#the problem with seeing asks like this after going on a reblogging spree: did i say something concerning or do you just want a hug

[technologyvoid]

Hugs?

🫂

Hugs!

[cookinguptales]

wwdits tarot: justice

Just as a note, one of my non-wwdits posts is doing numbers right now and my notifications are a mess. If you’d like to contact me about any of these cards and I don’t reply to reblogs/replies, please send me a message via ask/chat! I’m not trying to ignore anyone, but it’s really hard to keep up rn.

Anyway, yeah! XI. Justice!

Before I really get into my choices here, I want to talk about the card. Justice is one of those cards that’s often misunderstood, not because it’s as complicated as a card like Death but because people often mix it up with Judgement.

Justice and Judgement both involve choices with lasting consequences, but other than that the cards are very different. Justice is a card about truth and consequences. It is a card that’s very concerned with getting to the bottom of things and, as I often say, it’s a card about your chickens coming home to roost.

Judgement, on the other hand, is a card about realizing your full potential. It’s about coming to a spiritual revelation about yourself and your life going forward and making choices about how you want to live the rest of your life.

So to put it another way, Justice is more about the choices you’ve already made in the past (though you’ll still have to choose how you want to deal with the consequences) and Judgement is about the choices you’ll make in the future. Both are important and might change the trajectory of your life, but each card deals with fairly different motivations.

I think some people think Judgement means “you will be judged” but that’s more Justice. Judgement is more about judgement as a synonym for discernment, I think, or perhaps judgement in the sense that you’re at your final curtain call and everything is about to come together one way or another.

Anyway, I’ll talk more about Judgement and who I’ve chosen for it later.

Guillermo it’s Guillermo

For now, let’s just focus on Justice.

To make matters even more confusing, I actually have two different Justice cards I’d like to discuss here. This isn’t because I was torn on who I’d choose from WWDITS TV for this card. I always knew I wanted that to be The Vampiric Council.

The problem was actually that my ideal Justice card comes from outside the WWDITS TV realm and I really want to stick to just the tv show for this deck. So the alternate version of the card will just be at the end as a fun little bonus.

(Can you guess who it’ll be? lmao)

ALL THAT OUT OF THE WAY, let’s talk about my official Justice, The Vampiric Council!

I’ve already talked a bit about what makes Justice Justice, but I’ll say it again. This card is about consequences, whether good or bad, for someone’s actions. It could be a person who hurt you, in which case you will see them punished for their actions. It could be you! Which could be a good thing or a bad one depending on how you’ve behaved.

It's a card that says that people are finally about to get exactly what they deserve for all that they've done — so you better hope you've done good.

Most of all, though, this card is about figuring out the truth. Not finding your truth (again, that’s Judgement) but finding the real and objective truth. This card is judge, jury, and executioner, and it will have all the facts before it makes its decision.

With all that in mind, I think the best representation of this in the tv show is The Vampiric Council. It’s where vampires go to be judged for their actions, whether good or ill. It’s where our vampires went when they’d been accused of murder, and it’s where they ended up after they were rewarded for uh. More murder.

It’s where we see them pass down their own brand of justice, too! Again, whether that’s Guillermo going on an accidental killing spree or allowing Gabby the Dreadfully Loathsome to change her name.

Now… I’ll admit to you that, while The Vampiric Council always strives to find the truth, they’re not always good at it. They never did figure out that the vampires weren’t responsible for Guillermo’s murders, at least not until after he went on to kill dozens of other vampires.

...also, The Baron isn’t dead, which is the crime they were charged with in the first place. So there’s that.

Actually, now that I think about it… They also charged someone else for Laszlo’s crime of turning the baby…

So maybe they’re just really bad at this…

General incompetence aside, though, they are still the mechanism that vampires have to pass down justice amongst their own kind. Their job is to find out the truth and help aggrieved parties get whatever outcome they deserve most.

So I guess this card is really more like XI. Justice (Hopefully). That may be the best we’re gonna get with this show.

Anyway. Imagery.

The important parts of this card are the sword and balance that Justice holds. The balance is a typical symbol of the justice system in general and here symbolizes a balanced decision. The sword, on the other hand, symbolizes the swift justice that will be meted out if necessary.

I would have the original leader of the Vampiric Council (that’s you, Tilda) sitting in this throne. She seems to be the highest ranking vampire of any of them, as opposed to the regional rankings that we see our vampires fall into later.

She would have her crown upon her head, maybe somewhat jauntily placed, and while she would have both her sword and balance, a slim ray of sunlight would be shining down before her. This is truly her most effective punishment, and what is always on the line when a vampire enters her chambers.

The pillars, which symbolize truth and justice (or sometimes strength), will be replaced with the pillars of the council chambers. While two pillars are seen here, I think there should be more on this card. This is partially because the chamber has so many and partially because — well, let’s just say that there’s a lot more than just truth and justice at play in the vampiric justice system.

Behind her, shadowy figures are clustered around in their hoods. This is the rest of the council, ready and waiting to pass judgement on those who have transgressed the vampiric moral code.

FINALLY, how about that alternate card?

For those who already know me, you won’t be surprised to hear that I want my beloved Wellington Paranormal on this card.

Officers O’Leary and Minogue are non-negotiable, but I’d be happiest if Parker and Sgt. Maaka could make appearances as well.

Look at my beautiful idiots posing with some zombie colleagues. Maaka and Parker are the plainclothes ones.

Officers O’Leary and Minogue first showed up in the WWDITS movie when they came to check on reports of, well, murder at the vampiric household in Wellington, New Zealand. They didn’t manage to ascertain the truth that night, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying to find it every night since then!

(They… still have a pretty bad track record. The members of Wellington PD seem to be even stupider than the vampires, and that is not an easy feat.)

Still, despite them being even more incompetent than The Vampiric Council, they’re just so well-meaning that I can’t help but want them to have this card. They care so deeply about the truth (especially Sgt. Maaka), justice (Officer O’Leary), hanging out with your best buds (Officer Parker), and lunch (Officer Minogue).

I think they really embody the spirit of this card, if not, perhaps, its intended effects.

Sgt. Maaka would be in the throne, of course, flanked on either side by O’Leary and Minogue as his pillars of strength and justice. And instead of the little shoe peeking out from beneath his robes (a symbol that Justice’s decision is always an outcome of the criminal’s own actions), Parker will be peeking out from behind the throne.

He does so want to be a part of things. And maybe if he just does okay on this next job, Sgt. Maaka will finally agree to be his roommate.

Fingers crossed, kid.

wwdits tarot masterpost

[iveneverbeenmorestressedinmylife]

Hello, there! I'm Lynn, it's a pleasure to meet you. I had a small question out of curiosity.

"When did you start to become a fan of Miles Edgeworth?"

I think for me it was the end of Turnabout Samurai. 💖

Kdksks hii 😭 honestly i went pretty backwards about it. Let me explain.

First of all ive only been an ace attorney fan for a few months now? Like im not a fandom veteran by any means. It was a cold December evening (i think). A mutual of mine rebloged some edgeworth fanart (for the life of me i cannot remember what it was or why it made my brain click in such a way. Maybe it was dl6 related? It would explain why it broke me in such a dramatic way) and it caught my interest.

Before i knew it i went and read my boys miles entire fanwiki and well. You know what i found there. I was already hooked just by seeing fanart of him but there was no going back to normal after that point. I went on some insane fanart rebloging sprees like i usually do when i go insane over a character. I read a ridiculous amount of fanfic before even touching the games 😭😭 and i am not ashamed to admit it!! And god one of the first things i read had a lot of magatama fuckery and i had no idea what that was at the time but did i let that stop me? Nooooo.

In my defense (ha) it was exam season and I didn't have the time to actually play the games (but apparently had no problem with spending hours of my day reading fanfic :•] Clown behaviour). Plus i have a pretty lousy video game record (i usually drop most games before finishing them rip) but at some point three months into this latest hyperfixation of mine i caved ans finally downloaded the trilogy games on my laptop. Woohoo! You go me.

So yeah i went into the games having already bookmarked literally hundreds of aa fanfics on ao3 and 100% biased. I have almost no memory of playing the first two cases but the moment edgeworth showed up i literally started clapping. I finished turnabout goodbyes a few weeks ago (GOD what a case) and now im in the middle of rising from the ashes but i haven't really touched it in a while... might actually play a bit now. I still have a long road ahead of me 😭 hopefully i will be up to the challenge i really want to actually play the trilogy to its entirety and maybe the investigations games because as we've already established im not subtle about my favouritism <3 and wow this got real long. Thanks for the ask <3 its always a pleasure to talk about That Man.

[quicksilversquared]

A Very Jagged Take-Down Ch 3: The Last Lie

Marinette knows Jagged Stone, everyone knows that. She’s his favorite niece, never mind the fact that they aren’t actually related. And Jagged Stone is really famous, the exact kind of person that Lila loves claiming connections to.

That was never going to end the way Lila wanted it to.

(a collection of one-shots)

links in the reblog

Marinette had spent the past month getting everything absolutely perfect for Penny's birthday gift for Jagged Stone.

Shiny aluminum dragon scale beads shimmered and caught the light from between more muted scale-textured fabric on the slim-cut jacket. Uneven netting made the illusion of yet more scales, each texture carefully placed to make sure that it wouldn't impede Jagged Stone's guitar or piano playing. Marinette had gotten the idea from the Game of Thrones wardrobe and added her own spin, and she couldn't deny that both it and the pants that she had made- with the same fabric scaling texture wrapping around in uneven patches and lines- were absolute works of art.

(There had been so many hours spent frustrated as she worked at the texture, trying to get it to come out right, and then the actual pieces had taken ages, but- well, it was all worth it, both for her portfolio and for the check that she had gotten to cover the commission from Penny,)

And now- in only a couple of hours- Jagged Stone would have his birthday party and get to open his presents. The party wasn't in Paris- Jagged Stone's tour had him enjoying lovely summer weather in New Zealand while Paris shivered under a layer of snow and ice- and so obviously Marinette couldn't attend, but Penny had promised to send a video of Jagged Stone's reaction to his presents.

(Marinette was so glad that she- or rather, Penny- had paid for express shipping. Even with it, the package had only managed to arrive the day before, which was cutting it far closer than Marinette had wanted.)

"Are you going to make a piece for yourself that uses some of the dragon scale mail stuff?" Tikki wanted to know as Marinette anxiously waited for the text from Penny. "Or that texture? It turned out really cool."

"I think I'm going to give my fingers a break first," Marinette admitted with a laugh. "There was so much hand sewing on those pieces, my fingertips are pricked to bits. And it took up so much time- I haven't gone on any outings with my friends in forever, because I was trying to get that done. So I want to hang out with them a few times first, before everyone decides that I'm just flaking completely out on them, and then- yeah, I want to come up with some design to play around with."

"They wouldn't think that you're a flake if you hadn't decided to keep the commission and your gift for Jagged Stone a secret," Tikki pointed out. "I can understand why you wouldn't show anyone pieces in progress, so that the design wouldn't get leaked, but you could have told them that you had a commission for Jagged Stone, at least."

"And then everyone would be bugging me wanting to see it. No thanks." Marinette had considered it at first- after all, it would be a reminder to their class that she did know Jagged Stone, thank-you-very-much, and maybe if she said that one of Lila's stories about Jagged was a lie, people should actually consider listening- but then the cons had sunk in.

The pestering. The attempts to steal ("borrow") her sketchbook in hopes of getting a glimpse of the design. The snooping around her room- which would be a big problem now that she was also hiding the Miracle Box- to try to get a sneak peek at the piece. If she was especially unlucky, Lila or Chloe stealing or destroying her sketchbook out of jealousy.

It would be easy enough to admit to the commission after Jagged Stone had already gotten his present. That way, there would be no chances of sabotage. Then she could admit the reason why she hadn't been hanging out all month, everyone would stop complaining about her absence, and things would go back to normal.

(She had told Chat Noir, after her partner had dropped by her balcony while she was working on the texturing for the fabric scales, but he had been sworn to secrecy in return for a few pain au chocolat. Hopefully the rest of Paris never found out how incredibly easy he was to bribe.)

It was hard to do her homework with so much anticipation swirling around her gut, but Marinette forced herself through it. After all, as a superhero, she didn't exactly have time to spend just sitting around not getting her homework done, and there had been some projects that had been pushed aside towards the end of her present-sewing spree that Marinette had to get caught up on.

At least she had practice with shoving aside everything else in her life to focus on homework. Marinette had had to play catch-up after akuma attacks a few too many times for her to not know how to do that.

Two hours later, her email beeped with a new message. Marinette shoved aside her Chemistry practice problems at once, reaching for her computer mouse and opening the email from Penny.

Jagged LOVES his pants and jacket! the message read. They're absolutely gorgeous! He's gone to change into them right away because he just couldn't wait to wear them, so don't be surprised if you see a picture or two floating around on the Internet before long! Thank you so much for all of your hard work- I knew it was a fantastic idea to commission you!

Marinette had to laugh as she clicked on the video link and it started to play. That was so very Jagged, to be too excited about his new outfit to be able to wait.

Onscreen, Jagged Stone was opening a few presents, probably from his family and staff considering that they had been brought along on tour and weren't just waiting for Jagged Stone at his home studio. Marinette could tell the moment that Jagged spotted her present to him, because he lunged across the remainder of the pile to pounce on it at once. The wrapping paper- courtesy of Penny, because it was just more convenient to ship without extra packaging- went flying at once, the box was opened, and Jagged Stone crowed in delight as he pulled out the pants. A hand- Penney's by the look of it- slid another present to Jagged before he could run off and change into the pants. He opened that one eagerly, too- Marinette could just hear Penny over the music of the party telling him that she had commissioned her- and positively rocketed out of his seat with glee at the sight of the jacket.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jagged Stone exclaimed, He waved the pants and jacket at the camera. "I'm gonna go change! These are too amazing to not be wearing this very instant!"

Marinette laughed again as the video cut off. She closed the window, only to spot a new email from Penny, with a series of photos. Jagged Stone was wearing his new outfit, posing in it with the world's largest grin on his face.

She could breathe a sigh of relief, at least- everything fit just like it was supposed to. The jacket sat correctly, and the pants were a perfect fit, slim-cut but with enough room for him to move around and rock out. With one more grin, Marinette emailed Penny back, asking her to wish Jagged a happy birthday from her. With the email sent, Marinette could only beam up at the ceiling.

Mission complete. She could breathe easier now, knowing for sure that Jagged loved the pieces she made for him.

She couldn't wait to tell Alya.

  "I can't believe you know the designer that did all of the Game of Thrones costumes, Lila! That's so cool!"

"Oh, what now," Marinette grumbled as she recognized Alya's voice. Couldn't she go one morning without hearing another new lie from Lila? Just once? "And why is she trying to claim a connection to a costume designer? I'm the only one that would be really interested in something like that."

Tikki was frowning as she peered out of Marinette's purse. "Marinette, she mentioned Game of Thrones. Isn't that the TV show where you got the idea for the dragon-scale patterning from?"

Marinette's stomach dropped. In a heartbeat, she knew exactly what Lila must be trying to claim. How dare she try to take credit for getting Jagged the jacket and pants that Marinette had spent hours slaving over, stealing Marinette's accomplishment away-

-but wait. There was no way that would stand. Maybe the paparazzi and the world had gotten a glimpse of Jagged Stone's birthday gift outfit already, but he probably hadn't felt like answering press questions on his birthday. If she knew Jagged Stone like she thought she did, he would no doubt gush to the press where, exactly, he had gotten the pieces, and who had made them, probably within the next day.

Marinette grinned. Lila had picked the wrong lie to tell for sure this time.

"Marinette, guess what?" Alya exclaimed as soon as Marinette stepped through the door to the classroom. Just as Marinette had suspected, everyone was clustered around Lila at the front of the room. Even Adrien, for once, but he seemed far more interested in the pictures that were being shown than he was in Lila's story. "Guess who Lila knows? She knows this really amazing costume designer who did a whole bunch of the Game of Thrones costumes, and she commissioned this really awesome jacket and pants combo from that designer for Jagged Stone for his birthday!"

"He clearly loves it if he ran off to change into it before the end of the party," Rose gushed. She beamed at Lila. "That was a really great idea for a gift, Lila!"

"Yes, well, it was a bit pricey even with my connections, since of course I wouldn't ask my friend to work for free, but since he and I are friends, I wanted to get a nice gift for him," Lila told them. "And since he has Fang, well- crocodile scales and dragon scales are pretty similar, right?"

Alya nudged Marinette. "Isn't it cool that she knows such a fantastic designer?" The implied be nice, maybe she can introduce you hung heavy in the air. "That jacket- it's incredible. I bet she has a lot of tricks and tips about design and sewing!"

Lila nodded, her hair bouncing. "Yeah, she's super talented! And I was lucky enough to actually get to help her with the jacket when she came through Paris a couple weeks back! I didn't do a lot, of course, because I didn't have the time, but it was super cool to see how the scales were made." Her eyes slid sideways to Marinette, a silent challenge that she was so sure that Marinette wouldn't take. "If you wanted, Marinette, I could maybe teach you some of the things that she taught me."

…yeah, okay, Marinette was not going to stand here and pretend to play nice with Lila, not even for the few hours it would no doubt take for Jagged Stone to tell the press who, exactly, had made the pants and jacket for him. Not when Lila was actively claiming credit like this, claiming that she had made part of the outfit when it was all Marinette's work.

Whelp. Time for her to step off of the high road and for the gloves to come off.

"That would be so nice, Lila," Marinette crooned, keeping her eyes on Lila's surprised face. Then her eyes narrowed. "Except for the fact that it's all complete bullshit."

There were gasps at that, and Marinette could feel Alya's hand tighten around her arm in a silent reprimand. Lila gasped, pressing a hand to her chest as though deeply offended. "Marinette! I was just trying to be nice, and this is how you-"

"Oh, save me the sob story." Marinette's eyes slid around the group and caught on Max and Markov, who was out and clearly listening. A conversation from a couple weeks back tickled at the back of her mind, and Marinette went for it. "Markov, you record video of things you see to review later, right?"

"I do!" Markov chirped, clearly pleased that she remembered. "And I usually retain the footage for one to five hours, depending on how common or uncommon a social interaction was."

"Can you retain the story Lila just told for a bit longer?" Marinette asked, ignoring how Alya's hold was getting tighter and tighter. "For a day, maybe."

"Of course!"

"Marinette," Alya hissed through gritted teeth. "Cut it out, Lila is trying to be-"

"After all, Jagged Stone is never quiet about the gifts that he likes or about giving credit where credit is due," Marinette continued, brushing Alya's hand off of her arm without sparing it a glance. "So I'm sure he'll tell the press about who actually gave him those gifts within twenty-four hours. So I'd like to have the footage of right now to make sure that your story doesn't magically change between now and then."

Lila blanched, then pasted her usual expression back on before anyone else could notice. "Actually, I asked him to keep it on the down-low right away- after all, I didn't want people flooding my other friend with requests, because she's starting work on wardrobe for a new movie soon. Besides, I don't need any public thank-yous. I know that he likes my gift, and that's enough."

Marinette didn't even bother hiding her eye roll that time. "Sure. And I'm the Queen of France." Brushing past the group, she headed over to her desk, ignoring the stares of her classmates.

She couldn't be surprised about that, really. After all, while Marinette had called out Lila's lies on a fairly regular basis before, it had always been more of a one-off comment, not- well, not her clearly calling Lila a baldfaced liar.

"That is not okay, Marinette," Alya hissed as she passed Marinette's seat. Apparently she was headed up to sit with Lila instead for the day. "I know you don't like Lila, but-"

"I'll accept 'sorry I didn't listen to you, Marinette' apologies in the form of fabric store gift cards once you realize that I'm right," Marinette told her instead of listening to Alya's scolding again. Alya scoffed.

"Well, when Lila is proved right you can apologize to her for not listening and to us for having to deal with this nonsense by taking us all out to lunch!" Alya shot back. "Lila loves this little seafood place a couple blocks away. I'm feeling hungry for their salmon bake already!"

"Don't hold your breath for it," Marinette muttered, but Alya had already flounced off, clearly entirely convinced that she was right.

Well. Marinette had more or less been kidding about the gift cards- after all, her allowance plus the money that she got from babysitting and commissions meant that Marinette wasn't exactly scrounging for money to buy the materials that she wanted for her projects- but if Alya was going to counter her joking suggestion with a completely serious response, then Marinette would gladly welcome a little extra fabric money.

Marinette turned back to the front, ignoring the looks that she was getting from the others around the room. Oddly enough, Chloe and Sabrina weren't sneering at her- in fact, they seemed to be hunched over Sabrina's tablet, which had the pictures of Jagged Stone pulled up on it. Chloe was tracing part of the picture, saying something quietly to Sabrina, and Marinette had to wonder what they were talking about. It wasn't as though the jacket was Chloe's style at all, so why were they finding it so interesting?

And then Marinette's gaze slid further around, and she practically had a heart attack when she saw Adrien turned around to face her, his chin propped up on his arms on top of her desk and his eyes sparkling.

"Hi, Marinette!" Adrien chirped, sounding incredibly cheerful and not at all bothered by Marinette abandoning the (incredibly ineffective) high road in favor of- well, calling out the bad guys. He grabbed his tablet, nudging it onto her desk. "I was looking at the picture of Jagged Stone's new jacket and- well, maybe it's not the highest-resolution photo in the world, but I thought I noticed your signature on it, like you did on the hat. Was Jagged Stone's outfit something you made?"

Next to him, Nino startled, glancing up from his notebook and back at Marinette.

"Yeah, I made it," Marinette told him, unable to hide her grin. Adrien had noticed her signature! He had looked closely enough at the jacket to notice it threaded in amongst all of the other patterns and textures going on. "Penny commissioned me for the jacket, and then I made the pants as a gift to go along with it. And I was going to tell people about it today, since I didn't want the news getting out early and spoiling the surprise, but Little Miss Lies-A-Lot decided to throw a wrench in that plan, apparently."

Adrien winced, then reached out to pat her hand comfortingly. "Well, at least you know that that lie isn't going to last long."

"Yeah," Marinette agreed. It was the light at the end of the tunnel, at long last. "Thank goodness."

  Marinette headed back to school after lunch feeling much less excited about going there than she had that morning.

Maybe every passing hour brought her closer to the time when Jagged Stone would mention to the press where his gift had come from, but ugh were those hours ever dragging. Maybe Adrien knew the truth- and Nino did now too, since he had overheard her and Adrien talking about the pieces and the work that had gone into them and other possible applications of the dragon-scale patterning- but the rest of her classmates were apparently convinced that she was being unnecessarily mean to Lila and were acting accordingly.

(Marinette really liked the idea of scaled boots. She would have to poke through thrift shops for a base shoe, probably, but when they were finished? It would be killer.)

"Cheer up, Marinette, maybe Jagged Stone has said something already!" Tikki chirped when Marinette sighed again, her footsteps still absolutely dragging. "You know it's possible, since you were too busy helping in the bakery for the last part of lunch break to be able to check!"

"But it's not likely," Marinette pointed out. "I did check at the start of break, after all. Add in the time zone differences and the fact that Jagged is probably moving to a new place for his tour, and what are the chances?" She sighed. "And now I'll have to deal with Lila's new conspiracy theory about why I got so ticked off about the pants and jacket for the rest of the afternoon."

Lila's conspiracy theory, which Marinette had overheard Lila telling their classmates just before lunch and which was possibly one of the most maddening things about this whole mess, the thing that had made her go from being willing to wait the whole thing out to being more than a little impatient. Lila had told them that she thought that Marinette had probably wanted to claim for the credit for the jacket, because she was jealous of Lila's connection to Jagged Stone and wanted the attention for once. The tantrum-throwing, Lila had continued loftily, was probably just because Lila had told the truth before she could start spreading her lie.

Ugh.

Tikki giggled at that. "Yes, but just imagine the look on Lila's face when she realizes that you were actually the one to make the pieces! She'll be so shocked!"

Marinette certainly hoped so. It had taken everything in her not to turn around, march up to Lila, and inform her that actually, I DID make that outfit, and I have the receipts and progress photos to prove it!

She could have. But Lila would shove right back, and Marinette really hadn't felt like getting into another argument, not when she would get proven right without wasting her breath.

At least Marinette had Adrien to keep her sane. He knew the truth, just like Marinette, and understood why that particular story had been the straw to break the camel's back. He had wanted to know all about the process of making the jacket, and Marinette had been happy to comply. She even had in-progress shots, which meant that by the time classes let out, Nino had been convinced, too. He had been furious on her behalf, but had agreed that maybe it would be best to wait for Jagged to make some sort of comment instead of trying to argue with everyone else.

(After all- well, Marinette didn't want to risk seeing doubt in her friends' eyes if she tried to tell the truth and told them that she made the pieces. That- that would just hurt.)

With one last sigh- ugh, an akuma right now wouldn't be so bad, at least then she wouldn't have to listen to Lila 'answering' questions about what getting an on-set peek of TV shows was like- Marinette headed into school and up to the classroom.

Oddly enough, despite the fact that class was about to start, there were a lot of people missing. Alya wasn't back yet, or a lot of the other girls. Lila was there, though, and she smirked at Marinette as she came through the door. Clearly she was still riding the high of having gotten a reaction out of Marinette earlier.

Marinette smirked right back as she slid into her seat, Tikki's words coming back to her. Lila could gloat all she wanted, but that didn't change the fact that Marinette had made those pieces and the truth would come out. Even if it was taking longer than Marinette would have liked.

She was just being impatient, honestly. After sitting through months of Lila's nonsense, one day more was really nothing.

The afternoon bell rang, and Adrien twisted around in his seat to give Marinette a questioning look, glancing around at the empty seats before quirking an eyebrow. Marinette could only shrug in return.

After all, she didn't know where everybody was, either. Normally, she would have guessed that people had gotten distracted by a Lila-story in the cafeteria, but considering that Lila actually was in class, that clearly couldn't be it. She would suggest that Adrien ask Nino since Alya was his girlfriend, except Nino wasn't back yet, either.

...odd.

Before Marinette could spare much more of a thought to wonder where in the world everyone was, the door burst open and their missing classmates tumbled in. They practically swarmed Marinette's desk, pushing Alya to the front to drop a gift card in front of her.

Marinette blinked.

"Wait, what's going on?" Lila demanded, her voice shrill. "Why- why are you giving her a gift card?"

"Because, Lila," Alya started, her voice absolutely dripping ice, "Marinette was the one that made Jagged Stone's new outfit. The jacket was commissioned from her by Penny Rolling, and the pants were a gift directly from her."

"But- no, I already told you guys that she would claim that," Lila said with a titter. All of it came out too pinched, too high-pitched, too fake. "I knew Marinette would claim-"

"Jagged Stone told the press who it was from himself. Marinette never claimed anything." Alya cast a disparaging look at Lila. "Now I have to wonder how much of what you've told us is a lie. All of it, probably. Did you even leave Paris when you tried to claim that you were out traveling around the world?"

"The packages must have gotten mixed up," Lila tried, her voice climbing higher yet. Their other classmates were sending her dirty looks now, too. "The tags on them, I'm sure that they must have been switched-"

Chloe scoffed from her seat. "Right, and Marinette's signature just magically managed to jump from the pieces she made and onto your gifts, right? What a lame little liar."

…okay, Marinette was officially going to count herself impressed that Chloe had actually noticed her signature, because she had hidden it pretty well. That must have been what she and Sabrina had been looking at in the pictures earlier.

Maybe it wasn't that big of a surprise after all. Chloe had seemed annoyed by Lila's grand claims as of late, and Marinette wouldn't be surprised to hear that Chloe had wanted to discredit Lila and have her spot as the most connected person in the class back.

For once, Lila fell silent. Her face had gone pale. Alya spared her one more glance before rounding the desk and sitting in her regular seat.

"We all chipped in the price of what we would have ordered at the cafe," Alya explained as the rest of the students dispersed to their seats and Ms. Bustier headed up to the back to collect Lila, probably to march her straight to the office. "Food and drinks, and then- well, I at least threw in a bit extra, because we've been giving you a lot of grief about the whole Lila thing."

Marinette grinned, picking up the gift card. An amount was scrawled on the back, and- wow, it was not a small amount. Marinette was willing to bet that more people than just Alya had put in extra. Either that, or people had very expensive tastes. "Thank you."

"It's our apology to you. We should have listened to you earlier." Alya looked sheepish. "I was just too excited about all of the potential scoops that I could get from Lila, I didn't stop to fact-check and really think about what she was saying. I'll do better in the future, I promise."

Marinette could only beam. This was what she had been waiting for.

"So…" Alya started, leaning forward with her eyes alight. Marinette quirked an eyebrow back at her. "You dressed Jagged Stone and made the coolest jacket and pants that I've ever seen! What was that like? Nino says that you have progress photos- can I see them before Ms. Bustier gets back from the office? I want to hear all about it!"

With a laugh, Marinette pulled out her phone and swiped to the photos that she had taken. "Of course! So a couple months ago, Penny approached me about designing something…"

Maybe it would take a couple weeks for them to really get past all of this and for their friendship to fully recover, but Marinette was confident that they could. Alya had no doubt learned a few lessons about listening to Marinette, and something told Marinette that Lila was going to get in no small amount of trouble, potentially even getting kicked out of their school. Even if she didn't, Lila's power was gone. No one would believe her now.

And that was how it was meant to be.

[planetariumx]

A Stupid Love Story {Pt. 2/?}

Loki x reader (eventually)

Chapter Summary: Loki is still here. You talk more with him and learn a few things.

Warnings: Swearing. that’s it that’s the fic

A/N: The first part of this did so much better than I expected! Yall are amazing thank you so so much it means the world to me :’) anyway I decided to post this a little earlier than I expected so enjoy! As always, feedback is much appreciated, lemme know what you think! Likes and comments/reblogs make my day :)) also idk if anyone wants to be tagged for this but if so, send me an ask!

Masterlist

Part 1 

The dull beeping of your alarm woke you from a dreamless sleep, sunlight streaming through the gap between the curtains. You rolled over with a groan, slamming your hand down on the clock to silence it. Blinking the sleep from your eyes, you reached for your phone and looked at the notifications. One text from your boss asking you to come in to work fifteen minutes earlier. Great.

After showering and getting ready for work, you walked out into the rest of your apartment. Remembering the events of last night you looked around to make sure it was just in your head. Seeing no sign of anyone else in your home, you let out a breath of relief and continued on to the kitchen. Looking up from your phone you let out a scream at the sight of the tall, raven haired man currently digging through your fridge. 

“What the hell are you still doing here?!” You shouted at him

“Once again mortal, please lower your voice. I am still recovering from my previous headache.”

“I told you to go away! To be gone when I woke up! Why are you still here?” You said, only lowering your voice a small amount 

“And I told you that I needed to fix your problem or else I will be thrown back in that dull prison cell.” 

“What?”

“When Thor returned me to Asgard, Odin threw me in one of the cells underneath the castle like some kind of animal.” He scowled at the memory

A long silence followed, your brain was still processing what he just said. Finally you spoke, barely above a whisper, “Your own father put you in jail? Just left you there?”

“Odin is not my father.” 

“Oh…Sorry. But still, that’s kind of fucked up.” For some reason you felt bad for him. But why? He killed so many people and tried to take over your home planet! Shouldn't he be locked up like any other criminal? Still, something about him made you feel like there was more to the story, that maybe he didn’t deserve the way he was treated.

“Listen, I need to get to work we can discuss this later if I’m not too tired. Try not to let anyone see you and don’t touch anything.” You sighed, running a hand over your face

“I am not a child, girl. Do not treat me as such.”

“I’ll be back at five.” And with that, you turned around and walked away.

~~~~

Five o'clock finally rolled around, you were not looking forward to going home to talk to Loki. 

Walking into your apartment, kicking off your shoes and dropping your keys onto the table, you spot the man in question once again on your couch. Ignoring him you walked straight to the fridge and popped open a beer.

“Okay so let’s talk about how this is going to work. Where are you staying, I mean you do sleep right?” You asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Yes mortal, I require rest just like any other being. Was that not obvious?”

“Believe it or not I don’t know anything about you other than the fact that you went on a murder spree on my planet. Where did you sleep last night?”

He didn’t say anything, just gestured to the couch that he was still sitting on.

“You stayed in my home while I was asleep?!” 

“Don’t act so surprised, I can’t exactly walk into the city to find a place to stay, people know who I am.”

“Fine. Fine. You can stay on my couch but you can’t let anyone else know that I have a crazy space alien living in my apartment.”

“I am not interested in baking cookies for the neighbors so that won’t be a problem.”

“Ok well I’m hungry, what do magical aliens from made up floating islands in the sky eat?”

“I highly doubt that any food on Midgard could compare to the Asgardian feasts I am used to.”

“How about pizza? Or is it below you to eat the food of us mere peasants? I would hate to inconvenience the prince of being a dick.” You said with an exaggerated bow

“That will be fine.” He replied curtly  

After the pizza arrived, you ate in silence before going to the closet to get Loki an extra pillow and blanket. Sure you may not like him but you don’t want to have to deal with more complaining from his spoiled highness. Turning out the lights, you tell him the bathroom is down the hall, and retreat to your room.

You spend the rest of your night catching up on work and falling asleep in bed with your computer still on your lap.

Part 3

[chenoehi]

The number of jikook accounts I’m seeing that still follow thisheartsmadefullmetal after she pulled her shit and disrespected Jungkook in that disgusting post is sickening to me. What the fuck is wrong with you people or are you genuinely ignorant of what she did and what she really is.

Sorry. But,

Really? Really. Alright. I didn’t follow some of you big accounts which I won’t name here, thank god, mostly because I already didn’t like you and for good reason I guess but I am very disappointed in the blogs I do still follow and the one I’ve already named which I just unfollowed because all I’ve been doing lately is losing good blogs but I guess an unfollow spree can lead to a new follow spree and a search for unproblematic favorites.

EDIT: the blog name has been removed for reasons below.

I just have to ask you guys one question first: is Jungkook only good for one half of a ship? Because if that's all, if that's where your interest starts and ends, then don't even call yourself OT7 or ARMY or whatever else you want to call yourself. We talk all the time about how TKs use JK for their own ship and shit on him if it means diminishing his bond with JM, but what about jikookers? A big Jimin bias account spews hate toward JK in a way she's never done toward the other members before, but nearly has, and ? She deletes the post, ignores the criticism, and moves on, and 'jikookers' who follow her continue to lap up her melodrama. So, you guys don't really care all that much about JK aside from the fact that he and Jimin look cute together and sometimes he takes those cute videos and photos of your bias. I see.

Tumblr is a refuge for me, it should be like a breath of fresh air after being on Twitter a little bit which is fun for a hot minute but can become suffocating,

and then I come on here and the first fucking post I see on my tl is a reblog of a post from thisheartsmadefullmetal after seeing that bitch’s posts come up on my tl every day the last couple of weeks

AS IF SUDDENLY EVERYONE FORGOT THAT SHE’S A PIECE OF SHIT WHO SAID GEMS LIKE SHE WANTED TO SLAP JUNGKOOK AND THAT HE ONLY STARTED LIKING JIMIN DURING BS&T ERA WHEN JIMIN STARTING STARVING HIMSELF BECAUSE HE'S A SHALLOW NARCISSIST WHO DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE HAD IN FRONT OF HIM.

But uwu she posted a cute photoset with Jimin and sunsets.

uwuwuwuwuwuwuwu

See, THAT’S where it’s appropriate to say shit like, “You guys don’t deserve x member.” In this case, none of you fuckers who still follow her knowing what she did, NONE of you deserve Jungkook or really any of the other members of Bangtan because if you also forgot:

- she’s called Taehyung a fake friend and insinuated that Taehyung plays their bond up for the camera

- she’s criticized Bangtan numerous times when it comes to Jimin as her way of showing “support” for her favorite

- she basically went on attack mode over MAMA 2018 because “Bangtan didn’t comfort Jimin when he was crying which obviously means they don’t give a shit about him”

- she’s perpetuated the narrative that the only people who care about Jimin are his solo stans, pjms, even at the exclusion of Bangtan because of course, you know, they’re all self-serving assholes and take advantage of his kindness and gentle nature

- she’s written 2k word monologues about her dependence on Jimin and how he’s the source of her happiness

- she’s perpetuated this destructive, highly toxic myth that A. Jimin is this fragile porcelain doll who will just break into a million pieces if anyone criticizes him or is mean to him (thus the reason why his fans are needed, they must come to his defense) and B. that the very sight of this 23-year-old MUSICIAN and CELEBRITY crying will be too much to bear for his fans and will break them into a million pieces because that’s how fragile their psyches are and so is he and they're all going to just melt into a puddle together and drown in their tears

And you bet your ass, if you don’t help trend a hashtag for him or drain a pint of blood for him if he needed it you might as well just leave the fandom.

You’re all a fucking disgrace.

I’m personally done with that shit. I'll most likely unfollow anyone who reblogs posts from her directly because that either means you follow her or you're just finding her in the tags and regardless I don't want to see her posts or support a blog who supports her. And yes, following someone like that who is toxic and dangerous and mentally and emotionally unstable and who is and has been openly hateful toward Bangtan in favor of Jimin, acting like an akgae, a toxic solo stan, yes ma’am and yes sir, you are supporting that behavior so you are just as bad. Actually, you’re worse than she is because at least she’s just delusional and that’s what her problem is. What’s your excuse?

I don’t reblog any posts from her anymore, even ones that have been shared by others, just because that’s my stance and I don’t even want to see her name on my blog after what she did; I only reblogged one of her’s once recently and that was to make a point and add to another post about how toxic she was being. 

But still following her after she wrote that disgusting post, deleted it (I have the screenshots and I posted about it, in fact, it’s my top post), never said a fucking word about it, and then moved on like everything was hunky dory, like her shit doesn’t stink, like she’s fucking invincible? Well, how else should she feel when her legion of followers keep bumping along behind her like little ducks. And when the Jungkook post business blew up? That was pretty big. Pretty hard to miss as it was posted all over the jikook tags and she tags other ships too. I’ll have a hard time believing people who say the really didn’t know about it.

Anyway. Maybe soon I’ll get to scroll through my tumblr feed and not get pissed off, once I’ve unfollowed all the people still following her. That would be nice.

But just to save some time: I don’t care how many followers I have and I don’t care how many blogs I follow anymore either. I want a positive experience on here for myself and I don’t give a shit what it looks like. But it’s not going to include her posts. So like last time, if you see this post and you follow thisheartsmadefullmetal and happen to be following me, unfollow me please right now. If you follow her and don’t follow me, block me please right now.

Regardless, if you follow that account and intend to keep following that account, all I can say is shame the fuck on you.

EDIT: This post needs to be edited to remove the other account I mentioned, tumblr is just spitting out my edits. They do not follow this toxic blog. I mentioned in a separate post earlier that I wasn't sure because it was brought to my attention you can just reblog from random accounts when surfing tags; I don't surf the tags anymore and I had a dumbass moment, I assumed they followed the account, and now I know. I've apologized for jumping the gun on that.

[ciestessde]

First Name Basis

“He’s so cute! Precious cinnamon roll! Want hug him! Hey, @ciestess how about a Hanataro friendship/little brother with protective big sister fic?” - @lyla-heart 

Hanataro was in a good mood. He’d just received a letter from Rukia about her travels in the world of the living and was on his way to his quarters, humming and smiling.

“Oh? Hanataro?” He stopped and looked up -- it was Lieutenant Matsumoto!! “It is Hanataro, right?” “Wh- ah, yes! And, um your Lieutenant Matsumoto of Squad 10, right ma’am? What’s brings you here? I mean- of course you’re here - why wouldn-” “Easy, kid!” She chuckled, “And just Rangiku is fine. No need to be so formal.” “Ah-” “You seem pretty happy. Is that a love letter~?” She smirked at him, her eyes looking hungrily at the paper in his hand, eager for some gossip. Which girl from the Gotei 13…? “What!?” Hanataro jumped. He was sweating. “Uh, no! It’s not like that! Rukia and I are just-” “Rukia? Kuchiki?!” Oh, this was juicy. Just wait until she told- “NO! I mean, yes, it’s from Miss Kuchiki, but we’re just- just friends! No way someone like her would ever date someone like me, after all, ha ha…” Rangiku paused, looking the Squad 4 boy up and down. “Why not?” “Huh…?” “What do you mean ‘someone like you’?” “Well…” Rangiku had seen this before. Of course. He was in Squad 4 -- the grunts of the Gotei 13. They were notorious for being the worst in combat, and he wasn’t exactly dispelling that image with his small stature and lack of muscles. “...” Rangiku smiled. She HAD been looking for something fun to do today, and nothing was more fun than building up somebody’s confidence! “Hey, I was wanting to go shopping today, but I’d rather not go alone. Would you come with me?” “WHAT! No, I couldn’t- I mean, I’m so busy, and-!” “Aw, come on! It’ll be fun!” She hooked his arm in her’s, and they set off for the nearest fashion store…

...

“I-I-I don’t know about this, Miss Matsum-” “I told you, it’s ‘Rangiku’ --And you look great!” He was wearing a simple outfit: Just some dark slacks and a light blue dress shirt. But the shirt collar came a bit lower than Hanataro was comfortable with. His hair was also slicked back with some inexpensive hair gel. They were finished with their shopping spree. They hadn’t bought too much, since they both were short on time, having to get back to their quarters to finish last-minute work and sleep.

… Well, Hanataro did. Rangiku didn’t seem worried about it, but she didn’t want to push the boy too much past his comfort zone.

She had done a pretty good job, if she did say so herself! He was still nervous, clearly, but Rangiku didn’t miss the way his back stood a little bit straighter -- or how his mouth curved up, just a bit, when he saw himself in the mirror earlier. She knew this wasn’t a permanent fix, but it was a good first step. And there were plenty more steps to come, since Hanataro had become Rangiku’s new pet project! (Heaven help him --IF she remembered...)

The two heard a snort from their left. A group of three soul reapers (members of squad 11, it looked like) were clearly drunk -- one of them A LOT more than the other two. “Whuz-ZAT?!” “Looks like a couple of hoes!” “The small ones your type, isn’t he? Pffff!” “Ugh. Great.” “Hey! *whistles*” They stumbled forward, eyeing them. The two somewhat-sober ones approached Rangiku, while the drunk one went to Hanataro.

Their breath reeked.

“Go home. I’m not in the mood right now.” She glared at them.

They were ignoring her. She had changed out of her uniform, or the three might have avoided this unfortunate situation. “Heyguyz. I thinky recognishe thish wone,” the one inspecting Hanataro slurred to his companions. “Oh yeah! Your from squad four, aren’t you?” All of three of them now surrounded the smaller soul reaper, cruel grins on their faces. “What are you dressed up for? Cleaning up garbage?” “Ha! Yeah, who are you trying to impress, runt?”

Hanataro wasn’t talking. He was barely moving. Rangiku had had enough. She grabbed Hanataro and pulled him close to her, linking their arms again. She would NOT have them destroy all the progress that he had made today! “Thank you SO much for taking me out today, Hanataro!” The flirtatious look she was giving him snapped him out of his daze, “Wh-? L-L-Lieutenant M-Matsumoto?!? What are you-!” “Aw, come oonnn…! I told you, just call me ‘Rangiku’! No need to be so formal…” She made sure the idiots were paying attention.

Oh, they were. And they weren’t happy. The impromptu “leader” (the one who was least drunk) swaggered (as best he could) forward in front of Rangiku again. “You don’t really want to be with him, do you?” “Yeah, we’re WAY stronger than him!” They had, apparently, completely missed that Hanataro had called her “Lieutenant.” Or they might not have done what they did next.

One of them grabbed Hanataro and shoved him to the ground, and the others moved in to start kicking him.

… They hadn’t even pulled their feet back fully before Rangiku had knocked them into the nearby wall. “Yeah… I’m really not in the mood for this today,” she muttered to herself, before turning back and pinning the “leader” to the ground with her foot. He was still in shock. “Hey! IDIOT!” He flinched, blinking up at her. “You’re going to stay away from Hanataro from now on.” He was still just blinking at her. She drove her foot into his shoulder, and he grunted in pain, his eyes clearing just a bit. “Got it?” “Wh-why should I? He’s just a-” “The friend of a Lieutenant -- who will personally chop off your tongue if you say another insult about Squad 4.” The word “Lieutenant” finally seemed to click, and the man’s eyes finally filled with recognition-- and fear. “Y-y-y-y-YES Ma’am!!” “Make sure your buddies know too.” “OF COURSE, LIEUTENANT MATSUMOTO!” He gave a clumsy salute from his position on the ground, and Rangiku lifted her foot. She walked away, and Hanataro followed, quickly catching up.

“Y-you really didn’t have to do that, lieutenant. I’m used to the-” “That’s exactly why I DID have to do it.” She turned to look Hanataro in the eyes, a warm grin on her face. “And really, how many times do I need to remind you. It’s just ‘Rangiku.’”

If you liked this, please REBLOG!

AO3 version

OSWs Master List

{This is part of my “OneShot Wednesday” project - I’m trying to write a one-shot every week that other people have requested! Original Requests one week, and Fanfic Requests the next.

To vote for the next OSW, go to my Tumblr, Twitter, or Website to find the current poll!

While I will try to keep track of all the requests I receive regardless of how they’re sent, you should send Fanfic Requests through the pinned tweet on my Twitter, and Original Requests through either my email (CiestessDE@gmail.com) or my Patreon (if you’re a patron) if you want to make sure I see them.

Just about everything goes -- I’ll tell you if there’s a problem. But if you want to know more about how they work, you can read about Original OSWs here, and Fanfic OSWs here.

So please send me ALL the ideas!!! I will make sure to recognize whoever’s idea/request it was in the work – just ask if you want to remain anonymous.}

[superbaektrash]

Not soon enough

Okay so this is my first angst fanfic, don’t judge me too harshly. ;) 

Please like, reblog, and let me know what you think!

(This is mainly for @amazingflyinglittlepanda @apathetic-trashhhh who LOVE angst)

Finishing off his milkshake at Taki’s, Jace Herondale tossed a ten-dollar bill on the table and walked out. He’d let Kaelie have the change. “Let’s get back to the Institute,” he muttered to Alec.

Alec nodded and collected his bow and quiver.

They opted for walking back to the Institute instead of using Clary’s new portal rune—despite being exhausted after just having fought a hoard of shax demons.

“The Downworlders have been quiet lately,” Jace said, “your doing?”

“Yeah, Magnus and I have been working with the Downworld representatives to end the rebellions after…” He didn’t have to finish. After Sebastian showed his true colors—and identity as Clary’s long lost brother—he’d gone on a Downworlder killing spree, leading the surviving Downworlders to rebel and attack mudanes, Shadowhunters, and each other. The Downworld was left in pieces for the Clave to mend together. Since Alec was dating a warlock he decided to mend ties with the Downworlders. Him and Magnus were slowly fixing what Sebastian has so recklessly destroyed.

The only remaining problem was that Sebastian Morgenstern was nowhere to be found—no method of tracking could find him and he’d left no clues as to where he’d gone. He’d just disappeared.

“Have they found any information on where Sebastian might be?” Alec asked. While Alec was in charge of rebuilding the Downworld, Jace was on the SM12 task force—a group of skilled Shadowhunters focused on finding Sebastian Morgenstern.

“Nothing. It’s like he just disappeared off the face of the earth,” Jace replied.

“That’s not possible,” Alec said, “he has to be somewhere.”

“I know it’s not possible, it’s just what it feels like.”

Jace and Alec walked the rest of the way to the Institute in silence. Everyone had been tense lately since Sebastian’s attack and conversation wasn’t coming easily.

As they approached the abandoned outside of the church the Institute reveled in, they noticed bodies littering the front yard. Instantly, Jace pulled out a seraph blade, and Alec nocked an arrow onto his bow.

“This isn’t good,” Alec muttered.

“Sebastian?” Jace said.

“Who else could it be?”

Jace opened the door to the Institute and stepped in before Alec.

The eerie silence that was the Institute was enough to put Jace on even higher alert. He couldn’t see any Shadowhunters on the computers and high-tech screens like there usually were—he could, however, see what could only be blood splatters on the screens.

Then he stepped into view. Dressed in a long blood red coat. “I’ve been waiting for you,” said Sebastian Morgenstern. “Get them.”

Four other Shadowhunters stepped into the hallway from behind them and grabbed Jace and Alec and dragged them after Sebastian.

“Struggling is futile. I have taken up my father’s experimenting hobby,” he turned to face them, “only I succeeded.”

Alec and Jace kept struggling.

“Get rid of the Lightwood,” Sebastian said as if Alec was merely a piece of trash that needed to be disposed.

One of the Shadowhunters holding Alec took out a dagger from his belt and before Jace could get out “Stop!”, he sliced Alec’s throat.

“Alec!” Jace yelled as he watched his parabatai’s blood spill down his shirt. Alec’s body went limp and he fell to the floor. He struggled even more against the Shadowhunters holding him. He almost tore free but the two Shadowhunters that had been containing Alec moved toward him and helped the other Shadowhunters hold him. “I’ll kill you!” he yelled to Sebastian.

“I’ll let you try,” Sebastian said.

He stopped trying to fight the Shadowhunters. The full impact of Alec’s death hit him.

The cord snapped.

Jace felt a sharp pain in his chest where his parabatai rune was. He looked down at his chest; a pool of blood began to form in the place of the rune; he felt his parabatai rune fade. “Alec,” he whispered. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. “Alec,” he whispered again.

“To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be the one destroyed,” Sebastian said, mirroring the words Valentine had always said to him.

Turning to another one of his Shadowhunters Sebastian said, “Bring me my sister.”

“What’ve you done to Clary?” Jace yelled, struggling against the Shadowhunters once again. He’d already lost Alec, he would not let Sebastian take Clary.

“Oh don’t worry, I would never harm her.”

He heard the rattle of chains.

“Beloved sister,” Sebastian said.

“Clary,” Jace said. Two Shadowhunters held her by her arms and one walked ahead, pulling her by a chain that connected to manacles at her wrists. Her clothes were stained with blood and she had a bandage wrapped around her left wrist.

“Jace,” she said, meeting his gaze. They tried going to each other but the Sebastian’s men held them back. “What did you do?” she said to Sebastian, undoubtedly noticing the tears still falling from his eyes.

“I simply got rid of an inconvenience,” Sebastian replied nonchalantly, as if he was talking about a bug he’d just killed.

Sebastian had ordered his men to chain up Jace and sit Clary on her designated “throne”.

They unlocked her manacles only to have her wrists chained to the arms of the monstrous chair Sebastian had brought with him. Although Clary hated to admit it, the plush velvet seat was extremely comfortable however horrendous it was to look at.

“Now dear sister, your dearly beloved will suffer what I had to endure for 18, long, harsh years with our dear old dad,” Sebastian said. One of his Shadowhunters brought him a wooden box carved one simple rune. Clary would be stupid not to recognize it; she’d seen it used before. The agony rune. The Clave’s favorite method of torture.

Sebastian opened a box and took out a metal whip. “Demon metal,” he explained. “The same one that Valentine used on me.”

“No,” Clary whispered. “Please don’t do this,” she pleaded to her brother. She struggled against the chains on her wrist. “Please.”

Once, Clary might’ve appreciated the sight of Jace’s naked back but not when he was strung up by chains ready to be whipped by her sociopathic brother.

Sebastian set the demon metal whip back in the box. “But this would be too much of a mercy.” He turned back to Jace. “I want you to suffer.”

“Sebastian please, I’m begging you, please don’t do this,” Clary pleaded.

Sebastian ignored Clary’s pleads. “Jace got everything I always wanted—everything I deserved. Why did he get to leave, to have a family, to be loved? Now it’s his turn to suffer—to feel a fraction of the pain that I felt; he will never be able to feel the loneliness, the misery that I felt. No. Because he never felt lonely or unwanted.”

“You think my life was all diamonds and pearls but I was raised by Valentine, same as you,” Jace said.

“You might’ve been raised by Valentine but you were the perfect Angel Boy,” Sebastian said to Jace. “You didn’t suffer through half of the things I suffered. But on the other hand, I’m glad to have been raised the way I was. What kind of pathetic boy mourns over the death of his falcon? You couldn’t stomach to do what needed to be done.” Sebastian turned back to Clary. “You, my dear sister, will watch as you beloved Angel Boy finally gets what he deserves, because you never learned to love me. We are perfect for one another, but you are too blind to see it.”

“You’re sick,” Clary hissed.

Sebastian ignored her. “But I have come to realize that no matter how much you could love me—you would never love me as much as your precious Jace.” He extended a hand to one of his Shadowhunters and was quickly given a plain metal whip.

He unfurled it and brought his arm back. The scene played in slow motion to Clary; the whip slowly tore through Jace’s flesh drawing blood the instant metal met flesh. She didn’t know when she’d started screaming and fighting. Despite the pain he must’ve felt, only a grunt came from Jace.

And Sebastian did it again.

And again.

And again.

It felt like an eternity before he stopped and pulled out a stele to draw an iratze on Jace’s bloodied back. The whip marks began to close and heal.

“Remember this feeling?” Sebastian whispered to Jace. “Torture then heal then torture again. Only with you it was only a few broken fingers if you played the wrong note on your precious piano.”

He stepped back from Jace and started again.

“Enough Sebastian!” Clary yelled.

“You’re right, Clary. My arm is getting quite tired; why don’t you come and help me?” Sebastian said.

“You’re sick if you think I’ll torture Jace myself,” Clary snapped.

“I thought you might say that… Bring the Daylighter and the Lightwood in,” he said to his men.

“No, please,” Clary said for what felt like the millionth time.

Isabelle and Simon were brought in by two guards each.

“Clary, I will give you a choice,” Sebastian began, “you may choose to let one of these two,” he said gesturing to Isabelle and Simon, “to take your beloved’s place.”

More tears poured from Clary’s eyes. “I’m begging you,” she whispered.

“Just whip me, Clary,” Jace said. “It’s fine, Clary. It’s not your choice.”

“How noble of you, Jace,” Sebastian said. “Let’s have a look, shall we.” Sebastian walked over to Simon. “If you whip your beloved best friend, you lose the trust of your friend Isabelle.” He moved to stand by Isabelle. “But if you chose to spare your best friend and your lover, Simon would never forgive you. So, who will it be?”

“No one,” Clary said. “I won’t do anything you say.”

“It seems like you need motivation.” Sebastian turned to one of his men. “Agony rune.”

A Shadowhunter holding Isabelle pulled out a stele and drew a rune on Isabelle’s forearm. Her cries of pain filled the silence.

“Stop! Make it stop!” Isabelle shrieked.

“I get it!” Clary said. “I’ll do what you ask.”

“Excellent.” Sebastian gestured towards Shadowhunters by Isabelle and they sliced the agony rune down the middle then he moved back to the wooden box which held the demon metal whip.

The Shadowhunters standing by Clary began unlocking her wrists.

Sebastian extended the demon metal whip to his sister.

“Not with that,” Clary said.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in this matter.” Sebastian took Clary’s hand and placed the handle of the whip in it. “You have 5 seconds to decide who it will be or I will choose for you. Five, four, three—”

“Jace,” she whispered.

“That’s what I would’ve suggested,” he whispered into her ear. Before she could pull her arm back, Sebastian tightened his grip on her wrist and pressed the tip of his stele onto her skin.

“What are you doing?”

“I case you haven’t noticed—and if you haven’t I’d suggest acquiring a mirror—you are much smaller and weaker than me, but there’s nothing s few strength runes can’t fix.” He drew three runes in to total—two on her arm and one on her neck.

Sebastian positioned her a few feet from Jace and stepped back. “Don’t think of doing anything stupid—your friends’ lives are at stake.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. The tears blurred her vision but she brought her arm back and lashed. Not even a cry from Jace.

“Harder,” Sebastian said.

Her chest trembled from her sobs as she brought her arm back and lashed again.

“Harder,” Sebastian said again.

She lashed again, feeling the strength from the freshly applied runes on her arm. That got a cry from Jace.

“Again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

Clary’s knees buckled and she fell to the floor.

“I said, again,” Sebastian hissed.

“Enough,” Clary said. “Please, I’ll do anything you want me to—anything.”

“Beg for me Clary. Beg. For. Me. Say that you want me, say that you don’t love Jace, say that you love me. Be my queen, come with me.”

“I love you,” Clary said. “I love you—I’ll go with you. Now please, let them go.”

A tense silence swept the Institute.

At last Sebastian sighed. “Fine. Anything for you, my love.” He gestured a hand to his men. “Let them go.”

The Shadowhunters let go of Isabelle and Simon and unchained Jace.

Clary ran to Jace and covered his back with her jacket. “Jace, Jace,” she muttered against his neck.

“It’s okay, I’m okay,” he assured her, even though they both knew it was far from the truth.

“Come on my love,” Sebastian said from above her, “we must be on our way.”

“Will I see them again?” Clary asked.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Sebastian grabbed Clary by the arm and yanked her up.

Grunting in pain, Jace slowly got up too. “I swear by the Angel, wherever you go, I will find you and the Angel help you when I do.”

Sebastian laughed silently.

“What’s so funny?” Jace asked.

“I’ve grown tired of you.” Before Clary realized what was happening, Sebastian pulled a dagger from his coat and stabbed Jace in the chest with it.

She felt Jace’s blood splatter on her shirt as she tumbled to the floor alongside him.

“No. No no no no no. Jace!”

“Clary,” he whispered.

“You’re going to be okay,” she muttered. She took off her shirt, not caring who saw her in her white bra, and wrapped it around the dagger imbedded in Jace’s chest to try and stop the bleeding.

“I love you,” Jace whispered.

“No, no, don’t do that. You are not going to die on me.”

“I am, Clary,” Jace said. “There are a million things I wish I would’ve done with you, Clary Fairchild. I wanted to have married you, to be the father of your children, grow old with you…”

She laid her head on his chest. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I love you…”

The world froze. Clary felt trapped in time. She looked down at the love of her life, who’s life was being torn away. She wanted to marry him, be the mother of his children, grown old with him. But now she’d never get to.

She knew Shadowhunters often died young—but they died in battle, fighting to save the lives of innocent mundanes; not weak, weaponless, and without fighting. Jace’s life had been taken away from him unfairly—she’d just lost the love of her life, unfairly. And there was nothing she could do. Nothing but lay beside him and watch his blood spill and his life drain away.

Someone was shaking her, calling her name, but it wasn’t Sebastian.

“Clary,” Simon repeated.

She seemed to snap back into reality. “Simon?”

“It’s me, Clary,” Simon said.

Clary looked around. “What’s going on?”

“Reinforcements finally came.”

“When?”

“Just now.”

Clary looked back down at Jace’s body. “But it wasn’t soon enough, they didn’t get to save Jace.” More and more tears fell down her cheeks and Simon pulled her in for a hug.

She would’ve cried onto his shoulder forever had he not brought her up and taken her to her room.

In her white mourning clothes, Clary laid on Jace’s bed—Jace’s old bed now. A small pool of tears was forming on the covers beside her face.

“Clary?” someone called from the door “The ceremony is about to start.”

“I’m not going,” she said between sobs.

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to see him,” Clary said.

“Alright, I’ll tell the others you weren’t feeling well.”

Clary waited until the door was tightly shut then she wept for her dead love until she had no more tears in her.