#Garnet Run 2

[phoenix-flamed]

Me, fondly remembering my playthroughs of FFVII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII: I don't need more blogs I don't need more blogs I don't need more blogs I do --

Though if I did RP as anyone, it'd hands-down be Beatrix from IX.

[shanastoryteller]

Happy holidays! Do you have any zagreus interacting with other gods? Thanks so much

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Other people are learning about Zagreus.

Not that they know it's him, of course. He goes by the moniker prince.

Just enough to direct prayers and pay tributes, but a nameless god standing against Demeter? It's enough to send the whole pantheon in an uproar.

It's enough to send Demeter to heights of rage that Artemis previously thought her incapable of reaching.

There are gardens that her frost can't touch. Fruit she she has no hand in growing.

There are people who will not submit and die as she wishes it, blaming mortals for her daughter's death and so making them pay the price for a lost goddess.

Not even Zeus has rained destruction upon the mortals like Demeter had and not even Zeus can stop her.

It's too much. Too much taken, too much suffering.

Persephone was a sweet girl. But her loss is not worth the life of every mortal upon the earth.

Artemis is with Aphrodite, both of them having been evoked powerfully enough to send shivers down their spine. She leans against her spear and tried to think of any other way to fix this.

It's a town on the edge of collapse, a thick forest between them and the rest of civilization. In spring the journey is long but easy enough, but it hasn't been spring for a long time.

There's no game to hunt. Loved ones are dying. They beg and beg to any god that will listen but while every god can hear them no god can save them.

None but one.

But how would they know? This far out, there only contact is other isolated villages too deep in the world.

"I'm tired," Aphrodite whispers, knees pulled to her chest, something about her coltish in her helplessness.

Artemis has never tried this. She doesn't even know if it will work. But he won't ever find his way here on his own. "Can you keep a secret, Aphrodite?"

She shifts her head enough to look at her with a single garnet eye. "What secret do you have, sister mine?"

"Aphrodite," she says warningly.

She huffs, amusement aging her. "Yes, yes, my silence or my life. What is it?"

Artemis hopes she doesn't regret this. She hopes it works. "Prince Zagreus!"

"What's Zag going to do?" Aphrodite blinks. "He can't even-"

She cuts herself off and Artemis knows she's thinking through the first part, coming to the obvious conclusion and rejecting it out of hand.

"Artemis?"

They both turn and Zagreus is standing there. Not as image or projection like he was the last time they met face to face, but solidly beside her in the flesh.

He grimaces in pain and raises a hand to his side before straightening and forcing his arm down. Whatever it is that keeps him in his father's realm still has some hold on him, it seems.

"I'm kind of in the middle of something," he says. There's blood on his teeth. There wasn't any a couple seconds ago. "Oh, hi Aphrodite. Er. Please don't tell anyone."

"It's you?" Aphrodite demands. "You?"

"I am me," he agrees.

Artemis would beat him if they had the time for it. "Can you help them? This village will die. Word of you hasn't reached them and your temples are too far to travel too even if they had."

He grins it's all red. His blood drips down his chin. "It's not going to be pretty."

Artemis has never thought about how exactly the god of life and blood spreads his blessings. She thinks she's regretting that now.

"Pretty's my domain anyway," Aphrodite snaps. "Help them."

Zagreus moves too quickly for Artemis to stop. He grabs her spear and slices down his chest and then there's blood everywhere, pouring out of him, more than should be in any one body.

Aphrodite screams and Artemis wrenches the spear away, horrified. "This is celestial silver! You can't - even gods can't heal from it!"

"Death heals all wounds," he says and there's blood down his chin, spilling out his mouth with his every breath.

Then he's running.

They talk off after him and it's easy to follow his trail, the deluge blood and smell of copper filling her nose as they chase him.

Zagreus is mad. When she wasn't looking he went insane and now she's killed him.

They have to slow him down, have to get him to Hermes. It should be easy, they're goddesses and he's dying, but he stays fast enough to stay just out of their grasps.

He's lose a body's worth of blood a dozen times over and yet still more flows.

He finally trips and falls, giving gurgling breathes.

"Zagreus!" she shouts as she and Aphrodite fall into the snow beside him. "Zagreus, hold on, it's going to be okay."

He laughs and pats her cheek. He's too pale. "Relax. I die all the time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aphrodite demands, trying to put her hands over the wound but it's too long to stem.

Zagreus doesn't answer.

His body goes slack and it takes Artemis several seconds to realize the person screaming is her.

Aphrodite is sitting there shell shocked and bewildered and then Zagreus's body sinks into the earth, not even reacting to Artemis's attempts to hold on.

"Oh."

She looks up and Aphrodite is looking behind them. Artemis slowly follows her gaze.

Every place blood touched the ground, there now grows bushes of bright purple berries, more vibrant than any fruit she's seen grow that shade. They grow thick and fat on every branch and if there anything like the other food in Prince's gardens, it will keep them alive and they'll be able to grow more themselves.

If they're willing to sacrifice the blood.

The next time Artemis sees Zagreus, she's going to kill him.

[novantinuum]

Fandom: Steven Universe Rating: Gen Words: 2.8K~ Summary: Not too long after making peace with Homeworld and sparking the start of Era 3, Steven wakes up one morning to discover some... notable changes about himself.

AKA: The one where Steven finally hits his growth-spurt. All at once. Because of course the half-Gem kid could never experience such a human thing like puberty in a "normal" way.

[Part 1 of 2]

Just a few seconds later, knuckles rap against the door in answer to his perturbed cry. 

“Yo Steve-o, that you in there?” Amethyst calls. 

“Y-yeah?” he stammers. His brows threading inwards, he delicately runs his fingers over the ridge upon his throat, very much thrown off by the distinctly lower tenor of the sound coming from his own mouth. He swallows hard, pushing himself to speak again. Come on Steven, he berates himself, think of something lighthearted. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. No need to completely freak out over this yet. “Who else would I be? It’s not like the whole town uses this bathroom…”

“I mean, I do sometimes. For fun.”

“Okay, fair point, but—”

“Dude, what’s wrong with your voice? Are you like, sick or somethin’?“

“No, it’s just—” 

He squeezes his eyes shut, blocking out all the nebulous, spinning distractions of his mind and the world beyond. Deep breath. It’s okay. Tons of things about his form may be entirely different right now, but like… he seems fine. Right?? Nothing about his body feels tangibly wrong like it did when he willfully stretched himself out on his 14th birthday, or when he changed all his fingers into cats, or when he lost all control of his aging and morphed into an anciently old man and almost died, it’s just… 

New.

New and wholly unfamiliar.

So what now? How can he bravely move forward with all this? What does he need to know? 

“Have, uh… have you ever shapeshifted by accident in your sleep?”

“Not that I‘m aware of,” she says, and he can practically hear the shrug in her tone. “Shapeshifting is a conscious thing you do. It’s a choice, y’know? It doesn’t just happen.”

A good long moment passes as he drinks this information in. He runs his hand through the short curls at the back of his neck as he stands there in the pair of too-small banana yellow pajamas he fit in just fine last night, musing.

“Huh… I guess that makes things pretty simple, then.”

“What d’ya’—”

“Amethyst, I think I’m finally older,” he says, still absolutely mystified by this prospect as he gawks at himself in the mirror. 

She gives a fond laugh. “Ch’a, right? You get older everyday, bud. Wild.”

“No, I mean I’m actually, physically older! Look!”

Steven whirls around and swings the bathroom door wide open to show her. Amethyst’s jaw drops.

“Whoa—! Dude!”

Chuckling nervously, he steps a few feet out, wriggling his bare toes against the wood floor. “I know, right?”

“What the heck, you weren’t kidding!” Before he can even move to say anything else, she spins on her heels and cups her mouth with her hands, hollering towards the temple door. “HEY, PEARL! GARNET! You gotta get out here and see this!”

His brows shoot towards his hairline, his heart hammering in his chest all the while at the thought of all the dumb show-and-tell he’s gonna have to deal with now. “Aww, come on, did you really have to—”

“Amethyst!” Pearl cries, scrambling through the still opening gap in the doorway with Garnet striding mere steps behind. She summons her spear from her gem and swings it to fighting stance with an artful flourish. “What happened? Where’s the threat? What do you need us for??”

Steven darts towards them, hands held up in a placating plea.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! There’s no danger! We’re fine. I just—”

“Oh, my stars—!” she gasps, allowing her spear to dissipate in a glittery flicker of light. “You’ve grown!”

“Nice look, Steven,” Garnet nods, a supportive smile gracing her lips.

“And you’re sure this is real this time? You’re not—?”

“No, no, I’m not stretching myself out, I promise. I just woke up like this.”

“B-but—” Pearl taps her fingers against her chin, appearing thoroughly puzzled— “I thought humans were supposed to age gradually, not all at once.”

Steven’s shoulders slump. “Well… that’s what I assumed too, but—”

“Come, sit with me,” Garnet says, walking around the warp pad to enter the living room. She sets herself down on the couch, patting the cushion in open invitation.

With a heavy, far too weary for his age sigh, Steven shoves his hands in the pockets of his too-small banana pajamas and plods his way over. The rest of the Gems follow suit. He settles himself right next to Garnet, with Pearl perched opposite to her and Amethyst happily lounging on the floor, leaning on the coffee table with her elbows. 

“Steven’s aging hasn’t aligned with the norms of humanity for a very long time,” she observes, a glint of morning sun that’s beaming through the window catching on the edge on the edge of her star shaped visor. Then, turning to him: “I’m curious why you think this is.”

He hums, considering all the chaotic happenings of the past few years. Despite the rare query she poses, he gets the sense that… in her vast wisdom… she already knows the answer. Or at least, a small sum of it. It should be noted that her future vision— as far-reaching as it otherwise is with the vast possibilities of existence— can’t ever touch any knowledge that she won’t be conscious for or present to receive, let alone retroactively scry into the past.

(And honestly? Thank goodness for that.)

“I’m not sure,” he says, a half-lie.

He can think of one reason he might’ve started aging again. Though, it’s not something he’s ready to talk to the Gems about yet. It’s… far too delicate a topic to risk bringing up so soon after the start of peaceful Era 3. But after spending a whole childhood being constantly compared to and mistaken as various versions of his mom… let’s just say, having his gem torn from his body and getting to see it reform into a version of himself (and not her) was simultaneously the worst and the best thing that could’ve ever happened to him. While undeniably traumatic, this experience served as the ultimate proof that he doesn’t have to waste another second of his existence chewing away at some burgeoning identity crisis, that he can live his life however he wants. As Steven. Not as Rose, or Pink Diamond, just… Steven.

He’s not exactly sure how all this mental weirdness translates into him staying stuck looking like a little kid for like… six or so years, but after he returned home from his latest escapade on Homeworld, he could sense that— despite all the messed up stuff he and Connie went through— his spirit was lighter, somehow.

So maybe, he thinks, he simply had to peel away at all the damaged layers of his identity to ready himself to move on to the next stage of his life. Maybe he had to stare death in the eye and pass through the heart of the storm in spite of all these hardships before he could piece the foundational truths of his story back together and learn to finally live again.

To start shifting his hopeful gaze towards the dawn of their bright, sunny future…

“I mean, I always kinda thought he stopped aging because we never did,” Amethyst says then, laying her cheek on the table. “Like, it happened around the time you moved in with us, yeah?”

He purses his lips, scanning his memory. “Uh… I think so? It might have been a year before. Two, even. But I was definitely hanging out with y’all a lot by then.”

She leans over and playfully slugs him in the arm.

“See, there you go! You always wanted to be just like us when you were a kid, so much that you even wore that same ol’ star shirt every day to match ours, ha! You must’ve wanted to be a Gem so badly that you subconsciously stopped becoming older at all.”

“That’s actually a pretty solid theory, Amethyst,” Pearl chimes in. “Good thinking!”

“We have seen you shift your form in response to your perception of others around you,” Garnet says with a nod. “This has caused you to temporarily age and shapeshift in the past, but for you to age in a stable way now, your perception of self must have stabilized, too. I’m very happy for you, Steven.”

She tousles his mess of curls with her gold ringed hand, a welcome little offering of affection that he eagerly leans into.

And then, out of nowhere, Amethyst starts cackling.

“Dude,” she blurts out between her peels of laughter, nudging his foot with her elbow, “I just realized— Greg’s gonna totally lose his shit when he sees this…”

Pearl’s expression scrunches inwards with prickly displeasure. “Language!” 

“What, it’s true!”

He waves Amethyst’s comment off. “Pshhh, my dad’s seen way weirder,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Like, did I ever tell y’guys how the cat fingers incident ended?”

“No!” the quartz exclaims with intensive fervor, and leans forward in anticipation. “Gimme the juicy deets, m’man!”

Garnet adjusts her visor then, her features falling into a dutiful line. “Speaking of Greg… story time can wait until later. Steven— if you want to see your father this morning, you need to head over there now… or there’s a good chance he’ll fall back asleep until one and you’ll miss your window.”

Amethyst’s lips fall into a pout as she slumps back against the foot of the couch, her arms crossed. “Awww, phooey. Spoil sport.”

He swallows a grimace as he internalizes Garnet’s prediction. Yeah, that sounds about right. That’s become a bad habit for his old man lately, staying up super late and then sleeping in almost half the day on weekends. Ever since he received that ten million dollar residues check it’s nothing that can hinder his financials anymore, thank goodness, but then again…

“Yeah… I should probably go make sure he wakes up,” he mutters, pushing his tired body off his seat. “I’ll need his help finding new clothes, anyways.”

The second he’s up and moving again, Amethyst darts around him and snatches his spot with such swift and viscous drive that one might believe this ploy were her sole quest and purpose in life. She stretches out against the seat back with a big, dramatic yawn, crossing her arms behind her head as she speaks. 

“It’s too bad you can’t just… I dunno… summon whatever clothes you want out of light, like us. That’s like the biggest bummer of humanity, if you ask me.”

“And when do you ever experiment with your outfit enough to have a strong opinion about this?” Pearl prods, crossing her arms. “It took you almost a decade to fix that asymmetrical shoulder strap.”

“Well, P… I like to think of myself as a Gem who would experiment with my outfit. One day. If I’m ever really, really bored. Consider it an Era 3 aspiration.”

Steven rocks back and forth on his heels, absentmindedly fiddling with the fraying bottom hem of his pajama top.

“Okay, uh… well, I’m gonna dress to leave now, so—”

“Yeah, see ‘ya.”

“Send a text if you need anything!” Pearl says with a casual wave.

“And don’t forget…” Garnet begins, the ellipses in her tone practically visible with the naked eye.

He pauses in his dutiful march to the stairs— (a somewhat unsteady march… as it turns out, shooting up about a foot and a half in height overnight tends to impact one’s sense of balance for the worst, go figure)— turning back to intercept whatever life advice or future vision she’s prepared for him this time. 

She grins, flashing him a quick heart with her hands instead. “We love you!”

~~

Steven trudges across the hot sands to his dad’s car wash sans his favorite flip flops, trying his very darnedest to wipe away the developing grimace on his face all the while. 

A small segment of him felt overjoyed when he first saw his reflection this morning, eager to look his age and finally grow up alongside his human friends. But after struggling to find anything that fits him even halfway right in his wardrobe, his good mood has rapidly spoiled. There’s a decent few reasons for this.

Reason number one: his old sandals are at least two sizes too small. His heels stick out over the end now, and the plastic thong digs into his toes something terrible. He literally can’t wear them without giving himself blisters. Ergo, his bare feet right now. 

Reason number two: none of his jeans sit right around the waist anymore, plus they make him look like he’s waiting for a flood. (Though thankfully, he found a stretchy blue skirt buried in one of his drawers that will do the trick for now.) 

And perhaps worst of all… reason number three: with his newly increased height, every single one of his treasured star shirts have been turned into ill-fitting crop tops, putting his gem on full display. He’s not against the concept of a crop top, but it sure ain’t a look he’s passionate about for everyday wear. It just feels… too exposing. Like, what about winter?? He can’t bear his whole midriff in winter, he’d freeze, and like… get hypothermia, or something. And not only that, but the longer he’s awake this morning the more an inescapable, thrumming ache starts to settle within the deepest core of his body, like even his bones themselves— the stubborn things— dare to object to this abrupt growth spurt.

Just… ugh. What an annoying hassle all these changes bring.  

“Stupid shirt,” he grouses, tugging at the too-tight collar, “stupid sandals, stupid Gem puberty! Why, oh why can’t I ever go through human stuff normally?”

His bare foot catches upon a sizable stone hidden amongst the beach. On any other day he would’ve successfully broken his fall, stumbling forwards a few awkward steps before regaining his balance and continuing on his way. But with his body now so different, and his center of gravity entirely off from what he’s used to, he head plants straight into the ground.

Wow, he thinks, spitting sand out of his mouth and pushing himself back to his feet. How elegant. Truly the shining paragon of coordination and grace.

Thank goodness no one was watching. Next time he’ll just have to remember to float.

He arrives at his dad’s van with no further incident. The rear doors are— following Garnet’s prediction- cracked open. Dad’s awake, at least for now.

“Daaaaaaaad,” he hollers, cupping his hands around his mouth to project. “A really, really weird thing happened, and I kinda need your help!”

A few spare seconds pass, seconds filled with the rustles of shifting blankets, the sound of a book being shut closed, and his dad’s low murmurs. The doors swing wide, though not as wide as Dad’s eyes when they wander around their bright, sunny surroundings and eventually land square on him and his new look.

“Wh— Steven, holy smokes! Look at you!”

With an awkward chuckle, he scratches away at an itch at the nape of his neck. “Heh heh, I know, right?”

“You’re almost as tall as your old man! When did this happen? How did this happen?”

“Some point last night, I guess,” he shrugs. “I just woke up like this. But Dad—” he clings onto his arm with mounting desperation— “I need your help to find some new shirts. Don’t you have like… whole boxes of your old tour merch stashed away somewhere? I don’t wanna have to get rid of my star, I just— I just need a bigger size, or something.”

“Hmmm…” Dad muses, scratching at the scruff of his beard. “Well, maybe, but…”

“But what?”

“But if any of it’s still around, then it’s probably in Amethyst’s room. All of the stuff from the storage unit ended up with her, remember?”

“Oh…” he says, brows furrowed, not quite able to parse this fact within his memory yet. And then… 

Ugh. That’s right.

Two New Years’ ago. The huge mess of crates and mattresses and long forgotten belongings. All that ridiculous Little Butler nonsense. Amethyst’s fight with Dad.

“Oh,” he mumbles, crossing his arms. “Right. Well, then let’s go find it!”

“R- right now?”

“Yeah, why not? I need new clothes, and you could see if there’s any old junk in there you might want to keep!”

With that, he grabs his dad’s hand and yanks him along, spirit filled with renewed purpose and vigor.

“And you’re sure you need my help for this?” Dad asks, lagging a step or two behind him as they march back across the beach together. “The Gems, they… well, they don’t usually want me going into the temple—”

“Oh, Amethyst will be fine,” he says with a wave of his palm. “She never cares when I go in there to check out her trash piles. ‘Sides, I need your help to find the right box! I have no idea what your old band stuff was stashed in.”

His dad flashes a tight smile, the sort he always serves up when he’s nervous, but also too timid to tell him that he’s nervous.

“Well… if you think she’ll allow it…” he relents, and picks up his pace to match his.

~~

[End Part 1... more to be shared later.]

[dark-frosted-heart]

Book of Memories ~ Chevalier and Licht ~ Part 1

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this.

Among the servants in Rhodolite castle, there’s a debate that has been going on for years.

“Who among the 8 princes is the best swordsman?”

The three princes most often mentioned were the three with the most distinguished. 

The popular Leon, whose natural talent blossomed after overcoming his childhood illness and is now always at the frontlines, 

The seasoned brutal beast Chevalier, a renowned genius whose capable of anything,

And recently, Licht, who uses his extraordinary reflexes to hone his swordsmanship.

Maid (1): But did you know? There was a time when Prince Licht hated swords so much that even the mere sight of one drove him mad.

Maid (2): Really? I can’t imagine that at all. How come? 

Maid (1): Who knows? I don’t know why either, but… One time Prince Chevalier came home carrying a bloody Prince Licht. I heard from the head maid at the time that after that, he got over his hatred toward swords…

The maids who were wiping the windows paused.

In their line of sight was the bloody brutal beast dragging a silver-haired prince by the collar—

Maids: EEEEKKKKKK!!!!

--

Licht: Couldn’t you have been a little more considerate… My leg hurts.

In a doctor-less infirmary, Licht bandaged the wound on his leg with a blank look.

Chevalier, who had been leaning against the wall and watching in silence, opens his mouth.

Chevalier: I don’t care. Just give me the information. Why else do you think I brought you back from the enemy base where you had collapsed?

Licht: You were on the move too… That company…was a threat to Nokto.

Chevalier: I was the one who instructed the company to make a move.

Licht: …

Chevalier: I’ve had my eyes on them for a while. Publicly, they're a newly established company, but behind the scenes, they're a large criminal organization that smuggles on globally… They’re an eyesore. Before they could use our country as their headquarters, I used Clown to interfere with the company’s public business. I did not think they would take the bait so quickly…

Licht: Don’t use Nokto as a decoy…

Chevalier: And if that’s what he wanted?

Licht: …

Chevalier: It was convenient for me too. If Clown made a move, you would also make a move in secret. It’s a way to get information without much work, isn't it?

Licht: …I’m getting angry.

Chevalier: Of course, what we’re dealing with is just the appetizer—

Chevalier got off the wall, stood before Licht, and kicked his bandaged leg without hesitation.

Licht: Ow…

Chevalier: I can’t believe you were beaten like this.

A scoff fell over Licht’s head as he crouched.

Licht: There was a child at the base… It was before you arrived…I think he got lost while playing. I let him run off because I didn't want him to see blood…

Chevalier: You got shot while distracted.

Licht: It's just a scratch.

Chevalier: And if it was poisoned? If your leg goes numb and is no longer of use, it’s the same as getting shot.

Licht: I can move…

Chevalier: It would appear so.

Licht: …

Chevalier: …Foolish.

Licht: I know. But I didn’t want him to see blood. Because the trauma never goes away.

Chevalier: Yes…It’s a feeling that only you can understand. I have never experienced trauma.

Licht: Yeah.

Garnet eyes glanced at the sword on the bed.

Licht: It was like living hell… Until you saved me.

[greenwitchcrafts]

January 2024 Witch guide

Full Moon: January 25th

New moon: January 11th

Sabbats: None

January Wolf Moon

Known as: Bear Moon, Chaste Moon, Cold Moon, Disting Moon, Goose Moon, Moon of Little Winter,  Moon of Strong Cold, Quiet Moon, Snow Moon, Stay at Home Moon, Sun Has Not Strength to Thaw Moon & When Snow Blows Like Spirits In The Wind Moon

Element: Air

Zodiac: Capricorn & Aquarius

Nature spirits: Brownies & Gnomes

Deities: Freya, Hera, Innana & Saraswati

Animals: Coyote & fox

Birds: Blue Jay & pheasant

Trees: Birch & Hazel

Herbs: Cones, holy thistle &marjoram

Flowers: Crocus & Snowdrop

Scents: Mimosa & musk

Stones: Chrysoprase, garnet, hematite, moonstone, onyx & jet

Colors: Black, blue-violet, grey, silver & white

Energy: Adventurous, ambitious, awareness, beauty, beginning & conceiving; business, career, conserving energy, energy below the surface, organization, political matters, potential, protection, recognition, reputation, reversing spells & spirituality

The name for the January full Moon is believed to have originated from Celtic and Old English roots, which European settlers then brought to the New World.

At one point, gray wolves were among the most widespread land mammals on our planet. According to the Wolf Conversation Center, gray wolves “inhabited most of the available land in the Northern Hemisphere.” Habitat destruction and persecution by humans have reduced their range by about a third worldwide and 90 percent in the lower 48 states.

The wolf’s adaptable nature to survive in a wide range of habitats and ability to prey on the largest mammals living in those regions made it widespread. Basically, if there are enough deer, moose, elk, caribou, bison, and musk ox, wolves can survive. Predation of domestic animals caused friction with European settlers and early Americans who aggressively hunted the wolves.

Werewolf myths can be found in ancient Greek and Roman societies, throughout European history and among some Native American tribes. In modern storytelling the transformation from man to wolf has been closely tied to the full Moon in films like “The Wolf Man” and “American Werewolf In London.”

Howl at the Moon means to waste energy pursuing something unattainable. It’s shorthand for doing something crazy. However, howling is hardly a waste of energy among wolf packs. And they aren’t howling at the Moon. The Moon just happens to be shining during times when wolves most often howl.

A wolf’s howl can be heard miles away. The vocalization helps wolves locate separated members and even communicate between packs marking their territories. One study recorded spontaneous howls and responses happen most often between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The cry of wolves doesn’t play into the Sioux name for the January full Moon, which is known as “The Time When Wolves Run Together.” Wolves do plenty of running to defend territory that can stretch hundreds of square miles to find enough prey to support the pack.

Other Celebrations

• Hogmanay | January 1st: is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) and, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish bank holiday. In a few contexts, the word Hogmanay is used more loosely to describe the entire period consisting of the last few days of the old year and the first few days of the new year. For instance, not all events held under the banner of Edinburgh's Hogmanay take place on 31 December.

The origins of Hogmanay are unclear, but it may be derived from Norse and Gaelic observances of the winter solstice. Customs vary throughout Scotland and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours, with particular attention given to the first-foot, the first guest of the new year.

• Compitalia/ Feast of Lades | January 3-5: was an annual festival in honor of the Lares Compitales, household deities of the crossroads, to whom sacrifices were offered at the places where two or more ways met.

Dionysius said that Servius Tullius founded the festival, which he describes as it was celebrated in his time. Dionysius relates that the sacrifices consisted of honey-cakes (Ancient Greek: πέλανοι) presented by the inhabitants of each house; and that the people who assisted as ministering servants at the festival were not free men, but slaves, because the Lares took pleasure in the service of slaves. He further adds that the Compitalia were celebrated a few days after the Saturnalia with great splendor, and that the slaves on this occasion had full liberty to do as they pleased.

During the celebration of the festival, each family placed the statue of the underworld goddess Mania at the door of their house. They also hung up at their doors figures of wool representing men and women, accompanying them with humble requests that the Lares and Mania would be contented with those figures, and spare the people of the house

Sources:

Farmersalmanac.com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Llewellyn's 2023 magical almanac: practical magic for everyday living

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

[beansprean]

Happy Mer-May!! Why not an extremely loosely interpreted Little Mermaid au? Starring Guillermo as a harbor seal who dreams of living in the deep, Wallace as an opportunistic mimic octopus, Colin as a parasitic lamprey, Laszlo as a lazy little snaggletooth, Nadja as a vicious sloane’s viperfish, and Nandor as a spiny black dragonfish. Deep sea fishes truly the vampires of the sea.

"Betcha down there

that they don't care

Bet they don't

mind a couple slaughters..."

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1a. Underwater full body shot of mermaid Guillermo swimming past. He has the tail of a light brown harbor seal, webbed fingers, and small floppy ears that are held closed. He has a line of kelp tied around him like a bandolier and is looking around determinedly, brandishing a wooden stake in one hand. 1b. Full body of Guillermo lounging on his side on a flat rock above the water, one arm tucked under his head and the other held to his side like a flipper. He sighs forlornly. 1c. Full body of Guillermo on an algae-covered rock sticking above the ocean's surface, waves cresting around him as he lifts up his torso little-mermaid style and sings out "part of your world".

2. Full body of mermaids Colin, Laszlo, Nadja, and Nandor floating in a line, the ocean behind them very dark. Colin has the slick beige and cream tail of a lamprey, webbing beneath his arms, and gill pores dotted down each side of his torso and neck. He grins and wiggles his webbed fingers at the viewer in a wave. Behind him is a smaller shot of Colin with his mouth open, revealing multiple circular rows of sharp teeth around a sucking maw. Laszlo has the tail of a snaggletooth or stareater, his anterior side patterned in teal and black scales up to his chest, lighter teal scales dotting up his neck and shoulders, and brighter teal fins. He has a pair of gills on either side of his neck, sharp black claws on each webbed finger, and green bioluminescent spots running from wrists to tailfin on either side. He floats with a smug grin, arms crossed and back-to-back with his wife. Nadja has the tail of a Sloane's viperfish, her anterior side patterned in dull garnet and black scales up to her chest, lighter dull garnet scales dotting up her neck and shoulders, and brighter rose fins. Her fins and tail are similar to Laszlo's in style, but larger and longer with a posterior barbel. She has a pair of gills on either side of her neck, sharp red claws on each webbed finger, long fangs poking up from her lower jaw, and double lines of red bioluminescent spots running from wrists to tailfin on either side. She is grinning to show off her fangs, floating back to back with her husband. One of her webbed hands is raised to bare her claws, long black hair swirling in the water around her. Nandor has the tail of a black dragonfish, his anterior side patterned in dark blue and black speckling up to his chest, lighter blue scales dotting up his neck and shoulders, and black spines with translucent blue webbing over his shoulders and down either side of his long winding tail, ending in a small forked fin. He has a pair of gills on either side of his neck, sharp claws on each webbed finger, and gold bioluminescent spots running from wrists to tailfin on either side with double lines on his torso. he is floating nervously, looking around and twiddling his hands together.

3a. Mermaid Wallace, with the tentacles of a mimic octopus below the waist, floats underwater next to mermaid Guillermo. They are wearing a woven vest studded with shells and pearls, a black doppa hat with puka shells, a pearl necklace, a pendant with a claw, and several rings on unwebbed fingers. Their tentacles are relaxed, colored in the usual brick and cream stripes, and they have black claws and small horns above each eye. Wallace grins slyly as they wave their arms mysteriously and dangle a necklace in front of Guillermo’s face. It is a simple braided string with a snail shell on the end, which is glowing bright blue and burping out shiny bubbles. Guillermo, wearing a kelp bandolier with two stakes tied into it at his hip is staring at it with wide, fascinated eyes, one hand reaching up slowly for it. He says, “So…this will let me survive in the Trench?” Wallace replies, “Guaranteed.” 3b. Repeat. Wallace suddenly snatches the necklace back into their hand, cutting off the glow, their other hand planting itself on their hip. Their tentacles darken into black and bright crimson stripes and fan out threateningly in the water as they clarify, “For 72 hours only. And $350 cash.” Guillermo snatches his hands back to hold them protectively against his chest, head sinking into his shoulders in shock as he frowns back up at Wallace.

4a. Mermaid Guillermo and mermaid Laszlo float side by side in the deep, Guillermo wearing his kelp bandolier and Wallace’s magic snail shell necklace, which continues to burp out small glowing blue bubbles. Laszlo bares his fangs upwards and tosses up his hands as if to amplify his voice, shouting, “Fish!” Startled, Guillermo jerks back, one hand half-raising in a readied fist and the other clutching a stake behind his back. 4b. Repeat. With a poof of bubbles, Laszlo transforms into a brightly glowing dark teal snaggletooth fish with bulging eyes, a chin barbel, an unhingeable jaw full of long sharp teeth, and bioluminescent green spots down each side. He looks to be about four inches (or 10cm) long. Guillermo immediately relaxes, unimpressed, and drops his arms while staring at the tiny fish with a “you’ve got to be kidding me” expression. Fish Laszlo squeaks, “Not so tough now, eh??”

5a. Close up of mermaid Nandor in hunting mode, rushing left across the screen, his bioluminescent spots and glowing red eyes streaking light behind as he goes. He has one arm rushing forward as if to snatch whatever he’s chasing and the other held braced and ready at his shoulder, claws bared. He has spiny webbing like a bat’s wing underneath each arm, a spiny fin for an ear,and the webbed black spines at his shoulders have lengthened and spread out like an angry frilled lizard. His jaw has unhinged and gaped open, morphing and stretching his face into something monstrous and revealing dozens of long, sharp, thin teeth snarling and ready for the kill. 5b. Mermaid Guillermo floats nearby watching, eyes bulging out and face blushing bright red as he clutches the snail shell necklace in his laced fingers as if it were a rosary. He is fully into this. /end ID

[haphazardlyannotated]

So I was thinking about how Steven, Connie and Stevonnie all have a duet with one of the main Crystal Gems and I realised how masterfully these songs are deployed to tell us things about them.

First of all, On The Run for Steven and Amethyst.

Amethyst is the Crystal Gem who relates the most to Steven's experiences and vice versa. They're both the 'juniors' in their household, they've both been struggling with being respected by the older Crystal Gems for a while now, and though Amethyst is very much Steven's guardian when it comes down to it, she's also Steven's peer in a way that Garnet and Pearl just aren't even when they try to include Steven.

And now this song sets them up as parallels in other contexts, too. They're both from earth! They both don't wholly belong in one category (Steven as a half gem, half human, Amethyst as a Crystal Gem who never fought in the rebellion and whose existence runs against the Crystal Gems' original wishes for Earth), and as we are about to learn, they both came into existence at the cost of other life and might harbour guilt about it, even though they had literally no say in this.

And then later on they continue to be parallels, especially in season 3 (though they share the child of divorce energy during the Sardonyx Arc). They both compare themselves to impossible standards of what they 'should' be (Steven to the idea of Rose, Amethyst to Jasper) and it is their recognition of their own struggles in each other that allows them to at least partially overcome them. No wonder Smoky Quartz is Steven's first fusion with another gem!

Next up: Do It For Her, sung by Pearl and Connie.

Speaking of parallels! It's pretty obvious watching the episode that Pearl is spending some time in projection city regarding absolute devotion to a beloved, if not revered partner, but she might actually be closer to the truth in some respects than she realises.

Remember Lion 2: The Movie? When Connie said that she didn't understand why Steven would hang out with someone as normal as her? Doesn't this remind us of someone else who feels like she's objectively inferior to a special (in several ways) someone? Someone who stepped out of the predetermined role she was supposed to fill to join her loved one on their dangerous path? Who lived a double life to avoid retribution from controlling authority figures? Couldn't say.

Also, they're both the knowledgable planner to their all loving goofball partner.

With all of this, I think Do It For Her both draws parallels between Pearl and Connie as well as Pearlrose and Connverse, and shows us how the example of Pearl and Rose's unresolved dysfunction could stop Steven and Connie from falling into the same trap before it was too late. I think seeing Pearl demonstrate the end of the road they were beginning to walk was what enabled Steven to step in before they got to Pearlrose's point, where Pearl was to deep in her self sacrificing mindset for Rose to reach her.

And finally, Here Comes A Thought for Garnet and Stevonnie.

First of all, obviously, Garnet and Stevonnie as an embodiment of the love and harmony between Ruby and Sapphire and Steven and Connie respectively.

It also draws parallels between Ruby and Connie and Steven and Sapphire though. (I saw a great meta about that in my lurking days, which I will link here if someone could kindly direct me to it). Sapphire and Steven as people who would rather bury negative feelings, like Sapphire tries to in Keystone Motel and Steven in... the entirety of suf to name just the most prominent one. Which of course only leads to more problems in the long run, because they haven't processed the feelings at all.

On the other hand, the comparison with Ruby draws attention to a trait of Connie's we maybe wouldn't have noticed otherwise: She is, for the lack of a better term, much more confrontational about things that make her unhappy. Just look at The New Crystal Gems.

Also, letting Ruby and Sapphire demonstrate their conflict resolution for Steven and Connie gives us an insight into what goes into keeping Garnet together through everything. Love takes work indeed. It's also worth pointing out that Connverse have been paralleled with both Pearlrose, Rupphire and (a little bit in We Need To Talk) Gregrose this way.

This show has so many layers, I swear, I'll be on my deathbed and I'll still find new nuances to write an essay about. Well done, Crewniverse.

[si-fii]

That one meme with Garnet and Steven but it's Wash and Sniper. If these two are in a situation where Sniper is emotional about having to kill a guy, something has gone terribly wrong.

Anyway I have been forcefully kidnapped by these two fandoms and there is no escape. Men running around a desert trying to kill each other in a red vs blue fashion will be my downfall.

| art tumblr | instagram |

[I.D.:

A color illustration of Agent Washington (Red vs. Blue) putting a sympathetic hand the shoulder of Sniper (Team Fortress 2).

Washington, looking serious, says, "We're gonna have to kill this guy, Sniper."

Sniper, looking upset and staring at the ground replies, "Damn..."

End I.D.]

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Hey Sleepy, I was curious about the MI6 lore and about the other members of the mysterious group Jade was in. Like, are they still alive? What they look like and so on

Hello Anon! (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

So, I got this similar question about a few months ago, and I've answered it here !

However since then I've cooked some thoughts on the (fictional) MI6 lore and The Jewels!

💎 The Jewels Project Lore 💎

The Jewels Project commenced in 1975. Initiated by Oscar Fletcher, the Jewels are highly skilled individuals who are experts in information gathering, infiltration, espionage, sabotage, and silent assassination.

Oscar Fletcher picks out the members himself, who, at that time were children at the age of 8-10 years old. He specifically selects the kids whose parents abandoned them, died, or were criminals. In his own words, "start from clean slate".

Fletcher trained them with rigorous and harsh training regiments for years and years, teaching them how to manipulate, eliminate, and act. He forged and shaped them to his liking, executing countless black missions effectively and smoothly.

By the age of early teenagers, they're all sent to different missions, acting like an innocent child, and began their first missions, in which they had to assassinate the targets. If they succeeded, they're deemed qualified and given a code-name, which inducts them into the Jewels.

Throughout 1975-1995, There are 10 members of the Jewels (First Generation), sent out to various missions around the world, aiding British's military efforts and/or simply those who MI6 deems as an ally. The success rate exceeded more than the MI6 initially projected, leaving Fletcher an important and untouchable figure among the MI6 authorities.

By the year 1997, 3 members of the Jewels died, and by 2000, 2 members ran away from Fletcher. In the midst of political tensions and wars, only 5 people remained.

After the events of 9/11, Fletcher recruited another 10 members of the Jewels (Second Generation), made them go through the same training, if not more grueling. Sending them to more missions globally until 2020.

As of today, Oscar Fletcher is no longer an active MI6 officer. But the Jewels are still at MI6's disposal unless they retire.

What do they look like?

They all look like normal people. Oscar specifically picked kids who looked ordinary. No striking featurs, and furthermore, he picked kids who are easy to befriend. Not a lot of people have this trait, so he picked every kid very specifically.

Currently each one of the Jewels live among the civilians. They're accountants, florists, janitors, photocopy machine operator, cashiers, retail workers, sales, and many more. They hide in absolute plain sight, and before you know it, they'll become your acquaintance, and they'll know you more than you know yourselves.

Where is Ruby, Garnet, and Jade in This?

Ruby and Garnet were recruited together in 1975 at 9 years old.

Ruby and Garnet participated in the Cold War conflicts (not with Adler and co.; they're somewhere else), Falklands War, Gulf War, and Kosovo War.

They're already friends from their training years, and they're often paired together in a mission.

Right after The Kosovo War, and along with the growing tension in the Middle East, Ruby and Garnet, who realized that their lives will never belong to them, and they'll always be deployed to warzones, decided to run away from MI6 in the year 2000.

9/11/2001 happened, and Fletcher's need of more Jewels were imminent. He started to look for more new members of Jewels, and search for Ruby and Garnet himself, deeming them as loose ends.

Lottie's orphanage got bombed. Ruby and Garnet found the lone little Lottie in the streets alone, and took them under their wing.

Fletcher caught up to them, and non-lethally shot Ruby and Garnet, declared them dead, and took the little Lottie to be the new member of the Jewels as Ruby and Garnet's replacement.

Along with 9 other additional members of Jewels, Jade were deployed to various parts of the world, preventing potential conflicts before it happens, and ended conflicts before it arises beyond control under the shadows.

at 2019, Jade decided to retire, and went to Verdansk as her last mission, where she met Simon "Ghost" Riley.

---

I think that's all I can tell you so far! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o I'll for sure delve deep into the Oscar, Garnet/Ruby stories once BOPS6 releases.

Stay tuned and thank you for asking!

[dailypersonamodding]

Saturday, April 15th, 2023

[ Sorry for the prolonged absence! Life got complicated for both of the admins and for the time being you'll need to deal with me! ]

ANYWAY, Goro Akechi Time

So, as is considered nearly common knowledge by now, data present in P5 and P5R points to the existence of a scrapped Akechi Palace for our ✨lovely pancake boy✨, but how much is known about it *really?* Here's a data breakdown of the scraps left over!

Every field in Persona 5 has a Major and Minor Field ID, and the game is programmed to assume Major ID's between 150 and 200 are Palaces. The final game uses IDs 150 to 162 for each Palace like so:

f150 - Prologue [ Casino Duplicate ]

f151 - Castle Pt.1

f152 - Castle Pt.2

f153 - Museum

f154 - Bank

f155 - Pyramid

f156 - Moon Base

f157 - Casino

f159 - Cruiseship

f160 - Holy Grail Path

f161 - Mementos Depths

f162 - Labratory

As you can see, there are missing Fields between 157 and 159, but how can we prove this is Akechi? We look at the dialogue for negotiating with Shadows!

When knocked down, Shadows occasionally mention whatever Palace Ruler is currently active. This data is stored in BATTLE\TALK in various .BF ( Binary Flowscript ) files that are run based on the enemy type.

Inside the BMD ( Binary Message Data ) chunk of these files, there's some unused dialogue:

Flee while you still can! Ahahaha! It is futile to oppose Lord Akechi! You would do well to tread carefully. Lord Akechi is a man possessed of immense desire. Hmph… I wonder if your power would even pose a threat to Lord Akechi… I give up… *sob* Lord Akechiii…

There are 27 lines in total from Shadows referencing "Lord Akechi", all of them localized! Normally, this is where most investigation ends. There was a planned Akechi Palace between Sae and Shido, but all data was scrapped and any attempts to load into the Palace by force fail due to an intense scrub of all related data.

( Generally this is a sign things are not going well )

This, however is not the end of things just yet—Atlus was not entirely diligent in the data wipe. One of the things left behind is a single .ENV ( Environment ) file. These files—among many other things—specify properties like texture color, color grading, light effects and so on for every field.

ENV\ENV0158_001_000.ENV is found in this folder, corresponding to the missing 158 Palace ID. However, since there's no meshes left over, we can only see ENV 158's effects by placing it on another field. Here is the front hall of the Bank Palace as seen in-game normally:

Here is what Akechi's Palace would have looked like, at least the ambiance, had development continued:

( I'm sure someone can make some kind of argument about how this represents Akechi thematically, lord knows I can. )

One other aspect still remaining is found in FIELD\FTD\FLDDNGPACK.FTD, a list that specifies what encounters can be found in any Palace, along with loot in Chests and Search Objects. Akechi's DNGPACK List is not entirely empty!

We can see by parsing this file that Akechi's Palace would have had around 21 different Fields, about the standard for every Palace in P5R, though this excludes Safe Rooms. While the Encounter Entries sadly lead only to default Kamoshida Castle battles, his list references a unique Random Loot Table 7! At the time of writing, it appears no other part of the game references Random Loot Table 7. While it lacks unique items found in other Palaces, the data is indicative of what could've been found inside Akechi's Palace Search Objects.

Jades and Garnets are placed at surprisingly high priority, along with the Marble Chessboard. Of note are the items such as the Marble Chessboard and Brass Pocket Watch, those specific Item IDs cannot be found in any other location in the ENTIRE Random Loot Table .FTD file.

Until more info about how Palaces function is uncovered, it seems like our Detective Prince will continue to elude us in his heavily fog-covered ways, this subject clearly needs more research to find any more remnants!

That’s all for now, see you soon!

[happyhauntt]

➡ gold rush masterlist.

here you can find all content for the gold rush universe, a nikolai lantsov fanfiction featuring anya kamenev, an original character. their story is told through a series of connected one-shots and is cross-posted on ao3.

─── summary:  She calls herself Anya Kamenev, the future Duchess of Balakirev. It doesn't matter where she comes from, or where she goes  ━  there will always be a child named Nastya in her heart, a little girl with grubby hands and a sweet smile, the kind who climbs trees and runs, giggling, through the rose garden. They call her soldier. Nobility doesn't save you from the draft, and Anya would sooner be an army grunt than the alternative. If she must go to war, then she'll do it well  ━  for this country that sits in her gut like a stone, for the family who will always be proud of her, always, until the first day she makes a man bleed without a weapon in her hands. She'll swallow that secret until the day she dies. Let her be a soldier. He calls her darling. The only one to know the truth of her, the only man who looked at her with gentle eyes and swore he'd give up his throne just to spend forever in her arms. But they are both too smart to be so naive  ━  their country is an open wound, and the pair of them have duties to fulfil. He, to rule. She, to fight. It doesn't matter what she calls him. Pirate, privateer, prince, sobachka. As many names as faces, her heart aches for a man she knows she can never truly have. Nikolai Lantsov, the hope of Ravka. Anya Kamenev, Ravka's bane. Oh, what a pair they make.

─── warnings: disability rep, ptsd & mental health, canon-typical descriptions of injury, war, trauma. angst, fluff, more angst. swearing. specific warnings will be included in each fic.

𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. works will be posted in chronological order of the timeline.

forgiveness with teeth [1.6k] ➡ there's something about nikolai lantsov that makes her want to break things. (pre-shadow & bone.)

give your tears to the tide [2.8k] ➡ nikolai learns the truth at the heart of anya, for better or worse. (pre-shadow & bone.)

and i am coming home to you [2.5k] ➡ there are some things that cannot be saved. nikolai swears she won't be one of them. (pre-shadow & bone.)

if my wish were granted [1.4k] ➡ anya likes teasing nikolai. it’s far too easy to get under his skin. this time, enjoying some peace aboard the Volkvolny, anya claims that she prefers sturmhond’s rugged looks over nikolai’s princely features. (pre-shadow & bone.)

stay, i pray you [2.1k] ➡ nikolai has a decision to make. anya makes it for him. (during seige & storm.)

keep my hand in yours [2.4k] ➡ nikolai sees anya all dressed up for the first time since they were children. he doesn't handle it well. (post ruin & rising/rule of wolves.)

everything i touch turns sick with sadness [3k] ➡ anya still believes, sometimes, that nikolai made a mistake in marrying her. he’ll spend every day for the rest of their lives proving her wrong. (post ruin & rising/rule of wolves au.)

garnet & silver [0.9k] ➡ requested. nikolai has a gift for anya. (post ruin & rising/rules of wolves au.)

five fun facts about anya.

modern!anyalai headcanons.

𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬.

gifsets ➡ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

videos ➡ 1 / 2 / 3

misc. ➡ 1 / 2

[zaebeecee]

To Sever a Loveless Bond

••RadioDust Soulmate AU••

Part 2/?

First chapter | Next chapter

Read on AO3

Chapter Two art by @fletchingbrilliant

•••

Dawn broke dim and distantly cold the following morning, red sunlight weakly filtering through a thick cover of clouds that promised a storm before the end of the day. Angel Dust watched the light slowly creep along his carpet from his bed, stomach down on the mattress and his face half mushed into the blankets that gathered around him in a nest of pink and white fabric that had accumulated from hours of tossing and turning. Angel drew a long breath and let it out in a groan as he closed his eyes, feeling as though his entire body had manifested a massive stress headache from the night before.

He wasn’t used to being awake this early. Despite his best efforts to comply with Charlie’s plan for redemption, some habits were harder to break than others, and that meant Angel was usually awake until four or five in the morning. Because of that, he was lucky if he was out of bed before two in the afternoon, and nobody usually saw him until at least four. But the events of the previous night had sent Angel to bed a few hours before midnight, and the subsequent hours of tossing and turning punctuated with fifteen minutes of sleep here and there had apparently led to Angel seeing the first sunrise he could ever remember seeing in Hell. It was creepier than the sunset, somehow.

Angel turned his face into the blankets and groaned again, begging the darkness to just take him into a second death already. The moment he did, however, he regretted it; he could see dilated pupils in garnet-flecked red eyes, he could hear soft and staticky white noise pitch and whine like someone was turning the knob on a radio to search the channels, and he could smell dead flesh and blood and clove cigarettes.

And above it all, a single word that echoed dull and hollow, tainted by a thick layer of radio filter that distanced the speaker from the listener in every way possible: no.

Cringing, Angel sat up and rubbed at his face until he saw spots behind his closed eyes. He then lowered his hands, blinking colors from his vision and looking down at Fat Nuggets as he burrowed further into the nest Angel had made. “At least someone’s having no trouble sleepin’,” he grumbled, but smiled just a little when his words were punctuated with a tiny grunting snore.

Sleeping wasn’t going to happen. Angel didn’t need to be a genius to figure that out. Leaving his room was out of the question, too, because the last thing he needed was Charlie getting all excited over the idea of him being up ‘bright and early’, or worse, asking him a bunch of questions about why the hell he was awake. Angel imagined the delicate ways she would try to ask, all while Vaggie hovered at her elbow with accusatory and suspicious looks, and decided that staying in his room all day was looking very appealing.

It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Alastor was out there somewhere. Why would it? People were lucky if they saw the Radio Demon twice in the same week, even living in the same building as him. Angel wasn’t worried about running into him. That would be dumb.

Fat Nuggets blinked sleepily when Angel retrieved him from the blankets, and soon he was snuffling and wiggling with excitement at being faced with a new day all for him. “Come on, baby. Bath time,” Angel said, carrying the little hellpig into the bathroom to give him a good scrubbing.

Even with Angel taking his time to thoroughly pamper his pig, as well as letting Nuggets play with the bubbles in the tub for a while, he realized that the whole ordeal had only eaten up about an hour. Angel dried Fat Nuggets and sent him back into the room to explore, then began preparing a sand bath for himself. He closed off the drain of the tub, dried it thoroughly, and filled the bottom with coarse white sand before finally stripping his clothes off to face the part that he knew was inevitable but had been dreading for hours. Angel folded his clothes, sat on the edge of the tub, and looked down at his knee.

For many years, the mark on his leg had been completely ignorable. It blended well enough into his markings that most people didn’t even realize what it was, and Angel himself only knew because of how well he knew his own body and that these shapes were decidedly not him. But in the very least, it had always been pink, soft, and easy to hide.

That was absolutely no longer the case.

Nothing about the shape had changed, but the color was deeper, angrier, the pink of his striping fading into the reddish color of the burst blood vessels in a new bruise that now dominated the shape of the stag’s head. Angel’s fingers touched the mark and he gasped gently, sensation traveling up his thigh and straight into his pelvis with a sudden sharpness that made him snap his hand back. It wasn’t just supremely sensitive, but it felt slightly raised, almost like a welt, before the color bled back to pink and his usual striping continued.

How the fuck am I gonna hide this from Val?

Angel banished the thought. He couldn’t do a damn thing about it now, and it was his day off, and he had too many things to worry about without also panicking over how his boss would respond to the knowledge that Angel knew who his soulmate was. Instead, he focused on his bath, sinking into the sand in the tub and scrubbing it through his fur to remove the strange feeling that being awake in an unpleasant way all night had given him. The scratchy sensation of the sand against his skin felt good, though he had to be very careful with his leg because he was pretty sure the sand against his raised mark would feel like utter garbage.

He took his time, relaxing as much as he could and half hoping he would doze off in the warm sand, but he had no such luck. Finally, he got out of the tub and grabbed his brush, slowly and carefully cleaning all traces of sand from his fur before he cleaned up and went back to his room to get dressed. All of that, and he’d only killed another hour and a half.

This was going to be a very, very long day.

Angel didn’t remember the last time he had sequestered himself in his room because he actually wanted to, and it was difficult to find things to do with himself. In order to avoid the temptation to just doom scroll all day, Angel rearranged his entire wardrobe, then his vanity, then got his supplies and gave every one of his sex toys a more thorough cleaning than he usually did. He tossed a couple of them that were getting too worn, ordered some replacements, reorganized them in the closet, then reorganized his bondage and had to reorganize the toys again because with the bondage in a different configuration everything looked weird.

Throughout his tasks, Charlie came by four times in total. The first was to see if he was awake, and each subsequent pass was to check on him, but the final one was weird even by Charlie’s standards.

Angel was oiling down and rubbing out some of his leather shackles when he heard the tentative, rhythmic knock on his door once more. “Hi, Charlie,” he called, a little resigned. “I’m still here.”

“Oh, hi, Angel,” Charlie said. She sounded off. “Just… coming to check on you! Making sure everything is okie-dokie and you… y’know… are fine?”

Angel lowered the leather to his lap and looked at the door, almost expecting to see Charlie through the wood. “I am both okie-dokie and fine,” he said suspiciously. “Is something wrong?”

“What? No! Nooooo,” Charlie said in her most convincing casual voice. “No no no. Nothing is wrong! I’m just seeing how you are… making sure nothing… happened?”

Angel frowned. “Nothin’ happened, sweetheart. I’m fine.”

“Okay, well… if you need anything, I’ll be right downstairs.”

“Noted.”

“Doing some inventory.”

“Good for you.”

“Just hanging out.”

“Charlie!”

“Okay okay I’m going, sorry,” she apologized, and Angel heard her scurry away from the door faster than she usually did.

Angel stared at the door for a few moments longer. “…that was weird,” he said to no one, but Fat Nuggets grunted at him anyway.

Despite Angel’s determination to stay up in his room all day, the one necessity he didn’t have access to was food. It was still evening, but his stomach was grumbling in irritation at him and he knew it would only get worse… plus, he really had run out of things to keep himself occupied. He left his room quietly, and he could hear the clouds had made good on their promise as violent gusts howled at the walls and rattled the windows all through the hotel. Angel shivered a little at the draft and hurried downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen.

He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved that he didn’t run into anyone. It meant no interrogation, sure, but the fact that he didn’t see anyone also kinda made him feel like he had wasted an entire day off for nothing. The kitchen was empty, but the idea of cooking was supremely unappealing after a restless night combined with the memory of the previous evening. The only premade food in the fridge was Alastor’s jambalaya, and the idea of eating that felt wrong, somehow. In the end, Angel just stood at the open fridge and ate individual sandwich ingredients without bothering to build anything.

The food sat heavily in his stomach but also, somehow, made him feel a lot less like he was going to throw up. The feeling of accomplishment that came from completing a basic task of self-care was fleeting, and Angel left the kitchen in something of a haze, debating between texting Cherri and bugging her into going out and just… going back to his room and trying to actually sleep. He pulled out his phone, caressing the dark screen with the pad of his thumb as he wandered, weighing the pros and cons of both until a decision was made for him.

“Hey. Kid.”

Angel looked up and realized he’d wandered into one of the places he absolutely didn’t want to be: the bar area. Husk wasn’t looking at him, his focus on a drink he had just started prepping, but Angel knew he had the other sinner’s full attention otherwise.

“What?” Angel asked, a little more clipped than his voice usually got. Ever since they had severed the tension between them, Angel considered Husk to be his good friend—maybe even family, like an uncle he didn’t mind seeing on holidays—but that didn’t mean he wanted to put up with his pseudo-fatherly intense concern sage advice bullshit.

If Husk noticed his hesitation, he didn’t show it. His eyes raised to lock on Angel’s, and he nodded at one of the bar stools. “Sit.”

“I don’t feel like it,” Angel said, rather than just refusing or walking away.

“Too damn bad,” Husk answered, unbothered. “I got something I need to talk to you about.”

Angel groaned. There wasn’t anything stopping him from just leaving the bar and going back to his room, he knew that too well. Husk wouldn’t do shit about it, and while Angel would have to deal with this conversation attempt crap again, he could at least postpone it for a day when he didn’t feel like he’d been run over by a car. Instead, he stepped forward and flopped onto the stool, leaning his arms on the bar top and slumping forward so dramatically that he had to look up to see Husk’s face. “The fuck do you want?” he asked without heat.

At first, Husk didn’t answer. Instead, he placed his index finger on the rim of the lowball glass he had been making the drink in and slid it to Angel. It was an almost clear, gently yellow color, and it smelled like lemon. “Here.”

“I don’t got any points for alcohol,” Angel said, not moving to touch it.

“What Vaggie doesn’t know won’t hurt you,” the bartender said evenly. “And I’m guessing you need it. You look like shit warmed over.”

“Thanks, asshole,” Angel grumbled as he picked the glass up and took a sip. He had a brief second to appreciate the flavor—sharp, lightly sweet, bright, definitely lemon—before the alcohol kicked him in the back of the throat and he coughed. “Holy fuck…!”

Usually, any evidence of alcohol throwing Angel off got a laugh out of Husk, but his expression didn’t budge. He just waited for Angel to set the glass down, his hands on the bar top. He looked, if Angel had to guess, like he was trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

“Spit it out, Whiskers, I’m tired and I wanna go to bed,” Angel said as he leaned his cheek on his fist.

The nickname went ignored, and Angel knew then that whatever this was, it had to be serious. “Did you and Alastor get into a fight?”

“What?” Angel sat up. “Why?”

“Just answer the question, kid.”

“No,” Angel said. “It wasn’t a fight, it… it wasn’t… look, it wasn’t anything, now why?”

Husk’s frown was a little darker. “Because he was weird today. And I mean he was weird for Alastor. He asked about you.”

Angel froze. Something in his stomach felt like it was sinking. “…he did? What…” He cleared his throat, and Husk’s ear twitched. “What did he say?”

“Asked if anyone had seen you today,” the bartender said, his voice still steady and unreadable. “Charlie said you hadn’t left your room. He immediately went on some kinda rant about you missing a beautiful day, then said he needed to leave, all of it a single sentence. Don’t think he drew breath once. Then he just left.”

Angel frowned. “…and you think… we got into a fight?”

“Look, kid, I’m struggling to come up with another reason that he would be acting like that.”

Husk wasn’t saying everything he was thinking—Angel knew he never did—but something told him that the cat sinner was asking this out of genuine and actual concern. Maybe it was for Angel himself, but Angel thought it was for Alastor, too. Not that Husk would admit that or that Angel would dare suggest it, of course.

“…we talked for a while yesterday,” Angel said. “He was in the kitchen. I helped him cook. It didn’t end well. That’s all.”

Husk raised an eyebrow. “Something ending poorly with Alastor, in a kitchen, isn’t usually the kind of thing you tack ‘that’s all’ onto.”

“I got all my body parts, chill,” Angel said. “I don’t know if I should… …look, Husk.” As he changed tactic, he heard his own voice grow serious, and he could tell Husk heard it too by the way his ears twitched. “I’m serious. You don’t wanna know.”

Husk drummed his fingertips on the bar top for a second. “I know it’s none of my business,” he said at length. “I just want to make sure you’re okay. And that, whatever it is, it’s not going to come back and cause trouble.”

That was pointed. “Why would it cause trouble?”

“Because you have a tendency to avoid talking about things you need to talk about, and it doesn’t go well.”

Angel winced. “…that’s low.”

“Truth ain’t always harsh, but it ain’t always pretty.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Angel took another sip of his drink, and then a third, letting the sugar and alcohol fortify him. Husk waited with an alarming amount of patience for a sinner who usually couldn’t wait to get to the point. “…you got an activated mark, Husk?”

“An activated mark?” Husk asked, his eyes narrowed in confusion, before they widened a little. “Do you mean a… a soulmate mark?” His expression shifted again, his ears turning outwards and lying back just a little. “Angel. Please fucking tell me you’re completely changing the subject.”

Angel opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. So, he closed it again, then shook his head.

“…are you trying to tell me that Alastor… activated your soulmate mark?”

Angel nodded.

“You need skin on skin contact to do that.”

“I know.”

Husk closed his eyes, then turned, grabbing one of his personal bottles of whiskey. He uncorked it and tossed the cork onto the bar top, taking a healthy swig before setting it down with a heavy thud and gesturing for Angel to continue.

“It… I was helpin’ him clean up,” Angel said, hesitating only a little at the false start. “We both lost track of where we were, and then I was kinda in his space, and he didn’t have his staff, so he…” He mimed pushing someone away. “…my shoulder, y’know? Like a reflex. And he wasn’t wearin’ his gloves, so…”

Angel trained off, and the silence settled over them like a thick blanket. “…fuck,” Husk said at length. “And he noticed?”

“Oh, yeah, he noticed,” Angel said with a soft and sarcastic laugh, a burning sensation rising behind his eyes. “He wasn’t happy. He left.”

“Fuck,” Husk repeated, the word still a soft declaration. He took another drink of the whiskey. “You’re not gonna do anything about it, are you?”

Angel stared at him. “What kinda anythin’ could I possibly do?” he asked, incredulous. “Al hates being touched. He’s made his views on any intimacy at all pretty fuckin’ clear. And if he actually did have a type, any type at all, it’s pretty obvious it wouldn’t be someone like me.”

Husk’s expression was complicated and Angel didn’t want to decipher it. “…yeah,” he said, and it didn’t sound like he was talking to Angel. “Good,” he added. Angel went back to his drink. “I just don’t want to see you do something you shouldn’t. Alastor’s made his opinion on soulmates pretty clear to me and Niff.”

“Oh, yeah?” Angel asked. “What, he threaten to eat his if he finds ‘em?”

“Something like that, just… he was way more graphic.” Husk shook his head and looked away. “He’s not a man who likes to deal with distractions. He toys with them and then he gets rid of them.”

“…right.” Angel suddenly had the very visceral feeling that Alastor wasn’t just talking about killing his own soulmate when he told them that. Why would he kill Husk and Niffty’s? Why would he care? …another piece of the puzzle that was the three of them, he supposed. “C’mon, Husk, even my stupid has limits. I ain’t gonna go askin’ the Radio Demon to go steady with me.”

“I know,” Husk said. “Just make sure you don’t start wanting to.”

Angel stared at him. Husk just picked up Angel’s empty glass and turned, starting to clean it. There were so many questions Angel could ask, and he realized… every single one of them had an answer he didn’t want to know. So, instead, he just knocked his knuckles on the bar top a couple of times as acknowledgment and slid off the stool, heading back towards his room.

I don’t want to.

…I don’t, do I?

Angel had no idea. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ever find out. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know why Husk was so positive it would be a problem.

It wasn’t until he was almost asleep, at long last, that Angel realized Husk hadn’t answered him about whether or not he had an activated soul mark. It was a personal question, but somehow, Angel didn’t think that was why he had dodged it.

Angel was pretty sure he dodged it because the answer was yes, and if Alastor knew, whoever it was would be in danger of becoming a member of the radio chorus.

•••

[pinky-mouse]

The Sorrow of The Blue (Prt. 2)

Note: Sorry if this is very erratic looking. (T-T)

“You can’t just—just abduct random people!” Pearl squawked, her hands grasping at her hair as if she were ready to rip it out. Knowing her, she probably was.

“I didn’t abduct anyone,” You reply, a little taken aback by everyone’s reaction. Your face becomes crestfallen as you look around you. “I just wanted the human to meet you all. He was so wonderful to me, I thought that I should share his wisdom with you all.”

Before Pearl could get another incoherent stammer out, the door to the house swung open.

“Blue!” Greg frantically rushes out of his coastal home, his son Steven following behind him.

You smile again, looking hopeful as you bend down to look at him at a more suitable level. “Hello again, Greg. It’s been a while.”

“Hi to you too,” He nods, a trickle of sweat running down his forehead as he looks at the older man next to your form. “Blue, you can’t just take whoever you please.”

“I didn’t take him, he came willingly.” You replied softly, your eyebrows turning upward with disappointment again. “He didn’t protest at all. And he reminded me so much of you, I thought you two should become acquainted.”

Everyone around you, minus Steven and the older gentleman who you had not taken the time to know the name of sighed and shook their head.

“What’s the matter?” You ask wearily. You felt so isolated and alone all of a sudden. You’ve done something wrong again, haven’t you?

The lump in your throat returned, and you couldn’t swallow it down. Your droopy eyes began to dampen, and unbeknownst to you, the environment around began to envelop in the blue embrace of your persistent despair and hurt.

“I’m sorry,” You murmur, large tears rolling down your cheeks. “I’m sorry, please don’t look at me like that…”

No matter how many times you’ve (accidentally) affected the gems with your sorrowful energy, they’ve never gotten used to it. It was like an anchor, weighing them down to the furthest depths of the dark and cold ocean.

And that was just a crumb of your pain. Even though your ability was so strong, you still bore the brunt of it all. Nobody could understand— fathom your agony.

Except Steven. “It’s okay,” He said quietly to you, snapping you out of your daze. His hand, which was so small in comparison to your giantess figure, pressed against your cloak. “you’re going to be okay, Blue. Just tell us what happened.”

You wiped your eyes, your lips parted slightly in awe at how quickly the boy took you out of that pit of self deprecation. He was so much like Pink. You almost shed a few more tears before you shook your head.

No, answer the question. You told yourself. Stop crying, that’s enough. You’ve done enough harm already.

“I was traveling through the human cities. And I found myself in a dark little place called Gotham City.” You say slowly, as if you can’t remember what you’ve done or have been to.

“I felt so…so helpless there. There’s so much suffering there, and I couldn’t bear to witness it anymore. So I found somewhere quiet to rest.” You look for the man you had taken with you from New Jersey all the way to Beach City, a place near Ocean City, Maryland.

You don’t seem him anywhere.

“Where is the human?” You question, your eyebrow raising as you look around him. Just as you had gone from bashful to distraught, your attitude was quickly souring. “Where has he gone off to?”

Greg was missing as well.

Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven watched you get yourself worked up silently.

Your fists clenched at your sides. “Why will none of you answer me? Where is the human?”

“He’s with my dad, inside.” Steven speaks up, his hand never leaving the fabric of your garments. “Don’t worry, he’s just helping Alfred get back to his family.”

“Family?” You repeat, your own hands loosening. “Alfred, his name is Alfred. How peculiar. You humans have the strangest names.”

“Uh, sorry?” The fourteen year old apologizes sheepishly, not sure what else he could say.

Garnet shifts, her hand going up to adjust her silver shades. “You,” She begins in her cool tone. “took the butler of Bruce Wayne.”

Everyone goes silent, the only things being heard was the sounds of the waves softly crashing against the shore and the seagulls flying overhead.

“WHAT!?” Pearl wails as Amethyst snorts. “YOU KIDNAPPED A BUTLER!?”

Even Steven gasps. “The billionaire?”

“What, what’s happening?” You ask. Is there supposed to be some significance to this? You don’t get it. “Bruce Wayne? Who is that?”

“An elite, very powerful businessman.” Pearl breathes, she looks as if she’s going to faint.

Amethyst chimes in. “Yeah, we’re probably going to get into a lot of trouble when he gets here.”

Despite everything that’s happened with Steven and the Crystal Gems, a majority of people outside the city didn’t know they existed. At all. So you kidnapping the servant of a prestigious human man was going to blow everyone’s cover.

“I’m sorry,” You sigh, running a hand down your arm. You didn’t have the energy to cry. Or do anything else, really. “I’m very sorry, everyone.”

“We-we’ll figure something out, don’t worry!” Steven says encouragingly. You almost smile, had it not been for the way he immediately turned to the others with a look of worry.

Of course he was looking at you like that. Like you were pitiful. You were.

You needed to leave, you’ve done more harm than good at this point.

As you went around to the back of the house, you shrunk your form so that you were no longer as large and problematic as you had once been.

You had no clue how long you had been sitting on that large rock, letting the ocean water splash against the hem of your clothings. You still didn’t crying you refused to.

You held your head in your hands, a headache worming its way into your body. Whispers etched themselves into your mind, and your chest tightened.

The only thing that brought you back to the real world was the yelling coming from Steven, and as you lifted your head, you heard his words more clearly.

The boy was running to you, his hand outstretched and a look of fear on his face as he cried, “No! Don’t!”

‘Don’t, what?’ You wanted to ask, but before you could get the words out, before you could turn your head to see who he was pleading to, you felt a piercing stab in your stomach.

You looked down, mouth agape as you saw the sharp blade sticking out of you. Just you blinked, your mind catching up with your eyes, you went *(Poof!)*

And your gem splashed into the icy waters of the ocean.

[roxyzwritez]

au writing shit idk

heres the Rough Plan for my first few eps:

ep1: the au branches off of canon in the final SU ep, Change Your Mind. renamed to Change Your World. when white yoinks the gem out of steven and pinksteven reforms and whiteasks W H E R E I S P I N K the response is something along the lines of "i am right here, but fuck you im not talking to you." (girlboss) and white gets the "im a child, what's your problem" and has the perfectionist meltdown, then steven's like "sorry but we gotta head out" and they're like "PINK WHAT THE FUCK?" steven goes "im not pink just leave earth alone" the gems agree and give steven The Legs™️.

pearl latches onto the idea that rose is still alive in there. (didn't write that tho just had it cut to this next bit oops) her and greg build a thing to connect to the gem that will essentially connect to pink/rose im just gonna call her rose damnit and allow her to communicate w everyone. shes like "...hey guys. uh. sorry for trying to kill myself i guess that didn't work but i have been minecraft spectating steven for the entirety of his existence with no ability to do anything but think and watch" pearl has a lesbian implosion, everyone's all happy n shit. steven eventually asks about the lying and she's like "yeag i done bad there. i just wanted to keep you guys together" (now that i think abt it there was no mention of bismuth here.. oops,) garnet gives her a Garnet Specil motivational speech and she's like "i missed you too garnet" (i forgot to mention, garnet violently explode-unfuses and ruby+sapphire are just bumbling with happy when rose spoke) amethyst has her own moment (she thought this was all bullshit and started playing fortnite upstairs but between games she heard rose and a p p e a r e d)

anyway rose then is thinking "oh man i gotta talk to so many ppl" and realizes eh guys nothing to worry abt just a HAPPY TO LISTEN, HAPPY TO STAY, HAPPILY WATCHING HER DR- but we should go there NOW" so they do, spinel is understandably distraught and breaks the gemspeaker in half but feels bad about it. she comes with the gang to earth, they show her around, a new gemspeaker is made and they reconcile. yippy! also spinel ate one of ALL. big donut flavors. sadie allowed this just for on e because steven is the LORD AND SAVIOR OF THE STEVEN UNIVERSE haha funny.

anyway she and bismuth talk. bis is kinda like "yeah i wasnt very gamer sorry about that herhee" again ignoring that SHE lied about the bubbling, conveniently forgot to explore that conversation for ease of writing and so i didn't need to go "how do i utilize my 2 iq points to channel these characters and get them to have a coherent, consistent to character conversation about this situation"

peri and lapis are called over by bismuth who doesn't say shit to them for the surprise. lapis is like "yeah ok hit me" peri is more curious. rose speaks, peridot fangirls and lapis is like "oh shit that's historically significant " peri is like "I NEED TO RESEARCH:)))" and runs off. spoiler: gem cloning

bis brings up the idea. rose is like "yeah that sounds legit" (the gem cloning conundrum took me way too long to understand. i drove my friend crazy. "hey can u explain every single quantum detail of this in the most verbose way i dont understand" but eventually i understood it JUUUUST enough to write it lmao i still don't get it)

rose n steven talk in roses room. all happy n shit. greg is told abt the plan and hes like oh shit i gotta clean up and steven is like "you know her standards. she don't give a shit" hes like "yeag"

peri makes progress! she made a little clump!! (explaining the gem cloning: theyre making essentially an empty gem with the powers but no consciousness inside. when its ready, white will take steven's gem out again, rose reforms, and the new gem gets ever so graciously stabbed into his belly where the old one was.)

peri tells steven its gonna take a year. he's like "well okay better than like hundreds of years" then he goes off to talk to the diamonds. he brings the speaker with. rose lets out the thousands of years of distrust and anger at the dismonds and they are humbled even more than when they got pinkd and rose is like "you WILL heal all the shattered ones i don't give a shit" and theyre like "whatever you say little one" (yes they do indeed heal the fallen. probably with regular shipments of steven fluid. that sounded wrong but im not a freak like that hes still 14)

also they go back home and steven talks to rose abt "you told the diamonds you literally wanted to die are you fr?" she explains and hes like YOU FATHERFUCKER, YOU ARE AMAZING AND YOU CAN'T DO THAT (crying)"

next episode is just year-long filler but i made it actually good by making it essentially a montage of lapis and peri in the barn becoming lesbian for eachother. finally, a controversial move on my part, they decide to overcome lapis's fear of fusion and fuse for stevens birthday. their fusion is turquoise (took way too long coming up with a fucking name) and can corrode (water + metal) and can morph/control metal (liquify n stuff. definitely not taken from a lapidot fusion concept i found on google images.) garnet is like "hey pearl look at these silly lesbians " pearls like "damn relatable" garnets like "yeag"

a week or a few after the bday, the gem is finally ready. everyone is excited until steven asks how this is gonna work. peri is like UHHHHH... 😊 and lapis is just "eh just take that one out, stick this one in!" peri goes NNNO- but after some damage control and telling everyone steven will be fine hes like "well i better get some good sleep then. big day!"

there's more but im done typing my fingers are about to go peridot and fuckin fly away let me know if you want the like 1other episode and the minisode after that

[obeymeshallwedateaddict]

I keep on imagining what it would be like if MC was a fusion like Garnet from Steven Universe. But instead of rocks they’re literally just made up of 2 people who just decide they want to be one. Their souls would just combine into one really big soul so none one would really notice other then MC has this gigantic ass soul.

That would be until the two people that make up MC get into a massive argument that causes them to split and cease MC from existing until they make up and decide to be one once again.

I’d really like to see your headcanons for this with the brothers. 🙏🏾

Hello. To be honest your request confused me a little but when I put the idea into words it became a nice and engaging story. I modified your request a little. I hope you don't mind. Though the main idea is there. Enjoy.

Summary: MC was a fusion. And one day the two souls who created them, divided which caused the MC to disappear. And so the brothers and the undateables try to find a way to bring them back.

Contains: Angst

GN!MC

You can find more of my work here: Masterlist

When souls collide

You had a secret. A big one at that. You hide it from the brothers. And you refuse to tell them. They needn't know. Or at least that's what you thought.

You were different. You weren't a regular human being. You were never born. Never carried in a woman's womb. You just began existing when two people merged their souls together into one. You were their combined form. As for your soul. It was a big one. Not a regular one. Since the humans did combine their souls into one. It's a combination between them two. But one day everything changed.

It was a regular day in the Devildom. You were spending time with the brothers like usual but something felt off. The two humans whose souls you held got into an argument and they divided which made you suddenly disappear from existence. The brothers immediately panicked.

Mammon: Wh-what?! MC?! No! MC!! Where are ya! MC!! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THAT!

Asmo: MC, sweetheart? MC, where did you go???

Satan: MC? What happened to MC? Mammon what did you do to them?!?

Mammon: Don't blame me!! I ain't done anything! I was just playing cards with them when they suddenly disappeared!

Mammon's eyes tear up. He is ready to begin crying. While Leviathan is already sobbing uncontrollably. Beel is trying to soothe Levi by petting him on the shoulder while also letting a few sobs.

Belphie: I'll get Lucifer! I hope he knows something about this.

The youngest brother runs to Lucifer's study, bursting in without knocking.

Lucifer: How many times do I have to tell you, you idiots to knock before coming in-

Belphie: Lucifer! Lucifer, something terrible happened! MC disappeared! Please do something! Lucifer!

The eldest looks over at his younger brother with a debating look.

Lucifer: You're lying. Now leave. I'm busy.

Belphie: Lucifer! It's the truth please.. MC is nowhere to be seen! And they were just with us! They were right there! Please.

Belphegor lets out a sob which catches Lucifer's attention and concern appears in the eldest's face.

The Avatar of Pride drops his pen and rushes out of the door, followed by Belphegor on his way to the living room where he saw the rest of his brothers all upset and troubled. Lucifer sucked in a breath and put his hand over his mouth.

Mammon: Lucifer! –He sobs– please.. please do something! Please.. MC! They're gone! Lucifer I'm not lying please!

Satan: Lucifer as much as I hate asking you to do something for me please help me find out what happened to them.

Lucifer looked around the room, settling his gaze on Beelzebub.

Lucifer: Beel, could you watch over your brothers while me and Satan go to the demon lord's castle to talk to Diavolo?

The teary orange-haired demon nods, muttering a broken "okay" before Lucifer motions to the fourth-born to stand up.

Both demons walk to the demon lord's castle. Both of them are upset. Satan's tears are falling down his cheeks even if he controls himself from crying while the eldest barely holds his tears in.

MC was an important part of their family. Dearly loved by each of the brothers. And now that they're gone the demons were torn.

Lucifer barged in the castle with his younger brother behind him.

Lucifer: Diavolo! I need to talk to you! Fast! It's urgent! –The demon yells with a shaky voice.

Satan: Lucifer, compose yourself.

The eldest nods and swallows a sob.

Barbatos shows up from the halls of the castle with a welcoming smile on his face.

Barbatos: Lucifer? The Young Master didn't expect a visit from you. And you brought Satan along with you as well?

Lucifer: Barbatos, get me Diavolo. I need to talk to him. It's urgent, related to MC.

Upon hearing Lucifer's words Barbatos' smile fades and with a nod the demon walks to the prince's chambers, calling out for him.

When Diavolo walked out of his chamber he looked happy about the fact that Lucifer decided to visit him. The demon walked in front of Barbatos, leading him to the entrance hall. And waved at Lucifer upon seeing him. But when he noticed Lucifer's beat expression, happiness turned into concern.

Diavolo: Lucifer: You look pale. Is something wrong?

Lucifer: MC disappeared. I.. I don't know anything. I don't know what happened.. I was hoping you would know something..

Diavolo: What? How could that possibly happen? Are you sure, Lucifer?

Satan: Lucifer isn't lying, lord Diavolo. It happened before my very eyes! Mammon was playing cards with MC when they suddenly disappeared into thin air! And I didn't sense any magic involved!

Diavolo nods and thinks for a second before looking at Barbatos.

Diavolo: Barbatos. Get Satan and investigate what happened at the exact same time. Me and Lucifer will check MC's information forms to seek clues.

Lucifer nodded and headed up the stairs with Diavolo following him to the prince's office. While Barbatos led Satan to his room. Both of them got back in the past to the exact same moment MC disappeared. Barbatos replayed the exact same moment again and again, trying to figure out what happened. As for Satan his eyes teared up again after seeing MC disappear multiple times before his very eyes. Both of them were uneasy.

Diavolo pulled out MC's documents for the exchange program, giving one half to Lucifer and handling the other. After some time Lucifer's eyes widen

Lucifer: Diavolo? Have you seen this before? It says that MC is a fusion between two human beings.. They weren't born like a regular human...

Diavolo: A fusion you say? Hm.. I've heard of this phenomenon before. A fusion is created upon two individuals emerging their souls into one. But they can always separate again if they decide. I've never heard of humans doing it before..

Both of them lose themselves in thought before Lucifer stands up and leaves the room in a rush. The demon walks to Barbatos' room and knocks forcefully on the door. Barbatos lets him in and when he enters he sees his younger brother sitting on a chair, sobbing uncontrollably, his face hidden behind the palms of his hands

Barbatos: We saw what happened and yes, MC did actually disappear.. did you and the Young Lord find anything?

Lucifer: MC was a fusion.

Barbatos' eyes widen and he looks over at the Avatar of Pride with shock in his eyes.

Barbatos: Fusion.. hm.. Well that explains MC's disappearance. The two humans she was created by, divided. Likely because of an argument.

Lucifer walks over to Satan, putting a hand on his shoulder as he looks over at Barbatos with an empty expression. Soon enough he speaks again.

Lucifer: That means the two humans have to make up and emerge their souls again for MC to exist again..

Satan whines upon hearing his brother's words and wraps his arms tightly around him which causes Lucifer's eyes to widen. He caresses Satan's back in an attempt to soothe him.

Lucifer: Barbatos, what can we do?

Barbatos: We have two options. We can either find the two humans which would be a complicated process and force them to combine their souls again to which MC will begin existing again. But they will likely have lost their memories. Or..

Satan lets out a louder sob upon hearing Barbatos' words and Lucifer pulls him a bit tighter.

Lucifer: Or?

Barbatos: Or we could use magic to bring them back by combining all of our memories with them until they create a living being which would be our MC. With the same memories, emotions and mindset.

Lucifer's eyes widen and he nods.

Lucifer: Then that's what we are supposed to do? How is it done?

Satan: Once I read about a ritual that... That combines people's memories into a person.. I know how to do it...

Suddenly the door opens and Diavolo walks in. He had been. Standing outside the door during the whole conversation and so he heard everything.

Diavolo: And so do I. Satan let me take this over.

The future demon king turns over to Lucifer before speaking.

Diavolo: I contacted the angels and Solomon as well as the rest of your brothers Lucifer. They are likely waiting in the entrance hall. Solomon said that he is acquainted with the ritual and he will help me as well.

After Diavolo's words. The four demons head to the entrance hall. The sight is heart breaking.

The angels are in tears, Simeon's embracing Luke. While the five other brothers barely contain their tears.

Solomon is drawing a magic circle on the marble floors of the entrance hall.

Lucifer and Satan walked over to the rest of the brothers. Lucifer turned into is demon form, wrapping his wings around the members of his family in a warm embrace. Reassuring them that everything will be okay.

Solomon: The magic circle is complete. We can begin the ceremony.

Diavolo nods before speaking up.

Diavolo: Officers of the student council. Your demon forms. Now.

Upon the prince's words the demons turn into their demon forms.

Solomon: Simeon, Luke. Your angel forms..

The angels take their angel forms.

All creatures in the room gather around the circle and take each other's hands.

Solomon: I, Solomon, command you, spirits of memory, gather now and bind the thoughts of all present. From our shared past, forge a creature of our collective will. By my name, let it take form and walk among us!

Upon his words a blinding light appears from the middle of the circle. Soon after the light disappeared a person appeared in the middle of the circle. It was MC.

All of the brothers' eyes widen and they run up to the weak human, laying on the ground.

All brothers together: MC!

Mammon takes them into his arms and hugs them tightly. The rest of the brothers gather in a group hug, embracing the newly appeared human.

After all the adrenaline from seeing MC again passes the brothers take MC to The House of Lamentation. There all of them hang around MC like it's been a century since they last met. Simeon, Luke, Solomon, Barbatos and Diavolo soon joined the family in The House of Lamentation. All 12 of them shared the joy of their reunion with MC.

[mara-tevith-solo]

It Takes Two

This is my second failed attempt to do a short, simple one-shot for this guy, Jeez Louise. Enjoy! Part 1, Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Pairing: Eventual Miguel O’Hara x Enhanced ex-Avenger Reader

Warnings: They’re idiots, full dance around your feelings and gaslight yourself about them idiots, injury, blood, violence, mention of miscarriage, Concussion Confessions, Mayday being a cutie pie, Peter B being the Dad, use of Spanish as a none-native speaker but i tried finding actual Mexican Spanish terms 

Rated: PG-13 but still, please no minors

Words: 1.6k+

Miguel O'Hara was an enigma. At least to you he was. To everyone else he was stern, stoic, even unpleasant and harsh. To you he was... different. It's hard to ever imagine the man as soft, but with you he very much was. He was always making sure that you were alright, that your workload wasn't more than you could comfortably handle, that your mental and physical health stayed a priority to you. He even went out of his way to make sure you never skipped a meal, especially when you were so thrown into a project that you forgot what day it was.

You weren't even supposed to be there, in the Spider Society. You weren't a Spider-Person. You were an enhanced ex-Avenger from Earth-199999 that he'd... taken pity on? You weren't even sure why he'd initially invited you to join the Society. No one was, not even Lyla. You just knew that he had a habit of seeking out your proximity, even if neither of you said a word.

"Y/n! There you are! Get suited up! Boss man needs you on deck!" Peter B materialized in front of you as you worked on a random engine you'd found lying around, earning a small yip and a quick juggling of the wrench you'd been using. Mayday found it entertaining at least, giggling her cute little cheeks off and clapping her little hands.

"B, you're lucky I like your kid, 'cause sometimes I'd like to sucker punch you whenever you scare me." You were joking, of course, and he knew it too, chuckling as he stroked May's fiery mane.

"Oh no. Can't have me face the consequences of my own actions. That would end the world!" His sarcasm kept her little giggles going as he lifted her high in the air. You couldn't name the intense emotion blooming in your chest in that moment, it was consuming and aching, like a sailor's widow looking for him to return every day up on a windy cliff. It felt like something was getting sucked through your chest as your gaze on the little toddler turned melancholy. Peter B was many things, and surprisingly observant was definitely one of them, though he had more than enough practice when Mary Jane was pregnant. He knew longing when he saw it, and he'd seen it on you more than once when interacting with Mayday, though he could swear they were getting less frequent and less intense the more time you spent with his little bundle of joy. He knew your life hadn't been all sunshine and roses, he knew that you'd once been expectant of your own little bundle, but Thanos had brutally taken that from you to hurt your then husband. And when you thought no one was looking, he saw the glances you centered on Miguel. "They're gonna be ready to go here soon, so you should get a scuttle on." He hinted with a warm half-smile.

You snapped out of your daze with a solid nod, offering the Spider and Spiderling a warm smile before quickly making your way to Miguel's office, where you knew that the tall futuristic man liked to start from. It didn't take you long to get there, your mask in hand as his gaze found you over the heads of the others, warming to a garnet shade from its usual intense ruby "Now that we're all here, we need to get a move on. Remember, we're dealing with two different Doc Ocks this time." Everyone nodded to him in understanding, his eyes lingering on you for a moment longer before a portal appeared with a deep thrum.

The city on the other side was in chaos, several flipped and destroyed cars on fire, people running and screaming in all directions, understandably so. Jess already had wheels on the ground, waiting for you as you hopped on the back and crouched, ready for her to slingshot you at the closest adversary. Your Volto mask suddenly felt claustrophobic, cutting off part of your peripheral vision, but right then wasn't the time to fix it. The click of the gearbox was your only warning that you were about to be catapulted, Jess bringing the bike down to neutral as she kicked out the backend right as you jumped, sending you sailing through the air and into an Ock who looked like he'd come straight from a silent hill horror film. He cried out in frustration as you latched onto him, immediately dodging his bladed mechanical arms, coated in fresh blood as you began scrambling to disable the arms. "Get off of me you halfwit!" He snarled at you with a voice like gravel and grit, the flash of his teeth reminding you of a shark's.

"Not until you stop rampaging in the wrong Universe, genius!" You snapped back, ducking wildly to avoid getting scalped. Other Spiders joined you, red and white webs trying to take control of his arms so that you could work in relative peace. You had the tip of your knife in the neural link, prying it out of his flesh as he began crying in pain and fear, his arms whirring and snapping frantically, trying to get to you. A strangled cry was your only warning before something solid hit you like a freight train, sending you flying away from the fight, a weird pressure just under your right collarbone, one that simultaneously stung and felt cold. You didn't have time to contemplate why as your back made hard contact with a concrete pillar, knocking the breath from your lungs without mercy as you fell the short distance to the ground.

Your ears were ringing so loudly you almost forgot what sounds were, your eyelids too heavy to work properly as you struggled for breath. You were in pain, bone deep, radiating pain that made you want to curl into a ball and sleep for a year as you laid there on your side in the dirt. You tried getting up on your hands and knees in a bid for air and to relieve some of the pain, your ears still ringing and your eyes barely opening, but blinding, shooting pain on the right side of your chest stopped you in your tracks. You could hear someone shouting, you couldn't hear what they were saying as your fight for air became more desperate, something rattling in your chest with every attempt. Your eyes finally opened fully as hands made contact, large warm hands that helped to center you against the pain. Miguel was crouched over you, his mask still in place but you could see the panic in the eyes of it "...'me on! You can do it, Y/n! Just one breath." You were shocked at how panicked he sounded as the ringing dissipated, but your body obeyed, sucking in a ragged, greedy lung full of air before repeating the process over and over. "Good, good. Buena chica."

You watched as he shrunk in on himself, taking big breathes of his own, his relief clear "Miguel..." You breathed, licking your lips under your mask "did we..."

"We got 'em." He nodded, one of his hands petting your hair "Let's get you back home." He was gentle as he picked you up, cradling you as close to his chest as he could, not letting anyone take you when they offered. He was adamant that none of them could see how afraid to lose you he'd suddenly been, how afraid that he had lost you he'd been. He couldn't stop that small vibrating purr he made as your head tucked itself in the crook of his neck, his hands clutching you closer in silent response. He felt guilty, like absolute shit, that you'd gotten hurt because his web had snapped, that little voice that liked to reside in the back of his mind telling him that you needed to go back to your Universe and stay there, that you'd be safer there. But the more rational part of him reasoned that at that moment, he needed to focus on getting you to medical, getting you better. He'd deal with the after later. "Stay awake, Cielo. Need you to stay awake right now." He could feel your breathes beginning to deepen, feel you relaxing into him more than you should have as he stepped through the portal.

"'M so tired, Mig." You mumbled your argument, nuzzling your masked face deeper into his neck "'N you're so comfy."

Any other situation he would have found somewhere comfortable for him and taken a nap with you, held you the entire time. But you were hurt, concussion was too heavy a possibility for him to just let you rest "No, come on, Y/n. You need to stay awake a bit longer. We're almost there." He let his concern and fear temper his tone, trying to get your hurt brain to understand the severity of the situation.

"You worry too much, Mig." You hummed softly, your filter long gone and your ability to worry about it gone with it "You should relax, you're so pretty when you smile." He couldn't feel your dopey little smile, but he could certainly hear it, feel how it made his heartrate spike wildly. His mind felt frozen, unable to fully process that you at the very least liked his smile.

"You're delirious." He huffed as he quickened his pace, trying to pass off your words as just concussed nonsense.

"Maybe," You conceded "but it doesn't change the fact that I've had the biggest crush on you this past year." He wondered, in his stuttering thoughts, if you realized that you were admitting all of that to him, if you were aware of what that mouth of yours was doing.

He was relieved as he passed the threshold of the Medical Wing, several Spider-Doctors rushing to take you from him "We'll talk about this when you're better, Cielo. Until then, survive." Without another word he was passing you to the nearest medical professional and watching as they whisked you away as quickly as possible, talking in medical jargon that he couldn't fully understand.