The Curse Of Hope
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Danny is in another universe. He had a reason, but he doesn’t remember anymore. He can only stare, horrified and disgusted, at the sickest city spirit he’s ever seen. Shivering and swaying with every step, core exposed, and ectoplasm leaking from wounds that are decades old. A ratty blanket was thrown over their shoulders, barely hiding the spirit’s pale grey skin and protruding black bones.
The spirit didn’t even sense him until he reached out to touch its wispy shoulders. The spirit flinched, clutching at the dozens of trinkets hanging from their neck and tucking in on themselves like they were expecting a blow.
“Oh, shit,” He swore, floating back a few feet, hands in the air, to show he meant no harm. “I’m sorry. I promise, I’m not here to steal from you.” The spirit shivered again and rolled a pearl necklace in between their fingers. A nervous habit. “Uh, I like that pocket watch? It’s very nice.”
That got their attention. They peeked at Danny, and he saw that more tattered cloth was covering their eyes, blending in with the stringy hair that reached the ground. Their blanket fluttered weakly, revealing hundreds of thousands of tiny marks etched into their skin. Scars, really. Scars that wrote out curse after curse onto the spirit’s very being. They burned with evil intent, and even reached inside the spirit’s body and wrapped around their core.
Occasionally, blinding specks of color raced across their body, temporarily erasing the writing, but it always returned quickly. He watched, a little detached, as one particular line rewrote itself across their rough forearm, drawing fresh ectoplasm like someone was writing it with a thin knife.
“Are you…alright?” Danny stuttered. A stupid question.
The spirit cocked its head. He couldn’t see their eyes, but he felt their burning gaze as they pondered the question.
“The pain of others becomes mine own.” They rasped. “The lights of the city dim as rotten wealth clogs mine veins. Magicks long forgotten have eaten mine skins, pulled mine cloak, and darkened mine skies. Helios has refused to grace mine doorstep, and the seasons of the Earth have revoked their kindness.”
Danny held his breath. It felt like he was the one with the exposed core, not the spirit.
The spirit shivered once more. “Tell mine soul, little lamb. How could this Forsaken City know peace, when it was long since ripped from mine hands?”
Shit, he needed Frostbite. And maybe Clockwork. Now.
-Or-
Danny meets the spirit of Gotham City. The villains and rogues that have plagued the city for decades are literal curses that are taking quite the toll on Gotham, and honestly, Danny isn’t sure how much longer they can hold out. The heroes seem to be doing some help, and are probably the reason Gotham made it this far, but the poor city needs help from the Realms if they want to get better.
Luckily, Danny can provide that help.
But only if he could get Gotham to leave their city behind. Because recovery is going to take a very long time.
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Wanted to draw Paige with fancy mourning clothes for her widow persona. That's her dad's jacket btw
Click for better quality! Anyways pls if you have not listened to @thesiltverses literally what are you doing go fix that now
[ID: digital painting of Paige Duplass from the Silt Verses walking against an abstract background. Paige is a thin white woman with dark brown hair and eyes. She wears a long black dress with a brown leather jacket over it. Her hair is covered by a black cowl which she holds in place. She looks towards the viewer sullenly.
She walks through a trail of blood, bare feet covered in it. White crocus flowers sprout up from the ground around her path. End ID]
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Hot take: bond marks (as commonly seen in the literature) are a little bogus. What do you mean bonding should be exclusively for mates? Why can’t I bond with my best friends instead? Does it really need to be romantic? What do you mean it’s a permanent scar??
Granted, I do love all those tropes a lot; they hit a really deep soft spot for me. And lots of new work nowadays are redefining how bonding works! I guess I just wanna keep that conversation open
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if i had a nickel for every time a smosh mouth episode about the shourtney wedding was followed by a crazy amangela stream, i’d have two nickels. which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
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Ugh now I’m thinking about the evolution of the topic of marriage/commitment over the years
I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover -> I’d marry you with paper rings -> one single thread of gold tied me to you -> give you my wild, give you a child -> are you really going to talk about timing in times like these? -> all they keep asking me is if I’m going to be your bride -> I wouldn’t marry me either -> do something babe, say something -> you’re losing me
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