#LET HER BE A MAGICAL GIRL YOU COWARD! IT'S NOT THAT HARD!

[fantastic-nonsense]

DC needs to just hand me the keys to Gemworld because this? This is not it.

Amy I swear I can fix what Bendis did to you and your lore, I promise!

[itwasthereaminuteago]

|| In A Week ||

frank castle x female reader

Tags/warnings: sad, angsty, reader is um... dead, Frank is not dealing well, implied sort-of suicide attempt/lack of care.

I recommend reading the short fic Seeya first if you want to amp up the sadness! 😜

It's been a while since he's been here, usually it was almost everyday without fail but lately…

When he places his hand on the earth it feels warm, but only from the waning afternoon sun. The sky is that heavy, stormy yellow-grey colour now, and as he tilts his head up and closes his eyes he can feel the pressure change in the muggy air. 

You loved storms. Told him countless times there was magic in them but damn, he'd swear the magic was all you as you had dragged him out on the balcony and kissed him stupid in the pouring rain. 

And then, not long after, God had said no. There would be no more dancing in the storms, no dinners out, no weekend adventures, no more sleepy mornings wrapped up in each other. No more anything for you, for his girl. 

Whatever purpose this God had in mind for you, it was done, but he wasn't yet done with Frank.

take me you motherfucking coward, take me.

He wishes so hard that it was the sound of your laughter echoing in his ears instead of the fading of your final breath. He tries picturing the brightness of your eyes and the warmth of your smile, but all he can see is the jolting of your  vulnerable body as the bullets ripped through and took you from him.

I'm so sorry, baby. Should've done better by you. It should've been me.

He's not asking for forgiveness as he whispers those words into the soft wind. If you could reach across the void he'd eagerly listen for your punishment, he'd beg you to tell him exactly how to suffer, because he'd do it a million times over and it still wouldn't be enough. It can't ever be enough.

One minute you were there, smiling, laughing, screaming, loving him, and then you just… weren't. 

It's okay, I'll see you…

He didn't understand, despite the myriad of lives he's taken he couldn't get his head around how this had happened. How he'd let it. It wasn't supposed to happen to you, you were meant to be different, separate to all of that, untouchable.

He hunches over, his fingers digging hard into the wet soil like you'd just reach up through it and he could bring you back. Or that you'd pull him under with you.

But you don't. His throat closes up, his body shakes but his sobs are muted by the thunder, and tears are lost in the rain.

He presses his fingers first to his lips, then to the letters of your name carved in the headstone.

Seeya.

He leans up against it as comfortably as he can with the way he's bleeding out. 

It's over. It won't be that long until he's with you again.

Things are just starting to get murky and go dark when he feels his body being lifted up.

Stop fighting me Frank, I'm trying to help

no… 

A weak murmur at first, then louder as he regains consciousness.

"NO! Leave me here, let me be with her! Let me be with her!" Even in his weakened state he's roaring, furious desperation cracking his voice as he's pulled further away from you.

"You know I can't do that."

So then, this was his punishment, to be dragged back into a living hell by the devil. To suffer a life without you in it.

"I'm gonna… kill you," Frank rasps, "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, Red."

The devil wasn't for listening, hoisting him over his shoulders and staggering up the hill. "Yeah okay, but later. Gotta get you to a hospital first."

"Just let me fuckin' go Red, let me die. I'm done."

~

The incessant steady beep of the heart monitor was mocking him. The holes in him now stitched and taped up, proof of life soaking through the stark white dressings.

"Hey." Red says from the corner of the room.

Frank winces. Goddamn fucking self-righteous prick was always interfering. Taking his choice from him. He wanted to wring his neck but the fight in him was quickly draining away as he remembered just why they were here.

"I- I can't, can't do this without her." Frank's voice was quiet and hoarse as it broke. He didn't give a fuck if Red could smell his fucking tears or whatever, he was just full on crying rivers now. It was one thing at least that had been getting easier.

Matt comes closer to the side of the bed.

"She'd want you to live for her, you know that Frank. You're strong, you can survive."

Frank scoffs and shakes his head before wiping tears away. "Sh-she was it for me, made me strong… an' I don't know… she was everything."

Matt's hand is gentle on his shoulder.

"And that's why you have to keep on going, for her. Ask me how I know."

Frank didn't need to, he knew what Red had gone through, brought to a low place he almost hadn't come back from. 

Matt sighs, remembering. "It's not easy. It takes time, but you're not alone, and you've got help if you need it."

Frank's in a daze, doesn't know if it's the blood loss or what but he just keeps on shaking his head. "I dunno Red, I dunno."

I'm lost. I'm so lost.

"It's alright, we'll figure it out."

Frank feels gutted out, vacant. Memories of you like they happened yesterday reel through his mind and sting the backs of his eyes like someone has jammed fucking razorblades in there.

Sure, whatever you say Red. 

"Yeah, yeah."

[ravennaortiz]

Okay I'm back again. This time I'm going with Guero. Let's go with prompts 2,11,40, and 30.

Welcome back lovely! You want my sweetie pie Guero and with those prompts? I can work some magic for ya! As always my stories are 18+!

Prompts:

2. I'm not the right man for you

11. I'm not enough for you

40.That hurt/Hurts

30. I need you

Tag List: @keyweegirlie

Mistake

Guero couldn't take his eyes off you as you played pool with Coco, Gilly and Angel. His grip on his beer tightening as he saw Angel's hand brush your hip in passing. His growing anger and jealousy had his vision darkening. I did this to myself he thought as he tried to rationalize and talk himself through this. He had been the one to break up with you. Through text to add insult to injury. Telling you he was not the right man for you and that he wasn't enough for you and never would be.

He had declined your call like a coward not once but all ten times. He knew if he heard the pain in your voice that he would take it back. He knew he needed to protect you and that in order to do that you two could not be together. When you texted asking if he was breaking up with you he had doubled down on being Santo Padres biggest asshole. - Thought you were a smart girl? Basic English to hard? I can do Spanish if you want.- You had left him on read. That had been two months ago.

What Guero had failed to consider was you had been a regular visitor to the clubhouse your whole life. You had been around longer than he had and the guys in the club were your friends first. So for the last sixty days he had seen and or heard you. Your presence was everywhere. Including his house where your stuff was still strewn around. He slept holding a pillow with your hoodie on it because it still smelled like you. He sometimes used your body wash in the shower and he burned your favorite scented candles sometimes to pretend like things were still normal.

Your laugh broke through his thoughts and he glanced up to see Angel with his arm wrapped around your waist and his face buried in your neck. The two of you leaning into the pool table. His voice of reason was trying to tell him he had no right to be mad or jealous. He had been a fool and fools do not get rewarded.

Unfortunately you had always been his voice of reason. The urge to beat pretty boy Angels face to a bloody pulp had him standing up and starting to stalk over to where you all were. He could care less if this got him kicked from the club. He had no right to touch you like that. Before he could swing he made a split second decision to grab your arm.

"That hurts" you yelped as you felt a sharp pain shoot up your arm as Guero pulled you off balance and away from Angel. Guero kicked himself mentally as he loosened his grip but pulling you closer. Ignoring Angel and the others. I need you" he stated his voice urgent as he let his hands travel your curves.

Why the sharp sting and resonating smack that traveled through the clubhouse surprised him he was not sure. Rubbing his burning cheek he turned and met your angry gaze. "I'm not a club whore" you growled before shoving past him, grabbing your jacket and making your way out the door.

"I think you should have said sorry first" stated Gilly as he sipped his beer before going back to the pool table. "Yeah, feeling her up and saying I need you gave the wrong impression" agreed Coco. "She still loves you. I'm annoyed you broke her heart. We don't take to kindly to her being fucked with but I can see if she will give you another chance. This was my fault after all" stated Angel as he used his boot to scuff at the floor looking guilty.

*A little while later*

"Well get to it. My stupid girl brain will get distracted soon" you snapped as you stood across from Guero. Arms crossed and right foot tapping the ground impatiently. Guero grimaced as you through his words back at him.

"I'm so sorry for hurting you and making you feel small. I love you more than you know. I made a mistake. I wanted to protect you and I thought breaking up would do that." confessed Guero as he stepped closer to you clasping his hands together. "Please give me another chance. I am begging you" he pleaded as he dropped to his knees in front of you."I cannot do this life without. I need you" he murmured as he felt tears slip down his cheeks as he reached for your hand.

You took a deep breath as you felt your own tears start to travel down your face. "One mistake is all you get" you stated after a few minutes.

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[fxl3]

WWW Episode 5 thoughts:

Finley's such a little jerk I love it- him pretending to be dead and breaking his own window to give the impression his murderer had fled is just perfect for a little coward villain like him. It's both demeaning and clever!

Ghost is such an interesting character- a little girl who's had to made due with the live given to her, and gosh dang it she's making it work alright. The pity from Ame; another parent-less girl who nonetheless had the support of Grandma Wren and a loving community around her, says a lot about Ame. What blind spots she has and what she still has to learn about how the world works. It's hard to make a positive change in a place you barely understand.

I'm so worried about Ghost and Flicker heading to the empire. On the one had I'm sure it'll mean a better life for ghost- but I doubt that flicker will get to follow along with her. And contrary to Suvi's belief I'm sure their are plenty of artificers and young orphans fighting in the empire' wars.

Suvi oomph... The flaws are so juicy but also her arrogance hits like a truck.

I wonder why our little Nepo baby might be a little touchy about any help she may have had in the citadel... Maybe the reason she's so looked down upon by her peers/the reason she's by far the youngest apprentice to the archmages is that Steel pulled some strings to get her that position and out of the front lines.

The end of the episode is absolutely enthralling. I wonder what the common understanding of great spirits is across Umora- is there a kind of Pantheon of great spirits that are worshipped to some degree? It seems like the forest/vine goddess and the sea goddess were once close to each other, but have had some kind of intense falling out.

- the sea statue was vandalized, is there someone who knows the history of these too/other great spirits? Why have they seeming split up? Are these great spirits present fully in the mortal realm? Or are they in another realm like the great bear? Are they the reason for the witch fires around Jorus/whatevers going on in the city?

I wonder in the relationship between the sea god/spirit and the forest goddess/spirit is allegorical? In Ame's vision we see moving vines, growing walls of stone, and other magical effects that could have come from a direct conflict between the sea spirit and the forest spirit, but what is it's less obvious than that?

What if the sea spirit is connected with the empire in some way- that he lets them sail the ocean and trade and conquer across the world, and the nature spirit of our crews sizable island took offense to that? After all the vision does mention some kind of rhythmic instrument- perhaps like the drums we hear in Suvi's prelude. Maybe Ame's vision is of the empire invading their island. Jorus is an empire outpost. This gallows guy would have a lot of reason to hate the empire and anything aligned to them, maybe he would know. What if the giant walls around Jorus are to keep unruly forest spirit out and the artificial wizard island is a way to connect to the sea spirit.

I'm just spitballing here but I think these major spirits are more connected to the world that Eursulon's experience with the great bear may have left us to believe.

[felixantares]

Snippet Sunday

This is by far one of the most ridiculous ideas I’ve ever had, but it was brought up again earlier today and I have no plans of finishing this one shot, so I’m dumping what I have and calling it a day lmao the premise was post-war drarry, draco gets a muggle job but the only place he can find that will hire him is this ridiculous cat cafe and harry is on a terrible date with a girl who wants to go in and see the cats. harry and draco meet again after 3 years and crack ensues

*

The bell above the door jingled and the sound of obnoxious laughter faded as the last of the morning rush cleared out, leaving Draco alone behind the counter for the first time since eight that morning. He tidied up the visiting area, clearing empty cups and picking up discarded toys — was it really so hard to clean up after themselves — all the while dodging the cats that ran up meowing for attention, as if they didn’t spend all day being pet already.

Clean up done, his eyes drifted over to the clock on the wall and he nearly screamed when it only read half past eleven. The day would never end.

He poked his head into the kitchen where Beth was leaning against a freshly cleaned stainless steel counter, scrolling through her phone as the ovens whirled away, filling the air with the smell of sickly-sweet pastry.

“Can you watch the counter?” he asked. “I’m going out for a fag before I snap and stab the next person who laughs at the new uniform.”

She shrugged without looking up, which he took as an enthusiastic yes, so he grabbed his coat and hurried out the back door. He ripped the offending uniform from his head as soon as he was clear of the café.

Their manager had decided that the uniform needed an ‘upgrade’ (which Draco had learned usually meant making things worse) so now in addition to the pink and white lace apron, the uniform also included a pair of fuzzy white cat ears on a headband. He’d protested both heavily, but their manager was an unusually sadistic woman who clearly enjoyed his suffering and had only laughed at him.

“They’re supposed to be ridiculous. You sell sparkly cupcakes and pillows shaped like cats to people who only come in looking to pet the cats. These are cute and will bring in more customers!” she had said.

Yeah, more customers looking to snap photos and laugh at the grown man wearing cat ears, he thought.

The cold bit at his fingers as he fumbled for his lighter and he cursed as it fell out of his hands. He should’ve followed his mother’s example and moved somewhere warm, instead of refusing to leave London — only cowards ran, and he was done being a coward.

It was a stupid sentiment, in retrospect, but he’d said those words to his mother when she’d brought up the idea and now his pride refused to let him back down.

Pride that the fuzzy ears were quickly eroding.

The lighter was broken, he discovered. It refused to make so much as a spark, and he really did scream then, grinding the useless hunk of plastic under the heel of his boot. Five years without magic had seemed like a small price to pay for his crimes at the time, but when he couldn’t even light a fucking cigarette without fear of violating parole, he really questioned the fairness of it.

He stomped back inside, shoving the stupid ears back on his head. Beth didn’t bother looking up as she headed past him back into the sanctuary of the kitchen. He envied her job far from the public eye but his last attempt at baking told him he was far better off out front.

From behind him, a raspy mrow made him jump. Sitting on the counter was a massive orange and white cat.

He glared at it. “Marmaduke, you know you’re not supposed to be on the counter.”

The cat stared back at him, unmoving.

He sighed and resigned himself to the company. Any attempts to move the orange beast would be met with claws, as he’d learned his first week there. A year later and the infernal thing still hadn’t been adopted and was meaner than ever.

A glance at the clock told him it was only quarter to twelve. He slumped over the counter next to Marmaduke, face pressed to the cool wood as he contemplated just turning in his apron and walking out. A patch of something sticky glued to his skin to the counter and he grimaced but couldn’t muster the energy to move. He’d quit tomorrow, he told himself.

The bell above the door jingled and with great effort he peeled himself off the counter.

He couldn’t force any enthusiasm to his voice as he gave the café’s scripted greeting, “Hi, welcome to Feline Sweet where our treats are as sweet as the kittens. What can I get for you today?”

He kept his eyes on the till; the idea of eye contact was exhausting. The only things he was vaguely aware of were faded denim jeans, dark skin, and tattoo covered hands, but that was enough to make his heart rate pick up — definitely not their normal clientele but definitely his type. There was someone else just beside the mystery guy, in black tights and a pale pink dress that seemed much more in line with their regular crowd.

There was an extended pause and he thought maybe they needed a minute to study the menu.

“Malfoy?” the tattooed man choked out.

This wasn’t happening. He knew that voice; he’d heard it almost every day for 7 years — but he forced his eyes up anyway.

That’s not fair, was his first thought. Potter had gone and gotten hot. Long curls pulled back in a messy bun, day old stubble that somehow looked intentional rather than sloppy, and Draco thought he could see dark lines of ink curling up from under his shirt collar.

They were staring at each other and Draco realised what he must look like — dark circles under his eyes, coffee stains on his shirt sleeves, and ridiculous fuzzy ears — the bloody cat ears. Heat spread across his face. Harry fucking Potter was standing in front of him looking like he’d walked off the pages of GQ, and he was wearing cat ears and a pink apron.

It was probably a good thing he didn’t have his wand, he thought. He’d have apparated himself to the bottom of the channel and let himself drown.

[hiddenwashington]

                                       we are the april fools

welcome to the brain cell of the admin team working! we love a good bit so, here is a compilation of our bullshit for your memeing pleasure. enjoy!

**tw for nsfw, drug mention, alcohol mention, swearing

‘ fuck off you fucking gremlin ’

‘ mister mistoffelees is my cat boyfriend ’

‘ one is a kink, one is a crime ’

‘ i live for chaos you gotta feed me ’

‘ i’ll continue being an asshole for your amusement ’

‘ i’m ready, bring on the anxiety ’

‘ hey bro, what the fuck ’

‘ we’ll scar ourselves for valentines day ’

‘ and then she wrote me a novel about his cocaine addiction ’

‘ sponsored by ritz cheese crackers, absolute shit ’

‘ you have no legacy, your legacy is to be disappointed all the time ’

‘ you’re like some sad soccer mom that came for the wine instead of your kids soccer game ’

‘ karen can choke i would never forget the sangria ’

‘ your moms dead, i’m your problem now ’

‘ it is i, the mullet of your dreams ’

‘ you cannot mention pornhub! this is why you’re not hr ’

‘ i’m on the clock to knock your lights out ’

‘ i’m livin la tiddy loca ’

‘ she was hot, i don’t know what to tell you ’

‘ righting the world and the economy one karen at a time ’

‘ you can fight my brain and my anxiety sis we’re having ✨a terrible time✨ ’

‘ i’m on it drag that bitch to denny’s i’ll take her ass out ’

‘ can god stop vibe checking me ’

‘ today i learned that cocaine could be an antidepressant if the government weren’t cowards ’

‘ i had five shots of espresso, even god can’t stop me ’

‘ ted bundy is up first i will square up ’

‘ one day i will have the pleasure of going to hell and murdering freud ’

‘ i will not face consequences for my actions. you can not make me ’

‘ i can accept that i have a flaw or two. that’s it though, just two ’

‘ i know you try very hard, but you are very stupid ’

‘ let’s go straight, a thing we’ve never said before in this groupchat ’

‘ you better be ready to sleep with moth man - hi dad! ’

‘ that’s like the saddest uwu i’ve heard in my life ’

‘ i just want the thrill of rejecting a god ’

‘ you really think you could take on the kool-aid man and take no damage??? ’

‘ i don’t have a foot fetish, i’m just autistic ’

‘ i haven’t even learned multiplication, how am i supposed to know what a pyramid scheme is? ’

‘ do i look sexy while dying? ’

‘ have you been watching too much youtube? ’

‘ fucking ipad kids, man ’

‘ i can be sane about this i promise but not today ’

‘ i’m a catch and i can also sleep with a younger man ’

‘ how do you milk an oat ’

‘ fuck my dad ’

‘ sometimes you just need to start swinging ’

‘ i just watched a cat girl walk out of thin air in a starbucks ’

‘ isn’t that that furry thing people are into ’

‘ i’m gonna go on The Google and see if i can figure anything out ’

‘ am i high too? ’

‘ fuck off bambi ’

‘ since there was no warning and i make the rules here ’

‘ you’ll go where i say you’ll go ’

‘ does a - mother fucker ’

‘ gonna play chase the emo ’

‘ we love biting dilfs….? ’

‘ optimistic nihilism, right? none of us matter ’

‘ it’s kinda cringe to be kidnapped ’

‘ you rolled a 5, stfu this rabbit’s coming to brand you ’

‘ is he immune to KNIVES?? ’

‘ alright – now to kill this dad ’

‘ if you think garfield is going to stand against me in court, you’re out of your fucking mind ’

‘ no offense but you have like no mom vibes ’

‘ i think i got threatened by a furry ’

‘ speak of the cat lady and she shall appear ’

**shotguns frappuccino** ‘ there’s many ways to drink a drink ’

‘ these hands are magic, baby ’

‘ are you saying naruto is jesus?? ’

‘ your pride is going to get us killed ’

‘ you look like you could fit under a bush ’

‘ y’all test me… ’

‘ it’s your reward for being a dumb bitch ’

‘ i am SO GLAD you didn’t get vored by a cloud ’

‘ did you get so high/drunk you circled back to sober? ’

‘ try to crowd surf the third graders! ’

‘ some things are better off unknown , the phrase will haunt me but… ’

‘ we’ve summoned satanic tennessee ’

‘ what’s a chakra? i didn’t bring anything with me ’

‘ hey lady, did you give me crack ? ’

‘ there are no nutrients in my body, only spite! ’

‘ i’m here to be fun and cute! not smart! ’ 

‘ i don’t joke about setting timers ’

‘ eggs aren’t meat... yet ’

‘ this is being run by a bisexual maniac ’

‘ maybe nessie’s lonely, maybe nessie needs to get laid! ’

‘ biting is my kink ‘

‘ don’t worry, i will slowly eat away at you until you are a husk of a person ’

[therhythmafterthesummer]

I was rereading herbie wondering chris has a feeling from very first day they meet and he openly flirted with her, and one day when mc come the shop wearing very short clothes he can’t help but staring at her revealing skin. After that day when he came back home he just repeating that image growing hard and getting off or smt.. just wanna know his reaction (i think probably he was getting off imagining mc more than once bcs they were friends for months)

oh my god

thanks for bringing back herbie!chris to the forefront of my mind because that man i'm borderline in love with ngl

Thoughts on this under the cut because this is LONG

like,,,,, the very first time he sees her he's like "damn, this girl fine as hell. what the fuck is she doing talking to JISUNG of all people??" but it was mostly like... a Normal level of attraction.

it's when she starts dropping by more often that Chris starts having Problems

he realised very quickly that he was developing a crush, and contrary to popular belief (to his belief) this man had No Game when it came to girls he actually liked

he'd be like "how do you even TALK to girls??? what do you say?????? how do i NOT make her uncomfortable? i only know to talk about cars and pokemon and dogs, oh my god"

how silly of him. he was completely unaware that anything he said had this girl crawling up the wall

she cared about dogs already, and she started to care about pokemon (you couldn't get her to care about cars at all, that was black magic to her, but she'd listen to chris talk about them for hours anyway)

ANYWAY

one day, couple of months into their acquaintanceship, she came into the shop wearing this skirt... it wasn't like, excessively short, just a bit above the knee, but there was a lot of thigh action going on, and a lot of ass going on, and chris realised then he was Fucked

that was the day he gave her his number on the pretence of "you know, in case herbie needs anything" because, again, this man had NO GAME. he was COWARD

that day, when he was back home, taking a shower, he just couldn't stop picturing the damn skirt, and then he remembered The Dress, and things jjust..... happened

he had to wank one off, he just couldn't stop it

that's why, when she finally reached out to him, when he finally had her number, he realised he needed to do something. he couldn't just be suffering on his own like this

so he figured, you know, girls like seeing guys at the gym, right? so he started the whole gym thing

he wasn't sure if it was working, but he had fun doing it, because she'd send him pictures back sometimes, too

of her in bed, doing nothing but looking pretty. of her cooking, walking, anything

and then, when the video calls started, he was in too deep

this girl wasn't only pretty but she also let him ramble about pokemon??? he was fucked

when she met wolfgang for the first time, and he loved her, he realised he was triple fucked

a day she came to the shop was a night he spent in his shower or his bed easing his frustrations with his fist

chris was going crazy, honestly

until one day he talked to jisung...... and jisung was like "yeah, she.... you know, she's a bit dense. i think you should shoot your shot" and chris will be like "why do you think that? has she told you anything? does she like me?" and jisung, although he's got a big mouth, he's not one to outright expose his friends, so he'd be like "i just really think you should shoot your shot"

two days after, the events of Herbie happened

[toaverse]

Healer Isabela AU

Another gift swap AU :D

Enjoy!

Unbeknownst to Alma, her three children got magical rooms with gifts.

Julieta could grow plants and flowers, Pepa could control the weather with her emotions, and Bruno could see the future.

Naturally, Julieta became her mother’s golden child, but that didn’t mean there became a rift between her and Pepa.

Given their nature-themed gifts, the sisters grew closer, spending more time together and often gossiping about townspeople they didn’t like, as well as Bruno…

This resulted in both sisters becoming quite mean, gossiping and bullying Bruno because of his negative visions, and anyone they don’t like.

But Félix, and especially Agustín, still saw good in them.

While Félix was head over heals for Pepa from day one, Agustín befriended Julieta and the two started dating later.

The two genuinely fell in love, Julieta even changing her awful behavior as a result of being with him.

But that all went downhill…

After Isabela was born, Julieta went back to her awful behavior. She often left Agustín to take care of Isabela and Dolores while she went out with Pepa and Félix, she belittled Agustín whenever he got into an accident, she gossiped about him with Pepa and the townspeople, and she complained about how hard motherhood was.

And Agustín? He held out hope that the woman he fell in love with came back, that Julieta woud change again, and for good, that she’’d be a mother for Isabela…

But that never happened…

Julieta slept with her husband whenever she was in the mood, so Luisa and Mirabel would still be born.

When Isabela got her gift, which was healing with her food, Julieta, Alma and Pepa immediately put her to work, making Alma and Agustín teach her how to cook and forcing her to walk around town with a basket of food to give to the townspeople.

“Your job is to cook all our meals, got it?” Julieta told her daughter, leaving no room for questions for Isabela.

So, whenever it was time to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, Isabela had to make all the food and dishes, while the rest of the family either did their own chores or were sitting at the table or somewhere else without bothering to help her.

“Isabela, make an arepa for your Tía.” Julieta told her 7 year old daughter while she and Pepa sat at the dinner table gossiping. “Oh, and make a tamale for me.”

So, Isabela forcefully became everyone’s caretaker. Whenever her family demanded a dish from her, she’d make it. She had to stand near her stand of food in the town all day taking care of the townspeople, and she had to take the insults and scoldings from her Mamá and Tía…

The only people Isabela was happy to take care of were her Papá and hermanas.

It actually became a routine to give her papá a tamale whenever he got into an accident, or give Luisa an empanada when Isa saw her younger sister being tired, or give little Mirabel an arepa con queso as a little reward for helping her with cooking.

But things would change for the worse when Mirabel’s ceremony arrived, and she didn’t get a gift…

After Mira’s door disappeared, Isabela noticed how Mamá and Tía Pepa gave the 5 year old girl disappointed and disgusted looks, how the villagers were whispering to each other, and how their Abuela’s expression changed into a confusing one.

That night, Isabela and Agustín were the only ones comforting Mirabel in the nursery…

“You know what?” Isabela said, making a decision. “You can stay in my room. We can share. How does that sound?”

No way would she let her youngest sister stay in the nursery a moment longer…

Mira lit up, and hugged Isa tightly, accepting her offer.

That same night, Agustín and Isa moved Mira’s stuff to the latter’s room.

But the next day, it turned out that Bruno left…

While Pepa and Julieta didn’t really care that their brother left (he was a useless coward anyways), both blamed Mirabel for him leaving…

Both sisters started the whole “we don’t talk about Bruno” thing, and bad-mouthed and gossiped about him quite often.

And while Alma didn’t really do anything to stop her daughters’ awful behavior, she secretly did miss her son…

“Isabela, why do you have that pest in your room?” Julieta asked her oldest the next day, pointing at her youngest. “Bring her back to the nursery, she’s useless to us.”

“She’s my hermanita!” Isabela yelled at her mother, holding a crying Mirabel.

“Fine, keep your pet.” Julieta snarled, before walking away, shoving Isa out of her way.

That same day, Isabela went to her Papá and basically begged him to separate with Julieta and to move somewhere else far away from that witch and take her and her sisters with him, but it wasn’t that easy…

“Your mother was nicer, once…” Agustín explained to his 11 year old daughter. “I loved that nicer woman, I still do, and I still hope that nice woman would return someday. But her behavior to you and your sisters isn’t right. And I’ll make sure to call her out on that, and be there for you and your sisters.”

And he’d keep that promise, as Agustín yelled at Julieta for calling Mira a pest and useless, and argued with her constantly over how she treated all three of their daughters.

It gave Isabela a little more perspective, even if she was still 11.

So, she promised herself that she’d take care of her sisters, especially Mirabel. She would make their lives, including Papá’s, a little bit easier.

And she did exactly that, for 10 years.

And after Antonio was born, Isa would often take care of him, after Pepa and Félix proved they would rather dump their son onto her instead of being actual parents.

But after 16 years of having to cook every single meal for the family and taking care of the town, after 10 years of caring for her sisters, and after 5 years of basically raising her youngest primo, Isabela couldn’t take it anymore.

One day, when the morning arrived, Isabela just couldn’t get out of bed. It was like all the energy was sucked out of her…

“Isabela, get up! Breakfast doesn’t make itself!” Julieta yelled from the other side of the door, even slamming on it.

A wave of guilt and shame hit Isa. She didn’t want to deal with an angry mother and aunt, and her sisters and Antonio need her, but she just didn’t have any energy…

“Fine! Let us starve!” Julieta screamed, before stomping off.

In the end, Alma made breakfast for the family, and it changed something in the matriarch.

Seeing how her two daughters have become entitled self-centered bullies who think the world revolved around them, and that her son had left, Alma started to focus on her grandchildren.

She saw how overwhelmed Dolores could be due to her gift, Alma saw how overworked Luisa was with having to do so many stupid chores around town. She saw how Camilo was the obvious golden child and how he struggled with his own identity. Alma saw how she treated Mirabel like a burden, and how isolated the girl felt due to her lack of a gift. She saw how Antonio lacked parents who actually paid attention to him and how he saw Isabela as his mamá.

And Alma saw how Isabela was suffering from an obvious burn-out…

So, together with Agustín, Alma would push her two daughters aside, and start to take care of her grandchildren.

[lmelodie]

The Santa Clauses Season 2

It's here! And I have access to it, and all of my drably splintery thoughts on the first two episodes.

As an FYI, all my reviews are gonna be hella spoilery so I'll be doing all the reviewing under read mores and under the tags #TSCS spoilers and #Review2

Oh boy unsolicited thoughts HERE WE GO!

Episode 1:

I gotta say, Fluffy is not a bad character in this so far. Christmas Churros are a gold mine and I'm surprised no one has tried to capitalize on that yet.

Scott immediately assuming that Carol was going to kill Gary says a lot about the both of them and their dynamic that I wish was consistent. I love the idea that Carol is down for murder, keep that in cowards!

I have zero idea why Scott is so uptight about Riley keeping this secret when you literally gave EVERYONE IN THE WORLD MAGIC SNOW GLOBES. Nobody here is doing a good job of keeping any of this secret! No one!

And not the North Pole having a Gaslighting Department. Thats, just actually so funny to me. And you bet your sweet ass that Jack frequents that department, he might be employed there!

And once again to reiterate, these songs breaks are just NOT it. As someone who usually love musicals! The songs are mid at most and are just shoehorned into the most random places. Idk, still not vibing.

But Betty and Noel? STILL TOP TIER. I'll talk about them more in a bit, but they are literally perfect. The Blueprint. Betty and Noel get no notes from me. They made cardboard cutouts of each other's faces, like come on! They're cute as SHIT.

Mad Santa lore? Its aight. I appreciate the franchise trying to carve out its own lore after more than 15 years of inactivity. Its decent lore! For the world that it exists in at least. It's just not my personal cup of tea, and I don't see myself utilizing it in my own stories. But I appreciate that it is there.

And you cannot tell me that Jack hasn't tried to team up with Mad Santa before. It just seems like something he would do to, noticing that there was a Santa getting a bad rep and he could feasibly swoop in and break down the institution.

I wanna imagine he went up to him like, so I've heard you've been trying to subjugate a people. Here's my resume, I am all for murder, I do work well with gnomes, consider me. And then he got promptly ghosted.

Episode 2:

Bro the training vest is made out of St. Nicks robe?? What ISNT made out of that robe??? Isn't that like...an important artifact? I would assume it would be if it has that much Christmas magic in it. Why do we keep cutting it up and using it to make things? Is there any of it left?? Does it regenerate its own fabric??? None of these questions will ever be provided answers, I'm sure.

YO ITS MY BOY CUPID!!! LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!!!

Fucking LOVE Cupid! He's just as great as I remember! And because he had so little screen time, he didn't get too butchered!

And I like how he lists only specific Legends that are concerned with the succession. Implying in universe that Father Time and Tooth either think Cal is a good choice, or simply don't give a shit. And i love that for them.

But Cupid does list Sandy, EB and Mother Nature as people who do care. And we already know that were gonna get confirmed Sandy and EB cameos later, so I'm gonna CROSS MY FINGERS SO HARD for a possible Mother Nature cameo at some point. I just want her to lay down the LAW that's all I ask!

Let's how about, leave the puberty topic, out of this series entirely? Wish that whole miscommunication. DIDNT happen.

But we do have WITCH SANDRA!! This was the only possible choice for her, go off queen! Lucy and Sandra with the clasping hands meme: Teenage Girl with Magic Witch Powers. This was the best possible turn for her character, love that for you babe!

As I suspected, Befana in these episodes is a peach yet again. Fucking love Befana, no notes for her either, she's always great.

BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT NOEL AND BETTY!? and how they gave them the most romantic, whirlwind love story of the century? How they met was so FUCKING CUTE! Romeo and Juliet can pack it up! Because THEY are just better!

Betty really took one look at Noel and went, Tee hee, giggle, twirls hair, kicks feet. And I love that for her!

[magnuficentwo]

Oh I have a few

Typhon DeLeon sucks.

New Tales isn't entirely shit.

If these reddit gamers found out abt fanfic they'd stop complaining abt the community being dead instantly but they can't comprehend this shit at all.

"Magic and technology both exist in this setting but they cancel eachother out" is a boring cop-out of making your setting interesting. Give me wizards casting spells with python scripts. Give me industrial forges with mithril tools. Coward.

Allowing people of color in your sci fi/fantasy setting and then having all the aliens/fantasy races look the exact same with no internal variations is weird and fundamentally uncreative.

Bigotry, in general, makes no fucking sense from a purely logical standpoint.

Some artificial flavors are better than the real thing.

OOO LETS GET IT

"Typhon Bad"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

Much like everything else in Borderlands, I just think Typhon sucks because he represents yet another concept that could've definetly worked, but that the writers just kinda half assed and called it a day. To me, having an 'OG vaulthunter' who came from a humble place in Pandora and having him progressively get worse as you learn more about him IS a cool idea, and it really kind of makes you wonder "Hey, maybe we should probably learn from the past here and Stop Looking For Vaults", but then they fumbled it SO BAD AND IT PISSES ME OFF.

Firstly, the guy just never evoked a particularly likeable image from the getgo personally, even though I thought he was funny, because he just seemed... forced, somehow. Then, when you learn about him being the Twins' father, you also just kinda... don't have a reason to like him anymore. Dude you left your highly unstable powerful siren baby alone ?? Locked up ???? With just her fucked up twin thing to keep her company ????? Obviously she's gonna turn out evil dude, you are handsomejacking her 😭 Doesn't even have the decency to be like "Ok yeah I messed up" either, he's just kind of there afterward. Super disappointing.

"New Tales ISN'T that bad"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

I never played New Tales myself because it costs Money and I don't Want To Buy It, so I really can't say much about it. What I WILL say However is that from what I hear, people focus on all the wrong negative parts of that game instead of criticizing actually relevant stuff.

"Magic and Tech should Coexist"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

ABSOLUTELY. Maybe this is because I'm a sucker for fantasy getting mixed into other genres, but Magitech is just one of the coolest ideas anyone can ever come up with ever. One because at some point all futuristic science-y stuff becomes magical as you run out of explanations to justify it, and Two because it always feels so refreshing to have both a serious system for how things work and a "fuck you thats why" system. Like yeah, sure, maybe it doesn't fully make sense, but it fucks hard and it allows for more variety on what we can do, so we're keeping it. Such a good concept.

"No variation between fantasy species"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

I think you might've worded that kind of weird, but yeah, I think not having variants for alients is so annoying. You're telling me this big ass planet only has one kind of alien and they're all just the same guy with a different costume on ? Girl we don't even have that kind of sameness on the SAME COUNTRY, I'm really doubtful that your highly advanced alien society would only have a singular culture.

"Bigotry bad"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

Yeah I don't got nothing to add. It doesn't make sense and it never will, but I guess logic never stopped anyone from being weird as hell about other people.

"Some artificial flavors are better than tbe real thing"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

I'm picky as hell and most artificial flavors activates a part of my brain that turns me into a dog eating chocolate, so I'm gonna have to disagree. Also one of my favorite flavors is Orange and no one knows how to do orange flavors ever so maybe I'm just biased here 😔

[lesbolordo]

Fem gender-bent Amit. Career girl boss of my dreams where she at? 🙏

You asked, I shall provide 😤

I really like Amit he's fucking adorable I want to take him and kiss him and suffocate him in hugs. Anyone else feel like that ? No ? Aight...

Anyway here is quick sketch of Fem! Amit and my Gryffindor OC Shin, and they're chilling on the Astronomy tower.

I've got some Headcanons for our gorgeous Stars lover here :)

Amit :

Once again I do not have a name for him if he were a girl. Amity ? laughable.

I think that just like Masc ! Amit, she'd be too busy studying and watching the stars to be exercising : so I headcanon that she's not chubby per say, but she does have a little tummy that I'd like to burry my head in. I'd say she's average in curves -but gorgeous- , much like Masc ! Amit.

She's always busy and so she often forgets to do many things : eating, showering, washing her teeth, cutting her nails, brushing her hair the usual... And so she always has little notes reminding her to do just that so she doesn't forget. She used to make notes saying "Take a break" but she found it useless and so she stopped making them lmao.

As a girl, I feel like Astronomy is a rather easy hobby to pick up, luckily for her, not stereotypically for boys or for girls, but in between. Being a famous historian, on the other hand, is a bit harder to realize that it's possible for a girl because of all of the stereotypical "girls aren't ambitious" thing. I think that for a while she wondered what to do with herself, and she had a very hard time admitting out loud to having great projects for herself without fearing being laughed at.

Although it's not a bad thing, she's definitely a coward. She's scared to get hurt and she doesn't go outside the school often, and if she does never alone. She despises Care of Magical creatures because heck, what in Merlin's name is that Puffskein doing ?? I like to think that Puffskeins are like the arch nemesis of Ravenclaw students...

She doesn't really take care of her hair, but somehow -and it also is the case for her male counterpart- she has gorgeous fucking hair. Strong, soft, shiny, thick... She lets it grow because (no explanations) but she often thought about cutting it because it got in the way... Until she owled her mother about it and learned to braid it prettily. Now her hair isn't a problem anymore.

Yes, this is a mug with her name on it, and yes she has all of her things named because she's scared of losing her goods. I feel like she'd be the type to be panicking searching for something when it's in her hand.

She's definitely good at trivia quizzes, just like Masc ! Amit.

I think that she saves the younger Ravenclaw students stuck outside of the comon room because look : She's often outside at night to look at the stars, so she probably comes back to the the Ravenclaw's common room late... and so she finds the Ravenclaw students who couldn't figure out the riddle. Oh, did I say she's crazy good at riddles but very bad at common sense ?

"Are you sure we can't go back home....? Yes...? Okay... *starts praying to Rowena Ravenclaw*"

She'd be average height, like Masc! Amit. He'd be 172 cms tall, a bit more maybe, and she'd be 165 cms tall probably...

She definitely has a mother vibe to herself when she's not engrossed in her work. But when she is, she's a bloody baby : she can and WILL whine and fake cry if you try to pull her out of her studies. Ladylike manners but not too much...

She is immune to cold. That's it. No weather can make her fold... Except hot weather lmao. Put her in front of a fireplace and she's melting in five minutes only.

She'd wear the girl's uniform.

[wifelinkmtg]

HOT. CROSSBOW. AUTUMN.

We’re going back to Innistrad, and oh thank G-d Magic is horny again.

INNISTRAD: MIDNIGHT HUNT + CRIMSON VOW

Welcoming Vampire (art by Lorenzo Mastroianni)

Welcome, indeed, to you who have traveled far across the sanitized wastes of Zendikar, the milquetoast art direction of Kaldheim, the mediocrity of plane after plane: here is a feral place, and a bloody one, of slavering predators and racing pulses, a place where the primordial twins of fear and lust are impossible to sever. Enter here, ye thirsty, and be quenched.

Novice Occultist (art by Zara Alfonso)

Oh, we are off to a great start. This is not only one of the hottest girls in this set (and definitely the one with the best hair, jesus), but also everything about this moment makes me feel protective - the apprehension in her expression, the conjunction of the knife and the bandaged arm, the fact that she is evidently attempting some sort of amateur summoning ritual with a salt circle and several raw steaks, which let’s face it, is not going to end well. The interplay between that feeling, then, and the mechanics of the card, which doesn’t really do anything until she dies, so you want to sacrifice her to some other card, is very effective. Yes, she only exists to die doing something instructively ill-advised, but she’s vulnerable, sympathetic, and really, really hot, so you feel something when she does. Art and mechanics working together! This is the kind of thing that makes Magic special. 10/10 would do something occult and ill-advised in a barn with her any night.

Augur of Autumn (art by Billy Christian)

I don’t know, it’s like, am I over-intellectualizing this stuff? Like I see a beautiful woman and my immediate response is to interrogate the nature of my attraction to her, what’s going on there? [feather. antler. apple.] Shame, you think? Probably some of that, yeah, some internalized whatever or maybe just fear of the vulnerability that comes with saying desire out loud. Plus, I spent a lot of years back in the day reacting to bad experiences with kink & its practitioners by getting unnecessarily moralistic about sexuality. [acorn. bone. acorn.] Yes, very funny. But you’re right, subtlety is overrated, this whole project is just...publishing my desires (as entertainment, but still). Maybe I should only be writing this while pent-up and turned-on? Or maybe I should be more selective. Like, you’re lovely, and I really like that you seem to be a competent occultist, unlike my last, but I’m not feeling much beyond that. [bone. gem. feather.] I don’t... sorry, I don’t know what that means, could you - hang on, is that feather bloody? When did that oh my G-d I know what I need to do.

FOUR YEARS AGO

was when I reviewed the last Innistrad sets, Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon. And while I still retain my extremely justified bitterness over how that story fridged the hottest angel in Magic canon, I was definitely on some fucking brainrot at the time, like. Look at this bit from the intro:

Shadows over Innistrad block! but with none of the angels because Eldrazi corruption is viscerally distressing! no matter how many emotions i feel about Avacyn, the Purifier’s blood-soaked wings & solid black eyes! or Subjugator Angel’s vacant, fell glee!

You stupid child, me-of-January-2019, you idiot baby, you cretinous fetus, just because something is existentially horrifying doesn’t mean it’s not also really hot. What, were you worried about people thinking you were A Bad Feminist And Person because a fictional eldritch monster mindfucking a fictional girl angel into an insane blood-soaked omnicidal goth gets you hard? (Yes.) “Viscerally distressing” yeah, that’s what makes it good. It was hot, you knew it was hot, you even basically said it was hot, and yet you left the angels out of the review because you were a coward. Well, it is time to set things right.

ACTUALLY IT TURNS OUT THIS ONE IS INNISTRAD: MIND-CONTROLLED ANGELS WILL MURDER YOU AND IT WILL BE SEXY THE ENTIRE TIME

Subjugator Angel (art by Lius Lasahido)

It feels... so good to give in, doesn’t it? Whether that’s to the whispers in your head telling you to purify the land of filth and sin with fire and sword and no shred of mercy, or to the undertow pull of whatever part of your interior makes a bloodsoaked, winged woman with great tits and a shattered mind fucking sexy as hell. Free will can be such a weight, can’t it? Don’t you see how much happier she is like this, with no agonizing over moral complexity, no weighing and counterweighing relative measures of good and evil? It’s so much simpler, so much more fun to just kill everyone, don’t you think?

Angel of Deliverance (art by Joseph Meehan)

Well, looks like someone’s been elbow-deep in the sin-riddled bodies of reprobates and the dissolute, hm? What’s the matter, darling? Surely you’re not too tired for one more.

Archangel Avacyn (art by James Ryman)

Avacyn was created perfect, an icon, an idol, her sole purpose to safeguard the people of her plane - so it’s not really news that she’s gorgeous. We love the black armor and the black lipstick and the glowing eyes, but what really makes this good is the symbolism in the crumbling spear, the fraying edge of the loincloth. She is fighting a war for her mind, to keep hold of herself, of the only purpose she has ever had. And it is so much better when you fight...

Avacyn, the Purifier (art by James Ryman)

...because when you lose, when your mind’s defenses are subverted against you, when your last panicked thoughts try in vain to survive the ravenous onslaught of who you have become instead, when you are at last the monster you struggled in vain against, the collapse is absolute. Spear broken, clothes tattered, hair and wings soaked in the gore of your children, your victims, your slaughtered sheep, and your eyes jet-black, void, and utterly empty of anything that was ever you.

Gisela, the Broken Blade (art by Clint Cearley)

Mental corruption is one thing (a very, very hot thing), but let’s not forget physical corruption as well. Wings beginning to replace feathers with fleshy webs of tendon, tendrils creeping out of her shoulders. She changes. She changes.

Brisela, Voice of Nightmares (art by Clint Cearley)

She is changed.

Because honestly, why would you settle for one angelic abomination when you could melt two of them together and get disa-fucking-ssembled in ways undreamt of by Euclidean geometers or anything with bilateral symmetry?

Whew. Okay. Yeah. I really needed that. The rest of the newer Innistrad sets will happen soon. I promised you crossbows, and I aim to keep that promise.

[sanchoyo]

tangentially related to last text post, but kept separate bc its LONG WINDED about nothing Really, sapote is by far the funniest to just throw at other charas bc of how well she simply Rolls With The Punches. Commits to the Bit. shes a loud, funny extrovert and inflicts psychic damage on everyone's brain cells (affectionate) just by being in their proximity fr.

-her and persimmon grew up together right? like theyre cousins, and they have that dynamic of 'ohh its bully on SIGHT TARGET SPOTTED (COMING IN FOR THE ELBOW DROP)' 'NO NO GET AWAY LEAVE ME ALONE YOU FREAK' energy that comes with having older cousins (or is. that just me having a million cousins myself. sajdfsdf) shes. actually really surprised persimmon made the effort to come to earth, that shes NOT on the same side as her, and does take it a liiiitle personally and get her feelings hurt. but not enough to NOT still fight her on sight. this is not a NEW thing for them. like before leaving their planet it was still 'ohoho i see persims. going to run full speed at her and headbutt her' energy but now its just. ramped up in intensity yk.

-her and mira have the worlds longest contest of being committed to the Bit. the Bit in this case being sapote pretending to Get everything mira says and 'yes and'ing her to death. sapote really DOES love miras attitude and thinks shes sooo funny with how eager she is, and mira is just devastated sapote is being so patronizing and not taking her seriously. but like. mira commits SO hard to the aesthetic of Being a Magical girl and gets meta about it, and sapote will just. in turn match that energy and commit super hard to being a hammy cartoon villain complete with campy little outfits and speeches bc shes a messy improv theater girlie and this makes mira SOOO HAPPY. they play off each others energy SO well if its just the two of them that show up to a fight theyll just monologue at each other for 3 hours then leave w/out throwing hands at all

-sapote is Reasonably Sort Of Frightened by Aqua and Machines In General. but also sapote is one of the few ppl who CAN stand to fight aqua without experiencing Immediate Death, which is Great! she ends up fighting her 90% of the time her and cara go to earth, because, cara is Small and Sapote's Responsibility, and we cant let Mrs Murderbot over here Hurt Our Little Cara :( (aqua is asking sapote very sweetly to stop fighting during all of this btw. and sapote is like NUH UH IM NOT falling for these ALGORITHM TRICKS i KNOW as SOON as we surrender (which we will not do bc we r not COWARDS) u will Terminator Us. and aquas like omg no i wont :( btw how do u know terminator movies :( on aquas side its very much her not understanding sapote, her jokes or her mannerisms at all and also being a Little Nervous around her. the mutual 'you kind of freak me out' solidarity they could have...

-cara and sapote are THEE starting duo. for reference cara is, to sapote, a small angry teenage girl who trembles like a chihuahua and should Not Be Here, but Queen Trusted her with cara so she HAS to keep an eye on her. like. this is HER little buddy and she takes this responsibility VERY seriously. overbearingly so. sapote is, a 20s something year old disaster who by all accounts has a low sense of self preservation, NO respect for authority, or sense for whats too Far sometimes. and yet. and YET. in her mind shes like. yeah im gonna be the BEST role model :) for this teenager :) ever :)

but inwardly shes a little offput by cara. in the sense that she…worries why shes here, yknow, bc shes young, shes here on the ship ALONE with no other humans, and cara is SO closed off, QUEEN knows why cara wants to be here supposedly, and she okayed it, so sapote should trust her and not push too hard or she could scare cara into being even more emotionally closed off!!! sapote hashes out The Jokes but genuinely. is trying. very hard to get cara to LIKE her and to TALK to her (unfortunately this freaks cara out and she clams up even harder ajkdfhkj but the effort should count for something. to her credit sapote never had an angsty phase she was always the class clown when she was caras age so she has NO frame of reference but by god is she TRYING. via taking cara on fun little Villain Sprees, but STILLLL.)

cara is also inadvertently the reason sapote starts learning a lot more abt earth and its cultures bc shes trying SO dang hard to connect to her and thinks this will help. but then looking from caras side, at her Inner Thoughts its like oh :( :( [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS] just. the two of them forced to have an honest convo is so HARD bc of how much cara closes herself off ESPECIALLY from sapote, and how much shes not afraid to be a bit mean and play the 'youre being overbearing leave me ALONE' card to sapote, who wants to be the Cool Fun Alien Cara can Trust :") she wants to have fun and joke around with cara, but ironically the human she ends up being able to do that with more is?? mira??? which is. funny in a horrible way. because They Are Not On The Same Side…she wants the human on Her Side to Feel Safe and Confide In Her More :( i need them locked in a room for hours untl cara TALKS. please (and this is a Thing I can Do since They Are My Ocs. will I? well. :) )

-Queen and sapote...u wouldnt THINK they would get along bc Queen seems So Proper and Polite and Sapote has NO filter and is rowdy and obnoxious, but. the second sapote enters a room queen perks up a little, her eyes light up, and shes Speed Walking over to her after excusing herself from whatever convo she was trapped in to get the Gossip. shes one of the few ppl queen actually relaxes around and confides in aside from Arilla, which speaks volumes about sapote (and is something cara constantly is BAFFLED by, and if u ask queen shes like uhhm no I dont play favorites of course not <3 I treat all u the same <3 but sapote actually does make her Laugh which is Much Needed to put it very lightly so.) meanwhile sapote sees Queens right hand man Arilla and IMMEDIATELY also starts picking on him and queen wont help bc she thinks its kind of Funny Too even if she wont Laugh Out Loud at him bc that would be ~mean~ </3 sapote is stealing this poor mans glasses and calling him twiggy and messing up his HAIR please help him.

anyway. its also just really fun throwing Sapote Into Situations with other characters because like. she is an adult in a magical girl series where the main charas NEED adult guidance and wisdom sometimes! but she doesnt have that. because shes a disaster 20s girlie. but god does she Feel that age difference a lot of the time. sooo much silly teenage drama shes rolling her eyes about and laughing over. and then theres Adultier Adults in the series, who are in their late 30s and 40s and 50s and having her interact with them is where things get REALLY fun.

she contains multitudes shes street smart and socially smart and an extrovert and a funnygirl and a cringefail girl and the Most Worst Disaster youve ever seen and makes HORRIBLE choices and lives off junk food and beer and is fighting ILL and still bodying people and one of Queens many meowmeow warriors but wiggled up to the top ranks by being SUPER meowmeow. and is having a GREAT time doing it. and she still loves her famiwy vewy much mwawh. and comes back to the ship to run to her sister in the daycare and throw gifts from earth to the alien kids. which is nice. but she totally stole those. because she contains multitudes. she HAS the range. shes kind of blorbo shaped, but also kind of tumblr sexyman shaped. i cannot elaborate further.

also sapote is way taller than all of them so she just. leans on them. looms. t poses. that meme of the guy floating scarily in the hallway after someone else. thats her 😌

[dustylava]

English is not my native language, so, i'm so sorry.

Weddings are a rather strange event. Especially, if you don't visit them often enough and don't know, too well, what to do and how to do. So your beloved, too, found herself in such a strange situation. Not only that, is she not Queen Maeve here, but just Margaret. Not a heroine, just a Y/n's girlfriend. So, moreover, she doesn't know anyone here. Of course, Maeve is not a coward, but Margaret was still worried.

There weren't too many guests at this wedding, and Margaret didn't know anyone here, except you. But the situation improved quite quickly. Surprisingly, the guests were very nice and friendly people. No one treated her like a supe, on the contrary, Margaret was here, Margaret, your girlfriend. She didn't need to be responsible for anything, other than herself. At this wedding, she is as ordinary a guest, as the others. She was here, because the bride asked you to give her an invitation, and the bride was very glad, that Margaret accepted it. But still, before the group photos, Margaret was asked, with apologizing and with a request, not to take it for rudeness, whether she agrees to be in the pictures, and if she wants, all the photos, in which she will be depicted, will go exclusively to the family album and nowhere else. -So... They won't be posted on the Internet? -If you say that, then yes, no one will post photos, where you are, even a glimpse. The wedding was going very well. Without much luxury, but cozy. Seeing your beloved relax more and more, you were more and more happy. But that's not the point now.

Having faithfully fulfilled your duties, as a bridesmaid, you, with a pure soul, went to the set table, to help the groom's sister with treats, and, at the same time, steal the best pieces of different dishes for yourself and Maggie. The table was full of various dishes and desserts, drinks and snacks, which, for the most part, were prepared by the bride herself, your grandmother.

You periodically glanced at Margaret, who, sitting next to the newlyweds, listened to your grandmother's story, about how happy she finally is. She is glad, that after so many years of an unhappy marriage, with her first a drunkard husband, who, thanks God, left her, she can live a happy life, with a decent and loving man, even if not for very long. And the story of a newly-made husband, who put his whole life into hard work, and in the end, got nothing. But, on the other hand, now he is here, next to the most beautiful and amazing, kind and sympathetic woman in the world. Well, once again, let their marriage not be too long, but it will be the happiest.

-They look so happy... - Margaret, coming up to you, looked back at, now, husband and wife. -Yes... - You smiled, handing her a plate of salad. - Grandmama dreamed of being a happy wife all her life. Leon is a good man, - you, too, looked at them. - I'm glad, they're together. Maggie just looked at your grandmother and her husband with a soft smile. - They both deserve to be happy... There are not many moments in life, when Queen Maeve feels absolutely calm and relaxed. Now, for some reason, she feels such a pleasant, homely and warm atmosphere. Margaret wanted to say, that she was glad to be here, that everything was becoming so magical and beautiful with you, but looking at your peaceful, almost dreamy expression, she just gently put her arm around your waist and kissed your temple.

-When uncle Leon and aunt Marina kissed each other, why did everyone counted? - The youngest guest has approached you, and, concurrently, the current husband's youngest niece. She was holding an almost empty glass of juice in both hands. -Do you want more juice? - Maggie leaned a little closer to the girl. In response, she, again, stared at her with admiring eyes and nodded. The non-heroine smiled, purring: "okay, give me a glass," and, after a couple of moments, gave it back, filled with cherry juice. -This is a tradition. - While you were explaining, Lilya thanked your beloved. - So it turns out, that what figure we got, while Leon and Marina were kissing, that's how many years they will live in a happy marriage, or how much they love each other. It's not that serious, but rather like entertainment for guests. -And how many did we count..? -23. - Maggie fixed your hair a little. -That's a lot... - Lilya sipped her juice carefully. -Well, let's hope, it will be longer and stronger. - The youngest nodded in agreement and went to her mother, promising to come back to you again.

Margaret kissed you gently on the forehead. -At the beginning of the ceremony, she came up to me and, blushing deeply, said, that I looked like a princess. And then, she ran away. -Well, it's true. - You took your love by the hand, looking her straight in the eyes. - In this dress, you really look like the most beautiful princess... -Oh, really? - The woman stretched out in a satisfied smile. - And I thought, that I'am the queen and you are my princess. -As you say, my Highness. - You kissed Queen Maeve's hand. She was about to pull you into a deep kiss, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marina getting up an improvised pedestal. -I'm going to help her. - In response, you nodded. Turning back to the table, you saw a plate of salad, left by Margaret. This salad looked too appetizing.

You were so busy with a delicious snack, that you missed the moment, when the newly-made wife threw her bouquet. More precisely, you just didn't get up in a bunch. You've made your choice. Sorry, the bride's bouquet, but this salad and these rolls are out of competition. But the bride's bouquet decided otherwise. It flew through the whole small crowd of lined up women, and fell almost next to you. You only noticed it, when you heard laughter.

Without letting go of the glass of delicious wine, you looked at the bouquet, and then at the guests. -Ladies, I'm exchange the bouquet for a cake. -You will not exchange anything! - In a playful anger, Margaret picked up the bouquet and, removing the glass from your hands, kissed you. Your grandmother quickly shouting: "one!" And all the guests picked up the count.

[phoenixresistance]

The Phoenix Resistance - Book 2 Chapter 25

A/N: Warnings: Blood, Violence, Death, all that fun stuff 😌. Henry belongs to @thatravenpuffwitch, Mina belongs to @lifeofkaze

The Ministry of Magic, Atrium, London - May 1st, 1998, 11:44 PM

Hours later, and with some help from Eloise Yaxley, the Phoenix Resistance found themselves in the atrium of the Ministry. The huge black marbled entryway was desolate and empty. At this hour, most of the regular employees would be at home. However, even with the war raging at Hogwarts, a few Death Eaters remained as guards. The handful that guarded the Atrium were already stunned and bound by Eloise before they entered.

“Alright, let’s split up. Kaari and Mina, you two go search the Muggleborn Registration offices. Eleanor and Mirai, you two stay here and guard the prisoners. If anyone enters, arrest them,” Devon signed.

“Where are you going?” Henry asked after translating for the others.

“I’m going to check the Auror offices. From what Lou told me, her father is one of the highest ranking Death Eaters and is responsible for keeping the puppet Minister under an Imperius curse. I’m going to ransack his office for anything I can use against them.”

“Not without me you’re not,” Henry protested, “In fact, you should stay here with Mirai. You’re in no shape to fight, it’s only been a few days.”

“Henry McClarnon, stop worrying about me. I’m coming and you can’t stop me,” she signed stubbornly, causing Kaari to chuckle quietly.

“You’re right, I can’t. Fine, lead the way Lou,” Henry relented with an amused smile.

The three of them broke off from the rest, Kaari giving Devon a friendly but concerned smile before disappearing around a corner. They took the lift in silence to the second level and made their way down the halls, Eloise and Henry walking in front of Devon with their wands out. Finally, they reached the door to Yaxley’s office.

“Eloise? What are you doing here?” Corban remarked as the door opened.

He stood in the middle of his office looking disheveled and out of breath. His usually neat braid was falling out and he had a few cuts across his face. It looked like he was in the middle of packing his things to run.

“I could ask you the same thing, father,” Eloise replied with a disdainful hiss on the last word, “I’m here to make sure you never see the light of day again.”

The words she’s been wanting to say her entire life finally came tumbling out of her mouth. She didn’t have to pretend anymore, and she never would again. She had chosen her side and it was time to come out of hiding.

“And by the looks of it, you’re here because you ran from the battle like a coward. Your precious Dark Lord won’t take too kindly to that, I imagine.”

Corban’s face twisted with malice at the words his daughter spoke to him, “So these are your true feelings after all? Antoinette managed to brainwash you to her disgusting muggleborn ideals. I should have gotten rid of her earlier than I did.”

“...what did you say?” Eloise whispered as her heartbeat started to pound in her head and a cold chill enveloped her heart.

“I caught your traitorous mother helping muggleborns during the First Wizarding War. It would have ruined my reputation and standing with the Dark Lord, so I dealt with her. All it took was a hit to the head. A shame, really.”

Not so much as a second went by before Eloise had crossed the room and elbowed her father hard across the face, a terrible cracking noise echoing across the office. He dropped like a sack of potatoes to the hard ground, his now broken nose pouring blood.

“Eloise, wait! What are you doing? Please, stop!” Corban pleaded, holding his broken nose as Eloise crouched down and held the sharp metal spike at the pommel of her wand to his neck.

“I should have killed you years ago. You’ve taken everything from me! My whole life I’ve been molded into who you want me to be. I’m just a tool you use to get yourself praise and then discard when I’m no longer your obedient little girl,” Eloise hissed, the spike pressing deeper into his skin with every word causing more blood to spill down his neck.

“Eloise, think about this,” a directionless voice entered her mind.

“Get out of my head, Marlowe!” She screamed and shook her head, pushing Devon out.

This was her moment. She had killed many people before as an assassin. This time won’t be any different. She withdrew her wand and raised it high above her head, the spike pointed down straight for his heart.

“I’ll continue your fight. One day, you’ll be proud of me. That’s a promise,” the words she once whispered to her mother echoed in her mind.

The silent office suddenly exploded as Eloise screamed, all the anger and fury tore from her chest. The scream pierced into Devon’s mind and she had to recoil, holding her head with her hand. With one swift movement, Eloise plunged the wand down and it clattered to the dark tiles beside Corban.

Eloise breathed deeply, her body shaking with anger as her head slumped downwards. After a minute she rose to her feet, her eyes cast down to her father who laid cowering and bloody on the floor. She grabbed his arm and started to drag him across the office before throwing him at Devon’s feet.

“Death is too good for you. You will answer for your crimes and watch as your reputation falls to ruin. It’s not worth staining my hands with your blood,” Eloise declared.

“He’s all yours, Marlowe.”

Without a second glance, Eloise retrieved her wand and walked past them, dumping everything in her father’s bag onto the desk to search. Corban Yaxley would join the others they had stunned and handcuffed on their way through the Ministry. Henry quickly delivered him to Mirai waiting in the Atrium, so she could tend to his broken nose, and then returned to help. They had many files and documents to pour over.

It took them a few hours, but the three of them managed to search every filing cabinet and folder along with a few more neighboring offices of high ranking Death Eaters. All documents that Devon deemed as useful evidence were shoved into a bag with an undetectable extension charm. Anything else was left in scattered piles around the office.

They were on their way back to the atrium to meet back up when Devon took a different turn.

“I’ve got one last stop to make. This one is personal,” Devon explained.

They followed her until they entered a large chamber filled with rows of desks. Upon them sat huge stacks of posters with large fonts printed across them.

“Mudbloods & The Dangers They Pose To A Perfect Pureblood Society”

Pulling out her wand, Devon pointed it at the nearest desk and it erupted into flames. She stood there for a second watching it burn before turning to the next desk and doing the same.

“Well, what are you two waiting for?” She signed.

Ministry of Magic, Atrium, London - May 2nd, 1998, 3:14 AM

Mirai crouched next to the group of Death Eaters they had bound and gagged on the Atrium floor next to the statue. Corban Yaxley’s nose was healed now, but he still glared at her. She turned away and glanced up towards Eleanor’s figure a few feet away. She stood unwavering with her wand in her hand, never keeping an eye away from the various floo fireplaces that lined the walls.

“Why are you here?” Eleanor murmured to Mirai as she walked up next to her.

“I’m here to help,” Mirai frowned.

“But you’ve got a family. Your daughter needs you. Why are you risking your life with the rest of us? You’re not a fighter.”

“No I’m not. But I am a healer. God knows you guys need me,” Mirai chuckled, elbowing Eleanor playfully, “Well, maybe not you.”

They were quiet for a few moments before she spoke again, “I will always help those in need, even Death Eaters.”

A flicker of green flames lit up the darkness ahead of them and Eleanor stiffened.

“Get back, Mirai,” she motioned as a figure emerged from the shadows, one with long white hair and that sickening smile she knew. This time however, his snow white hair was matted with streaks of red.

Mirai slowly backed away towards the statue. Her heart sank into her chest. Whose blood was that? If he was coming from the battle currently happening at Hogwarts…

With a flick of his wrist, a small red bead shot out of Eme’s wand. Eleanor barely had time to tuck and roll out of the way before it struck the statue. A huge ball of fire erupted and lit up the entire room, the light reflecting off the tiled walls and floor.

Pieces of white stone rained down upon Mirai and the Death Eater captives. Mirai managed to conjure a small shield for herself but the others weren’t so lucky. A few particularly large fragments impacted them causing one to be knocked out and another’s leg to be trapped.

Mirai dashed over to the figure unconscious on the floor. Producing some bandages with her wand, she hastily wrapped his bleeding head and casted a few minor healing charms to stabilize him.

An errant spell from Eleanor and Eme’s battle nearby shot across her vision and smashed the tiles just shy of another captive. They couldn’t stay here. More will be injured or even die. She also couldn’t let them go, however.

Mirai switched patients and ran over to the man with the trapped leg. It only took a few severing spells to cut it into small enough pieces that she could safely remove it. The leg was clearly broken but she couldn’t fix it right now. It wasn’t life threatening but all the spells of combat nearby were.

Taking a second to scan the atrium, and shielding herself from the debris of another spell smashing into the statue, Mirai noticed a small office close by with the door open. All she had to do was drag them into it and they would be safe.

Meanwhile, Eleanor was trying her best to keep Eme from advancing while also trying to limit the damage she caused. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Mirai dragging the Death Eaters away one by one. Hopefully the rest of the team heard the explosion and were on their way. She just had to wait for backup.

Eme was getting closer and the spells coming at her were fast. It was a shame they were underground as she really did enjoy the help of a dragon. Ryoko was something neither of them expected to ever have to fight, which made him useful against Eme. She would just have to find some other way to best him.

Eme relented, clearly noticing he wasn’t getting anywhere. He considered for a moment and then his wand lit up again with another spell, but this time it was a sickly green. It also wasn’t headed towards Eleanor.

She ran and dove to put herself in front of it, the green bolt barely striking her shoulder. She was dead before her body hit the tiles with a dull thud.

“Well well. What do we have here?” Eme wondered out loud, casually stepping over his sister's body as he made his way towards the office door.

Mirai stood in front of the now closed and locked door, having just finished moving the captives inside.

“Stand aside, girl.”

“Why? What do you want with them?” Mirai stuttered as she tried to keep her legs from shaking.

“I’m going to kill them, of course. We can’t have them spilling secrets to the enemy,” he replied coolly, pulling a knife from his belt and flipping it in his fingers.

“Aren’t you going to free them? Why do they have to die?”

“Only the weak get captured. They don’t deserve to live. Now get out of my way.”

“I will kill you if you touch them!”

Eme’s hollow laugh echoed off the walls of the atrium. He was now close enough to reach out and touch. Mirai could almost smell the scent of blood and death on him.

“You mortals are so naive. You couldn’t kill me if you tried for hundreds of years. Ask my dear sister, she knows better than anyone,” he gestured to Eleanor lying on the floor behind him.

“Why don’t you just run away like the rest of your friends? I’ll even give you a head start. A count to ten, perhaps?” He mused.

“10, 9, 8,” his deep voice started to count, the words multiplying by the echo.

Mirai stood frozen in fear with her back up to the door. Her wand was still in her hand, yet she couldn’t will herself to fight.

“7, 6, 5”

It was pointless anyway. All she needed to do was hold her ground. Any moment now, Eleanor would heal and come save her.

“4, 3, 2, 1”

“Still here are you? What a pity,” Eme mused with his head cocked to the side.

Mirai gasped as a sharp pain pierced her abdomen. Glancing down, she watched as Eme withdrew the knife and a waterfall of red poured down her shirt and pants and gathered in a pool around her shoes.

“NO!” Eleanor screamed as she came to and pushed herself up from the floor, “Fight me, you coward!” she screamed and shot a few spells, drawing his attention as he snarled.

Eme and Eleanor resumed their fight in the center of the atrium as Mirai slid down against the door to the floor, holding her stomach and failing to keep the blood in her body.

It worked, she had saved them. Nobody was going to get into that room as long as she guarded it. Soon she will be back home again with her daughter in her arms. It was only a matter of time.

[jonathanvik]

Starlight Dream - Chapter 64

“Another Kaguya?” Seina stared in confusion. If her former mistress came from the future, was this a Kaguya from an earlier period? Wasn’t it beyond dangerous to meet your past self? That’s why her future self only met them as a projection. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” Future Seina said, her voice hard. “You risk everything being here!”

“Yeah! We agreed to stay distant from each other,” her mistress said, somewhat peevishly. The two identical vampires glared daggers at each other. But now, Seina noticed a slight difference between the pair. Her Kaguya had a dark presence to her, her entire existence a living void of darkness. The other Kaguya was only a shadow compared to this, barely registering on Seina’s senses.

“And let you ruin everything,” continued the other Kaguya pointing a finger at her counterpart. “Thanks to you, my Devil Princesses are dead!” She gestured at the crumpled remains of Reiko.

“Arisu is dead,” Future Kaguya said, her voice displaying a pain she failed to hide.

But other Kaguya only shrugged. “Only yours is. Mine is fine. We can free her, if you wish. Though, we both know the trouble she’d cause.”

“Okay, what’s going on?” Takako whispered. “Is this the Dreamers’ identical sister?”

Her future self perked up her ears, picking up an unheard conversation. “Ah, that explains it.” She turned towards her fellow magical girls. “This Kaguya is a meat puppet the Vampire Queen psychically created after she got imprisoned by Arisu.”

“What?” Takako said, confounded.

“It’s a long story. Apparently, my Kaguya is from the future. And here is my future self.” Seina gestured to the angelic projection of her with a weak smile.

“That makes even less sense!” Takako replied.

“My head hurts.” Neir placed a paw against his head.

“Really? I understand everything. Seems simple enough,” Colten lied. “Have to say, Seina, you’re pretty cool in the future. Love the angelic super form!”

This earned a smile from future Seina, pleased by the compliment. 

But Past Kaguya interrupted their conversation. “And you’re just giving up, are you? Have you forgotten who we are? What we’ve suffered? And am I supposed to be happy with being locked up forever? You promised to free me!”

“I don’t owe you anything,” The first Kaguya said, crossing her arms. “I do what I like.”

“You’d betray me, yourself?!” Other Kaguya said, outraged.

“Huh? She’s fighting with herself?” Future Seina said, her translucent face baffled.

Seina released a deep sigh, knowing her former mistress too well. “Kaguya loathes being told what to do. She’s very stubborn.”

“Huh,” Future Seina said, shaking her head.

“I’m getting a headache,” Takako said, rubbing her temple. 

“Should they even be together if one’s from the future?” Colten asked. 

The two Kaguyas continued to lock eyes, refusing to retreat from their positions. Each snarled at the other, showing pointed fangs.

“I thought better of you. I see now you’re only a failure from a failed future. You weren’t making things right. You were running from enemies you couldn’t beat!” Past Kaguya’s expression turned smug. “A coward.”

“Don’t you dare talk of cowardice! I seem to recall you fleeing with your tail between your legs the first time we fought against Arisu,” Future Kaguya’s mouth extended into a superior smile.

Other Kaguya scowled. “As if that didn’t  happen to you as well!” The two counterparts continued their bickering, each refusing to give a centimeter. Despite her aloof nature, Seina knew her ex-mistress had a major ego.

“What if I don’t want to fight anymore?” Future Kaguya said.

“So you’d really leave your past self high and dry?” Past Kaguya fumed.

“Yes.”

Other Kaguya ground her teeth before glaring at Seina. “You think this is funny, don’t you, whelp?!”

“Well, uh,” Seina floundered before giving a hesitant reply. “No.”

“You’ve ruined everything!” Past Kaguya ground her teeth harder in frustration. “And you broke the rules somehow! A magical girl vampire, I don’t believe it.”

“How about you surrender?” Her fairy partner said. “Your future self isn’t interested in your plans, and you can’t beat us. You’re fighting a lost cause.”

“Colten, please don’t antagonize her,” Seina said in a harsh whisper.

“While a shadow of my former self, I’m still a vampire queen. Don’t underestimate me!” White fangs glistened as Past Kaguya’s mouth extended into a cruel smile. “I refuse to lose. I will regain true power. Soon you’ll all suffer!”

“Why am I just a pain in the ass?” Future Kaguya said, exasperated. “You try something, and I’ll kick you into next week!”

“How would that even work?” Colten asked. “Would she cease to exist? There has to be a reason Future Seina isn’t entering the past.”

“Yes, please don’t mess up the past any further,” the angelic Seina said. “I’m having a hard enough time keeping the future from disintegrating!”

Past Kaguya’s cruel smile extended further. “Is that right? Interesting. That explains why the timelines have become so convoluted. But never mind, I’m pruning you failures for a better future.”

“No.” Takako already had her twin pistols pointed at Past Kaguya’s head and fired. But the vampire queen dodged away, taking to the air. There she floated, her scowl contemptuous.

“You haven’t won yet. I will win! Mark my words.” Then Past Kaguya vanished from sight.

“Great. Another vampire running loose,” Seina said, sighing. Though she wondered if her boasts were only bravado, empty of any real threat.

“Why didn’t you do anything to stop her?” Colten said to her former mistress, annoyed.

“Look, I’m done. I don’t care about any of this,” Future Kaguya said with her trademark apathy. “Solve this problem yourself.”

“What?” Colten said, outraged.

“So, you’re returning to the future?” Her angelic counterpart said hopefully.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” Seina’s former mistress replied. “Let’s just get it over with. I’d barely care if you killed me at this point.”

This reaction surprised Seina. Kaguya must have really cared about Arisu. All the fight had left her former master. It was sad seeing the proud vampire queen taken this low.

“I liked her too. Arisu was quite the character,” Future Seina said, extending a hand.

“With her, anything seemed possible. And she never gave up on me. She never fought to kill me. She’d always hoped for a redemption of sorts. The fool.” Future Kaguya looked away, ashamed. “This isn’t to redeem myself. I’m beyond such foolishness. Lock me up, I don’t care. I’m done!”

“Look, um,” Seina trailed off, trying to find the right words. “Despite everything, thank you. You saved my life. You gave me hope.”

“Yes, you could have killed her instead,” Future Seina said, thoughtfully. “You knew she’d one day become me.”

“I only did it because I was bored,” Kaguya said, shooting her down. But then her face softened. “No, I did it because you remind me of myself. Scared, helpless, thrown around by everyone.”

“Maybe there is a heart somewhere within you,” Seina replied, touched by this honest confession.

“Doubtful.” Kaguya turned away, hiding her expression. “Okay, I’m ready to go.”

Future Seina nodded and extended her transparent hand. She turned to meet her past self’s eyes. “Watch out for your times Kaguya. She’s a slippery one. I don’t want her ruining the timeline any further. These ripples in history are getting more difficult to fight back. Soon, not even I will be capable of stopping them.”

“And then you’ll cease to exist,” Seina said, solemn.

“I’ll find some way to fuse our timelines into something coherent. I have the smartest person I know working on the problem,” Future Seina replied. “And I…”

“What is it?” Kaguya asked, annoyed as Seina’s future self started fretting, her expression becoming more troubled.

“I…no!” Future Seina’s projection started flickering, her voice distorting. “History is unraveling!”

“What? Weren’t things messed up enough? Sweat gathered on Seina’s undead forehead. What had her former mistress’s counterpart done this time?”

“Crap!” Colten said, panic creeping into his voice. “What can we do?”

“I… Think… never… hope… future’s never certain.”

“What? We can’t understand you!” Seina said. She watched in horror as her future self dissolved into nothing, leaving them all helpless.

---

“Back again?” The fairy in the cage said, amused. “It’s been, what, two decades since your last visit.”

“Shut it, Charity,” Past Kaguya said, annoyed. She slumped against a wall, furious.

“Fight against the Twilight not go well?” This didn’t surprise her. Despite past Kaguya’s best efforts to counter her annoying future-seeing ability, the fairy had always found some loophole. “Special girl. Reminds me of a certain Wicked Queen. She didn’t like confinement either.”

“And yet I’m still here,” Past Kaguya’s lips extended into a cruel smile. “They’re fools to underestimate me! I’ll destroy them all!”

“And how will you do that?”

“I’m figuring it out!” A moment of silence passed between them. “Okay, I don’t know!” Her boasts had been empty. She hadn’t a clue how to stop those monsters. Without her true body, this meat puppet body was useless against them.

“You could take Future Seina’s offer and change your fate,” Charity suggested.

This earned a derisive snort from Past Kaguya. “And admit defeat, never.” It was her nature to win. Still, she had to admit the situation seemed bleak. “And you’re going to help me, Charity. We’re going to shift the timeline to something more palpable.”

“You really expect Charity to do that?” The fairy raised a curious eyebrow.

“You’re the only person I have left.” What a sad admission that was. 

“Charity refused to help you destroy the future. Your other self has already caused considerable damage. History is unraveling.”

“Not enough,” Her future self had swaggered in, taking charge like she owned the place. It galled her to no end. Still, something occurred to her. Hadn’t her future self risked her entire existence messing with history? Only her mighty power protected her from the shifts in the river of time. But even Great Vampires weren’t unbeatable. 

“Don’t,” Charity said, a warning creeping into her voice. “You do that. It will only cause the destruction of everything.”

“Thanks, you’ve helped enough. You’ve been a useful soundboard,” Past Kaguya said, her smile sly.

“Kaguya!” Charity said, alarmed.

“Don’t worry, you’ll survive. The rest I don’t care about.” If she played her cards right, she’d come out on top, mightier than ever. There were risks, but she had nothing to lose.

She ignored the helpless pleas of the caged fairy as she exited the prison, passing the two unconscious guards. Past Kaguya gazed upon Starlight Dream’s beauty, how the light reflected off its crystalline structures. Her memory returned to when she’d first visited this hallowed place; it had brought tears to her eyes. Its purity burned her, yet she marveled at its majesty. But such vaunted purity had vanished centuries ago, leaving the world a husk cloaked in a pretty shell.

“You’ve lost any reason to exist.” She watched as various magical girls and fairies mingled about, oblivious to their fates. Legends told that Starlight Dream was the center of creation, both existence and history.

To this, the Vampire Queen only shrugged. History was hers to control. The timeline bent to her will alone. Victory would be forever hers.

The earth thundered as Past Kaguya’s fist impacted the dirt, the grime filling her fingernails. She tasted the life of Starlight Dream and everyone who lived in it. A fairy screamed as her partner just collapsed in a heap, her life stolen until only a husk remained. 

Unlike Arisu, these magical girls were pale imitations of the real deal. They died with Starlight Dream before they realized what was happening. Plants once vibrant with life crumbled to dust, their remains blowing away in the wind. The earth hardened and blackened, becoming more like dried ash. Towers that had once pierced the heavens collapsed in torrents of crystal shards. Cracks formed across the planet as it crumbled to dust. With the tightening of her fist, Starlight Dream, the cosmos’ jewel, imploded.

“It is done.” The sole Devil Princess smiled as she floated amongst the dust of Starlight Dream. Only three distant landmarks remained. One was the mighty core of the cosmos, its radiant beauty stinging her vampiric eyes. Another was Arisu’s stake, the imposing ziggurat towering above, not scratched despite its home’s destruction. No surprise there.

The last was a tiny white figure. She stared at the vampire queen in abject horror. “What have you done?!”

As the vampire queen suspected, the fairy and her partner were too powerful for such a simple display of power to destroy them. 

“See, I told you that you’d live.” Though, Arisu remained sealed within the dust of Starlight Dream. Past Kaguya reflected it wouldn’t be long until the terrible Wicked Queen freed herself, but she could live with that.

“Gah!” The fairy winced, clutching at her head. “The future, it’s in turmoil!”

“Perfect.” Billions of timelines passed through her head, each dying and being reborn at a dizzying rate. The future became a chaotic jumble, even to her. Starlight Dream wasn’t just a planet. Its existence anchored the multiverse.

“Victory at last!” Her mirth exploded in uproarious laughter. This was it! She’d won!

---

“No, this can’t be happening!” Pure panic filled Kaguya’s face, she was terrified almost out of her mind. It filled Seina with genuine fear. Never had she seen her former mistress scared before.

“I can’t fade away. Not after everything!” Kaguya’s body became more translucent as history destroyed her. Seina waved, unsure how she could help. 

“Takako, do something! You can do anything with your guns!” Seina clutched at the dark magical girl’s arm.

“After everything this maniac has done?” Takako said, crossing her arms.

“Don’t say that!” Seina snapped back. “What happened to pity and mercy?”

“I don’t believe in such things for monsters like her,” Takako replied coolly.

“Why you!” But Colten stopped Seina’s tirade, butting into the conversation.

“Look, we don’t know what’s happening. We might all vanish next. The vampire queen is our only time expert.” The fairy said. “We need her expertise.”

“Fine.” Takako rolled her eyes, firing her silver pistol at the fading vampire. A field formed around her, Kaguya’s image becoming more focused.

“Thank you.” Kaguya sighed in relief, flexing her fingers like she could hardly believe they even worked anymore.

“Mistress Kaguya, what’s going on?” Seina said, returning to a formal tone.

“The timelines are falling to pieces. My past self must have done something drastic to alter history further. My existence is becoming even more unlikely and impossible,” Kaguya scowled. “Curse that fake magical girl! She’s the one who convinced me to travel back in time. It’s all her fault this happened. Why’d I ever listen to her?!”

“Are we safe? What happens if history distorts even further?” Seina asked.

“We’ll all be annihilated in an all-consuming paradox!” A distorted voice said. The angelic Seina’s image was almost impossible to decipher as she tried to speak.

“That sounds about right,” Kaguya said. “I’m surprised you even still exist.”

“We’re managing,” Future Seina said. “But I’m afraid little of the future exists anymore. We’ve condensed the multiverse into a single universe. What little still remains, anyway. It’s reducing the strain of holding together history.”

“What is the other Kaguya trying to do, destroy us all?!” Takako said, fuming.

“No, she’s trying to exorcize the future. That way, Kaguya’s future self never interfered with the past. A risky plan,” Future Seina said, musing.

“Insane, more like,” Takako replied dryly.

“That’s me for you,” Kaguya said, cringing. “Stubborn to the last.”

“So what’s the plan? How do we fix whatever past Kaguya changed?” Seina asked.

“Stop her from causing any more damage first,” Future Seina said. “Mr. Kiyojiro says we can keep whatever future remains if the timeline remains somewhat stable. We can always reduce the size of the universe.”

“How much of your multiverse remains??” Seina asked, alarmed. She wondered who this Kiyojiro was? He must be pretty cool to salvage an entire broken timeline.

Future Seina only sighed, visibly sagging. “Only a couple million planets.”

How bad had things become in this alternate future? Were they doomed to the same fate?

“So only a corpse remains,” Kaguya said, sighing. 

Future Seina fought back a cutting remark, sighing as she pieced together a more peaceable response. “It doesn’t matter. The past is the past. It still isn’t beyond fixing.”

“Is that right?” A familiar voice said.

“You!” Seina turned and gasped as the past version of Kaguya appeared from nowhere. Her expression was victorious as her arm stabbed forward. After almost getting erased from history, her former mistress was helpless to defend herself. She howled as an arm emerged from her chest.

“And now your might is mine,” Past Kaguya, her grin victorious.

“You fool! Don’t!” Future Seina said, alarmed. But it was too late. 

Future Kaguya blood seeped into her past self, her flesh dissolving away in ash as it did. It fed into her past self, her entire body pulsing with dark energy. The reborn vampire queen opened her eyes, delighting in her newfound power. The light reflected off her dress in a dizzying array of colors, each impossible yet very possible. They danced to a chaotic beat, different flashes of possible histories appearing before Seina as each color struck her eyes. 

“Amazing! I’d forgotten what my true power felt like! I’m reborn! No better than ever! I am dead, yet I still live! I am contradiction itself! Call me Paradox Kaguya!”