multiversalstarlight

[multiversalstarlight]

Is this blog still active?

It's active in the sense that I occasionally think about the thread(s) I have waiting in my drafts and want to answer them, yes, but it's inactive in the sense that I haven't actually responded to anything since last December, unfortunately.

That said.

Check again tomorrow because Agatha might drag me back into MCU thoughts and etc. and if it does, then this account might be more actively active.

...why do you ask?

EDIT: APPARENTLY I ANSWERED SOMETHING IN MARCH???? THIS IS NEWS TO ME, TOO.

[multiversalstarlight]

Roast potatoes (via Instagram)

[multiversalstarlight]

Spaghetti & Meatball Tacos with Cheesy Garlic Bread Taco Shells (via Instagram)

[multiversalstarlight]

Patchwork quilt floor!

[multiversalstarlight]

Stained glass tulip teapot

[multiversalstarlight]

The Art of Brewing Tea

[multiversalstarlight]

Leila Chatti, “Tea”

[multiversalstarlight]

"Growing Around Grief"

Lois Tonkin, 1996

[multiversalstarlight]

thepastatable__

[multiversalstarlight]

"I, uh."

America glances around the new universe in which she's planted them. It doesn't look particularly scary or threatening or anything like that. There's a lot of...trees? Really, really big trees? So they're probably in a forest? But if she knows anything about the multiverse, it's that if they keep walking long enough, they'll end up in a city at some point.

Or a town.

Or a village.

Or maybe even just a collection of huts. With people who speak some sort of language she doesn't always know, but she's gotten pretty good at figuring out how to words things to learn what she needs to know. Not necessarily picking up languages so much as picking up vibes.

She doesn't think that's related to her powers at all. Sure, yes, punching things is its own unique language, but that's, like, a different thing.

"I don't really know where we are?" America gives the witch a sheepish sort of smile. Not embarrassed, because she's not that, but maybe, uh, a little awkward. Because this is maybe awkward?

Still.

America shrugs and starts off in one direction. It doesn't matter which direction, just so long as it's a direction. "We can find out! Let's explore!"

As for how to get back....

She's just.

She's just gonna keep that one to herself for now.

(Because something tells her that if she tells the witch they can just pop back through another portal and end up in the same spot where they left, she'd just tell her to take them back, and like. That's no fun. No fun at all!)

....

Yes, sure, she does hear the soft roaring of something in the far, far distance, and maybe the ground rumbles and shakes a bit beneath her sneakers, but like. It's the multiverse! That's normal! ...on some universes! They'll be fine!

Wanda wasn't sure what she wanted in that moment. If America stayed, there was a good chance Stephen would find her, and she didn't know what that would be as far as consequences for her. On the other hand, America might get lost in some other universe or run into a dangerous situation if she left. And even worse, if Wanda went with America, Stephen would almost certainly fault Wanda for not being where she was supposed to be and might even be able to somehow sense what had happened with his own magic. No, the best thing was for her to stay here and fend Stephen off while American decided what she-

And then she was whisked through a portal into another universe by an impulsive teenager from whom she really should have seen this coming. Despite the years between now and the last time she heard his voice, her brother's favorite quip seemed to play loudly in her head... "You didn't see that coming."

No, Pi, I most certainly did not.

"America!" Wanda exclaimed, half in shock and surprise and half in a why did you do this?! sort of way. She looked around, worried about impending danger from... wherever and whoever, since she had no idea where they were. Not for herself, but if anything happened to America, she knew she'd be blamed for it. Not to mention that she just didn't want anything to happen to the girl because she didn't deserve it. "Oh no..." she whispered as he breathing increased. How was she going to explain any of this to Stephen?

America seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because the next words out of her mouth were regarding the chances of Stephen knowing what had just happened. "I-I don't know..." Wanda said, her hand finding her forehead as she looked around in distress. "I'm not sure what the triggers for his wards are. If they... If they, um... If it's my magic specifically, then... maybe not, but... if it's just... me leaving the space of that room, then... then..." She had to stop talking because it was hard to talk while you were hyperventilating.

Clothes. Clothes? What? The words took a while to register. "What?" Wanda asked breathlessly before she finally looked down at herself. "Oh. Yeah, I... Well I thought I was going to be..." she said, pointing back to where the portal had been. It was gone now. "But I... We... Yeah, I'll... let me, um..." she stammered, shaking her head and closing her eyes for a minute to regain her composure before a flourish of her hands sent a wave of magic over her body, transforming the towel into a t-shirt and jeans. "America... where are we?" she then asked, wondering more importantly, "How do we get back?"

- - - - - -

"Wanda? Hello?" Stephen called, his growing impatience making his hands twitch a little. "Okay, enough of this," he mumbled, opening the door. "Wanda?" he asked, but didn't receive a response. Something... didn't feel right. "Wanda, are you here?" She better be, he thought, worry already setting in. He went through every room of the apartment, searching for her. Once it was clear that the witch, in fact, was not here at all, worry turned into panic.

Stephen turned and left, wondering all the way to America's room how none of his wards had been tripped. How could he have fucked this up? How could he have been so stupid? No, it's alright, it's not what it seems, there's a logical explanation for it and America is going to be right where she should be. Knocking on her door, Stephen tried to ignore how tight his chest felt all of the sudden. "America? Open up, it's important." No response. No... "America!" Still no response. No, please...

Barging into her room, Stephen searched it with all the urgency of someone whose clothes were on fire before determining... she wasn't there. Wanda's gone, America's gone too, this is on you. You should never have trusted Wanda. How could you be so gullible?! America's just a child and she depended on you! His teeth clenched so tightly his jaw popped and he turned to slam his hand against the door frame, sending shooting pain through his damaged hand and up his arm.

"Shit!!"

He stormed out, on his way back to Wanda's room to try any number of spells to discern just what had occurred there... and where the witch had gone.

[multiversalstarlight]

This. Unfortunately. Was the wrong account.

Oh well. This time, I'm leaving it up.

matt: the worst one is still are you weaker at the elbow or the shoulder.

me: YEAH THAT ONE YEP.

[multiversalstarlight]

matt: the worst one is still are you weaker at the elbow or the shoulder.

me: YEAH THAT ONE YEP.

[multiversalstarlight]

Really shouldn't is just adult speak for I wanna do it but I have to be the adult and tell myself no because no one else will.

Not that America has been around enough adults to know that.

But she knows looking at something and wanting it. She's looked at a lot of things and wanted it, and she knew before asking that the witch wanted to go...well, not necessarily wherever they'll end up, but somewhere else for something else, and. well.

America kind of waits for the response before grabbing the witch's wrist (and then definitely is not looking at the response once she's just in a towel; that is so not fair (and America is NOT having that discussion with her. EVER. because first she would have to have that discussion with herself, and she'll never admit it)), so she kind of sees the really shouldn't but definitely doesn't see the shaking of her head, and just. grabs her wrist, gives a sharp tug, and pulls her through the portal with her.

It's only on landing on the other side that America thinks this through a little more.

"Shit, that's not, uh. That's not going to set off any of those alarms, is it? I mean, you didn't use magic to leave, so you should still be fine, right?"

Followed, very quickly, by looking away with a blush that she will NOT acknowledge and, "Uh. Maybe, uh. Maybe you don't, uh. Maybe you want clothes? Um. Maybe?"

"Yeah, I think I can- W-wait! Can you find your way back alright?!" she said in a worried and animated whisper. Now she was panicking a little. If America disappeared and never came back, guess who was going to be blamed for it?

She turned back to the door, eyes still wide. "Um... is it important?" she called. "I'm..." She had to think fast. "I'm in a towel." A snap of her fingers made that suddenly not a lie, and another snap made her now-wet hair twisted up in one too.

"Uhhh... oh," Stephen said awkwardly. Just my luck. "It-... Yeah, it kinda is. I can wait. Or, you know... I don't have any problems with towels." You don't... have any problems... with towels?! Wtf is wrong with you?! "I-I didn't... mean that the way it... probably sounded..." He facepalmed.

"Shit," Wanda whispered as America asked her if she wanted to go with her. Through a portal. Away from here. Maybe even to someplace where no one knew her at all. She stared for a second. It was so tempting. But no, she... she really oughtn't. How would she explain both her and America disappearing? "I really shouldn't..." Wanda mouthed, shaking her head, wanting to stay and face her fate rather than taking the easy way out. She went to the door, glancing nervously back at America to make sure she was gone before Stephen came in, if she was really going to jump universes just to get away from him.

[multiversalstarlight]

reblog if you’re 25+ and still roleplay; or if you believe older muns have a place in the rpc and shouldn’t be told to give it up when they turn 30. 

i received this anon & i just want to make a point. 

[multiversalstarlight]

@thiscrimsonsoul from [x]:

Wanda sighed, understanding what America meant but disagreeing wholly. "I think... my being here has less to do with me and more to do with his own guilt. I think he feels like a lot of... what happened... was his fault, or that he didn't do enough to stop it. To stop... me. So this might be his way of... I don't know, maybe feeling like he's doing something right or... trying to fix things. I think it's just his way of salvaging a situation he feels he screwed up. That's my best guess from what I know of him." She shrugged. "But he shouldn't feel that way, it... none of it was his fault. It was my fault," she said, not really wanting to dwell on that fact for any longer than she had to. "Don't read into things. It might have just been his face," Wanda said, actually cracking a small smile. "What I mean is... Stephen can be a little defensive sometimes. I don't know him that well, but he seems like someone who prefers to keep people at a distance. And if I had to guess, he's probably feeling really guilty about what you went through, and maybe he's getting grouchy with you instead of just saying that he's mad at himself." She shrugged again. "I don't really know, though, like I said, I don't know him that well. And I'm not a psychologist." "Look, if you really think he hates you or has some problem with you, then why don't you try to-" Wanda started to say, but then there was a loud knock at her door and she froze, eyes wide. "Wanda? Are you awake yet? I need to talk to you about something," Stephen called. It was a little early in the morning, maybe, but after his conversation with America, he needed to talk with Wanda. She... couldn't stay here anymore. Maybe. He didn't know. The last thing he wanted to do was reject an unstable witch with reality-bending powers who was already going through it in a big way, but he also had to think of America's well-being too. He'd be able to sort out some kind of solution, he thought, if he could just talk it through with Wanda. There had to be a solution that worked for all parties involved, and he was determined to find it. Wanda didn't answer at first, looking to America and trying to think fast. "Get in the bathroom...?" she suggested, more mouthing than speaking so Stephen wouldn't hear. "He probably won't look in there. It's that way," she said, pointing to one of the other doors. Of course she could just... compel Stephen to go away. Make him forget why he came. Make him suddenly want to run off to do something else. She could. It would be so easy... and quick... to just... No! No, she was done with things like that. She had to be, if she was ever going to recover and live any sort of normal life.

America might have said something in response - even had her mouth near open - when the knock on the door comes. She freezes, too, but it's of a different sort: at least the witch is supposed to be here; she's not supposed to even know about this place.

And then she hears Stephen's voice, and her eyes grow wide, and the witch is suggesting she go hide in the bathroom, but she's got a better - in her mind, at least - idea.

Stephen can always find her in a bathroom.

He can't find her in another universe.

Which means she can't get into trouble!

"Can you hold him off for, like, five minutes?" America whispers, eyes already glowing. She's got enough control that she can find her way back from wherever she is; she just doesn't know how long the portal will stay open once she steps through it. Five minutes, tops. If that. Five minutes should be more than enough time.

Theoretically.

Then, without waiting for an answer, America turns and punches a star-shaped hole from this universe into another one. She half steps through, pauses, and then glances back, biting her lower lip before saying, "Unless you, um, you know, wanna come?"

[multiversalstarlight]

"If he actually hated you, you wouldn't be here," America mutters under her breath. It's still true, but she's not mad at her. And her moms taught her that being mad doesn't mean hurting other people. She shouldn't be hurting the witch just because she's frustrated with someone else.

But America needed to say it. Just to hear it.

America swings her legs, kicks at the floor. If there were rocks, she'd kick them instead. It would be more fun. Kicking the floor kind of hurts.

"No," she lies, face contorting into a scowl. "He didn't say anything. I just could kind of feel it."

Maybe hate is the wrong word. Tired of. Frustrated with. Annoyed by. Like having only so much patience and so much time for any given day, and she takes up too much of it. Or only so much patience for any given person, and she's reaching the end of the rope.

America knows he doesn't hate her. That's not the right word. It's just...it is the easiest one, and she doesn't feel like searching for one that's a better fit, when hates - it's right there.

"So I think Stephen hates me."

Probably not the person America should be having this conversation with, if she's honest with herself, but who else does she have to talk with? Wong? (Actually not a bad option, but he's been tied up in some sort of legal stuff recently. Which she only knows because she walked in on him on the phone with some lawyer. Also that weird drunk girl he keeps seeing that TV show with. Better option, but not available.)

...on second thought, considering why she'd had that argument, this is absolutely the worst person to have this conversation with. America just hasn't realized that...yet.

@multiversalstarlight

"No he doesn't," Wanda said, her brow immediately wrinkling with concern as she shook her head. "And I would give him time." Why? This was difficult for her to say. "He's... been through a lot lately. You all have." Because of you. That went without saying. Wanda swallowed hard. "Believe me, America... if Stephen hates anyone here, it's me."

But where had this even come from in the first place? "What brought this on? Did he say something to you?" she asked. Despite the severely less-than-ideal relationship they had, Wanda's mom instincts were flaring and she wanted to help.

[multiversalstarlight]

America tunes out.

She starts to pay attention, but as soon as she catches the lecture in Stephen's tone, she tunes out. It isn't intentional; it's just that being talked at has never felt good for her, even when her mama used to do it. Her mama, at least, started to catch herself eventually, would smile at her and tweak her nose and apologize for it, and when she didn't, her mom would step in and tap her mama on her shoulder, and that would be it. Sometimes there would be ice cream.

America...doesn't really want ice cream now.

She actually starts to tune out the moment Stephen mentions addiction and drugs because she's never really been interested in any of that. She'd been curious about it once, sure, but then she'd seen.... Well, she'd seen a lot of things. Things she doesn't feel like sharing.

There's a thrill of anger at the assertion that it was better for her health to keep this from her, but she bites it back. Then she intentionally tunes out. It's easier to not be mad if she's not paying attention, to clench and unclench her fingers, to let teeth grind against each other, to take the deep breaths in that her mom taught her to use - not when she was scared, but when she was mad.

And maybe it's that remembrance of her moms that does it, but the moment she tunes back in and hears him mention them, she snaps again. "What do my moms have to do with anything?" Her eyes narrow. "She didn't do anything to them. That was me." When her throat tightens, she pushes past that. "If I wanted them back, I could just go find them. I can control my power now. It's not like you need me here, or anything."

The safest place to be, America thinks to herself, is probably a universe far away from all of this shit.

@thenexusofsouls (from x):

Stephen's eyes narrowed a little, though he said nothing. Something seemed... a little off about America, but he couldn't quite place what. She could most definitely be a bullshitter at times, though, and so he kept his eyes peeled for... well, bullshit. He couldn't really blame her for being the way she was, since that ability to think quickly and adapt had likely kept her alive, but even so... if something was up, he was going to figure out what it was. He sighed at her questions. "For what it's worth, I don't think she will change her mind. I realize I'm going out on a limb when I say that, but given my conversations with her more recently... I don't think she's ever going down that path again." Naturally that answer wasn't going to be enough for America. Stephen knew that even before he saw her expectant face like what, is that all? So he elaborated further. "But... I have my own magic monitoring her around the clock. That magic is set with contingencies triggered by escape, interference, or malicious intent. If Wanda tries to leave where she is, I'd be alerted. If she tries to meddle with the wards I've placed to monitor her, I'd be alerted. And if she should begin to cast anything with malicious intent to harm another, I'd be alerted." He shrugged. "So far, nothing."

America nods once or twice. That all sounds exactly like what the witch told her. About all the wards and everything. So that's not anything new.

...but it also doesn't answer her real question. The one that she doesn't like to think about and certainly tries not to think about when she's around her in the first place (because every time she does, she can feel her heartbeat speeding up and feel her throat tightening and suddenly doesn't want to be there at all...which is, uh, probably what she should be doing).

"But...but if she does," America insists. "If she does do...any of that again. You couldn't stop her before. Do you really think you'll be able to do it now?"

Do you really think keeping her locked up in a cage of her own making really keeps her from doing anything she wants? Because from where America's standing, it isn't. Won't. For all she knows, the witch could change her mind again, could just be saying and acting things out - might actually believe them, even, only to make another snap decision that America or Stephen or any of them isn't worth it when it comes down to crunch - just like that other Stephen had before she'd been sent here.

Her eyes narrow, and she feels it, this stab of anger instead of fear, and she glares up at him, not even trying to stop herself, "Talking to her did a fat lot of good the first time. You're supposed to be protecting me, not...whatever the fuck you're doing with her."

She pauses. Hopes he doesn't mind the language. Realizes that, oddly, she doesn't care nearly as much whether he cares as she had with the witch herself.

How strange.