#//hi. not dead. [posts this and disappears into the void again]

[gas-stxtion]

what does your blood taste like? - [link]

strawberry milkshake

your blood tastes like a strawberry milkshake, the sweet blend of ice cream, milk, and strawberries. prominent flavors: sugar, fruit, and a pleasant cold.

stolen from @sinshosted

tagging: steal it! :3c and tag me if you'd like!

(picrew link: [link])

[amoreva]

GHOST IN THE WIND

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pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: after a rough turnout of the quest assigned to you, you began to see your ex-boyfriend as the poison slowly kills you.

warnings: angst, post luke betrayal, poisoning, mentions of effects of poison

a/n: so sorry, was taking a slight break on requests for this fic and the fic series that is in the works. I promise i will answer the requests at some point.

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“Medic!” The door to the medical cabin slammed open. The door knob made a hole in wooden walls at Annabeth’s strength. “Will…”

She rasped out, carrying your dead weight. Your breath coming in short bursts as if your lungs couldn’t hold any more air. Veins darkened to the color of night, crawling up your flesh like a parasite itching to take over the host.

“Oh my gods…” Will Solace, head counselor of Apollo Cabin, gasped and helped you onto one of the uncomfortable cots.

You were mumbling nonsense as black liquid dribbled out of your mouth. Will called out your name, desperately trying to grab your attention. Annabeth was standing over you, concerned.

“Oh gods! Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods!” The other Apollo kid on duty piped up, scrambling to find the ambrosia. It was scary how you looked.

It was like something from the Underworld took hold of your body. There was a puncture wound on your abdomen, which was the probable entrance for the poison.

“Hey, hey—stay conscious for me, okay?” Will spoke as your vision began to get cloudy. He can see you withering away and demanded for information.

“Will…” You managed to croak out. Your friend looked at you with worry, to see the brightest camper succumb to an unknown illness was…bone-chilling.

“Don’t sleep—just don’t black out.” Will muttered as you tasted your favorite fruits as ambrosia slid down your throat easily. “Please…I don’t know if you’ll wake up—”

You were out like a light. The ambrosia combating the poison overwhelmed your body. It was too much for your mind to even find a sliver of energy to try and stay conscious.

Your name was shouted, but sleep pulled you away from the medical cabin and throwing you into a different scene.

It was dark, like you were walking in an empty void. “Judgement.”, you think. You must’ve died and was waiting to get judged on whether you can enter Elysium or not.

What a shitty death. Dying from poison, it wasn’t hero worthy nor significant to a war. Just death to some ghastly poison that you were careless to figuring out what it was.

But…it’s not Judgement. It’s not because you see him. He’s walking around in clothes you last remember him in. Orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, khaki pants and sneakers. The beads on his necklace moving each time he walked.

You know he isn’t dead. He Iris-messaged you yesterday to apologize for his betrayal. He can’t be dead. You wouldn’t have it.

“Luke!” You tried to call out, but no sound is made from your mouth. It terrified you. You tried to scream your lover’s (ex-lover’s) name again as you saw claws wrap around Luke from the ground and drag him in.

You tried to scream his name again, running to him, but your legs felt like sludge. He stared at you indifferently, accepting his reality—maybe…maybe just maybe you could save him if you run fast enough.

He slipped between your fingers. His chocolate curls disappearing into the floor of whatever abyss you’re in. You let out a silent, dry sob. If…if you had just noticed sooner…you could’ve saved him.

The same hands wrap around your limbs, tugging you down into the floor. Crying out for help, your heart tightened as if someone had a grip on it—squeezing ever last bit of life out. A sharp pull engulfed you into the void.

You gasped deeply. Body launching forward as you grabbed at your chest. You expected the familiar wood floors of the medical cabin or even Will’s warm smile, but…you were on Half-Blood Hill.

Soft, calloused hands were gently placed in your spine. It doesn’t take an Athena kid to figure out who it was.

“You alright?” His deep warm tone filled your head making yourself dizzy. For moment…you allowed yourself to believe he was here, truly.

“Yeah.” You spoke, surprised to hear your voice again. What happened before becoming less and less memorable as you turned to look at Luke.

“You can tell me, y’know? What’s bothering you.” Luke reassured and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.

A familiar smile graces your lips, allowing yourself to relax, you lean up against his chest. “I know.” You mumbled as his toned arms wrap around you. “I just…miss you.”

“Miss me? I’m hardly ever away from you.” Luke playfully teased.

The breeze blew against the two of you causing Luke to squeeze you a little tighter. You always claimed he was a human body heater.

Everything dropped. Faded in an all too quick manner before you could even scream for Luke. He was ripped away from you—but you were supposed to be in his arms.

“Hey! She’s up!” Someone called out.

You mind felt fuzzy. Mumbles, moans and groans tumbled out of your lips. You felt like you were outta your own skin—you jerked. Uncomfortable with this sudden irritation.

Annabeth yelped. The sudden reaction from you almost hit her in the face. Another groan of discomfort and pain escaped. Accompanied by it was another struggle to get whatever was out of your body.

To you, it felt like you were shifting a little to get comfortable. In reality, your body was violently twitching and reacting you hit a few Apollo kids. The veins darker than before, your skin paler than usual. What did this poison do?

“Get her—restrain…I—” Will demanded, worried you’d end up hurting yourself.

You screamed as something grabbed you, someone grabbed you. Your brain could only register it as danger and hurt and agony and—

“Stop it—!” You begged. Your voice sounded demented, as if it was the poison talking.

Black liquid oozed out of your mouth as you begged for whatever to stop. Ambrosia was forced down your throat. Lights were too bright. The panic was defeating.

You fell.

But you felt no pain.

It was “Judgement” again. The endless void surrounding the distinct figure, you. “There you are…” Luke grinned once he spotted you. Your legs carrying you to the Hermes’ counselor before you could think of the action.

The void morphed into the familiar forest used to play Capture the Flag. Luke laced his hand with yours. “S’just up ahead.” He tugged you along.

Once more, you let yourself relax like this was the reality that fate has set and not one where Luke betrayed Camp, betrayed Percy, betrayed Annabeth, betrayed…you.

“Where are you taking me?” You laughed. A bright smile on your face as you maneuvered through the forest.

Slipping through the trees and branches, Luke brings you to the dock. The water washing up on the small beach.

A small cliche red and white checkered blanket laid out across the wooden dock, masking the potential splinters. There was chips and two soda cans on the blanket and six roses bunched up to make it look like a bouquet.

“Oh Luke…” Any confusion or anger evaporated when you saw the scene.

He smiled, smiled that charming grin and pulled you to sit down on the blanket. “Used up the rest of my money for the snacks and to bargain with a Demeter kid for these.”

He held up the six roses. The petals a delicate red, soft as a baby’s bum. They smelled nice. He went through all this effort for you?

“Luke…” You repeat in the same tone and took the roses from his hand. You noticed the thorns were cut off and a couple of band aids were around his fingers.

A show of his effort to rid the thorns so you didn’t prick your fingers.

“This…this is all wonderful.” You said, albeit a bit breathless. The roses, the snacks, the blanket—all the thought put into this date. It made you forget you were dreaming. You should’ve known…this was too good to be true.

But you stayed oblivious and in denial, tackling your (ex) boyfriend in a grateful hug. Luke laughed and wrapped your arm around your waist.

Yet, your subconscious pulled you from the happy moment. An uncomfortable feeling itching to tear your guts and organs to shreds. It was as if your own organs and nerves did not belong there—like they were in the wrong body. A warbled scream left your throat. Hands desperate to claw at your flesh.

You wanted it to stop—you would do anything to get this feeling to stop. Your heart breaking. To be ripped away from Luke again and again. In both subconscious and reality was cruel.

Your veins now tendrils crawling up your face, stopping just a little above your eyebrows.

“Hey, hey—breathe!” Someone comforted. You couldn’t recognize their face. It was like as if your sense of familiarity disappeared, triggering your fight or flight (mostly fight) response.

“Will—the antidote?!” A girl called out. Her voice somewhat familiar.

You struggled against binds. You wanted to run far, far away and stop this pain. The pain in your body, the pain in your mind…the agonizing ache in your heart.

“Luke—” The name left your lips desperate for any sort of answer to what was happening.

A small pinch.

Fire. White hot pain sprouting in your body. Burning your insides out. Another cry for help. Another scream of desperation. His name leaving your mouth. It hurt—it hurt all too much. Both the burning in your body and the reality of him being gone. Truly, gone.

“Luke! Please…please—help!”

Overwhelmed, you were sucked back into the dream. This time on a cabin bed. It was unclear on whose cabin you two were in. Luke had his arms around your waist, head on your stomach. The pain fleeting, but lingering.

The stars shined brights whilst the moonlight blessed you two. It was peaceful, almost…dare you say—normal. No gods, no goddesses, no prophecies, no quests, no betrayal, no hurt. Nothing.

You found yourself humming, running your fingers through his curls, and feeling your eyes close with fatigue.

“Falling asleep there, sweetheart?” You could feel his smile against your skin. He pressed a kiss to the flesh nearest to his lips.

“Mhm…” Your body flared up due to a burn—but there was no fire in the cabin. You stayed put. “I—I could spend all of eternity with you.”

“I could spend all of my time in Elysium with you.” Luke mumbled and turned his head to look up at you.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows, then his hands, so he was close to you. Lips connected like hands clasping for prayer. It was soft, yet it spoke a lot of words that he could not get out.

“I love you. Never forget that, okay?” Luke whispered against your lips.

His beaded necklace hovering over you. You placed your arms around his neck slowly and kissed him again. Never wanting the moment to stop.

Even then, you never had the courage to say those three simple words to Luke. Realizing this might be the last time you see him, dream or not. It made you sad he never heard it from you.

Maybe this will make up for it?

“I love you—I love you. I love you.” You repeated. Your voice shaky, holding back tears. This wasn’t real and you know it’s not real—but…you missed Luke. You missed him so much that it hurts. You didn’t believe he would betray Camp Half-Blood and you without Kronos’ manipulation.

“Hey…” Luke cupped your face and kissed your forehead. He grabbed your arms to sit up. It wasn’t good to cry laying down. “Don’t tear up. Everything will be okay, okay? I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? What are you—?”

“I’m sorry, but you have the wake up.” Luke sighed and pressed his forehead with yours.

“Wait—“

“You have to wake up.” Luke grasped your hands. He held you as if this was the last time.

“What?”

“I love you very much and—and I’m so sorry for leaving you there—“

“Luke—wait!”

Your eyes shot up to be met with wooden walls of the medical cabin. Will and Annabeth shot up, ready to take necessary precautions. A dry sob left your mouth.

“Hey…” Will spoke softly.

You sat up, tears cascading down your face. You started to helplessly wipe them. You could feel his touch lingering. His hands grasping yours. Will pulled you into a soft hug when he deducted the poison was out of your system.

The mind is cruel, the poison was cruel. Fate was cruel, life was cruel.

You missed him.

You buried into Will as if it was him. Will and Annabeth thought you were crying because of the overwhelming feelings of what happened when you were poisoned.

You missed him.

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[almightygremlinblob]

The New Normal

*Posts this and then disappears into the void again.*

⚠️CONTENT WARNINGS⚠️: Dead Dove Do Not Eat, Yandere Yuji, Aged Up Yuji (HC him in his mid 20s), Gender-neutral Reader, bad end for Reader (they give in-ish), Suggestive stuff under the cut, so minors DNI pls - no beta we all die. No Y/N for this one, guys (gender-neutral). Word Count: 836

⚠️FURTHER CONTENT WARNINGS⚠️: Noncon Kissing, Dry Humping, Implied Noncon.

Yuji was a sweetheart. God, he really was, but he could be a little…excessive about his love for you, sometimes.

Maybe more often than just sometimes.

Clingy would be an understatement. Almost every moment was spent with some kind of skin contact. His hands either holding yours or idly roaming your body. Lips lightly grazing your shoulders or your hair, or trailing gentle kisses along your neck. And any mention of going out by yourself would have him refusing and opposing so harshly you'd think he was having a panic attack of some sort. Unless he was glued to your back, going out was almost never an option nowadays…

Which is why you'd often find yourself making excuses to leave his presence in any way you could. Making breakfast early, 'using the bathroom' more often (though showers were never just for you anymore), literally anything. All for some short-lived alone time.

This is why you find yourself, once again, slipping out of the bedroom as silently as you can. Spending a few moments on the kitchen counter by yourself. Alone…

As always, it was short lived.

You frown, feeling the warmth of Yuji's body as he presses himself against you - half lidded eyes closing, while his lips gently find their way to the back of your neck. An arm slides down to grope at your waist, while the other finds its way to the countertop - perfectly caging you against him. He'd mutter against your neck, sleepy. "Where'd you go?"

"I'm right here, Yuji."

"S'not what I meant…" You hear him click his tongue, feeling his lips form into a pout. "It's early. You should come back to bed with me…"

"I'm just a little hungry, is all."

"I know you're lying." You hear him laugh softly, before his lips graze your ear. "C'mon, I'm not that stupid. I know it's…it's been difficult for you. All this sudden change. M'sorry."

"B-but you'll get used to it, though! I know you will! And I-I'll do my part, too. M'gonna try my best for you!" Effortlessly, he flips you around. Completely ignoring how your hands shoot to his chest to try and push him off. Yuji's eyes are full of nothing but blind love for you, and the way he looks at you has you feeling sick. Though he seems to pick up on it, fingers gently raking the back of your head as if to soothe you. "I'll take good care of you, don't worry…I-I'll be good for you, you'll see."

"Just…" For a moment, you think you can see a tinge of guilt in his eyes. "L-let me help you get used to it, yeah? Please don't be scared of me, love."

Your body tenses as he begins kiss your neck with teeth and tongue - turning every part of your neck he could a deep purple. Maneuvering your legs to either side of his hips, he begins to slowly grind onto you; his tongue licking at your jaw before settling onto your lips. Yuji's hands gently squeeze your thighs, before slipping to the back of your head.

"Come on, beautiful…" Yuji practically pants in between kisses. "Open for me, please?"

His hand, once gently raking the back of your head, now tugs at your hair - trying to get you to open your mouth. Clearly, Yuji was still being as gentle as he could, yet it was firm enough to cause some discomfort. His tongue slips in when you try to protest, and the disgusting feeling of it exploring your mouth has tears forming in your eyes.

"F-fuuck...doesn't it feel good?" Yuji half-moans when he pulls away and gently wipes your tears. "See? I'm just trying to help…"

His lips and tongue are on your neck and shoulders, eagerly and gently marking your skin. Thinly clothed bulge feeling hot and wet with arousal as Yuji steadily grinds himself on you. "God, you're so perfect…"

"Y-Yuji, please, stop…" You manage to croak out in between sobs and you didn't even realize you'd been crying fully, now. The room starts to spin, as everything quickly becomes too much. "This is too much…"

"Shhh, shh, love. It's okay…" His hand on your body, gently squeezing as if to reassure and encourage you…it should feel repulsive. And yet…you curse yourself for feeling the way you do now.

"It's okay, love…thaat's it." He says in between kisses, eyes dilated and lips wet with a messy mix of both your saliva. His other hand on your hair shouldn't be as soothing as it is. "Slowly, baby. Slowly…"

Sucking on his tongue shouldn't be as soothing as it is.

"Mmmnhh…f-fuck…" Yuji all but moans into your mouth, while you throw your arms around his muscular frame. When he pulls away, there's a mischievous glint in his eyes. "F-feels good, yeah? Let me make it feel even better…"

After the hours pass, and he holds you close while you both rest, the only thing you can feel is disgust at yourself.

. . So erm...I'll try to be a little more consistent, but don't expect too much lmao. I think it'll mostly be irregular updates to this blog cuz yeah. 🫶🏽✨

[rotten-pup]

18 + Only, minors will be blocked, you are not welcome here

☆About Me☆

You can call me Rot. I'm 21, he/they, transmasc and this is my horny blog! This will be my general horny content blog where I'll post/reblog the stuff I like however I will separate some of my interests and kinks onto other blogs. I am pre-t and pre-op. Generally just queer but I like people of any gender however I do lean more t4t

My asks are open for anything! Send me stuff!!

My dms are openish. At this time I'm not looking to sext and heavily flirt. I'm going through a lot and will be slow to respond most times. I really only have the brainpower to hold conversations about my special interests or if someone infodumps to me and I get to ask questions.

I'm comfortable with most masculine or feminine terms when referring to the parts of my body, I don't usually have a preference. I'll update this when I find something I don't like! I should probably add on that I'm a switch/vers in theory, mostly a sub/bottom in practice as I'm not confident enough to fully dom/top quite yet.

(rest of this post is a work in progress, bear with me please)

Without any further ado; list of content/kinks I like that you may find here(list incomplete):

Absolutely Yes: Petplay, Degradation, Praise (giving) Bondage, Impact play, Breeding, Somno, Edging, Overstim, Oviposition, Humiliation, Primal Play, Intox, Light CNC, Mommy kink??

Sometimes/Maybe: Choking (receiving), Praise (receiving)

Hard Limits: Scat, Death/Slob Feedism, Inflation, Raceplay, Feet

Kinks that will be mostly likely on a separate blog that I still like: Hypno, Knife play, Heavy CNC

Outside of all that, I'm going to list my sideblogs and tags down below and any other information I see fit so this intro isn't too long! (ps: if you know me from my previously deleted blog, feel free to say hi, I'd love to talk to y'all again, I was going through a really rough patch and honestly I'm so sorry I just disappeared)

My tags:

- rotposts: original content

- rotbarks: answering asks

- rotspeaks: non horny, rambles, or unrelated content

My sideblogs:

- @barkandbarkandbark : vent blog, rambles, literally anything just me talking to the digital void

Just a little more about me:

- @boymommy-brainrot : Mommy kink blog, a mostly gentle softer vibe, pics of me will also be on here

*Mommy is mostly a title, I like taking care of people and being gentle with them and just making them happy through acts of service. My kink is in no way an incest thing and as much I may use certain terms/words it is also not a ddlg thing either

Major theatre nerd, musicals, plays, plays with music, don't matter I love them all! I've acted in a few local shows, I've ran lights, I've staged managed, done a few other things. I'm really into dungeons and dragons and other ttrpgs and board games, and card games like magic the gathering. I love to draw and I love my silly little ocs I've made. If you upload your ocs or your fursona on your blog, there's a chance I might draw them, I like making art for others when I have the time.

Uhhhh, idk what else. I'm currently playing palword, this war of mine, overcooked 2, lethal company, escape the backrooms. However I do have many other games and if you ever wanted to play, just dm me, I'm down to find sometimes as long as we've talked a bit first and we vibe! I have major brainrot for Dead by Daylight right now so so badly

Oh yeah I fucking love robots I absolutely love robots and puppets I'm surprised I'm not like into fnaf more but man I just want to scream they're so cool.

I'll probably think of some other things to put here idk lol

[llamagoddessofficial]

Already posted this on ao3, but I thought Tumblr would like it too. A lovely commission courtesy of Valacre- cecaelia Skull getting to show his spookier and scarier side.

Some TWs, for this! Bleeding, near drowning, kidnapping and general yandere behaviour, vomiting, being pressured into eating. Proceed with caution if these things bother you!

You felt calm. Very calm.

You really shouldn’t have felt calm. You were probably actively dying. Sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean abyss, bleeding from a head wound you sustained from thrashing against coral in a panic, you couldn’t tell if the way the world was darkening around you was from your consciousness slipping away or your depth increasing. Perhaps a bit of both. 

... But... you just felt calm. The toxins had already well kicked into your brain. 

That was the thing, about sinking too deep in scuba gear. At depths, pressure changed the properties of whatever gas was in your tank. Unless you had a special concoction, suited for the extreme conditions, a tank of normal air would gradually become more and more toxic to your body the further down you went.

The regulator in your mouth, the very thing keeping you alive... was also the thing slowly killing you.

Nitrogen narcosis, right? You thought, nearly giggling. We learnt about it in dive class. What a dumb name, for something that’s gonna kill me.

The fact that you were sinking didn’t bother you. The fact that you were dying bought no panic. In fact, you could hardly remember why you panicked before. Again, you nearly laughed... you were so dumb, it was entirely your own fault you were in this position. Chasing a beautiful fish over the reef, further and further, not even noticing your dive group disappearing from sight. 

The nature had been so beautiful, the fish so pretty... the waters so calm.

You went over an edge, the coral shelving away. You hadn’t seen the bottomless, terrifying void until it had already opened up beneath you.

All struggling did was make you hit your head on a jagged coral branch. Nothing could stop the cold current from sucking you down.

You barely registered the plaintive beeping of the dive computer on your wrist. Quietly, uselessly, trying to warn you that you were getting too deep. 

... Eventually, your regulator slipped out of your mouth. 

Huh. Oh well.

...

Lights.

Lights filled your vision. Lights in a rainbow of colours, beautiful and vibrant, catching in the glass of your dive mask and casting across your face. The glimmering tucked around your fading mind, drawing it upward, drawing it away from the brink of nothingness. 

A warm red colour moved closer, and closer, and closer. Pretty. The other nice colours still surrounded you, but the red was the most dominant of them. It was a welcome break, from the endless black and blue that you were sinking into... you felt big hands, on either side of your face, a comforting sensation. 

Is this what dying is like? You stared at the warm red. It’s nothing like what people said it would be like.

You could hear a soft humming. You felt it in your core, too. The drunken, narcotic-esque sensation of the gases was slowly replaced by a much softer and more pleasant emotional state. Less giggly... more peaceful.

Something touched to your mouth. Warm. And suddenly, you could breathe again. A distant, disconnected sense of relief in the back of your head- like despite all of the easy feelings around you, deep down, you were still afraid to die.

... The red glow grew brighter. As it did, the peaceful feeling picked you up, and carried you away.

You were more than happy to let it.

///---///

Your eyes opened.

...

You didn’t expect that.

Immediately, panic rushed through you. It was so dark, so horribly dark - am I dead!? - you sat up, head rushing with a wave of nausea, your lips and fingers were heavy and tingly and your eyes felt as if they were swirling in your skull.

You instantly threw up seawater.

... A cave. You were in a cave. You let out a slow breath, it quivered slightly at the end, eyes darting around the chamber and desperately attempting to gather as much info as possible, hand coming up to wipe your mouth. The walls were black and glossy, seemingly volcanic, and the ground beneath you was dry.

... Wait. You forced yourself to slow down. How can I see?

You turned around. Just behind you, the dry rock shelved away into a large pool. And a faint, blueish-green light emanated from all around its edges, where the mirror-like black water met the stone. Algae? Plankton? Whatever it was, it was just enough light to see by, and it was undeniably beautiful.

... You shuffled over to the water’s edge. Kneeling by it, you leant over, and drew your hand through the still water- the cave grew brighter, as a trail of light followed your palm, flickering across your face and casting soft ripples over the sloped walls.

... The panic didn’t leave you completely. It probably wouldn’t, until you were curled up in your own bed at home. But... something about the bioluminescence helped your emotions settle. It was genuinely beautiful to look at, and the sound of moving water filled your ears, grounding you to the moment. You weren’t dead at the bottom of the seafloor, you weren’t being eaten by some terrible beast. Though you struggled to make sense of the cave’s dimensions in the low light, it certainly wasn’t small and you were grateful to be spared any nightmarish claustrophobia. Not to mention the fact that you were grateful you had light at all.

You took your hand out of the water. Watching the droplets fall, creating their own little flashes of light, made you suddenly realise something. 

... The cave wasn’t the only thing that was dry. You were bone dry, too. You touched your dry hand all over yourself, but felt no damp. How long have I been asleep?

For a moment, you suddenly worried that you shouldn’t be breathing stale cave air, and you reached up as if to cover your mouth. But... you also realised that you had no idea how long you’d been unconscious for. Clearly, long enough for you to dry. 

... Your wetsuit was gone. So was all of your scuba gear. You looked down at yourself, confused; dressed only in your swimsuit and rash vest, your tanks and hoses weren’t anywhere to be found. Even your dive computer was missing from your wrist. 

Looking up only confused you further. No longer frightened about stale air or whether or not you were dead, you noticed there were clothes laid against the rocks closest to the pool edge. Clothes you didn’t recognise- clothes that absolutely weren’t yours. A slightly damp towel, and a very damp shirt, placed neatly and flat... as if someone had taken their sopping wet items off after coming out of the water, and laid them out to dry. Given how warm (yet still somehow fresh) the cave air felt, you could definitely see things drying. 

Possibilities flashed through your mind. Did you do that, then pass out and forget? Or was there someone else here? You weren’t sure whether to be afraid of that possibility.

“... You’re not gonna get much done sitting on the floor.” You murmured to yourself, instinctively wanting to fill the silence. Regardless of your quietness your voice bounced off the cave walls. “Might as well have a look around.”

Eventually, you forced yourself to your feet. You were a little wobbly... but nonetheless, you were alive.

The cave was, to your surprise, empty aside from you. No other signs of life. No spiders, no worms, no bats or flies- just those smooth dark walls and the shine of the reflected pool light. It was a decently sized cave, more than enough room for you to stand to your full height and stretch your arms above your head. Gradually, you shuffled your way into the back; the roof edged down slightly, before rising up again. You supposed that counted as a second part of the cave.

The second chamber was still a good size, but it was much smaller than the first chamber. It felt a fraction cooler. The light from the pool had grown so dim that you had to use your hands to navigate, feeling the walls to make sure you didn’t fall over- very faintly, above you, you could make out a hole. Though no light was coming through, you felt fresh air on your face... you let yourself enjoy some relief at the knowledge that there was a source of breathable air. You weren’t going to suffocate.

... Though you felt around more, there was no third chamber, and no potential way out aside from the crack directly above you.

And... nobody else was in the cave.

The clothes by the pool must’ve been me. You thought, a strange sensation falling over you. Maybe I have a concussion...?

...

Wait. Your head.

You gasped aloud, remembering that you had hit your head on coral. You reached up to touch your head, expecting blood, expecting matted hair, expecting something, anything at all. 

... Your fingers touched dry seaweed.

You paused. The seaweed... it wrapped all the way around your head. Like someone had wrapped it for you. And you felt no pain when you touched the area that you had hit against the coral- in fact, when you moved the seaweed aside, your fingers felt nothing. No scab, no scar, nothing. It was like you had never been hurt.

...

Something wasn’t right about this. The strange sensation grew, uneasiness intensifying. You stumbled back into the first chamber, eyes on the floor to make sure you didn’t trip over anything in the half-darkness, you wanted to look at those damp clothes again to be sure you didn’t recognise them.

You looked up, over to the bioluminescent pool, mostly to see clear light again and partially to try and calm yourself with its gentle blue glow.

... A large, glowing red eye stared back at you.

...

You were frozen. Completely. More than just your physical body- it felt as if the air around you stopped, as if your blood in your veins turned to ice, as if your heart paused in its beating and your breath turned to stone in your throat.

...

The eye didn’t disappear. It wasn’t a stress hallucination, it wasn’t a mirage. As the leadden moments ticked on, the eye remained.

Silent.

... The eye... was in a skull. It twitched faintly. Only half of the head was above the water, the algae faintly shining where the sides of its face met the water. A vicious crack in the top of its cranium... just from the size of the top half of its face, you knew it was huge.

A siren. It must be a siren. A siren big and powerful enough to recover from such a frightening and severe injury as a head crack.

Trapped alone in a cave with a siren.

The realisation filled you with a numb, hollow kind of fear. It spread through every limb like a pale fire eating through paper.

Am I breathing? I don’t know if I’m breathing.

...

The siren, silently, lifted a few more inches out of the water. The only sound was the faint rippling of the pool. Droplets rolled down a smile of razor teeth.

...

You screamed. 

How could you not? Pinned in a small cave, with a beast right out of your nightmares. For a split second, a flash of confusion across its huge face. You tried to scramble away and back into the second chamber, somewhere you’d be out of its reach.

Its smile quickly returned. In an instant, massive black tentacles shot out of the water, sending up sprays of light; though you were aware of the siren’s size you had no idea of its dexterity. Before you could even turn around to run, tentacles seized your arms and legs; wet half-sentient masses of muscle wrapping tight around you. You felt the suckers press your skin, the slimy dark limbs squeezing and twisting, your bones suddenly felt so fragile and your screams so useless. Your voice just bounced off the smooth cave walls.

The tentacles pulled down, and instantly your legs gave way under you. He started dragging you toward him, toward the water- you watched in horror as his grin only grew, razor mouth and feverish red eye growing closer and closer. Death itself, pulling you in, images of those teeth driving into you made you begin to lose feeling in your extremities.

Like a child realising there was nowhere to run from the monster, you squeezed your eyes shut. You didn’t want to look, you didn’t want to see the teeth getting any closer, you didn’t want to see the eye fill your vision. You didn’t want to see it coming. 

The pulling stopped. You were numb, you’d drawn into your head, you didn’t know if you were even still screaming anymore.

Crack.

The sound of something breaking made any sound you might’ve been making catch in your throat.

...

... Except... you didn’t feel any pain. Seconds ticked by, and you didn’t feel the heat of blood, or the sensation of shock setting in. The tentacles hadn’t moved, still holding onto you tightly.

Whatever had crunched, it wasn’t your bones. 

... You were still hyperventilating. But confusion allowed you to, slowly, open up your eyes.

The horrible grin was inches from your face, leering down at you. As was the equally horrible eye, bathing you in an overpowering red glow.

... But also in front of you, was two sides of a cracked sea urchin.

...

You stared blankly. The siren... he was holding them. One half in either massive clawed hand. It was a decently sized urchin, full of golden edible uni. 

One hand was big enough to seize your face, crush your head.

...

The siren, upon getting no response from you, moved the split urchin a few inches closer. Like he was showing it to you. You tried to lean away, but he just responded by moving it slightly closer again.

... You glanced up at his face. It was a horrifying thing to behold. Jagged misshapen teeth, a half shattered skull... scars lining his body. That big iris, unblinkingly staring into your Soul. Not giving you an inch of space, as if he wanted to consume you just through eye contact.

...

Back down to the uni. Moments kept passing. Moments where he didn’t maul you to death.

...

... Wait.

No... 

You pulled in a little frightened breath. 

He didn’t like that, a flicker of something else crossing his expression. That same expression as earlier, when you screamed. Like he didn’t like it- like he was getting upset.

Memories were starting to return, now. Fuzzy recollections of lights filling your vision. Alive in a cave, with new clothes drying on the rocks, your injuries bound and healed... 

... This siren had saved your life. Hadn’t he? Dressed your head wound, removed your heavy gear. He rescued you, put you in what must be his cave.

... He was trying to feed you.

Oh no.

You didn’t have a choice, did you? You felt like if you didn't eat the food, he would eat you. Slowly, your hands came up, they were shaking almost comically... you reached forward, taking one of the sea urchin halves.

Judging from his reaction, it was the correct move. His unbearable smile inched wider. And across his tentacles, a dim pulsation of green and yellow light, for seemingly no reason other than happiness. 

You didn’t have anything to remove the edible parts with, so you had to use your fingers. Your hands were shaking so much that it took a few tries to actually get it out. But you managed, eventually.

... It was good uni. Incredibly fresh, salty, slightly sweet. But you had to force yourself to eat it. You felt intensely sick from the fear, your head was swimming and several times you had to suppress your gagging. Don't upset him. Just eat it. The food, though the sweetness did ease some of your dizziness, was impossible to enjoy in any way; the entire time you ate, the siren stared at you. He had an intensity only a wild beast could muster. Inches from you, so close you felt his massive breaths washing over your face... watching every. Single. Bite.

... It couldn't have taken long. But it felt like it took hours. Finally, you swallowed the last bit, and to your immense relief he didn’t try to make you eat the other half of the urchin. 

He seemed pleased- for now.

... His free hand lifted up. You flinched, closing your eyes again; you felt a large claw trace over your cheek. 

It only confirmed your fears. 

Sirens don't feed just anyone. They fed their children, their family, or their... 

... Their mate. 

The tentacle grip around you finally eased. Slowly but surely, pacified by your eating, he withdrew; though the wet limbs dragged across you as they retreated, like he was savouring every moment of contact. The red light of his eye became less and less dominant, the calming blue of the pool returning to your vision.

... He made a sound. It sounded like a deep growl. But given the grin on his massive face, and his obviously pleased disposition... it was probably closer in nature to a purr.

He slipped under the water’s surface, leaving only a glowing ripple behind.

...

... You forced yourself to slow your breathing. You forced yourself to stop thinking about the terrifying implication of what you’d just experienced, but nothing could stop a few tears slipping down your face, nor a few shuddering breaths escaping from your chest.

A siren... was keeping you. Probably as his mate. Not just any siren- a massive, terrifying cecaelia, who clearly had no intention of letting you go. That's why he left you with most of your things, but took all your scuba gear, wasn't it? So you couldn't dive out of this cave.

No... no, you couldn’t think about that. You swallowed the fear, only letting a few more frightened sobs free before scrubbing the tears off your cheeks.

This isn’t ideal. But... you’re alive, at least. You thought. You wouldn’t have survived if he didn’t intervene. So this is better than nothing, right?

Yeah. Yeah, right. You bit the inside of your cheek. You needed to be thankful you were, at least, alive.

You’re alive. Your wounds have all been tended to and healed. You’re safe, somewhere warm and dry, with a supply of fresh air. The giant siren might be freaky, but he bought you food, and even clothes.

He clearly wants to keep you alive. You’re gonna be okay.

“I’m gonna be okay.” You said, weakly... to nobody except the cave walls.

///---///

Skull watched, silently, as the boat moved further and further away. Only once it was out of sight did he allow himself to move through the water again, iris re-igniting. If it had come too close to the den entrance he would’ve attacked.

... He was closer to shore than he liked to be. But it was important he was close to fresh air, and places he could source human things from. For you.

His chest... it warmed so much, at the thought of you. His mate. He had been alone so long, desperate for so long. Now, he finally had company.

... Sure, you were afraid. But it was only natural for a potential partner to be resistant to first advances. It just meant he needed to keep you in the den, and prove he’d be a strong, capable mate. Right? One of his tentacles lashed out, catching a fish. The other divers with you, the members of your pack, were clearly idiots- they didn’t protect you. They didn’t even notice when you were in distress. They didn’t save you when you were hurt... not like he did. 

He felt himself warming even more, pride returning, tentacle immediately crushing the fish. He rescued you. He held you close in your weakest moment, and filtered air into his mouth for you. He stemmed your bleeding, he cradled you in his arms, saved you from the brink of death. He held you close for hours, blanketing you with healing magic until he was certain you were stable, nearly killing himself from the exhaustion of ensuring you would be safe. 

He was a good mate. Fish blood seeped out into the water around him. You would see, eventually, how good he was. All he had to do was keep you in one place, and prove it to you, no matter how much you fought him.

All he needed was time.

[kakavasha-of-nihility]

We shall meet again, under Kakava's shimmering auroras...

"Do stay alive"? Mmm... well, who am I to even dare defying the doctor's orders~?

Kakavasha had been fated to die, ever since he was born on the day of one of the very sparse rains in Sigonia-IV. Blessed with Gaiathra's rain, a lucky child, they said-- and in the end, it was luck of the double-edged sword.

Aventurine, the Stoneheart of Stratagems, had indeed been lucky enough to still be standing after all that he'd been through-- but why has he lived time and time again? Should he not be grateful? And yet he found he never was; for Kakavasha wished to die. Why should he live only to endure more suffering when he could finally find eternal peace?

And when that fated day finally came-- his grand bet, his all in, his final gambit, the most wondrous of performances-- he found himself here.

Not alive, yet not dead, having long since parted with his past self, standing alone in a void of Nihility clutching only the scroll Dr. Veritas Ratio had given him. That Galaxy Ranger had told him that this fated incident was not his end-- that he would live to bet even higher than before. A saving grace, truly-- an angel in the skin of an Emanator.

Maybe this darkness was beautiful, he thought. The stars twinkling in the dark almost reminded him of home; a dimly sparkling reminder that he would see the dawn after all, that there would finally be light waiting for him.

And so he waited, preparing for the day of his rebirth. He would chase his dawn in the form of the golden and crimson-hued irises of the man who has always had his heart, take back his name and avenge the legacy of all Avgins, and see to the destruction of the IPC once and for all.

Notes from the moderator:

~ Mod also runs the @aventurine-official rp account, so the format is her own and is not plagiarized :)

This Aventurine is canon divergent, simply an idea of what happens to him if and when he survives the Nihility void :)

My Aven takes back his true name and turns to the path of Nihility, and finds his way out in about a year or so after his disappearance. He's finally free from the IPC as they believe him to be dead and Jade has taken his place as the Stoneheart of Preservation, and his goal is to bring the IPC's shady secrets to light and bring the whole organization crashing down.

He still fights with his dice and poker chips, although losing the ability to shield because of his path diversion and instead casting ace cards onto enemies.

(I might add more details later, or link a headcanon post!)

Guidelines:

~ Keep the asks sfw if you please, suggestive is okay!

~ No random links in asks unless they are links to other Tumblr posts (if they are there, please specify what they are)

~ Be kind, please. Any hateful comments related but not limited to racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, ageism and transphobia will not be tolerated here and you may be blocked.

~ All ships (age-appropriate) are welcome. (I personally believe Aventurine is gay as hell, so he will have a noticeable interest in men versus women).

~ Try to avoid sending DMs to the mod unless you are another mod

~ Anons are more than welcome here! You may have a personalized tag and everything :)

List of current anon signoffs here

Key (if applicable):

" " : for dialogue

* * : for movements

( ) : ooc

Tags:

#ace of spades ♠️ : Art reblogs

#roll the dice 🎲 : Random thoughts and calm moments

#trump card 🃏 : Asks from anons and others

#beyond the void 🌠 : Interactions with Honkai Star Rail blogs

#queen of clubs ♣️ : Interactions with / mentions of Acheron

#ace of hearts ❤️ : Interactions with / mentions of Dr. Ratio

#angel boy 🪶 : Interactions with / mentions of Sunday

Masterlist post of Honkai Star Rail-official blogs linked here

[luna13e-blog]

Rosekiller. Not really any discernible TW but I suck at tagging

-----

Evan is throwing pebbles at the lake when he hears steps getting closer. He turns his head up with a grin to say hello to Barty, just for that grin to disappear instantly.

Barty looks down at him with that void expression that only could meant things with his father had went rough.

"Don't give me that look", Barty scowls.

Evan lowers his eyes in silence, looking at the rock in his hand instead, tracing the softened edges with the fingers of his other hand. Barty sits beside him, chin resting on his knees and arms around his legs.

Evan throws the pebble into the lake. One, two, three, four jumps before it sinks in the water. He makes a gesture with his hand and the pebble flies from the lake right into his palm. He waits for a comment, for Barty to say anything, but after a minute of silence he throws the pebble again. With force this time. The rock flies some meters and sinks in the water. Not bouncing once.

"Can I hug you?", Evan asks, still looking at the place where tiny waves mark where the pebble had sank.

"I don't need a hug", Barty replies defensively, looking as well to the circles in the water.

"Thing is", Evan moves his hand again, the pebble flying back to his hand as it has done before, "I'm not asking if you need one, I'm asking if I can".

"It's a free world, do whatever the fuck you want, Rosier."

Evan turns to look at the boy, who didn't look back at him. He frowns, biting his bottom lip. He weighs the options in his head. "I don't fancy trying to hug you just to be hexed, Crouch"

Barty turns to look at him, with a little frown in his forehead. "Do you want to hug me?"

"No, I'm just asking if I can do things I don't want to do", Evan shakes his head with half a smile. "Yes, I want to."

"...why?", Barty asks suspiciously.

"Because my hugs are amazing, you can ask Dorcas about it", he smiles with that cocky expression of his, "and I believe you deserve one."

"I don't deser-"

"Shut up, Crouch. I'm not asking your opinion on the matter. Not that whatever you say has ever make me changed my mind, has it?", he grins ignoring Barty's huffing. "So, can I?"

"Don't pretend for me to hug you back", Barty answers and that's all Evan needs to kneel and drag him to his chest with one arm.

It isn't sweet or tender. He squeezes hard, Barty's shoulder and his knee digging in him. Barty doesn't move, but he doesn't push him away either, so Evan takes it as a permission to wrap his other arm around him and cradle him into his chest. The position is awkward as Barty remains hugging his legs but he moves his head to hide it in Evan's broad chest, breathing deeply in while a slight tremble curses through his body.

People have taught Evan over the last fourteen years that in these occasions one should say things are going to be okay. But he knows he can't say that, he doesn't know if things are going to be okay. He fears they won't. So as he closes his eyes and tilts his head to rest his forehead over Barty's crown, nose buried in his dark hair, he says the only thing he can say for certain.

"I'm here for you. I am always going to be here".

~~~~~~

Notes: I keep trying to write shorter things. I don't really know if I'm succeeding or not. Also, this is apparently a collection of glimpses over those two through their years in Hogwarts. I like to explore the little pieces that made their bond something unbreakable. Who knows, maybe I'll keep writing these.

Since you lovely people keep liking and reblogging, let me introduce you to this post sister:

[pokichuwrites]

The Reaper

tw death, souls

Mumbo buried his head in his hands. He died because of HIS OWN FENCE POSTS!!! Spawn looked like a warzone. At least the Wither died… but it took three? People with it? Mumbo was pretty sure only himself, Jimmy, and Lizzie died.

“Mumbo? There you are.”

He turned to look at Lizzie. “Hey, there. Were you looking for me?”

Lizzie nodded. Behind her, Mumbo could almost see what looked like large yellow wings. They were very hard to see, almost invisible on her back. Mumbo seemed to remember something similar back in Last Life, when he met Jimmy’s ghost. He had thought it was a Jimmy thing, but perhaps it was a first death sort of thing.

Lizzie took Mumbo’s hand. “Come on,” she said, tugging gently. “I have something to show you.”

Mumbo stood up and followed her. He decides not to question the fact that despite the fact that they never traveled through a portal, they ended up in the end. Suspended in midair was a large pink tent. As they walked on the empty void, Lizzie lifted the flap. The tent was bigger on the inside. There were many sleeping bags of different colors. Lizzie gestured to one of the sleeping bags, a deep red one with splotches of other shades of red, and Mumbo sat down on it.

“This is nice,” he said. “It’s like one big sleepover.”

Lizzie nodded. “I’m not sure why, but I woke up in here and had a feeling that I needed to bring everyone here. Have the sleepover I wished I had.”

Mumbo nodded. “That’s nice-” he paused. “Wait, where’s Jimmy?”

“He wasn’t ready,” Lizzie said. “He said he wanted to say goodbye to Baxter first.”

“His base?” Mumbo asked, incredulously.

Lizzie shrugged. “To each your own. I’m surprised you didn’t have anything to say goodbye to yourself.”

Mumbo shrugged. “I didn’t get really attached to anything. I… I knew it wasn’t going to last.” He remembered how distraught he was the first time. He loved the Southlands, and his friends, and the stupid spyglass joke. It hurt to lose all that. It doesn’t really hurt anymore, but a dull ache remains. A memory of a pain he didn’t want to go through again.

Lizzie hummed. Her sleeping bag was pink with small drawings of orange pumpkins on it. “That’s fair.” She stood up suddenly. “Jimmy’s ready.”

“How… how do you know?” He looked up at her.

“I don’t know, but I… I know.” She left through the tent flap, disappearing behind it.

A small bit later, she returned, Jimmy following behind her. His sleeping bag was a sky blue with drawings of different dog breeds. He sat down on his.

“I still can’t believe it,” Jimmy said. “I always die first. I…” he smiled. “Not this time.”

Lizzie gave pause. “You die first every time?” She asked.

Jimmy nodded. “Until now, yeah.”

She paused, looking down. “So, do you know what… this is about?” She gestured to herself, and the tent they were in.

Jimmy looked at her. “You’re a Reaper, basically. You died first and so you bring everyone to a space we all share until the game ends. I… I usually filled that role.”

Lizzie smiled to herself. “I like that. Being a Reaper. But… why is it like a sleepover?”

“Hmm, I have a hunch.” Jimmy stretched for a moment, smiling. “Every time I was a Reaper, the shared space was something significant to me. Like in Last Life, everyone had a tower, and the space was above the Southlands because that was where I died.”

Lizzie chuckled. “So, what, because I was so upset nobody came to my sleepover the universe decided to give me a second chance?”

Jimmy shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t exactly have all the answers Lizzie.”

The tent fell silent for a moment.

“Since we’re all here together,” Lizzie grinned, “how about we play a game. How does truth or dare sound?”

Mumbo chuckled. “What kinds of dares can dead people do exactly?”

“Only one way to find out,” Lizzie replied. “Jimmy, truth or dare?”

“Dare!”

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

A LOT of Headcanons about Piranesi coming back into the real world:

For once an adaptationless book I'm Unhealthy about actually has a decent sized following and I can talk about it without screaming into the void of obscurity, so I'm gonna take mad advantage of that and spew out all the Thoughts I had into one post. Yay!

One of the first things he learns to do is cook properly (re: stuff that isn't seaweed and fish) and throws himself into it 100%

Was never much of a cook before but since he was kind of forced to learn in order to survive he's eager to branch out

Remembers his mother making Ghanaian food for he and his sisters when they were kids so he tries to learn some of those dishes

And the first time he makes one for his mom she cries

Actually it's hard for her to look at him at all without crying

He sort of understands why on an intellectual level, but still feels so disconnected from everything that it confuses and alarms him

His dad isn't quite sure what to do with him

Tries to bond in a dad kind of way and he latches on pretty quick to any kind of intellectual discussion but always feels like he makes his dad a little sad

In general he wants to connect with his family but can't help noticing the sad/concerned/disturbed energy they feel when they're around him

And again he understands why, but just can't bring himself to feel the same. They're new people! A whole family he forgot he had! Isn't that exciting and good and why do they look at him funny???

On the other hand, when he first sees them again. He does in fact cry, quite a bit, and tries to reason with himself that it's Matthew crying and not him, but then again maybe it is him because he simply doesn't know what else to do

There's just a lot of tears from all five of them in the first little while

His older sister is soooo protective over him. That's her little baby brother and now he's back after she'd been certain he was dead and she really takes him under her wing

(It's probably her who shows him how to make her favourite recipes)

Younger sister was fresh out of high school when he first disappeared and feels like he's missed out on a good chunk of her life so she throws herself into trying to fill in the gaps for him

Overall I think she'd handle everything the best, it's still confusing and hard but she manages to keep up her spirits by showing him all the cool stuff he's forgotten about in the world, they go on a lot of little adventures together

He struggles with not being able to talk about The House though. He knows it's important that he keep up the pretense that he'd been kidnapped and has amnesia etc. etc., but he wants to tell his family about The House. He wants them to see what he saw and loved for so long even if it turned out to be terrible, and it's so hard

Tries out a few different names. His family just calls him Matthew and he's okay with that, he's not really sure what else to call himself for now but would kind of like something different

Raphael is the highest recipient of this. Almost every time he sees her he's got a new name that he shyly asks if she can call him just to see how it sounds

She is very patient with this, but also sometimes forgets which name he's decided on for the week

Generally he latches onto her very hard and politely but firmly insists they stay friends

Obviously she's quite a busy person, but she makes time to see him and check on how he's doing whenever she can

They also go on adventures (as he calls them)

She takes him to the coasts, and he spends hours wandering the most desolate seeming beaches, taking detailed notes on how they differ from each other, and trying to feed the birds

Is delighted when a seagull steals his sandwich one day

Is very very open about how much he loves Raphael, and the first time he says that to her she's surprised and alarmed to say the least

for completely arbitrary reasons I hc her as being a) a lesbian and b)very much not looking for a relationship. So at first this worries her.

...But it soon becomes clear that he loves a lot of things and people. He loves his family and the birds and the buildings and the crossing guard and the buses and the trees -- and on top of that the thought of romance specifically isn't something he ever fully considers or understand

An ace king, basically

Anyway, they're besties

Dreams about The House frequently, and often so vividly he wakes up thinking he's still there

He wouldn't call them nightmares, but they aren't always nice either

Tries to draw it from memory but can never quite capture it right

Loves birdwatching

And collecting shells

His sister convinces him to get his ears pierced after a while - initially he's skeptical but then remembers this means he has all the more options for decorating himself with odd things he finds and that makes him happy

In general his clothing style gets a little more mainstream over time, but never goes back to what you'd call exactly normal

Knits

Gives people little things he makes or finds, even just strangers he sees frequently or look like they need a friend

Related: is still a bit shy around large groups, but will talk to anyone who looks lonely or lost, even if he has no idea who they are

Anyway I'm having major feelings about this book and am so obsessed with the main character's entire vibe, screaming crying and throwing up etc. etc. so here's my love letter to the implications of the book's ending hope you like it

[frumverrfriggjar]

Gods of Death

Hel and Odin

It has been a while since I have posted something, but I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking, particularly about death. In this blog I want to look at Hel and Odin, who share some traits as gods who collect the dead, but who seem to be working in opposition to each other. Hel is an outsider just like her parent Loki. She is a jötunn (“giant, glutton, overeater”) born in Jotunheim, and a force of chaos and destruction, as opposed to the Aesir/Vanir, who mainly seem to be forces of creation and order. Odin, as god of war, however, does not shy away from causing a little chaos and destruction, but then, Odin is also of jötunn parentage.

Hel is described by Snorri as being half a corpse, monstrous like her siblings Fenrir, the giant wolf, and Jormungand, the giant serpent, but unlike them she takes a human form. The gods receive a prophecy (Prose Edda, Gylfaginning) concerning Loki’s monstrous offspring, and Odin has them brought from Jotunheim to Asgard. Jormungand is thrown into the sea, Hel is made ruler of the underworld, but Fenrir is fostered in Asgard. Why does Fenrir get this treatment? Perhaps simply because Odin likes wolves (he already has two pet wolves, Geri and Freki), or perhaps because he thinks the wolf will be an asset to him, as his dead warriors in Valhalla are. Hel is not given a place at Asgard, and she seems to be as much a prisoner of the underworld as she is its ruler, which to me suggests that the other gods see Hel as a danger to them. I think Hel embodies death or death of the gods. She is a harbinger of doom, and omen of Ragnarök. She is the daughter of Loki, after all, and Angrboda (“harm-bidder”, “bringer-of-sorrow”). What with Hel being half a corpse, she is a visible reminder of that which we will all one day become. The Norse gods are not immortal, and I think especially Odin is afraid of death and/or losing his mind, which would mean losing all the knowledge and experience he has gained (in Gylfaginning he says he is afraid of Huginn and Muninn not returning to him). On his wanderings, Odin queries spirits and jötunns about the afterlife and his own and his son’s demise. Is Odin trying to cheat death or to put it off as long as possible? He lets people who have died live on in his hall. These people make up his army that he will use to fight against the forces of death/chaos at Ragnarök. Hel could be a personification of death coming to stop Odin before he discovers the secret to not dying.

Before they are brought to Asgard, Hel and her brothers never harmed the gods, so by taking them from their home and banishing and chaining them, do they not have a hand in fulfilling the prophecy? If Hel is death, she cannot be killed, only temporarily ignored or warded off. Is this why the best thing Odin can do is to make her ruler of the underworld? She does not die and disappear there, but it seems she cannot leave either. She can still influence the other realms, though her influence only extends to taking in the shades of those who have died of old age and sickness.

What is this place Hel is made ruler of? The sources contradict each other. According to some, it is located under Niflheim (“Place of Mists”). In Baldur’s Dreams in the Poetic Edda, Hel is described as being located in Niflhel. In another tale it is said to be located under one of the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree. In any case, Hel in Old Norse means ‘hidden’, so Helheim = Hidden Place. It seems fitting that there is no conclusive answer as to where it is, because it is not for us living people to know.

Niflheim is said to have existed before anything else did. It is a cold, dark and misty place, but it is not a void, it has material, it has rivers. The water running out of Niflheim turns to ice and fills up the Void (water = a source of life). It makes sense to me, therefore, that this is the sort of primordial place where people return to after they die to become material once again. When we think of someone dying, we picture them going somewhere else, but if, like me, you do not believe in any sort of afterlife, they are in fact not going anywhere. Still, they are no longer Here with us, we can’t see them or talk to them, and since Nowhere At All is kind of hard to imagine, we assume they must be Somewhere Else.

It seems to me that Folkvang, Freyja’s meadow where she receives half of those who have died in battle, and Valhalla are just temporary stops on the way to Somewhere Else (a.k.a. Hel, the Hidden Place). Valhalla in particular sounds like some terrible limbo, a Groundhog Day/Russian Doll kind of time loop, where the fallen warriors eat, drink, fight, die and rise again the next day to repeat the same process, until the inevitable end, Ragnarök, comes. Odin keeps his guests in a state of intoxicated forgetfulness.

Like Odin, Hel has an army of dead people, but unlike him she does not seem to have amassed it on purpose. She lends the dead people to her parent Loki, who captains this army at Ragnarök. Perhaps she wasn’t too happy about the fact that she and her brothers were kidnapped and then banished/locked up. Additionally, I think her function is to end everything so the cycle can begin again. Odin and the others need to make way for the next generation of gods.

If gods die, then, do they also go to Niflheim/Niflhel/Hel? It does appear to be the case. A feast is prepared in Hel for Baldur, and he goes there after he is killed by the mistletoe dart. He does not die in battle, but his death is an accident. Niflheim/Niflhel/Hel seems to be a place where ordinary people go, and where there is calm and rest. Snorri calls the being Hel cold, and uncaring about the fate of humankind, but that is just what a mortal person would say about death, isn’t it? Yes, death sometimes may seem cruel and unjust, but I suppose there is equality in death, and as Neil Gaiman wrote, we all get what everybody gets: a lifetime. Hel treats everybody the same, regardless of the life they have lived. They do not have to die honourably or prove themselves in battle to be granted entry to her realm. She also ends the suffering of those who are old and sick. As distressing as it may be to us, life cannot exist without death.

There are different motives that can be attributed to Odin and his thirst for knowledge. It could be a fear of death, wanting to stop the prophecies about Ragnarök becoming true, or a desire to make the most of his time in the face of his inevitable demise, or a bit of both. A relatable guy. I want to end this blog with a quote from Sayings of the High One: “Cheerful and merry every man should be, until he comes to death."

[onbearfeet]

March Patreon Flash Story!

This month's story is a quick one based on a prompt I found while googling desperately: "The funeral was at noon." I hadn't planned on having anyone attend any funerals, but Maggie has her reasons, and I suddenly found myself wondering whatever happened to the Jimmy Olsens of my universe after the capes all disappeared.

Since I ended up not using the one prompt I got, I decided I'm entitled to post the story here without consulting anyone. MWAHAHAHA.

For more context on this 'verse, see my AO3 (onethingconstant) or the tag "Untitled Superhero Project" on this blog.

For the Living

The funeral was at noon, in a quiet little church in Indiana. There had been no announcement—well, no public announcement.

Snap Anderson had been old-school—the oldest school, he would have said. He’d been wearing Jetfighter’s signal watch since 1961, and even after the mirror-helmeted alien had gone down in flames in 1982, Snap had kept wearing the watch, deactivated and silent, as a memorial to his best friend. He’d been a lot of people’s best friend, actually—half of Vanguard’s ever-changing lineup had counted Snap as an ally or a sidekick at one point or another, and there were as many clips of Snap attending heroes’ funerals as there were of him saying outlandish things on talk shows.

Now, Snap’s own funeral had barely a dozen people huddled in the pews.

Maggie slipped in through the back of the church after the organ started up, feeling the tag on her stolen black dress itch between her shoulder blades. Coming here had been a risk, she knew; most of Snap’s social circle had vanished in white light three years ago, and she was in serious danger of standing out in a crowd that would surely all know whoever was left. Being the only likely attendee under fifty wouldn’t help, either.

But it had been on her way to New York, and she couldn’t resist.

She scurried down the aisle in her stolen kitten heels, trying to look like she’d been caught in midday traffic, and slid into the first open seat in the frontmost empty pew. Everyone was singing, droning along to a song she hadn’t heard growing up in St. Joseph’s, so she stared at the floor and mumbled watermelon watermelon watermelon until it was time to stop.

The eulogy was bland, from what she could tell, and seemed to have copied several sentences verbatim from Snap’s Wikipedia page. That didn’t stop the occasional sob or sniffle from the gathered mourners. She wasn’t sure they were listening either.

One of the nuns had told her once that funerals are for the living, not the dead. Maybe the words didn’t matter as long as someone said them. As long as someone said something.

She wondered whether anyone would say anything when she died. Probably not, except for whoever had to clean up the mess.

The eulogy ended, and the organ started up again, and as the creaky mourners levered themselves out of their pews for a final round of what sounded like “Oh God Triumphant And Invisible”, Maggie craned her neck and saw it.

Standing by the head of the casket, just for an instant, was a tall figure in black body armor, half-swathed in a long black cloak, with a gleaming white mask carved to look like a grinning skull. It wasn’t a friendly skull, or even a particularly scary one. Not a Día de los Muertos calavera or a grinning rubber Halloween mask from a party store. It looked like someone had simply taken an ordinary human skull off a pile of them somewhere, sliced off the front of it, and glued it to the front of an otherwise formless black void.

Got you, you bastard, Maggie snarled to herself. The obituary had said Snap had died a natural death, but she knew better now.

Skullfaced freak never could resist a good chance to gloat.

The figure vanished again before she could so much as twitch out of her seat, and no one else in the little congregation reacted, but that was all right. She knew what she’d seen.

When the service ended, she retrieved her pack from behind the dumpster where she’d stashed it and wrote another name in her notebook. The dress and shoes went into the trash, her jeans and sneakers went back on, and she was walking toward the bus station before Snap Anderson’s casket was back in the hearse.

[sortofanobsession]

Of Hunters, Gods, and Hooded Vigilantes (Moon Knight/TVA Hunter Reader)

Author's Note: I have been sitting on this one since (and a few other loki ri) since Loki ended. @selfryed suggested I post it . Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. I know not everyone likes Reader Inserts. But you all know how much I love Moon Knight crossovers. I'll write those boys into anything. Suggest away if you wish. Unbeta'd and Posted on mobile so please forgive any errors.

Sylvie, B-15, Casey, and OB pop up but no Loki or Mobius in this one. Sorry guys. Random letter and number combos for non important hunters.

Content warning: canon typical violence, some swearing, mentions of death, crying,

You track the rogue variant that had been messing with time, not quite as dangerous as He Who Remains. But somehow this guy had an artifact that he couldn't be allowed to keep. B-15 had sent a team that consisted of you and two other hunters.

It turns into more of a scuffle than expected. Hunter L-24 was calling for backup as you gave chase. You hated the fact you weren't in your actual armor. You had been trying to blend in. But you regret that now with the cut on your temple, dangerously close to your eye, and probably bruised rib. It hurt but that's the job. And you had the guy in the ropes until… until you didn't. Time was iffy with what this guy had taken and one second you were running through a side road through the highly populated area, but thankfully sparsely-filled street in what you knew of consisted of public housing. Next, you are cut off from your team in an alley. A manic laugh has you turn on your heels. You had really hoped you wouldn't have to use the pruning stick. This was supposed to be easier. Your hands move as if on their own with practiced movement of charging the weapon.

“Listen, buddy,” you said with false confidence to hide your unease. “We tried doing this the nice way, but you’ve forced my hand.”

“You still think you have the upper hand,” the man laughed, pulling a pistol. Oh that was not good. Those weren't even allowed in this country, you knew that. You hear the click of the weapon. But out of nowhere, the gun is knocked out of his hand by a metallic object. You lunge towards the weapon. And you can't reach it, but you do the next best thing. You pruned it. It disappears. Let the Void Lokis or Alioth have it. You turn towards the scuffle behind you, expecting to see your team. You are surprised to see a masked figure easily taking down the variant. You watch as the figure knocks the guy out.

“Uh…thanks,” you say as the vigilante turns to you as you power down your weapon.

You can feel eyes on you as you go over and pick up the artifact. The masked figure hasn't said a word. Just watching you. The wind kicks up as you place a pair of cuffs on the variant.

You grab your tempad and report in. “Variant secured, B-15,” you say. You look back and the hooded hero is gone. You hear the sound of rushed boot falls as your teammates meet you. You pick up the curved blade that had saved your life. You admire it as a timedoor appears.

None of you noticed Moon Knight in the shadows watching you.

— ◍☾ —

Marc couldn't believe what he was seeing. You were supposed to be dead. Everyone had said you were dead. It had torn him up not knowing what happened to you. What you went through. He always wondered if you suffered. If you had missed him. If he could have saved you if he hadn't left. But he had pushed that pain away and forced himself to move on. But that pain tended to pop up at random moments. He did not expect it to come up now. And it had Marc pulling back and letting Jake take over. But he kept watching. You looked so young. Like he remembered. Like time had barely touched you. How was that possible? Then again, they hadn't really aged much since Khonshu. But you weren't an avatar. He would have known or the bird would have.

And any doubt Marc had was gone when he heard your voice again. It was one he still heard in his dreams. One he couldn't forget. But Jake was wise enough to be cautious. If something seemed impossible and too good to be true, it probably was. So Jake removed them from the situation.

The next time Moon Knight was better prepared. There were too many questions they needed answered. So he started by seeing if you were you in the simplest way first. He called your name. And something in Marc shifted when you reacted by turning towards them. But his heart aches when you look at him and ask if they knew you. Even more so when you said you didn't even know you. And that was enough.

— ◍☾ —

The next time you are in that part of the timeline after you spent a few days working with the others at the TVA. You were in Eastern Europe tracking down a secondary artifact that was created alongside the one you collected in London. The same group of rogues. The same branch. Your ribs still ache from the last time. You were in full gear this time with a larger team. But you weren’t the only one with increased numbers. The variant had friends with the new artifact you were pursuing. Mid-fight again, out of the night drops the figure you now knew was called the Moon Knight. You hadn't read the hero’s file but you knew where he got his powers now. What you hadn't expected was what the caped hero did next.

He called your name. Well, not your name. It was what had been your name before you were taken from the timeline. You knew it was your name, but it didn't really feel like yours. Most everyone just called you by your hunter designation.

“You know me?” You ask because when you had skimmed your file to make an informed decision on staying at the TVA you think you would have noticed if it had mentioned a hooded hero with the power of a literal god. Then you laugh at your own statement. “I don't even really know me.” And before you know it you feel arms around you and with speed you couldn't even comprehend you find yourself somewhere else. You stumble back as you look at your new surroundings.

“What…what did you do that for?” You reach for your weapon.

“I'm not going to hurt you,” Moon Knight says, his mask disappearing to reveal a face. One that seems oddly familiar, but you didn't know for sure.

“Then why did you take me from my team?” You glare.

“I just want to talk,” he says.

You say nothing as you reach for where your tempad is secured.

“Don't you remember me?” he says. The whole suit vanishing now. He stands in front of you in jeans and a henley.

“I'm sorry,” you tell him but for some reason there are tears in your eyes. You don't know why but the look on the man's face breaks your heart. “I’m not…I'm not who you are looking for. I'm…I'm just a hunter.”

“But you are, you answered to her name, you're-” He's cut off as a slight woosh and shimmer of a timedoor appears. Moon Knight’s suit is back and he moves between you and the door. You actually find it rather amusing. As if he was protecting you. Too bad he is protecting you from your team. Your friends. Your work.

The timedoor opens and you are stunned to see Sylvie walks out in the god's fully armed glory.

“Sylvie,” you say in shock. Last you knew she had returned to her fast food life.

“B-15 called,” Sylvie states. And that tracks.

“How long?” You ask wondering how long had actually passed at the TVA if Sylvie was called in.

“Long enough,” Sylvie says and you sigh.

“Who the hell are you?” Moon Knight snaps at Sylvie.

“She already said who I was. I'm Sylvie. And you took my friend here against her will and I hoped that avian god of yours would know better. Stupid bird,” she spits as she summons her sword.

“What the-”

“He didn't mean it, Sylvie. He's confused he-”

“You defend this broken puppet?” Sylvie asks in amusement. And Moon Knight clearly didn't like that because you notice a slight shift in his stance and suit as a fight breaks out. And it's an interesting fight.

“Your bird god is weak, his hold is pitiful,” The silver tongued variant snides, “To need a human puppet.”

“Avatar,” Moon Knight corrects.

“Same thing, a human shield to hide behind,” Sylvie grins.

You gasp as Sylvie gets close enough to put a hand against Moon Knight's chest. And she sees it.

You hear a deep growl and Sylvie is shoved back. “Stay the fuck out of my head!” Moon Knight snaps.

You expect Sylvie to return to the fight but instead she appears next to you.

“Now, now, lover boy, no one is going to hurt anyone.”

“Speak for yourself,” he hisses.

“Your anger is misplaced, puppet,” she says before looking at you. “He does know you, knew you, the timeline you.”

“What?” You look between the female god and the hero. You see the masked hero’s shoulders go tense.

“I can show you,” Sylvie grins.

“Wait, hang on-” Moon Knight says, his mask dropping.

Sylvie takes your lack of a refusal an answer, her hand touches your temple.

You gasp as your mind is flooded with images. A history you didn't remember. It brings tears to your eyes and steals the breath from your lungs.

Moon Knight shouts your name again as you stumble back against the wall.

You’re overwhelmed. You hear shouting and the recognizable sound of Sylvie’s laugh.

“I did you a favor,” the female god of mischief says, her focus back on the unmasked man.

“No one asked you to,” a voice you now recognized as a version of one you knew lifetimes ago. You knew his name.

“Marc,” you don't even realize you say it out loud. You really did know him. His head snaps to look at you as you say it.

“You're welcome,” Sylvie says before she and the timedoor vanish. Marc curses Sylvie as he moves beside you in an instant.

“You're okay,” he says, his eyes full of an emotion you can't pinpoint. “We’ve got you.”

“Marc?” you say again, needing confirmation. Your hand raises but is hesitant to touch.

“Do you remember me now?” he asks, a slightly hopeful look on his face. His gloved hand grips yours.

“I…I do,” you tell him.

“Okay,” he says. “Good.” The suit drops away. His hand squeezes yours and he leads you into a building. An apartment building you realize. You follow him into a studio apartment with a large fish tank drawing your attention. Two goldfish swimming around. You approach it with amusement. You almost forgot that people really do keep pets. Pets aren’t really a thing at the TVA. No time. Not really.

You hear Marc moving around behind you, then his voice, hushed as if talking to someone. But when you glance at him through your periphery he doesn't seem to be talking to you.

“Make yourself at home,” he calls over to you, but his accent is different. You look at him with amusement. All your years, centuries, eons maybe, of hunter training has you fully turning to observe him. You had seen him change in flashes as Sylvie showed you what she deemed important. Conversations with mirrors. Changes. Shifts. He was like a variant with variants of his own in his mind. This is what she had meant by him having a broken mind.

“You're not Marc, are you?”

The man looks momentarily stricken. And you wonder if you should have phrased that differently. “Sorry, that sounded accusatory.” You carefully remove your helmet and move to set it on a nearby table. Your weapon too. “Sylvie didn't show me everything, so I…I don't know your name.”

“Steven,” he says without hesitation, now knowing that you aren't too afraid. Knowing that him fronting hadn't ruined things.

“Okay,” you nod. You activate your tempad and send a message to B-15 that you were okay and that if they needed you to just let you know. You contemplated leaving it with your weapon and helmet but you were still unsure what to expect. So you kept it secured in its spot.

“What do you remember?” Steven asks.

“Bits and pieces,” you admit. “But honestly, it's more like watching an old movie with some of it. It doesn't feel real.”

“I know the feeling,” his voice is kind and there is a sympathetic look on his face.

“I'm sure you do,” you nod.

“You're not afraid?” He asks.

“I mean, I have spent an unknown number of years, maybe millennia, lifetimes, as a hunter. No name, just a letter and a number. Reporting to superiors that worked for a lie. Made to believe I was always like this.” You say. “It's more jarring than anything to have real memories again. To think I had childhood. A real life.”

You sense a shift and his old, more familiar accent is back.

“What happened to you?” He asks.

“It's a very long story,” you say. “What's the last thing you remember of me?”

“While I was gone. You vanished, they said you ran away, but that was bullshit. You would have told me. Left a letter. Something. Then I come back to missing persons posters all over the city. But it's Chicago. No one was confident they'd find you. I couldn't find you. They wrote you off as dead when no traces of you were found anywhere. It was like there was nothing to find.”

“They wouldn't have, still won't,” you say sadly.

“What?” He frowns. “The hell does that mean?”

“It means I read my file, well, skimmed it. My nexus event was before that point. But the sacred timeline me. The me you knew, I'm sorry Marc but she’s gone.”

“But you're right here,” he states.

“Like I told you, I'm not actually her. I'm…from a different point in time. Before you left. Before…”

“What do you mean a different point in time? How is that possible?”

“Because the people I work for, the place I was, it's like a city outside of time.”

“How can anything exist outside of time?”

“How can a man fly and survive death?” You ask. “The details are complicated and honestly, I understand it less now than I thought I did before. We exist to protect time from those who tamper with it.”

“So you can time travel?” He asks.

“Yes, but,” you know you need to draw the line in the sand now. “But whatever you are thinking, please don't.” And he studies you. You look so tired. And sad. Very sad.

“It's not as easy as you would think. Changing time has horrible consequences. The things I've done. The people I sent to that monster. I thought what I was doing was right. That I was protecting the timeline. Preventing something terrible. Turns out. We were the terrible ones. All those branches. All those people. Feed to Alioth.” You were crying now. It was the first time you ever let yourself think about the all devouring monster you had sent so many to face.

“Oh darling,” you hear the British accent back. “You didn't know. We’ve all done things we regret. Especially us,” he glances at the reflextion of Marc. “You didn't know what you were doing, you said so-”

“You don't get it,” you tell him. You dug out the engraved token and placed it on the table. A coin, a momento Dox had given you once as a reward after a partially difficult mission. It looked like a souvenir coin. Embossed edges. You ran your fingers over the seal and motto.

“For all time. Always,” you repeat the motto you had molded your life to follow. The atrocities you helped orchestrate. “Anything any of you have done in your life is a fraction of what I was part of. I shouldn't be here. I don’t deserve to have this.” You grab your weapon and open a timedoor, you rush though. The door closes behind you.

Steven walks over and picks up the helmet you left behind and the coin you had placed on the table. Time Variance Authority. He looked at the others in their reflections. They all agree. They were determined to find out everything they can about time, especially time travel.

— ◍☾ —

Marc was angry. That woman just showed up, literally out of nowhere, and then nearly ruined everything. First she fights them. Then she gets in their mind, and Jake had violently objected to that. Having Khonshu in their head was bad enough. And it was already crowded with three of them in there already. But the real line was crossed when the woman that you considered a friend showed you the painful history you guys had. You had been so mad at him for leaving. Your tears were like ice picks in their heart. And he just got more angry with himself as you broke down over what you had been through. Everything he couldn't save you from. He didn't know what a nexus was but if it was anything like the turning point in their life, namely slowly dying in the desert until Khonshu stepped in, it couldn’t have been pleasant. So Steven takes over to let Marc process while someone tries to help you. The British alter had tried to comfort you but it hadn't worked. You explain a bit more and then like a switch flips, you panic. And you leave. Marc pulls further away to brood. They can't let this be the end.

— ◍☾ —

Time passes and your heart hurts less but you cannot forget them. You are helping look through pages of readings you were still not the best at analyzing. You were a hunter, not an analyst. But with fewer people now that many had left to live in the timeline, you had offered to help. To stay busy. You looked up from the file as Casey hurried towards you.

“We have a problem,” he says.

“Let me grab my gear,” you say.

“No need, no time anyway,” he says as he opens a timedoor. You follow him into the main monitoring bay. And the monitor is tracking a branch growing dangerously fast.

“I thought we didn't prune branches anymore,” you say.

“This isn't your normal branch,” OB says.

“Then I should get my gear, where's the team,” you look at B-15.

“You’ll be fine,” OB says as he opens a timedoor. You make sure your tempad is in its place. “Hold on, a solo mission but i-”

“Only you can handle this one,” OB says and guides you to the door. “You'll do great.” A gentle push and you are through the door. There is a large open tunnel before you.

“Oh, Loki, what did I get into this time,” you mutter looking up at the sky. “You'd probably enjoy this mess.” A woman walks towards you in the tunnel. You had seen pictures of her when you had been at Marc’s.

“I'm Lilah, come with me,” she says. You look at her outfit.

“You’re an avatar, right?”

“I am, and a friend of Marc and Steven,” she says.

“Are they okay?” You ask.

“Why don't you see for yourself.”

You follow her until you are in a giant temple. Statues and hieroglyphics surround you. You see Marc in front of a number of people on a dais.

Your footsteps are louder than you would want them as all attention turns to you.

Marc's eyes go wide for a moment and he calls your name. But before you can answer him. You are greeted by name by the woman in the middle.

She introduced herself as the goddess Isis. And you do your best to bury your nerves and act appropriately. You lower your gaze out of respect.

“At least this one knows respect,” a man says. He is scolded by another.

You are made to kneel beside Marc.

“I'm sorry,” he says.

“You did this? You made the branch?” You whisper. You can't believe it.

“You must be curious why you are here,” Isis states. You lower your head again and stare at the floor. She seemed to be expecting an answer.

“I…was sent to the timeline by my superiors, they said that I was the only one.”

“Your companions are not wrong, but it was more we believed it was only fair you had a say in your fate.”

“My fate, your grace?” You cringed. The only god you knew was Loki, and he hasn't made you act in servitude.

The goddess hums in amusement. “Spector here cares very dearly for you it would seem. Even willing to travel forbidden planes to find you again.” You look over at Marc but he is starting a hole in the floor.

“Why?” you ask him.

“You left, and we didn't want to lose you again,” he admits.

“Osiris, Thoth and Horus are not pleased with your meddling, Spector,” the goddess says. “Be glad it is me before you and not my beloved.” She grins. “The passage of time is not yours to hold, Marc Spector, Khonshu knows better.”

“He wanted no part of it,” Marc admitted.

“The only reason you are not facing harsher penalties for your actions is because you have honestly done worse. And your heart was in the right place. Love makes fools of most mortals.” The goddess grins. “But you step outside your station, Marc Spector, once more and your punishment will not be so lenient.”

She dismissed everyone.

You turn to find Lilah is gone.

“I'm sorry,” the recognizable voice of Steven says. “I am so sorry. I didn't know they would care so much. It wasn't like we moved the stars again. Not that noticeable.”

You turn to look at him. “I told you guys that messing with time is dangerous. Then what do you do, you go and mess with time. Have you lost your mind?!”

“Well, by typical diagnostic specifications, technically we did a long time ago, when I came into existence,” Steven notes.

“Steven!” You shout. “You can't just change reality because you missed me. That’s not-”

His expression changes. His tone and accent too. “And you can? Do you have any idea what it was like to have you show up years after being told you were dead and then you just leave. Gone to somewhere we couldn’t follow. And you thought we would just let you go? A heart can only break so many times. We failed last time. We weren't going to fail again, not when we could actually-”

You silence him with a kiss.

“Take me home,” you tell him when you separate for air. They don't have to be told twice.

— ◍☾ —

Marc hadn't thought he could have happiness like this again. Even after he had found you again. The three of them had agreed that having you in their life was important, but he couldn't have anticipated having you literally in their bed.

You snuggle closer and bury your face in the warmth of his neck. Whining at being woken. So abruptly. You feel the laugh from the body beneath you as he turns off the alarm.

“Rise and shine, sweetheart,” Marc says.

You grumble incoherently as you try to bury yourself in his warmth.

“You keep squirming like that, sweetheart and we are going to have a problem.” You giggle. “I'm serious, baby.” He moves the hair off your face so he can see you. “Donna will kill Steven if he's late again.”

You weigh your options. You shift your weight again earning a groan from Marc. “I could just use a timedoor and get him there on time.”

“Lo siento, mi amor,” Jake says as he takes over. “But you always say we shouldn't mess with time.”

You groan but don't stop him as he gets out of bed. You settle for stealing his pillow.

You yelp at the playful swat to your sheet covered behind. His hand rubs the now stinging skin through the sheet as Jake laughs. You glare at him but the face that greets you is one far too soft to be Jake Lockley.

“We’ll make it up to you, darling,” Steven says as he leans in and kisses your forehead. You pull him in for a proper kiss.

“Do we have time for pancakes?” You ask against his lips. And how could he say no to that?

You let him go and he looks at you like you hung the moon. Extra funny considering the lunar deity they serve. “We can make time for pancakes,” he assures you.

“You still want to watch that movie tonight?” Steven asks from the kitchen as you get dressed. You didn't have much other than your uniform so you had really just stolen a shirt that was far too big on you, his clean boxers, and a pair of socks so your feet wouldn't get cold on the hard floors.

You laugh as you remember you had stumbled upon one of Brad Wolfe’s schlocky films on a streaming service.

“Gods yes,” you laugh again. “X-5 was such a prick. Mobius said I have to watch them. They are hilarious, and they aren't supposed to be.”

“Are they scary?” Steven asks and you know in some reflection Marc or Jake is probably rolling their eyes, or laughing. You couldn't be sure.

“I'm sure Jakey will take over if it's too scary,” you wrap your arms around him as he cooks. He scoffs slightly but grins as you kiss his shoulder. “We've both fought worse than whatever monster Brad deals with in this one.” You grin. “Besides, we could take ‘em.”

“I'm sure we could, love,” Steven grins.

[bluesdesk]

I've had a story in my drafts for a really long time.

I have so many things to do for university, projects, exams and so on, and I don't have time to do anything else, but once the session has ended, I'll surely complete it! Do you remember this post?

The story I have is going to be the full plot of this concept! I have the first part ready, here's a snippet!

Link and Zelda had just found some ruins under the castle. Zelda suggested to investigate, as always. She really loved doing researches, being a scholar, and now that she was a teacher too, for all those kids, she was really, and seriously, happy. He often found himself thinking about their own possible future kids, but didn't tell her, they had just gotten together. When she asked him if they could share the house, he couldn't and of course wouldn't ever want to say no. Maybe it was a bit small for them, Zela needed a study room for all her stuff, and he surely needed more space for his weapons and shields. He should find a better one. Maybe he could ask Hudson and Rhodson. He had to have a trip to Tarrey once this research under the castle was finished! The walls were covered in murals, depicting various eras. People descending from the sky, people during what looked like a ceremony, a mural depicting a festivity and tiny beings, the first appearance of Ganondorf, the era of the shadows, and the era of the huge war. Where the walls didn't have murals, statues almost as tall as the ceiling decorated the rooms and corridors. They depicted a man with mustaches and a long tunic, and a woman with a dress and tattoos. They also found one different statue, too damaged to be recognizable, but it surely wasn't that man or that woman. Both Link and Zelda guessed it must have been destroyed on purpose by their ancestors. Maybe, it was the menace of their time, like Calamity Ganon for them.

A set of stairs and a really narrow corridor made them go even further down. They found themselves on a balcony thing in a room with a huge green light the shape of a hand, gripped in what looked like a really old dead body, skin and bones, but with long hair. Zelda wanted to take some photos, get a sample of hair from the body maybe to know how old it really was, and mostly she wanted to know if the hand was pure light magic or maybe it was physical too. Link told her it was dangerous, she didn't listen. He, while reaching for her, shouted the phrase again. "I SENSE DANGER! DON'T GO!" It was too late. The dead body was somehow revived, the light hand disappeared and... she was falling. He hadn't saved her, he had jumped off to the void in which his princess, scholar, other half, fell, and the hand appeared right behind him and brought him back to the surface. The Master Sword was broken, and he had lost an arm in the process thanks to what looked like an enhanced malice Zelda had called "gloom". Link woke up and found himself in what looked like a temple. It was just a room, a huge round room with tall walls. There was a pedestal there, that looked pretty much like the one for the Master Sword, but older. Though, there was nothing there, other than some torches around the pedestal. Feeling lost, he impulsively tried to wield the broken sword, but as soon as he looked at himself for the first time, he noticed he had only his underwear on, and his right arm was gone. Instead, he had what looked like a prosthesis, but filled with the same light magic of the hand. He tried to move it and it worked. It looked like an old sheikah tech but it wasn't even a bit rusty, and he could sense it was made to contain more power than what it actually had. What was that? Who did that? Who saved him and literally replaced his injured and hopeless arm with an old but new sheikah tech?

Suddenly, a voice sounding like an old man got his attention. He had seen spirits before, but this... he couldn't see anyone. The voice presented itself as Rauru, and Link knew he had read about someone named Rauru somewhere... right! Zelda said he was the first king of Hyrule! Rauru informed Link that place was once adored and praised by every population. There, the first hero, chosen by the goddess Hylia, had wielded the Goddess Sword for the first time, and forged her into the Master Sword, the sword that banishes evil. During the eras, the original temple, as well as another huge one, the Sealed Temple, got buried and later the temple of Time was built over them. Now, Link was in the Depths, under the Great Plateau. Rauru invited him to go out and look at the magnificence of the temple. A huge statue of the goddess, that, while not having any power source, emanated a celestial light, enough to see the building perfectly, and even clear a portion of ground around it. The Sealed Temple was in front of it, the light of the goddess temple illuminated it too. There was grass, there were flowers around both the temples, but where the light didn't reach, there were only cold stones and dirt. All around, in the distance, he could see gloom encrusted to tall stone and dirt walls that seemed to reach the top, the "ceiling". And probably monsters, but he wasn't in shape to fight. He wasn't still acquainted with the hand, and arm of course, and his only weapon was the decayed sword. As Link could see, there was no exit from there. The entrances to the depths, as he had had time to see before the research, were huge chasms covered in gloom, too high to be reached by anyone, and even if he did manage to reach them, the gloom would have killed him in few seconds. One of the chasms was about in the centre of the enclosed area.

Right there, standing on the floor, was a strange-looking smaller statue. This one, unlike the temples, was rusty and some pieces were clearly missing. The bottom of the statue looked kind of like a stand for something, but the subject was missing, and Rauru instructed Link to go find a stone bird. After finding the stone bird, he had to put it back on the stand. Link couldn't do anything but accept. The bird statue was restored, but still old and without any sign of power. Rauru's voice instructed him to find 3 stone tablets. they were once used by the very first hero to create beams of light, capable of breaking the cloud barrier and activate the statues. Now, their power had surely faded out, but maybe the power of the 3 of them combined could at least make him go back to the surface. Link finally had to fight some monsters with the broken sword and with what he could find around the area. It felt like the beginning of his first adventure, like if he was still unexperienced, goofy, and so damn tired. He had to do it. It was an enclosed space, but big enough to host one huge Goddes Statue Temple and the Sealed Temple, and a vast space around. Some enemies had decayed but still functional weapons, he stole them. The 3 tablets were found in different spots. When he found them all, Rauru told him to go put them in the Goddess Temple. A stone panel with a missing rectangular piece emerged from the ground. The tablets were put together and they fitted. Outside, a blue light beam had appeared right in the middle of the chasm, bathing the bird statue with holy light, it was now as good as new and ready to be used. A treasure chest appeared there, with his paraglider, sewed and taped with white and sky blue pieces of cloth and sewing threads. That style was surely from another culture.

Link couldn't imagine the power of that light beam was still strong enough to launch him right to the sky. With the help of his paraglider, he landed safely on a floating island. There, he saw the source of Rauru's voice. The first king's ghost was exactly like one of the statues he and Zelda had seen under the castle. The white mustache, the long orange vest, the wise face. He was now standing before him. He could see a huge palace on another island. Somehow, he knew he had to go there. Rauru nodded. That palace was once the home of a sky tribe that refused to go to the surface when Hylia told them to, and now it was a temple, to remember those who gave their life to protect the land and what's good, from the depths to the sky. Link had to go there, in that temple as old as the kingdom itself. Someone was waiting for him in there. Though, the sky islands weren't reachable with a simple jump, he had to build devices. Rauru informed him that the construct hand was in fact able to hold more power, and increase its abilities. It wasn't just a hand. The sheikah, with the help of the Hylians and some familiar robots, the scrappers or, as they renamed them, the constructs, had built devices infused with Hylia's holy power. They had no equals, because Hylia herself had given them her power time ago, in her mortal form. Only the sages could restore his new hand, as Hylia had transferred each facet of her powers to them, chosen by herself and the 3 goddesses. Rauru told Link he could restore one power, being the original sage of light, and moreover, her son.

[science-lings]

Phoenix's Family

I've stated before how I think it's interesting that in games with so many prevalent themes of family, Phoenix has no mention of having one, other than those who have adopted that kind of role like the Feys and Trucy. No whispers of parents or siblings when he got framed for murder or during any of his numerous trips to the hospital, not when he got disbarred or spent seven years likely in poverty.

Now, what could this mean? In my mind, either he's an orphan, which is a valid interpretation, or something happened that estranged him from them, likely before he got into college. Whatever it was, it was enough to traumatize him enough to never talk about them again.

much more rambling below, I will be merciful today and not make this a monstrous post that you have to scroll all the way through

We know how he reacts to trauma, especially ones that relate to his relationships. His whole deal is pushing down his memories and feelings until he almost forgets about them, or until they return to remind him of their existence. He refuses to talk about the things that hurt him and buries them so deeply that it's extremely hard to dig them back up.

We see this with Dahlia, the only person who would've known about her would've been Mia. And we see this with Mia herself, Phoenix walked in on her violently murdered body and he immediately represses his feelings to get her sister out of jail. When Edgeworth left his note and disappeared off of the face of the earth he refused to talk about him and attempted to do the same thing with him as he did with Dahlia.

So, who is to say that the only time this strategy of ignoring until it goes away and it doesn't bite him in the ass is how he dealt with his family? He never mentions them, he never thinks about them, and subconsciously he's always looking for people to help fill the void they left behind. Maybe he had a little sister which is why he seems to thrive when he has a silly girl sidekick.

To me, it would make sense if he was estranged from his family before or during college, as that could help explain why he's so desperate for someone to love him and extremely vulnerable to being manipulated. He focuses all his emotional energy on Dahlia and reuniting with Edgeworth because his own life is already incredibly destabilized and he's scrambling for some sense of control.

As for why his family estranged him, I don't actually have much of an idea, maybe they're homophobic and noticed that he's been sending letters to a boy over the course of years and that's just not very straight of him. There are all kinds of family issues that could cause such an overdramatic reaction though.

It seems more plausible with what we know about Phoenix that whatever happened with his family that it's bad enough that he goes no contact with them, rather than them getting killed off or giving him up for adoption bc you know he would do everything to find them if he wanted to. He lost his best friend from fourth grade and became a lawyer just to see him again, he definitely could be determined enough to find his birth parents if he wanted to. If they were dead, he's besties with multiple spirit mediums, he could say hi if he felt like it.

Anyway, that's all of my rambling for now and I could definitely have gotten things wrong, I am relatively new to AA and I really wouldn't consider myself an expert on the Lore lmao. In any case, I would love to hear other headcanons about his family, I think it's fun to think about lol. Maybe you have ideas about why Phoenix could've been estranged? idk I would love to talk about it, my asks are always open.

[juria9090]

So yeah this idea has been bugging me and all shiz. Remember the picture I last posted of Danny having the Ring or Rage and Crown of Fire but not being the Infinite Realm's King, Prince or even heir?

Yeah. Imma dive into that.

The day Danny died, The Incident Day, The Day an opening and rip of reality causing The Portal to open, a sudden shift in reality happen. Remember the Dan incident? Phantom being separated from the body. One being turns into incomplete two halves of a whole. One being killed another and fused with the ghost half of Vlad Masters. The Danny that died, the human half, did not turn into a ghost. No. He turns into something beyond the power of fate and all shiz. When Danny defeated Dan and trapped him in the thermos. Dan became a being that exists out of a timeline that has been destroyed. His timeline did not exist. Nothing. No home to go back to. But, in the dead timeline, there is one being still waiting there for Dan.

The human half of Danny is supposed to be dead. He is still waiting for his other half to come back home so he could apologize to him. To say he is sorry. He is a being born of misery and sorrow. The ghost half of Danny is full of hatred, and madness and he is really angry. He is angry about being rejected. He is angry because the core is unstable. There is no core now.

No core.

Not even half a core.

The human half has been waiting for Dan for so many years. The day he 'died', he spend his time unable to interact with Dan or even his half side anymore.

Danny is supposed to be a being of both death and life. The one walk in between and on the line always. The balance have been broken the day the human half 'died'. He exists out of the plane. Even Clockwork, the ever-knowing, does not know of the human half's presence.

My theory is why most ghost weapons do not work on Dan but on Danny's (the dog) timeline, there is (and probably more) invention that WORK on Dan is that the human half has been protecting him. Danny's human half has spent years in loneliness and eternal sorrow. He WANTS to be reunited back with his ghost half. He is devastated by what happened in his timeline after his ghost half fused with Vlad's ghost half. No rules applied on Dan's timeline 'dead' Danny's human half. Nothing.

When Dan is trapped in the thermos, the whole timeline disappeared leaving only a void. There, the 'dead' human half exists and gains a body. He knows of clockwork, he knows of The Observants, he knows of everything that happened in the OG's timeline. He knows how to find Clockwork easily. He can create a portal between reality, time, space and dimensions. He is an eldritch abomination. He did break into Clockwork's tower without even the Master of Time knowing of it.

The 'dead' human half is tired of waiting and being in pain as well as unable to be reunited again. He steals the thermos that contains Dan from Clockwork's tower and brings it into the dead timeline. He released Dan.

Dan, upon being released, at first was very pleased but he was stunned and alarmed at what he sees when he look around. It was nothing but black. A void. And in front of him is the supposed dead half of Danny Fenton. But something is wrong with the human half. Something eerie. Something beyond comprehension. Something that made him, the monster, creeped out and afraid.

The human half SMILE at him and said that he will now separate Dan into two beings again so he could talk with his other half. Dan was very angry and well, you know the rest. He tried to fight him but nothing lands. No punches, blasts or even his wail affected the being in front of him.

Every blast, every hit and every attack seems to only sadden the 'dead' human half. But then, something unexpected happens, the being thrust his hands into Dan's chest and pulls. The pull rips Dan into two PAINFULLY.

The ghost half of Danny appeared and was still angry. The ghost half of Vlad howled and screamed as he dissipated into nothing else. Only the human half knows what happens to Vlad's ghost half.

Both halves have a long talk. Their talk was spent for a very long time. They do not know how long has it been because time did not exist there. The ghost has eventually mellowed out a bit and started feeling guilty about what he and plasmids half have done when they fuse into another being.

Both halves tried to fuse but they can't. They are unable to. There is no balanced. To fuse, the human half needs to be 'alive'. Both get the same idea of going into the OG timeline. So, the human half called Niel created a portal and pull the original Danny Fenton that defeated Dan and trapped him in the Fenton thermos into their place.

Things happen and they talk. Like a lot. Phantom and Niel fuse with Danny and let's just say it levels up Danny like he is isekaied but not really. He is reborn as himself but as another whole new person. He escapes from the dead timeline and found out that not even a whole minute has passed. Danny gains a new set of power and all this happens before Urban Jungle and after Forever Phantom.

You see, Phantom and Niel from Dan's dead timeline did not fuse with the OG Danny from the main timeline, no, they became a part of Danny's powers. They live in Danny's core, protecting it from harm and became Danny's 'Guardian Angels'. Danny can summon them whenever he needed to or use their powers. They boost Danny's powers too.

I did not believe in ice core Danny but I believe in flexible core Danny. His core may shift into whatever suits the situation. The presence of Phantom and Niel only strengthens Danny's grip on his core's powers.

Sam and Tucker do not know of Phantom and Niel's existence because both of them insisted Danny kept them a secret. Only time will reveal itself. Danny agreed on one condition that they will train him. They agreed.

The Urban Jungle happen and Undergrowth was met with Danny's summoned 'Guardian Angels'. Danny was just like :

Danny: Niel! Lien! Come forward.

Niel : (appeared out of thin air looking like something that came out of the void)

Undergrowth: Alright, WTF.

Phantom (name changes to Lien) : (appears much like a white being from void)

Undergrowth: WTF???!!!

Amity Park: Did- Did those things come out of Phantom's chest????

Jazz and Tucker: Danny??!!

Undergrowth got beat down by both Niel and Lien and both returned to Danny's again. He has some explaining to do and Clockwork just so happens to realize that there is something otherworldly happening in Danny's timeline. The timeline has completely changed. These Niel and Lien presences changed everything and Clockwork can't see their origins or future and neither could he sees Danny's future. Danny has a long talk with his friends and sister after that.

D-stabilized happened and Dani is stabilised by Danny's core. She did meet Niel and Lien. Both of them are introduced as Danny's summons. That day, both of them discovered that Danny's bedroom door can lead them to Danny's lair. It happens because Danny wants to find somewhere safe for Dani to live and a place that is easy and near for him to access and check on Danny. Danny opens his bedroom door and boom! The lair. He closes the door and opens it again after wishing for it to be only his room and found his room is there like normal. Both of them think they went insane and Danny closes the door again thinking it must be a joke or something. Turns out, Danny's lair appeared much like the room of requirement we read and saw in Harry Potter books and movies.

Danny gives Dani a Fenton phone so they could communicate with each other. They have tested out wherever place Dani is, as long as she still has a connection to Danny, Danny can open the door from inside his lair and the door would lead him to Dani's location. Like from Howl's moving castle. It's convenient.

Time passed by and we will ignore Phantom Planet never happen. Danny somehow finds himself with the Ring Of rage around his neck and The Crown Of Fire on him. Well, it's too big for him to wear on his head so it hovers like a ring. Like how the rings circle their planets. It tips the balance inside Danny and overwhelmed him. Clockwork finds him and put the blood blossom flower crown with the veil on him saying it was a gift from the Infinite Realm itself to help Danny overcome the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire's overwhelming power.

Danny finds out he is immortal and that the other clones that he believes have died and melted are alive and in the Ghost Zone hiding from other ghosts and predators in their ghost core form. Danny collects them and lets them rest inside his lair. He heals them with his core. The blood blossoms flower crown did hurt Dani and other ghosts if they come close but it's a gift special for Danny so only a selected few people can approach Danny without getting hurt. Dani can be in his presence for a long time but it still did hurt. Danny always heals her if she gets overwhelmed by the flowers.

Before, Danny has one clone that still lives. Now, he has five. He gives them names.

Tiny clone - Dean

Bed sheet clone - Dale

Monster clone - Dylan

Prime clone - Drew

Yeah, they don't want to start far from Danny's name. His name is like comfort for them. Lien felt left out because his name starts with L. But then considered it back, he do not want his name to stray far away from Niel's name. After all, his name is Niel only backwards. All of them always stayed by Danny's side. They feel calm around his presence and not afraid. Sam, Tucker and Jazz are unaware of the changes and the news of Danny's status and the other clones.

Only Dani and Drew ever leave Danny's lair. The others stayed behind.

[sunderedazem]

do you taste my pain in this bloodstained place - chapter 2

Authors: @dream-of-tanalorr and @spyscrapper

Rating: Mature Fandom: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Relationship: Bode/Cal (Spyscrapper) Sideship: Merrin/Mosey Major Tags: Graphic Depictions of Violence - Dead Dove: Do Not Eat (Some) Minor Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Torture, Angst, Slow Burn, Betrayal, Whump, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Emotional Manipulation, Kidnapping, Dark Cal Kestis, Harm to Children, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Unreliable Narrator, thinking the other is dead, Mutual Pining, Codependency, Unhealthy Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Depression, Eventual Happy Ending

Chapter Summary:

The raid on Jedha has consequences larger than anyone could have foreseen - but not all of them are terrible. (Just most of them)

Chapter Start:

MERRIN Cal still hasn’t made contact. Merrin paces a path into the durasteel flooring inside the Mantis’s main living compartment, green flame roaring soundlessly in her ears, her sisters singing, singing, singing for shame to flee, shame to hide, no shame to survive, sister . Dathomir’s soul has never been so loud in the silence behind her but now it screams her own fear.  She’s called his holocomm six times. All she’s gotten is static. “Merrin, sit down, you’ll wear the floor out,” Greez calls from the cockpit, but his voice is strangled and the blue glow of hyperspace bleeds glittering worry into the watering of his eyes. Cal isn’t answering Greez’s calls either. And if it hadn’t been for the attack, if it hadn’t been for the deep chill of the void slowly creeping across the monastery as they’d fled,  if it hadn’t been for  Cal disappearing into the desert and not returning, chasing a murderous traitor she’d once- once thought that might join Cal as an honorary brother- If it hadn’t been for that, perhaps she wouldn’t be feeling fear enough to curdle Dathomir’s rage to terror.

(Again, mind the tags! there's a lot of them, and not all of them are above)

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