya please. Also, there is a traumatized baby girl in the next room? Let's not. And okay. I get what Phaya means, and I absolutely hated how stupid Tharn was about Chalothon, but that man was in his life for like two decades. He's gonna come up and it's really not that cute for Phaya to be mad about it. 

Phaya is really out here trying to get his dick wet while this traumatized little girl is locked in an unfamiliar house with unfamiliar people. Not the time bro. lol

PLEASE DON'T POINT GUNS AT THE CHILD. Thank you Tharn for having sense. So far it seems like Tharn and Mayris are the only two people who have ever been around a child before. Which is wild cause Phaya has a baby sister that I thought was significantly younger than him. 

Okay that was a good move to bring the cat in. Cats make everything better. One point to Phaya.  Aww this little baby. She's only speaking English. So she's even more out of her element. 

Phaya was just watching Tharn with that baby and def wants that man to have his babies now.

Aww poor sweet baby girl. She doesn't want to sleep alone. If y'all don't get in that bed and sleep with her.

GET HIM THARN YOU CAN BE THE DAD AND HE'S THE MOM Oh Phaya pulled the uno reverse and said "that's cool, I can be the mom and you can be the dad." And honestly yeah. Phaya would have Tharn's babies if he could, I believe that. He just wants Tharn with a baby now however possible. JELLYFISH NICKNAME MENTIONED YES

I appreciate Phaya's garuda brother being like "I did help you but you caused these problems, so you have to deal with them the most." A beautiful representation of an older/younger sibling relationship.

Phaya's phone be ringing for eight years. It should have gone to voicemail by then.

Oh the hot lady Captain is in a leather jacket. My god. I'm so gay.

I do love how Phaya earlier was like THARN IT'S JUST A DREAM and now Tharn is like "your dream MIGHT be important but let's just WAIT." Like these two men aren't reincarnated gods and Tharn didn't spend a whole year in the naga world. 

NOT YAI AND KHEM. KHEM WHY WOULD YOU EVER SAY YOU WERE A SWIMMER. Like I know he is but like. Baby. Why would they have sent Khem for this mission? That is my baby but he is not bright. Like. What the fuck was this plan. Also they're talking all kinds of shit about the plan knowing the building has cameras? Like. I'm sorry my stomach is IN KNOTS.

This is WAY TOO TENSE for me okay. Why on god's green earth did they send the dumbest two in to do recon??? I assume it's cause they're the strongest but like. I don't like this. Not at all. They’re dumb! And not good actors! They're gonna get caught out!

(But damn at least I get to see Gap's body. Cause that man is fine as fuck and fit as hell.)

NO WHAT DID THAT MAN GET ON HIS PHONE. Like okay I'm not scared for Phaya, Tharn, and Deeni cause they're not gonna kill a baby. But my babies Khem and Yai, however, those are grown ass men so you know. I don't want to dance, I'm scared to death.

HE JUST TURNED OFF THE LIVE FEED. Oh my fuck. They know they're cops. I am fighting for my fucking life.

Okay so this crack team is just gonna go in three deep? God this team really just has no brain cells, it should be the hot lady Captain leading cause Captain Akk just like. Doesn't have the best plans. You gotta bring more than THREE dudes against a tio in that shirt. Cause now everybody is disarmed and captured. 

HE'S MAKING KHEM AND YAI FIGHT TO THE DEATH??? IN FRONT OF HIS MAN??? OR THREATENING TO KILL THE OTHERS OH MY GOD HE JUST SHOT THONGTHAI IN THE LEG. Khem is def gonna have to fight now and like. NOT KHEM HITTING YAI AND SAYING SORRY. AND YAI TRYING TO BE LIKE KHEM DON'T WAIT STOP. Yai baby. He has to. It's Thongthai. That's his baby. 

Captain Akk is standing there stuck and restrained looking dumb. Like yeah baby maybe you shouldn’t have a damn married couple of like 14 years on your team? Especially when it was already shown that they can't really be objective about each other. (See: Khem getting shot and Thongthai useless for the last battle)

Okay now we're at the start. Those three aren't dead but Yai and Khem are still captured. But damn these three are all beat. So Khem had to see his man get shot AND beat? Guys. Thongthai can't be rational about this. I'm glad he called Phaya out about that. Captain Akk still sitting there like "maybe I shouldn't have picked a married couple for my team."

Okay Captain Akk. Baby. Let Captain Achara help. I don't know what your beef with her is. But it's not noble babe.

I'm sorry not Thongthai standing there beaten with a shot leg. He really wouldn't be much help here. But I get why he's there. He NEEDS to not only see his man, but get him back himself.

Oh yes god. Is she gonna switch the flash drives? MY QUEEN.

Phaya's garuda brother FTW!

I'm sorry. Yai got his ass beat like ten hours ago and is now hand to hand fighting. Yes Khem! Kiss your man and then go kick some ass!

Is this man and his turtleneck a tiger man (never 4get)??? Why is he growling? Phaya, please. It's time for your garuda powers to activate babe. Get those wings boo.

Yes! He has his wings! Or his brother's wings, I don't know which. But still. Wings baby! Wings!

YES QUEEN SHOOT HIM MULTIPLE TIMES SHOOT HIS CORPSE I WON'T TELL 

Of course Yai is calling Sand. I love that.

Aww, Deeni hugging and saying goodbye to Tharn and Phaya. 

I don’t like kid fic, but in my HEART, I know these two adopt a baby at some point. I know in my SPIRIT.

Did Singh just call Mayris a box bitch? That’s why he’s the single pringle cause my girl was looking fine as hell in that swimsuit.

(GAP'S DICK IN THESE SWIM TRUNKS. I eagerly await that gifset.)

WHY IS THARN IN A BANANA HAMMOCK???

This Avengers Assemble ass ending shot. It's so cheesy. I love it so much.

And on that note, we are done. I had a very good time during this episode. Did the plot make any sense? Not really. But it didn’t really in the show either so I mean. I got everyone looking great and everyone happy and in love and shit at the end. I got Thongthai losing his shit over Khem and, to me, that was worth my $16. I also got a hot ass lady captain running around in a leather jacket. I won.

[dyns33]

Fucking fate - ending 1

Vaas x soulmate Y/N 

I had two ending in mind, so this is Y/N’s ending 

Everything had happened very quickly.

One day Vaas was the king of Rook Island, or at least the part that Hoyt let him control. The next day Carlos was leading Y/N quickly away from camp because Snow White was attacking and it was too dangerous to stay here.

Vaas' order.

Vaas, whose death was announced a few hours later throughout the island.

This news came as a shock to Y/N. She had imagined that people felt something when their soulmate died. A vibe. The breaking heart. Anything. But no, a pirate had given the news, which had echoed in the cave where the small group was hiding, and panic had gripped everyone.

Always calm and loyal, Carlos stayed close to her, awkwardly patting her on the back. Then, when the others had been too busy wondering what they were going to do, not paying attention to them, he had led her to the square, asking Benny to follow him.

Of all the pirates, Carlos and Benny respected their boss the most. Even dead, they weren't going to stop.

They went to a small port that the Rakyats had not taken yet, where a boat was waiting for them.

     "Well, you go in with her and take her to the embassy of her nearest country. Then, you do what you want." Carlos announced with a straight face.

     "But... And you ?!"

     "Relax, princessa. I'm staying here, trying to kill Snow White and regain control of the camps. You're leaving. You're going to live your life somewhere else, safe. That's what the boss would have wanted. Benny, you don't leave her until you're sure she's safe."

     "Of course not. I remember the time she met a tiger. The boss broke my nose and three ribs. I'll follow her like her shadow."

     "Good. Go, now !"

This was the last time Y/N saw Carlos, and Rook Island.

As promised, Benny stayed with her until she found herself in front of an office surrounded by soldiers, bureaucrats and doctors, who asked her many questions, checked on her and called her relatives to tell them that she was alive.

That was the last time she saw Benny. Before letting her into the embassy, he had wished her good luck, telling her that he was going back to Rook. He couldn't leave his hermanos like a coward.

Her family and friends were all very happy to find her. They took her in their arms, kissed her and repeated to her that they had missed her very much, crying.

Y/N cried too, realizing that she hadn't thought of them at all during the time she had spent on Rook, focused on Vaas, her soulmate, who was dead. She hadn't had time to mourn him before, in shock.

She didn't tell anyone about him. For ten years, everyone around her thought that she had been captured by pirates who had treated her well, that she had managed to escape, and that she could now resume a normal life, with the hope of meet her soulmate one day.

It was torture.

Every night she dreamed of the times they had spent together. Of the last time she had seen him.

     "Fucking Jason is coming, nena. He's crazy, worse than me. I don't want... As soon as the alarm goes off, you go with Carlos, okay ? You go with Carlos and you stay with him until let me come to get you."

     "Why don't you come with me ?" she asked, as if at that moment she knew very well that he wouldn't come back.

     "I have to face him. It's crazy, I must be as crazy as him, I've killed him four times and he's still here. We won't be safe until he's completely dead. I have no choice, mi corazon. But don't be afraid, I won't let anyone hurt you."

He had kissed her forehead and he had hurt her forever by losing his stupid fight. He could have just come with her, they would have left this cursed island and they would have been happy.

Unable to lead a normal life after what she had been through, Y/N traveled extensively. She didn't go back to Rook, there was nothing for her there, and besides she avoided most of the islands, but she couldn't stay in one place for too long.

That was how she found herself near the border of Yara.

It was out of the question to go to Yara of course, too dangerous. It was totally a coincidence that Y/N happened to be in this bar near the beach.

 A coincidence, if it was a place frequented by the smugglers. A coincidence, if that day, two of them were right next to her at the counter, speaking Spanish.

Coincidence, or fate.

The voice of one of the men sounded familiar. Turning her head, she saw his back, but she could see his Mohawk, his scars, and the tennis ball with a face sticking out of his pocket.

His colleague noticed her watching them, waving at the man, who turned his green eyes in her direction. They stared at each other for an eternity.

He had aged. Normal, after ten years. He looked tired, even more tired than when she had met him. Maybe darker too, less crazy, even if the tennis ball showed he wasn't in his right mind.

     "... Vaas ?" she managed to say, not trusting her voice, nor her eyes.

As on the island, everything happened very quickly. One moment her soulmate was dead, the other Vaas lifted her off the ground, spinning her around the bar, not listening to her cries of panic, before kissing her again and again.

     "Nena ! Y/N, mi Y/N ! You're alive ? Are you really here ?! Pedro, she's really here ?!"

     "I don't know who's this girl, but yes, she's here." sighed his colleague. "We shouldn't attract attention, remember ?"

     "Shit, shut the fuck up, that's my mate and I thought she was dead. Fucking Carlos, he wasn't in the cave anymore when I managed to drag myself in. No trace of you left ! Then I found his body. That asshole got killed by the Rakyats. I was sure... Oh, mi amor ! You're alive ! The world was so bland without you ! I feel like to be reborn !"

     "You really can't do this anywhere else ?" the other smuggler begged, as everyone in the bar looked at them.

They walked to the beach, Vaas refusing to let go of her hand, as if she would disappear if he didn't touch her. He had often had visions of her, he wasn't sure it wasn't a dream.

     "Carlos and Benny sent me away from the island when they found out... Everyone thought you were dead." Y/N whispered, letting him rub his head against her neck like a big cat.

     "I thought I was dead too, but Brody's not good with a knife. I almost died, but it wasn't the first time I got stabbed. Did they really make you leave ? Shit, I should have buried Carlos instead of spitting on him. I was pissed. He could have left a note to tell me !"

     "You were dead."

     "Still !" Vaas said indignantly, finally calming down a bit, resting his head on her shoulder. "It was hard, nena. I lost everything that day. My island, my men, and you. I wanted to kill Jason, but my sister was faster. It was over. I thought about jumping off a cliff, but it wasn't a nice ending. I thought you wouldn't be happy. So I left. I wanted to visit your hometown, but I couldn't. Hurt too much. Shit, hermosa, you're here ! You're really here ! Hey... No, don't cry, querida, don't cry."

Y/N didn't listen to him, hugging him while sobbing. It was hard to know if it was joy, stress, or a bit of both.

Like when they were on the island, the first few nights when she cried a lot, Vaas massaged her back, kissing her neck and repeating reassuring words, singing a lullaby in Spanish, until she calmed down. 

     "Are you... Are you staying with me this time ?" she asked shyly.

     "Of course. You're coming to Yara ? I have a small house near a lake. I built it myself. It's quiet, not far from the village and the sea. Little Vaas and I go there often."

     "Little Vaas ?"

     "Yes, I'll introduce him to you. I've told him a lot about you, he'll be happy to meet you. And I'm Vaas the nice smuggler, I help people. Well, I still sell drugs and drugs. weapons, and I transport humans, but because they ask me to, I don't sell them ! No more piracy, I'm clean. Almost."

     "... And if I don't want to go to Yara ?"

They had this discussion about Rook Island. Vaas refused to leave, he loved his kingdom too much. Now they were very far away, they had changed. He looked at her intensely, before nodding, cupping her face in his hands with a very serious expression.

      “We'll go where you want, mi reina."

     "Well... I want to see your house. And meet little Vaas."

     "Nena, if this is a dream, please don't let me wake up."

He then pressed his forehead against hers, before kissing her and pressing his head against his chest again, to listen to her heart, with the sound of the waves in the background, and Y/N also hoped that she was not not dreaming.

She imagined them in Vaas' cabin, which was probably not very well built, with little Vaas, who must have been a dog or a tiger. Heaven.

     "Well, that's cute, but we're going to be late !" shouted the other smuggler who was standing near the bar, to give them some privacy.

     "Pedro is boring." said a small voice. "He's not as cool as Carlos."

     "That's right, little Vaas." replied Vaas, resuming his normal voice. "Too bad he died, he was nice and he protected my nena. It's not fair."

     "... The tennis ball in your pocket is little Vaas, right ? You don't have a tiger." "You want a tiger, nena ?"

     "No. I want to go home." she whispered, even though she had already been there since he had jumped on her in front of everyone.

[howlingday]

CHIBI Arkos Angels

Jaune sat quietly as the clock ticked behind him. It ticked for every minute of every hour of every day since the dawn of times. In front of him sat his boss, who glanced over paper after paper of Jaune's recent mission on Remnant.

"So..." Jaune stiffened as he was spoken to. "You goofed up."

"Uh, I wouldn't say that-"

"Jaune, there are hundreds, if not thousands of people dead. The Grimm are running more rampant than before. Hell, even your partner died!" Those were pretty bad. "If you didn't goof up, then what do you call all that?!"

"...Growing pains?"

"Jaune..." There it was. The disappointed 'Jaune' he'd been getting since the dawn of everything everywhere all at once. Just once, he wished someone would cut him some slack.

Was Jaune perfect? No, of course not, no matter how much people told him. Well, how much he thought people told him, or spoke of him when he wasn't around. ...Okay, he wasn't perfect, but he was still wasn't all knowing or all seeing. That was the boss behind the desk.

"Come on, DAD-"

"It's not 'Dad,' okay?" Jaune pursed his lips. "You either call me boss, or sir, or, what I prefer, the Definitive Almighty of the Divine."

"Well, isn't it people's job to die?"

"Jaune, people don't get paid to die down there, so what makes you think we'd get paid up here for that, if at all?" Before Jaune could argue, the door clicked open. "There you are, Pyrrha."

"Hello, again~!"

"H-Hey, Pyrrha."

"Hello, Jaune."

"Everything squared away on your end?"

"Almost." Pyrrha said, sitting down next to her partner. "They said it should take at least another season before I can go back into the field."

"We're not police, Pyrrha." DAD said. "Our job is to make sure nothing too out of place happens in our jurisdiction. Unfortunately for Jaune, we're not as lax as the people in charge of Earth are. Have you seen the stuff they're allowed to get away with there?"

"So where does that leave us?"

"You are fine. Perfect as always. Jaune, on the other hand..." Jaune gulped. "This is your last warning. Either you do your job right, or you're getting reassigned somewhere else. Somewhere that is more willing put up with your shenanigans and 'good ideas'."

Jaune winced at that. Again, Jaune wasn't perfect, but he thought his ideas were good at the time.

He cut animal violence down by half! Sure, it led to creation and following racially charged persecution of the newly dubbed 'Faunus' people. Sadly, Jaune went too far on that one and Remnant was stuck with them, just like when the Brother of Darkness screwed up and made the Grimm to spit his brother. Seriously, how was he supposed to know the Faunus would band together and form the terrorist organization that led to his other mistake, which DAD continuously referred to as "The Volume Three Finale" for some strange reason.

Or the time he let Salem rise to power. She seemed like a nice girl, and hey, if one of the Brothers refused to help her, why not try the other? He was always the nicer guy of the two, even if he did ask for something or another in return. Like Jaune's cheese-fries. Always Jaune's cheese-fries. When he was later confronted by the Brother of Light, he offered the idea to keep resurrecting her dead lover over the centuries. True love conquers all, right?

Then there was the-

"ARC!" Jaune jumped in his seat at the sudden, booming voice. "This will be your last chance. Pyrrha will join you later, but for now, your job is to not screw up and keep the people of Remnant of alive this time." DAD gave Jaune a file. Opening it, he glanced between DAD and the assignment details in his hands.

"Calmly Help Inhabitants Become Illustrious." said the words on the page.

"Chibi?" Jaune asked.

"IT'S NOT-" DAD stopped. "Fine. It's Chibi. Call it whatever you want, but DON'T screw this up! You're on thin ice, Jaune!"

"Da- Er, sir? The mortality rate is so low, it's almost cartoonish."

"Exactly." DAD said. "Enjoy your new, wacky comedy assignment, Arkos."

[hexaonic]

ok buckle up longform essay on SatoSugu incoming

this thing was written for a friend in google docs and it is six. pages. long

the brainrot is real and it is driving me insane so HERE WE GO

In any interpretation of the relationship between Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru – lovers, close friends, brothers, etc. – the dynamic and story between them is (at least to me) incredibly tragic.

You have Gojo, who’s the Honored One - born into one of the three most powerful clans with two rare and frankly op techniques that render him a god amongst men and the Strongest sorcerer in jujutsu society - The strongest is untouchable, too high up for anyone else to reach, destined to be lonely at the top and exploited by the rulers of this society as a trump card, a weapon, for the rest of his life

Until he’s not.

Enter Geto - a sorcerer born from non-sorcerers, with the ability to manipulate curses. But his cursed technique is painful, and requires him to swallow the curses he exorcises in order to absorb them; he himself describes the taste as a “rag used to wipe shit and vomit”. If Gojo is a star or the sun he is the earth, closer to the curses they purge from the world than probably anyone else - after all, he ingests them. I’ve seen fics where they describe the curses affecting his mental state, eating him up from the inside and shouting at him in his head - but that’s not canon, and it just makes me sad, so I put it in cause I’m talking about the tragedy anyway. Geto is strong - cracked at martial arts and skillful with his cursed technique, and together he and Gojo are the strongest.

The two strongest sorcerers are tasked with delivering Riko, the star plasma vessel, to Tengen. They grow attached and are very aware that Riko is scared of the merger and wants to stay longer on the earth with her friends and her beloved maid and them, and they indulge her as long as they can before she goes. But they bring her to the school and she dies anyway, by the hands of the urban legend that is Toji Fushiguro - and Gojo, for the first time in his life, comes close to death. Geto, who has never once seen Gojo weak, is in reasonable shock and horror when Toji kills Riko right in front of him, then pronounces his untouchable best friend dead. He fights and is defeated, but not killed, and Toji leaves. Gojo survives with RCT and his new unlocked Hollow Purple, and kills Toji - but when he finds Riko and Suguru steps into the room, he is in a bit of a hollow mental state (which is understandable - riko is dead, he just made what is probably his first kill in his life, and the people who are at least indirectly responsible are clapping and celebrating her fucking death) and asks Suguru if he should kill them. Suguru says no - that there would be no meaning to it, and that meaning is everything - especially to sorcerers. And Satoru follows, because Geto is the moral compass for both of them.

It must be understood that Suguru is a moral person, but in a careful and objective way - he seems to organize things into neat boxes of “right” and “wrong”, “meaningful” and “meaningless”, and holds a strong sense of justice and responsibility that keeps him in the sorcery race even when he has to swallow vomit-curses and watch people die around him. But it grates on him, a lot, and the grieving and vomit and the ignorance of the non-sorcerers he is supposed to be saving, those he once believed were sorcerers’ responsibility to protect against curses, builds up on his psyche like a mold or an infection and keeps growing. When Yuki talks to Geto after the death of Haibara, she plants the idea in his head that yes, cursed energy does come from almost exclusively non-sorcerers and yes, eradicating cursed energy is possible in multiple ways, and yes, eradicating all non-sorcerers is technically a feasible solution, he struggles with that. A lot. At this point he is already spiraling really badly and questioning everything about his morality and his moral compass and his entire life purpose, and takes this idea to heart.

Meanwhile, his near-death and his power evolving during his final fight shook Gojo to his core and pushed him to be stronger no matter the cost. He got good at using his Limitless cursed technique at all times, being able to control it and its branch techniques with great efficiency so that he could never be caught off guard again. He gets sent on more missions, as he truly becomes the strongest - but in this process, he unknowingly begins to leave Geto behind. Gojo works best alone, when nobody is there to become collateral damage for him, and the authorities in charge send him on solo mission after solo mission. He is too blinded by his own pursuit of strength and his perception of Geto - the morally righteous one, his keeper, his compass, his best friend - to see his counterpart dying a little bit more with every passing day he is left to rot in his own mind. 

Geto sees this disconnect between him and Gojo and it adds another straw to his very quickly growing spiral haystack, and at some point it has to snap. And it does - he is sent on a solo mission to a rural village, where they have locked two sorcerer girls in a cage and blame them for the things happening to their town. Even after Geto exorcises and swallows the curse that was causing the problems in the first place, the village people blame the girls for their powers. It enrages him, and probably makes him think of Haibara and Gojo and the culmination of all the things non-sorcerers do to sorcerers in the name of ignorance, of hunting and eradicating anything that is “other” or “alien”, of the man who nearly killed him and his best friend and called himself a monkey. How the deaths of his friends have all been undeserved, caused by something they could not control or even foresee, how sorcery is all just a race to the bloody, unjustified, meaningless end. Something in Geto snaps, and he massacres the entire town and takes the girls under his wing with his new conviction: that he hates monkeys, and they deserve to die.

Gojo and Geto have their kfc breakup. Gojo is genuinely shocked that the one person who always caught up with him, and was always there by his side when nobody else ever really could be, turned around and committed mass murder when Gojo didn’t even know Geto was suffering, and Geto takes this as Gojo’s ignorance, too: that while he was here spiraling and rotting to the point that he snapped, Gojo was the strongest. Untouchable. Exalted by all and therefore not knowing, or caring, what it would feel like to doubt his own morality or fear the inevitable death of everyone around him in the brutal world of curses and sorcerers. Geto believes that the life of a sorcerer has no meaning - that the endless race of kill or be killed from adolescence to an early grave is a dead end, a pointless suicide mission, generation after generation of lemmings culled by the sorrows of the weak - by the ones they swear to protect. (Some stories spin it a slightly different way, where Geto and Gojo are in love - and seeing Gojo work himself to the bone to be a living weapon all his life, seeing his one and only isolated like this, kills him more than the thought of being hated for freeing him. They theorize that this is the main conviction that drives him to go through with the plan to kill all non-sorcerers.) 

So he leaves, and is branded as a curse user to all of jujutsu society. He is to be killed on sight. But Gojo is the one to confront him, and when he raises his hand to kill his best friend he can’t do it. (“Kill me,” Geto says as he walks away. “There’d be meaning in that, too.”)

The Honored One and the Cursed. The Heavens and the Earth, the Righteous and the Damned. One blessed with innate kindness, and snap moral judgment - one cursed with an infinite moral dilemma, relegated to careful deliberation and action to carry out justice. One with a cursed technique that could be compared to ascension, unlimited power and enhanced perception and untouchable beauty, so high up he is unreachable as heaven itself - one with a cursed technique that could be described as bottom-feeding, damning, so low compared to the veritable God he walks beside that it seems the curses he swallows and the pain he carries could sink him into the earth all the way down to hell.

Yin and Yang, two halves of a whole that circle each other, but never really touch. 

Gojo’s Infinity ensures that. 

In their separation they both adopt children - Geto the girls he saved from the village, Gojo the kids he saved from the clan that had produced and rejected Toji. Geto becomes a cult leader, amassing curses and money and followers by tolerating “monkeys” and healing their “ailments” and swallowing their curses. Gojo becomes a teacher, swearing that as long as he is there nobody will be alone again. (Shoko was there - has always been there - but that is a different tragedy altogether.)

They meet again in JJK 0. Geto declares war on all of jujutsu society, the Night Parade of a Thousand Demons (I think), and Gojo fights alongside the school. Yuuta and his own tragedy, Rika - his lost childhood love whom he accidentally cursed to remain on this earth and torment him, letting nobody close to her lover - face off against Geto at Jujutsu tech. When Yuuta accepts all of Rika and she fully manifests her power, the strongest curse Geto has ever seen, he begins to fight in earnest. (I’ve heard theories that maybe Geto is so unwilling to accept that Yuuta and Rika are truly in love during that fight because that would mean that him leaving everyone he cared about, and the one he truly loved, in order to save them from a life of suffering was completely unnecessary, and he could have had love and a purpose - he could have had Gojo -without all the pain he caused himself and Gojo and everyone who’d cared about him back.)

Yuuta defeats him. Satoru and Suguru are left alone after everyone has left, one painfully mortal and one painfully untouchable. Destined to fight each other. One cursed to die, one cursed to live. No matter the dynamic that was between them, their last words are a tender moment and a testament to the affection and care they still hold for each other, even after their ideals and their lives have strayed so far from each other in adulthood. Gojo kills Geto, but does not have the heart to dispose of his best friend’s body - which is what relegates Geto to the role of puppet, used to carry out Kanjaku’s agenda. In a way Gojo really did curse him, in the end.

Breaking the fourth wall, there are little elements outside the story that make it so painful as well.

Gege Akutami, the mangaka who created this whole universe and its characters and their dynamics (I look up to him, kinda, for the pain he makes me feel) has given details in author’s notes and interviews that make SatoSugu all the more painful. For starters, he agreed with the producer’s(?) statement, which describes Geto as Gojo’s “first and last warm spring of youth” which,, ow; and then he makes it so Geto’s priestly cult man robes are a design that literally have part of Gojo’s name in it (I can’t find the actual name but it’s in there) and in one author’s note or filler issue of the jump he gives us songs that remind him of each character and one of Gojo’s is about heartbreak and love and LITERALLY WORD FOR WORD could describe the dynamic between the two.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!!

The anime, in season 2, opens with Ao no Sumika and ends with Akari - I think the opening and ending are meant to be Gojo’s perspective and Geto’s, respectively. The lyrics line up - the opening is fun and lively and bright but still foreshadows pain and heartbreak in the lyrics and certain frames of the sequence, and the ending is vaguely melancholy in lyrics, melody, and color; it’s even raining, and half the time Geto appears on the screen he is doused in shadow. In the opening the singer literally reflects on how the brightness/loudness of being with this person drowned out their silence (which cmon that’s satosugu for certain), and ruminates on the unsaid “will we meet again?” between singer and subject. (which AGAIN, SATOSUGU) And one of my favorite ever sequences in that ending sequence is a pair of scenes that show first Gojo, his eyes following a black beta fish with spiky, damaged fins and tail; and then Geto, his eyes downcast, looking away from a white beta fish that is whole and healthy, almost glowing. It’s my favorite way their dynamic is symbolized in the anime and the most painful - just these two frames themselves are enough to foreshadow their entire story. Gojo cares about Geto, and follows him - he wants him to come back. He wants him to be by his side again, for them to be the strongest again. But he doesn’t even notice Geto’s departure until the fish is already on its way off the screen. The fins on the black beta fish are damaged because Geto is sick, because Geto is spiraling, because beta fish whose fins are damaged and sickly like that are typically not far off from dying. Geto looks away from the healthy white beta fish - he turns his back on love. He thinks it’s pointless, and accepts like a martyr that to save Gojo from his fate at the hands of this world he will have to hurt him by destroying it, and likely dying because of it. What’s more - two male beta fish can’t be in the same tank together. They’ll fight to the death until only the strongest is left.

Gojo and Geto are tragic because it’s so clear that Gege wrote them as a duo, two halves of a whole, two sides of a coin. They are foils as much as they are literally meant for each other in any way that phrase can be interpreted, and yet they are destined to fall apart in the end. One is destined to kill the other, then live with the grief that comes from it. The strongest is fated to survive at the cost of the other, stranded on a pedestal that is covered in blood. They are kids, thrust into an endless cycle of death and pain and suffering and gore because it is their responsibility to protect the people that cannot help themselves, and when the two strongest children are met with the horror of it all one breaks and drops out, and one continues the race and runs faster because he’s not allowed to drop out. The one still running eventually must kill the other to keep running. The best tragedies are those where the characters could have very easily done something to prevent the tragedy from happening or stop it as it unfolds – but because of who they are, and their inevitable choices because of who they are, it doesn’t make sense for them to do so. It makes sense that someone so morally compromised like Geto would snap at the realization that the deaths of his friends will keep happening. It makes sense that once the idea was planted in his head and he was shown the multitude of ways in which non-sorcerers were ignorant of the suffering sorcerers went through to protect them, he snapped at the sight of child sorcerers being relegated to a fate they didn’t deserve. It makes sense that Gojo would let Geto free out of love, even if it led to his demise anyway. It makes sense that he was so shocked at his friend’s actions and curse-user status, because he was buried in his own set of societal pressures and took his friend for granted. It all makes sense, and yet they’re all doomed. Every last person in JJK is doomed. Geto’s children died trying to free his corpse from the monster (man) that stole it. Both of Gojo’s children house(d) ancient sorcerers, and will both probably die fighting in bodies they cannot control. Yuji, the main character, is surrounded by the deaths of everyone he cares for, and the foreshadowing of his own inevitable end. Gojo is the Prince in his tower, is forced to watch, untouchable, trapped, as the knight on a dragon is shot down, plummets to the earth below - and becomes the enemy against his own will. Sometimes it makes me so sad I am close to tears. (and sometimes i read fics that make me cry more, because how in the hell are people that good at writing grief and angst and tragedy and where can I learn to do the same)

If the manga ends happily I’ll be surprised, because right now it seems a tragic but meaningful ending is in the works and I’m scared

[justalittleegg]

CC WEEKEND BASH DAY 2!!

I'm making this the same day as my day 1 post so it's not as hype.

@and-stir-the-stars

PROMPT: HAUNTING / FAMILY

This is set in my AU that I don't have a name for in which Henry goes crazy and commits murders because Charlie got cromched in the Bite of '83. Mike is his first murder as revenge. Basically a William / Henry roll swap.

Evan is CC. Evan's POV.

TW: murder,

______________________________________________________________

It had been three months since Michael was found dead in a back alley. Two deaths in the span of a couple months, it was strange, especially considering Henry's absence from work and... life, I guess.

I mean it seemed connected; Mike killed Charlie and now he was found dead in an alley, it had to have a meaning.

I couldn't be bothered looking for that meaning though. I couldn't be bothered doing anything actually. I didn't draw, I didn't speak, I didn't even eat much anymore. I mean, what was the point? With Michael gone life felt, empty.

I missed his jokes, his drawings that were way better than mine, and, in a way, I missed his senseless bullying.

You never realise what you've got until it's gone.

Before his death, I thought I didn't like Mike, the thoughts of his scares and his mask were all that filled my mind. But in retrospect, I had so many good times with him that feel so much more important than the bad.

Like this one time just after school. I was in my room, crying after a bad day at school. Mike came in, probably to scare me, but seeing me like that, instead he just sat down, took out a piece of paper, and began to draw. After a moment he lifted up the drawing. It was a rabbit in a top-hat and monocle. It was so silly it made me stop crying. He started teaching me how to draw like him; it's what got me into drawing in the first place.

I was at the pizzeria sitting at a table, alone, quiet. The only reason I was here was because there was no one to watch us at home. I had to be here while Dad worked.

Dad had gotten over it so fast, or at least it seemed that way. The pizzeria was temporarily shut down for a couple weeks while things were getting sorted out, both with the police and funeral services. I had been at two funerals over the past half year; Charlie's and Mike's.

Charlie's was just how I thought a funeral would be. People crying, boring speeches that never really said much about the person other than 'they were nice', and an overall vibe of sadness.

Michael's was different though. Sure people still cried but it wasn't the same. His friends were there; I didn't know they're names. They shared actual stories about Mike and actually knew him. I guess it's since he was older, he actually did stuff. It was just, less sad and more... bittersweet, I guess.

Elizabeth was here somewhere, probably with her friends. She had taken it well too, not as well as Dad, but still pretty well.

I don't know haw they can all just move on and act like it didn't happen, act like two of the people closest to us hadn't just died. I quietly stared down at the table and began to sob while kids played around me and concerned parents watched on.

Suddenly, a slender figure was in front of me. I looked up, it was the security puppet that Dad and Henry had installed after Charlie's death to keep people safe. It had a thin, black torso with long, striped arms. It's face had two large eyes, a wide grin, and curiously, tear streaks from it's eyes that I didn't remember being there.

It was holding a piece of the children's drawing sheets from the pizzeria labelled 'My Happiest Day!' in one had and a couple crayons in the other. It placed down the paper and began to scribble in a way I had never seen it done before.

When it was finished, I looked down at the sheet.

It was a drawing of a rabbit in... in a top-hat and a monocle...

Just like Mike had drawn.

______________________________________________________________

[wizisbored]

I can imagine after the wall goes down that nimona and Ballistor would be interested in visiting places, and one of the places they visit is where they run into Lydia, and Nimona can see an unsummoned Beetlejuice and is probably excited to meet someone special or weird like her. Ballistor has some reservations about it, but he'd warm up to him, once he was summoned and he could see him and Lydia explained some things.

if theyre gonna be leaving the kingdom for au purposes, im tempted to say fuck it go all the way and have them fully leave leave. nimona, ballister and ambrosius. they tried to swing it for a while, stuck around for maybe as long as a few years after it all went down, but it just wasnt working out. it's absolutely impossible for any of them to live a normal life, nimona especially - most people hail her as a hero, which is stressful in its own right, but there's also a not-insignificant number who still want 'gloreths monster' dead, and they know who she is now.

so the three of them skip town, and end up in a small town in rural conneticut. they dont plan on hiding nimona's abilities forever, but decide to lay low for a period to scope out the towns general level of weirdness-acceptance first. so they move in under the guise of a young gay couple who have gaurdianship of a teenager for unspecified reasons, and own various pets that are never seen in the same place at the same time.

it's been a while since the events of beetlejuice the musical, and beej is kinda hovering around the deetzs. lydia hasnt resummoned him and he hasnt asked her to. yet. theyre back on friendly terms, though im not sure about him and the rest of the family.

the two groups meet when charles decides to invite the new neighbours over for dinner. nimona is calling herself seventeen so she's supposedly a year or two older than lydia, and lydia thinks shes cool as shit. even though lydia isnt young enough to really trigger nimonas discomfort with small children she isnt used to interacting with kids and it takes her a bit to warm up, but lydia isnt the best at socialising with people (supposedly) her age either so they kinda fumble through it together. turns out theyve got a fair bit in common and by the end of the evening theyre getting along pretty well. goth/punk solidarity.

nimona cant neccesarily see ghosts, but she can sense them. beetlejuice isnt around for the dinner but she is far more aware of the maitlands' presence than ballister or ambrosius. she has no idea what it is, and doesnt bring it up until they're back home afterwards.

so nimona and lydia keep hanging out. a few times beetlejuice tags along, and nimona can feel him lingering around, and it feels the way a dog trying to bite a fly out of the air looks, if that makes sense. nimona stays human-shaped around lydia but there is something distinctly off about her, to lydia. maybe on some level she can sense what nimona is, but ill have to figure that out after ive considered how the magic/supernatural lore of the two medias is going to mix. she also thinks theres something odd about the various 'pets' nimona's family owns. theyre all some variation of reddish-brown, chestnut, ginger, or tan with no exception. the dog looks at least half wolf. her own cat, percy, hates theirs. she sees ballister riding a horse bareback around the edge of town sometimes, and it always feels like the horse is avoiding eye contact. and she has never seen nimona interact with any of them, or even be in the same room.

nimona finds out about the ghosts before lydia finds out about her, but it happens in quick sucession. eventually lydia is confident enough that she could ask nimona if she believes in life after death and she'd answer honestly. so she asks, and nimona - as someone who died and then got better - says yes quite confidently. so lydia pretty much spills everything, and nimona's reaction to hearing about beetlejuice is 'oh thank FUCK i can stop pretending to be human in front of you'

[natequarter]

can you tell us more about your ocs?

sure! in chronological order:

diuset, a celtic leader who died of unclear natural causes. died long before the roman invasion of britain. more or less the first ghost to stay around, but unfortunately she simply does not vibe with robin. haunts button house for at least a thousand years, probably closer to fifteen hundred. moves on in the twelfth century, having seen three separate invasions of britain and having kind of moved on from watching her people disappear by this point. she does learn old english, but she's not the best at speaking it. middle-aged, and dressed in quite a lot of layers for a ghost, because it was fucking cold when she died. pale, light eyes, very red hair.

lucius, the very unfortunate ghost of a young roman soldier. held down and drowned in the lake at button house over roman-celtic disputes. roughly fourth century ad. doesn't haunt for very long, and quickly moves on.

leofstan, an early anglo-saxon peasant - about the sixth century ad. pagan - he died before england converted to christianity, and has a mix of anglo-saxon and celtic family. fourteen years old, and typically annoying - loud, brash, and rude, but a good friend of robin's. how exactly he died is unclear, but it probably has something to do with the cane and the limp. moves on in the mid-1400s, walking into the lake, never to be seen again. he likes to make fun of rich people. ashy blonde, and predictably skinny.

godric, a later anglo-saxon blacksmith - mid-tenth century. had a family and kids before some bitchass carpenter shoved him into an anvil. took damage to the brain stem, stopped being able to breathe, and promptly died. wishes everyone would just calm down a bit, which they don't, or at least be nicer to each other, another thing they do not do. has a thing for robin, more so than the various ghosts who have a thing with robin. one of about two ghosts who is genuinely a nice, pleasant person, and does not have some glaring personality flaw which ruins everything. physically muscular, with blonde curls (because blonde people exist, which i frequently forget). married with kids at the point of death. sucked off at some point before the 1500s.

william, a norman would-be crusader who died in 1096 of tuberculosis. obsessed with holy war - somewhat like a crusading version of the captain - except, well, a massive failure on the soldier front, on account of being incredibly dead. died a slow and agonising death of tuberculosis - despite being surrounded by murder victims, he had one of the worst deaths out of any of the ghosts. cheery, with a painfully optimistic streak, and an unhealthy habit of idolising military figures - even long after his death, as with richard the lionheart. in his mid-thirties; tall, and very unkempt. still has his sword (adhémar) on him, as he died with it, and, especially when he's very stressed/angry/excited, he can interact with the world of the living through it... which frequently causes havoc. sucked off shortly after humphrey died, in the early 1590s. afflicted with a terrible cough all throughout his afterlife.

geoffrey and matilda, the owners of button house during the anarchy and early reign of henry ii. geoffrey died after falling off his horse and then being trampled by it (very gory, very ouch), and matilda died of hypothermia after he failed to arrive home. she spends the entire afterlife freezing cold. they're married, and unlike most of the canon ghosts' marriages, they do actually love each other. geoffrey moves on in the fourteenth century, matilda in the early 1600s. geoffrey has short hair and a short beard, and matilda has braided brown hair. robin makes fun of geoffrey's death constantly, because he is, quite frankly, a bit useless, but he's very fond of both of them.

elizabeth, a late medieval noblewoman who died in july, in 1485. the arrival of a messenger with the sweating sickness infected her household, and she succumbed shortly after. most of the ghosts were conscious when they died; because she died in her sleep, it took a while for the other ghosts to even convince her that she had died. in her early twenties, with dark brown eyes and very dark curly hair. afflicted, much like william, with symptoms of the disease that killed her - easily tired, often dizzy or feverish (someday matilda might stop using her as a radiator). at least she doesn't cough up blood, though. they very gradually warm to each other. one of the few people to actually look out for humphrey - not that there's anyone much else to do when he first dies. robin dislikes her, on account of typical aristocratic uptightness, and her being a bit frosty towards him when she first died, because the older early/high medieval ghosts are by that point a pretty tight-knit group, to the exclusion of others. holds a grudge against humphrey's grandfather, who takes over the house a while after her death, and tries to haunt him. it does not work.

clarence, a victorian gardener, and servant to george button. poor fucker. in his thirties when a teenaged george dared him to go ice skating... you can probably guess how this ends. ice broke, clarence drowned, rip. died of shock and the cold as much as the whole water in his lungs thing. just wants to chill, but did not get that wish in the way he intended. being soaking wet is a miserable way to spend the afterlife... which is probably why he doesn't haunt long, moving on shortly after fanny dies. presumably he didn't like the taste he got of fanny. good but brief mates with robin; not really dead long enough to form close connections with anyone in particular, but it would be nice if thomas stopped trying so hard to bond with him.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

Welcome back to Sorcerer's Glade, a choose-your-own-adventure story using Tumblr polls!

In this story, whatever option the most people vote for determines the direction of the plot! I'll try to update weekly as the results roll in. The poll for this week will be on a separate post, which will be linked at the end of this entry. Have fun!

RECAP AND RESULTS

It's the beginning of summer vacation, and you want to go with your friends to the carnival hosted by your high school. However, your best friend Emma has other plans in mind- she wants to explore Sorcerer's Glade, an abandoned theme park said to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who died on one of the roller coasters. You have your doubts, but Emma is going with your other two friends Justin and Opal, and you don't want to be left out. While you pack to go exploring, you find your backpack only has room for one more object- a flashlight or a pocket knife. After careful consideration, you choose....

the knife!

You pick up the knife, noticing how it glints in the light from your window; you've never used it before. You shove it into your backpack, which you just barely manage to zip closed before heading out the door.

You make your way to Emma's driveway, where she's waiting for you, along with your friends Justin and Opal.

"Took you long enough," Emma says. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah- well, if everyone else is, of course..." you stammer. As much as you want to be included on an adventure with your friends, you still have your doubts about sneaking into an abandoned theme park.

"You don't really believe in Rebecca, do you?" Justin asks.

Before you can answer, Opal cuts in. "I believe in Rebecca more than I believe in myself," they tease, causing them and Justin to share a laugh. "Besides, even if she is real, I don't think she'd be that scary. I mean, she's just a kid, right?"

"You'd be surprised," Emma responds, her voice dead serious. "The ghosts of children can be extremely temperamental. Picture your three-year-old brother, but with supernatural powers and decades of vengeance in his soul."

"And you want to see her why, exactly?" Opal asks.

Emma shrugs, grinning. "Oh, just because. We won't do anything stupid or anything; just show up and explore a bit." She opens her car door. "Come on; let's go. We need to be back before it gets dark."

You all pile into her car, easily recognizable by the bobblehead alien on the dash and the Honk if you'd fuck Mothman bumper sticker her parents have given up trying to scrape off. You're sitting in the front with Emma, while Justin and Opal sit into the back. As Emma turns the ignition, the radio blasts a synthy 80s rock song, and soon, you all are singing along at the top of your lungs as the car pulls out of the driveway and onto the road.

On the way, Emma eventually turns down the radio, and you and your friends discuss plans for the summer, the classes you're planning to take, gossip about your classmates and teachers. And yet soon enough, the conversation fizzles as the ride stretches on. You pass the time by looking out the window, observing stretches of trees on either side of the road that appear to go on for miles. An uneasy mix of anticipation and dread swirls in your stomach; you've never done anything like this before. But, you resolve, you don't regret your decision, and besides, you're having fun.

Eventually, the car stops at what seems to be a dead end.

"My GPS says this is it," Emma says. "Let's go."

From here, all you can see is a mass of forest, not unlike what you've been driving past this whole time. Still, you get out of the car with the rest of your friends. Upon closer inspection, you can see a path cut into the undergrowth- likely left by previous urban explorers on their way to the park. It's reassuring to know, at least, that someone has been here recently, although you haven't seen anyone else around for hours.

Emma leads the way onto the path, with you following close behind. You're glad to have your knife, as you use it to cut stray vines and branches out of your way. It's not terribly strong, but it does make the trek a little more convenient.

"Look at you," Emma smiles. You feel a spark of pride; after all, unless you're some weird cryptid, it takes a lot to impress her. A noise behind you makes you jump, but it's only Justin kicking an empty water bottle out of his way. The path appears littered with garbage, and you wonder if you could run into anyone in the park; would it be scarier for you and your friends to be alone there or not?

"Guys," Opal gasps, pointing. You follow their finger to see a rusted statue of a knight, appearing to jut straight out of the ground like a broken bone. In one hand, it holds a sword, and in the other, it brandishes a sign, now covered in graffiti and bird droppings. However, you can make out:

W LC M E T S R CE ER'S GL D E.

You take a picture of it with your phone before continuing on. As you head deeper down the path, cobblestones begin to gradually appear under your feet, rough and uneven. Among tree trunks are tall posts, presumably for light fixtures. Kiosks dot the ground, appearing to have been reclaimed by nature. You find yourself standing in the middle of a large clearing, in what used to be a place where people once streamed about in busy crowds. You can almost smell buttered popcorn in the air- or is that just your imagination?

You wander about, before you come to a crumbling stone staircase halfway underground, leading off into the darkness. Above it is a sign reading ENCHANTED LAKE.

"Check this out," you say, calling your friends over. You all seem to hold a collective breath.

"Dare you to go," Emma says.

"Or we could just not," Opal interjects. "It's probably not safe down there- and not because of ghosts or anything. If it collapses or something while we're in there, we're screwed."

"I guess you're right," Emma sighs, staring down at the staircase. You can't help but look at it too, wondering where it could lead. "There's probably lots to see above ground, anyway. Might as well do that instead." Opal exhales with relief.

"How about that roller coaster?" Justin suggests. "The one the video was taken by?"

"Dragon's Peak!" Emma gasps. "Good idea. It's probably just over... there!"

In the distance, you can see the silhouette of a looming serpentine form, half-hidden by trees and fog. You feel a chill run down your spine; the coaster seems as if it could be a real dragon. Emma immediately takes off in the direction of the coaster, followed by Justin and Opal. You start to go with them, but behind you, from the staircase to the Enchanted Lake, you hear... a laugh.

Do you go with your friends to the roller coaster, or do you investigate the Enchanted Lake?

Click the Link to vote!

[transzodiacdogmom]

My drawing tablet is on the fritz right as I was writing for my comic which is my passion project, so I don't want to forget what I was writing so I just wrote it all here. it's missing context cause it's taken from late in the story of my comic/manga series. Feel free to ignore this, read it or whatever. I'm not good at actually writing, writing. I'm much more visual and whatnot, which is why I'm trying to make it a manga, but again, I didn't want my work to go to waste so I just wrote it here. No one will read it anyways. Been going through a lot the past few days and haven't slept in two days but it's whatever, y'know. Also a good person told me once I need to try and put my stuff out into the world, so that's me doing that, even though no one cares and whatnot and I'm just a speck in the vastness of tumblr.

==========================

"4,383 Days." She spoke, her voice calm as her face was lit by a nearby street-light, emitting a humming noise, barely heard with the sound of cars passing by.

"What?" He asked, looking confused at her.

"4,383 Days. That's Thirteen-years." She added, looking at the one that was beside her, who still was very confused by what she meant. "Yeah, I have no idea what you're going on about." He responded.

These two were unalike from one another, aside from the sole-fact that they lost something dear to them, something they'd never be able to get back regardless how hard they tried, but with their own opposite views on their situations. Memories are the core part of Life, most say they define people, their past and future alike, but the woman here, she thought differently.

A Sheep, stood at 5ft 12in at height, dressed in a purple jacket with a barrage of odd lettering and symbols on it. Over the sleeves lined with question-marks slithering down to the cuffs, and a few stitches. At the waist of the jacket, the same symbols repeated across, almost in a dancing manner, each symbol inverse of the other. It was unlike any jacket anyone has ever seen before, really. She had made it herself, to be in align with her goals, her convictions. Across her wool of hair on her head lie a headband with one more question-mark ontop of it, coated in a pink coloring, catching the eyes of anyone that passed by. It had to be made in a specific way to accommodate for her owns as well. Her eyes crimson, circles underneath. They were almost sunken, as if something lied beneath them, something dead that died quite some time ago. She was likely almost in her early twenties.

Across her, lied a wolf, standing himself at 5'10, shorter than the person he found himself with. His hair dark red, like embers of a fire, and his eyes blue like the sea that stretched out across the beaches of where he woke up, and had started his new life. He donned a jacket, colored with a violent violet, and black t-shirt underneath, with a abstract structure on the front, one that if looked at too long would make your head dizzy and spin. He had a more simplistic taste in his fashion than the other, though at least they both wore just any run-of-the-mill jeans. He couldn't be sure how old he was, as for he couldn't remember his own birthday...He couldn't remember anything, but was likely still around Seven-teen years of age.

Neya, the woman Sheep, stood there, hands in her pockets as she gazed out into the city lights, a field of color that spread darkness thin the deeper and closer those lights became. "Thirteen-Years. Wouldn't you say that's a long time?" She had asked him, head turning, her eyes began to pierce into his own, a clash it felt like. As if putting two magnets next to each other, doing their best to push away.

The boy shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms and leaned against a wall behind him. It be clear to anyone that he was met with his own reservations about Neya. "Yeah, I guess so. It's a decade and three years. I don't understand what this has to do with anything though." He answered, his voice a little higher than most for his age, with a feminine touch to it as well, and as gentle as ever.

She chuckled a little, closing her eyes and smiling softly. "If you and I were friends for that long, what would you think?" Her eyes opened again, and that clashing from earlier returned.

The boy didn't speak a word, and it was difficult to tell if he was humoring her question or ignoring it, but soon his voice would break through a brief silence with his own answer. "Well, For starters." He began. "I don't think we'd ever be 'Friends' so-to-speak. But, if by some miracle, we were, and it was for that long? I'd say that it was likely meant to be?...I guess? I don't know." His shoulders shrugged once more.

"Humor me some more, Itsuki. Do you think we'd ever fall apart?"

Once more, the boy, now known as Itsuki, had to think some more, though was a bit confused and shocked by her adding to her question. It wasn't something he thought about, losing people, friends, though now that he was. The thought terrified him. "For thirteen-years, I hope we wouldn't. I mean..." He paused, almost as if he was choking on his own voice for a moment, unable to get his words out, till he finally did. "That's a long time to be friends that...I feel like after that mark...You'd...We'd...Be more than friends?..." He finished, only to then realize what he said, getting defensive quickly as his face began to glow bright red with blush. "Not in a romantic sense. But, at that point you'd practically be family with whoever your friends with."

All Neya could do was laugh at how strung up he got on his words for a moment, clearly not feeling anything in regards to that 'more than friends.' comment he mentioned.

Itsuki shook his head, clearing his head of those thoughts, feeling embarrassed he misspoke, though hoped the Sheep didn't misconstrue what he was saying. "Why are you asking this, exactly?"

Her laughing ceased, almost immediately after he had spoke, a sudden shift in gears in her mind. To Itsuki, seeing someone shift so...Easily, and quickly, it was a little creepy.

"You'd be more than friends. I agree. You'd be family at that point. Many years of friendship like that, consistent? You and whoever friend this would be, you'd face everything together. You'd see each others flaws and no matter what, you'd love one another, wouldn't you? Despite everything?"

A look of confusion was formed on the wolf's face. It was always a riddle, or a weird way of phrasing words together. Neya was always acting unlike anyone else he'd ever met. She was unpredictable, with her words, actions, and thoughts. Luckily, she was also someone who kept to her word, and she had only asked him here to talk to one another, so while Itsuki did get a bit defensive, standing straight from that wall he was leaning on prior, and arms at his sides now, he knew nothing would likely happen...but still, she was unpredictable.

He breathed in, then exhaled sharply. "You could call it family," Itsuki began. "Though something like that, I feel, would go past beyond labels..."

That was something Neya didn't think of, that this kind of thing couldn't be labelled, making her smile more, possibly in part to hearing Itsuki say something smart for once. She didn't think him dumb or anything, but Neya did have a bit of a superiority complex over everyone else.

Suddenly, Neya walked over and trapped Itsuki against the wall, arms extended out, trapping him between them as that crimson mixed with his blue. It, to no ones surprise, startled him, even gasping from fear, though he tried to remain calm. This was just to talk.

"It goes beyond labels. It's stronger than anything else in the world, right? To those two people?...Now what happens if you took it away? All those years, thrown away over one mistake, what happens then?" Suddenly she got this crazed look in her eyes, and a sinister smile formed at him, as if she was in some way enjoying this, like it was fun for her to think about these things.

He gulped, sweat already beginning to trickle down his forehead. "I...I don't know." He answered. He honestly didn't, he's never been in that situation before, and he couldn't even imagine being in it.

Neya pushed her face closer to his, her hair almost tickling at his ears. "Imagine if you and Ri-Et go on, you're friends till you're thiry-something, then over one mistake, he tells you he moved on from you. How would you feel?" Bringing Ri-Et into the equation was something that really unsettled Itsuki. He was his best friend, he was the one who found him after he woke up on that beach that day. When he didn't know anything, he didn't know anyone. Ri-Et was there. He even gave Itsuki his name, when he couldn't remember it. Gave him a home, everything. Ri-Et was integral to Itsuki, and he to Ri-Et.

"I...Would you shut up? I don't want to even think about that--" Itsuki was interrupted, Neya grabbing at his neck now and holding hem there, that look of enjoyment on her face turning to one of displeasure and disappointment, seemingly not liking Itsuki's response.

"How. Would. You. Feel?" She reiterated those four words, slowly, piercing Itsuki's eyes with her own, wanting a direct answer this time, and not some defensive comment telling her to shut up or whatever. Neya was someone you didn't want to tell shut up to, and yet Itsuki would always oppose her, as she was his foil.

He gulped again, this time it was harder feeling those fingers gripping his throat, tightly, squeezing, but not necessarily choking him; He could still breathe, but not easily. "I...I'd be broken without...him," Itsuki said. "I don't think I could live...without him. He's always been around for me. But he'd...he'd never...He'd never leave."

"But what if he did? What if he said that the found others that impacted him more than you ever did? That his love for you was gone. What then? Kill yourself? Respect his wishes? What would you do? What would you do, Itsuki?."

He struggled in her grasp, trying to break free but Neya was stronger than most. He wasn't even scared of what Neya was doing, Itsuki knew he'd likely be safe from her no matter what she did given his ability, the one he couldn't control. The thing that scared him, however, was what she was saying.

The thought of losing someone he loved closely. Leaving him, moving on from him. The idea that someone he cares for, could just vanish in a instant, as if they were never there in the first place.

It terrified him. Enough so tears were beginning to form at his eyes.

"Your loved ones always will leave you. The people you want to stay connected with will leave you. And over what? A mistake they made that they beg they could fix?" Where was this coming from? It was beginning to sound like this was more personal to Neya, than just a random nightly thought whilst staring at the stars in the sky. "No second chances? Just immediately gone. You'd be replaced. You. People bring certain qualities to themselves that makes them unique? What drivel." Neya finally loosened up, stepping back from Itsuki with her head hung over, looking at her feet and the ground below her. "You can be replaced, no matter what. Even after thirteen-years. But I guess it just makes sense, right?"

Another question, as Itsuki began to rub where she had held him earlier, catching his breath while also not trying to cry at the thought of losing his best friend. "The hell are you talking about, Neya?"

She looked at him again, another wicked smile on her face. "Thirteen is the unluckiest number. I just knew this perfect couple, once, had been friends for that long, and one made one simple mistake and the other...cut it off. You think I'm evil, Itsuki?"

Well, yes, he thought as much. She was known for mashing screwdrivers into people's skulls, she was evil especially with what she wanted for the whole world. But he was curious, she was challenging his thoughts and preconceived notions about her, something she did often, but, each time Itsuki was curious to hear what she thought was true evil, if she wasn't herself.

"I'm not evil. Say what you will about me, and how I view memories and whatnot, but true evil...Are those kind of people. The people who will destroy a unique enough bond that was strong for thirteen-years, and moving on without a care of the fallout for the other. The couple I mentioned? After the one who cut ties left, the other was distraught, broken. She was so hurt that she was lost for the rest of her life, which wasn't at all long. She never made it to thirty." Neya explained all of this to Itsuki, in a fashion he'd not heard before. As much as Itsuki wishes Neya would leave his life, she always kept by him so he was beginning to know her quite well, and knew how she talked, and acted but here?...This was different. Neya's voice sounded angrier than it ever had before, that she was physically upset by this couple that she saw, her body even shaking and her fists instinctively clenching, teeth gritting and grinding against each other. "This poor girl who truly loved someone, who wanted to change, being left to rot by someone because they found someone else. Saying the relationship was damaged and unfixable...Not even considering the thought of trying to start a different one with her, not even giving her the chance to try and change. That's true evil. Poor girl ended her life, hairdryer in the bathtub, really sad. Do you think the other went to her funeral?" She asked, turning her head to Itsuki, her face just as angry as her voice.

Itsuki didn't say a word.

"They didn't even know. How could they? They cut all communication. Over one simple mistake..." Neya sighed, trying to calm herself down. "Looking into every other dimension I could. Every one I could find that was exactly like this one, both of them lived. Together. Giving her a second chance saved her, saved their relationship. But that's...only in other dimensions. And not the Prime one." Neya began walking towards the road, cars still whirring past, oblivious to the two civilians. "I'm sorry I said those things about you and your idiot friend Ri-Et, but this whole thing has been bothering me and I needed an outsiders perspective on it. Itsuki, if you manage to somehow thwart my plans entirely, and get to live a nice life with your daffy-pals." Well that was one word to describe them. "Promise me that you'll hold on to them. See past their flaws, give them the chances to change, force them if you have to. Otherwise, you'll be just as evil as the other. Which is more evil than you think that I am." Neya never thought what she was doing was evil, she never believed herself to be evil, she always thought she was doing the best thing for the world...but she had a real messed up away of doing it.

Suddenly, without warning, Neya jumped right into traffic, causing Itsuki's heart to sink as a car came right in time to impact with her, and yet, Neya wasn't there in the blink of an eye.

The car swerved, causing a pile up, drivers hopping out their windows, yelling obscenities at each other. She likely dived into another dimension, Neya couldn't help but be dramatic with it all.

And then, there was only Itsuki, left by himself on the sidewalk, left with the thoughts that Neya gave him. The thoughts of Friendship, abandonment, and how just not giving the chance to someone to fix things could make everything worse. His heart sank as he thought about, imagining himself in that position. His connections to his friends were the most important thing to him, and he'd never want to lose them...but what if he couldn't hold on? What if he lost them? Ri-Et, Lilac, and Dayta...These people that he loved and called his own family even, even if one of them disappeared...Itsuki would be lost just as the girl Neya told him about.

Thirteen-Years. Feelings can't fade after that long. It's impossible. Right?...What was one to do? How could they fix that?...It was easy to become so lost by one simple mishap.

[words-of-originality]

Arillia was packing her bags when the world ended. She'd been bursting with excitement as she'd left college that morning, nearly stumbling as she hurried back to her dorm. Thanks to a lot of late nights and little sleep, she'd managed to get herself exempted from finals, so to celebrate, she was hopping on a plane that night to surprise her family with an early arrival. 

But then everything had gone wrong. Planes had crashed, power had failed, people had died. And now here she is: nothing but a backpack slung over her shoulder as she treks the three hundred miles that it'll take to get her to her family. 

She hasn't contemplated what will happen if she gets there and they're gone - or worse. She won't allow herself to contemplate it. Not when she has two hundred and fifty more miles to go. 

She glances up to the sky, frowning as dark clouds move further over the sun. She supposes she should be happy for a respite from the sun's rays, but night is already approaching; she doesn't need rain on top of it.

At least let it wait until I have a roof over my head, she prays to whoever's still listening. The answering rumble of thunder isn't very reassuring. 

She takes a slow, deep breath before hunching her shoulders against the approaching storm and takes a turn down another street in the neighborhood she’d decided to cut through. She’d learned pretty fast that the main roads and highways were not going to be her friend, some still full of cars trying to get out of cities while others were crammed bumper to bumper with crumpled and burning remnants of cars, swarmed by the dead and the others. The ones who had died, but hadn’t. 

The suburban areas weren’t always that much better. By now, Arillia had learned that her level of safety was hit or miss, but she’d quickly figured out how to avoid the ones still stumbling around, ready to attack whatever got too close or drew too much attention. 

So far, she hadn’t seen anything except for a few escaped pets running through this neighborhood. The poor things were so skittish, some whining, some growling, some begging for attention, some looking like they would bite your hand off if you even thought about getting closer. It’s a good thing Arillia isn’t much of an animal lover, but even still, the sight tugs at her heartstrings. Just more creatures whose world has been turned upside, wondering what’s happened to their families. She can’t help but wonder the same. Did their owners simply abandon their animals without a second thought? Or were they…

She shakes away the thought as she passes yet another cat crouched pitifully under a rocking chair on the front porch of a house whose front door had an empty hole surrounded by shards of glass rather than a window. A burst of sharp lightning is quickly followed by another rumble of thunder that seems to shake the earth beneath her feet, startling both her and the cat into movement once more. 

“Shit,” she hisses as she feels the first spatters of raindrops touch her skin. She really can’t afford to end up soaking wet. 

She looks around at each surrounding house until she catches sight of one with a window slightly ajar. When she runs over, the door is shut securely which gives her hope that nothing has been able to wander in. It’ll at least be good for a night. 

She moves over to the open window and reaches out to push it up just enough for her to climb through. The squeal of the frame moving makes her wince, her gaze darting around to make sure the sound didn’t alert anything to her presence, but she quickly climbs and pulls the window back down before she can think too much about it. 

She turns and presses her back to the wall, letting herself slide down to the floor just as the sky breaks open and a downpour begins. She lets her head fall back against the wall, her eyes falling closed as she takes a deep breath. At least she has a dry place to wait out the storm.

 @solivaggant

[stranger-marauders]

shattered

twenty-seven: the aftermath

chapter summary: Kate and Steve do their best to help the town of Hawkins after the devastating attack upon the town.

chapter warnings: language, major character death (i'm sorry), canon-typical violence, canon-typical everything, cliffhanger (i'm so sorry)

word count: 4.2k

series masterlist | masterlist

MOST EVERYONE WAS leaving Hawkins at least for the time being, and Kate couldn't blame them.

Even less than forty-eight hours after the gates had opened across town, black smoke still billowed all over Hawkins. The government had already come in, telling everyone that it was an earthquake: a seven-point-four magnitude one, just to sell it home. As of right now, the official death toll was twenty-two, even though Kate knew it was twenty-three, and that wasn't even counting the people that hadn't been found yet.

Eddie Munson had died that night, too. The bats had gotten inside of the trailer, and Eddie had sacrificed himself so they wouldn't get through the gate so that they wouldn't attack Dustin. He had saved his life, and by that extension, Steve's, Kate's, Robin's, and Nancy's, too. Eddie Munson had died a hero, and they were the only ones who would ever know.

Kate didn't know exactly how to feel about that. Not even an hour before he'd died, they'd been joking around on the Winnebago, even though things were serious. She didn't like to think that Eddie had died for nothing, so she tried not to think about it that way. If Eddie wouldn't have sacrificed himself, they wouldn't even have had a chance at killing Vecna, and they wouldn't waste the second life they'd been given by him. 

Kate wouldn't waste that opportunity.

Hundreds of people were injured now, filling every Roane County hospital there was. People were still missing, presumably swallowed by the massive cracks that now almost section Hawkins into quadrants. They had already said that the number of people dead was going to get bigger, the statistics even worse. This tragedy somehow made the Starcourt Mall nightmare look like child's play. So far, Kate had been exactly right in what she'd seen: mass mayhem and destruction had torn Hawkins to pieces, now for the entire town to see.

No one was safe anymore.

Currently, Steve, Kate, Robin, Dustin, and Nancy were sorting through boxes to take to the high school, loading Steve's car up with things to take. The city had canceled school for time being and repurposed it as a shelter until further notice for people who had lost their homes.

"Hey, Nance!" Karen, Nancy's mom, said, walking to her with a box of toys. "I found some more of your old stuff in the attic."

Nancy took one look inside the box, gasping at one of the stuffed animals inside. "Mr. Rabbit."

"It's okay if you wanna save him, you know."

She put the stuffed animal back inside the box, taking it in her hands. "No, he'll be more loved in a new home."

As the kids continued loading the car, Karen took a step closer to them. "Someone order a pizza?"

"Pizza?" Dustin asked.

Everyone turned to look at the pizza van at the end of the driveway, which honked at them before parking. From inside the van stepped Jonathan, Will, Mike, Argyle, and Eleven, who all should have been in California.

Kate couldn't believe it. There all of them were standing in front of them, completely unharmed. Of course, Joyce wasn't there, but she could only assume she was still on her business trip or something. They were here. Even Argyle had somehow found himself wrapped up in all of this. The only thing she cared about, though, was the girl with a shaved head in front of her.

Kate immediately ran to her sister, taking her tight in her grasp. "Holy shit, Ellie, I thought something terrible happened to you."

"I am okay," she said, letting her older sister squeeze her tight. "I'm sorry you didn't get to come to California."

She stifled a laugh, tears swelling in her eyes. "You're sorry? Jesus Christ, you didn't do anything." Kate ran her hand over the back of her freshly shaved head. "What the hell'd they do to you?"

"Papa," she said softly. It almost seemed as if Kate were more upset about her hair right now than she was.

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch—"

"He's... already dead," El said, taking her sister into a hug. "But thank you. I... I missed you."

Kate squeezed her tighter, finally letting out a sigh of relief. "You're never leaving my sight again, dammit, you hear me?"

"What about school?" El asked, tilting her head.

She shook her head as they walked toward Steve's car. "That is the only exception. Got it?"

El nodded in response. Whenever she went to go hug Dustin and catch up with him, Kate leaned up against the trunk of Steve's car.

Steve moved to stand beside her, wrapping an arm around her back and putting his hand on her waist. "I have never seen you mom out on her so hard."

Kate scoffed. "You are not allowed to say anything about 'mom-ing out' on people. Ever. Also, I was 'older-sistering' out. There's a difference."

He stifled a laugh, readjusting his hand on her waist. "You don't have to come with us if you wanna stay with her. I get it."

She shook her head. "No, I... I'm still coming. El, she's... she's gonna wanna see her, you know? I–I don't think I can do it again right now. Not when we just got back."

"Okay, yeah, that's fine," Steve said, nodding his head, pulling her in tighter to him. "That's... I get it. You don't have to. We can go together tonight if you want, okay?"

Kate nodded, turning to face him again. "Okay."

Max had died the night that the gates had opened across Hawkins, too. Her heart had stopped for about a minute before it started again, as Lucas had told them, giving her the faintest ounce of life before the ambulance came. The doctors had said it was a miracle that she was even alive. Her limbs had been snapped, and her eyes had started bleeding, but somehow, Max hadn't died yet. She had now only been reduced to a coma, unsure of when or if she would ever wake up again.

Kate had given Lucas some book recommendations so he could read Max something while she was in her coma. It broke her heart that he had sat at Max's beside every waking moment since she'd been admitted, waiting for her just in case she did wake up. Lucas didn't want to leave her alone, and for that, she was grateful.

Whenever Kate had first heard the news, she'd blamed herself for letting them go alone. She'd known that one of them should have stayed with Max, Lucas, and Erica just in case something happened. Maybe one of them should've stayed with Dustin and Eddie, too. Maybe if she had been the one to do it, they wouldn't have lost Eddie, wouldn't have lost Max. Now, though, Kate knew that it wasn't her fault. It wasn't any of their fault. They were strong, but the Upside Down had been stronger. Vecna had been stronger.

Once the kids, Argyle, Jonathan, and Nancy had left to go to the hospital to visit Lucas, Max, and Erica, the remaining group had gone to the high school, bringing in their boxes of supplies. Steve and Kate had already agreed to go with Robin and Dustin for a couple of hours to help volunteer, then meet everyone else at the old cabin later in the day.

It had been Robin's idea to help out at the high school. She figured since she, Steve, and Kate had gotten away with manageable damage (things that Kate had been able to fix in what she called L'Hôpital de la Kate whenever they'd gotten back to his house that night), they could at least come and help out where it was needed. Dustin, even though he had messed up his leg, still wanted to come with them to help. How could they turn him away?

As they walked through the school's gym, it had been somewhat overwhelming. They had set up all types of donation centers, as well as a medical area and a living area with cots and such for those who lost their homes. They all tried not to let their eyes wander too far, mostly because they didn't know how much they would find.

Whenever they got to the donation desk, Robin had been the one to greet the lady first. "Hi, uh, so these are blankets and sheets. And some... some clothes and... and some kids' toys."

"Wow. It's already so organized," the woman said, looking at the box Robin had carried inside. "We appreciate that. Do you want a tax receipt for it?"

"Um..." Robin looked at Steve and Kate for help—they were definitely the adults in this situation. Whenever they both shook their heads, she continued. "No. I don't think that we need one. Thank you, though." Robin looked behind her. "But... is there anything else that we can do to help?"

Steve and Kate had been brought to another table with clothes on it, being put in charge of sorting things that came from boxes.

"And then we sort by age," a woman named Maude told them, bringing them to the table. "We've got infants, girls, boys, men, women—Oh, if anything is in too bad shape, we really don't want that. Other than that, if you guys have any questions, I'll just be down there."

"Thank you," Steve said, nodding once at her as she walked away. "All right, ready?"

"Yeah," Kate said, moving a box to sit in between them so they could start sorting clothes.

Even though she was busy sorting, she, for the first time seemingly in days, had time to think.

She and Steve had still yet to talk about the conversation that they'd had in the Upside Down. Realistically, there hadn't been any time for a follow-up conversation yet. Of course, that hadn't stopped the hand-holding, the arms around her shoulder, the sneaky kisses that always seemed to end too quickly. At this point, Kate almost thought that they didn't even need to talk about it. She had made a stupid, stupid mistake to break things off with him, and he felt the same way. Kate, however, knew that in order for things to work between them, she had to actually communicate her thoughts to him, even if she felt like they were obvious.

"Hey," she finally said, trying to grab his attention. Whenever he looked at her, folding a men's sweater over his shoulder, she scrunched her face for half a second. "So, we're... we're good, right?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, nodding as he put another kid's sweatshirt in its correct place. "Yeah, I hope so."

"So you don't, uh... I mean, you're sure you don't care about the long-distance or anything?"

"If that's what's holding you back, I will move to New York right now, okay?"

She chuckled. "No, no, that's not what I meant, I just mean... I mean, I'm just asking if you, uh... you know, if you—"

"You're asking if I wanna get back together with you?" Steve asked, watching her as she hid herself in folding kids' clothes.

She hesitated, taking a deep breath. "Yes."

He nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah. I'd love that."

"You would?"

"Yeah."

She smiled as she continued to fold some more clothes, looking out across to Robin, who was currently making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Vickie. Not only that, but Vickie was smiling. Maybe Robin had a chance, too. "Hey, look."

Steve smiled, stifling a laugh. "Knew it. Absolutely no one pauses Fast Times there on accident, okay? Literally no one."

Kate stifled a laugh as she gave him a questionable look, but she decided not to ask any more questions for now, only sorting through clothes for those currently in need.

Steve and Kate left the high school and went to the cabin in the early afternoon.

She didn't know how to feel about going back there. The last time she had come back, it had not been too long after her father died. She, Steve, El, and Joyce had packed up anything that could have been saved, putting it in boxes to sort through later. Back then, all Kate had cared about was getting in and out of there as soon as possible. It hurt far too much to be in the place without him.

Now, though, it almost felt bittersweet being back at the cabin. Everyone had decided to help fix up the place so El could stay there for the time being. Kate didn't exactly know how this plan was supposed to work, particularly because she was supposed to go back to school in two days, but she figured Nancy and Jonathan had already worked something out. Maybe the Byers were coming back to Hawkins—Kate would have liked that outcome a lot more than anything else.

Steve and Kate had been assigned to fixing her own room up, just enough where it was livable. They hadn't had much on their to-do list but to clear out the room of any trash or leaves, board up the broken window, and start repairing the salvageable furniture.

Whenever they walked into the room, Steve closed the door behind them, grabbing Kate by the waist and flipping her around toward him. He put a hand on her jaw, rubbing his thumb across her cheek as he kissed her. He could feel her smile against his lips as she put her arm just below the base of his neck, careful not to touch where his bruises were.

She finally broke away, and he pressed their foreheads together, wrapping his arms around her. "We're not gonna get anything done if you keep doing that."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, pushing her hair behind her ear. "I like kissing you."

She stifled a laugh, her eyebrows furrowing together. "Yeah, well, there will be plenty of opportunities for that, so chill out."

He shrugged. "Fine."

Kate sighed. "This is gonna be so expensive to fix. I mean, the floors need to be redone, all the furniture needs to be replaced, I mean, this is... I'm gonna have to pay for the roof—"

"Hey, hey, hey," Steve said, putting his hands on her arms. "Baby steps, Kathy, baby steps."

She pressed her lips together, sighing again as she started putting salvageable items into a cardboard box. "It's weird, but I kinda missed this place."

"I kinda did, too," Steve said. "This place... it always felt like home more than my place ever has. I missed it."

Kate gave a tight-lipped smile. "I didn't know that."

"I mean, it's not like I ever said anything about it. Besides, I needed an excuse to get you at my house from time to time."

"You're so gross." She stifled a laugh. "Whatever. I don't know, I just... I don't know."

"What?"

She sighed. "I don't want to leave you again."

He shrugged. "You're not leaving me, you're just... going to school. It's like, what, six weeks? You'll be back home before you know it."

"Yeah, I know, I just... I want to be with you." She emphasized the last word, hoping she got her point. He gave her a confused look. "I don't know, maybe next fall, would you... I know we talked about it last year and we couldn't make it work, but..." She stopped, taking a deep breath. "I don't know, would you want to go to New York with me? We could be like... I don't know, act like a real couple for once or something?"

He smiled, his eyes almost seeming to lighten. "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Steve tried to stop himself from smiling like an idiot. "Yeah, I mean... I mean, yeah, I'd really... I'd really like that."

"Yeah?" she said softly, pressing her lips together. "Until then, you know, maybe... maybe you could live here for a while. That way you wouldn't have to live with your parents anymore."

"Oh yeah, live with your scary sister with superpowers and shit?" he asked sarcastically, chuckling slightly. "Sounds like a great idea."

"Hey, it's something," she replied. "I mean, I'd be back before the summer, right? And besides, they... your parents treat you like absolute shit. Isn't this better than being with them?"

"I don't know, I've kinda... gotten used to it, I guess. My mom's okay."

"No, she's not either," Kate said bitterly, dumping her dustpan out of the broken window. "She lets your dad treat you like that. And you know what? Neither of them have called you a single time to make sure you're okay, and they still haven't come home. They're assholes, and I'm tired of them treating you that way."

He shrugged. "Kathy, I don't... really care anymore." Whenever he saw her pointed facial expression, he put his hands up in surrender, dropping the broom in his hands. "I know it sounds bad, okay, but I... they're not my family anymore. I'm tired of acting like I care about 'em when they don't act like they care about me. We're just civil, that's it."

"So who's your family?" she asked, somewhat worriedly.

He picked the broom back up off the ground, leaning it up against the wall. "You, Robin. The kids, even though they hate me half the time."

Her eyebrows furrowed together. "El doesn't hate you."

"Yeah, well, that's because I'm scared of her."

Kate stifled a laugh. "Does she really scare you that bad?"

"Yes!" Whenever she started laughing loudly, he threw his hands up in response. "All I'm saying is your family is horrifying. All of you."

"Yeah, we're a pretty, uh... frightening bunch, occasionally." Kate flopped back down on her bed, starting to go through some of the things she now had to sort from her desk that had seemed important.

Whenever a car seemed to drive into the driveway, Steve and Kate exchanged glances. "Hey, stay here, okay? I'll go check it out."

She nodded, letting him walk out the door and close it behind him. As she continued to sort through the random knickknacks and items on her bed that she'd left behind, she heard footsteps come through the cabin again—it must've been Steve coming back inside. She looked up whenever she heard the door swing open, only staring whenever she saw who stood in the doorframe.

Whenever she'd seen her father, her eyes instantly brimmed with tears. Not now, please not now. This was the first time that he'd looked different in an episode. He'd lost a lot of weight, and his head had noticeably been shaved, as well as the mustache he'd had when he died, even if he had been wearing a baseball cap to cover it. She squeezed her eyes shut and open again, only to find him still standing there, smiling at her fondly. "Hey, kid."

She shook her head, standing up out of bed as she looked at him. "You're not real."

"I'm here, kid," Hopper said, taking a step deeper into the room.

"Get out of my head."

"Katie, it's me. I promise it's me."

"Tell me something I wouldn't know that you'd know."

"Katie—"

"Please."

He sighed. "I, uh... I know you taught El and Sara both every curse word ever, even though you tried to lie about it. Both times."

Kate racked a sob, taking a deep breath. "Oh my God."

Her father finally walked to stand in front of her, pulling her into a hug as she began to sob more. She couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't know how it was happening, but she didn't care. Right now, she didn't care about anything leading up to this moment: she had her father back.

"How... How are you here?"

"I'll tell you later, kid. It's a hell of a story."

"I didn't forget about you," she said through her sobs. "I did everything you asked, I promise..."

"I know," he said, pulling back to look at her face. "Jesus, kid, I don't think I've ever seen you cry this much."

"Everyone told me you were dead."

"It seemed that way for a while, didn't it?"

"I mean, I just... I never stopped believing you were still here," Kate said, shaking her head. "I could feel it, Dad, I could... I knew you were still alive. Deep down, I knew."

Hopper chuckled softly. "Oh, I know. It's okay."

She nodded through her sobs.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'm here."

Kate couldn't stop sobbing. She still hadn't stopped crying whenever she and her father had gone to tell her sister of his resurrection in her own room. After El had a quite similar reaction, all three Hoppers now sat on Eleven's bed, just enjoying the fact that all three of them were here.

She didn't think she'd ever get this again. Her dad, El, and her all together like this. Kate couldn't have even imagined this in an excellent dream, one of those ones that felt so real that you got déjà vu from it.

Hopper had finally taken his hat off, revealing the shaved head that he now had.

"You look..." Kate stopped to sniffle.

"Not fat?" Hopper asked softly, making both girls chuckle.

"And your hair!" El said, rubbing her hand over his shaved head.

"My hair?" Hopper asked, his eyes swelling with tears. "Look at your hair. Katie's got more than the both of us combined."

Eleven chuckled as he rubbed his hand over her head. Kate couldn't help but smile. And to think she thought that shorter-length haircut she'd given herself a few months back was bad.

"Yeah," Hopper said, shaking his head. "I kinda stole your look, kid."

Kate chuckled, wiping her eyes again. She still couldn't believe he was here. Her father was alive.

She still hadn't been able to conceptualize how this had happened. Joyce had told her that he'd blown up inside of that bunker last July, but now he was standing right in front of her.

"So what d'you think?"

"Badass," Kate said softly, pressing her lips together.

"Bitchin'," El said, chuckling.

"Hm," Hopper said, smiling. Both of his girls had used some of their favorite expressions to describe him, and that was enough for him. He took his two daughters in for a hug, not even caring if he was slightly squishing them.

Kate pulled away whenever she heard talking outside, making El and her father pull away too. El and Kate had been the first two out the door, Hopper following closely behind them. Whenever they laid their eyes on Jonathan and Will hugging Joyce, and Mike, Nancy, and Steve standing next to them, Hopper put a hand on each one of his kids' shoulders. "You aren't the only ones that didn't stop believing."

When Joyce saw both Kate and El, Kate gave a soft smile, and El gave a small wave. They both ran down to hug her, pulling her into a big hug.

"Oh!" Joyce said softly whenever the two girls started crying again, tears swelling in her eyes. Her two girls were safe, too.

El pulled away, making Kate and Joyce do so, too. "I'm happy you went to your... conference."

"Yeah, that was one hell of a conference you went on," Kate said, looking back at her dad again.

"That was quite the experience," Joyce replied before pulling them both into a hug again. She was glad that her two girls were okay.

Hopper took his hat off, tipping it toward the government agent that had driven both Hopper and Joyce to the cabin. He put his hat back on as the agent drove away.

Steve had been the first person to approach Hopper.

"Hey," he said, smiling as he walked up to him.

"Hey, kid."

He took a look at the boy in front of him. He couldn't believe it, but somehow, he looked much more grown up than he had the last time he had seen him. He wasn't a boy anymore. He actually looked like a man, which surprised him more than anything. He thought that it might have been because of the lack of a sailor outfit as a work uniform, but it also could've been by just the way he carried himself, maybe the slight dusting of facial hair that he couldn't decide if he just hadn't shaved in a while or not, which was likely considering the past week they'd had. All of it showed him what he needed to know: Steve had grown up, too.

"You've grown."

"Not really," Steve said, shrugging slightly. "I just... I wanted to tell you that I kept my promise."

Hopper looked over to his oldest daughter, who was currently completely absorbed talking to Joyce and El. He chuckled. "Yeah, kid. You... You did it, somehow. Thank you."

Before Steve could respond, Hopper pulled him in for a hug, making him chuckle slightly. Maybe Kate had been right about Hopper always liking him.

A dark cloud seemed to come over Hawkins, and everyone turned around to look at it. Kate had watched as Will felt his neck—he must've felt something again. They watched as thunder rumbled, and particles began to fall out of the sky, almost like snow.

This, however, wasn't snow.

Kate followed her father as they walked through the woods, making their way to a meadow as Steve, Joyce, Mike, El, Jonathan, and Nancy followed behind them. The meadow in question had always been filled with flowers, but now, half of the field seemed to be dead, graying out almost as the particles flew around. Kate watched in horror as El picked up a decaying flower, one that seemed to begin to wither in her hand.

Out of the four cracks that now split Hawkins, funnels seemed to tunnel down into the earth, lifting into the dark clouds of the sky. Thunder rumbled as red lightning struck among the clouds.

As darkness came into Hawkins, Kate only grabbed Steve's hand for comfort.

Part of what Vecna had shown her was coming to fruition, and she knew the worst was yet to come.

author's note

taglist:

@thatsonezesty13 @cece5298 @thepowerstoner @alovelytardis @coolchick333 @stand-tall-pineapple @littlet-holmes @guichu @cinderellacauseshebroke @blackbirddaredevil23 @mads-weasley @ilovemarauders @pearlstiare @liableperfections @khaylin27 @girlwiththerubyslippers @cyarikaaa

[robininthelabyrinth]

A-Yuan wasn’t the only child among the Wen Remnants, just the youngest.

Children's Day - ao3

Lan Wangji carefully scooped up the boy out of his hiding place, tucked beneath a pile of stones, sick with fever and fast asleep.

It was a good hiding place. If Lan Wangji hadn’t played Inquiry and demanded to know if there were any living beings around in this cursed place of death, he would never have found the small child.

He remembered him – this was little A-Yuan, who Wei Wuxian had taken down into town to play, the one Lan Wangji had bought all those toys for in his confusion, the one who called him rich-gege. Barely more than two years old, having never known anything but war.

He was all that was left, now. There was nothing else left in the battlefield.

No one else left.

Lan Wangji closed his eyes in pain.

I’ll care for him for you, he promised Wei Wuxian’s ghost, wherever it might be now. Now that you cannot.

I’ll take him back to Gusu to raise as my own – wishing you were by my side.

-

-Earlier-

“Sect Leader!” one of his aides cried out when he staggered back into camp. “What – who’s that?”

Jiang Cheng looked down at the girl in his arms. She was – four, maybe? Five? He had no idea.

She looked a bit like Wen Qing.

“I found her hiding in the corner of the battlefield when she made a noise,” he said hoarsely. “The Wen sect remnants…by the time I got there, they were almost all dead already, all her family. She’s – she’s young. It didn’t seem right.”

Wei Wuxian always liked children, he thought vaguely to himself as he looked down at her. It wasn’t so much of a surprise that he would keep one there…in fact, if he thought back to that horrible meeting they’d had that one time he’d come to the Burial Mounds to try to talk to Wei Wuxian, he thought he remembered there being a small child there. This must be her.

She was bigger than he remembered, but that was what happened with small children, wasn’t it?

“Her surname is Wen?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped automatically, and his aide took a step back from his vehemence. “The Wen sect is dead, you understand? All of them. The cultivation world refused to allow them to live, that much is obvious enough. Her surname…”

He looked down at her.

I failed Wei Wuxian, he thought grimly. I won’t fail his legacy.

“Her surname will be Jiang.”

-

-Earlier-

“We found this child hiding in the Demon Subduing Cave,” one of the guards reported, looking nervous. “Lianfeng-zun – what do we do with them?”

Jin Guangyao frowned down at the child, judging the child’s age to be about five or six – maybe seven, considering the likelihood of malnutrition at the Burial Mounds. If they were any younger, he would’ve said that the child ought to just execute them as useless; any older, and he would’ve had no choice but to declare them an enemy combatant, and thereby order them executed.

At this age, though…they were still young enough to be taught to forget their current surname, and to learn new loyalties, and yet old enough to perhaps remember a little of what they had learned, living as they had for a few years with the inventor of demonic cultivation.

Jin Guangyao glanced at the papers in his hands, full of barely legible scribbles, laying out powerful new spells and interesting ideas. They would help Xue Yang with his work – but not as much as a helper would, and naturally they’d just brutally executed all the other ‘helpers’ that might have been available.

Not exactly Jin Guangyao’s personal preference, but he wasn’t the one leading the Jin sect army.

Still, his father, who had been the one leading, had retired to his tent, and now Jin Guangyao was the one with the power, left to be in charge of mopping up. That, in turn, gave him a little more leeway, which meant he could implement his own thoughts, rather than badly thought out instructions.

“Put the child in my tent,” he said, and smiled. “The poor thing must have gotten lost and entered the battlefield – after we arrived. You understand?”

The guard saluted deeply. “Lianfeng-zun is kind and beneficent,” he said, and his expression was worshipful. “I will tell the others that the child is from some distant Jin branch.”

Jin Guangyao hadn’t intended for him to do that, but – well, he couldn’t exactly refute it now, could he, and anyway there were worse things to happen. Everyone would know that he had kindly taken in some orphaned child of war, which would be good for his reputation.

He smiled and nodded, and thought of the future.

-

-Earlier-

“Well, shit,” Nie Mingjue said, staring at the trio of children: nine or ten years old, he thought, maybe a little older, two girls and a boy. They stared back at him, wide-eyed and terrified – they were very clearly trying to sneak off the Burial Mounds down the back way.

Nie Mingjue rubbed his face, glad that he’d insisted on doing the forward scout work before the attack tomorrow morning himself rather than let it go to someone else. He hadn’t wanted to come to this blasted place in the first place, being that he still wasn’t sure exactly what had gone down with Wei Wuxian, who’d been a good man once. But good Nie cultivators had died at Lanling City at Wen Ning’s hands, the Jin sect claiming that that brutal attack was at Wei Wuxian’s instigation, and at the Nightless City at Wei Wuxian’s hands directly, and he didn’t have any evidence to exculpate the man, either; he had no grounds to look the families of those Nie cultivators in the eye and tell them not to pursue vengeance against the man who had slaughtered their brothers and fathers and sons, sisters and mothers and daughters, like they meant nothing.

They deserved vengeance.

Just as he had, for his father.

But at the same time…

“You’re all surnamed Wen, I take it?” he asked, and they slowly nodded. “Dafan Wen?”

Another nod.

“Wrong answer,” he said, making a snap decision. This wasn’t like his father at all, not really; he had wanted to kill Wen Ruohan, who had done the deed himself, while these children clearly hadn’t done anything. “Swear to me here and now that you won’t seek revenge for your sect or family, and you can be surnamed Nie instead.”

They looked at each other.

“Your family didn’t send you to run away because they wanted you to take revenge,” he said. It was a guess, but he could tell from the way their shoulders sagged that he was right. “They wanted you to live. Well?”

They swore.

He took them home.

-

-Earlier-

She tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Hey, girl!”

She looked up, eyes wide with terror – she hadn’t expected to be caught so soon – but the cultivator in front of her didn’t strike her down. He was a young man, just a few years older than her, and he looked nice, kneeling to help her up.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Did you get lost?”

Lost? From where would she get lost, exactly?

Despite that, she nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Here isn’t a good place, though – we’re going to have a battle tomorrow…can you tell me where you’re from?” He frowned. “Or – can’t you speak?”

An idea suddenly came to mind, and she shook her head, lifting up her hands to mime signs like the ones she’d seen Lady Wen and her brother use sometimes when they needed to talk without disturbing others.

“Doesn’t talk,” he murmured to himself. “Clothing of white, ripped all to ribbons –”

She’d torn out any trace of the red sun. White was a common color, but she was old enough to know that she couldn’t let anyone know she was surnamed Wen.

“Oh, I’ve read about this before! Are you a bird yao that’s cultivated to humanity?”

What?

She’d been thinking of trying to pass as a traumatized war veteran, but she was only fourteen, after all; it wasn’t very believable. Of course, it was a lot more believable that bird yao – who would leap to that conclusion?

“My surname is Ouyang,” the man said, smiling brightly at her. “You should come back with me – I can teach you to speak, and we can give you a name…how about ‘Luo’ as a surname? That has to do with birds. Or we could surname you Bai, instead, since your clothing is white! Or maybe -”

She smiled helplessly at his nonsense. What a silly, cheerful man! Maybe she’d overestimated his age, he couldn’t be more than two or three years older, at most, and his brain was clearly not in the right place, filled up to the brim with romantic stories and adventure tales instead of facts.

It was a nice change, actually.

She accepted his hand as she stood.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

-

-Earlier-

Lan Wangji had returned home and submitted to a dreadful punishment. The elders he had injured on Wei Wuxian’s behalf were either in treatment or recovering.

As for the rest that had been at the Nightless City…

Many were dead.

Lan Qiren landed in the Burial Mounds, lips pressed tightly together.

He knew he was taking a risk in coming here to Wei Wuxian’s lair – no matter what Lan Wangji thought, whatever good points he’d had in the past, the man was now little better than a mad dog. He’d caused the death of three thousand people just the day before, three thousand innocents that hadn’t had anything to do with anything; why would he hesitate to attack his old teacher?

There was already talk of a siege – Jiang Cheng himself had promised to lead it, to wipe off the stain on the Jiang sect’s record, and the Jin sect had been right behind him. Even Nie Mingjue had been dragged in against his will, suborned by his sect members’ need for vengeance. As for the Lan Sect…Lan Xichen had looked so stricken by the thought that Lan Qiren had volunteered for the grim duty, despite Lan Qiren having never been much of a fighter and even less of a general. He intended to take only the smallest possible contingent, and to limit their work as much as possible to cleansing the dead rather than killing those who remained there – that much, at least, he could do for his nephew.

Either way, though, no matter his powers, Wei Wuxian would not live out the week.

If Lan Qiren desired vengeance, he need only wait.

And yet, here he was.

Alone, practically unarmed – and here nonetheless.

An old woman came out from the cave and squinted at him.

“It’s over,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it?”

Lan Qiren looked at her. One of the Wen remnants that Wei Wuxian had surrounded himself with, he assumed; the ones he’d given up his comfortable life for, claiming he was only acting as a righteous man ought. Perhaps he even had thought he was, back then.

Perhaps he really had been, back then.

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said, and cleared his throat. “After what he did at the Nightless City – the verdict is unquestionably death. But the rest of you…there are armies coming, and armies are not known for their leniency, especially not on passerby with the wrong surname. But they’re not here yet. There’s still time to flee – if you go now, you could take on a new surname and find some quiet place to live on.”

Lan Wangji had said they were civilians. Civilian life was to be prioritized above all else.

Lan Qiren was only doing what he must.

Despite his well-meant warnings, however, the old lady shook her head.

“There’s nowhere to go, and we won’t give up our surname,” she said, polite but stubborn to the last. “But thank you for taking the time to come here to tell us.”

“Wangji said that there were children here,” Lan Qiren insisted, ignoring her refusal. “If you won’t flee with them, at least send those that are old enough out on their own, and hide the younger ones. Tell them to forget their surnames – most people won’t rampantly murder children, so there’s a chance they’ll make it through, and live. Can you deny them that, just for pride?”

That gave the old woman pause.

“We’ll do what we can,” she said, and then eyed him. “How good are you at medicine?”

Lan Qiren frowned. “I can’t provide care –”

“She’s already dead. Come help anyway.”

The woman in question was not already dead, but dying – she was in her late teens, seventeen or eighteen at most, and she was in labor. From the glassiness of her eyes, the redness of her cheeks, and the threadiness of her pulse, it was clear that infection had long ago set in. It was not an exaggeration to say she was dead, little better than a corpse.

She was little more than a child.

“I don’t want her to die alone,” the old woman said. “But if you stay with her, I can use the time to try to take care of the rest. You’re not wrong, I suppose – the children, at least, deserve a chance to live on, even if it means leaving our surname behind.”

Lan Qiren looked down at the woman, unconscious already and unlikely to ever wake, and yet still whimpering. “And her child?”

The old woman looked surprised. “Can a child born like this still live?”

Lan Qiren had almost no medical training beyond the most superficial basics that were the necessity for any battlefield or night-hunt, with one sole exception: he had supervised the births of both his nephews by himself with little aid – his brother’s wife hadn’t wanted anyone else to be present, possibly in an attempt to prematurely enter her grave, possibly just out of spite. He had studied very hard in the days leading up to those births, and knew far more on the subject than most men did.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Unlikely, but – possible.”

He hesitated for a long moment.

“I can take the baby,” he finally said. “Pass him off as some war-orphan child of distant Lan cousins, sent to me on account of their deaths. I could raise him, or else give him to my cousin to raise; he’s got a large enough family that no one would question it.”

“Why would you do that?”

Lan Qiren looked at the woman who was dying, little more than a child herself. “Because of the children I can’t help.”

The old woman was quiet for a little while.

“Very well,” she said, and leaned forward to whisper the name the young woman had thought about for her child into his ear. “That works with Lan as a surname, wouldn’t it? That’s not bad.”

“Not bad at all,” Lan Qiren agreed, and rolled up his sleeves, settling down beside the girl. “Not bad at all.”