#((I’m actually getting flashbacks from purple and the mention of demons)) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

taliaquinn · 4 years

Text

Why Me!? Chapter 11

True Bee: I have been abandoned Betrayed UNLOVED

Maribug: I haven't even been gone for FIVE minutes, Didn’t Juleka confiscate your phone privileges?

True Bee: Right now she's occupied keeping the class from killing each other

Maribug: You should be helping her!!!

True Bee: I am, I'm giving the others the glare

True Bee: Wait Aurore and Kagami just stormed in

True Bee: ooooo now Kagami is yelling at Adrien

Maribug: Does she have her Saber? Please TELL ME SHE DOESNT!!

True Bee: Aww Aurore pulled her away before I could check :(

True Bee: Wait No, Now Aurore is yelling at Adrien

Maribug: Why the heck isn't Bustier doing anything!?

True Bee: Man I should’ve brought popcorn

True Bee: Oh Snap Mendeliev just walked in to pull Aurore and Chloe away

True Bee: Oop she’s glaring at Bustier and Alya now

True Bee: Lila is being Lila

True Bee: Not even 10 minutes and the class is already in Chaos without you

True Bee: Speaking of DUPAIN CHENG I EXPECT A MORE THOROUGH EXPLANATION!!

Maribug: Woman keep people from killing each other and I’ll Tell you soon

Maribug: Actually no keep the people we like safe, I Don't care about the rest

True Bee: Yes Ma'am

True Bee: KAGAMI HAD A SWORD I REPEAT KAGAMI HAD A SWORD

Maribug: Good Luck

True Bee: TRAITOR

Marinette felt bad she really did. But then again now the class wasn't her problem anymore and she felt joy. She prayed Chloe could keep the class together for a while. With a sigh, she walked up to her room to finish her packing. Her Maman was now busy calling Mr.Wayne to ask about the arrangements. Dick said that if Bruce wasn’t ready she could stay with him at Bludhaven in the meantime. Damian was texting her about the “rules”.

No mistreating his pets, Don’t try to become Graysons Favourite sibling “because that spot is already filled”. Don’t try to seperate Tim Drake from his Coffee, Cassandra Cain is dangerous but awesome and Jason’s Existence was to not be mentioned outside of the manor.

What was even that family? Seriously she knew that they all had interesting backgrounds but Wasn't Jason Todd murdered by an Arkham Crazy a few years ago? Seriously that family sounded like a perfect base for a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode. Huh maybe her secretly being a superhero won't be the strangest thing in the family.

Marinette quickly packed her sketchbook and made sure to put the horse miraculous box into her purse. Master Fu was updated to an extent that she was going to be out of the country, out of continent really, for a few weeks. Luckily she had Kalki to help with teleportation. She didn't have to panic about customs or anything. Mr.Wayne had a Private Plane. She’ll be flying over to Gotham with her parents and they'll be staying at a hotel for a few days. Get her “acclimated” to an American city and the customs. Paris will have to go without delicious sweets and treats for a few days.

Taking a final glance around the room Marinette was suddenly filled with a sense of homesickness. Didn't matter that she hadn't left,she didn’t even know when she'd come back. Sadly she had to leave some of her sewing and designing things. She had made sure to finish all of her commissions. However only a quick glance at her emails and her MDC website revealed that a lot of purchases and commission inquiries were being made. As soon as she gets to Gotham she will have to try a good fabric store and buy a new sewing machine and mannequin. She wasn’t a fool, she is definitely taking some of the expensive fabrics, Alexeis Fencing uniform was safely packed along with her saber.

With a final glance around she crawled down. And let the door shut with a final click.

Gotham City U.S.A 2:30 pm

“Sabine Sabine Sa- Of course, Marinette can stay with me for a bit longer. Yes yes, Dick already told me the basics about the situation. Are you sure you don’t want me to get involved? You really should get the police involved. I don’t like bullies or liars.” Bruce stated. Seriously Bruce was really tempted to fly over to Paris and press charges against those little demons. Heck, he wants to press charges against the foolish teacher and idiotic principle.

“Bruce calm down, trust me I will handle the school and the bullies, right now I want to get Marinette away from them” Sabine stated with a growing smirk. Oh, don’t mess with her. Bustier and Damocles are going down. However, she had to be a little patient and play the long game. She knew Marinette wanted to handle her classmates.

“Fine don’t worry about it, what are you two planning to do about school?” he asked, a bit concerned. Seriously another one of his kids was getting bullied and harassed.

Bruce was having flashbacks to the bullying and harassment Dick and Jason went through when they went to school. Dick dealt with months of being called things like gypsy trash, charity cases, and circus brat before he finally built up the courage and told Bruce. Jason on the other hand, Bruce found out really quickly about his bullying. Mostly because Jason would get into fights. Tim didn't deal with bullying that bad, sure he got called a nerd and orphan trash but Bruce handled that very quickly because by then he was an expert. Bruce wasn't willing to put Cassandra through school. No one dared bully Damian Al Ghul Wayne.

“We actually haven’t thought that far,” Sabine admitted sheepishly. “But we have the necessary paperwork prepared”

“Why not enroll her in Gotham Academy along with Damian?” Bruce suggested

“It's a private academy, the tuition is in the 30,000’s” Sabine suggested exasperatedly.

“You’re kidding right?”

“I’m just saying I don’t think Marinette would be comfortable with going to a school like that.”

“She went to school with a Model, The Mayor's Daughter, and a comic book artist”

“Bruce!”

“I’m just saying Gotham Academy has already been the school where all of my older kids have attended, plus it has the best security due to the fact that I funded it.” Yes, Bruce was an overprotective parent. Sue him.

With a sigh Sabine couldn’t help but give in she was also an overprotective parent. “Fine but You’ll be the one to deal with her freakout over the costs”

“Deal”

Orly Airport Paris, France 5:00 pm

With a quick hop, Marinette couldn’t help but gape at the private jet with the blaring WAYNE INDUSTRIES on the side. Once they were inside they made sure to get comfortable. It was going to be at least an 8-hour flight. Marinette took out her sketchbook and quickly sketched out a few new future designs. however, she took a quick glance at her parents and saw that her mother had dozed off on her father's shoulder. She quickly flipped a page that revealed a few ideas for an altered ladybug outfit. She needed a redesigned outfit. No more skin-tight suits or pigtails. She's doing a loose outfit and braids, being a superhero with loose hair was plain impractical.

Seriously there is a reason why all superheroes either have short hair or have their hair tied back. With a few final touches, she was done with the redesign, now all that was left was to show Tikki the new design. That's another worry for Marinette. Finding time to talk with Tikki was easy enough to do with her parents. They were bakers who had to wake up early so they usually went to sleep really quickly and early plus she was also an only child, which made it easy for Marinette to slip away for her Ladybug nightly adventures and talk with Tikki. How is she gonna manage that in a house filled with a bunch of people?

Marinette flipped to another page and decided to start sketching a new dress design. She’s curious about what type of colors she wants to use. Maybe Marinette should make it all black? No, too dark. Maybe a few touches of blue? Nah. Red? Nope, she has enough red clothing. Purple? Yuck. Red and Green? Nope, she doesn't want to look like a traffic light. Gold!! Black and gold would be perfect!! Cape? Wait no, Edna Mode the animated icon made a good point on why capes should be banned.

Taking a quick glance around she finally risked taking a peak on Tikki. Tikki was comfortable situated and munching on a bunch of sweets. Marinette softly closed the purse and decided that sleep was the perfect course of action. Wrapping her sweater around herself she allowed the warmth and darkness to overtake her.

Cesaire Apartment Paris, France 7:30pm

“Okay listen up gang since Marinette abruptly dropped out, it’s up to us to raise the money for the school dance and the end of the year field trip which is a few months away,” Alya said.

Lila was quick to point out how horrible and awful it was for Marinette to leave them with all the work.

Alya couldn’t help but notice that only a few people showed up to the meeting. Noticeably absent was Chloe, Juleka, Sabrina, Max (who said Markov needed a reboot or something) and Ivan. Alya couldn’t help but be concerned by the absences. They needed their help to get all the planning ready and everything.

Rose was squealing at a thought of being able to decide on planning the theme of the dance. “Oooohhhh I can’t wait for the dance, do you think Marinette would still make me a dress?” Rose asked while glancing around. Sudden realization seems to hit them all. This year they will most likely have to pay and buy their own dresses and suits. Marinette always made them their outfits and that was part of the reason that they became the talk of the school after a dance. They always looked stunning.

“Rose Marinette wouldn’t dare not make you a dress, you’re one of the sweetest girls in the school if she refuses to make you one then she is Heartless” Lila stated fervently. Oh, Lila was making sure to get her claws completely in the class, she didn’t have an obstacle anymore.

“Lilas right, Marinette would always help you no matter how mad she is at you.” Adrien chimed in. All of a sudden their phones started pinging. Adrien quickly took out his and gaped at what he was reading in the class group chat.

Sabrina has left the Chat

Ivan has left the Chat

Juleka has left the Chat

Max has left the Chat.

Chloe B: Max, Sabrina, Ivan, Juleka and I have made the collective decision to transfer to Ms. Mendelievs Class, Our Transfers were approved quickly, thanks to yours truly :)

Chloe B: Have fun figuring out how to pay for everything Your end of the school year class trip :) :) :)

Chloe B: Oh Marinette is no Longer doing free commissions, have fun with dress and suit shopping :) :) :) :) :))))

Chloe B: Toodles~ you will all haunt my nightmares for years to come

Chloe B has left the chat

A/N:

Hi guys, I don’t know what happened but suddenly theirs more of you :D. Thanks for taking a chance on me. Hope y’all like today's chapter. I wanted to quickly post for my insomniacs. Please Like,Reblog, comment and Follow :)

Taglist:

@damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #marinette deserves better #maribat #dick grayson #damian wayne #tim drake #jason todd #bruce wayne #lila salt

289 notes · View notes

hanyohime · 4 years

Text

A Broken blade 🗡️ , Rainbow Children 🌈 🦋 and the Root of all Evil🌳

Yashahime Ep. 2 and Ep. 3 (preview) observations and altering theories:

So some of my previous theories were a bit off, like Towa’s sword being found because of some reaction to Setsuna’s Eye/Golden Pearl. However, it is still unclear if the sword itself has some special ability or if Towas Silver Pearl is projecting energy into it. We saw how in Ep. 2 her sword breaks on the Three Eyed Mistress, but in the Ep. 3 preview you can see her with the blue blade of light that was advertised in the promo posters. I do not think that this light is coming form the power of the pearl per se, as the glow from her eye is White/Silver but the energy emitting from the broken blade is Blue. I believe this light/energy is coming from Towa herself, from an unrealized power.

I have a theory that sword in its broken state is how she will rid or help individuals possessed by the demonic roots. Perhaps she will even be cable to do this without having to kill the host directly, much like the Tensseiga and the demons of the underworld. I also have this idea that her sword will be able to cast things into the rainbow corridor because they have to get rid of the Three Eyed Mistress somehow in the next episode, but I don’t have much to go on that yet... I think the sword will eventually be repaired, I believe Moroha will direct Towa to someone in the past to repair the blade. It will most likley be the mystery character who is yet to have a name, as they are seen in the promo poster with a similarly wrapped weapon, just like Towas sword. I think it would be pretty cool if it remained broken and the blade is just this mysterious blue energy that projects out from the hilt.

Side note: Despite my initial theory being wrong, Towa does find the sword in modern times but it seems to be some sort of relic, perhaps from the Higurashi shrine? She says it belonged to Ashikaga Yoshiteru which, according to some google sleuthing, is one of the most prominent Shogun of the Muromachi period of Japan. In Ep. 1, we were introduced to the Deputy Shogun, Ogigayatsu Hiiraga Danjo. How I interpreted this information is that the Ogigayatsu this is just another clan within the Ashikaga or allied with them. It also says that the Ogigayatu clan is defeated by the Hojo clan, and the Ashikaga clan was driven out of Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga. This means the girls will be in a time where there is a lot of clan conflicts, and sociopolitical problems in general. It was mentioned that the surrounding provinces (villages?) have been fighting, in the Ep. 1 flashback.

In the preview for the next episode we see that Towa will be possessed by a demonic root parasite that attaches to her face, most likely to get a hold of the Silver Pearl. I believe this thing was attached to the Three Eyed Mistress and is perhaps what caused her to rampage the local villages. There are a couple points in Ep. 2 where she begins to glow purple, much like the demon/creatures the girls are facing off with in the opening song. This makes me believe Root Head, who appears to be anchored to the sacred tree, must sprout root like creatures to do his bidding around the surrounding villages. This is quite worrisome as it seems that no one will be safe from these parasites. I have a feeling this will cause a lot of problems for the girls in their search for answers as they, and the company they keep, will be easy targets as they roam the land with 3 pearls. I bet stronger more fearsome demons could also be possessed in efforts to stop the girls from fixing the past, maybe even ones we are familiar with. Root Head could also be causing a lot of the clan conflicts in the surrounding villages, so that he can generate more fuel (AKA human heads) and gain more power. Yotsume, who I assume is working with Root Head, was already able to infiltrate one clan. Who knows if there aren't other allies of Root Head with other clan leaders, trying to spur on the blood shed. Just something to think about.

I believe The Three Eyes Misstress is most likely being used as a pawn to search for pearls, and it could be because of her strong ability to sense them? What I found very interesting was her saying that the pearl had demon powers, which makes me wonder about the theory of Kagome creating them. I believe she, as a priestess, would not have the ability to specifically create demonic pearls. So right now I am leaning more on the idea that they were already in existence beforehand. It also makes me wonder if the OG crew are sealed in them or they were thrown into the rainbow corrido like Towa was? But this doesn't explain where Sessomaru and Rin are if the twins have those pearls... but I’m not opposed to the idea that our beloved missing characters are in different time lines or realms in pearls form or not.

So it is now apparent that the pearls were created BEFORE the night of the fire as Towa, and presumably Sestuna, had the pearls in their eyes when they were very young. If Im going on the theory that Sesshomaru is the Silver Pearl and Rin is the Golden Pearl, something must have happened to them before the girls have the pearls, more in the past than we expected.

Another thing is that Towa mentions that they lived in the forest for a long time? I have noticed a lot of people interpret this as they lived alone in the forest, but in the english subtitles she simply states that they lived in the forest. I don’t necessarily think they were orphaned, someone had to have raised them and clothed them, but who?! Something else I noted was that Setsuna does not have her Monomoko with her when she is little, so it definitely is given to her after the fire. Does Sesshomaru save her? I have read some people suggesting that Sesshomaru may not even know he has daughters, but I don’t think this is likely because how would Setsuna receive her Mokomoko if she hadn't met him? The fandom have also been noting on how it was strange that these two girls ran around the forrest and there doesn't appear to be any demons around that may be threatening to them. I have a thought, perhaps this is an area that has been eradicated of demons from not only Inuyasha and crew, but Sesshomaru, so that his children can roam and live freely. I have a feeling that Sesshomaru will have more of a status role in the series, perhaps he reclaimed his fathers domain? I only think this because the girls are referred to as princesses, and why in a series that has put down half demons so much would they be addressed as such if it were not for their lineage? Something else that keeps nagging me is that perhaps the days of demons are coming to an end slowly? Or perhaps the scene below is an altered memory?

Another theory thats a bust is Moroha and Setsuna knowing each other, which is something I can not wrap my head around. How would these two girls who have such similar careers, never cross paths, and meet for the first time now after 10 years!? Although, I believe that Moroha meeting Setsuna for the first time and calling her “Setsu-chan” is what actually triggers the Golden Pearl in Setsuna’s eye to start glowing. Something about calling her by this nick name may be triggering a memory, perhaps there is a lost memory of Moroha calling her “Setsu-chan” when they were young and the annoyance she feels towards it is giving her some kind of nostalgia for a past she can’t remember.

Kohaku appears to know Moroha in a way, as she has made some kind of a reputation for herself as Beniyasha. He addresses her as “dono” in Japanese which I was told meant that he is showing her respect as an equal, most likely professionally. In english it was translated as “Lady”, which confused me but the Japanese version makes more sense. But how does Kohaku know her? Does he know who she really is, or have they had run ins with each other in the past? I would assume as leader/chief of the Demon Slayers he would keep track of reported bounty hunters slaying demons out side of his devision. But it appears he doesn't know much about her abilities as he was surprised she had sealing arrows.

Hisui also does not appear to know anything about her as he says “a demon and a bounty hunter?, as if he could only sense that she has demonic energy. So it’s safe to assume that Hisui and Kirara do not know/remember her, this could even be the first time they have met in person, and he only knows descriptions of her, but he does refer to her by name. I am a little concerned at Hisui’s haste to attack Moroha, despite her explanation that she was simply there waiting for her bounty, it definitely shows that he feels little respect for bounty hunters. At first I thought he was judging Moroha for being part demon... This made me wonder about his childhood, does he have some memories of something traumatic, perhaps a demon making his parents and maybe even his sisters disappear? However I doubt this now because of his familiarity with Setsuna and of course Kirara.

The one theory I'm most disappointed about is Hisui potentially not having a rainbow pearl. Because the Three eyed Mistress was able to sense Moroha’s and the one in Setsuna’s eye so easily, but made no indication that there was another present as she chases Hisui, Kirara and Setsuna towards Kaedes Village. So I now I have reason to believe that the largest bead on his prayer beads on his left arm is not a rainbow pearl. However! I am not completely dismissing the idea. I like to think that the prayer beads are actually concealing its power for the time being, at least until Hisui has his own moment where memories trigger a reaction from the pearl. Fingers crossed.

Whether it’s a pearl or not, I am still going with the theory that Hisui is spiritually inclined like his father. I think Hisui will play an important role in finding some of the pearls, specifically the coral and blue pearl. I hope as they set out for answers that Hisui and Kirara will be joining the girls. Hisui and Setsuna seem to have a solid working relationship (the ship has sailed folks!), and I am excited to learn more about what kind of personal relationship they have as they were most likely raised together in the demon slayer village. I have a theory that it is Hisui or Kirara who finds Setsuna during the fire which is how she eventually ends up in the demon slayer village and under Kohakus care. When it comes to any potential romantic feelings forming between Setsuna and Hisui I can see Setsuna being a little more indifferent about it and Hisui struggling hopelessly to gain her trust as more than just a fellow demon slayer. It would be really funny if he is the exact opposite of his father when it comes to love and has NO game what so ever.

Moroha seems familiar with the Rainbow pearls and the time tunnel, calling it the “Rainbow Corridor.” But how does she know about it!? After passing through the CorrIdor she also expresses that she feels weak, what would cause this? Is it Root Head draining their energy? Setsuna also seems to be having a hard time getting out of the Three Eyed Mistress’s hold, perhaps she too feels the effects of the time travel. This is completely different from the time passage Kagome went through, it must be specifically linked to the pearls (the name kind of gives that away). How much does Moroha know about this corridor? Another theory could be that she has seen this happen before to others, perhaps she recalls the events that caused the disappearance of our main characters but her memories are also altered. Before Moroha and Setsuna are pulled in, the tree (Root Head) actually speaks to them stating that it had not felt the the presence of the pearls for 10 years, so Root Head also knows or their existence, again firming the theory that they were in existence before the incidence that causes everyone to disappear and for memories to be altered. Perhaps Yotsume observed the creation or gathered information for Root Head on the Rainbow Pearls and set out a plan to collect them, and maybe in the past starting a fire was a part of this plan. Another thing is Root head says he is returning to THIS world, what could he mean by this? What world could it be returning from... curious.

With all of this, I am now convinced that almost everyone has had their memories tampered with, in one way shape or form, and some more than others.

Once again, that all I got for now! I’ll probably edit this post a few times tbh

This post goes out to @hanmajoerin @kumikodiary @inukag @viva-el-belt-libre @d-o-v-e-y @companion-for-who @biancam70 thanks for going theory crazy with me!! <3

#hanyo no yashahime #inuyasha #kagome higurashi #Sesshomaru #towa higurashi #moroha higurashi #moroha #half demon princess yashahime #Beniyasha #yashahimeprincesshalfdemon #hanyou no yashahime: sengoku otogizoushi #towa #Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon #Yashahime #yashahime theory

56 notes · View notes

officialinuyasha · 4 years

Text

youtube

Yashahime Episode 2 "The Three Princesses"

The episode starts with young Towa and Setsuna in the Forest of Ages. I want to note that the music that is playing during this scene is Towa's theme song in a more calm emotion played slow. Fun fact, that Towa's theme song does have Rin's theme song in it, for those who don't know. I have a video I made on that. Towa says that they have lived in the forest for a long time. Setsuna appears to not have her fur, either she gets it by puberty or hers was decorative from another animal. As we know the fur from Sesshoumaru is apart of his body, this was confirmed by Rumiko Takahashi in the InuYasha Profiles book under Sesshoumaru's profile. Again, the comparison to Sesshoumaru's belt is made here like I noted in my trailer breakdown. River (Kawa) or winding stream represents continuity and the future. Based from their color palettes given to us in the first artwork we were given, Towa is blue and Setsuna is purple. While in this scene it appears that Setsuna is wearing blue and Towa is wearing purple. When Setsuna is older, she is wearing blue with a purple belt. While Towa is wearing a yellow belt like Sesshoumaru and Setsuna seems to be wearing the faded red belt that Rin wore from the Final Act.

- Towa's memories have began to fade when she's an adult. The thing she remembers the most is Setsuna - So anything else we see in this flashback may be missing details. - The animals shown in her memories might be the other characters. There were two deer coupled together, and a fawn that could be InuYasha, Kagome and Moroha. With another deer running after. The boar had two twin babies Almost like K'inu and Gyokuto. My friend https://twitter.com/Mokomoko_fluff made even more comparisons and she describes more into the past theory with the animals, as well as the Young Twins clothing comparison to the parents. So please follow her. Towa begins to run too fast, and let's go of Setsuna's hand. When recalling this memory she even questions why she let go of her hand... Setsuna pushes Towa out of the way. I know some people were confused, but as I played it slowly frame by frame. Especially when Setsuna says "Look out!" Setsuna pushes Towa out of danger. Towa can't track Setsuna's sent because of the fire. In this moment, I want you to take account of the Japanese terms used. In English we have words like scent, odor, aroma, and so one. Sesshoumaru in the Japanese manga uses the term aroma (sweet smelling) for Rin, while for others he used regular smell. In this moment Towa is using the same scent term that Sesshoumaru uses for Rin - A Sweet smelling Aroma. Towa's pearl activates when next to roothead. Probably because she's in danger, or many other reasons as to why it could activate. We hear Ne no Kubi - or it's English name Roothead talking about Towa's pearl. Towa is holding onto a vine until it tears and sucks in Towa. Towa goes through what is officially called the "Tunnel of the Tree of Ages" also known as the "rainbow corridor" as to what Moroha calls it later on in the episode! So this could imply that the pearls have to do with this. Towa wakes up from Buyou, and Souta finds her. Souta notices that she's from the Feudal Era - "It looks like you've come from place far, far away, huh?" Towa wasn't sure why, but she knew she could trust Souta. When they go looking for Setsuna, another version of Towa's theme plays. They never found Setsuna, it had been ten years since Papa Souta adopted Towa. In this moment it's further into Towa's song in this slow version, and we can clearly hear Rin's theme song in it. I got chills. They're living into a condominuim, and she goes by Towa Higurashi now. She says her memories have faded and lately she had been thinking it may have all just been a dream. It shows her weapons, including Kikujuumonji at the top. She has a lot of workout equipment and a punching bag. She's got trophies. Towa says Setsuna definitely was not a dream. She says it's such nice weather, then she goes to brush her teeth to get her day started. Her younger sister Mei is on her way to go to school, tells Towa Good-Morning and mentions that it's Towa's first day at a new school. She tells Towa to not get into any fights. Then she leaves to go to school. Towa tells her to be safe. Towa then says that Mei is "Papa Souta's true daughter". "She's a bit shy and naive, but she's also cute, smart, honest and quite talented." She's Towa's precious little sister. But she feels that maybe she cherishes Mei so much because she's a substitute for Setsuna, whom she was never able to find. The flower on her bag - Plum Blossom (Ume) is the first flower to bloom in the spring and is known as the ‘Flower of Peace’. A protective charm against evil, it also represents longevity, renewal and perseverance. Identified by rounded petals. We also see Towa wearing a robe that has yellow Plum Blossoms on it. Towa says she dresses the way she does because it's easier for her to fight. Souta is worried about Towa being dressed like a boy because it's an all-girls school this time. Because he doesn't want her to get into fights anymore. She walks to school and says that no one seems to get it - That transferring to an all-girls school won't stop the fighting. The ones she takes down always come back for more. The bullies show up thinking Towa is trying to run away from them. The bullies are actually a cameo appearance of Lum's Stormtroopers or also known as Lum's Guards from Urusei Yatsura. She answers "Who said I was running?" In the next scene is shows her beating them up. At one part one of them says "Stop it! Itll break! Help!" in this moment she pauses and stops. She says that the fighting hasn't stopped ever since she stopped a bully in elementary school. And there'd be more each time she changed schools. As she picks up her bag, we see the flower upclose again. She says that they are all weak and "Why can't they just keep their heads down?" The bullies say "That ain't no woman." "Why doesn't she finish us off?" "She's too soft." "But at this rate..." "We'll have to ask Bro for help." That part made me laugh. BRO Towa reaches her school, Saint Gabriel Academy - It's her first day and she's late already. "St. Gabriel Academy" is the name of the school where the main characters went to in the series NEW MOBILE REPORT GUNDAM WING. Which was made in 1995 by Sunrise! She's making sure no one is looking, then she hops over the gate. We see the Feudal Era - Moroha is sitting by a waterfall, picking her ear. She can tell that there's Demon Slayers behind the trees. She says that she wouldn't be slain, not even in a 1000 years. She says that she will turn them all into lunch for her Kurikaramaru. This could be a reference to the swords possible absorption ability like Tessaiga, or even Dragon Scaled Tessaiga. I can't get enough of Moroha, I loved it when she laughed.

Hisui shows up and calls her "Moroha the Demon Killer" this also refers to her being a Bounty Hunter. Hisui's theme song sounds like it uses notes from Miroku's theme, of course that being his father. I'll have to wait until the songs are released for me to make a proper comparison. He says on behalf of the local villagers, that they've come to punish her. "In the name of the Moon I will punish you!" He throws Hiraikotsu and she jumps out of the way. Moroha says that they've got the wrong target. She hasn't left the mountains, she was just waiting for her bounty to show up. Hisui says "A demon /and/ a bounty hunter? All the more reason then!" He was charging at her while Kohaku tells him to stand down. Kohaku calls Moroha, "Lady Moroha" - and asks if another demon is responsible for the attacking the village. She says thats right but that it's too late - they've made her mad. Now she pulls out her rouge that contains the red pearl. You can use rouge as lipstick as well. It looks like a nipple. MOON PRISM POWER! - MAKE UP. Okay, these Sailor Moon references are killing me. She says "With this rouge, I become Beniyasha, Destroyer of Lands. Tremble before the bloodthirsty dawn." Setsuna interrupts Moroha with her Naginata. Moroha says "Hey, you Demon Slayers work with an interesting companion." "You're a half-demon, right? I'm also a..." Setsuna immediately says "Silence! You're dead." Moroha pulls out her sword and the fight starts. It seems that Moroha knows about the weapon Setsuna is using the Kanemitsu no Tomoe. Moroha asks if she wins the match if she could have it. Hisui wants to back her up Setsuna but she says thats theres no need. Moroha says "So your name's Setsuna, huh?" Moroha licks her lips giving her a nickname "All right! Sorry "Setsu," but I'll be taking your weapon!" The battle animation here was beautiful. In this moment Setsuna's pearl starts to glow in her eye. By many reasons this could be happening, Setsuna's life being endangered, or because Moroha's red pearl is nearby, it could be telling her that Moroha is not an enemy. Moroha says "You have a rainbow pearl too?" It seems that Moroha knows about the Rainbow pearls, but that Setsuna doesn't know what they are. As this happens Mistress Three Eyes senses the pearls powers and comes out. The zoom in animation of her eye, that's really detailed. Mistress Three Eyes was the demon that was attacking the village. From the Yashahime Keyword, we also know that Mistress Three Eyes is the Granddaughter of Mistress Centipede from the first InuYasha Episode. She lunges at Setsuna Hisui picks up Setsuna quickly, avoiding Mistress Three Eyes. In this moment Setsuna could be having visions because of her pearl activating. Hisui asks if she's okay and she snaps out of it. Moroha knew that Mistress Three Eyes would show up since she has the red pearl with her. Moroha has been after her from the start. She says "Time to claim my bounty!" as she jumps to attack Mistress Three Eyes, but she's tougher than Moroha though. Instead she pulls out her bow, prepares an arrow for firing and says "Hey Demon Slayers! Get lost, unless you want to get caught in the crossfire!" "Take this! Heavenly Arrow Barrage!" She shoots an arrow, and it cuts Mistress Three Eyes hair, passing her head. Mistress Three Eyes thinks she missed but she was very wrong. The first arrow vanished and then Loads of arrows appear, raining down onto Mistress Three Eyes. Kohaku says "Are those Sacred Arrows? No, those are the Arrows of Sealing. How could Beniyasha have such spiritual power?" Moroha says she did it! In this moment Mistress Three Eyes shouldn't be moving. But here's where things get interesting, Mistress Three Eyes begins to move, however in this moment a purple aura appears. This is the same purple aura we see from Episode 1 when Roothead swallows bandits. Could it be that some arrow shafts are made from the fallen branches of sacred trees? However this isn't true for all arrows as we know powerful priestess such as Kagome and Kikyou have been able to channel their spiritual powers from regular arrows. Could it have been that these arrows were made from Rootheads fallen branches at some point? She was able to take Moroha's shell that containted the Red Pearl out of thin air. Could it be that Roothead took it from Moroha to give to Mistress Three eyes on purpose to lure the pearls to him? Or Mistress three eyes has a different power than her grandmother. It's possible that even having a pearl nearby she could get stronger, similiar how Mistress Centipede got stronger with the Shikon Jewel nearby. The thing is that Mistress Three eyes was only able to move her head up when this happens, so something tells me Roothead has something to do with it.

MIstress Three Eyes swallows Moroha's pearl and becomes stronger, slightly transforming. So she goes after Setsuna, who has the Gold Pearl while they try to divert her to Lady Kaede.

Towa is at school, with her homeroom teacher Osamu Kirin who seems to be a cameo of Mousse or Dr Tofu from Ranma 1/2. He tells her a British Proverb with an Engrish accent "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." So he overlooked her being late for the day. Which she seemed surprised that he didn't call her parents and let her off the hook so easily. Three of the bullies seemed to be stalking Mei. Then we see Towa jumping onto the roof to look at her sword. She says that this is the moment when she feels at peace. She says "The celebrated sword Kikujuumonji, a national treasure." Towa says that "she was told" that her sword once belonged to the shogun Yoshiteru Ashikaga - Although it might not be true though, you know what Gramps said about So'unga. If he was the one that gave her the sword, I wonder how she got it. I also want to note that Kiku is also a Chrysanthemum flower. Yet another flower symbolism of Towa. It is the symbol of regal beauty, rejuvenation and longevity. Used as the Imperial Seal of Japan, it also represents autumn. The guard on her sword seems to be a flower shape as well. Towa sniffs the air, and she can tell that Mei is crying at Grampa's shrine. The bullies tied up Mei, Grammy and Grampa Higurashi. Bro seems to be Kuno Tatewaki from Ranma 1/2 Towa says "This world is full of the weak. And because they're weak, they band together and pick on people weaker than them. I'm really sick of it."

I like it when Towa says "I can show you a crying face. But it won't be mine. It'll be yours!" Towa fights them with her fists. One of the things I mentioned in my trailer breakdown was the symbol on Towa's sword bag. That appeared to be one of the Kagome symbols. But we'll see what it really is or actually means down the line, I'm sure. One of the guys take out a knife and threatens them. So Towa takes out her sword and drops the bag, we get to see the symbol once again and it appears to be ten pointed. A decagram, based on this frame.

A different version of Towa's theme plays. Towa takes hits because she remembers her promise to Papa Souta, to never use her powers in front of other people. Of course in this moment, she is sorry that she can't keep her promise. She throws the other dude, saves the day. Mei doesn't want her to fight, and says "I know you want to be more girly and cute, don't you?" Towa says "Um, I guess there's a part of me that can't answer immediately." Mei was like "You're supposed to say 'yes' even if you don't mean it!" Okay little girl.

All is well the bad guys leave as they think the police were coming, but Gramps says that they just so happened to be passing by. Mei and Towa have a sweet moment. Towa says she's sorry. Towa says Living in this world is hard. If you don't follow set rules, you're treated as an outcast. Girls must be feminine, and boys must be masculine." And that she has been sick of that. The whole gender roles, and having to follow those rules. I really love that she talks about stuff like that. This is what I've been really wanting to see more of especially coming from the Feudal Fairytale universe. The story of InuYasha was the internal struggles of having to follow what society wants, being an outcast. She said that but she thinks it's time to stop being stubborn. There's nothing that could ever justify making Mei cry that much. Towa is so sweet and loving, she cares so much. Like the voice actors said in Animage, she represents her mom's personality. Another cute part where Towa's smelling something that she's smelled before, something nostalgic as the breeze passes through the Sacred Tree. She questions why it was coming from the Tree. Then we see Lady Kaede coming out of her hut. She's like "What the Hell?" seeing Mistress Three Eyes chasing Setsuna and Hisui on Kirara. So Setsuna says she was going to use to her advantage that Mistress Three Eyes wants the pearl in her eye. Which is funny to me because that was Moroha's idea first. So, here are some things to note from Moroha with her baiting as a Bounty Hunter. Setsuna drops down and uses her Senpujin, or Cyclone Burst. This sounds a lot different from the trailer. I preferred how it sounded in the trailer - But I'm sure that we'll be hearing it a lot more. As not all announcing of special attacks are going to sound the same each time. "My name is Setsuna. Those are my only words for you. That is why you will die tonight." Moroha interrupts with her Crimson Dragon Wave. Atta girl. That's my daughter. You tell her! That was your bounty first. Setsuna said a famous Sesshoumaru line "Ridiculous". Setsuna can't seem to move at all, and Mistress Three Eyes takes her Gold Pearl. Swallows it and does the same transformation we see that her grandmother Mistress Centipede - becomes in the first InuYasha episode. Moroha seemed to be more excited that she was becoming stronger, like it would be more fun of a fight that way. I really like that about her. "Hold on. I've got you, Setsu!" And Setsuna's like "Don't call me that!" Roothead inside of the Sacred Tree/Or known as the Tree of Ages begins to glow blue, and talks. He says "I sense the Rainbow Pearl for the first time in over ten years! And two at that! By the power of the Tree of Ages, I now return to this world!" By hearing this, I know from the first movie the Tree of Ages are linked to all different times. So it could be that Roothead can also travel between ages as well. "Could this smell be..." All three of them get sucked in. Sent to the Modern era. One thing to note is that Moroha is being thrown and landing the same way that Kagome did from the first episode of InuYasha. Towa is amazed to see her sister Setsuna back, her silver pearl begins to glow in her eye. Calling out Setsuna's name. Moroha says "Damn it. I feel so weak. It is because I crossed through the rainbow corridor?" I'm really curious as to what she means by that. So I'm sure we'll figure out more of what the Tunnel of the Tree of Ages does. She could be exhausted from time traveling. Which would be something that's new, but heck she was thrown as well. Mistress Three eyes gettin' all excited about getting a pearl for each of her three eyes.

"Setsuna! I'll save you!" and her sword breaks. So this is what leads to Towa creating a blade from her demonic energy that we will see in the next episode -

The animation in this episode was beautiful especially down to the water effects when Towa and Setsuna were drinking water, even when Towa was walking to school you could see the water effects there as well. Kaoru Wada's music does not dissappoint me, ever.

#yashahime #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime princess half demon #anime #manga #inuyasha

18 notes · View notes

katehuntington · 4 years

Text

Title: Changes - part eleven Word count: ±3000 words Summary “Changes”: Huntress Zoë Sullivan (OFC) crosses paths and swords with the Winchesters, when the brothers stumble on a case she’s already working. When complications arise, they are forced to work together. Summary part eleven: The case is closed and the hunters go their separate ways, but not before having to deal with a few loose ends. Episode warnings: Dark! NSFW, 18+ only! Angst, gore, violence, character death. Description of blood, injury and medical procedures. Demon possession, supernatural creatures/entities. Smut, swearing, alcohol use/addiction. Kidnapping, mentions of torture and murder, illegal/criminal practices. Mentions of nightmares and flashbacks. Music: Purple Haze - Jimmi Hendrix, Highway To Hell - AC/DC. Author’s note: I’m super excited to share Supernatural: The Sullivan Series. There are quite a few people I want to thank: @coffee-obsessed-writer, @soupornatural & @mrswhozeewhatsis, who edited the early drafts, and my girls @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish and @winchest09 who are deciphering the recent version. Everyone who encouraged me to go for it, you are awesome!

Supernatural: The Sullivan Series Masterlist 01x01 “Changes” Masterlist

Flashing lights shimmer bright blue and red on the surroundings of the three hunters. They’re out in the open again, the moon and stars above them, the night air chilly. Dean leans against his Impala, while Zoë has made herself comfortable on the saddle of her bike, overlooking the scene. Police officers are clearing the area, some take notes of what the victims have to say. Before the authorities arrived, the hunters talked to the victims about what to tell the police. Their best advice was to keep quiet. People who start their statement with the word ‘shapeshifter’ usually end up in a psych ward. If they ever need to talk about what happened, they can call the brothers.

All the people have been pulled out of the septic tank by the fire department. An ambulance with Cole in the back is the first to leave the driveway, sirens blaring, while others are treated and prepared for their ride to hospital. Sam walks up to the other hunters and halts, watching the ambulance take off. “Cole is in critical condition, but the paramedic was hopeful. She said if we hadn’t found him, he wouldn’t have survived the night. The others are okay, besides from minor injuries and malnutrition,” he informs. “Good,” Dean says, satisfied. “And Terry Cliffer?” Zoë wonders. “Yeah, about Terry...” Sam shakes his head. “They found him, too.” “Dead?” she assumes. Sam nods and leans against the hood. The paramedics took care of the wound on his head, the injury is barely visible, covered by his long brown hair. “They found his body in the back of the tank.” Zoë sighs. “Damnit.” She glances over to the ambulance where Michelle Cliffer is sitting on a gurney, wrapped in a thermal blanket. She has her daughter and son by her side, comforting her children. Zoë wonders if she knows. The boys catch her gaze at the broken family. “You can’t save them all.”

It's Dean who reminds her of that, to Zoë’s surprise. She expected words of consolation from the younger Winchester, who’s shown her a lot more sympathy than his arrogant brother, until now, that is. She nods at the hunter, hearing his message, but unable to accept tonight’s outcome. Every time an innocent is killed by something she hunts, she feels like she failed. Even though they saved the others, not to mention the many victims that would have followed if they hadn't ended the shifter, Zoë cannot shake that feeling.

When she looks up at Michelle again, she sees that the woman is on her way over. It’s not hard to miss the widow’s grief. “Michelle...” Sam stammers, not sure what to say. She forces a polite smile and gives him a nod, but it's obvious she's torn up. Through the tears, she looks them in the eye one by one. “What you did… you have no idea what this means to me,” she says, her voice breaking. “Just doing our job, ma’am,” Dean responds, as if it’s no big deal.

“It’s so strange...” The poor woman shakes her head, still unable to grasp what happened. “I noticed that Terry was behaving differently about a month ago. I had no idea that--" “- it wasn’t your husband?” Sam fills in. She looks up at him, sniffles and nods. “He looked just like him. A few days ago, I started asking questions and… well, you know the rest.” She looks down, as if she’s trying to find her strength in the soil underneath her feet. Her bottom lip begins to quiver. “They just informed me about Terry.” “We're very sorry,” Sam returns, compassionately.

Michelle looks up, her piercing blue eyes seeking Dean, the man who rescued her and her children. “Thank you,” she says, soft but genuine. “Don’t thank me. Thank her,” he nods at Zoë. “She did most of the work.” Zoë looks up, stunned, not expecting the sudden attention. Her gaze shifts to the mother, who turns towards her, her eyes showing more gratitude than a thousand words could describe. “Thank you for rescuing our children.” she voices, gratefully, and turns to the boys as well. “You saved my family.”

With nothing left to say, she heads back for the ambulance, her little boy walking with her by the hand, but Lizzy lingers, still looking up at the female hunter. After pondering a little longer, the six year old runs towards the huntress and folds her little arms around Zoë’s leg, giving her a hug before heading back to her mother. A small smile pulls at the corner of her mouth as Zoë watches the little girl go. Lizzy waves at her until the doors of the ambulance close, answered by a final salute from the company of three. A breath floats from her lips, the weight on her shoulders made lighter by the young girl, who made it all worthwhile.

“Dude, you smell like a toilet,” Dean comments out of nowhere. He sniffs while making a face, eying his brother, who is still standing next to him. “You wanna tell me you smell like roses?” Sam returns. Dean stares back, puzzled. “What are you--“ Sam grabs Dean’s leather coat and pulls it up, showing the dirt and feces stuck to it. “Ah, shit,” Dean curses. Zoë grins. “Indeed.” Sam can’t help but smirk when Dean pulls himself loose, annoyed. Then he glares at Zoë. “You totally fucked up my favorite jacket,” he gripes, pissed off. “Gonna cry about it?” she pouts at him. He gives her a dirty look and narrows his eyes, but Zoë doesn’t let him off the hook just yet. “You’re lucky you didn’t fuck up my Dave,” she warns. “Next time you have the nerve to get on my bike, I’ll kill you.” “You have such a warm and loving personality, know that?” Dean snarls, sarcastically.

“Talking about warm and loving, you said something about ‘me being all over you’?” she brings up, curious. “You jumped me, and not in a violent kind of way,” he reveals, scratching the back of his head, a little embarrassed. “How did you find out it wasn’t me?” Zoë wonders. “Simple; there was no trace of that bullet wound,” he explains, nodding at her abdomen. “Ah, so clothes were off; you did play ball.” She grins, crossing her arms and leaning back a little. “How far did you make it, exactly? First base? Second base?”

Sam snorts, watching the interaction between the two hunters. He didn’t expect a blush to turn the tips of Dean’s ears pink, however. “Oh, whoa!” she realizes. “You got to third base.” “Dude, you had sex with a shapeshifter?” Sam smirks. “Dude, no! C’mon!” Dean defends. Zoë grins, amused. His denial was a little too fast and too loud. For a ‘professional’ con artist, he’s a pretty bad liar. “Did shifter-me give you a hand or was it the other way around?” “I - that’s not…” Dean stutters, only digging himself deeper. “You know what? I don’t have to answer to you.” She huffs. “Well, since you thought you were having sex with me, I think you kinda do.” “I didn’t have sex with you, or fake-you,” he makes clear, correcting himself while looking confused. “Look, I know what I was doing. I shot the fucker and saved your ass, so I think I deserve some credit.”

But Zoë doesn’t plan to stop. “You’re into me,” she provokes. “You’re so full of shit,” Dean scoffs. “You might come in a pretty package, sweetheart, but you are as sour as they come.” She laughs at the insult and slides her helmet over her head, securing the chinstrap. “I have zero intention to become your friend, Dean, and that was your first clue. When that shifter came on so strong, you should’ve known you were either having a wet dream, or the ‘pretty package’ wasn’t actually this sour bitch.”

The huntress starts the engine of her Harley before the guy she’s been butting heads with can counter. She doesn’t take off however; she’s not done yet. “Oh, by the way, did you know that shapeshifters aren’t sexless?” “Of course I knew that,” Dean utters. “So?” “Well, Sammy there saw the shifter shed and he was pretty sure it wasn’t female. So whatever you did, you didn’t do it with the opposite sex.” Zoë leaves the rest for the older Winchester brother to figure out, and to her amusement, it doesn’t take long before it settles in what she’s implying. When she sees the horror and bewilderment in his eyes, she has to pull every string to not break character. “Bye, boys!”

She turns the throttle and steers her bike towards the road. Sam has the feeling he’s experiencing déjà vu. Last night, they were standing in the exact same spot, Zoë driving off on her Harley Davidson, Dean staring at her in awe. The younger Winchester tries his best not to burst into laughter, but has difficulty keeping a straight face. He decides to play along with Zoë’s little mind game. “Is she actually saying that I...?” Dean stammers, eyeing his brother, unsettled. Sam nods. “Did you really see…?” Sam nods. Nauseated Dean looks away, realizing what this means. “I’m gonna throw up.”

Disoriented, he circles the car and slips into his seat a moment later. In shock he stares at the emblem in the center of the steering wheel; his whole life has been a lie. Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix starts playing when the driver turns the key in the ignition. As if he didn’t feel dirty enough, the thought of the shapeshifter driving his beloved Impala only adds to his discomfort. Oh well, at least the bastard didn’t screw with his mixtape.

Beams of yellow glide through the car rhythmically, fading in and out every time they pass a street light. The V8 under the hood roars steady, already radiating warmth into the cabin as they are about to drive into the city of Rochester. Dean has turned the heat on, aware that Sam had been stuck underground for hours; he figured his little brother might be cold. The gash on his head didn’t look too bad, looks like he got away with nothing but a scratch. “So, what’s our plan for the rest of the night?” Dean asks him, actually checking if Sam wants to hit the road or call it a night. Sam chuckles, assuming he has other intentions with that question. “Considering you have a date with Vicodin girl?” For the second time this evening, Dean experiences a sudden and overwhelming pressure on his chest as he hits the brakes, almost causing the car behind him to crash into his bumper. The driver honks madly and swerves around when the Chevrolet pulls over. “Dude!” Sam exclaims, startled. He doesn’t answer. When they have come to a full stop, Dean glances at his watch instead; it’s 9:15. Frustrated he slams the steering wheel. “Fuck!” “What’s your problem?” Sam returns, stunned. “That’s my problem.” He nods at his rear view mirror.

It’s just now that Sam notices the sirens behind them. He quickly looks over his shoulder and curses, but is surprised to see the police cars pass them. “It’s not even for us, Dean. Would you relax?” Sam doesn’t understand all the fuss. “Oh, it’s for us, alright,” Dean mutters, nodding at the first responders, who make a sharp right to 6th St Southwest, joined by another vehicle from the other direction. “That’s - that’s where our hotel is,” the younger of the two realizes. The driver rubs his face. “I didn’t bolt the door.” With eyes wide open, Sam stares at his brother. “What?!” ��“I was in a bit of a hurry,” Dean excuses. “I think Vicodin girl walked in on a dead shapeshifter.” “Please tell me you covered our tracks,” his brother pleads. “I didn’t have time for that, Sam! For all I knew I could have been working on a fucking time schedule here! I didn’t know where you were, if you were alive!” he explains, frantically. “Okay, just chill out. You did take our stuff with you, right?” Sam supposes. “Let me think. Who had the car again!?” Dean returns. “You left my laptop in the room?!” Sam exclaims, freaking out. “All our documents, our records, everything is on that computer!” “I wasn’t thinking straight, okay?! I thought you were dead!” Dean shouts back. “At least tell me you brought Dad’s journal,” Sam asserts. He doesn’t need an answer; when he watches Dean’s expression go blank, he knows enough. “Dean, you didn’t,” Sam sighs and runs his hands through his hair frustrated. “We need to get back in there,” Dean states, determined. “Are you nuts? There are cops all over that place!” Sam reminds him. “Everything we know, everything Dad knows, is in that journal. Names, addresses, phone numbers, you have any idea how many people are gonna get in trouble if that book falls into the wrong hands?!” Sam sums up, his voice raised.

Before Sam can continue the argument, Dean’s Rock N’ Roll ringtone cuts through the tension. Irritated, he rummages around in his pocket and takes out his phone. He checks the display before he picks up; he doesn’t know the number. “Hello?” “Hey, Birdbrain.” He recognizes that voice, even though the sounds in the background are so loud that he has difficulty understanding her. He rolls his eyes skyward. “Zo, not now. I have a little bit of a situation here.” “You mean that you left everything you own except for that damn car of yours in the Deep Purple Inn, which just got stormed by the cops?”

Dean stares at the road ahead, flabbergasted. “How the fuck do you know that?” “Because I was just there.” “You were there?” he repeats stunned. Frowning, Sam looks over at his brother, trying to make out what Zoë is saying. “That lizard took my Macbook and my phone up to your room, I had to get it back. Nice job tidying up the place, by the way.” “I was a little busy saving everyone’s ass!” Dean returns. “I went through a hell of a lot of trouble to get your things, but I’ll be happy to dump them alongside the road somewhere if you don’t drop that attitude. Do you want your shit back or not?”

Silence. Dean curses under his breath, turning the speaker away from his mouth so that the huntress doesn’t pick up on it. He absolutely despises it when he’s forced to take a knee. “Yes,” he growls, grinding his teeth while pronouncing the simple three letter word. “I’m gonna make sure I’m out of the state before I pull over, considering shapeshifter-me shot up an entire bar and I just entered the crime scene of my own murder. I advise you to do the same thing.” “Copy that,” Dean agrees. “And our stuff?” “You’ve got my number. Give me a call in a few days.” “Can’t we just meet up somewhere in Iowa?” he proposes. “No can do, I’m heading to Arkansas for a haunting. Not sure how long that’s gonna take. Leave the state, lay low and call me in a few days, got that?” Dean sighs, rolling his eyes. Seems like he doesn’t have a choice. “Got it.” “Oh, and for the sake of public health, when you cross the state border, take a shower at the first truck stop.” With those words, she disconnects. Dean looks down at the phone and scoffs. Un-fucking-believable. “She has our stuff?” Sam has been staring at him all this time, it’s just now that Dean looks him in the eye. “Unfortunately,” Dean confirms and looks in the rear view mirror, before he turns back on the road and hits the gas.

They pass 6th Street Southwest, which is swarming with police. Sam straightens his back, glad that they don’t have to deal with it. He just hopes this isn’t going to come back and bite Dean in the ass later. “That’s murder number two on your police record,” Sam comments. “You sound like Dad,” the older brother mutters. “No, I don’t,” Sam argues. The corner of Dean’s mouth pulls up. “You’d be surprised how much you’re like the old man,” he remarks. Sam changes the subject. “So, what’s our plan?” Dean shrugs, his right hand on the wheel, his left hand in his lap, unburdening his hurting shoulder. He doesn’t take his eyes from the road as he drives south, down highway 63. “According to Sullivan, we should lay low for a few days.” “Sounds fine to me,” Sam agrees. “Where are we going next?” “Arkansas,” Dean announces. The younger Winchester glances aside at his brother. “Why Arkansas?” Dean returns a smug grin. Sam knows that look, he has seen it way too many times. “You’re gonna follow her, aren’t you?” he presumes. “You actually think I’m gonna wait until she has some spare time in her agenda?” Dean chuckles.

It’s not often, but Sam actually agrees with him. They have better things to do, like finding Dad and hunting down the bastard that killed Mom and his girlfriend; he’s going to need the journal and his laptop for that. “Arkansas it is then.” Dean turns up the volume when the first tunes from Cliff Williams’ guitar comes through the speakers. Putting the pedal to the metal, he joins in with the drums and he can’t help but nod his head slightly on the beat. Bon Scott’s peculiar scratchy voice belts out the first verse and the driver gladly joins him. He doesn’t care that his brother shakes his head disapprovingly. There’s just no way he can let AC/DC’s Highway To Hell go by without singing along.

No stop signs, speed limit Nobody's gonna slow me down Like a wheel, gonna spin it Nobody's gonna mess me 'round

Hey Satan, payin' my dues Playin' in a rockin' band Hey momma, look at me I'm on my way to the Promised Land

I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell

Thank you for reading. I appreciate every single one of you, but if you do want to give me some extra love, you are free to like or reblog my work, shoot me a message or buy me coffee (Link to Kofi in bio at the top of the page).

Start on episode two here

The Sullivan Series tags: @a-gir1-has-n0-name @destielhoneybee @fookinghelljensensthighs @laphirablack @magssteenkamp

Wanna be on the taglist? Shoot me a message!

66 notes · View notes

trensu · 5 years

Text

Episode 30: The One where LWJ Wishes Jin Zixun Would STFU and Die Already

Okay, so we’re still in Yiling

Non-wangxiantics stuff happens

Unimportant nonsense happens

Ooooh, jc just appeared, looking awesome in purple robes as usual

Turns out he’s helped jyl sneak away so she can show off her wedding robes to wwx!!! And we get some wonderful Yunmeng Sib time!! I LOVE MY YUNMENG SIBS SO MUCH

OMG

Wwx’s face when he sees her in her wedding robes

HIS EYES WELLED UP WITH TEARS. SHE LOOKS SO PRETTY.

Jyl: i’m getting married, i wanted to show you my wedding robes!

wwx:*choked up* yeah, i heard you were getting married…(he’s looks so emotional here omg)

Jc: who told you?!

(he says this all snappishly bc of course he does, this is jc we’re talking about)

Wwx: None of your business! *scowls*

LOL SO DEFENSIVE, WWX. what’s the matter?? You don’t want to tell your sibs about your recent date with lwj?? How you showed him your home??? hoW YOU DISCOVERED YOU WANTED TO CO-DAD CHILDREN WITH HIM????

Ah, brothers…

Jyl calms them down before they could get too into it tho bc she’s a good big sister and knows her little brothers well

Jyl: i came alone tho, so you can’t see the groom today

Wwx: *pouts* i don’t want to see the groom at all

I can’t get over the way wwx keeps looking at her. HE LOVES HIS SISTER SO MUCH. HE’S SO HAPPY FOR HER

Lol, both of them tell her how beautiful she looks and she’s all it doesn’t count when you guys say it bc you’re my little brothers and it’s my wedding so you have to be nice to me

So now we get the obligatory soup time with the yunmeng sibs

And AHHHHHH, JYL JUST ASKED WWX TO COME UP WITH A COURTESY NAME

And wwx is all, “for who???”

And jc says, for my future nephew!! And he looks so damn pleased and proud when he says it. JC WANTS TO BE AN UNCLE SO BAD me too jc, me too

Wwx: hmmm, well, the next generation for the jin clan is “ru” so how about jin rulan?

Jc: jin rulan? It sounds like the lan clan. Why should a kid of the jiang clan and jin clan be called “rulan”??

Omg jc sounds so offended here; chill out bro

Wwx: it’s not that bad if it’s from the lan clan all right? Lan means orchid, a gentry amongst flowers! ALSO MY SOULMATE IS FROM THE LAN CLAN SO THERE

Wwx sounded all sulky here, like RULAN IS A GREAT NAME, HOW DARE YOU

Jyl cuts in before there could be any bloodshed with, oh yeah, having you come up with the courtesy name was jc’s idea

The look jc gives her is one of utter betrayal like, why’d you have to go and tell him that? HE CAN’T KNOW I WAS BEING NICE TO HIM, GOD.

They all have much more sibling time together but since there’s no more wangxiantics we’re gonna skip over it (EVEN THO IT HURTS ME TO DO SO BC I LOVE MY YUNMENG SIBS AND I WANT TO SEE THEM HAPPY AND TOGETHER FOREVER)

We cut to the Burial Mounds where there’s a Wen family dinner going on

Wwx is all spacey bc he misses his sibs so much but manages to distract EVERYONE from it by making grand declarations and generally being an over-the-top Drama Bi.

WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS LET THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU TAKE CARE OF YOU LET THEM TRY TO MAKE YOU HAPPY STOP MAKING YOURSELF MISERABLE OMG

A-Yuan time!

Wen ning saved some of jyl’s soup to give to a-yuan!

He gives a-yuan a taste of the soup and a-yuan’s all “delicious! One more spoon!”

And after wen ning gives him more, he’s like, ONE MORE SPOON!

PRECIOUS, HE’S PRECIOUS AND SO CUTE

Then we get some Sad Times in the Demon-Subdue Palace where wwx has the saddest series of flashbacks ever

the promise he made to JC (twin heroes of yunmeng!!) that he didn’t keep

and then the oath on the lantern (always stand with justice and live without regrets) which he half-keeps

and then his declaration in the rain with lwj (if i should be killed, let it be by you) which he will keep BUT WE’RE NOT GONNA THINK ABOUT THAT

HE’S SO SADDDDDD

I’M SO SADDDDDDDDDDDDD

THERE’S SADNESS EVERYWHERE

Gross, now we’re in lanling, fastforwarding through that nonsense

Now we’re back at the burial mounds and get more A-YUAN TIME!!

Uh oh, a-yuan just murdered a lotus sprout

He’s all, what’s this?? And yanks the poor thing out of the mudpit it was growing in

Wwx yells at him: WHAT ARE YOU DOING

And a-yuan starts crying and wwx looks like he wants to start bawling too

Wen qing kind of tells him off

a-yuan’s a little kid and doesn’t know better, she says

Wwx gets this defeated look about him and says it’s fine, i see that it’s not meant to be now

LIKE, HE’S JUST RESIGNED THAT HE CAN NEVER HAVE ANYTHING FROM HOME EVER AGAIN?

HE CAN’T EVEN HAVE ONE STUPID LOTUS PLANT BC OF COURSE HE CAN’T HE DOESN’T DESERVE IT

MY POOR PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY

After a little adorable convo with wen qing, a-yuan goes to comfort wwx in his cave

A-yuan: i’m sorry i made a mistake. Wq says if you miss your sister, you should go see her

Wwx: she’s so far away...i won’t go

A-yuan: hmmm, you should become a bird and fly over there!

AND THEN THEY PRETEND TO BE FLYING BIRDS AND IT’S SO CUTE

But wwx is still sad inside :(

Now we get a time skip!

~ONE YEAR LATER~

Wwx overhears a bunch of gossipy cultivators talking about how the jin clan is doing a one-month celebration of baby Jin Rulan!!

WWX IS OVERWHELMED WITH JOY

HIS EYES ARE ALL TEARY AGAIN

AND HE’S LIKE, DID YOU HEAR THAT WEN NING? MY SISTER HAD A BABY! I HAVE A NEPHEW!!

Wen Ning is a supportive bro so he’s all congratulations!!!

And then wwx gets all the happiness gets drained out of him when he remembers that he has no official ties to either clan so he’ll probably never get to see his nephew ever

We cut to Lanling, where i guess guests are arriving for the upcoming celebration

We don’t really care about any of these people

EXCEPT THAT ZEWU-JUN AND HANGUANG-JUN’S ARRIVAL IS ANNOUNCED

AND WE’RE GONNA LISTEN TO LWJ TALK ABOUT HIS BELOVED SOULMATE

Unfortunately he’s talking to asshole cousin jz, fuck that guy

Lwj: since all of his seniors are invited to the first-month celebration, wei ying should also be invited as he is the baby’s senior too

Lwj says this all respectfully, gaze steadily forward and not looking directly at anyone

Jz: you want us to invite wwx even tho he’s the enemy of all four clans??

JFC IF SOMEONE COULD’VE JUST KILLED THIS GUY WE COULD’VE AVOIDED AT LEAST A QUARTER OF THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE NOW

Lol, lwj glares at jz SO HARD the minute jz calls wwx the enemy; i’m surprised the asshole didn’t drop dead on the spot

Lwj: not an enemy.

Jz: not an enemy? Do you have such a shitty memory that you don’t remember what happened in qiongqi way? Do i need to remind you?

NO LWJ NEEDS YOU TO STFU

Also, HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HANGUANG-JUN THAT WAY??

Lxc: what wangji said isn’t wrong. Wwx hasn’t caused any trouble since he took off to the burial mounds.

Jz: what, you’re taking the traitor’s side too zewu-jun?

You know, i was almost proud of lxc for finally siding with wwx and lwj

But the minute jz throws that accusation, you can see him start to pull back, WTF LXC

So now, since apparently having to deal with JZ wasn’t horrible enough, we get jgs and jgy on the scene, yuck

Jz gives them a summary of the conversation

Oh, i forgot to mention jzx has been here the whole time too but he’s basically useless bc he never shuts up his cousin

Jgy is all like, ah, hanguang-jun is being kind but perhaps inviting wwx is not the best idea ever

And jz is all well, I heard that he went to the burial mounds but no one knows why he went there!

Lwj: to visit an old friend

LWJ IS NOT ASHAMED OF VISITING WWX. HE DOESN’T CARE IF THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS HE WENT THERE TO VISIT HIS SOULMATE

Jz: an old friend?! Wwx is a ruthless killer! Everyone wants him dead! Why do you have a friend like him?

I HATE THIS GUY SO MUCH

Lwj: when did he kill ruthlessly? Please tell us exactly.

DAAAMMN, LOOK AT MY BOY GO!

Jzx finally cuts in here and shuts them both up

He approaches his dad and is like, yeah okay so wwx killed some of our guys before and he’s kind of rebellious or whatever but like hanguang-jun said, he hasn’t done anything wrong for a whole year!

Then he goes on to show us that he’s completely whipped for his wife (AS HE SHOULD BE) by saying, also, since wwx has seceded from the jiang clan, jyl hasn’t been able to see him and she still misses him very much!!

Jzx: it’s a good opportunity to bring him back

His asshole cousin is all, are you crazy??

WILL THIS GUY EVER SHUT UP, OH MY GOD.

But thankfully lxc puts in his two cents!

Lxc: jzx makes a good point. If wwx intends to change and return to the right path again, it’s a good thing!

Jgs starts droning on and on about stuff i don’t give a damn about and lwj throws him the dirtiest of looks the whole time lol

But he more or less agrees to let wwx come on the condition that he turns in Plot Device 2

And jgy is like, SWEET, we can write him a letter telling him he’s invited but he must come alone (BC THAT AIN’T SKETCHY AF) and then once he’s here we can tactfully request he give me, i mean, the jin clan Plot Device 2

Lwj was looking concerned basically the minute jgy started talking but here he chimes in

Lwj: what will you do if he refuses?

BC HE KNOWS WWX IS NOT GONNA HAND THAT THING OVER TO THE JIN CLAN BC THEY’RE A BUNCH OF SLIMY SKEEVY BASTARDS

Then jgy does that thing where he replies without actually answering the question

Jgy: hanguang-jun, why are you so pessimistic? Wwx is not evil or vicious! (FUCK YOU JGY, WE ALREADY KNOW HE’S NOT EVIL OR VICIOUS, NO THANKS TO YOU) i’m sure if we talk it out, he’ll be reasonable and make the right choice!

Oh, thankfully, lxc answers the question properly

Lxc: even if wwx disagrees, he can go back to the burial mounds as long as he promises not to kill any innocents

Which, wwx would definitely promise that bc he’s never killed an innocent person IN HIS LIFE

BC UNLIKE THE JIN CLAN BASTARDS HE HAS INTEGRITY AND A FULLY FUNCTIONING CONSCIENCE

Jgy: hanguang-jun, can we bother you with the errand of writing the letter?

LOL

Jgy says that and we immediately see lxc smile at his little brother

Like, heck yeah, bro you have the chance to talk to your soulmate now! (LXC is trying to win back his greatest wingman title lol)

Ofc lwj keeps his face blank, but he bows and says yes

BC HECK YEAH HE GETS TO DELIVER GOOD NEWS TO HIS SOULMATE

HE’LL BE ABLE TO MAKE WWX SMILE

OFC HE’S GONNA BE ALL OVER THAT!

And that’s the last of the wangxiantics for this episode. Not a lot of them this time around, and none with shared screen time

But you know what

That’s okay

Bc this shows that they’re always on each other’s minds EVEN AFTER A WHOLE YEAR APART!!

Return to Masterpost

#WangXiantics #wangxian #the untamed #cql

50 notes · View notes

recurring-polynya · 5 years

Text

I try to make this Tumblr a place for my truest friends, those nice people who read my fanfiction, to get bonus content. I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, on a wave of inspiration. It’s an expansion of an event that came up in Between Tides – Renji breaking his arm back in Inuzuri. This will eventually be a flashback in a larger story, but not for a while, so this is sort of like a preview. (mmmaybe The Heart is a Muscle p6? I am mid-p4 now).

Anyway, here’s a sad story about Inuzuri, dirtbag teens in love, and back-alley surgery. I heard you like flashbacks, dawg, so I put some flashbacks inside of the flashbacks.

Rated T for some gruesome imagery and one cuss. You don’t have to have read any of my previous work, although I guess this contains some mild spoilers for the Heart is a Muscle.

As usual, @diademchiofthetripod made it better for me, particularly the beginning, but if there are parts that are still bad, those are mine.

In later years, when she recalled The Accident (which she usually tried not to), Rukia always thought of herself as the stupid one, but really, she wasn’t doing anything much stupider than usual.

She saw the man’s lead pipe, of course; dull and heavy, hanging by his side. It was a serious weapon in Inuzuri, and he was a large man with a mean face, but he was also sloppy drunk, and his money pouch was beyond tempting, only loosely tied to his belt. She had made it ten paces away, nearly across the street, when she felt the hand clamp onto her arm like an iron band. What she had failed to notice was that her mark had a partner.

Said partner had one hand tight on her neck, the other twisting her own hands painfully behind her back, while the mark tapped the pipe in his hand and slurred out all the things he was going to do to her after he split her head like a melon. Rukia was running numbers, examining possibilities, playing out scenarios for escaping.

It was not looking good.

The man raised the pipe.

Rukia squeezed her eyes shut.

It was the worst sound she had ever heard in her life to date, a meaty crunch, the shattering of bone. Later in her life, there would be worse sounds, the sound of a sword sliding through flesh, the sound of an Arrancar’s Resurrección. But this was bad enough.

Rukia also had a partner, a loud boy with a stupid amount of red hair, who had just interposed himself between Rukia and the lead pipe. Wait. That was incorrect. He was not a boy any more. This was, in fact, the exact moment when she stopped thinking of him as a boy. He towered over almost everyone she knew in this town, this awful place where everyone and thing was stunted and twisted. His shoulders were wide and strong, despite never getting enough to eat. He had not been a boy for a while.

Right now, the air around him boiled. The lead pipe was bent ridiculously over his forearm. Rukia could not see her rescuer’s face, only his broad back, and past his shoulder, the wide eyes of the man with the leadpipe. Then, Renji growled out what the terrified man could do with himself, and clocked him in the face with a left cross before whirling on Rukia’s captor.

The partner was startled by the arrival of this flame-haired monster, and Rukia slipped his grip, kicked the man in the nards, and beat it. She was not abandoning her partner, she would never. This was standard protocol. They had stayed alive in this brutish place for over eight years by being small and quiet and very, very quick. They would need some new strategies, Rukia, realized, because Renji was no longer small and quiet. He was still quick though, she could hear his heavy footfalls behind her, feel his presence in her wake in a way that, as far as she knew, only the two of them could do. She was glad he had stuck to the old standard operating procedures, too, even though he now very well qualified as one of the brute class.

She ducked between some decrepit buildings, under some hanging laundry, around the stench of the tanner’s, and skidded to a halt in a dank alley illuminated by a thin shaft of dirty sunlight.

For a long moment, she breathed in and out, watching the dust motes hanging in the air, afraid to turn around.

“Rukia… are… are you alright?” Renji panted behind her.

She slowly turned. He was cradling his right arm in his left.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Let me see it.”

She should have called him an idiot, a moron. Could he not find a weapon, a stick, anything, rather than his own precious body to put between her and certain death?

“It doesn’t look all that bad,” he admitted, experimentally holding it out for examination.

It looked terrible. It should have been a bruised lump of blood and pulp, but instead, it just looked wrong. The bones were not in the places where arm bones should be, nor were they the right shape, but the skin was miraculously unbroken. He could move it around and flex his hand well enough, although this caused things to shift around sickeningly beneath his skin. The entire arm was slowly turning a deep purple.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yeah, it hurts pretty bad.”

“Dammit, Renji,” Rukia glowered at him.

The look in his eyes was sheepish through the pain, and her heart twisted in her chest. Why did she always have to be so impulsive, so stupid? Why?

* * *

Rukia hated taking so much of the food, but she and Renji might need it and Fujimaru didn’t. Mameji was sick again, so Rukia left some for him, though they weren’t sure whether it actually helped. It seemed like he was through the worst of this spell, but she didn’t want to take any chances, as if waking up in Inuzuri every morning didn’t constitute taking a chance.

“Make him stay in bed for at least two days after he seems better,” she ordered Fujimaru, as if he didn’t know this, as if they hadn’t all been through this a dozen times now. “Thank you for staying with him.”

“Whatever,” Fujimaru said glumly, his eyes glued to the mangled mess of Renji’s arm.

Renji was uncharacteristically quiet. They had already had the argument, screaming through the night, and he had lost. Renji was the biggest of them, the strongest. His stoicism meant nothing, the gang depended on him. They had to try to get it fixed.

There was a healer, more of an apothecary, really, who lived up in 76. Seeking medical attention was a valid reason to get a travel pass, but they lacked the finances for the bribe, so they traveled by stealth instead.

Rukia and Renji went up to 77 all the time for thievery purposes. They were too well known in Inuzuri, and also, there was better stuff to steal up there. They didn’t take the others with them, not anymore. One border crossing was a calculated risk, less so when you could use your spiritual pressure to lighten your feet and keep air in your lungs. Two was exponentially more dangerous. When you arrived in Soul Society, they branded a number on your soul with demon magic. The penalty for being caught in a place that didn’t match that number was supposed to be a second death, but the vile souls that passed for law enforcement down here would probably find some much worse things to do to you first. One district away meant safety was only a mad dash for the border to get you back where you belong. Two districts was something else entirely.

Rukia tried not to think about how Renji had made this journey once before, in the middle of the night, with herself, dying, tied to his back. She imagined he didn’t like to think about that much, either. She had been gored by a wild boar, out in the woods, her side ripped open. Renji had stopped the bleeding with his spiritual energy, a feat that he had not been able to reproduce, nor did he wish to, because it hadn’t healed anything, only burned the wound closed. The old apothecary had apparently had to tear her open again, and sew everything back together with needle and thread and his own meager healing abilities, while Renji looked on and held down her convulsing body.

The old man was not a kind man or even a good man. He did not work on charity cases, but he saw a strong young man who could read and write and even do a few figures, so Renji spent the next six weeks working off his debt, collecting payment from deadbeats on top of a little light bookkeeping and writing out prescriptions, while Rukia slowly recovered in the back room.

Renji could have stayed. Rukia was listening at the door when the man offered to get him a work pass. A work pass, the value was immeasurable. “They’ll let you keep the girl with you, if you tell ‘em she’s your wife,” Rukia remembers the apothecary saying, the words burned into her brain, and for a moment, her head swam with possibility. Renji was always trying to gain steady employment, but there was little to be had in Inuzuri. This work was mildly unsavory, but hardly the worst thing they’d ever done. She hadn’t seen much of life in District 76, but surely it had to be miles above 78.

“Thank you,” he had said quietly. “But I got friends depending on me back home.”

“You’re a moron,” the man told him.

Renji never mentioned it to her and she wasn’t about to admit she’d been eavesdropping. She agreed with his decision, it was absolutely the correct one. Still, it sat heavy and dark in the pit of her stomach, the idea of what he had given up, alongside the guilty feeling that some part of her, no matter how briefly, had wanted him to agree to it, especially the part where she got to stay too.

After that, she asked him to teach her to read and write, a crusade he’d given up on after years of her rudely brushing him off. She could still do neither as well as he could, although, she realized with a sick feeling, that it was his right arm that was broken, his writing arm. She hoped she could be as valuable to the old apothecary as Renji had been.

But when they reached the shop, it was run down and in ill-repair. The apothecary, whose name was Kitajima, looked old, very old. One could theoretically live forever in Soul Society, but most souls become worn down eventually, and once the degradation began, the end usually came on quickly.

“Barely have any business these days,” he grumbled. “Don’t need any help.”

Fortunately, for as poorly as the job turned out, Rukia had managed to make off with three silver coins from that asshole with the lead pipe. The apothecary’s rheumy eyes locked on them. “I will take a look,” he agreed.

“As I told you the last time you were here,” the old man growled at Renji as he examined the arm, “You have the demon magic in you. The shinigami use it to cast spells, but also to push their bodies past what is normally possible. Like a fool, you have done this without proper training. You have broken and healed yourself simultaneously, but with no skill, and you have made a hash of it.”

“I wasn’t trying,” Renji pointed out plaintively.

“Can you repair it?” Rukia asked.

“I can rebreak it,” Kitajima replied, addressing Renji only, as though Rukia didn’t even exist, “and set the pieces properly. It will take all your silver. I will need the girl to help. It will be terrible.”

The more powerful painkillers had been sold off long ago, so Kitajima gave Renji some willow bark tea before they started, and optimistically suggested that he would probably pass out very quickly. Rukia had seen Renji take a lot of damage before, and had an awful sense that this cheerful prediction was not to come true.

The things that happened next are best glossed over. But when it was finished, Rukia sat with Renji’s sleeping head in her lap, smoothing his hair back from his sweat-glazed forehead. Kitajima was trying to give her instructions, but her head still spun from the horror of it all.

The old man would not bear the risk of harboring souls outside of their home districts, not this time. As soon as Renji could stand, they needed to leave.

It was likely that Renji would be set upon by fever. Kitajima pressed a few more packets of tea into Rukia’s hand. It might help. If she could not keep the fever down, it would likely kill him.

There was one last thing. The old man took her wrist in one withered claw. “There are ducts in the arm. They are not real. They cannot be seen without the second sight. It is how the demon magic runs through your body, from your heart to your hands. His were injured, possibly ruined. I have fixed his bones, but this cannot be fixed.”

“I understand,” Rukia replied, even though she didn’t, not really. Later, she would see pictures in textbooks, and truly understand what he had lost.

The fever set in even before they left, but the old man’s good will had worn out, and it was nightfall, the best time for going, so they went. Renji’s temperature increased steadily as they moved south, sticking to the treeline, away from where people lived. His eyes were bright and wild, and he spoke of things that didn’t make any sense, a farm, a mother, a pet dog.

Rukia couldn’t decide whether it was better to stop frequently, to give Renji rest and a chance to drink his medicine, or if it was more important to get him home, to a roof and a blanket and most importantly, safety. She compromised by dragging him through the night, his huge bulk leaning more and more heavily on her shoulder, until they crossed the Inuzuri border, where they collapsed together in a pile of dead leaves under a big oak. The sun was coming up, and the bare branches of the tree did little to block its rays, but Renji fell unconscious almost immediately.

Rukia rested, but she did not allow herself to sleep. Renji was burning up. Maybe the sleep would help, maybe it wouldn’t. She wanted to bathe his forehead, but she needed to conserve their clean water to mix with his medicine. She thought about searching for a stream, but she was terrified to take her eyes off him, even knowing there wasn’t a thing she could do if he took a bad turn. It was a chilly day at least, and she wished for cold breezes, even as she shivered.

She wanted to be furious with him. How dare he even think about trading his life for hers, as though outliving your friends was some sort of mercy! But she couldn’t stay angry. She knew, she had known since they put Kosaburou in the ground, that she had it in her to push onward though sorrow, through despair. But Renji had anchored himself to her, even moreso than the others, although he would never admit it. When she died, so would go the thin threads of common sense and self-preservation that tied him to this plane. He wasn’t the depressed type, at least she didn’t think he was, but he would just keep doing progressively stupider and riskier things until he’d finally earned his lottery card for meeting up with her again in the World of the Living.

Luckily, after a few hours, his fever broke, and not long after that, he woke. Rukia propped him up against the trunk of the tree, and made him eat one of their sour, wrinkly apples while she heated his tea with her demon magic, as the old man had called it.

“When did you learn to make heat with it?” Renji croaked. “Can you teach me?”

“You have to get better first,” she replied gently.

“Ru– Ru– Rukia, I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“You dumbass,” she chided him. “It was me. I was the one who was stupid.”

“We– we both need to be more careful,” he wheezed.

She studied his face. There was the faintest shadow of stubble on his jaw. He wasn’t a boy anymore. “No, I think that’s wrong,” she replied. “Being careful isn’t going to save us. Enough people saw you block a lead pipe with your bare arm. That’s a good start for a reputation. We would be foolish to waste it. It’s time to stop sneaking and skulking, and be bold and brash instead, to take this town for all its worth.”

He leaned his head back against the tree. “Can we start… tomorrow?”

Rukia laughed, and brought over his tea. When she bent to give it to him, a bold and brash thought seized her, and as his hands took the cup from hers, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He froze completely, his muscles locked in something like rigor mortis. She knew, with utter certainty, that his brain had abruptly devoted 100% of its processing cycles toward not dropping that tea.

This was the second time she had kissed him. The first had been many years prior. Inuzuri was a bad place for children, and girls in particular. Rukia had decided early on that, even if it wasn’t necessarily good, she wanted her first kiss to be freely given, and with someone she thought fondly of. She had carefully considered all four boys; any of them would have sufficed. Kosaburou would be gentle and thoughtful about it. Fujimaru, cheerful and easy going. Mameji would take the obligation very seriously, and never tell a soul. And then there was Renji. Grumpy. Pessimistic. She wasn’t even entirely sure he liked girls– he scolded the other boys any time they had “romantic notions,” as he put it, and he stiffened like a board if he thought she was going to touch him. Perhaps, like a cat, she was drawn to him because of the discomfort she sparked, but he was the one her heart settled on. She cornered him under a different tree, one summer morning when the others had already headed down to the river for some fishing.

“I want to kiss you,” she informed him. “Just the once, not a regular thing. Is that all right?”

His eyebrows drew together. “Why me?”

“I like your hair,” she replied, the first thing that popped into her head.

He contemplated this for a minute, then shut his eyes and clenched up his entire body, like he was ready to take a punch. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“You can just say no if you don’t want to,” Rukia replied. “You look really, uh, nervous about it.”

He took a deep breath in and out through his nose, and then his face relaxed, if not the rest of him. “Naw, it’s okay. I want you to. Go ahead.”

Rukia didn’t actually know much about how kissing worked, so she just sort of pressed her face up against his, their lips and noses squishing together uncomfortably. When what she gauged to be the correct amount of time had passed, she retreated again. “Did I do okay?” she asked.

Renji’s gaze was unfocused and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. “Yeah, it was nice,” he agreed, his voice sounding very far away. She suspected he was just trying to be kind.

“Let’s go fishing,” she said, and then he chased her down to the river like nothing at all had happened.

Rukia had observed a few more kisses since then, and had a better idea of how it was supposed to go, although Renji was no more helpful. She squeezed his fingers gently as she backed away.

“You saved me,” she said very quietly. “The hero is supposed to get a kiss.”

“Rukia,” he murmured, staring into the cloudy tea, unable to meet her eyes. “You shouldn’t’ve. We can’t.”

“You don’t want to,” she suggested.

“That’s… untrue,” he managed, and took a sip of his tea.

“Then why can’t we?”

“It would be unfair. The others…”

“I love all of them! I love all of you!” Rukia proclaimed, and Renji stiffened. That was the true sin, not kissing, but loving, in this forsaken place. They never said that word, none of them, not even once. But they had lost Kosaburou already, and everyone knew Mameji’s cough was never going to go away, and being careful wasn’t going to save any of them. Rukia swallowed. “But you’re the one I want to kiss.”

Renji squeezed his eyes shut and drank more of his tea. It wasn’t fair of her to do this to him while he was in tremendous pain, but she had almost lost him, she could still lose him. The fever might return, the wound might sour. And even if he recovered, there was the next heist, the next lead pipe, the next boar. Rukia felt seized with the need to make the most of every minute in between.

Renji sat back, rubbing at his splinted arm ruefully. He looked awful, pale and hollow-eyed and clammy with old sweat. Rukia loved him so much, she couldn’t stand it. She shouldn’t have said it out loud, she realized. The word was, indeed, a curse, an evil magic spell.

Renji turned his head to the side, pressing his cheek against the bark of the tree. “You’re such a bother, Rukia. You saved my life the first day we met, and you’ve been nothing but trouble to me ever since.”

“I know,” she replied.

“Can I go back to sleep, or do we need to get moving again?”

“You can sleep for a bit if you like, but you’ll be more comfortable back at the squat.”

“I’m comfortable enough here.”

He closed his eyes, and Rukia wondered if he was going to sleep like that, propped up against the tree. After a minute, though, he opened them again.

“If you want to kiss me now and again, I suppose that would be all right,” he pronounced with an air of finality. “But I kinda feel like shit right now, so maybe we could start that tomorrow, too.”

#renruki #bleach fanfiction #my writing #inuzuri times #maybe a 6 on the ol' feels-o-meter

41 notes · View notes

miss-musings · 5 years

Text

A Hellstrop look at 4.03

Going through it scene-by-scene:

Opening scene, these two are looking domestic AF -- outside, sharing some coffee (presumably), which makes me think of their matching coffee cups at the airport at the end of 3.05. I also find it interesting that they’re plotting their day together, rather than with the rest of the Soul Squad. Just reiterates what I said earlier -- Eleanor and Michael are co-leading (or co-parenting) this Good Place Experiment 2.0.

So, then. Eleanor brings up what a dork Chidi is, which Michael also laughs pretty heartily at. It’s when she remarks on how much she loves him, that Michael changes the subject.

“It’s so great he erased his memory,” Michael says... almost like he’s happy that he gets to spend less time with Chidi and more time with Eleanor. But, then he sees the look on Eleanor’s face, and he quickly remarks how he’s always cognizant of how Chidi electing to erase his memories has caused Eleanor pain. He specifically says that he always thinks about it and he’s respectful of Chidi’s sacrifice. Hmmm....

Then, when Chidi approaches, all chipper and blissfully unaware of who exactly they are to him, Michael is practically beaming.

In the office scene right after the ‘coffee date,’ as it were, Michael -- who has known Chidi through 803 reboots and during his two-year reboot on Earth in the new timeline, says that he’s never seen Chidi so relaxed before. Huh. And, then of course, he -- very rightly, I will clarify -- says that Chidi needs to be tortured in order to become a better person. OK. Eleanor’s on board with it, and she’s very gung-ho about using her ‘torturing ex-boyfriend skills’ for Chidi’s betterment.

I also find it interesting that Michael (and Eleanor) decide to turn to Jason for help in torturing Chidi. Wouldn’t they be afraid that Jason could accidentally give the whole thing away? Also, Jason seems to like Chidi and says himself that he’s coming off the heels of a rough break-up and maybe isn’t the right person for the job. But, of course, they know exactly how effective Jason will be at making Chidi miserable enough to decide to better himself, so they pursue it anyway.

I think the whole crux of the episode, as we’ll talk about more later, is that Eleanor is acting kind of petty with this whole ‘motivating Chidi via torture’ thing. While everyone -- even Michael -- says it’s time to let up, she’s like no, let’s keep going until he’s straight-up miserable. It’s almost like that whole “If I can’t have you, no one can.” Eleanor has grown a lot, but she’s still clearly vindictive toward her ex-boyfriend for “abandoning” her, even though he did it in an act of self-sacrifice.

When Michael and Eleanor visit Stressed!Chidi, they’re wearing matching sweater / bow tie. So cute!!! When they wear matching blues and pinks and purples, it’s usually pretty subtle. But, this was VERY obvious, thanks to that bright shade of yellow. I wonder if any of the residents ever wonder if these two Architects are a ~couple~. Like, they don’t know how Architects’ lives work. Maybe. Who knows?

Also, Michael seems to be very happy to see Chidi being tortured again. And then of course the little fist-bump between them. :)

At the luau, Michael and Eleanor are wearing matching leis!

So... who’s idea was it to create the helpful Magic Ants? Michael seems to have control over them, since Eleanor tells him to call them. Also, even though we didn’t get the scene, I would’ve loved to have seen Michael and Eleanor drinking champagne in their shared co-Architects’ office, because they are the co-parents of this neighborhood. But, damn, Chidi’s torture is to the point where Michael’s saying they need to ease off and Eleanor’s even more gung-ho. And I love the little touch of Eleanor moving to Michael’s side whenever Chidi comes into the office. Rather than moving closer to Chidi, she moves closer to Michael.

And then THE ANTS SHOW UP! Did Michael already mentally summon them with his demon powers???

OK, so for the Chidi-almost-confesses-and-Eleanor-breaks-down scene:

I know I’m not the first to point this out, but I love how, even when Michael is facing Chidi and talking to him, his body is still pointed at Eleanor. I feel like I remember some random tidbit back in my hardcore dating days. If you’re standing in a group (circle or semi-circle) of people, and you want to see who someone’s the most interested in, look at where their feet are pointed. I feel like this is actually kind of worthless when it comes to trying to figure out whether your crush actually likes you or whatever, BUT, I think it’s a point worth making here.

And, of course, their blocking reinforces everything this season has given us so far. Eleanor is in charge; Michael is her ‘assistant’ / co-Architect; and Chidi is THEIR subject now. He’s no longer an equal. Michael and Eleanor are really the equals here, even though Eleanor and Chidi are supposed to be our couple. It’s sad, really, and as much as I love Eleanor and Chidi, I’m very curious as to how the show is going to give us their romance again considering they now have a very unbalanced dynamic. (Unless they somehow give Chidi his memories back, which I’m not sure if that’s even possible.)

“And this is the Universe getting back at me” -- not the Universe, buddy. Just a bitter ex-girlfriend.

And that fact that Chidi thinks that Eleanor is God (or the God equivalent of this afterlife) just further reinforces how much I feel like we’re not really going to get Chidi and Eleanor as a real couple again. (Unless, again, they give him his memories back.)

So, as Eleanor’s having her little cry, Michael stands by her side, gives her a box of tissues, explains away her remark about how she’d promised to take care of him. And his dialogue again points out that this is Eleanor’s neighborhood. SHE’s the Architect. He’s helping her, sure; but she’s the one calling the shots now. Then, I love how he basically tells Chidi that Chidi’s pain is Eleanor’s pain, and then basically tells Chidi that he will blow up whatever the problem is. LOL

Like “OK, anything that’s causing Eleanor pain is going to get blown up. So, just tell me what it is!” Of course, Michael’s in on the whole thing, but it’s still kinda funny that that’s how he frames it to Chidi.

AND THEN, when Chidi tries to offer his apologies and comfort Eleanor for causing her pain, Michael LITERALLY SHOVES HIM OUT OF THE ROOM!!! “She’ll be fine [as long as you’re not around]!”

LMAO, you guys

So.

Now we come to the “Eleanor figures out why she’s been acting so vicious” scene.

Want to point out that it looks like Michael’s pocket square matches Eleanor’s sweater.

Michael points out that Eleanor & co. were only torturing Chidi because they had to. He basically gives her an out. He says what they were doing was necessary for the experiment, but -- because Eleanor’s grown so much -- she has to verbalize exactly why she did what she did without being prompted.

As we saw with flashbacks in earlier seasons, one of Eleanor’s biggest insecurities was people leaving her. In relationships, she always wanted to be the dump-er not the dump-ee, to the point where she reads Sam’s emails to his dad just so she can get the drop on him before he has the chance to leave her. This time, though, Chidi was the one who left HER, and she was angry, as she says.

Eleanor points out that Chidi is the person she talks to when she’s angry. But, we’ve seen her talk to Michael when she’s been angry, namely in 3.06 when she has her emotional outburst saying “I wanted that mom!” And, just like there, we can see why she prefers to go to Chidi instead of Michael (when she has the option, which wasn’t the case in 3.06), because Michael doesn’t understand human emotion.

“You’re often happy when you should be sad, and angry when you should be happy.”

But, just like last episode, Michael is the one there, comforting her, telling her to get her shirt together because they have work to do, and she’s the only one who can lead them right now. He tells her that she’s entitled to be a little angry, and that she’s on a road to work through it. Which is a much better response than he had for her during her little outburst in 3.06. So, Michael’s growing too, and learning what Eleanor and the rest of the Soul Squad need from him, even though he’s not human and doesn’t understand their emotions.

P.S. Also, after rewatching that clip of the hooded figure making their way to the Good Place experiment, I’m thinking it’s either Shawn or Vicki in the Michael!SkinSuit. It seems to be a person of a taller, broader build, and they seem to be wearing more formal looking shoes. But, that could just be a stand-in and not actually representative of whomever it actually is. But, Vicky-as-Michael seems like the best bet right now, considering that was brought up in the 4.01 “previously on” and hasn’t really been mentioned since. I feel that like that’s a shoe that has to drop at some point soon.

#the good place #eleanor x michael #michael x eleanor #hellstrop #nbc the good place #michael the good place #michael the architect #eleanor shellstrop #the good place spoilers

39 notes · View notes

f4liveblogarchives · 4 years

Text

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #193 & #194

Thur Aug 22 2019 [04:28 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out it Ben and Alicia weren't going on vacation [04:29 PM] Wack'd: Instead, Ben has taken a job at NASA, which means they had to relocate [04:29 PM] Umbramatic: oh [04:32 PM] maxwellelvis: Fitting job that. [04:33 PM] maxwellelvis: Too bad Reed had to give away the Thing-shaped power armor, NASA could have reverse-engineered it to build a new generation of space suit. [04:33 PM] Bocaj: Yeah that’s a cool job for him [04:33 PM] maxwellelvis: I've a feeling Ben's going to be testing the sorts of things that suit would have to endure anyways. [04:34 PM] Bocaj: There was an Untold Tales of Spider-Man where John Jameson was trying to recruit Spider-Man to be an astronaut for NASA [04:34 PM] Bocaj: But NASA changed their mind before John even approached Spiders-Man because they realized that part of space experimentation is testing how humans react to mico gravity and such and Spider-Man is so far out side the norm that they couldn't get that from him [04:37 PM] Wack'd: So quick referesher on this guy: Doom made him and then convinced him he was a mythological Eastern European demon but he learned of the deceit so he turned on Doom

[04:37 PM] Umbramatic: hi darkoth [04:38 PM] Wack'd: Bocaj raises a good point that Ben as a test pilot no longer makes much sense since most pilots aren't 400 pounds and made of rocks [04:39 PM] Wack'd: Darkoth was not expecting to find Ben here. Apparently Darkoth has gone full good guy and is here to stop NASA from doing something dangerous, and Ben from being hurt by it [04:39 PM] Bocaj: Mighty nice of him [04:39 PM] Wack'd: Their new space shuttle is a Bad Thing apparently [04:40 PM] Wack'd: Naturally the army dudes are just like "aaahh!!! real monster" and open fire on Darkoth until he runs away [04:40 PM] Bocaj: Does Darkoth hold his eyes above his head? [04:41 PM] Wack'd: Sadly no [04:42 PM] Wack'd: Ben decides to write off Darkoth's warning because he was made by Doom and thus probably still evil [04:43 PM] Wack'd: What a twist!

[04:43 PM] Wack'd: (Also you can't just say fade out, guys, c'mon) [04:44 PM] maxwellelvis: Hey! [04:45 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile, Sue is making a movie! [04:45 PM] Bocaj: The Fantastic Four have great luck at the movies [04:46 PM] Wack'd:

[04:46 PM] Bocaj: pfft [04:46 PM] Umbramatic: amazing [04:47 PM] Wack'd: ...sure

[04:47 PM] Umbramatic: i do not approve of this polycule [04:47 PM] Bocaj: ........ [04:48 PM] Wack'd: Also Impy's here because of course he is [04:48 PM] Bocaj: ok [04:49 PM] Bocaj: He's a lot more of a ... supporting character in this period than I was aware of him being in any period [04:50 PM] Wack'd: So Ben asks after Desmond Pitt's file [04:51 PM] Wack'd: Here's the rundown: he and Ben flew together in the army, but Desmond's wife got sick, and so he defected to Doctor Doom for a cure. Desmond's wife died a few years back and Demond tried to quit so Doom mutated him into a giant purple monster [04:51 PM] Wack'd: I mean [04:51 PM] Wack'd: Killed him [04:51 PM] Wack'd: Obviously [04:52 PM] Wack'd: Going to have to wait for the characters to catch up on this one unfortunately [04:52 PM] Bocaj: Alas [04:53 PM] Wack'd: Desmond also saved Ben from a fatal crash back in the day, risking his own life to drag Ben from the wreckage [04:53 PM] Wack'd: Another in a long, long line of black men in comics being mutated and experimented on

[04:54 PM] Umbramatic: ew [04:55 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out the reason that Desmond knows that the shuttle is bad is because Doom tinkered with the designs back in the preliminary stages [04:55 PM] Wack'd: So as far as anyone at NASA is concerned, everything is going according to plan [04:55 PM] Bocaj: Doom dammit doom [04:56 PM] Wack'd: Anyway this story needs an actual villain I guess so Diablo shows up, places Desmond under his control with ALCHEMY, and initiates a plan to drop the new shuttle on Doom's head [04:57 PM] Wack'd: Back in NY Reed is enjoying his new job but it's a trap [04:58 PM] Wack'd: We'll circle back to this, probably

[04:59 PM] Wack'd: Back at NASA Ben is flying the new shuttle [04:59 PM] Wack'd: Which then gets stuck in some sort of energy field and loses contact with Houston [04:59 PM] Wack'd: Cut away again to yet another subplot... [05:01 PM] Wack'd:

[05:02 PM] Wack'd: 1. God forbid Rebecca should be the more knowledgeable of the two. 2. Rebecca's profile of Johnny reads like she's talking about a serial killer [05:03 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out Diablo's plan is to use the shuttle as a conduit to transfer energy from the sun to a device on earth for…some reason [05:04 PM] Wack'd: But Desmond manages to shut it down, allowing Ben to retake the controls once more [05:04 PM] Wack'd: It doesn't go great

[05:05 PM] maxwellelvis: SKVABWHOOM!

Thur Aug 22 2019 [05:07 PM] Wack'd: Something I probably should've mentioned a while back is that Pérez is gone and we're with Keith Pollard now [05:08 PM] Wack'd: But unless the artist has a really distinctive style i'm probably going to stow the artist retrospectives for now [05:08 PM] Wack'd: Just take it for granted that I don't think any of these guys are particularly terrible unless I say so [05:09 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, Ben got flung out of the wreckage and is lost in the desert somewhere [05:11 PM] Wack'd: Flashback time! After Diablo blew up in 118 it turns out that he just scattered his atoms and it took him a while to get put back together [05:11 PM] Wack'd: Then he found Desmond in a bunker and they agreed to team up against Doom [05:11 PM] Wack'd: And now Desmond feels betrayed [05:12 PM] Wack'd: Oh also Desmond was dead and Diablo brought him back to life with a potion that he now needs a regular fix of [05:13 PM] Wack'd: I like that they took the time to change Alicia into fatigues before they left

[05:15 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Ben finds Diablo and Desmond's hideout and Ben and Desmond duke it out [05:16 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile Sue tries to call Reed in Hollywood but the studio phones won't let her [05:16 PM] Wack'd: Oh my God, are we really doing this?!

[05:16 PM] Wack'd: That's fucking Namor, isn't it [05:18 PM] Wack'd: Back in Ben's story, Desmond reveals his identity and sacrifices his life to save Ben from Diablo [05:18 PM] Wack'd: It's...mildly touching, I guess [05:19 PM] Wack'd: And that's a wrap on Len Wein. Kind of, given that these last three issues have actually been written by someone else with his instruction [05:20 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, fuck him, next is Marv Wolfman [05:21 PM] Wack'd: Wolfman actually gets a proper streak, he's around for roughly the next 20 issues [05:23 PM] Bocaj: Namor does own a film studio [05:28 PM] Wack'd: He does! [05:28 PM] Wack'd: We haven't seen it since issue nine

#1978 #Len Wein #Bill Mantlo #Keith Pollard #The Main Book

4 notes · View notes

clericbyers · 5 years

Note

The funny thing about RR!St3 (and yes I'm still talking about this) is that its technically your au so if u don't like stuff about season 3-and maybe that's like everything lmao- than you can change it for this au!!! so what're some things you could change to flex on the duffers with ur beautiful Galaxy brain?

oh ur so right….oh man OH MAN the power in my hands right now…this is super long but i got so into it okay thank u…

First off, my real vision for RR!ST3 would not be too close to how ST3 went down; the RR!ST3 I originally hashed out was me trying to stick close to ST3 but as I said then, it was hard bc many of the issues in ST3 wouldn’t happen if Mike wasn’t obsessed with El and if we actually address the fact that these kids are dealing with serious trauma from the events of ST2. In RR!ST2, Mike would be the one dealing with being possessed, Will would have been at his side the entire time, Nancy and Mike would be a lot tighter thanks to RR!ST1 (like she’d be very overprotective because she almost lost her brother and he’s annoying yeah but she can’t imagine not having him in her life anymore). So when RR!ST2 ends with the Snowball, I can see Mike still dancing with El when she returns because he needs to thank her, she saved his life after all, but I really. just cannot see his level of attachment being enough to try to date her. Because in ST1 and at the beginning of ST2, Mike is wracked with guilt about losing her, about bonding with her and ultimately her being a sacrifice to save them. He doesn’t have that in RR!ST1 and RR!ST2, at least not to the same degree as ST1 and ST2. He didn’t have the time to bond to El and while I think he might have fleeting feelings for his savior (like I said, nightingale effect) and have some guilt about how she seemingly gave up her life to save everyone, especially him, I also think RR!ST2 Mike would be very attached to Will though given how Will trusted him and stuck by him despite all the horrors. Mike takes loyalty very seriously and Will being with Nancy and Karen (as she would be the “crazy” mom who lost her son in RR!ST1, but she’d enlist Joyce’s help since Ted wouldn’t really care so it would be power duo Joyren trying to figure out where Mike is) in the RR!ST2 shed scene would mean a lot to him.

Now, we have those 8 months between ST2 and ST3 where basically Mike and El entered a relationship in ‘85. In that time frame in the RR au, I would focus more on how the Party is getting over the trauma they faced during RR!ST2. Firstly, Mike is definitely not okay after being possessed by a demonic godly shadow force. He’s in therapy again maybe, back on medications, IDK what exactly but he is broken inside but trying his best to act like everything is normal and he wasn’t just possessed. I think he would try to cling onto his childhood as Will did in ST3, because Mike didn’t get to grow up normal since he got kidnapped and possessed by monsters. Will and El would bond a lot in those 8 months though, definitely becoming closer siblings and El having a crush on Mike can still a thing. Mike might not feel that same way for her but he’d be down for dating if just to feel normal again. Part of that may be to continue dampening how he feels for Will because he just wants to be a regular kid again and what he feels for his best friend is not at all natural in his mind. I like the idea of Mike and El getting together in ST3 at the mall scene so I’d stick with that. But I also feel like Mike would definitely also be spending half the time subconsciously trying to stay away from El because she’s also a reminder of the horrors he faced in the UD and with the Mind Flayer.

There would be a lot of Will, El, Mike moments too! Will is her brother of sorts in the RR au and Hopper is only ever really comfortable with Mike coming to visit when Will is over, too, even before Mike agrees to date El.

So okay, Episode 1 of RR!ST3 deals with the fact that all the kids are still dealing with some sort of trauma. Mike wakes up from a nightmare, uses his walkie talkie to contact Will, and Will comes over and sits in his room with him and they chat for a bit until Mike can fall back asleep. Will sits at the foot of Mike’s bed watching him sleep before he sneaks back out the house. Nancy catches him and thanks him for stopping by and then he catches Lucas outside too while making his way back home. Lucas casually mentions that he couldn’t sleep and they chat about how weird things have been when no one in Hawkins knows what happened last fall. In the early afternoon the next day, Will bikes over to Hopper’s cabin to hang out with El, they listen to music and doodle together for hours, just being great friends. El casually mentions that she might have a bit of a crush on Mike (who comes with Dustin, Lucas, and El to visit sometimes because fuck ST3 and isolating El from the Party). This could be a moment for Will to be like, “Oh, me, too.” and they can bond over liking Mike together (that’d be cute af!! and it would help Will feel more comfortable about how he feels toward Mike when he’s able to talk about it without persecution). She asks him if Mike likes him back and Will kinda just stops doodling.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs hoarsely. “He’s never said anything.”

El hums and takes out a purple crayon to color in the grass. “Do you know if he likes me?”

Will says he doesn’t know but that he’ll figure it out for her. Hopper won’t let her come with Will to the movie that night so he promises one night he’ll help sneak her out and then bikes over to the theater. We have the ST3 theater scene but it’s reversed of course, so it’s Mike who feels the Mind Flayer and Will who asks him if he’s okay. Mike isn’t as shy and flustered as Will was in ST3 though, he tries to brush Will off petulantly (as RR!ST3 Mike tries his best to act like the events of RR!ST2 aren’t affecting him as much as it is) but Will takes his hand and says, “It’s okay to not be okay.” and Mike kinda fidgets but squeezes his hand in turn before they both go back to watching the movie.

The next day when Dustin comes back, we have the Party going up to Cerebro but there would not be any El and Mike leaving like in ST3. Instead, Will and El are whispering between themselves but it’s not really much about anything. El is too shy to ask Mike if he wants to sit with her as they listen to Dustin call his girlfriend and Will just wants her to feel comfortable near Mike and keeps pestering for her to just sit next to him. Mike is irritated because he wanted to hang with Will more today and he’s bonding with El. His powers activate from his irritation and he’s blocking the radio signal for Dustin and Suzie’s call. When it starts getting late, the Party splits up, Will and El leaving first because of curfew (a real one not the lie El told in ST3). Lucas and Max leave next and Mike is left solo with Dustin.

“I know that Will and El aren’t together, but god, I feel so childish being the single one out.” Mike complains as a chill breeze washes over the two of them.

Dustin hums distractedly, still trying to work out why Cerebro isn’t picking up Suzie’s channel. It takes a moment for Mike’s words to sink in and then he perks. “You know, El likes you.”

“She what?” Mike blurts, giving Dustin a look. “No, she doesn’t. She can’t.”

“Uh, but she can and she does.” Dustin turns a random knob to a different frequency. “It’s pretty obvious; she was sending you heart eyes this entire time if your oblivious ass would have realized.”

Mike isn’t sure how to feel about it. He’s always seen El as Will’s sister, especially with Hopper attempting (and kinda failing) at dating Joyce. Even when they danced at Snowball, it was a thing of gratitude, of joy, of acknowledging that she hadn’t died and he was happy about that. But, El actually liking him? “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Do you like her?”

Mike scrunches his nose. He feels…something toward her but he’s not really sure what it is. It’s not the same way he feels toward Nancy but it’s not what he felt toward Max either. And it’s definitely not what he feels toward Will, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. He wants to feel normal. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, if it’s not a solid no, then I’d say go for it.” Dustin adjusts his hat and leans back with a sigh. “She’s cute and I think this is the first time a cute girl has ever liked your nerdy ass.”

“Shut up,” laughs Mike and he nudges his friend who grins in turn. He looks up at the sky and sighs. “I should probably get back home before my mom goes nuts. Talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’m leaving, too,” he sighs as he stands up. “I don’t know why this isn’t working. Maybe the clouds are too overcast.”

Mike shrugs and flicks at the radio’s antenna. It buzzes erratically, static blasting through Dustin’s headphones and then suddenly there’s a voice coming through the noise. It’s a blend of things, like the receiver is caught between two frequencies. One is Suzie, the other is some spoken code (in English because the random inclusion of the Russians works for Red Scare era / anti-Russia 80′s America but like…it had no set up so I wouldn’t use it for RR!ST3) that neither Mike nor Dustin can understand. Dustin tries to fix the frequency channels to focus on Suzie, but he looses her and the input only focuses on the frequency the code is on. Mike touches the antenna again, holding on this time around, and he can literally feel the electric currents coursing through him, something sharper than a tickle but not as harsh as actual electrocution. The dials on the receiver interface start wavering about randomly and crazily until Mike lets go and then there’s only static again.

“What the,” Dustin mutters, bending down to check how Cerebro is working. “What did you do?”

Mike stares down at his hands, a panic attack on the edge of his senses because, seriously, what the hell was that? First having flashbacks in the theater and feeling that shocking tingling sensation on their way up the hill, now this? “I…I don’t know.”

Dustin taps at a dial and frowns. “Touch it again. Like hold onto it as you did earlier.” Mike does as told and the dials go nuts again. “Mike…do you…have you had any issues near electrical appliances recently?”

Mike scowls and tries to remember if anything odd has happened recently. “No? Not really. Sometimes the radio in my mom’s car doesn’t work and the TV gets a little staticy but that’s normal. Oh, and we had flickering lights out at the cabin when Will, Lucas, and I visited but it’s a cabin in the woods so what do you expect.”

Dustin bites at his bottom lip. “And this only happens when you’re around?”

“I, uh,” Mike grabs at his hair, “No, no, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It can’t…I’m not, what…I thought that was the Upside Down only.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could touch the lights and the TV when I was in the Upside Down version of the basement. And when I touched them, everything glowed. Kind of like casting Daylight in D&D.” Mike struggles to find his breath; he never really talks about what it was like in the Upside Down. “And…and I knew, I knew where the demogorgon was before I should have. Like innate. And the dead people…”

“Detect Evil?” Dustin suggests, cocking his head to the side. “Mike, do you think any of that stuck with you here?”

[ So basically, the equivalent of “magic” in D&D is electricity in the real world / the Upside Down since electricity and tech is kinda like modern magic, and all of Mike’s powers in the Upside Down are, in theory, paladin spells. He couldn’t control which lights flickered on like Will did in ST1 but he can turn them on and he can create a beacon, along with talking to the dead and having an innate circle of protection around him (a magic circle as paladins can have!) ]

Mike goes back home totally freaked out and refusing to believe he has “powers” because his time in the UD felt like such a nightmare anyway. He just wanted to survive, he didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for the Mind Flayer to possess him and use his body to kill people, to almost destroy Hawkins in the process. And that night, Mike decides he absolutely cannot let these possible powers do anything or mean anything because he’s normal, he’s a normal 14-year-old boy who is absolutely not crushing on his very male best friend, no, he’s gonna get a girlfriend, and hang out at the mall like kids do over the summer, and everything is going to be fine.

The next day, Will doesn’t go over to El’s place to hang out, Mike picks up the phone and says a dumb lie about Will being busy to try to get out of it. (“Friends don’t lie,” says El afterwards. “But brothers do.” snorts Max, “All. The. Time.”) He’s frustrated by El wanting to spend time with Will one-on-one when he’s trying to get the og4 Party members together for some normal hangout time playing D&D because, again, Mike here is the one trying to cling onto his childhood, even more now that he might have “powers”. They play D&D with Mike as DM and it all goes well until Karen comes downstairs asking about magnets and Mike internally freaks out. He’s been feeling like someone is watching him for a while now (hint: El when spying on the boys in the Void) and now his mom is talking about something that could very well be his powers working. Dustin knows and can actually see it, so he suggests everyone should get some fresh air and hang out at the mall. The Party goes out shopping, they hang out at Scoops Ahoy and Mike and Dustin share their story about the radio last night but purposefully leave out details about what Mike did with the antenna. Will feels guilty for lying so he’s trying to find some new clothes so El isn’t always wearing Hopper’s hand-me-downs, and they run into Max and El outside.

“Well, well, well,” Max huffs as she crosses her arms. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Will is worried because El leaving the house and being at the mall of all places would definitely make Hopper upset. “Are you okay?” he asks her, careful not to sound too overbearing. “Does Hopper know you’re here?”

El shrugs. “I told him I was seeing Max. And I am.” She turns to Mike. “You said Will couldn’t come over yet you are shopping. Why did you lie?”

Mike, who has spent practically the whole time at the mall on pins and needles, is really not in the mood for being questioned like this. “It just came out. I wanted to hang with the boys, okay? Just us. Like old days.”

El frowns. “Do you not like me?”

“No! No, I really like you!” Mike softens up and gives her a smile. “Honest; friends don’t lie, right? I’m sorry I lied to you. Today’s been…weird.” Dustin huffs at that. “Don’t worry about it though, I genuinely like you.”

And Mike doesn’t mean it that way–he had just said ‘friends don’t lie’ because he really does see her as a friend–but El takes it that way, and she grins widely, blushing as she ducks her head. “I like you, too, Mike.”

Will didn’t even think Mike liked El that way but now that it’s spoken in front of him, he can feel his heart breaking just a bit because any chance he thought he had is gone in his mind. El steps into Mike’s space and he blinks a couple times. “I want to go out with you.”

Dustin gasps, Lucas covers his mouth, Will tries his best not to look dejected, and Max whoops at her side. Mike turns to Will, who is staring at his feet, and then looks back at El. (A parallel to Snowball when Will looked at Mike for approval before going to dance with Zombie Boy girl.) Mike told himself he was gonna get a girlfriend and be normal, right? Ignore whatever happens in his chest when Will smiles at him. Ignore all of that and his stupid powers and be normal. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

So the Party stays at the mall a little longer and Mike and El hang out together and get ice cream at Scoops’ Ahoy, which is amusing to Steve and Robin both. At the end, they go back to the Wheelers and El has to go back to the cabin but Mike is kind of in a daze because wow, he just got a girlfriend for the first time and went on a date with her. Dustin keeps teasing him, Lucas is cackling and making kissing jokes, but Will…Will is oddly silent at first. They get back on the campaign but no one can really concentrate and Will starts getting concerned about El and how she was out and about without Hopper’s knowledge. Mike is even more frustrated now because he thought things were going to start getting normal now, but it just seems to be falling apart. Will won’t even concentrate on the campaign, Dustin is horrible at trying to be subtle about if Mike’s powers are activating, and Lucas is complaining with Will about how Max and El are hanging out.

Mike lashes out and storms outside, where Will goes after him. “Mike, I’m sorry, it’s a really good campaign,” Will starts with a hand to Mike’s shoulder, “but I’m worried about El and I just…I can’t concentrate right now. We can play it tomorrow, I promise.”

Mike yanks himself away from Will. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s always tomorrow! I said ‘see you tomorrow’ before and then I never did! Tomorrow may never fucking come! But oh, that doesn’t matter, huh? Tomorrow always comes for you. Tomorrow is always gonna be better.”

“Mike,”

“No!” he yells and lightening crackles in the distance. “No, you don’t get to say anything! You keep spending time with El, forgetting about all of us! I’m her boyfriend now and I’m not even this obsessed with her whereabouts.” He waves at Will, who scowls. “She’s not even really your sister and you’re letting her just ruining the party like this? And for what? So you can have a fake younger sister to hole up in her room all day?”

Will’s nostrils flare. “El is my sister whether you like it or not!” He snaps back with irritation. “It’s not my fault you don’t like El!”

Mike pauses, eyes widening just a fraction as his breath visibly hitches. No one was supposed to know that he wasn’t even sure how he felt…Dustin himself had come to the conclusion that Mike knew he liked El all along. Will though wants to take it back immediately. Taking out his anger onto Mike isn’t fair at all and just because Mike suddenly has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he should try to accuse Mike of not liking her. But he can’t help but question either way because Mike barely alluded to seeing her that way anyway.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry, that came out wrong. So wrong.” He steps toward Mike, who tenses up more. “I know you like El, okay? I know you care about her. I care about her, too, just differently. She helped save you and the Party, how can I not care? That type of care has been with me for months. I can’t shut that off. I’m sorry.”

Mike’s breathing is getting denser and his vision is getting blurry because now he knows. Now he knows how he feels and he really fucked up saying yes to dating El. He doesn’t like her like Nancy and he doesn’t like her like Max either. He especially doesn’t like her like a boyfriend. “I like El like how you like her.”

“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft and shaking a little and Mike feels like throwing up.

“El saved me,” he whispers, “She saved me and I like her for that. I do. But she’s not…”

“She’s not what?”

Mike is crying now, angry tears dripping down his face like the rain as his voice crackles like the thunder. “She’s not you! I thought she would be enough and maybe I was wrong for it but it hasn’t even been a full day and I already know! I already know I don’t like her like that because I like you!”

There’s nothing but the patter of rain and Mike’s heavy breathing, and Mike can already feel his heart breaking because he spent so long trying to deny this and now he blurted it out in the midst of an argument like a dumbass and now Will is going to hate him. Hate him for not being normal, hate Mike for being what Lonnie always said he was. He’s crying still, hands shaking at his side as the tears continue to spill.

Will looks up at him with widened eyes and Mike can’t take it any longer. He can’t face the inevitable rejection right now. “I need to go.”

“Mike, wait, no! Mike!” Will rushes toward him but Mike’s already on his bike and riding through the rain. “Mike! Mike, come back!”

When Mike doesn’t turn back, Will rushes downstairs, tears streaming down his face as well and he can barely get his words out. “We need to find Mike, we need to find him now!”

“Will, what happened?” Lucas asks but Will grabs his jacket instead of replying.

“We need to go, now.” the brunette is shaking and Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, Will, what happened? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god,” Will collapses on the stairs before he can finish climbing them. “Oh my god, he confessed to me.”

“Confessed what? His powers?”

Will blinks a few times and looks up at Dustin as he rubs at his runny nose. “His what? Powers?”

Dustin freezes. “Oh. I, uh, I thought…oh…oh. Mike likes you?”

Will waves a passing hand. “Pause, what is this about Mike’s powers?”

Lucas speaks up with irritation. “I thought you said we need to go!”

So all the boys get on their bikes and ride toward the Byers house since that’s where Mike would go when his nightmares got bad enough and it’s a safe place for him outside of the basement. Dustin explains what Mike had done with Cerbero and how they caught this code that he had been sort of hashing out with Steve and Robin when they went to the mall. No one is home at the Byers residence (Joyce and Karen are out with Hopper doing their whole side storyline there) and Will starts to freak out more.

“Where would he be, where would he be?”

Lucas crosses his arms. “Maybe the cabin? That’s where his girlfriend is after all.”

And that’s not where Mike is, he’s actually with Steve and Robin at the mall given he feels he’d be better off with someone who understands the UD/MF mess (Steve) and someone who doesn’t know the Party dynamics (Robin). He’s just about to tell Robin about his confession to Will when he feels the Mind Flayer and knows that he’s back.

The rest of the season is kinda…the same ish but also not?? But so I don’t write out the whole damn thing now lmao here are the pointers:

El and Mike are still trying to be girlfriend and boyfriend when they reunite at the cabin (Scoops Troop is a thing but it’s not tied to the Russian bs so they aren’t at the mall the entire time) but Mike is also really uncomfortable with El’s advances though he tries not to act like it.

Mike avoids Will as best he can even though Will keeps trying to get one-on-one time with Mike to confess that he likes him back

Jonathan and Nancy team up at the cabin too with news about the exploding rats (the MF’s attempt to possess non humans that went wrong) and Mike speaks up about how he might have powers himself

El tries to teach him how to go into the Void (which would be like a prayer for him) but when he does so, he ends up running into the Mind Flayer and find out that it’s after him and is willing to kill all his friends to get to him

Mike and El both pull out of the Void together gasping and crying and Will is immediately at Mike’s side as Max rushes to El. “He’s going to kill us,” Mike sobs shakily, “He’s going to kill us all.”

El gets attacked by the Mind Flayer (not Meat Flayer) because it was coming for Mike and she intercepted the transmission using her mind

At the hospital Mike breaks up with El (instead of how in ST3 they became friends again), and she’s a little hurt but understanding when he confesses that he likes someone more than her and doesn’t want to hurt her by lying to her constantly when dating her

Will finally gets Mike to himself here and is about to confess but then Mike feels the Mind Flayer (his innate sense evil power) and it’s possessed someone. He confronts it, helps save Nancy from the shapeshifting demogorgon attacking her, and banishes it from this dimension, only to pass out from the effort

El takes over with her powers and with Mike’s help, accesses the radio to find the channel that Dustin and Mike had found before. She discovers that someone is trying to open the gate again under the mall

At the supermarket, Will and Mike finally get to talk and Will confesses that he likes Mike, too. “Blank makes you crazy, right?” Mike chuckles as he takes Will’s hand in his own. He’s not willing to say love yet even if he knows it’s true. He knows that Will understands him though. Will always does.

“Yeah,” the boy replies sweetly, “blank makes you crazy.”

Cue an almost kiss before Lucas and Dustin come around with the fireworks and they all get over to the mall

Big battle against the Mind Flayer and the people it possessed. Instead of a giant gory meat machine, it possesses people in Hawkins like it did Mike in RR!ST2 and uses them to shapeshift them into individual monsters. So the Party is attacked by a horde of demogorgons and demodogs!!

The fireworks help a lot as Lucas suggested, and Mike and El work together as superpowered besties to banish the Mind Flayer from all the neighbors. Some die in the process (because it’s just, brutal and violent and horrible) and Mike gets temporarily repossessed in the battle but he’s more leveled up now and understands how this works, so he can banish the MF from him (a level 4 paladin spell might I add!) as much as El used her powers to take out the piece of the meat machine in her leg in ST3

Hopper closes the gate but not in enough time (we need him in the Upside Down for RR!ST4) and then the Mind Flayer retreats, but it kills all the people it had possessed in the process, which only wrecks the kids with guilt for being unable to save everyone like they almost did

This also frightens Mike who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer because it means his connection is still strong enough that the Mind Flayer could kill him instantly too (but it won’t bc Mike and El’s powers are too strong and it could possibly kill itself trying to kill them through that connection)

At the end there’s no one really moving away. El has lost her powers, Mike’s are nearly depleted / he doesn’t know how to use them without El’s help. Everyone is mourning Hopper and with El and Mike unable to use their powers, they can’t go into the Void to see that Hopper’s actually alive.

uhhh the epilogue is the first day of high school and the Party are hopping off their bikes and chatting about something nonsensical. Lucas and Max are holding hands, Dustin is waving his arms about wildly as he explains his latest science project, and Mike and Will are standing close together, just enough to brush their fingers together. (El is homeschooled since she needs to catch up on her education)

“You okay?” Will asks quietly as they stand off to the side away from the bustling crowds. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know,” Mike grins down at his boyfriend, which is still so blush inducing to think about, so he blushes. “But, I’m fine. I’ve got you right beside me so I’m definitely okay.”

#role reversal au #RR!ST3 #byler #otp: palaric #omggggg #i love this so much oh my god #thank you for giving me the leeway to rebuild the au!!#anon #yams answers #yams writes

39 notes · View notes

bytheangell · 5 years

Note

I need the crackfic of Alec who, after having emptied his heart to Jace about his wedding stress and Jace mentioning inverted Alec as a joke, goes and somehow gets inverted Alec over to help him plan his wedding and inverted Alec is all o.O at first and then he cracks his knuckles and it's the wedding of the century and he goes home with a lot of fashion ideas for his boyfriend.

Help Myself(read on AO3)“Jace, I think this was all a huge mistake. I can’t do this.” Alec finally says, collapsing onto the bed in his room at the Institute. He’s been at this for hours now, magazines spread out on every flat surface, his laptop full of no less than twenty tabs with search results for venues and themes and colorings. He can’t remember the last time he closed his eyes without seeing images of tie patterns and cuff-links behind his eyelids.

“You want to call it off?” Jace asks, eyes wide at the prospect of Alec having second thoughts about the wedding.

“What? No! Not the wedding, the planning. I’m not cut out for all of this.” Alec groans.

“Just let Magnus do it, then. I doubt he’d mind,” Jace suggests, but Alec is already shaking his head back and forth stubbornly.

“No way. I promised I could handle half of the work, I’m not going back on that now. I just didn’t realize how much went into it. Raziel, it’s a lot. How do people do this for a living?”

“Have you considered–”

“No, Jace, I’m not hiring a planner for my half. Magnus will know. He wants us to both have a say in this, to both be represented instead of the whole ceremony just being what he wants. I just… Don’t know what I want.” Alec didn’t care about his first almost-wedding - that was something he did out of duty and necessity which was why he let Izzy and Lydia do whatever they wanted with it. But this is different.

This is him and Magnus, and Alec wants it to be perfect.

“Too bad you can’t just snap your fingers and turn into that party planning version of yourself from that alternate universe,” Jace says, laughing. It’s such an off-handed comment, one he’s already moving on from the moment it leaves his lips, that it’s obvious he didn’t mean for it to be a serious suggestion.

Except Alec’s head snaps over and he bolts up from the bed, sitting upright and staring directly at his brother. “Jace, you’re a genius.”

Jace, who’s already in the middle of saying something else, stops talking with a look of uncertainty. “What? I mean, I won’t argue with you, but why specifically this time?” Jace bounces back from the moment of confusion with his trademark smart-ass remarks.

“The other Alec. He’s still me, after all. Just a better coordinated me. It’s perfect!” Alec buzzes with excitement but Jace looks skeptical.

“I don’t know, man. There’s a reason we didn’t try and go back there after the first time. We nearly lost Clary, and-”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll just convince the other me to come back here for a day or two, make as many plans as we can, then send him back.” It sounds so simple when Alec says it like that.

“…I don’t think that’s how it works.” Jace starts, but when he realizes that he doesn’t actually know how it does work to counter, stops again.

“I’ll figure something out. Can you ask Meliorn if he’d be willing to show me to the portal in the Seelie Realm?” Alec asks, smirking at the look of startled indignation on Jace’s face over the request.

“Me? Why me? What makes you think he’ll listen if I ask him?” It’s about two questions too defensive to not sound paranoid and suspect.

“I know the two of you have kept in contact since the Alliance rune. You do know you’re allowed to make friends that aren’t me and Izzy, right? It isn’t the worst thing to have friends who aren’t Shadowhunters.” Alec actually sounds relieved to know that Jace is friendly with Meliorn these days. He, Izzy, and Jace always had one another… but for too long, they only had each other. Seeing all three of them branch out and start to lean on other people in their lives is a good thing, even when it seems more than a little terrifying at first.

Jace looks like he might double down on denial again, but just sighs instead. “Yeah, alright, I’ll ask him.”

“Thanks,” Alec says, walking back over to the computer on his desk and facing the never-ending lineup of tabs with a renewed sense of hope that he might find a way through this after all.

—

Later that night Alec runs the idea by Magnus - first, to see if he’d consider it cheating by way of wedding planning, and secondly to see if he could see any reason why the other Alec wouldn’t be able to come here the same way Jace and Clary had gone over there.

“…I have to admit, I am curious to see what this other universe’s Alec is like, especially after what Clary told us. But if he comes back it’d be in your body, same as it was for Clary and Jace.”

Alec hadn’t considered that. “Well… that’s still fine, right? I mean, it isn’t like it’ll be a stranger taking over my body. It’s still just me.” He shrugs. “Listen. Somewhere out there is a version of me with some knowledge of patterns and textures and I think I deserve access to that knowledge right about now.”

Magnus huffs out a laugh, turning over onto his side in bed to bring a hand up to the side of Alec’s face. ��You know I would marry you in a black and white room if it’s what you want.” “How convenient then. Because that’s what we’re going to get if this doesn’t work out. But I have to admit, this is as much for me as it is the wedding. I’ve been curious, too, ever since Clary discovered it. How life could’ve been in some other timeline where things aren’t… where I’m not…” Alec can’t quite get the words out, but Magnus’ expression softens from his teasing one a moment ago.

“Well then. So long as you know what you’re doing, I don’t see the harm in it. And I’ll try not to grow too attached to the other you once you get him here, but no promises. Tell me, is it considered cheating if it’s still technically you–” Magnus starts, right back to teasing (at least, Alec is pretty sure he’s just joking…), which earns Magnus a pillow to the face and a patented Alec Lightwood eye roll of exasperation.

—

“Remember,” Meliorn says, and Alec notes the Seelie sounds surprisingly concerned. “You’ll need to remain anchored to your own thoughts to not get lost in there. If you aren’t back in three hours I’m closing the portal. Please don’t make me have to be the one who explains why the Head of the New York Institute is missing in another dimension.”

“Don’t worry,” Alec says. “I’ll leave that up to Jace, you’re in the clear.”

Meliorn shakes his head, a small, amused chuckle leaving his lips despite his worry.

“Ha-ha,” Jace replies sarcastically. “Sure you don’t want me to go with?”

“No, it’ll be easier with just one. And I have all the anchor I’ll need,” Alec adds confidently, twisting the engagement ring on his finger.

Wearing the portal shard around his neck Alec steps through the archway Meliorn just finished opening and out into a lavishly decorated room, full of golds and oranges and crimsons, with statues by a window of thick red curtains and a long table with a ring of candles around a crystal ball.

Alec jolts forward before he looks down at himself – he sees the sleeves of a baby blue polo, khakis, no runes, and most horrifyingly (which is certainly saying something), no engagement ring. Of course it couldn’t come over with him. This sets off more anxiety within him than he cares to admit, not just because he already feels incomplete without the weight of it but because he was counting on that to ground him here as it had in Edom.

Alec catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror and his eyes widen at the sight. He looks ridiculous. The first thing he does is reach a hand up to mess with the strange part in his hair when Magnus (not his Magnus, he reminds himself) comes up behind him. Alec immediately gets flashbacks of his Magnus in the Infirmary without his magic - no makeup, hair down, the slight hint of wrinkles around the corners of his eyes - and freezes at the touch of arms around his waist.

“Alexander? What’s wrong?” Magnus asks, leaning in for what Alec assumes is about to be a kiss - he doesn’t know for certain because he steps out of the embrace with startling speed. Magnus only looks more worried as well as a little hurt now, but takes a step back as well instead of moving toward him. “Alexander?”

There’s a silence that stretches on too long to be comfortable but Alec can’t help it. This Magnus, the one who very clearly owns that crystal ball and tarot set-up, is a far cry from the Magnus Bane he’s used to. But there’s that same kindness behind his eyes, the same concerned frown, the same hesitating rise-and-fall of hands that want to reach out but are forced back down to his sides for now… all of that tells Alec not everything about his Magnus and this Magnus is different.

“I’m not Alec,” he says, then pauses. “Well, I’m not your Alec. I am Alec, it’s just…” Alec sighs, knowing he isn’t getting anywhere anytime soon if he keeps rambling on like this. He’s starting to sound like Simon when he’s nervous. “I came here with this.” Holding up the chain around his neck Alec watches Magnus’ eyes widen at the sight of the purple portal shard.

“That again,” Magnus curses. “The last time one of you came here you let demons in. So excuse me for the poor hospitality, but I think you should go.”

“I’ll go… but I need your Alec to come with me.” Alec says, but doesn’t get any further before Magnus chimes in again.

“I’m sorry, you what?” That is very clearly not a condition that Magnus wants to agree to. In fact, there’s a small crackle of magic at Magnus’ fingertips, one he looks just as surprised to see there as Alec does.

“Please, Magnus, hear me out. Can we just sit and talk for a few minutes? I’ll explain everything.” Alec pleads.

“You get five minutes.”

—

Explaining everything is not as easy as Alec would like. Five minutes turn into ten, which turn into twenty, and by the end it takes him nearly half an hour to convince this Alternate Magnus to stop going “absolutely not” every time he speaks, and another 15 minutes to even humor the idea of conveying everything Alec just told him to this world’s Alec.

“The decision to come back and help me needs to be him, or else I’ll just go back through the portal as myself, and he’ll stay here.” Alec explains.

Magnus looks justifiably concerned - whether over the plan itself, or the idea that he thinks his boyfriend has lost his entire goddamn mind, it’s difficult to tell.

“I can’t say I’m fond of the idea of my boyfriend portal hopping to other universes…” Magnus frets, worrying a bit at the hem of his sweater.

Alec still can’t get over the drastic change in both himself and Magnus in this world. He expected a few differences, obviously, but what he found throws him for such a loop he almost loses himself in this world just to get a better understanding of it, and of himself in it. But he remembers before it’s too late, running his fingers along the space where his ring should be, thinking of the engraving on the inside and hoping it’s enough to get him through this.

“It’s perfectly safe, I swear. He won’t be going out on missions or anything, just giving a few pointers. If he even wants to. I’m not about to kidnap him or anything ridiculous.” Alec points out.

“Of course he’ll want to,” Magnus says with a fond sigh. “This is the sort of thing he’ll drop everything else to jump at.” Magnus’ eyes drop down to the spot his ring should be, where Alec’s attention keeps drifting to. “I still can’t believe we’re getting– I mean, you’re getting married.”

Alec grins the sort of wide, dopey grin that almost hurts it’s so wide. He can’t help it. “Neither can I, honestly.” He admits. “So you’ll help me? I have to give over control to your Alec so you can explain it to him, but I need you to remind him - and me - that I’m here after a few minutes so I don’t get too lost. Please?”

Alec looks at Magnus through those thick lashes, eyes wide and pleading, knowing how well that works on his Magnus and hoping that some things are still the same here. He’s rewarded when he sees Magnus practically melt at the sight.

“Fine. Just… hurry up so we can get this over with. Not that you aren’t lovely and all, but this is getting a bit too strange for me.”

“Great. Let me just… figure out how to switch this off, I guess?” Alec hadn’t thought this through, honestly. He closes his eyes to focus, trying to feel out through his thoughts for this world’s Alec, wherever he may be trapped in there. After two minutes of increasingly frustrated concentration he’s interrupted by the sound of Magnus’ voice.

“…did you, uh, switch back?”

Alec’s eyes shoot open. “No, I didn’t. This is harder than it looks, okay?”

“…might I make a suggestion?” Magnus offers, slowly. When Alec says nothing he continues. “I don’t think it’s something you can force. You’re trying too hard. It’s about giving over control… giving it up, for lack of a better phrase.”

Hating that Magnus has a point, Alec frowns. He doesn’t like giving up control of anything, let alone himself. He had this thought in his head that even when he allowed the other Alec to take back over, it would be on his own terms somehow. Alec is only now realizing how impossible and naive that was.

“Right. Giving up control. I can do that.” He tries again, but all he can think about is why he’s here - the wedding, the ring that should be on his finger, Magnus waiting for him back–

Magnus. That’s it. Alec opens his eyes again and looks at the man in front of him. Magnus, but not his Magnus, and allows the love and memories for this version of the warlock begin to flow through him. It doesn’t take long for those emotions to become overpowering, and for Alec to lose himself to this world’s Alec again through them.

—

“…Alexander?”

It feels like waking up from a deep sleep, the way he blinks his eyes open and shakes his head to clear the hazy fog that settles over his thoughts trying to tug him back under.

“It’s you again, isn’t it? The other you?”

Alec blinks his eyes a few times at the sight of Magnus, hair down, no makeup, and wearing a button-down sweater of all things, before he remembers where he is.

Before he remembers who he his.

“Yeah. How long was I-”

“About an hour. Sorry, the explaining took a little longer than I anticipated.” Magnus looks Alec up and down before the concern on his features starts to ease up. “Not going to lie, I was a little afraid we lost you in there.” Magnus laughs but there’s an edge to it that Alec doesn’t like.

“What did he say?” Alec asks, fearing the answer he’s about to get based on the look of apprehension on Magnus’ face.

“Full disclosure: I tried to talk him out of it. I don’t like this at all but he’s going to do it. On one condition,” Magnus continues quickly. “I think I have a spell that can temporarily split the two of you… so he can go to your world as himself, not trapped inside your body.”

That… that isn’t something Alec prepared for. “Won’t two of us mess with, I don’t know, the balance of the universe or something? Simon made me watch exactly one strange sci-fi thing with him and Clary, and timelines are definitely a thing you don’t want to mess with.”

“Take it or leave it.” Magnus says. Alec hesitates. He wishes he could go back and talk to his Magnus about this, to make sure it wouldn’t break some fundamental law of universe hopping, but he knows that isn’t how this works. Meliorn isn’t just going to keep risking that portal on a whim of his and Alec knows the longer it’s open the more danger this world is potentially in as well.

“I’ll take it.”

—

Another hour later and Alec is standing in front of, well, himself. And while it’s refreshing to look down at his arms and see his runes again (and also the black shirt, jeans, and engagement ring he was wearing when he left the Seelie Realm, thank the Angel), actually getting to look at the Alternate Alec is more unnerving than he imagined it would be.

“You look ridiculous,” Alternate Alec says immediately, and Alec laughs.

“Funny, that’s the first thing I thought when I saw myself - or I guess saw you - in the mirror earlier,” Alec says.

“I would just like to go on record a second time with both of you to state that I really think you should reconsider,” Magnus tries one last time.

Both Alecs roll their eyes at the same time, exchange a carefully guarded look, and then smirk.

“Oh my god,” Magnus sighs, exasperated. “Fine. Hurry up and go before I change my mind about helping.” Magnus says, opening a portal to the basement of the Institute where Alec, and Alternate Alec, are able to access the portal out of this universe and into the Seelie Realm.

—

The look on Jace and Meliorn’s faces when both Alecs stumble out of the portal is absolutely priceless. Only Alec sees it, however - Alternate Alec trips on his way out of the swirling vortex of magic and lands on his knees in the mud on the ground.

Alt-Alec looks mortified as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to control his frustration, ignoring Alec’s offered hand to help him back up. “These were very expensive loafers. You could’ve warned me that I was about to walk into a mudpit.”

Jace laughs. “Well, at least we won’t have any trouble telling the two of you apart,” he comments, earning a bark of a laugh from Alec and a glare from Alec’s Alternate Universe counterpart.

After another moment of self-pity Alt-Alec finally accepts the offered hand to help himself back up, brushing the worst of the mud off of his pants.

“You cut it extremely close, Lightwood,” Meliorn points out. “Or should I say, Lightwoods.” He’s eyeing the second Alec warily, concerned over the balance of nature he may have upset by allowing this to pass through one of the Seelie portals.

“You wouldn’t have actually closed it right away, would you?” Alec challenges.

Meliorn only looks behind him at the now-sealed portal. “I suppose we would’ve gotten that answer had you arrived three minutes later than you did.”

It’s impossible to hide the look of unease that both Jace and Alec share at the prospect of Meliorn following through with that promise. Alternate Alec, on the other hand, appears almost disappointed for a moment.

“Maybe that would’ve been for the best,” Alt-Alec mutters under his breath, looking down at his dirty palms and ruined clothing.

“Alright, let’s get poor Other-Me back to civilization,” Alec says, nodding the opposite direction of the portal they just came through.

—

“There are two of you.” Magnus says, tone as casual as if stating that Alec’s shirt is black. “How are there two of you?”

“Magnus-” Alec starts before catching himself. “The other Magnus had a spell, and it was the only way to get them to agree.”

Magnus walks over and takes a dramatic look up at the sky. “Well, the heavens haven’t decided to smite you down for it, and I don’t feel any temporal shifts in the universe, so I suppose you’re in the clear for now.”

“…is he always this dramatic?” Alt-Alec asks in a hushed tone.

“Oh, this is nothing,” Alec confirms.

When Magnus turns back around they both notice the way Alt-Alec stares at the warlock.

“…don’t they have manners in your timeline?” Magnus challenges, shooting Alt-Alec a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. Sorry, I don’t mean to- you’re just… not at all what I was expecting.” Alt-Alec finishes. “Your fashion sense is exquisite. So bold, but it suits you perfectly. I never would’ve imagined…” Alt-Alec trails off again, admiring, and Alec can almost see the wheels turning in his head.

“What do you say we shelve this until dinner tonight, and focus on the wedding planning first?” Alec suggests, not-so-subtly refocusing them to the task at hand.

“Sure,” Alt-Alec agrees easily. “Lead the way. But later I’m getting a look at that closet.”

—

Alec’s positive that this has to go against some serious rule… at the very least it has to be highly frowned upon. There probably isn’t an actual rule about it because they probably never thought anyone would be foolish enough to try and bring a second version of themselves back to this world.

They hadn’t met the determination of Alexander Gideon Lightwood planning his own wedding.

They sneak Alt-Alec into the Institute and up to Alec’s room with a glamour, courtesy of Magnus. Alec, Magnus, and a handful of other people can see the other Alec for who he truly is, and everyone else can only see someone with a striking resemblance - someone clearly related but probably a close cousin or something.

“So, here’s what I have for ideas so far,” Alec says, showing the pages he printed out, a few notes jotted down, and tabs opened up on his computer.

Alt-Alec clicks through three tabs before closing out of the window entirely.

“Hey! Do you have any idea how long those took me to–” “There’s a reason you brought me here, correct? You didn’t risk getting trapped in an alternate timeline so I could show up and agree with everything you thought of so far. Though honestly, given the state of things, I’m not even sure I can fix this in enough time.” Alt-Alec says with a heavy sigh. “Please tell me you didn’t order anything already, at least?”

“No, but–”

“Then you’re lucky I’m up for a challenge.” Alec wants to punch Alt-Alec in his smug smirk and wonders if he’s ever this insufferable. He certainly hopes not. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us, so let’s get to it. I’ll need to see the venue first.”

Alt-Alec takes in the room slowly after they arrive. “You do know you’re marrying a Warlock, right? You could go quite literally anywhere. And you’re choosing… this?” He eyes the room disdainfully.

Alec doesn’t admit how uneasy that critique leaves him, especially when it’s the same gut reaction Magnus had at the suggestion of the Institute, too. Maybe they’re both right and this is a terrible idea, and he should just leave all the planning to the two of them and keep his mouth shut.

“…the stained glass has a nice effect when the sun hits it just right, though. It could add some spectacular lighting if I can frame it right…” Alt-Alec continues, bringing his hands up in front of him in a square shape, looking through them like a camera lens while he squints one eye shut. He then drops his hands and spins around to the side. “Some banners… floral arrangements… what did you say the color scheme was?”

“Blue and gold,” Alec says, cursing the tentative tone his voice takes now that he’s doubting every decision he made so far.

Alt-Alec scrunches his nose. “I can work with it, I suppose. Heavy on the gold, and it should fit the room well enough.”

“So it isn’t all a terrible idea so far?” Alec asks hopefully.

Alt-Alec considers him for a moment before shaking his head. “No. You’ll be relieved to know you aren’t entirely hopeless.” Alt-Alec gives him a pitying glance. “I won’t have to scrap everything you were going for, but I am going to make some heavy adjustments. I’ll map some things out, gather some samples, and I should be able to have a solid idea in place by tomorrow evening. Which is good, because if I’m gone much longer than a day or two I’m not sure Magnus will let me back into the apartment… and after how much work it took to move my stuff in, I really don’t want to be kicked out already.” There’s a definite shift in Alt-Alec’s tone as he starts to speak about Magnus and for a moment that confident, smug grin softens into something much lighter.

It’s a look Alec knows well.

“Then I guess we better get to work,” Alec agrees. “After all, we wouldn’t want you kicked out before you get the chance to plan your own wedding.”

Alt-Alec starts, opening his mouth as if he wants to argue that of course he isn’t thinking about marriage, he’s only just moved in with him, but then he remembers who he’s talking to and knows there’s no point in lying, not to himself.

“No, we certainly wouldn’t,” Alt-Alec agrees instead.

—

The planning goes well… until it doesn’t.

“I’m not changing the time of the wedding for the sun.” Alec declares, the words harsh as he repeats them for the third time in a row.

“Then what’s the point of having a stained glass window if there isn’t going to be sun hitting it!?” Alt-Alec sounds exasperated, as he should be considering they’ve been at this for hours now.

“I didn’t pick the Institute for the fucking window! It’s meant to make a statement for-”

“You know what makes an amazing statement? A stained glass window with sunlight pouring through it.” Alt-Alec cuts him off.

Alec throws his hands into the air, turning and taking several steps away from him before stopping and spinning back around. “I already agreed to the absurd amount of flowers you insisted on-”

“-which is good because I already ordered them and they arrive tomorrow at 9am.”

“And the frilly bow things down the aisle-”

“It’s just ribbon. Don’t pretend you don’t know what ribbon is.”

“We’re not shifting the entire ceremony back 4 hours so that the sunlight will be at the right angle.”

“Why not just have it at midnight and make the whole theme black, since that seems to fit your dark, edgy persona so well–”

Izzy, who came in at the tail end of the argument, strides right between the two of them without hesitation.

“Now, now, boys. Let’s just take a deep breath and maybe walk away from this for a minute. How does coffee sound?” She suggests, looking between the two of them.

“Not right now, Iz. This is important and-”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, Alec. We’re all stopping for a few minutes, you’re caffeinating before you rip someone’s head off,” she says pointedly at him, before turning to Alt-Alec. “And you and I are going to have a quick chat. Which is also not a suggestion,” she adds quickly when it looks like Alt-Alec is about to argue with her. He only raises an eyebrow instead before following her off, leaving Alec alone.

Deciding he’d rather force himself to take a break for some espresso rather than face the wrath of Izzy, he leaves and comes back thirty minutes later with three drinks - a second cup for himself, and one for Izzy and the other Alec.

“Apology drinks?” He offers, holding the carrier out towards them.

“Thanks,” Izzy and Alt-Alec both say in unison.

“I’m sorry, too. I still stand firmly by the fact that I’m right,” Alt-Alec starts, but quickly corrals his tangent back in with a look from Isabelle. Alec wonders how much of this is actually from him and how much is from Izzy, but he’s grateful for it either way. “But I should be working with you, not against you. Most times I’m hired to plan things outright, it’s pretty free reign given my reputation for being, well, the best in the city if I may toot my own horn.”

“I never want to hear those words in my voice ever again,” Alec says, frowning. “But I get it. And the flowers and ribbons will look great.”

“So will your poorly backlit window.”

“…good enough. My work here is done.” Izzy declares, taking her drink and walking back off to deal with the seating charts.

The rest of the day goes surprisingly smooth, with Alt-Alec listening a bit more to what Alec wants, and more actual compromises occurring rather than one eventually tiring of the other’s stubbornness and giving in. And, by the end of the day, the ceremony is shifted by two hours, at Alec’s request.

He’s positive there’s a look of pride on Alt-Alec’s face when he does.

—

Alt-Alec stays for the ceremony. It’s more than a little strange for Alec to see himself in the audience of his own wedding, but the look on the other Alec’s face watching all of his planning come together is the very least he could do.

“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Alt-Alec says, coming up to greet him and Magnus before he and Meliorn take an early leave to return to the portal.

“Thanks,” Alec says. “I had a lot of help from one of the best in the city, or so I’ve heard.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Magnus chimes in. “Thank you for making me aware that Alexander in pastel polos is a gift our reality has been denied for far too long.”

Alec looks mortified at the idea of Magnus actually following through on buying him those shirts, while Alt-Alec laughs. “Then consider us even. I have quite a few wardrobe additions to shop with Magnus for when I get back. You have impeccable taste, Mr. Bane.” They look like they might hug goodbye for a moment, but after a moment opt to shake hands instead. It’s still a little too weird being affectionate with an Alec, or a Magnus, that isn’t theirs.

Meliorn clears his throat loudly from the side. “Shall we? The hour is growing late, and the earlier we activate the portal the safer it will be for all of us.”

“Yes. My work here is done.” Alt-Alec declares with finality. “Maybe we’ll meet again, sometime.”

“You know where to find us,” Alec says, and Alt-Alec touches the outline of the purple shard of portal on the necklace hidden underneath his shirt. It’s their agreed-upon payment: Alec knows he shouldn’t be using it again, and it’s only fair since Alec and Clary both went there for help that Alt-Alec’s world has the same option in return.

“Maybe one day I’ll be inviting you to my own wedding,” Alt-Alec suggests hopefully. “I’ll try not to show this one up too terribly.”

“You know that’s a lie,” Alec counters.

“Of course it is. My wedding is going to be spectacular. I was just trying to be nice but you had to ruin the moment.” And with that Alt-Alec shakes his head, turns, and takes his leave with Meliorn.

Alec sighs contently watching him leave, easing his weight against Magnus’ side. “Do you think he really will?”

“What? Have a better wedding than us? Probably. Now there’s an Alec who would rent out the Taj Mahal.” Alec takes a step back in offense; Magnus manages to hold a serious expression for approximately five seconds before his lips curl up into a smirk and Alec hits him on the shoulder.

“I meant invite us, and you know it.” Alec clarifies, unnecessarily.

Magnus grins at the rise he manages to get out of his husband, but considers the question. “I don’t know. He has the necklace, so… I suppose that’s up to him now.” Magnus holds a hand out to Alec, pulling him towards the dance floor as he takes it. “But for the record? Nothing could be better than this, right here, with you.”

And Alec, after all the nervous and stress and uncertainty, allows himself to breathe easy for the first time in weeks. “I couldn’t agree more.”

#alec lightwood #magnus bane #Malec #Alternate Universe Malec #shadowhunters #lakritzwolf #ask rune #longfic #long post #long fic #this got away from me and I never meant for it to be this long #but it was so much fun to play with and we're all going to suspend belief for a bit for this one okay #i hope you like it!!#elle writes a few deadbeat lines

86 notes · View notes

beerecordings · 5 years

Text

Around Your Wrists

Part 17 of My Brother’s Keeper (Part 1 l Previous l Next)

My taglist is a separate post. Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed, my dude. Sorry this is longer than usual - couldn’t cut it down. I had so many ideas for this chapter I wrote more than 12,000 words worth of draft. I showed Lau a draft to get some feedback and more than half of this will be entirely new to this (ty for your help dude ly :D). But!! I think I’m happy with how it turned out and very excited about the story again. :) Thanks for reading!

Tws for panic attack, PTSD, and mentions of cutting and torture

Edit: @loganandoli made such a cute Jamie drawing based on this chapter!!! I love it so much. You can see it here

Brotherhood is often forged in blood. Jameson and Henrik have shared much of the same suffering. They’re still sharing it. Henrik wonders if it has yet to destroy them both.

There's a moment where he wakes up and isn't afraid at all.

Chase is watching him from a chair next to the bed, his leg bouncing a hundred miles a minute, Schneep stands above him like a guardian, his eyes too wide, and Jackie – Jackie, that's his name, Anti rarely said it, but now he knows – Jackie is holding him.

But Jameson isn't afraid.

A hand, gently glowing, lies on Jameson's chest, above his heart, and Jameson is filled with light, with warmth like he's never felt before. Is this the power Anti warned him about? Nothing about Jackie was ever explained to him. Anti only told him he was dangerous, told him he should hate him, told him he should be afraid – but this feels nice.

This feels safe, safe in a way he's never felt before. His soul is bared, but the hand that holds it isn't clawed. He doesn't know why Jackie's reaching out to him, doesn't know why he's being held, but for a second, it doesn't matter.

“Oh,” says Jackie, startling, and then he sets him back down on the bed and draws away hastily. The light dies down around him as his power retreats and the world is no longer saturated in his warmth and color. “He's awake now.”

Fear creeps up Jameson's throat once again, cold in the darkened room, and he shivers weakly and sinks back into the pillows, licking his dry mouth and trying to bare his teeth.

“Thank God,” cries Chase, rising from his chair so fast he nearly knocks it over. Henrik puts a hand on his shoulder and stops him from touching Jameson, who recoils as a matter of custom. In the doorway, Jackie is already gone.

Good, thinks Jameson, with what little savagery he has the strength for. Good, stay away.

“Hey, are you okay?” asks Henrik, in a voice like a dying wind. His teeth chatter slightly in his tightened jaw. “I thought – you were unconscious for hours – you – you scared me, Jameson.”

Chase glances over at the doctor, alarmed.

Was he really out for so long? Jameson blinks and turns to the window, where the sun has risen cheerfully in the sky, melting at the last of the winter snows, leaving the dead grass to grumble its way out from beneath the cold. Well, he didn't really mean to be gone for so long – or he had, but he hadn't realized his body would just be here, non-responsive. It felt like minutes to him.

“You were just lying there shuddering.” Chase's face is a little grey. Not for the first time, Jameson is taken aback by his concern.

Why do you care? he wants to ask, and then, a little more morbidly, You should be happy to see me die. Don't you know I belong to Anti?

“How are you feeling?” asks Henrik, coming to sit beside him on the bed. “Do you know what happened?”

Jameson just stares and sinks down in his blankets until his mustache is covered. He isn't quite ready to tell them about his power just yet.

Chase draws Henrik away, pulling him just outside the door, whispering soft enough that Jamie can't hear. “Henrik. What happened to him?”

Henrik's eyes are dark and severe, his mouth taut with fear. “Do you remember the first time I came back from being Anti's?” he asks.

“Yes,” says Chase, mournfully. “Obviously. You were really freaked out and you got super sick.”

“Really freaked out” is code for “unraveling so fast we thought you had actually lost your mind” and “you couldn't look at our faces without screaming” and “there were days where you would go so deeply into flashbacks that you would act like you were possessed again,” but Chase doesn't think that needs to be said out loud.

The doctor nods and tilts his head, and he says, “Withdrawal,” softly, as a diagnosis.

An incorrect one, but a good attempt.

“Oh,” says Chase. “Oh.”

There are consequences to being taken away from the demon after too long under his control. Right now, those consequences are the best guess they have for why Jameson, blank-faced and shuddering, was unresponsive for more than four hours.

Henrik sets a hand on Chase's shoulder. Chase isn't sure if it's there to comfort him or keep Henrik from collapsing. It wasn't easy, sitting here for so long, praying to God that their little brother would get up again, undamaged. Chase is beginning to worry this is more than Henrik can handle right now, but he isn't about to stand between the good doctor and a patient.

“We've had a rough time of it for a couple days, haven't we, bud?” Henrik raises his voice back to Jameson's level and re-enters the room, sitting down beside him on the spare bed. “I think it's time to start feeling better. Chase, fetch me my bag and some water for him. It's time for a check-up, don't you think? Yeah. Let's get a check-up.”

“You okay with being touched?” asks Henrik, shoving some spare paper under his clipboard and writing the date at the top.

Jameson stares down at it.

Up at the doctor, waiting for an answer.

“Well?” asks Henrik, frowning. “You know, you can sign if you want. You haven't since we got you back from Anti. Chase and Jackie took classes in BSL as soon as your video was up. And then I – well, I learned a little later. What do you say, you okay with being touched?”

Jameson nods hastily, his hands rising and then falling again without a word.

“Okay.” Henrik looks him over without meeting his eyes and Jameson squirms under his professional gaze. “You tell me if you start to get uncomfy. Is not a problem. I just want to look you over, okay? Just some questions and a glance at you. I want to have you healthy soon.” He strokes a thumb down Jameson's cheek, and his little brother relaxes to be touched. “I'm here. It's going to be okay. Come on, chin up, let me get a look at you.”

Obedient, Jameson holds his head up.

Jameson is five months old. If Henrik didn't know his own face, he would guess that he was no older than twenty-four, perhaps younger. He's gaunt, the way dying flowers are gaunt. His teal-tint hair is stiff and messed into knots and his eyes are hollowed like too much wet blue paint sank into the paper it was put on. The fervent purple bruising around his throat makes him look like a very sorry little woodstar bird, and he is shaking, shaking, shaking, as he always shakes, shakes, shakes.

In the moment, he looks a great deal like Jack. The open first aid kit makes the bathroom smell like a hospital room.

“I'll be quick,” Henrik promises hoarsely, swallowing back a wave of nausea.

Jameson nods, only a little wary, tilting his head and then, trustingly, reaching out to put a hand on Henrik's shoulder, to keep him steady. To keep them both steady.

His eyes are good, his reflexes quick. All his teeth are there. Henrik asks him some questions about his pain, his immune system, allergies, sleep, and more, but Jameson, in nodding and shaking of his head, reports pretty normally, admitting to a few nightmares and frequent colds but little else. There's only a single scar on his face, a short white line high up on his forehead, hidden by his fringe, and then all the other visible cuts are recent and superficial. He has a bad infection in one ear, but his pain tolerance must be high, because he hardly seems bothered by it, only frowning petulantly up at the doctor when he sticks the otoscope in his ear.

“Good,” says Henrik, relieved. “Okay, could be worse.”

Jameson is nigh on content with Henrik's careful hands running over him. He looks warmly up at his brother and shrugs.

Whatever you say, doc.

Henrik laughs, bewildered by the clarity of his expression. “Yeah,” he chuckles, reaching out to pat the side of his neck. “Yeah, we're okay. Alright. Shirt off, Jamie, let's get a look at you.”

Jameson pauses, touching his shirt.

Survival is a game. He's been asked to make a move, a show of vulnerability that might result in increased health and affection. He calculates.

Trust is dangerous, and Anti warned him about the doctor and his friends. But Anti isn't here, and Jameson needs help.

Jameson needs Henrik.

He removes the shirt.

And anger tastes like blood, blood in Henrik's mouth.

He crushes it between his teeth, tasting the panic and the terror it is well-seasoned with, seething, fighting like a drowning man to keep his head above a trauma flashback or a blank-faced panic attack, because Jameson – Jameson –

Jameson is littered like a Jackson Pollock in red and white. He's covered in lines like cracked glass. He's scarred to hell and back.

And, oh, Henrik recognizes some of these scars – shares some of these scars – the thick pink lines of Anti fully ripping skin away, the short, blackish markings from electric plug-ins shoved against the skin and made painful by the demon's own power, the lean, lovely, terrible white carving from the great silver knife, Anti's favorite.

Above all else, he shares the strings.

Henrik's strings were given to him on a day when he was weak, he remembers that.

They were given to him on a day of despair.

He felt like an animal.

The basement was cold.

Even his blood had gone cold against his flesh.

He was freezing to death.

And he gave up.

Anti came downstairs. Henrik didn't look up, but the surrender was tangible, tangible in Anti's mouth.

He sang.

Something very soft and very sweet and very sad.

A song Henrik used to love.

And he carved delicate lines, white and pure, around Henrik's wrists and ankles.

The blood was warm.

Henrik reaches up and draws back, slow, the sleeve of his own shirt, revealing one of the white string scars.

He knows he should ask his little brother when Anti gave him the strings, how much did they bleed, did he cry, did Anti sing, was he grateful, does he still belong to him?

But Henrik cannot make the words appear.

Cannot bear to know the answer.

He stares at the strings on Jameson’s wrist and at a fifth string scar, carved in a circle around his poor little brother’s heart; he is horrified, sick, frightened, humiliated, tormented, weak, and Jameson is –

Oh, wait, hold up. Henrik blinks. Jameson looks... happy.

Jameson looks excited, delighted, overjoyed.

He lifts up his hands and he signs.

“Shared,” he says, with passion, beaming at him. “We are brothers.”

Henrik stares.

“Shared,” says Jameson again, and then he reaches out and touches his hands.

Reaches out, slow, and touches the pads of his fingers to the rough callouses of his knuckles, runs the smooth surface of his nails against the soft insides of his valleys and ridges, lets his skin drift down the flat bruises of his blue-river veins, and finally finds the smooth raised flesh of the old scars, as though they are sacred.

The movement is slow, uncertain, like he expects to be pushed away, but his touch is warm.

“Brothers,” says Henrik, finding his voice the way a colt finds its legs, and then he nearly chokes, breathing so fast it makes his chest hurt. “Ja, ja, ja – oh, yes, we are, we are brothers. We did share this, didn't we? Didn't we share this suffering? Don't we share these scars, and see – they have yet to destroy us.”

Jameson laughs without noise, his eyes shining. Fuck, he looks like Jack, he looks like Chase. Like Marvin, like Jackie. He looks like brotherhood.

Yes, they shared the same suffering, didn't they? He wonders if Jamie bled like he did, begged like he did, screamed like he did. Starved and wept and tried to kill himself like he did, professed love and hatred intermittently, begged God to kill him like he did, wished Sean had never created him like he did, cried out for his brothers to save him –

He chokes again and coughs and pulls out his stethoscope, and he sets it gently to Jameson's chest, and listens to his heartbeat for a very long time.

After a moment, Jameson sets his chin on Henrik's shoulder and closes his eyes.

Henrik can't fucking breathe.

He takes his blood pressure and cleans up a nasty cut in his stomach and weighs him in the bathroom and checks his head for lice and examines his calcium-deprived nails and he can't fucking breathe, he can't breathe at all, but he doesn't care, he just wants Jameson to be okay, he just wants to keep Jameson healthy –

He lets go of his little brother and sits back on the bed, reaching up to clutch at his hair, rough tears coursing down his face, and Jamie's face twists with alarm. Henrik doesn't know why he thought he could handle this. He can hardly even manage looking at his own scars, and Jameson's are barely different – it might even be worse, to know that he was tortured the way Henrik was tortured, to know that he has been through so much of the same, from starvation to the sickly sweet, overwhelming enslavement of Anti's control, the whispered “I love you” that falls from your mouth when you are weaker than you have ever been –

Jameson has wrapped his arms around him, holding his shoulders and trying to make him meet his gaze, but Henrik is already collapsing, dissolving, unwinding with his terror, choking, choking, suffocating on terror old and new. His wrists are cold-chained again, he can't hear anything but a high-pitched static whine, he is hungry, hungry, dying of thirst, and blood seems to seep from every pore of his white flesh, as medicine oozes through the tube of a bottle.

He can't fucking breathe.

Now doctor, this doesn't have to hurt. Close your eyes and repeat after me.

No, no, no, not the possession, he can't bear – he can't bear it – please –

He was doing so much better before Anti took him. He was doing so much better. He enjoyed his therapy sessions, he never freaked out more than once a week, and he was starting to feel like he might actually have some goddamn control over his life again.

Not anymore.

“I can't do this again!” he cries, his voice shattering halfway through. “No, no, no, I can't fucking go through this again, please, God!”

Sooner or later I'll get in. I always get what I want, brother dear.

He can feel Jameson's terror like a visceral thing, but above it all there is a sweet black burn, familiar and horrifying and wonderful, and he is sinking again, sinking, sinking, sick. Somehow the slow drowning of Anti's power is before his eyes again, within his lungs again, within his brain again, and the distinction between doctor and demon is becoming rapidly more blurred in his addled mind, his time of being a prisoner in his own head rising in his struggling throat.

Repeat after me. Give me strings.

Give – give –

He had fought. He had fought. None of it had mattered.

Give me strings.

And Henrik loses himself.

Withdrawal, withdrawal, withdrawal –

Jameson's hands are holding him.

“Dapper,” Henrik whispers, reaching up to touch his face.

His tear-stained face.

“Oh,” murmurs Henrik, his voice sweet and high-pitched. “I didn't mean to make you cry, puppy.”

Jameson's jaw drops and he stiffens like a corpse. His hands shake. He reaches up, up to his throat. He signs, slowly, unbelieving, an “A” drawn across his bruised throat.

“Anti?” he asks.

And Henrik whispers: “Of course, darling.”

And then, a millisecond later, “No, no, no, I'm not him, he's not here, he's gone, and I – I – oh, puppy, I didn't mean to make you cry.”

Jameson is here, beneath his hands; they're sitting on a bed together and nothing else matters, because he remembers, he remembers. Yes, they were here like this before. The after-effects of Anti's poison make him disoriented, but he remembers. They were here like this before. On the bed, at the motel, sitting together, Dapper so trusting, so naively trusting beneath his hands, torn between love and distress, and he laid him down, set his mouth against his ear –

Henrik takes Jameson's head in his hands, staring blank-faced, apathetic, at the fear, at the confusion in his silver-blue eyes, and then he pushes him gently down onto the mattress. Jameson, his eyes wide with terror, nevertheless goes without protest, yielding and compliant beneath his hands, lying down with his throat bared to the light.

“What am I doing?” whispers Henrik, and then, hatefully: “Disobey me and you will find yourself digging the life out of your own fragile heart. You will always belong to me.”

Jameson cries, but he does not move or struggle.

And his eyes are still warm with love and brotherhood.

Henrik places his cold mouth at the base of Dapper's ear. The command has to be issued. The seed has to be planted, and buried, and drowned. His name is Antisepticeye.

Jameson shrinks away from him.

Henrik jolts, his eyes fluttering, reality appearing too bright around him. For a second he can only choke, his heart moving too fast and too painful for him to breathe. He wonders if he's finally dying.

Reaching up, Jameson touches his shoulders and gently, pleadingly, draws him down away from his ear to look him in the eyes again.

“Oh, I'm s-sorry,” Henrik gasps, his chest heaving hard, an agony. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I – ” He stumbles off Jameson and collapses onto the bed beside him, his nails digging at the scars in his wrists.

All this time, all that he's been through. All it took was one week, and suddenly Anti owns him again.

“No, no, no!” shrieks Henrik, spasming and curling in on himself, tearing at his hair. What the hell is happening to him? What the hell happened that night? “No, he gave you an order! I gave you an order! Oh, God, what did he tell you? Jameson, what did he tell you? I gave you an order! Why can't I remember? Why can't I remember? What did he tell you to do?”

“Please,” Jameson is signing, hovering over him. “Please breathe.”

“I can't go through this again,” Henrik sobs, and shame overwhelms him like a wave on the ocean. “Please, God, please, Jack. Jameson, don't.”

Jamie is trying to hold his hands. He's trying to offer comfort the same way it was offered to him. There's no anger in his eyes and Henrik doesn't understand why.

“I'm sorry,” Henrik cries, trying to push him away. “I'm sorry, I didn't know – go to Chase, please, I can't take care of you – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Oh, I can't – can't b-breathe.”

But Jameson does not go.

And he stays for the next half-hour, as Henrik works his way through the worst panic attack he's had in months. He weeps and collapses, shudders and stammers, remembers old words of hatred Anti gave to him and tries to tear out his stitches. He falls into a possession flashback two more times, but does not try and touch or speak to his little brother. Jameson sits with him and holds his hands.

“I'm sorry for scaring you,” whispers Henrik, limp on the bed when the worst of it has passed.

“You didn't scare me,” says Jameson.

“I'm sorry for hurting you.”

“You didn't hurt me.”

Henrik looks up and finds neither fear nor anger in his little brother's face.

Just warmth.

He is warmer than blood. Hateless. Loving.

He turns around and picks up Chase's red sleep shirt, tugging it back over his head. And then – still cautious, like he expects to be rejected – he lays down, carefully, warm, on top of Henrik's chest.

Henrik covers his face with one hand, and rubs Jameson's back with the other, and breathes.

No, Jameson is not angry. No, he's not even scared.

He's made his choice.

He loves Henrik.

This is my brother, Jameson decides, closing his eyes. This is my brother and brothers look out for each other no matter what. Brothers keep each other. Protect each other. Save each other.

Henrik falls asleep.

Jameson strokes his fingers along the scars on his wrists. They're lovely. They're shared.

He doesn't know exactly what happened, doesn't quite remember the night Henrik returned to, but something has changed within him. He never believed he would find someone who had been through the things that he had been through, and came out the other side alive, and softer for it. He never believed he would have the chance to live with him. To be his. He dreamed of it, wished for it, hoped with all his heart for it. But he never thought it would happen. Now this person – his person, his brother – is sick. Is scared. Is hurting. For the first time in his life, someone needs him.

And I, Jameson promises, curling up against his chest, and listening to his heartbeat. I will keep my brother safe.

#jameson jackson #schneep #jse egos #writers of jack #bee writes #my brother's keeper #tw torture #tw panic attack #tw ptsd #it took me so long ahahaha #ILY FOR READING AHHHHHHHH #okay i'm hungry going to go get a SANDWICH #please enjoy #tw aggressive reaction

111 notes · View notes

cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years

Text

omg okay so i was totally ignorant but now i am enlightened because the brilliant @h00f sent me the booth video recording and im dying over it so here we goooo. i recorded it and uploaded the vid into davinci resolve so i could zoom in and also go through frame by frame.

tl;dr: so its all good its all good UM TYREEN’S TATTOOS WENT MISSING ON HER FOREARM AND THEN SHE SUCKED A MONSTER AND THEY REAPPEARED so it’s all good it’s all good im not having a crisis. im not. i thiiiiiiiiink we see the Vault of Promethea (the one with the cranes, but lilith also says “wherever the hunt for the vaults takes us” which throws me off a bit. still kinda think it’s promethea tho).

so not what i was expecting to be doing at 2:32 am but you know what? this is okay, borderlands gives me literally infinite energy

and new content? HOH BOY i am going to go so fucking in depth. hold onto ur horses. i was working on my mock intro to the game but this is so much better

UMM?? HOLY SIHT????

THAT’S THE SAME TILE AS THE ONE IN THE TEMPLE

I THOUGHT THIS WAS ON EDEN-6???

same tile on the wall on the right there

those guardian statues have staffs!!! that’s so rad, like the Watcher and shit, they also have less big necks?? or they might be bowing down. they look a lot more humanoid than the guardian/eridian statues im used to!!!

like as far as i can see they don’t have the butt spikes? maybe these are just super well preserved and thus not broken/spiky/cracked!! I do think the staffs are awesome! I know the Watcher carried one and so do some in TPS (I don’t recall seeing any in bl1 with staffs? im pretty sure they used their energy claw things) so maybe these are a higher tier of guardian than the ones we see in bl1? (which, if the Eridians wanted us to open Pandora’s vault as punishment for stealing fire the tech on Promethea, then that would make sense)

AND THE CRANES! and the buildings!!!!! is this Promethea’s vault? there’s something in the sky near the moon (?) so i thought maybe that was the asteroid belt but... it’s only condensed in one area..?

it looks like a rocky place (you know, the quasmarian quarry Typhon mentions?!), i could see it, it looks super well-kept!!! my only problem?? it’s not underground/next to a cliff or anything. i guess it’s actually possible with those cranes and shit that it’s been excavated completely

i think we walk out of a temple here, which makes me think this is connected to the temple with all those monster dudes in it (also i can’t be the only one who thinks the blue sparkles on the statue on the far left makes it look like it has a shiny thicc butt. i CANNOT be the only one)

you know this one

well ACTUALLY in the We Are Mayhem trailer we DO see one of these guys!!! he’s on Maliwan’s side as the VHs are running across the bridge and im pretty sure that is Promethea!

IM PRETTY SURE

the neon lights and shit make me think it is in fact the city!!! maybe a part of the city that’s been totally overrun by Maliwan??

okay im certain this is promethea, those turrets we 100% see in the gameplay reveal trailer (below)

i thought i recognized that silhouette!

so unless maliwan is carting those demon dudes from a different planet to use in their army, I’m going to guess the huge ass temple was excavated from when Typhon found it (explaining the cranes and buildings) and Maliwan maybe took control with the CoV and somehow?? got control of those big demon boys. not quite sure tbh

OKAY SO THIS IS SO AWESOME ASDFGFHGJFK IM NERDING THE HELL OUT I LOVE ERIDIAN STUFF AAAA OKAY SORRY IM JUST ADSFSGFHYDJUK

AND THIS ONE LOOKS SO TINY?? I AAAA I KNOW IT’S NOT BUT??

THIS FEELS LIKE IT WOULD BE THE VAULT ON ATHENAS (IF THERE IS ONE) THOSE STAIRS (??) ARE GIVING ME THE VIBE. THERE IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT A LOT TO WORK OFF OF HERE, BUT THE PROJECTION THING IT’S DOING IS NEATO!!

okay so this is either paint or light. and i can’t tell if that’s a person up there or a statue or something? I feel like i can’t almost see a cross or something so...

THEN IT CUTS TO THIS? AND HOLY STARGATE VIBES BATMAN I LOVE IT

i have a huuuuge feeling at least one of these Vaults is going to appear in like a cutscene of a flashback where Rhys and/or Fiona describe what happened at the end of Tales. The reason I’m bringing this up right now is because this Vault is just... in a void. There’s nothing around it except that gradient which is really bizarre to me.

JUST

ALL OF THIS

HOLY HELL THAT LOOKS LIKE A FORTRESS IN THE BACKGROUND MAYBE THAT’S WHERE THE TWINS ‘LIVE’? I IMAGINE THEY HAVE SOME SORT OF PLACE TO SLEEP AT THE VERY LEAST

it has the mouthpiece shape on the top up there? although i guess that could also be a VERY crude statue of someone raising their hands to the sky?? but it looks like the mouthpiece symbol.

another shot of the HBC

intro to the rc

what i am assuming is the back area of the RC? but uh... given what we saw above, maybe this is in their fortress area???? imagine lilith teleports away because the twins stole the key from us and we have to sprint to their fortress base and when we get there it opens into a cutscene and Lilith is crawling on the ground away from them

mhmhmhmhmhmmm

heyo look at those shapes and colors on the left there. you know exactly what im gonna say

im gonna say it anyway

inhale atlasatlasatlasatlasatlasatlasatlasatlasatlas

okay i think i got it out of my system

it could also be dahl architecture (because it looks very very similar to the RC) painted with the colors of the CoV. Could also be that.

i do think it’s interesting because this is almost the exact same shot as this!!

which means this is here

and i can 100% see this being in their fortress (???) and not the RC. The RC has that huge area in the back we don’t explore yet, so it could be there but... now I’m thinking... what if that’s just so we find the clue that the sun smashers gave the key to the twins in the HBC? Like i know i said the room Shiv comes out of is gonna be it but... maybe the whole area is just for quest stuff? or there’s a loot room or smth. idk. it’s good to keep ur mind open to alternative possibilities, is all

we get to learn what color Tyreen’s power actually is! ... I think? I’m pretty sure. like im hopeful this happens before she steals Lily’s powers...? but?? anyway although the vid is washed out, if we look at the shot from the dev trailer, it seems to be purple/red. I thought it was straight red, but guess not. Unless this IS after she stole Lily’s powers and that’s why she’s looking at it like that LMAO. i don’t know!!

Troy with a little robot buddy! Did he build that?! it’s adorable! it reminds me of the one in the RC but without a snake body. I wonder if his body mods/arm/neural implants let him control it. that’d be so rad

... why did the background start glowing???

ty in the hbc!!!

same shot with troy. i think this is the same cutscene as the reveal trailer one (VS the Calypso Twins) just at a slightly different angle/animation

oh shit is that a demon boy in the background? i think it might be

definitely looks like the temple area!! those spikes look like they could’ve been part of one’s wings, you can even see the thin skin bit stretched out on the left next to tyreen. also... is that an eyeball on the part in the middle there? that’s horrifying. no thank you.

so far, literally the closest we see Troy near one. This is 100% after he shed the monster skin like a snake. ... I’m kidding. mostly.

also i can’t believe my art of the twins giving the rock on symbol is actually legit. i posted that literally the morning before their personalities were revealed in the demo, im so happy

if this is not the video we see in Shiv’s room I’m gonna be so disappointed. is that a sword behind the box? Also i think i understand why the Map Machine Broke now. I am under the assumption this happens before they steal lily’s powers, but it’s entirely possible it’s after! this looks like the area they steal them in, so maybe lily sees it on live stream and is like “NOPE FUCK THIS” and teleports in to steal it. that’d be really interesting... still hoping they steal her tats after the HBC tho. im gon b really upset if they dont lol (not really, because it’s fucking bl3, but like... why would u then go put the map with mouthpiece... why...)

troy has his tattoos here! that or his skin has been peeled off and he’s losing a lot of blood. let’s say he has his tattoos so i can sleep tonight :)

cuts to him catching the key? almost want to say this is a different scene entirely than the previous one. same area, probably though

hmhmhmhmhm the fortress (?????) doesn’t seem to be connected to a rock wall at all (it’s elevated on like a plateau) so you know what, maybe this IS in the RC afterall!

fuckin mlg over here

oh it stops glowing again. you know maybe its on like a timer/pulsing or something. maybe that’s not important lol

back at the monster. why does tyreen look nervous/in pain? AND WHERE DID HER FOREARM TATTOOS GO???

OH MY GOD

THEY ONLY START REAPPEARING AFTER SHE DOES THE SUCK ON SOMETHING BELOW HER

WAIT HOLD UP

UMM

wTF???

i think that’s the horn or part of the monster they were sitting on/had killed???

holy shit. are tyreen’s tattoos/powers temporary and she has to continuously suck the life force out of stuff to keep them going??????? maybe stronger stuff = longer battery life??? holy shit.

troy in jakobs manor! explains the psychos with tv heads being hung everywhere

i was about to say this was the HBC but its not. ‘HOLY CHILDREN’ maybe this is where the VHs are walking forward with the giant spike head behind them. you know, this area?

altho that would be the outside of it. ACTUALLY maybe this is the entrance to the fort?? the walls like like castle walls lol

what in the holy fuck is that thing??

it looks like a fucking dragon??? sitting on a wire ball?

where the heck is this? in the temple area maybe? i don’t ever remember the floors glowing, but they do look similar.

oh and the twins shake forearms again. maybe Tyreen is giving Troy half her powers or something and whenever she does her tattoos start to disappear so she has to suck more energy from other stuff to keep them present??

to this shot, so it’s a possibility. maybe they figured out how to “activate” stuff or something! And i am kinda thinking this is on Promethea now because of the Vault being similar? and the big demon boys appearing. but again like... the Eridians were kinda EVERYWHERE so it’s hard to say for certain even if the architecture looks similar. of course it would, they were goddamn everywhere. still curious as to why Little Blue gets that book, though. is it typhon’s book? a siren’s book? a researcher’s book? one of her ancestor’s books? i don’t know! lol

another shot of this. is this actually a vault???? it seems small and tbh the vaults are usually like... not shaped/designed like this? maybe it’s a statue. idk this feels wrong saying it’s a Vault. it doesn’t even have the inscriptions. maybe the academic district on athenas has a statue of a vault bc they’ve got a bunch of weird shit like Amara’s tattoos on a building and a vault symbol for a door so why the heck not this too lmao

the circus area with the ferris wheel! im so excited for this area. hype hype. it looks like it’s next to the motorcade. maybe this is where the big face arena place with pain and terror is, too!!! i could see the whole arena type deal being in a giant red circus tent

oooo where the fuck is this?? im interested. my first thought was a spaceship bc of the machinery (?) in the back but... maybe not?

maybe some part of the CoV spaces we’ve already seen? the railing in the back makes me think so.

back in the HBC!

space shot of Promethea (the asteroid belt and city lights)

it was at this point in the vid i started crying (like for real lol)

god im so ready for this game

Sanc-III!

colors check out

im still wondering where that blue ship is...

they have totally different paint designs and the blue one is on the cover art as well!!! what is UP with that gearbox?!

anyway, this is TAKE OFF and also a nice shot of Elpis in the background. the crackening lava seems to have died down over 7 or so years. good for her.

“Pandora”. i love the sky, holy shit that’s gorgeous. what’s in the sky there by the moon? i don’t know! maybe sanc-iii actually DOES have a cloaking device. damn, i was kidding, but that’d be amazing

eden-6! with the jakobs manor in the background. this looks vvvv similar if not the same area we got the moze gameplay in

Promethea!!!!!!! wow this place is gorgeous holy shit

as this shot appears lily says “wherever the hunt for the Vaults takes us” which is likely implying this isn’t promethea. athenas, then? It’s possible, we see Maliwan has occupied at LEAST the academic district so i could see them excavating a Vault.

THERE’S A BIRD where do we see birds??? on eden-6, but this 100% does not look like eden-6 to me... it would explain the temple, though....... because tannis has the floor tile in her office the same time she’s crawling around inside a dino so... maybe???

we’ll have to see! I kinda hope it’s promethea, seeing large buildings and cranes and shit would only really fit my views of Promethea and Pandora.... the whole area is giving off weird blue sparkly effects, maybe it has been teleported or summoned or something? i don’t really know what’s up with that tbh.

it cuts off on this shot

wondering if this is like a character selection screen or smth it reminds me of the persona “press start” screens haha

also the art in the background is pretty rad. anyway that’s all for now folks

im gonna go pass out now, it’s 4:12 in the am. gnight

edit: i got my acronyms for the hbc and rc messed up bc i am a v tired.

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #oh man oh me oh my #panel breakdown #the calypso twins #tyreen calypso #has anyone else noticed that about her tattoos yet?#i was busy working on my mock opening so all i got was the message then ran to do this asap lol #i would just like someone to tell me if im crazy or not #because i swear she doesn't have tattoos on her forearm #and then they appear #after she starts using her powers

39 notes · View notes

mycatshuman · 6 years

Text

The Demonologists

A Sanders Sides Conjuring Au

This is based on The Conjuring movie, so if you can not handle creepy things, talk of death, possessions, demons, and ghosts, please turn away now.

Edit: I'm an idiot and forgot but thank you to @civilsounds17 for beta reading this chapter! 💚💚

More chapters

Word count: 1,562

Pairings: Pre-established Logicality and Prinxiety

Warnings: mention of death, demons, possession, mentions of the original Annabelle doll (it was actually a rag doll for those who don't know so don't yell at me.), please let me know if I missed any.

“It scares us just thinking about it.”

“You'll probably think we're insane.”

“Try us.”

“Please, from the very beginning.”

“Things started out small. Like a hand or leg would move or the head would turn, we even once found it in a different room!”

“Maybe someone had a key to your apartment and was playing a trick on you.”

“That's what we originally thought. But we never found any hint or evidence that anyone was intruding.” A women on the couch glanced at her wife as she spoke.

“So this led you to believe the doll was possessed?”

“Yeah. Rose even got in touch with a medium who told us that a small girl around 7 named Annabelle Higgins had died in our apartment a few years ago.”

Rose nodded before explaining further. “She was lonely and took a liking to my doll. She said all she wanted was to be friends.”

“When we heard this, we felt really sorry for her. We're nurses, we help people. It really got to us.”

Rose nodded along to her wife's words before taking over. “So…..” She looked at her wife. “We gave her permission to move into my doll.”

“Wait...what?!?!?! You...gave it permission?!?!?”

Ruby quickly jumped to defend themselves. “She said she wanted to live with us! She said that by inhabiting the doll she could live with us! So... we said yes.”

Rose sighed. “But then, it got worse.”

*Flashback*

Rose laughs as she unlocks the door to their home. She opens the door and her laughter stops. Ruby also comes to a pause beside her. The two look down to see a small shred of paper with the words, “Miss me?” In red crayon. They look up and see the rag doll sitting in the hallway against the wall. The two females walk together as they approach the doll.

“When we came home one night, she was sitting in the hallway. But we had left her in our spare room!”

The couple look down to see red crayons by the dolls’ hand. Rose hears a flickering and turns around to see their bedroom in a state of disaster. A lamp flickers on and off from its position knocked over on the floor, casting shadows over the room. Rose even spots a picture of her and her wife with the glass cracked and she lets out a horrified gasp as she takes in wobbly red crayon markings drawn all over the walls and ceiling. Another “Miss me?” Message is written on the ceiling in an erie childish hand.

As the two survey the room, the small sound of a crayon dropping gets their attention and they look down to see a lone red crayon roll across the floor towards their feet. Ruby has had enough as she quickly grabs the doll and storms out of the apartment and all the way outside to where she throws the doll in the dumpster along side the house.

Later that night, as the two slumber in their shared bed, a thundering knocking sounds at the door, effectively waking from them from their dreams. The two share a look before climbing out of bed and journeying to the door. Ruby opens the door and glances around only to find the halls empty.

However, when she looks down she finds a crumpled up piece of paper with red crayon and the same message as before. “Miss me?” She picks it up before looking around again to see if anyone was playing a cruel joke on them. She finds no one. She turns around to look at her wife to explain her findings when suddenly, the door next to Rose rattles with the thunderous knocking again. The two jump as they look at each other.

Rose gathers her courage before she grabs the doorknob and opens the door. She opens the door and lets out a small scream as she finds the doll sitting there.

*Flashback ends*

“We are beyond terrified at this point. We have no idea what is going on or what to do to stop it?” Rose explains.

“So….can you help us?” Ruby asks as she takes her wife's hand in hers and giving a comforting squeeze.

“Yes we can,” a man in royal reds, glittering golds, and pristine whites leans toward the couple on the couch. “But first, you have no know there is no such thing as Annabelle. There never was.” The man's amber eyes flash with seriousness as he talks to the couple.

“Ghost don't possess such power, I believe what we have here is extremely manipulative and inhuman,” another man, dressed in deep purples and blacks with small hints of silver throughout his outfit shifts slightly. “I think you acknowledging this doll was a big mistake. Through that toy, this inhuman spirit was able to trick you.”

“You basically gave it permission to invade your life.”

“What's an inhuman spirit?” Ruby asks as she looks between the two men.

“It's something that was never alive. It's something demonic.”

The wives glance at each other before they ask their next question. “So….the doll was never possessed?”

The darkly dressed man nods. “Right, it was used as a conduit. It was moved around to give the impression of possession. Demons don't possess things. They possess people.”

“It wanted to get inside of you,” the other explained.

The couple looked at each other.

“You can shut it down now, Toby.”

The lights flicker back on as the screen goes dark, the last image having been of the female couple.

The lecture room full of students all shift as two men, one in bright colors like red, white and gold, and the other contrasting with dark purples, blacks and accents of silver turn to address their class again.

“So, we get to the church and send the priest over to perform a blessing on the house and its occupants to ensure that whatever was oppressing them was no longer with them.” The man with amber eyes explained.

“Any questions?” the other asks their audience. He points to one of the people in the back row.

“Where's the doll now?”

The two men share a glance. “It's safe,” the man in mostly red and white answers. He then points to someone in the front row off to the left.

“So, what exactly are you guys? I mean, what do people call you?”

The darker skinned man moves to rest his chin on the man in blacks and purples as the other answers. “Uh..well, we've been called demonologists, that's one name for us. Ghost hunters, paranormal investigators, paranormal researchers…”

“Cucks,” the man in red pipes up. The class lets out a laugh.

“Whackos.”

Another round of giggles before the man in darker colors moves away from the other. “But we prefered to be known as simply Roman and Virgil Warren.”

-----

A car drives up a long dirt road until it stops in front of an old two story farmhouse surrounded by trees with a big tree standing by the lake. Behind the car, a moving truck stops as the family gets out. “Here we are,” a man with slicked back jet black hair says as he looks up at the house they have just bought.

“Wow!” A bubbly man says as he steps out of the passenger seat. He wears a light blue polo with light brown khaki pants and a light grey cardigan wrapped around his shoulders. “You hear that?” He asks his husband.

The other man turns to him. “I do not hear anything,” he responds as he raises an eyebrow at him.

The other man grins, his blue eyes sparkling behind his round glasses. “Exactly!” He exclaims. “No city noises to keep us up at night!”

His husband chuckles as he closes the driver's door. The two get up and walk to the front of the door, and crossing the threshold of their new home. As they stand on the porch, their children came up out of the car, most of them excited to start their new life.

The twins, Jericho and Apollo ran past yelling, “We call dibs on the big room!”

The youngest, Dante raced through the doorway as he shouted back at the remaining children, “I'll race ya!” His dad's chuckled as they watched their children all excited to pick out their rooms in the big house. Then Kai and Emile walked through the door, one with awe and the other scrolling through their phone.

“Do I get to pick my own room or do I not have a choice about that either?” Elliot asked as they stopped just before entering their new home.

The two parents chuckled as their children walked past before the bubbly one turned to the other who straightened his tie quickly. “Oh they’ll forget about Florida with the first crush they meet,” he said cheerily.

“Oh, I can't wait,” the other said as he pulled his husband into his embrace, wrapping his arms around his waist.

The man in a blue polo smiled wide before wrapping his arms around his husband's neck and pushing himself up on his tiptoes and kissing his love's lips. “I love you Logan.”

The other smiled. “I love you too Patton.”

This was a new start for them. And they were excited to see what came next.

------

(So that's that. Let me know what you think. I hope you have a good day and relaxing night.)

92 notes · View notes

angrypixie-sarisa · 5 years

Text

The tapestry

Piedras Rodantes Pt.7

Okay, so, I wanted to write another fanfic and since nobody pays attention to me on tumblr, the situation it’s just perfect, It’s a Supernatural fic. Now here’s the deal. It’s a polyamorous situation. I know, shush.

Sam x Mexican!Fem!Witch!reader x Dean

Warnings: Throughout the fic there are gonna be lines in Spanish. Nothing to fancy for google traductor, i hope. “Suggestions” of spanish songs i love. Swearing in both spanish and english. And the usual, mentions of blood, violence, smut and other varieties. It’s supernatural, really we don’t expect something else. Spoilers?(if you haven’t watch spn of course, or if you are just getting started with it) Also, SLOWBURN. Also, some chapters are short, some are long, depends on my mood.

Descriptionof the whole fic in general: So, remember when Sam took a break of hunting because he thought he was a danger for everyone? Season 5, i think? That’s where the fic starts. Reader and Sam met at the bar where he worked at, developed a friendship and a crush on one and the other. Then Sam has to leave because of all the shit that goes down throghout the season and the horseman and the fight between the archangels. But promises the reader that somehow, he’ll come back. Then, he goes to hell. That’s when reader meets Dean. And yeah, things aren’t as smooth with them in the begining. Reader befriends Lisa and Ben first, which raises Dean’s suspicions. He just wants to keep them save and all. After some stuff they become friends and the Sam comes back. So yeah…

What to do when feeling down

Things to do to cheer up

How to deal with a bad day

Good movies

Why?????????????

That was what your google research looked like. It had only been two days and you were nowhere near to carry on with your day. This usually didn’t happen to you. Normally you would see the signs and you’d end things before it got worse. But something about Sam just told you to keep going and you never feared where things were headed until it dawn to you. Well, shit. I’m a witch and he’s hunter. What could possibly go wrong? It’s not like you were in a coven or something like that. You weren’t satanic. You never even listened to the taunts of demons. You weren’t even sure if you were a witch. You only were certain that normal you were not. You had powers and gifts and your intuition was better than the others. Yet, these things had always been a part of you. And you knew your family well; they would’ve never dare to give in to the bullshit pact of a demon. Please, your mom would’ve even scolded the demon or threatened it with the, oh, so powerful chancla. Your dad didn’t believe in these things and your grandma always carried her Rosario with her.

Throughout the years, witch always felt the right word to describe you. Nobody had a bad reaction to it in México, so why was it that in the US everyone was ready to burn you alive?

You sighed and shrugged. There was only one thing you hadn’t tried yet. Well, two. And those were getting chocolate ice cream and painting.

Yes, you liked to paint and draw. You liked art in all its glorified representations and interpretations. You took out your supplies, a big white sheet you always intended on converting it in something else, all kinds of color acrylic paintings, a spoon and the ice cream. Brushes? What were those? You needn’t such things when you had fingers, the best brushes of the world.

You looked at your tin can filled with old and new brushes of all kinds. You stared and stared, as if the can itself had eyes and it was contesting against you.

“Fine, I’m sorry. I do love you guys, I just want to paint with my fingers today.” And it seemed that they understood. They always did.

It did the trick, you blasted some music, ate ice cream from the container (staining the spoon just a smidge) and painted the sheet. You had not and specific image. You just ran your fingers through it with blue and then orange and then pink and then green; making a whole beautiful mess of it.

You were almost finished with it when a loud banging at the door disturbed you from your artsy mood.

“Hijo de su pinche madre. ¿Quién toca tan pinche feo?” You whispered out loud. You got up from the floor, pausing the music, and cautiously approached your front door. You looked through the window and saw a far too familiar tall figure standing in front of your door. His eyes caught you staring and he sheepishly waved his hand hi. You rolled your eyes.

As you opened your door, you leant on the door frame, not inviting him to come inside and not telling him to go away either.

“You owe my door an apology.” Sam knitted his eyebrows together and scoffed a laugh.

You raised your eyebrows and your chin. You pursed your lips and stared him down.

“Seriously, you want me to apologize to a door?” You nodded, he sighed.

“I’m sorry, dear Door, it wasn’t intentional. I will never do it again or to any of your door friends.” He looked at you, waiting for your approval. Trying to hide your smile, you bit your lip and only nodded once.

Sam took in the sight of you. Your hair was braided and away from your face. Your yaw had a little bit of blue paint. Your hands were a mess, all the colors seemed to merge in them, frankly it seemed as if that was your actual skin color, spots of pink and red and blue and orange and purple… It felt right, for some reason. You were wearing your “to paint” t-shirt; an oversized white old t-shirt which had hints of your many years painting.

His eyes, then, landed in your bare legs. And he knew, you were only wearing the t-shirt.

Sam cleared his throat and forced his eyes to go back to yours. You weren’t glaring anymore, you would’ve been, but it wasn’t the first time you had caught him looking.

“Hey.” He said softly.

“Hey.” Your eyes followed his hand as he scratched the back of his neck. He’s nervous.

“Can I… May I come in?” You took a deep breath.

“Are you going to capture me and burn me alive?” He shook his head.

“No. I… I want to talk.”

“Did you bring something?” Sam laughed as your eyes traveled towards the brown bag behind him.

“Ice cream, chocolate and red wine, the cheapest red wine.” “As it should be”, he heard you whisper. It was then when the sound of your laugh filled his ears, he had missed it. You took a step inside and opened your arms wide.

“Come in.”

“So…” You said as you took two spoons out of the drawer. You opened the ice cream, but saved the wine for later. If Sam started asking questions, you might need it.

“I… I have questions.” He said. Oh boy, no. You sighed and opened the bottle.

“I figured. Shoot.” You poured yourself some wine and asked him if he wanted. He shook his head.

“Well, for how long?”

“Long as I can remember.” You took a sip and glued your eyes to the table.

“Well, what exactly can you do? Maybe you’re cursed or something similar. You don’t have to be a witch.” You silently laughed.

“Maybe you’re right but Sam you have to understand that I haven’t met someone, something or a whole definition for what I do.”

“Maybe I can help you with that.” He was wearing his worried face, with those puppy eyes looking at you. He wanted to help and correct the situation between you.

“Yeah, we’ll see.” You exhaled dramatically and brushed your hair with your fingers.

“Let’s start big, am, I can teleport, I see the future, I can sense people’s auras and sometimes even read their minds, although the last one’s rare. It only happens when the emotions of the person are very strong.” You looked at him through your glass of wine as you took another sip. He nodded for you to continue.

“I excel at divination, I can talk to animals but it’s the same situation as reading minds. I can heal myself and others in different levels…” Flashbacks started to flood Sam’s head. There was one time where he was preparing a coctel and as he was cutting the lime he had cut his finger. It wasn’t something big. You had already spent some time together and when he went back to talk to you at your place in the bar, you had indeed brushed your fingers lightly to the tips of his. By the time he saw his finger the cut was tinier than a papercut. Of course, when he questioned it out loud, you suggested it been the lime juice, you claimed it had scaring properties.

“You mentioned teleporting.” Sam started. You stopped talking and nodded, emptying the last of your wine in your mouth.

“How can you exactly teleport?”

“Not like demons. I can’t just banish in midair and reappear where I’d like.”

“Then how?” You gave him a small smile. You stood up and as easily as before the whole mess, took his hand in yours. As if it were the first time, he blushed intensely. It surprised him how used to your touch he was and how with only two days of not being around you it felt weird not to hold your hand in his.

You conducted him to the nearest closed door, that been the one of your supplies closet. You opened the door and showed him, well, your closet.

“What am I supposed to see?”

“Ordinary, isn’t it?” He rolled his eyes, but nodded. You closed the door again and when your hand went to touch the handle again, he thought he had seen it shine orange as the sunset. When you opened the door the sight in front of him was different.

It was a sunset in front of his eyes, a beach and a calm waving ocean; so near and real. He had never gone to the beach, ever. In the hunter life there wasn’t much space for vacations, let alone a vacation in a tropical destination.

“What? Is this real?” Sam turned to look at you. A warm feeling spread across your chest. Oh, his stupid face, so adorable and lighted and full of surprise and wonder.

“You want to go? The portal won’t close unless I close it. So we can walk in the beach if we want to.” He scoffed and started taking off his shoes and socks. You did the same.

“How does this work?”

“Well, there’s like a veil between the places. The veil helps the people or animals at the other side not see our side of the portal. They only see what they should be seeing.”

“So, we just have to step through the veil?” You nodded.

Sam took your hand in his. Your heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t often that he took the initiative, however through the past weeks; he seemed as if he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. It was always the small of your back, your elbow, knee, head, shoulder or back of your neck that was in touch of his palm. But when it came to holding hands, you were the one that usually started it.

“Ready?” You asked him. He didn’t answer. He just walked ahead of you, for the doorway wasn’t big enough.

You were already used to it. Being in one place and then being in another. The change of scenery didn’t affect you. Then, you looked at Sam, his eyes were closed. He was walking then stood still as he took in the feeling of soft sand beneath his feet.

He exhaled a shocked breath.

You giggled and contemplated the idea of kissing his cheek, his cheek or lips. A sad smile was drawn in your face. Even after all of this, you might still end up without him.

You gulped the knot in your throat, so your voice will sound smooth again.

“Open your eyes, Sammy.”

He did. If you thought his last expression was priceless, then the one in front of your eyes made the aching in your chest grew bigger. The sort of ache you have when you see something so beautiful it hurts. The sort of ache that you had both experienced at the sight of each other under the orange, golden light of the sunset.

He felt his hand leave yours as his arm slowly snaked his way around your waist. He drew you closer to him, chests pressed together. With his other hand, he cupped your face. You debated yourself whether you wanted to close your eyes or stare into his. Your hands placed themselves on his shoulders, but when he hugged you closer you clasped them at the back of his neck.

“I don’t know what you are Y/N and I don’t care anymore.” Sam whispered. He dipped his head more until you noses touched.

“I could be many things, corazón. But I know evil I am not.” He loved it when you called him that. That little pet name you had for him.

“Y/N, I really want to kiss you, so you better not tease me again.” You giggled and he closed the distance between you.

You both sighed in content. You had waited so long for this kiss. Such a tender yet desperate kiss. A kiss that could last forever and yet slip away. Like time or ether, touch or heartbeats. You both wanted it to last forever, if only your breaths had the same will as your lips.

When your lungs cried for air, you separated and stayed closed. Contradictory but existing.

“How was that tease, pretty boy?”

“You call that teasing?” In his eyes there was a promise, he’ll show you what it truly was teasing.

#sam winchester #sam x reader #dean winchester #dean x reader #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural imagine #supernatural x reader #fluff #angst #smut #piedras rodantes

15 notes · View notes