#death - sacrifice - magic - saving each other - alternate first i love yous

[lucy-and-rebecca]

Let's talk about Fairy Tail women.

A while ago I came across an ... interesting post that can be summarised as 'fanservice is bad and hence all the female characters are written badly'. I've seen a lot of takes alonge these lines.

I've said it a million times, I don't like the fanservice in fairy tail but claiming that the fanservice automatically makes the writing of the female characters bad is a very shallow way of looking at the story. The over sexualization of the female characters is only one criteria we should consider while discussing how female characters are handled in the story. Unfortunately most of the time that ends up being the only criteria. I also think a lot of the times this is used as an excuse to hate on the female characters in fairy tail.

So here are some of my reasons as to why I absolutely love the way fairy tail women are written.

Flipping the damsel in distress trope.

During the phantom lord arc Lucy is kidnapped and Natsu went out to save her. A very classic setting for the damsel in distress trope. What makes this moment different is Lucy, the princess stuck in a tower, decided to jump. That moment is so important for her character. Lucy chose to jump because the alternative was having to return home to her abusive father and she jumped because she knew Natsu would catch her. That scene both simultaneously showed the audiance how much Lucy dreaded going back to her father's house and how much faith she had in her guildmate. That scene wasn't there to show Natsu saving her, that moment was there to flesh out Lucy's character.

They Unfridged Lisanna.

Fridged girlfriend/wife is a trope where the female lover of the male protagonist is killed, sometimes even before the story begins and the sole purpose that female character serves is to be a source of angst for the male protagonist. Lisanna was almost that. But she was brought back. Even before that she wasn't just limited to being Natsu's source of angst. She was Mira and Elfman's sister. I don't particularly like Lisanna but she's alive and she's living her life with the people she loves. That will always be a positive thing.

Self sacrifice is bad actually.

A lot of times, especially for female characters self sacrifice is presented as a virtue. It's presented as a selfless noble thing. During tower of heaven arc, Erza learnt that that's wrong. she realised she's loved and wanted. She learnt that her life matters and the people who love her would be miserable without her and nothing good will come from her death. She learnt that self sacrifice will only lead to pain for everyone she loves.

Passing bechdel test in the most unexpected situations.

In case you don't know the criteria for passing the bechdel test are, two named female characters talking to each other about someone other than a man. This test is mainly for movies but we can apply it to tv shows, anime and manga by seeing how often it passes the bachdel test rather than if it passes it. Like how someone did for Doctor Who. (I am genuinely tempted to do this for fairy tail anime.)

Anyway getting to the point, you would think that's very easy to achieve and yet so many stories fail at it so very often. While this test is by no means a sure shot way of measuring how feminist something is, I do think a show with a lot of important female characters who have good relationship with one another will pass the bechdel test a lot more frequently compared to a show that doesn't.

Fairy tail passes the backdel test somewhat frequently, sometimes in unexpected ways.

At first we are lead to believe that Erza and Kagura are connected because of Jellal and Simon. So it's only natural that they will talk about those two men during their fight. And yet their fight during grand magic games passes the bechdel test. Because their relationship goes beyond those two men. Erza knew Kagura from their childhood and she wanted their relationship to be defined by that rather than anything else. Erza didn't tell Kagura how she should feel. She understood and respected Kagura's feeling. All she wanted was for Kagura see her as her own person. The reason why this scene managed to pass the bechdel test was because despite everything Erza and Kagura's relationship is not defined by the men in their lives.

Women with power

Time and time again fairy tail has portrayed women wielding immense power. Fairy tail has also portrayed women in position of power. Hisui didn't just remain a princess, she became a queen. Fairy tail was founded by a woman. Dragon Slayer magic was invented by a woman. Characters like Urtear and Brandish are unmatched in power. Powerful women in fairy tail feel powerful, they don't feel power for a woman or power despite being a woman, they feel powerful.

Future Lucy died in her own arms.

Future Lucy is a characters who went through unimaginable pain and suffering and ended up dying. But she died to protect her past self. She died in her own arms and made the past version of herself promise her that she will fight for their future. Even though we know that our Lucy is perfectly fine that scene hits like a truck. Natsu in that moment remembers how happy Lucy was when she got her guild mark. That's a painful memory in that moment because future Lucy has lost everything. She has lost her guild along with her guild mark. Natsu and everyone else there is sad and angry because future Lucy deserved to happy and that happiness was stolen from her. Even when it comes to showing Natsu's pain it's entirely selfless. Even after all the pain she went through in the end she was at peace and the story made sure we knew that. Future Lucy is one of the few characters who dies in fairy tail and like all the other deaths in fairy tail this too is meaningful. Fairy tail would never kill of a character, let alone a female character for shock value.

Power of friendship but like siriously.

From Erza and Mira's childhood rivery to Lucy and Brandish's current rivery, to Wendy and Chelia's relationship that's two steps away from blossoming into romance fairy tail has so many complex relationships between it's female characters. It is so hard to put into words. I absolutely adore the relationships fairy tail women have with each other. They are sweet, bitter, silly, loving and everything else that you could possibly imagine. While not all, most of their relationship are also build on their own without a male character being involved. What I mean by that very often we will see two female characters being friends because their boyfriends are friends or because they had a crush on the same guy but they put aside their differences or the girlfriend and sister of a male character becoming friends. Those examples exists in fairy tail too but they are just so rare. And because we have so many dynamics between the female characters those type of relationship don't stand out.

[bekahdoesnerdshit]

Playlist: Cog

Alternate Title: I’m Gonna Be A Nice Person Until It Kills Me (Oh God, Please Don’t Let It Kill Me)

This Will End by The Oh Hellos

No, I am not afraid to die It's every breath that comes before Heartache, I've heard, is part of life And I have broken more and more

So this second Cog playlist is for the second half of the campaign. The gods are coming to destroy the world, the party has to stop them, Cog is going to have to take all of the gods' magic into herself once they're dead in order to channel it back into the world, and doing so will certainly kill her. This song is about Cog facing the fact that she has just months left to live, being scared to die, but also trying to take solace in the fact that her death will protect the world and will provide the opportunity for a wonderful life for the people she loves. But it's one thing to know that, to want to go through with it for the sake of your loved ones, and another thing to have to live through the end of the world knowing you're going to die before you're even old enough to legally drink.

Peace Be Still by The Hunts

Oh darlin' don't be scared of time changing us both Death will meet our bodies but he'll never touch my soul If you are afraid well heavens don't let go Cause darlin' I will stay as we grow o-o-o-oh

This song is a continuation of the themes of the first song, about Cog knowing her friends will still love her even when she's gone, and even about the Raven Queen's assurances that when she dies she'll become part of magic itself. She'll be irreversibly changed, she won't be able to see or think or feel, but she won't be truly gone. Cog is trying so hard to convince herself that she's okay dying and not getting to see the world her and her friends fought so hard for, not getting to see their happy endings, and in game she almost got there. Honestly, both of these songs are also about Cog trying to convince her friends as much as herself that really, really, she's okay choosing to sacrifice herself.

The Crooked, the Cradle by The Crane Wives

If mercy's abound I'll be safe, I'll be sound And the devil won't know of the love I just couldn't let go I won't pretend my season won't end But I pray, when it's done, when it's through I'll have something left for you

It's one thing to know that dying to save every other person in the world is the objectively morally correct thing to do, and another feel good about doing it. The thing about Cog dying is that, despite knowing several months in advance what was going to happen, she never had time to grieve for herself. If she had shown even the slightest fear or reluctance to do what needed to be done, her friends would have insisted that they couldn't let it happen. So she had to spend those months comforting them about her impending death. And even internally, at this point Cog and the Raven Queen were bound together so tightly that the Raven Queen was always with Cog. Cog couldn't even grieve herself in her own mind, because the Raven Queen would see and know and would be disappointment by Cog's lack of conviction. So she had to be fine, she had to be her normal self, and she had to convince the people who love her most to let her die. No worries! Not stressful!!!

Soothsayer by Haunted Like Human

From the shadows of the crowd there's a hand reaching out It can offer the things that you seek There's a price to be paid but ain't that every trade? You're just looking for strength when you're weak

I'm OBSESSED with this song and obsessed with it as a Cog song and I want to make everyone listen to it forever. This wasn't initially on this playlist, I just discovered it this year, but it SO epitomizes the relationship between Cog and the Raven Queen, and how Cog got herself in a position where she was bound to the goddess of death. Each baby step Cog took to accept more of the Raven Queen's power was because she needed just a little extra magic to help her friends. Or a little bit of information, to help them make the best decision. And step by step, she ended up bound and in debt to a being that ultimately ended up becoming a friend! But one who still has high expectations that needed to be met. This song also to me has Such Lafaroh vibes, the spooky kinda dark folk sound. It really fits the cult Cog was raised in and escaped from, but whose beliefs still followed her throughout the campaign and -ultimately- to the very end. She's been out for years, but this song being on this playlist instead of the first Cog one represents the fact that she never truly escaped the role they expected her to play.

Broken Crown by Mumford & Sons

But oh, my heart was flawed I knew my weakness So hold my hand Consign me not to darkness

This was the first song on this playlist, and honestly the reason I made a second playlist at all! I heard this song for the first time and immediately began plotting a Wasteland amv in my head about it. The song is about bucking against the expectations and plans other people have made for your life, and the responsibility that's placed on your shoulders because of decisions someone else has made. This is the point in the playlist where Cog is letting herself come to terms with the fact that she resents that she has to and -more importantly!- is terrified to die! But at the same time, despite the fact that she could technically refuse to go through with it, she knows she couldn't ever make that choice because she understands what the full consequences of her selfishness would be. Also the lyrics above are special to me because in the amv in my head it's a pov shot of Cog looking down at Mystra's Heart in the box on the table in front of her and the magic knife she'd been given to replace her own heart with the one in the box. The shot then pans up to Ace across the table looking worried and like he wants to say something, but also like he wants to respect that it's Cog's decision to make. She knows she has to go through with this, because it's the only way she can save him.

Honest by JOSEPH

There's always two thoughts One after the other I'm alone No, you're not I'm alone, no, you're not

So soft, so sad, so simple; as I mentioned before, Cog spent a lot of time feeling like she had to deal with the fact that she was dying alone. Like she couldn't tell her friends how scared she was, because they wouldn't let her go through with it if they knew. She felt so alone, so small, but... When she finally confessed to her friends that she was scared and needed comfort, they were there to give it to her without a second thought. Despite feeling like she had to deal with this alone, she never did.

Don't Let Me by Morningsiders

Oh, brother, where are you? Think I need a hand Can you come pick me up? I don't know where I am But I can tell it's not where I want to be Oh, brother, help me out, keep your eye on me Don't let me go somewhere I can't find my way back, no Don't let me go

Of course there's and Ace/Cog song on here!! After the sad dip in the middle of the playlist, we're starting to emerge back into the sun now that Cog knows that she has her friends' -and her brother's- support. She's finally asking for what she wants: help to find another way of saving the world so that she doesn't have to die for it. She will sacrifice herself if it comes to it, but she doesn't want to lose everything they've fought for if there's any other options. Don't let her die! Don't let her go! Cog is asking for Ace to hold her hand and keep her safe, like he always has, as they face this last big threat together.

The Literal Heart by Penny and Sparrow

I'll be damned; I'd rather sleep. The garden's soft; my skin is weak. It's gonna take every drop of young blood I've got, to hold on, and stop, and settle down.

I love the long instrumental train at the end of this song, the way it ramps up with more and more instruments and more and more energy until it's just flying, especially when the song started so subdued. It's a microcosm of Cog's whole story, from a scared little girl afraid of her own magic to someone who is proud of who she is and loved by so many people for her courage and her kind heart and her unwavering desire to see the best in everyone. Also, Cog cut out her Literal Heart to replace it with a magic one to cement her bond to the Raven Queen and give her extra strength to her magic. Also, Cog was Literally the Heart of the party. She often acted as their conscience, especially in the early days, and loved them and the world so much that the party decided that they could be the people to focus on the big picture and save the world.

I Don't Wanna Go by Draper

Let your spirit go And watch the sky come from the deep unknown Take my hand don't make me leave because I don't wanna go

You read the title. You know what this song is about. She doesn't want to go! At the end of all this, after spending so long trying to convince herself and everyone else that she's accepted her death, Cog can finally admit that she doesn't want to die. She will, she'll go through with it, because there's no other option. But she doesn't feel like she has to pretend like she's okay with it, like she's not sad and scared, because her friends love her enough to want to carry that burden with her. The song is bittersweet; the music is triumphant, with swelling cords and horns and cymbals and drums, but the lyrics are about what's been built and what will be lost, begging to be able to stay and be a part of it. It's a song that can make some people (not me) cry a little at two in the morning about their dnd character, how young she is, how much she doesn't want to have to keep giving away pieces of herself but at the same time always wants to do the right thing, and how unfair it is that those two goals are so often at odds.

Echo 22 by Talisk

The last song, the instrumental, is a callback to the song "Echo" (also by Talisk) that was on my first Cog playlist. "Echo 22" is a sequel? Re-imagining? Of "Echo" that uses the same base melody and instruments, but that adds flourishes and more intricacies to each instrument's part in the song. The song is faster, more mature, and more alive! To me, this song is a nice way to tie the two playlists together, to show how Cog has changed since the beginning of the campaign, and to go out on a high, happy note: just the way Cog would want it.

[davey-in-a-minivan]

just, remember me, okay?

asdfkjal this is late and long, but my gift for @keiththeweirdo for the @tdpholidayexchange!

word count: 2213 mood: angst with a happy ending?? rayllum, side serving of claudia premise: what if callum’s rescue off the storm spire had gotten... complicated? (also on ao3)

She should have died. That was Rayla’s one clear thought as consciousness returned, sticky and slow as blood seeping from a reopened wound. She had thrown herself from the Storm Spire. She should have died.

But then, Callum above her. But then, Callum with feathers pushing through his skin and a wild, desperate determination in his eyes. Callum, with human fear and human clumsiness and heavy human bones, who could barely support his own weight with his new wings. Callum, who had realized that he could not carry her to safety and so had swooped beneath her instead.

Callum, in whose motionless limbs she was still tangled.

She should have died.

It wasn’t grief that plagued her so much as fear-- icy, paralyzing fear, to open her eyes and roll off his crushed body and see him staring blankly at the sky he dearly loved. Even the pain that burned in her every bone and joint after the jolt of impact could not persuade her to untangle herself.

The sound of approaching footsteps, however, could. Her eyes opened to slits to see a dark figure in a billowing cloak stumble past, stopping beside Viren’s battered body. The caterpillar that had coiled around his shoulders wriggled and the figure kicked it aside with a guttural cry, slinging it through the air to crawl into the shadows. Then she dropped to her knees, hands fluttering from Viren's bleeding head to his chest to his pulseless throat. “It’s going to be alright, Dad. I found you. I’m going to save you, I’m going to--” Her voice cracked.

Rayla inhaled. “Claudia.”

The human shot upright, wiping her face furiously. “What are you doing here?” Then Rayla struggled to her feet and Claudia’s eyes shifted past her, to Callum. The last flush of color left her ashen face. “No.”

Rayla pointed a finger. “You said you can save him.”

“No, no, no-- what happened?” Claudia demanded, her gaze darting from face to vacant face like a caged animal looking for an escape. Rayla wanted to shout at her to stop stalling. It didn’t matter what had happened! “This is your fault!”

The words hurt like a dagger twisted in the back-- because they were true. But-- “You were the one that attacked us! You, and your evil father--”

“Don’t talk about him like that,” Claudia snarled, raising her staff. A sunfire staff, stolen from the elves, though the core had somehow been corrupted. “You need to leave, now.”

“I’m not leaving Callum,” Rayla said.

“I’ll kill you.”

“Try it.”

For a moment they just stood, panting, eyes locked. Rayla’s face burned, and the effort of holding back tears made her head pound. She would fight. She would die. But she could imagine a moment of savage triumph, of sinking her blade between the dark mage’s ribs, before they both collapsed onto the blood-stained ground. She reached for her swords.

But then Callum’s voice stopped her. Claudia is my friend. They had been at the lunar nexus. She had only seen Claudia and Soren as threats, but Callum wanted to trust them. They betrayed us at the nexus, she thought angrily. Yes, but then Soren came to help us. Led by the good heart Callum had sworn he had, Soren joined the fight for peace. Maybe… Claudia could do the same.

Hesitantly, Rayla shifted from her fighting stance, her hands drifting away from the hilts of her blades. “Claudia, you and I’ve never been friends. I know that. But Callum-- you and Callum were. And he needs help.”

“Why do you care so much?” Claudia asked suspiciously. “A month ago you would have been glad to see him dead.”

“I would have,” she said. “But I didn’t know-- Callum is good.” The word choked in her throat, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a second, holding back tears. “Since I’ve known him, everything he does is for love. It’s for peace. He makes you see how the world could be, instead of how it is. And I don’t know anyone else like that. The world is so hurt and so ugly, but if anyone can heal it-- it’s him. Don’t you see that? He needs to live.” Hot tears slipped down her cheeks, but she didn’t break eye contact. Surely Claudia knew. Surely she understood that nothing could be right if Callum were dead. Surely--

“You love him,” Claudia said softly. The last ragged thread of Rayla’s self-control snapped, and she sank to the ground, sobbing, nodding, shoulders shaking. The sunfire staff clattered as it was cast aside, and then Claudia’s arms were around her, holding her as she cried. “It’s so easy to, isn’t it?” she whispered. Rayla clung to her as she fought to steady her breath, finally pulling back to wipe her eyes.

“Is there anything you can do to save him?”

Claudia gave a watery laugh, gesturing at Callum and Viren. “What, like a double resurrection?”

Rayla’s heart skipped a beat. “Is that possible?”

"Theoretically," Claudia said, kneading her eyes. Her voice quivered-- from sorrow or exhaustion, Rayla couldn't guess. "In practice, though-- I’ve never touched necromancy before. The ingredients alone are almost impossible. You need-- you need--” She trailed off, furrowing her brow, and Rayla’s veins iced with fear. Of course the ingredients would be something horrific. Or something impossible. Nothing came for free, not with dark magic, especially not something as precious as Callum’s life. Still looking fuzzily to the distance, Claudia muttered “--and of course, the hard part isn’t even healing the body, it’s calling back the spirit--”

Rayla shook her head, refusing to acknowledge the impossibility of her task that weighed like the world on her chest. “What are the ingredients?”

Claudia grimaced. “You need some part of a magical creature that owes its life to the one who died. But there’s no way we’ll get up to the dragon prince in time for it to be of use, even if we could evade the queen and all the guards--”

The crushing pressure on Rayla’s chest lifted. “Use me, then.”

“What?”

Heat flooded Rayla’s heart, painful and brilliant. “I would have died if it weren’t for Callum. Use me.”

“But I need to use a part of you, flesh or bone.”

“Then you’ll have to cut off my horn,” Rayla said, reaching for the fallen sunfire staff. Claudia watched wordlessly as she drew a blade and slid it through the fiery core of the staff. “With a steady hand and a hot blade, it shouldn’t be hard.” The blade now shone white-hot as she offered the hilt to Claudia.

Claudia gaped at her. “You… want me to do it?”

“Well, I cannae do it myself,” she said. Gingerly, Claudia took the sword. Rayla smoothed her hair away from her horns and then turned her back to the human. She was entirely vulnerable. One slash from the superheated sword and she’d be gone. She clung to her second-hand belief in Claudia, her desperate trust. And after a moment, she felt heat waft over her scalp, and an unfamiliar pressure against her skull. The smell of singed hair reached her. Then the pressure eased and the heat faded. Rayla turned to see Claudia holding her blade in one hand and a coal-gray horn in the other, looking entirely lost.

“But what about my father?”

She sounded… helpless. She must have combed through a lifetime of memories, searching for one moment her father saved a magical creature, only to come up empty. The fear in her eyes echoed Rayla’s own. For the first time, Rayla didn’t feel a wave of disgust at the mention of Viren. Instead, grief tugged at her, for the man the girl had lost. Rayla hesitated. Then, slowly, she said, “if Soren hadn’t come ta warn us yesterday, I would probably be dead.” Viren was greedy. Manipulative. Ruthless. But she had been wrong to believe that humans were fully evil. “And if you hadn’t taught Callum his first spell… he would never have connected to the sky arcanum.” Every one of them was a mix of good and bad, drawn from two streams. “And I know I’d be dead.” Viren had made wrong choices, evil choices, that she could not forget. But he had also done good. “I owe the man who raised you two with good hearts,” she said.

Claudia’s hands were shaking. “I don’t understand.”

“Take my other horn. For him.” Rayla turned her back to the human once more. “And do it quick.”

“Thank you,” Claudia said hoarsely, pressing the blade to the base of Rayla’s remaining horn. “I don’t-- I know he--”

“You won’t let things go back to the way they were,” Rayla said, cutting her off. “This is a new chance-- for both of ye.” The choice felt inexplicably right. The kind of thing Callum would do. A weight lifted from her skull and her fingers went to her head, finding two uneven stubs tangled in her wind-swept hair like spiderwebs. “Well, that’s that.” Claudia carefully set down the sword, which had cooled to a cherry-red. “What now?”

“The blood of one who loves them,” Claudia said, passing one horn to Rayla. It felt funny in her hand. Smaller than she imagined. She copied Claudia, bloodying the tip of the horn from one of her many bleeding scrapes. Then Claudia knelt between the bodies, pressing the tip of one horn to each chest, piercing the skin. Rayla counted the passing seconds like a clock was ticking in her ears.

“It’s going to work. You can do this,” she urged Claudia.

Claudia bent her head with grim determination. “Or I’ll die trying,” she said, and began to chant. Rayla held her breath, bracing herself for the poisonous hum of dark magic in the air. Instead, all she felt was an electric buzz, making her hair stand on end. Claudia’s eyes filled with golden light, and more light blossomed from Callum and Viren’s chests. Claudia’s forehead beaded with sweat from the effort, but she seemed to draw strength from the light. Because it’s not dark magic, Rayla realized with a jolt. Dark magic was stolen magic, ripped from the creature to whom it belonged. But Rayla had given her horns freely, and the power that Claudia now summoned was something new. Callum would be fascinated. Then the thought slipped away because suddenly Claudia was gasping for breath, blinking away the light and fixing Rayla with wide eyes. “It’s up to you now. Call his spirit back.”

***

The boy supposed he must be dead. He had the vague idea that death was something that had scared him before; he had the faintest memory of fear shooting through his heart as he hurtled toward the ground, fear that was only overcome by the overpowering urge to save-- hmm. He couldn’t remember who.

It was peaceful here, in death; no ticking clock, no frantically beating heart. Just a soft expanse of hills, blanketed in fog, and in the distance a white gate. He walked towards it. Again, he felt like he was forgetting something. He wasn’t supposed to be travelling alone. But there was no one else here to travel beside him. The white gate loomed above him as he approached. He pushed the knob and it swung open without a noise, feather-light. His breath caught as he saw the vast sunlit valley beyond. It was beautiful. He stepped forward-- then stumbled back, as if pulled by unseen hands. This wasn’t right. What was missing?

A voice whispered in his ear, soft and insistent. Callum. He spun, looking over his shoulder, back over the fog-bound hills. No one. Callum, come back. The boy blinked. Callum. That was his name. Callum, please.

“Who are you?” Callum called. His voice echoed strangely in the still air.

Callum. Every repetition of the name was like the tug of a fish-hook lodged firmly in his chest. I need you to come back. I need you to wake up.

“I don’t know how,” he said, distress tightening his throat for the first time since he had died. “I don’t know where to go, except through the gate.”

Follow my voice. Come back to me. Do you hear me?

“Who are you?” he shouted desperately, his head jerking from side to side. The voice sounded like it was coming from the left-- and as he looked, a path seemed to open in the fog, revealing tiny white flowers. He took a few tentative steps, and a flash of memory shot through his mind: a meadow of flowers, and laughter in the air. He stumbled. “Hello?”

Can you hear me?

“I hear you! I’m coming!” He broke into a run.

Callum, please. Scattered memories crackled through his head, fast and disorienting. His legs pounded the earth. He knew that voice. I know you’re there. I know you can find your way. I’m not going to give up on you. The fog dissolved like ocean spray on a breaking wave. I love you, Callum.

The name he had been searching for came at last to his lips. "Rayla," he said. Then every memory came crashing back, and a searing flash of lightning split the world. 

***

"I love you, Callum," Rayla whispered. And his heart began to beat again. 

[my-least-favorite-savior]

Should we first talk about why no other Volstrucker has ever left?

First of all, a big part of Trent’s process is making sure that they have nowhere else to go. First, he isolates them from their peers at the Academy. (Caleb says that Trent was originally one of many teachers he had the Academy, and then Trent became his primary teacher. Bren had no friends aside from his fellow Volstrucker trainees.) He takes over their schedules so they’re spending all of their time with him and others who are under his thumb, and he tells them that it’s because they are special and better than their peers anyway. They’re fifteen at this time, so they believe him. Then, he makes them kill their family. It’s kind of brilliant, in a sadistic way. He subjects them to slowly escalating abuse for years, and then he hands them a match and tells them to burn their only bridge away from him.

Let’s assume that Astrid really does have an uncle, and wasn’t just playing along. Of course she hasn’t spoken to him in years. What could she possibly say to him after murdering his sister? Making them kill their immediate families is also a pretty good way of blowing up their relationships with their extended families.

It’s not like Trent stops controlling them when they reach adulthood, either. They live in houses on his estate and report to him daily for orders. Trent chooses them when they’re 14 years old, destroys everything else they have, and keeps them right under his thumb for the rest of their lives.

Then he calls them family He takes their original families from them, but he offers his own twisted mockery of a family in return. And they take it, because it hurts less than empty space where their parents used to be. Caleb called the Volstrucker locked up in Rosohna his sister without ever having met her. Trent invited Caleb over for a family dinner. What happened to their parents was an unfortunate necessity, but they don’t have to feel alone; the Volstruckers are their family now; Trent is their family now.

The second reason they don’t leave him or tell anyone is that Trent specifically chooses students who are unlikely to do that. Trent chooses his students partly for the fun of it, to see what he can sculpt out of their unique natural talents, but he’d be a fool not to consider their temperaments as well. It’s easy to imagine Bren, Eadwulf, and Astrid as teachers pets who were eager for Trent’s approval as teenagers. Even now that they’re adults, Trent is very intentional with when and how he praises them, and praise is his go-to way of love-bombing Caleb at the dinner.

Trent has access to all the students at the Soltryce Academy. This is already the pick of the litter in terms of the Empire’s magic-wielding teenagers. Anyone he chooses is going to be gifted. He has the luxury of looking at other factors, like how eager they are to please him, how susceptible they are to pro-Empire propaganda, and whether or not their families will be missed. (Is it really a coincidence that Bren, Astrid, and Eadwulf were all from the same rural town that is firmly under the capital’s thumb? Probably not.)

So, after he picks out kids are that going to respond well to his brainwashing, he brainwashes them. That’s the third reason none of them have ever left before.

He tells them they’re family. Not by blood, but by shared goals and shared suffering. I can’t prove that Trent ever actually said that, but it fits perfectly with the way the Blumendrei talk about each other and with Trent’s view of the world. The pain they endure together bonds them (and they’ve got matching tattoos to prove it).

Their pain protects the innocent of the Empire. They do their bloody work so others don’t have to. They endure this pain so others don’t have to. Someone has to hurt, because that’s how the world is, and if it’s not the Volstruckers, it will be the innocent children of the Empire.

Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made. Your innocence. Their lives. Someday, maybe your life. These sacrifices are what keep little Empire children safe and warm in their beds at night. It’s for the good of the Empire. It’s what any good Empire citizen would do. You should feel honored to have been given this opportunity.

Trent inflicts pain in on them because pain makes them stronger. Because they are smarter and stronger than their peers and they can save the Empire, if they just let him teach them. Trent hurts them because he sees the potential in them and wants to bring it out. Trent hurts them for the greater good. Trent hurts them out of love.

That’s what he tells them. That’s what he told them at dinner.

They’re spoon-fed a million excuses for their own abuse, and they have little choice but to swallow those excuses, because (reason #4) Trent made them complicit in their own abuse, and each other’s abuse, and the murders of their families. The alternative to accepting Trent’s apologism put Bren in an insane asylum. “All of that pain and suffering and death was absolutely unnecessary and you not only subjected yourself to it for no reason, you helped for no reason,” is not an easy thing to process.

Liam has done a really good job of showing how Caleb struggles with that and how it led to so much self-hatred. And Caleb had a loving support network. Most Volstruckers have one or two equally broken people from their class that they can mostly trust, if they are lucky. Most Volstruckers are only given one framework to process these feelings through, and it’s the abusive framework laid out in #3.

We can’t go without mentioning that shared guilt is one of the oldest tricks in the book to get a victim to keep quiet. It’s the classic ‘You’ll be in trouble too.’ “Do you really want to go the king and confess to the murder of innocent Empire citizens? Your own family, no less?” It wasn’t like Trent put the poison in the food or threw the fireball.

Reason #5: Lots of people already know and simply do not care. While Astrid’s comments in e131 do imply that the king doesn’t know what Trent has been doing to the children of his kingdom, the Cerberus Assembly knows and has known for a while. Every time Caleb has brought up his abuse with a member of the Cerberus Assembly, he’s gotten empty sympathy and dismissal. He hasn’t even had to explain the abuse to them. Multiple people have heard that he was a student of Trent Ikithon’s and immediately responded with sympathy... but also in ways that made it clear that they didn’t plan to do anything about it. The Cerberus Assembly knows. Ludinus would be very bad at his job if he did not know, considering that Trent recruits from the Academy. The Volstruckers are used to Trent doing what he does out in the open, in front of other high-level officials.

It’s not like Trent is hiding his abuse of them, either. Trent takes kids home for the summer and they show up for Intermediate Transmutation the next fall with fucking experimental crystals in their arms. Ludinus knew. Even Vess knew. The Volstruckers know that Ludinus and Vess know. At best, they likely believe that there is no point in talking. At worst, it reinforces everything Trent is telling them and makes them believe that they are the problem if they can’t tough it out.

Last but not least: mortal terror is the sixth reason why no one has ever gotten away from Trent before. Trent broke Bren’s brain and then made him disappear for a decade. Trent made all of their families disappear. Do you think Astrid got investigated for murder after some poor neighbor found her family’s bodies? No. Trent made that disappear. How easily could Trent make one Volstrucker disappear? Volstruckers die all the time, after all. There wouldn’t be many questions asked about a Volstrucker’s death. There might not be any questions asked at all. Who would notice a Volstrucker was missing, except for other Volstruckers (who are loyal to Trent. And terrified of Trent. And may have helped with the murder.)

So that’s why Caleb is the first to ever leave. (1) Most Volstruckers have nowhere else to go. (2) Trent gets to hand-pick students to abuse, so obviously he’s going to pick ones that are likely to respond well (by his standards) to his abuse. (3) Volstruckers are brainwashed into accepting Trent’s abuse apologism. (4) Volstruckers are made to feel morally culpable for their own abuse and are not given space to process these feels outside of the brainwashing framework Trent provides them with in #3. (5) People with power don’t care; people who care lack power; people with both are out of reach. This is a pattern embedded in their psyches well before they kill their parents. (6) Trent could literally straight up kill them have a couple of teenagers dig a shallow grave in the woods. No one would ever ask questions.

[antebunny]

April 30: rebirth

(Also called Bargaining–idea is taken from an old Loki fic with the same time travel premise).

When Jiang Yanli dies, Wei Wuxian goes into denial and just runs from Nightless City. He goes back to the Burial Mounds and feverishly works on a time travel array. Within the month he completes it and prepares to travel back in time, but there’s a catch. He first activates the array and then spends the next several hours going through the ritual, while outside the Siege of the Burial Mounds begins. The Wens know what Wei Wuxian is up to so they understand why he’s not bothering to protect them. He completes the ritual just as Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan burst into the cave. They’re both there, at the front, in order to protect Wei Wuxian, but by the time they arrive it’s too late: the array is fading and Wei Wuxian is already dead. He barely sees them in the entrance when he dies, which leads him to (logical) conclusion that they’re there to kill him.

Here’s the catch: Wei Wuxian gets to go back, rewrite time, and change things. He decides to go back to the day before he got kicked out of the Cloud Recesses. But when time finally arrives at the time he activates the array, everyone gets their memories back. Although a lot of people will remember dying, it’s preferable to actually dying. Then Wei Wuxian has to conduct the ritual again, to ensure that this is the future that stays, and seal the deal with his own life. Basically, in order to change the future Wei Wuxian has to die. And obviously because he's Wei Wuxian, he decides that that’s okay so long as everyone gets to live.

So Wei Wuxian comes back to life with a golden core and cries for a solid minute, scaring tf out of Jiang Cheng, before he gets a grip. Then he proceeds to yell at Jin Zixuan, not get kicked out, and live life like everything’s normal. He enjoys the next six months of peace, and then he gets to work. Once the year is over, he goes on a very long night hunting trip, kills the Xuanwu of Slaughter, and sets up the cave for use. A year later and they’re at the archery competition, where Wei Wuxian still places first, meets Wen Ning again, and doesn’t pull off Lan Zhan’s forehead ribbon.

Then Wen Ruohan is ~mysteriously~ assassinated and the Wens declare war on all the sects in revenge. When the Wens come for Lotus Pier, there’s no personal vendetta, and Wei Wuxian hides in the shadows and drowns all of them. Then he pretends that he got knocked out and was unconscious somewhere hidden from the main battle where Jiang Cheng finds him. They win the war, and Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan are still alive and bickering with each other, the Jiang sect is still strong, etc. etc. Wei Wuxian personally hunts down Wen Zhuliu early in the war, before he can cause any damage. Then he also kills Jin Guangshan, blames it on the Wens (does it make sense? No. does anyone care? No) and Jin Zixuan commits fully to the war. Jin Zixuan learns to appreciate Jiang Yanli during the war, and since they’re already engaged they get married soon afterwards. Jin Guangyao gets taken in as Jin Zixuan’s younger brother, and since Jin Zixuan is a decent person who doesn’t want him to commit crimes but also needs Help, it goes a lot better. Meanwhile Wei Wuxian finds the DafanWen and they move to the Xuanwu cave, which Wei Wuxian has prepared. Also the carcass of the tortoise should scare anyone away.

Wei Wuxian sticks around to see his sister get married, takes Lan Zhan on a tour of Lotus Pier, at the end of which Lan Zhan proposes. Wei Wuxian is confused but figures that Lan Wangji must like this version of him that hasn’t used resentful energy as far as Lan Wangji knows or recused the Wens as far as he knows, or done any of the things that Other Lan Zhan hated him for. The Wens ask him to adopt A-Yuan, which he does after talking about it with Lan Zhan and after they get married. So now Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are married and they have an adopted child. That part was all the fluff and fix-it, cue the angst. The date of Wei Wuxian’s death draws near, and Wei Wuxian starts getting moody and antsy, starts drinking. Yu Ziyuan yells at him, of course, and everyone else worries over him. It is during one of these blackout drunk sessions that Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji that he fully expects Lan Wangji to regret marrying him in the future. Lan Wangji swears up and down that he won’t, and Wei Wuxian kinda critiques himself and calls himself selfish, for marrying Lan Wangji and raising a kid when he knows it’s not going to last.

Basically Wei Wuxian starts getting skittish and disappears for periods of time to the Burial Mounds, where he acquires enough injuries that Lan Wangji suspects that someone is hurting him, which Wei Wuxian vehemently denies, but Lan Wangji is still Onto him. He goes to Jiang Yanli, who says that Wei Wuxian has been acting differently ever since he came back from the Cloud Recesses, seemed to know things that were going to happen before they did, disappears at odd times and incidents that occur when Wei Wuxian is missing, and they get Jiang Cheng, who recalls that one time Wei Wuxian woke up in the middle of the night and just bawled, and after that didn’t lose his temper on Jin Zixuan, pulled back on his most crazy antics.

Still, none of them suspect the exact day, so on that day, Wei Wuxian gets up, tells Lan Wangji he’s going to train the Jiang juniors, and then just…disappears. Night comes and Lan Wangji is already worried, according to the juniors he never showed. Yu Ziyuan accuses him of slacking, but then Lan Wangji barges in crying, holding a note. In it, Wei Wuxian doesn’t tell him about the time travel, but says that Wei Wuxian is going forever, and Lan Wangji will understand why tomorrow. He understands that it’s too much to wish for that Lan Wangji won’t hate him, after how selfish he’s been and what a terrible person he’s been, marrying Lan Wangji and pretending it can last, but he hopes Lan Wangji can still look back and remember him fondly in the future. He apologizes again and tells Lan Wangji again that he didn’t mean to tarnish Lan Wangji’s reputation or saddle him with a child, but A-Yuan is here now and he knows Lan Wangji loves A-Yuan. He leaves a similar cryptic note for Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, apologizing to all of them for things they don’t understand.

Lan Zhan immediately begins searching for him all through the night, and then in the morning everyone blacks out and suddenly has memories of a different past couple of years, for most people starting with Wen Ruohan getting assassinated. People don’t immediately suspect the Yiling Patriarch, because they think he was simply never created in this timeline, and lives as Head Disciple Jiang and Lan Wangji’s husband, but Wei Wuxian’s family know better. They immediately rush to the Burial Mounds, and find it guarded by corpses. Inside the cave, Wei Wuxian begins conducting the ritual, also crying because he really had a happy life this time and he really really doesn’t want to go, but he can’t bear to revert to the original timeline, not when everyone is still alive here, so he continues. Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian find out about the whole yiling patriarch thing and jiang yanli is just like…i don’t care. Jin Guangshan is dead and can’t care, Jin Guangyao doesn’t have a vendetta, Jin Zixuan does what his wife says, and Jiang Yanli is alive so Jiang Cheng has no beef, plus he sees the lengths Wei Wuxian went through to save everyone. He also understands the letter now, then he and Jiang Yanli confront Lan Wangji like…do you no longer love him? Lan Wangji of course reacts poorly to this accusation and denies it. They leave A-Yuan behind and go to the Mounds with the intention of convincing Wei Wuxian that he doesn’t have to run away and they want him back.

They arrive in the cave just as Wei Wuxian is finishing with the ritual. But of course, parallels, Wei Wuxian looks up to see them standing in the entrance of the cave and thinks that they’re there to kill him, but also can see how distressed Lan Wangji looks and attempts to reassure him that he doesn’t have to kill Wei Wuxian! You know, his husband in this timeline! Because Wei Wuxian will do it himself! Wei Wuxian makes them fight some corpses while he rushes to finish the ritual, because they seem keen on stopping him (“i know you disapprove of demonic cultivation but this is the only way to save everyone”). Lan Wangji tackles him away from his ceremonial knife, and Wei Wuxian fights back (still has golden core!) they both fight desperately (“i have to do it myself Lan Zhan, otherwise I would let you do it”) over the knife. Jiang Cheng insists that there must be another solution, bc he doesn’t want Jiang Yanli to die. Then Wen Qing and Wen Ning walk into the cave, and Wen Qing like the genius she is, proposes the Alternate Solution. (What is it? Idk. just a magic solution in which Wei Wuxian doesn’t have to die). Wei Wuxian pauses in the middle of fighting Lan Wangji (“i don’t have to die?” he asks while Lan Wangji is busy shattering the knife and then he and Jiang Cheng pin him down so he can stop trying to kill himself in front of them. “Nope,” says Wen Qing, the only person with brains here). So Wei Wuxian sits on the floor of the cave, tied with deity-binding thread (Wei Wuxian: let me go Lan Wangji: not until you promise to go with wen qing’s version of the ritual Jiang Cheng: unless…do you want to leave? Wei Wuxian: no!) (What’s the solution? Maybe all of them sacrifice something important to them, maybe they just…all use their power to BS their way through a solution? Again, I don’t know).

So Lan Wangji unties Wei Wuxian and they hug and kiss and they all head back to Lotus Pier, where they eat a celebratory dinner, and reunite with A-Yuan, and Wei Wuxian celebrates the fact that he can live this happy life and not owe the world anything/need to go through the ritual.

The End!

[bowtothewitch]

Synopsis: I had this idea at 3am one week ago and couldn't get it out of my head. So, here you go, Beauty and The Beast AU!

Word Count: 1,206

Triggers Warnings: This first episode is focused on the curse, so a little bit of angst.

A/N: I have no excuse for this. 100% self indulgent fanfic. Click on the gif for HD quality. Also, english is not my first or even second language, so sorry for any eventual mistake. But I hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

Tag List: @jj-arms

"Agatha Harkness, are you a witch?" The matriarch's voice echoed through the walls of the castle's main hall, her question directed to the girl kneeling in the center of the circle made by several other women.

"Yes, I am!" She replied, writhing against the magical bonds that held her hands.

"And yet, you have betrayed your coven, stealing knowledge that goes beyond your understanding, putting us in danger of being discovered in front of the entire village!"

Agatha shook her head, "that was an accident, I swear! I couldn't control it, I-"

"Enough! I don't want to hear your excuses anymore! None of this would have happened if you hadn't tried to use black magic, breaking all of our rules!"

Before they even discovered that the book of the damned had disappeared from the library, it was already possible to feel the weight of black magic deep-rooted in the thick walls of the castle. It had started out subtle, like a shiver, a bad feeling on a full moon night.

Soon, however, it became unbearable, the air slowly being corrupted with each word that was read and turned into a spell. The bell of the west wing tower rang, alerting of the theft of the book and starting a search through the castle and its surroundings.

But Agatha had never been a fool. She could be called many things: prodigy, intelligent, and even rebellious, but never foolish. Some preventing spells avoided the book from being discovered in her possession, but it was not enough.

As much knowledge as she acquired, the witch was still very young, inexperienced, and black magic was not as simple as the one taught by her coven. Unlike that, it was a savage force, which was hardly controllable.

And then, one day, something broke inside the witch. On one of the visits to the village, more precisely. Agatha had a real fondness for flowers and always brought some back to the castle, even though the garden was already full of them. But this time, as she held a rose, one of the thorns pricked her finger and as soon as a drop of her blood dripped on the ground, her vision blurred and the voices that began as mere whispers in her mind began to scream, causing the witch to fall on the ground in despair. In the blink of an eye that glowed blue, several tents burned for no apparent reason, causing hysteria in people and chaos that would certainly last for many days. Now that paranoia had settled in the population, how long would it take before suspicions were raised against women who faithfully followed their widowed queen? There were already enough rumors about the hilltop castle and its inhabitants, and that was the spark ready to start a witch hunt.

And so it became undeniable that the culprit for practicing the darkest magic was Agatha. When her eyes opened again, she was back at home, being prepared for the trial.

But nothing had changed, including her thinking.

"I didn't break your rules, they just bended to my power," Agatha smiled arrogantly, feeling the eyes of all witches against her. Still, she kept her head up, never taking her eyes off the matriarch, who simply lowered her eyes, feeling her heart break. There was no alternative.

When silence was the only answer, everyone else understood what it meant. Soon the silence was filled with murmurs and the darkness was filled with the blue light that shone from each of their hands.

Agatha looked around, finally realizing what her penalty was. Death. Her blood ran cold, as tears filled her eyes, "please wait! I just wanted to learn! I have no control! Help me," when her pleas fell on deaf ears, her eyes turned to the matriarch, "mother, please , mot-"

And then everything became pain. It was sudden, the blinding light hitting her, making her body burn from the inside out, fire running through her veins. Agatha felt her throat burn with her screams, but she couldn't hear them, and her eyes only saw red.

But just like in the village, something happened. With one last cry, her body spasmed and the pain stopped. As if she were underwater, rising back to the surface, her senses became more and more clear. The murmurs had turned to grunts. The red and blue had turned to purple. And where she had previously felt paralyzing numbness, now only got stronger, breaking the bonds that bound her.

Looking around again, Agatha realized the reason quickly. Her body was absorbing the powers of the other witches, also taking their vital energy. She could have stopped, saved their lives, but the understanding was too satisfying for that.

Her eyes then met her mother's before the hall fell into darkness again, the sound of the bodies hitting the floor bringing her back to reality.

"Mom, please ... I can be good," her voice broke and Agatha didn't even try to stand up.

"No, you can't," tears fell from Evanora's eyes, "I failed you once, but I will not fail again."

"Are you going to finish what they started ?! Are you going to kill me ?!" She sobbed.

"I could never do that, Agatha. I am your mother," all there was in her voice was pain, "but I will not let anyone else suffer your wrath, your thirst for power has gone too far."

And once again the hall was filled with light, temporarily blinding Agatha. When her eyes adjusted, she could see her mother, hovering in front of her, her dress and hair fluttering with the strong wind suddenly coming from the window, holding a rose. The same rose from the fair.

"Agatha Harkness, I now judge your crimes as matriarch of our coven. You were consumed by the desire for power and it costed the lives of our sisters! Your punishment will be to remain here, in the castle grounds, hidden from the rest of the world and forgotten until someone you learn to love, someone that you'll be willing to sacrifice yourself for, and that returns your love, arrives; loving you even in your changed form. But remember: this must happen before the last petal of this rose falls, or the curse against you and the rest of the castle will be eternal!"

Before she could react, a blast of light took over the entire castle, the magic spreading quickly, faster and more dispersed than Agatha could absorb, transforming everyone it touched. The forest closed and rose, blocking all roads, while a transparent mantle covered the castle, hiding and isolating it, along with all of its inhabitants.

With one last look at her daughter, Evanora teleported herself behind the magic barrier, using all the magic left in her to seal the curse so that Agatha could not break it unless its conditions were met. Her heart was in pieces, but there was still hope for her daughter, she knew it was.

Within the castle walls, however, hope was the last thing Agatha felt as she looked at her black-marked hands, felt fangs growing in her mouth just like the horns on the top of her head.

For, after all, who could love a monster?

[startanewdream]

Hey can you write a Jily lives AU about the moment Hagrid comes carrying presumably dead Harry. Please include the views of James, Lily and Ginny. And maybe I am asking too much but also a Harry killing Voldemort.

Hi! Thanks for sending an idea! 

This was like the most angst thing ever to write because it’s a hopeless moment for all of them, but here it is Jily view of the Final Battle (no Ginny, sorry, but she does appear in this and Hinny gets a little of love).

____________________________

Summary:  When Harry opens the Snitch and finds the Resurrection Stone, James and Lily don’t show up.

Read on AO3 or below:

____________________________

One minute

The Cloak - his father’s gift for his eleventh birthday - allows Harry to walk by unnoticed, protecting him as always from prying eyes. He stops quietly at the Entrance Hall and glimpses inside the Great Hall.

It is full, but it’s easy to find his parents by his father’s messy hair and his mother’s auburn hair; they are talking quietly to each other.

They are grave, but when Harry looks at them, he sees beyond the dirty and the cuts on their faces and the marks of the battle; he even sees beyond the First War heroes that everyone else thinks of them. He sees his parents. 

Mum and Dad.

Somehow, at the end of his journey, it is easy to remember all the good moments. He thinks about his father’s warm grin when he was patiently teaching Harry how to fly, encouraging him to go higher, to never give up, to enjoy some risks now and then; about James’ hazel eyes looking proud and exasperated at him, whenever Harry had been involved in one of his adventures over the years; and about the way James Potter never let him down, always providing comfort and help whenever Harry asked for it.

Looking at a face that is so like his own, Harry just wants his father to mess his hair one more time (‘Dad, come on’, he would complain, even though he always enjoyed how that made his hair look like his father’s), to tell him everything will be okay if he just never gives up, to listen to one of his father’s Marauder tales, because now he thinks of it, he always took him for granted. Even with the death threats and the war, he always thought of his father as invincible, always thought he would have one more moment with him.

He wonders what his father is whispering to his mother right now and knowing he will never hear his father’s calm reasonable words again almost break him.

Even at distance, even amongst chaos and destruction, Harry thinks he can see the way his mother’s eyes seem to shine with a determination that Voldemort could never take away. It’s the eyes Harry inherited and the eyes that made Snape give his life for. He wonders why his mother never talked about being once friends with Snape and he realizes now how many things he never thought of asking her. More about her life at Hogwarts; more about her sister; more about her work, her dreams. There is a world of Lily Potter that he never got to know.

Like with his father, he took his mother for granted too, thinking there would be time later to do all these things he never rushed to. He wishes he had hugged her more, had really shown how much he loves her and how much he is grateful for having her supporting him in every moment of his life.

And he wishes he had one more minute with her, to hear her amused laughter at something his father said, to see that sparkle of mischief in her eyes, to feel her loving arms around him protecting him more effective than any charm could.

But Harry knows he is lying to himself because one minute would not be enough. He could stay there forever watching them and it still would be too short to see his parents together.

Even now, when they are looking tired and worn from the battle, for once looking like their real age, he thinks they still shine together, James and Lily Potter, whose love cast a blood protection and saved Harry so many times before.

But this time, it’s Harry’s love for them that shall save them.

It’s fitting, he thinks, and it’s fair; he already had seventeen wonderful years with them. The only thing that hurts is knowing how much they will suffer when he is gone, how much they won’t understand that Harry did it for them. He is facing Voldemort this one last time because his mother taught him to never stand for bigotry and because his father taught him to always do the right thing.

Harry hopes they will eventually be happy and at peace.

And he knows they will see each other again someday.

They are in each other’s arms, his dad kissing his mum tenderly on the forehead, and Harry records in his mind this last image of his parents, using it as much as a Patronus to walk him through the dementors, to give him the final courage to face Voldemort and to sacrifice himself.

When Harry opens the Snitch and finds the Resurrection Stone, James and Lily don’t show up.

_______________________________

One minute.

Being at war the first time had taught James that sometimes, even in the middle of the chaos of the battle, you need one minute to stop and breath, one minute to let panic take over you until you are able to think straight again and focus on what needs to be done.

Lily is in his arms and he lets himself enjoy this one minute because when it’s over he knows there is work to be done. People need help - so many of them are hurt and there are so many corpses that need to be laid down. It's war and blood and his hearts burns with sorrow for all that has been lost and knowing there is still more loss to come. They haven't won yet.

But Lily is hugging him - he doesn’t know who is supporting who - and he lets her familiar scent fill him, calm him, take him to a place where he remembers why he is fighting for.

It’s for her - it’s always been for her - and it’s for Harry too. Their son.

He takes a deep breath and then his one minute is up. James places a soft kiss on her forehead, like he has done uncountable times before, and ignores his fear that this will be the last kiss he ever gives her.

Despair never helps. Hope is all he has and he will cling to it. Somehow, he knows, this will be over soon. One way or another.

But he concentrates only on one way now, believing that Harry has a plan. He hasn't seen his son since before Voldemort had called for that cease-fire, but he saw Ron and Hermione and if they are fine, Harry is fine too.

It's not easy to accept that so much lies on his seventeen-year-old son, but he trusts Harry. Whatever else James may have done in his life, his greatest achievement will always be how he and Lily raised their son - how he is a fine young man with his heart in the right place.

And when this is over, Harry will get to finally live at peace.

It's easier to think about the possibilities of the future than to think about how many young lives were lost that day, and how much destruction Voldemort has caused, but he vows they will rebuild everything. Their faith, Hogwarts, the belief in something good. They will make a better world.

James lays down a boy that looks young in death enough to be his son, and he tries not to think about how frail the boy seems and how easily it could be Harry.

No, no despair. Like he always tells Harry, good things can come if you just never give up. And while James is breathing, he will fight. He thinks of that Halloween night many years ago, when he thought he would die and was willing to just to give Harry and Lily more time - he would happily exchange his life for them if it meant they would be safe…

'Mr. Potter?', he hears a soft voice calling him, and when he turns, James sees the distressed face of Ginny Weasley. 'Professor McGonagall told me to call you, she needs assistance with reinforcing the barriers outside'.

James nods.

'I'll be right there. And it's James, Ginny'.

She looks at him, her brown eyes for once without any shadow of her usual joyfulness, and James thinks that, like Harry, she had to grow up too fast.

'I think I'll stick with Mr. Potter for a while longer', she says, and James suddenly understands. Ginny always called him formally, just to tease him. If she starts calling him James now, it would look too much like as if this is their last conversation.

They both need to believe there will be more time later.

'Fine, future Mrs. Potter', he says at least and that almost makes her smile.

When they leave the castle and are about to go separate ways in the grounds, she turns to him with a troubled face.

'Have you seen Harry?', Ginny asks, and he can hear a fear in her voice that makes him shiver.

'No, but he must be fine', he says, because he can't think of any other alternative.

'Hermione told me he had something to see', says Ginny, almost to herself. 'And that she thinks he went upstairs, but I could swear I felt…'

She stops herself, shaking her head, and looks in the direction of the forest.

'But?', James presses, even as his instincts tell him he doesn't want to know her feelings.

'Nothing', Ginny says, her tone making it clear that she also doesn't want to think of the worst. 'I am sure he is just planning the next move. Lily's son is actually very smart, you know?'

James accepts her teasing.

'I'll let you know half that smartness is mine'.

'I thought he took from you the part where he is always in trouble'.

'No, he took from me the part where he always gets out of trouble', James says and for a moment they exchange a soft smile.

Then Ginny blinks.

'Good luck with the charms', she says, and with a final nod, she leaves him.

James watches her go briefly and thinks that, when this is over, he and his son will need a serious conversation about ending very good relationships for stupid noble reasons.

For the next fifteen minutes, he works tirelessly, helping reinforce the castle magical barriers and rebuild the entrance door so they can better control the situation. Death Eaters have the numbers, he knows, but as Remus always says, numbers don't win battles. If they can focus the main battle in the Great Hall, then a limited number of Death Eaters will be able to enter and they will have a better chance against Voldemort himself if he fulfils his promise to come...

And then James can watch the last duel between his son and Voldemort, and the mere thought of it fills him with dread. He can't just watch. He has to be there for Harry, he has to be side by side with his son because he would never let Harry alone -

'Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone'.

He doesn't hear any more of what Voldemort is saying, because his mind is screaming in denial. No, no, no.

Voldemort is lying. Harry would never run away, would never die. Harry would never sacrifice himself so they could all get a chance -

Except his noble brave wonderful son would certainly do it.

One minute, he thinks madly. I will believe in it for one minute then I will see it's a lie.

When he sees Hagrid carrying him, that one minute never ends.

_______________________________

There are minutes that seem longer than others.

Sometimes this is good. Lily can remember a minute of pure laughter with Dorcas and Marlene in the girl's dormitory many years ago; the reason for the laughter is long forgotten, gone as her friends, but the memory of that happy silly moment stayed.

Or the first time she woke up next to James, with his arms still around her, his breath slow and soft, and she had seen his sleeping face and thought she really loved him - they had said that to each other the night before, but in that one minute of silence and peace (before James had woken and tickled her and made her giggle and kissed her), she had just basked in that feeling of loving.

Or that one minute she had stayed longer in the bathroom, looking at the pregnancy test that said that despite being unplanned, despite the horrible timing, she and James had created a life together - their love had made him, their son. She had looked at the test, her hand in her still flat belly, and for one minute it was her and her baby only before she left to share the news with James.

There are other bad minutes, but Lily tries not to think of them. She is optimistic, as much as she is realistic. Life is made of good and bad moments; she just chooses to focus more on the good ones than let herself despair with the bad ones.

So she focuses on her task ahead, handling potions as people ask for them, her mind always thinking what ingredients work better for the problems people are facing - cuts and burns and acromantula venom…

When there is a moment of tranquillity (that doesn't fool her - it's just the calm before the storm), Lily lets herself look around. James must be out in the grounds - he always felt better at open spaces -, but she still can't find Harry. He must be busy, her poor hard-working son. He will not rest until -

A shiver runs through her body, inexplicable and cold, and she thinks of that expression her mother used - like if someone walked in her grave.

It's silly, of course, it is probably only that fear and adrenaline before a battle, the one that James always tells her to use in her favour to sharpen her senses.

Except she is not fearing for herself. She thinks of Harry, her little happy baby whose eyes always seems to shine with pure amusement to the fact that he is alive. She thinks of seeing him growing up, coming of age as a beautiful brave man, and just like she used to do when he was a baby in his crib, she thinks she could watch him forever and it would not be enough.

He is her precious son. The one she would die for without hesitation because all she wants is for him to be safe. Harry must be fine.

And still that feeling lingers, threatening to crush her, as if a dementor - the thing she always feared the most - is right next to her, sucking all happiness and hope, and Lily thinks madly that she needs James right now, needs his arms evolving her to make her feel at home. His presence always has a soothing effect on her, with the way he kisses her forehead and he is so warm.

With James, she always feels everything will be ok. Not just for her, but for their family.

But she is alone now and she is cold and Lily swallows a cry that seems to come from her chest. There is no apparent reason for that unfathomable fear, there is nothing different. People are still waking around her, helping where they can or comforting the hurt ones or the people who lost someone or else just finding their loved ones -

Love.

And then, just as suddenly at it came, that feeling is gone as if taken by a light breeze. There is only a shadow of it on her heart, like a scar of a long-healed injury, but that uneasiness is gone, and Lily raises her eyes to the enchanted ceiling almost expecting the dawn to break.

It is still dark outside, but dawn cannot be too far. A new day brings new hope, her mother always said.

But then Lord Voldemort’s voice is ringing through the room and she hears his words, understands them, but she doesn’t believe him.

Harry can’t be dead. Voldemort didn’t kill him sixteen years ago, he won’t kill Harry now. Her love - her and James’ - protected him.

Except the protection ended when he came of age.

Lily walks outside feeling like she is gliding more like a ghost than walking like a human being, and there are people around her but she doesn’t notice them - maybe Molly is gripping her arms, maybe Neville (that amazing young man who would have made Frank and Alice so proud) is calling her name. She doesn’t know, she can’t do anything but oblige to that urge to go outside and see for herself that Voldemort is lying.

‘No!’, someone screams and she thinks it’s Professor McGonagall, who once wrote for her and James to tell them their son had been made the youngest seeker in the century, and they could read the pleasure and pride in her letter.

McGonagall had always favoured James and Lily, and Lily always thought that favouritism had also been extended to Harry, no matter how McGonagall would deny it.

That was a cry of despair. She never thought McGonagall could make such a sound, but Minerva must be mistaken, there is no other -

And then Ron and Hermione are crying too, and Lily thinks of how they are Harry’s family as much as she and James; she thinks how Harry always had loyal friends just as Sirius and Remus were always there for James. She trusts Ron and Hermione - trusts their love - to guide and protect Harry and to be by his side no matter what; Ron was always the heart and Hermione was always the mind and together she knows Harry had the best friends in the world that he could have.

No, not that he had. He has. Still has.

But Ginny is crying for Harry and he is not answering, and somehow that breaks into Lily, because Harry is so in love with that girl that of course he would answer her back. Lily thinks of how Harry’s eyes always shine when Ginny is around, how happy he seemed in those weeks they’ve been together, how worried he was for her while he was away (‘Promise me you will look after her, Mum’, Harry had asked the day before vanishing at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, ‘I can’t - if anything happens to her - please’).

And she knows her son and she knows that what Harry always saw with Ginny was the promise of a normal life - a life where he isn’t the Chosen One, but just a regular boy falling in love with a regular redhead, just as his father once did.

Except Hagrid is carrying him and Harry is limp and still and she thinks of holding that little baby in her arms for the first time, of how he was moving and crying but when he looked at her - with those bright green eyes that she had passed on to him - he seemed to calm.

He will awake, she thinks unreasonably, and she waits for him to jump and laugh, but Harry stays still in the one minute that takes for Voldemort to come closer, and that is the worst minute of her life.

___________________________

Spells and curses are flying around them, but James and Lily don’t take their eyes off Voldemort’s red ones.

It feels a lot like a deja vu, because they had already been there, facing him, standing up for him. Four times. They survived four times and in the fourth one, they managed to protect their son.

Maybe it’s too late for Harry now, but they both know Harry would never want them to give up. And if all they can do is get this final piece of justice, they will.

From the corner of his eyes, James sees Bellatrix Lestrange falling - and that gives him a sinister pleasure -, but then Voldemort is blasting he and Lily of the way, turning his attention to Molly Weasley instead.

‘Protego’, someone yells, casting a shielding charm between Molly and Voldemort, and Lily’s heart beats faster even before her mind registers to whom that voice belongs.

And then Harry is pulling off his Invisibility Cloak and James remembers Harry’s amazement when he gave him the cloak for his eleventh birthday, promising solemnly he would take care of the family’s inheritance. Harry’s eyes had sparkled with all the possibilities; as much responsible his son was, there was a Marauder inside Harry too.

They are circling each other, Voldemort and Harry, and though Lily wants to rush to her son’s side, somehow she knows this is not the moment. For the first time, she truly accepts this is Harry’s fate, this is Harry’s moment. She and James made everything they could - they raised Harry and they loved him and they taught all the things that really matter. Their son is a survivor.

Harry is talking about love (Snape, really?, James thinks) and wand lore and remorse and then Harry is casting the spell he likes most, the one that he defended when James told him he should be more aggressive (he just wants Harry to be safe, no matter what, but Harry refused to blast people out of the way). And then it’s over. Finally.

Dawn is breaking and somehow the first coherent thought in Lily’s mind is that her mother was right, a new day always brings new hope. Then she is screaming - or James is, she doesn’t know - and their arms are wrapping Harry, feeling his heart beating and he is alive. Their son is alive and all will be well. They stay in each other’s arms, the Potter family, for what seems forever - but it’s only a minute because Harry has other people to embrace and to celebrate and to love.

That minute begins a lifetime.

[gameofdrarry]

Wizards Hearts Recs: Soulmates

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 survival is a talent by ShanaStoryteller Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  367490 Tags: Soulmate AU, Indian Harry Potter, Black Hermione Granger, canon? i don't know her, Slow Build, Lucius Malfoy is a bad person but a good father, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Smart Draco Malfoy, I'm offended that's a tag OF COURSE he's smart, sometimes bad things happen, but this fic isn't out to hurt you, Secret Relationship, Slytherins and Gryffindors being reluctant friends, Plotty, suprising lack of focus on soulmates for a soulmate au Summary:  In the middle of their second year, Draco and Harry discover they're soulmates and do their best to keep it a secret from everyone. Their best isn't perfect. ~ “Are you trying to get killed, Potter?” Malfoy drawls, stalking forward. Quick as a serpent himself, he reaches out and grabs the snake just below the head. It thrashes in his grip, but is no longer able to bite anyone. “This is a poisonous snake, and I doubt anyone brought a bezoar with them.” Harry glares. He opens his mouth, and feels the beginning the snake’s language pass his lips, and this isn’t what he wants, what’s the point of insulting Malfoy if he can’t understand him – Malfoy’s eyes widen. He slaps his hand over Harry’s mouth, “Potter, what the hell–” ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Vortex by xanthippe74 Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  20625 Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, POV Draco Malfoy, Down and Out Draco Malfoy, Azkaban, Knockturn Alley, Redemption, Poverty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Auror Harry Potter, brief mention of past suicide attempt, brief mention of past self-harm, Past medical abuse (over-prescription of Calming Draught), Non-graphic off-screen injury Summary:  “Don’t worry, my dearest one,” Draco’s mother told him when he confided his worries to her. When he was old enough to feel the pangs of adolescent longing, but still too young to sense the storm gathering around them. “Magic will overcome any distance or obstacles to bring two soulmates together when the time is right. Circumstances will arise that steer them in the right direction; strange coincidences will make their paths cross again and again. Then the most wondrous moment arrives, when you both realize that your soulmate, your perfect match, stands before you, and from that day forward your hearts will be one.” Ten years after that conversation, the idea of perfectly-matched soulmates feels more like a curse than a blessing to Draco. Who would want a soulmate who was a schoolyard bully, a Death Eater, and a convicted felon? Certainly not Harry Potter. And Draco is determined to take this secret to the grave. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Tie My Heart to Yours by Craftybadger1234 Rated:  Mature Words:  36661 Tags: Rape/Non-conHogwarts Eighth Year, Potions, Red String of Fate, Soulmates, Depression, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Child Abuse, Angst, Getting to Know Each Other, Mild Sexual Content, Mildly Dubious Consent, Fluff, Bisexual Draco Malfoy, Happy Ending Summary:  For fun, Slughorn has the eighth year students brew a potion to reveal their Red Strings of Fate. Harry doesn't know what to think about being tied to Draco. Or how to make a relationship work between them. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Highly (in)Compatible by daisymondays Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  36828 Tags: Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Romance, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, Post-Hogwarts, Denial of Feelings, anxiety mention, References to Depression, Panic Attacks, Forced Dating, Enthusiastic Consent, POV Draco Malfoy, Humor, Magical Theory, Soulmate Theory, HP: EWE, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Forced Proximity Summary:  Draco’s been shagging The Prat Who Lived on and off for a few months when his soul mark starts to change. Draco’s had to accept a lot of adjustments to his life, but accepting that Harry Potter could be his soulmate is one step too far. It can’t be true? Can it? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 A Tale of Woo by Veritas03 Rated:  Mature Words:  25330 Tags: N/A Summary:  Harry’s a bit of a mess, despite a successful Quidditch career. Draco’s not too much of a mess, but believes his life is as good as it’s likely to get. Both want something more. Fate is going to help them out with that. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 With You, Always by acupforslytherin Rated:  Mature Words:  14542 Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hogwarts Era, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Explicit Sex, Dreams, Lullabies, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, hearing, TasteofSmut 2020 Summary:  All his life, Harry repeatedly hears one same calming tune in his dreams. No one seems to recognize the mysterious song, until one day, Harry catches Malfoy humming it when he thinks he's alone. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Not By Duty Are We Bound by Dreaming_of_a_Bright_Sky Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  17176 Tags: Graphic Depictions of ViolenceAU, Soul Bond, Hurt/Comfort Summary:  Draco Malfoy has saved Harry's life so many times that it's joked about (and even bet upon) by the Aurors Harry works with. When Harry finds out how and why, it forces him to see a reality that he'd been blinding himself too. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 All Our New Years by Frayach Rated:  Mature Words:  2525 Tags: New Year's Eve, Soulmates, Minor Character Death Summary:  It takes too many New Year's Eves without each other but eventually they get it right. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Changing Tides by carpemermaid Rated:  Explicit Words:  109687 Tags: Bisexual Harry Potter, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Partners, Auror Draco Malfoy, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Patronus, Gardens & Gardening, Cultural References, POV Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts Fifth Year, POV Alternating, POV Harry Potter, Wandless Magic, Coming of Age, Mutual Pining, War AU, Romance, Falling In Love, Humor, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Healing, Post-War, Ministry of Magic, Minor Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Soulmates, Community: hd_erised, Sexual Fantasy, Wet Dream, Snogging, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Anal Fingering, Masturbation, Mutual Masturbation, Non-Penetrative Sex, Emotional Sex, Hand Jobs, Professor Harry Potter, Person of Color Harry Potter Summary:  Draco has spent half of his life spouting the things his father has taught him without much thought about how he feels about what he says. When he unexpectedly comes face to face with the Dark Lord, he grapples with the harsh realities of the world and struggles with his changing views on life. Instead of doing what’s expected of him fifth year, he joins Dumbledore’s Army and learns how to defend himself, how to make his own choices, and how he can be something greater than his father’s example as he grows into his own man rather than his father’s shadow. The choices he makes change both his and Harry’s fates, intertwining their paths until they converge. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Everything a Word Can Mean by OTPshipper98 Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  2355 Tags: Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Sectumsempra Scars, Pre-Hogwarts, Hogwarts Era, Post-Hogwarts, Foot Massage, Nicknames, Cuddles, Happy Ending, Drunken Confessions, Getting Together Summary:  In a world where magical people are born with the nickname their soulmate will call them by tattooed on their skin... what does it mean that the word on Harry's chest is the thing he hates to be called the most? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Danse Russe by Frayach Rated:  Explicit Words:  140119 Tags: Novella, Soulmates, Angst, HP: EWE, Explicit Sexual Content, World Travel, not a wip Summary:  True Love. Soul Mates. They're just words until put to the test. Harry and Draco have a bond that was forged in the hell of the post-war years and pulled them both back from an abyss of nihilism and self-destruction. Nothing can break it, or so they believed. But True Love can demand sacrifices too great to bear and deeds too terrible to justify. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 A breath worth of life by Explicit Rated:  Explicit Words:  39791 Tags: H/D Hurt!Fest 2020, Soulmates, Terminal Illnesses, Death, Preparing for Death, Minor Character Death, Grief/Mourning, breaking up, Loneliness, Depression, Self-Hatred, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Suicidal Thoughts, Heavy Drinking, Therapy, Grief counselling, Vomit, Hospitals, Cruise, Pirates, Treasure hunts, parenting, blended families - Freeform, It Takes a Village to Raise a Child, Magic Theory, Healer Hermione Granger, Cursebreaker Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, Accidental Bonding, love is the most powerful magic, Breathplay, Domesticity, Weddings, proposal, vactioning, hermione deserves all the awards, Kópakonan saves the day, Italians do it better, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Draco is father of the year, Ron is father of the year, Harry is not even in the competition, PoC Harry, POC Hermione, Long-Haired Draco Malfoy, long-haired Harry Potter, Short-haired Draco, Short-haired Harry, questionable medical ethics get handwaved here for the sake of fun, close encounters with ponies puffins sheep and other assorted fauna, Trans Luna Lovegood, Casual Sex Summary:  ‘...that moment when everything clicks into place, when the circumstances are right, your magic aligns, and you touch your soulmate. You'll know then, Draco, my darling.’ His mother used to look at his father with such devotion then. ‘It will feel like breathing fresh air for the first time, you'll know you'd been living on borrowed time until then but no more. There is an entire lifetime in that one breath.’ Finding your soulmate is the one way a wix can hope to live past thirty, but if he can’t have that with Astoria, Draco is ready to check out, let his magic eat him up and be done. Harry, on the other hand, isn’t about to leave any stone unturned or path unbeaten until he finds the one person meant for him before that fated birthday rolls around. After every failed attempt he grows more and more convinced that whatever Voldemort did to him might have made him unlovable, but he will go down fighting if he has to. Hermione still thinks the whole thing is cancer but what does she know? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Today, Forever by PalenDrome (nerdherderette), PotterArt Rated:  Explicit Words:  60958 Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Voyeurism, Frottage, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Rimming, Anal Sex, Auror Harry Potter, Veela Draco Malfoy, Winged Draco Malfoy, Veela Mates, Bonding, Soulmates, Enemies to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Draco Malfoy/OMC (brief), Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Case Fic, Minor Violence, Minor Character Death, Magical Theory, Magical Biology, Muggle and Wizarding Technology, Digital Art, Embedded Images, Harry/Draco Big Bang 2018, Community: harrydracobang Summary:  As if his recent divorce and sleepless nights weren’t bad enough, a rash of escalating crimes against purebloods forces Harry and his team of Aurors to protect the riskiest target in all of Wizarding Britain. Of course, Draco Malfoy would still be ridiculously infuriating and impossibly gorgeous. As well as a Veela. Who happens to be Harry’s mate. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Dragon Heartstrings by JET_Playin Rated:  Explicit Words:  23825 Tags: Soulmates, Red String of Fate, Explicit Sexual Content, HP: EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Angst, Fluff, Romance, Implied Relationships, Top Harry, Bottom Draco, Falling In Love, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Tall!Harry, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Harry, Oblivious Draco Malfoy, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary:  Draco has seen the strings for almost as long as he can remember, but they don't mean anything. Anything at all.... ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Love and Paranoia by sunnyeclipses Rated:  Explicit Words:  48547 Tags: Post-Hogwarts, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Addiction recovery, Near Death Experiences, Overdosing, Relapsing, Drinking, Partying, Drunkenness, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, wall punching, Concern Over Someone Else's Weight, Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Pining, Falling In Love, Slow Burn, Explicit Sexual Content, Self-Esteem Issues, Auror Harry Potter, Down and Out Draco Malfoy, Domestic, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Minor Ginny Weasley/Blaise Zabini, Minor Theodore Nott/Pansy Parkinson, Minor Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood, Hurtful Comments About Drug Use, Brief suicide ideation, Christmas, Pets, Sharing a Bed, Weddings, supportive friends, Forced Proximity, classic literature, H/D Erised 2020 Summary:  When Harry finds out his soulmate is none other than Draco Malfoy, he genuinely expects his life to go to shit. It doesn't help that Draco is an addict, coasting on reality-altering highs to feel something happy, something pure just once more before the comedown. What Harry doesn't expect is to care so much that it tears him apart at the seams. A story about love, drugs, and getting better. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Every Me and Every You by bixgirl1 Rated:  Explicit Words:  69300 Tags: Forced Proximity, bed sharing, Legilimency, Veritaserum, Snark, Magical Theory, Tropes (please read author's note!), EWE, Falling In Love, Frotting, Mutual Masturbation, Rimming, magical sex, Really just all the sex, Gift Fic, UST, RST, Soulmates Summary:  Harry liked his life just fine, thankyouverymuch — so it was bad enough when a sly fairy cursed him to leap into alternate realities. But seeing Malfoy in all of them? Definitely way too much. And worse yet: needing the bastard's help to figure out how to get out of of it. It was a disaster waiting to happen, really. Well... probably. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 you've got the antidote for me by Kandakicksass Rated:  Mature Words:  20730 Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soul Bond, Red String of Fate, Heavy Angst, Terminal Illnesses, Major Illness, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary:  When Harry Potter unintentionally severs their soulbond before it can fully form, Draco Malfoy resigns himself to a slow death and decides not to burden Harry with a soulmate he's made it very clear he doesn't want. He's never been selfless before, but for Harry, he can try. ❤️ Read on AO3

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph! How you’re doing? First of all, I wanna say that I love your lists. So, I was wondering, do you have some long Johnlock fics? Like, with a bunch of chapters and all that. Thank you!

Hey Nonny!! 

I absolutely do! And you know what?? I’m gonna be selfish: No one has ever EVER asked me for my shorter long fics, so I’m going to take this opportunity to finally release this list, because it’s been sitting in my drafts for YEARS lol. BUT you can check the list below for the links to all my longer-fics lists! Happy reading!!

NOVELLA LENGTH FICS: 20-25K

See also:

Novella Length Fics: 25 to 50K (Aug. 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K (Nov. 2018)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K Pt 2 (May 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. (May 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 2 (Aug 2020)

Through the Clouds by Mazarin221b (E, 20,004 w., 6 Ch. || Retirement, Home Improvement, First Time, Romance) – Sherlock takes a remarkably early retirement at 47, and convinces John that a change of pace would do them both good. They buy an old cottage on the South Downs, and exchange their nonstop life in Baker Street for quiet contemplation, bee studies, and book writing. They might go completely insane, but sometimes it takes stepping outside of the life you're living to find the life you want. Part 1 of Through The Clouds

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (E, 20,121 w., 1 Ch. || Original Male Character, Sherlock Woos John, Jealous Sherlock, Reluctant Bi-John, Past Abuse, Insecure John, Reassuring / Caring Sherlock, Protective Sherlock, Understanding Sherlock) – John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.

The White Lotuses by SilentAuror (E, 20,340 w., 1 Ch. || Slow Burn, Domestic, Romance) – One day John realises that he just isn't where he belongs, which is back at Baker Street with Sherlock. So he goes back and Sherlock, in his own way, courts him. Romance.

Out of the Woods by SilentAuror (E, 20,471 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Romance, Slow Burn, Flirting, Drunk Sex, Practical Jokes, POV Sherlock, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Pining Sherlock, Frustrated Wanking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Virgin Sherlock, Love Confessions, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Bum Appreciation, Hanging out with the Yard) – Sherlock is fairly certain that John has taken to flirting with him of late, but can't be entirely certain of it. At least, not until a case takes them into a forest, along with Lestrade's team and something happens that will change everything about their lives...

You're On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it's time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain--and notorious flirt--John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

whiskies neat by Ellipsical (E, 20,660 w., 15 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, POV Second Person Sherlock, Slow Burn, One Night Stand, Rimming, Blow Jobs, Anal, Soldier John, Crying, Emotional Lovemaking, Switchlock) – Home and hearth and whiskies neat, or, alternatively, Sherlock Holmes falls in love.

Achieving the Together-Coloured Instant by teahigh (E, 20,776 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel, PTSD, Codependency, Fluff & Angst, H/C, Smut, Demisexual Sherlock, Experiments) – John wonders if this is how it’s going to be: A life speaking in code, because they’re both too stupid to figure out how to say, “I love you.”

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

Once More, With Feeling by cellard00rs (T, 21,178 w., 7 Ch. || John’s Family, Fake Relationship, Romance, Fluff, Humour) – To put off his meddlesome, matchmaking mother, John convinces Sherlock to play the role of his significant other. Unparalleled awkwardness ensues.

Love Is by SilentAuror (E, 21,508 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, UST / URT, Post HLV, Romance) – At Mrs Hudson's urging, Sherlock finally decides to tell John how he feels about him. Part 1 of Love Is

echoes through time by chellefic (E, 21,619 w. || First Time, Romance, ACD & BBC, Epistolary) – Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents alter the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another.

The Real Meaning of Idioms by feverishsea (T, 21,691 w., 1 Ch. || Texting, Humour, Post S2) - After two weeks away, John finally texts Sherlock. He doesn’t expect Sherlock to respond. He doesn’t expect Sherlock to keep texting him. And he really doesn’t expect things to spiral out of control so rapidly.

5 Times John Got the Girl (and lost her) and 1 Time John Got the Guy (and kept him) by LiviKate (M, 21,695 w., 6 Ch. || 5 and Ones, Kissing, Oblivious / Awkward Sherlock, BAMF / Sexy / Stud John, Embarassed John, John’s Scar, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Sherlock) – John has always had good luck with the ladies. He's charming, friendly and funny, not to mention great in bed. However, his usual skill with the opposite sex is constantly being thwarted by Sherlock and his outbursts. How will John ever get a leg over when Sherlock is always cockblocking him?

Brief Conversations with the Woman by May_Shepard (E, 21,906 w., 20 Ch. || Pining, Love Fairy Irene, Filler Fic, UST/URT, Drug Use, Clueless Sherlock, Relationship Advice, Angst w/ Happy Ending) – Sherlock has a puzzle to solve, and his name is John Watson.

When to Let Go by KendylGirl (M, 22,109 w., 8 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Reverse Reichenbach, Sacrifice, Forgiveness, Angst, Love, Implied Drug Use) – What if it were John who had to die to thwart Moriarty's plans? John's supposed death shatters Sherlock, and when he returns, it will challenge the pair to forge a path of forgiveness, to peace, and to find a way back to each other. Part 1 of When to Let Go

A Shipless Ocean by myswordfishmind (M, 22,135 w. 4 Ch. || Post-TRF, John has a Kid) – Ten years after the fall Sherlock goes back to London to find that John no longer lives there. Instead, he resides in a seaside town, a widower, and the father of a seven year old son. Now, Sherlock must struggle with the fact that there may no longer be a place for him in this new world.

Ghost Stories by SwissMiss (M, 22,256 w., 1 Ch. || Pining, Holmes Family, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, First Time) – Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something.

The One With the Proposal by kim47 (E, 22,375 w., 3 Ch. || Fluff, Romance, Marriage Proposal) – Proposing shouldn't be this difficult.

Sonatina in G Minor by SilentAuror (E, 22,574 w., 1 Ch. || Case Fic, POV Sherlock, Angst, UST, Sherlock’s Violin, Post-S3, Romance) – John has come back to Baker Street, but Sherlock doesn't understand the strange tension between them, even after he begins teaching John to play the violin at John's request.

Dear John by wendymarlowe (E, 23,031 w., 64 Ch. || Post-TRF, Online Dating, Pining, Epistolary, Cybersex, Long Distance Romance) – With Sherlock dead, John eventually (under duress) makes a profile on an online dating site. And falls into a long-distance relationship with an enigmatic partner who reminds him of Sherlock in all the right ways. (Hint: it turns out to be Sherlock.) Part 1 of Dear John

Knotted by naughtyspirit (E, 23,166 w., 4 Ch. || UST/URT, Cuddling, Sharing Body Heat, Confessions, Kissing, Mastrubation, Frustration, BAMF!John) – John has to cancel a date because of Sherlock's case, which leads them to be tied up in a basement from which they have to escape. They get wet, get tied up close and John has to step up and save them. Because he's pretty. And hot. And just a little bit of a BAMF.

You Can Imagine the Christmas Dinners by ardenteurophile (T, 23,584 w., 9 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Drama, Fluff & Angst, Humour, Romance) – Sherlock takes John along for Christmas dinner with Mycroft and Mummy (And "Anthea", too). Over the course of the evening, John realises that everyone in the room - apart from him - seems to think that he and Sherlock are a couple. Part 2 of Xmas Dinners Verse

Once Upon a Beast Becoming by antietamfalls (T, 24,042 w., 6 Ch. || Beauty and the Beast AU || Magical Realism, Folklore, Celtic Mythology) – An act of pride, a druid’s curse, an enchanted leaf; Sherlock’s torment has lasted an age. Hope arrives in the form of one John Watson, a man uniquely suited to break the spell. But with a single night to win his affections, Sherlock finds his carefully laid plans disrupted by a monstrous killer whose sights are set on the only thing he has left to lose: John.

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

Maintaining A Personal Life by Gingerhermit (E, 24,284 w., 6 Ch. || Alternating POV’s, Bisexuality, BAMF!John, Jealous Sherlock, Romance / Drama, Sort-of Case Fic, Peril & Angst, Love Confessions, Toplock, Soft Idiots in Love, Post S3) – Sherlock and John discover some interesting revelations about each other’s sexuality, which lead them both to question the assumptions they've made about one another for years. In the midst of their mutual discoveries, a dangerous psychopath looms on the side-lines who threatens to destroy their new beginning.

The Sexual Awakening of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson by suitesamba (M, 24,579 w., 10 Ch. || Post-TRF, Case Fic, H/C, First Kiss/Time) – Sherlock owes Mycroft a favor. Mycroft calls in that favor by offering Sherlock's consulting services in a charity auction. Sherlock and John soon find themselves at the country manor of Mrs. Ives-Patton Smarmington III - not very coincidentally a long-time friend of Sherlock's mother - where they are reluctant participants in her Murder Mystery Weekend. It's a play within a play for Sherlock and John, and their roles for the weekend event bleed over into their real lives, waking the sleeping dragons within.

Tomorrow's Song by agirlsname (M, 24,645 w., 5 Ch. || Post-TRF, POV Sherlock, Angst with a Happy Ending, Virgin / Repressed Sherlock, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Pining, Jealous Sherlock) – How can he think a relationship with me would be a good idea? I am the sort of person to take a break from my life and when I come back after two years, I expect to find it exactly as I left it. In reality I find it shattered to pieces. (I actually equate you with my life. When did I start doing that?)

State of Flux by Atiki (E, 24,655 w., 4 Ch. || Sherlock POV, Slow Burn, First Kiss/Time, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Cuddles and Snuggles, Awkwardness, Insecure/Virgin Sherlock, Romance) – John’s marriage is over and he is finally back home (i.e. at Baker Street, where he belongs). Sherlock is awfully insecure and John is awfully hesitant, and they're both awkward idiots, of course, but they figure it out. Many First Times happen.

[archivingspn]

Entertainment Weekly Special Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Supernatural 2017

SAM AND DEAN WINCHESTER KNOW "WEIRD." Their entire life has been weird, ever since the moment a demon claimed their mother's life. In case anyone has forgotten over the course of the show's past 12 seasons, Supernatural tells the story of the Winchester brothers, portrayed by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who fell into the family business of hunting creatures after their mother's murder. What began as their father's journey for revenge has evolved into endless monster slayings, near-death experiences and more than a few actual deaths.

By this point the Winchesters have been to Hell and back, killed Death himself, come face-to-face with God and prevented the Apocalypse. But perhaps more impressively, the series has survived three network presidents, five showrunners, a writers' strike and five different time slots. Turns out the only thing harder to kill than the Winchesters is the series itself. "It's one of those shows that has moved a lot, and yet each time it has found that core audience and built on it," Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth says. "It's been an unsung hero."

If anyone knows about being an unsung hero, it's Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles), who've dedicated their lives to saving others and asked for nothing in return. Seriously, how many nights have they spent sleeping in their car?And yet that on-the-road lifestyle has paved the way for a number of the show's riskier episodes, which play a crucial role in keeping the audience engaged. In 2015 "Baby" was told entirely from the perspective of their beloved 1967 Impala, and that's not even close to the craziest thing the show's tried.

Aside from the rules the show creates within its canon—yes, they have a historian in the writers' room to keep them honest—not even the sky is the limit when it comes to story ideas. “[Show creator] Eric [Kripke] used to say, 'Smoke 'em if you've got 'em,' which meant: Anything crazy, don't be afraid to run it by us," executive producer Robert Singer says.

That motto led most famously to season 6's "The French Mistake," in which Sam and Dean found themselves in an alternate universe where everyone mistook them for Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, the stars of a show called Supernatural. "Our show's not bound by reality," Ackles, 39, says. "We're rooted in reality, but we're not bound by it. That gives us a fifth wall almost."

But Supernatural's season 12 finale managed to raise the stakes by somehow introducing the boys to something they'd never seen before: a world in which they don't exist and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. By episode's end, their allies Castiel (Misha Collins) and Crowley (Mark Sheppard) were dead, and their mother, Mary (Samantha Smith), who was resurrected-by God's sister!-in the season 11 finale, found herself trapped in this new reality with the Archangel Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino). If that doesn't seem bad enough, the birth of Lucifer's son is the very thing that opened the rift to this apocalyptic realm. "The world in which Sam and Dean were never born is not a good world," showrunner Andrew Dabb says. "It speaks to the importance of our guys. The world Sam and Dean live in is certainly not perfect, but it's a whole hell of a lot better than the alternative."

Dabb describes the new run of episodes as more melancholy than last year's, with new threats including some long-dead characters. And somehow Scooby-Doo has a role to play. (More on that later.)

"Last season was, in some ways, a very upbeat season for us," says Dabb, who goes on to explain that season 13 will be "darker." In their grief the boys will butt heads when it comes to both Lucifer's son Jack—Dean wants nothing to do with him; Sam thinks he's worth trying to save— and Mary, whom Sam refuses to give up on despite Dean's having lost hope that she's still alive. "The Apocalypse world hangs over our guys a little bit like a sword of Damocles," Dabb says of the season's beginning. "We're definitely going to spend a little time there."

And of course Sam and Dean have this new responsibility thrust upon them before they've had the chance to properly grieve their many losses, including Castiel, who Dabb says will appear, though maybe not the way fans are expecting. "We're not looking to hit the reset button," Dabb says. "We want to give both our guys an opportunity to react to that and ask the question: How would that affect them if their closest friend sacrifices himself for them? There is a certain amount, especially when you look at Dean, of survivor's guilt."

That being said, there will be at least one (animated!) moment of levity, though it's in the season's back half. Episode 16 will be a much-anticipated Scooby-Doo crossover, for which Ackles, Padalecki and Collins have already recorded the audio. "They've often talked about Supernatural crossing over into something." Ackles says. "I love that it's Scooby-Doo."

But even with exciting new ideas on the agenda, there's always the lingering question of how much longer the show can continue. According to CW president Mark Pedowitz, the answer is as long as the guys are happy and the ratings are relatively stable. As for Ackles and Padalecki, they are focusing on the next milestone: hitting 300 episodes (something that would take them 13 episodes into season 14). However, if Sam and Dean have taught the actors anything, it's that Death can be lurking around every corner (and he's usually eating pizza). "If we don't make it to 300, I think Ackles and I will both be truly bummed," Padalecki, 35, says.

Ackles adds, "They're paying us to bring that little bit of magic to what they wrote, and I still feel that magic. The day that I don't feel that magic will be a very sad day, and I hope that day never comes. I'd like to get to 300 before that day comes."

One thing everyone can agree on is that they want to know when the end is nigh. "I think it would be bad for this show to just ride off into the sunset without a finale," Singer says. "I think we've earned that." Ultimately the only thing that's certain about Supernatural's eventual end is the fate of Sam and Dean's Impala, Baby. "He gets Baby," Padalecki says of Ackles. "I get Baby Two." Ackles makes one correction: "No, you'll get Three. Two is a stunt car. It's beat to s---.”

But nobody gets Baby just yet. For now they'll need all the Impalas they can get as they try to solve the problems of not one world but two.

[pg 10-12]

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins have rolled with rapid changes and some surprising detours during the series' remarkable run. BY SAMANTHA HIGHFILL

JARED PADALECKI CAN STILL REMEMBER THE exact pitch for Supernatural's first season: “Route 66 meets X-Files, brothers on the back roads of America hunting things that go bump in the night.” That was how he and costar Jensen Ackles were told to promote the show, which, in its first year, was just that-Sam and Dean Winchester chasing urban legends from state to state.

But over time that original pitch added a few sentences. Much like with any good road trip, there have been quite a few turns—and the occasional crossroads along the way. Although the show remains about two brothers on the back roads of America hunting things, those "things'' now include everything from vengeful spirits to imaginary friends and even Lucifer himself. After all, a show doesn't last 13 seasons without adjusting its game plan. For Supernatural that has meant an ever expanding mythology, some shocking deaths, resurrected characters, breaking the fourth wall and so much more.

Yet all the while, one thing has remained true: Sam and Dean Winchester will do whatever it takes to save the world and, even more so, to save each other. And they'll do it while navigating those seemingly endless back roads in their 1967 Impala.

Finding John Winchester (portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was the boys' goal in season 1, though that ended up being about as difficult as getting John to stick around once he was finally discovered. The Winchester family reunion was short-lived: Season 1 closed with a car crash and the fates of all three men up in the air. And then there was that demonic deal John made with the same monster they had been hunting.

JENSEN ACKLES Everything up until that point was about finding Dad. We found Dad, we continued to fight as a unit, and then we lost Dad, and now we were two orphans.

JARED PADALECKI And I think that was the first time we ever brought back somebody from the dead, and it was you [to Ackles].

ACKLES I died in the car crash, and he traded his life with Azazel.

PADALECKI I think that was the first time we ever saw a major character die and come back. And that was a total leap of faith. So we told the story of Reapers and the veil and what happens to your soul.

ACKLES That's when we got into afterlife.

PADALECKI That was a big title shift in what Supernatural could do...

ACKLES With the introduction of Hell and making deals with demons—which is funny, because you think about that now, and [creator] Eric [Kripke] must've always known because Mom made the deal with the yellow-eyed demon.

The next shift would come later in season 2, laying the groundwork for the introduction of angels far before Castiel spread his wings in that abandoned barn in season 4.

PADALECKI "Houses of the Holy” was the first time we ever talked about angels on Supernatural. [Jensen] and I both were like, “Whatever your religious beliefs, whatever ours, we're not here to proselytize. We're here to make a serialized television show, but we want it to be universal.” So we actually had a conference call with Eric Kripke, and we were like, "Hey, man, we don't know how we feel about this.”

ACKLES We didn't want to be a mouthpiece for writers' religious views, because it wasn't the show that we had signed up for. Our argument was: “We trust you. You've done good by us so far. However, this is our one concern, and we're just bringing it to the table so that we can discuss it.”

PADALECKI And they heard us out, and I think that's why they waited another year and a half before introducing our second and most famous angel. I think it's the one time we've ever called them together with a complaint. Because I'm not a writer. I don't want to be a writer. I enjoy my job as an actor. But that was legitimately like, “Listen, if you're going here about religion, I don't want to be a part of it.”

MISHA COLLINS And now amazingly, 11 years later, so much of the show has been hung on biblical lore and mythology that is actually drawn from the Bible. One interesting thing for us is that we end up talking along the way to priests and pastors and ministers, or even nuns, who love the show.

(...)

ACKLES It was amazing, but my point being that we're in one of the most religious places on earth, and they're catering to people from a show that deals with religiously inspired story lines.

PADALECKI But not telling the story that the Bible tells.

ACKLES That's the out. That's where we get a pass is that we're not trying to tell the story of the Bible. The writers take inspiration from biblical elements and then elaborate on them. So when we got into that original discussion, Eric came back with: “We're not here to tell the story of Jesus Christ. We're here to take that element and use it as inspiration for the story.” I think that alleviated any concerns that he and I had. And at the same time we really trusted Eric and still do to this day.

Another leap of faith came with season 2's "Hollywood Babylon,” which can be considered the show's first meta episode. It opened the door for everything from season 6's “The French Mistake” to the upcoming season 13 Scooby-Doo crossover.

ACKLES “Babylon” was the first time we took the piss out of ourselves and were poking fun at the industry.

COLLINS That has been a huge [help to know] that you can go to these absurd lengths and break conventions. Reading the script where we are doing a Scooby-Doo episode makes me feel proud. Where else can you do that?

Padalecki What other show does that and has the fandom at large excited that they’re going to do that? Can you imagine if JAG or NCIS did a Scooby-Doo episode? People would be like, “What?” Not only do we break the fourth wall, do we go meta, but those end up being some of our best episodes.

The season 5 finale holds the No. 1 spot on EW's episode ranking, but that hour was important for many reasons, one of which being that it was creator Kripke’s farewell.

COLLINS “Swan Song" was another milestone because that marked the culmination of Eric's original vision for the show. He had a five-season arc in mind that tied up perfectly with a bow, and then he moved on and handed the reins over to Sera [Gamble]. That became, “Okay, guys, now let's figure out how to start a new chapter or a new volume in a series of chapters.”

PADALECKI It's the story that we were all born from, those of us who were introduced in the first five years. So to have the creator step away? I would argue that it was the largest shift.

Gamble served as showrunner for seasons 6 and 7, the latter containing another major show moment: the death of Bobby (Jim Beaver), Sam and Dean's father figure.

PADALECKI Bobby was such a big part. Jeffrey Dean [Morgan] was never as much a part of the show. He was obviously a huge part of the story, but he did [just a few] episodes, and Jim Beaver did 60 or something. And there was something about his death that we knew it was final...or final for Supernatural.

ACKLES Because his character said, “I'm done.” So it wasn't like he got killed accidentally and we found a way to bring Bobby back. He was like, “I'm hanging it up, guys." It was heavy.

PADALECKI That probably was the first big death of someone who'd been there for years...

ACKLES [Interrupting] A fan favorite...

PADALECKI Yeah, and I remember [CW president] Mark Pedowitz saying something to the effect of “As a fan, I hated when Bobby died, but it was great television.” That's how I feel. 

ACKLES Like when Sam Winchester dies for good, it's going to be good television. But when Dean Winchester lives on, it's going to be great television. [Everyone laughs]

The season 12 finale saw the introduction of an apocalyptic alternate world in which Sam and Dean Winchester were never born and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. And with that world comes the possibility for a number of character returns. But does it feel like a turning point? 

COLLINS Well, I think the rift and the fact that you can go into the apocalypse world and you can all of a sudden revisit every character in a different iteration—there could be a different version of every character—it opens up this incredible panoply.

(...)

PADALECKI And if an alternate universe exists, then how many alternate universes exist? It's hard to say, because I feel like it's impossible to identify a turning point during the turn. In hindsight it will reveal how this story will affect the show, the canon at large and the way we move forward. But I certainly feel like we're opening up doors with the rift and with the son of Lucifer.

(...)

[pg 20-26]

THE CORONER'S VAN JUST PULLED INTO THE driveway. It's the middle of August in 2016, and Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are filming a scene for Supernatural's 12th season at a farmhouse in the Vancouver countryside, which is standing in for Iowa. Sam and Dean Winchester have ditched their flannels and jeans for sweaters and slacks in order to pose as social workers. They're doing what the two brothers do best: lying about their jobs in order to solve mysteries and kill monsters—in other words, saving people, hunting things.

When Supernatural premiered, Sam and Dean Winchester were born into the family business of hunting creatures, and it's a lifestyle that, over the years, has left them with very few people they love. Turns out, when you spend your days battling shape-shifters, witches and the occasional angel—they're not all nice, you know—nothing is guaranteed, especially not tomorrow.

But no matter how crazy the Winchesters' world gets—or how many worlds they have to face—one thing remains unchanged: At the center of it all are Ackles and Padalecki, whose Dean and Sam are the beating heart of the show (whether theirs are beating or not).

(...)

(...) even pulling up their favorite scenes on their phones to watch at the table. Padalecki can easily name the scripts that made him cry—“Heart,” “Sacrifice" and "Baby" all land on the list. The common thread is a heartfelt moment between the brothers where they get to talk about their crazy life as if, say, having visions of Lucifer is normal. “I feel like those situations where we treat the abstract and the fantastical as just part of life is where the show thrives,” Padalecki says. Ackles adds, “I think the show is truly at its best when it doesn't take itself too seriously, then it does take itself seriously, and it gets scary as s---,”.

But whether Supernatural is making fun of itself, scaring the living daylights out of its fans, or just letting the brothers have a moment on the hood of the Impala, it all works because of our central heroes. “It's about the Winchesters," says Crowley actor Mark Sheppard. “We really do care, and it's a testament to the boys that we still care."

(...)

As the sun sets on the Vancouver countryside, Sam and Dean ditch their slacks for jeans and send the coroner's van on its way. It won't be needed—this show, and the brotherly bond that holds it all together, has a lot of life left in it. Not that death has ever stopped it before.

[pg 32-34]

(...)

DEAN WINCHESTER Jensen Ackles

He was always the good son. Dean embraced the hunter's lifestyle, and he idolized his father despite John's many faults. But with the senior Winchester devoted to tracking down demons, it fell to Dean to help parent Sam, and he went to great lengths to protect his younger sibling-at one point even making a deal with a Crossroads demon (at the cost of his own life) to resurrect Sam from the dead. The two have had their differences, but throughout, Dean's brother was his first priority. "Watching out for you, it's kinda been my job, you know? But more than that, it's kinda who I am." Cynical and initially skeptical of the existence of God, Dean has nonetheless managed to become best buds with the angel Castiel (and on first name terms with both God and God's sister Amara). His self-sacrificing nature means he would do literally anything for those he considers family-and that's a short list: Sam, Mary and Castiel.

[pg 38]

Sympathy for the Devil

EVERY HERO NEEDS A HELL, BUT SUPERNATURAL HAS JUST TWO PROTAGONISTS AND HUNDREDS OF VILLAINS. HERE’S HOW THE SHOWRUNNERS APPROACHED SAM AND DEAN’S MANY FOES, FROM WELL-KNOWN URBAN LEGENDS TO SATAN HIMSELF. By Samantha Highfill

[pg 51]

Stairway to Heaven

SAM AND DEAN MET CASTIEL. AN ANGEL OF THE LORD, IN SEASON 4, AND IT CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE SHOW. BECAUSE ANGELS WEREN’T ALWAYS THE PLAN— AND CASTIEL WAS ONLY THE FIRST. By Samantha Highfill

(on page 57 there’s a small box of print on the corner that says: In what executive producer Robert Singer calls one of the series’ most “iconic images,” Castiel (Misha Collins) is introduced as the show’s first real angel.)

WHILE OTHER CHILDREN WERE LEARNING multiplication tables, Sam and Dean Winchester were hunting monsters. “When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45!” says Sam to Dean in the Supernatural pilot, recalling an episode when he was 9 years old. Clearly creature encounters were par for the course in the Winchester way of life. And when you grow up battling all the evil in the world, it's hard to believe in the good. But in the show's season 4 premiere, Dean would come face-to-face with the one supernatural entity he didn't think existed: angels.

“[Show creator] Eric [Kripke] wasn't in love with the idea of doing angels,” executive producer Robert Singer says of the early days. “But as things went on and we were getting into demons, I would say to him, 'I don't know how we do demons without doing angels.’”

The show tested the waters in season 2's “Houses of the Holy,” when Sam and Dean worked a case that appeared to involve angels then went in a different direction. It wasn't until late in the next season that the seraphim were finally embraced. When Dean was dragged to Hell, they needed to get him out. And if there's a Hell, it stands to reason there has to be a Heaven. "[The season 3 finale] was the gateway into this whole other world of angels and demons," executive producer Andrew Dabb says.

When it came time to spring Dean from Hell, it was Castiel, the show's first angel, who gripped him tight and raised him from perdition. But Castiel quickly established that he wasn't a typical cherubic angel. Many of the show's angels were, as Sam and Dean would put it, real dicks. “We have our own brand of angels and the idea that they were these warriors of God,” Singer says. “We introduced Castiel, and we just went from there. Heaven opened up different levels of angels.”

The moment Castiel spread his wings, the show expanded its universe. Castiel came bearing news of something much bigger: the Apocalypse, the ultimate showdown between good and evil-or more specifically between Archangels Michael and Lucifer. “We started with archangels and the idea that Lucifer was an archangel and was cast out of Heaven,” Singer says. “We certainly took some license, but it was all biblically grounded. We just took those things and went a step further to make them work for our story.”

From there the show explored all kinds of angels, from Zachariah and Naomi to Gabriel and Metatron, and, of course, it eventually arrived at God-or Chuck, if you prefer. “We didn't really know that Chuck was God when we first started with him," Singer says of introducing the character in season 4. (He wouldn't be revealed as God until season 11.) “That evolved. We wanted a relatable God, a God with foibles.”

Nine seasons later, what started as one angel in a trench coat has evolved into Lucifer, God, Leviathan and even a sister for God. “We play a little fast and loose with religion, but no one has really complained about it,” Singer says with a laugh. “So we'll just keep going.”

[pg 56-58]

CASTIEL Misha Collins

What can you say about the only member of Team Free Will who wears an overcoat? Cas has become a true member of the Winchester family.

[pg 61]

[thereaderstea]

Hello tor-mon!

I just saw your response and honestly you flatter me too much, you re-read it ten times? This is the highest form of praise!

Secondly, I was wondering what things you personally like to see in the horror/yandere genre? I have been trying to come up with ideas for my next fic and am a little stumped. So, I figured who better to ask than my favorite reviewer in the whole world?

What is a fic you always wanted to read in this genre? AUs you don't see too often? Something you just really want to see! I'd love to hear your thoughts 💜💜💜

Merry meet, deliciae! Of course! Your writing is the perfect material to reread! I reread your fics all the time, and your writing never loses its effect! True beauty!

First, I’m honored 🥺 And second, I’ve got you, deliciae! A lot of these ideas are supernatural/paranormal/magical because that’s my usual realm and I am wholly unoriginal and empty-headed when it comes to the Normal world 😅

Yandere AUs

Among Us au: I believe this is a potent au filled with lots of possibilities, especially with the addition of the Town of Us roles (Imposter Lovers immediately screamed yandere at me). The two possibilities that stuck out to me was 1) the classic yandere is the imposter and mc is a crewmate (and mayhap the crew think the mc is sus 🤭), and 2) the mc is the imposter with a yandere crewmate (i.e. the yandere!crewmate simps for the mc). 

Battle Royale au: I remember you mentioning a long while back about starting your blog in part because of chinkbihh’s Quarter Quell but wasn’t sure what else to bring to the table? I have a singular idea and some alternate settings that employ a similar taste of the Hunger Games (because I, too, love chinkbihh’s yandere Hunger Games idea):

Hunger Games: game designer and hunger games survivor. The yandere is on the game’s designing team and the mc is a survivor in the games. The yandere does all they can to ensure the mc’s safety and victory in the games, and well, the mc may escape the games unscathed but they can’t escape the yandere’s clutches. 

S.O.S.: This is a game on Steam. You’re on La Cuna island, where you have to fight monsters, avoid becoming infected by the monsters, yoink a crystal on the island before other players do, call in the helicopter, and secure your spot home. There are thirty-two players, only three seats home, and you definitely didn’t sign up for this fight to the death 😅

Dead by Daylight: This is a game on Steam. There’s one killer and four survivors (but who says it has to be those numbers?). The survivors have to fix the generators to open the gates and escape, and the killer is having fun chasing the survivors, messing with them using their special abilities, taking them down, throwing them on hooks, and sacrificing them to the Entity. It’s ten times more terrifying to play with friends, and while I love the teaming up, I love a shameless, no-regrets betrayal between good friends more 🙂 (sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice)

Witch au: I believe there are a few aspects of the witch-y world that could be brewed with yandere, namely:

love potions

curses, hexes: anyone who tries to get between the mc and the yandere is cursed

a case of an accidental summoning of a djinn, demon, or some other being who becomes rather fond (and possessive) of the witch (or vice versa!)

empathy (specifically feeling others’ emotions): this could create some good internal conflict. If the mc is an empath, then what if they feel the yandere’s ‘love’; would the mc also become a yandere? 

fortune telling/scrying/clairvoyance or claircognizance/psychometry: you’ve actually hinted at this concept in Solar Eclipse and it’s such an intriguing concept, so here’s another version

dream walking/lucid dreaming/astral projecting: I read a book where the mc dreams of a town and her duty is to protect the town from the djinn. She loses her brother and so when the djinn approaches her in her dreams she makes a deal with a djinn to get him back (sort of like Persephone :D), but she didn’t think it was a real deal until she woke up. The interesting part was that she was chained to the djinn, and the djinn could use those chains to summon her to him, even across dimensions.

Tuatha Dé Danann/Sidhe/Fae au: besides the Unseelie being cool candidates for yanderes (glamour, master manipulators, and typically violent? perfect grounds to make a yandere), there are aspects of Fae folklore that I love and think would be pretty cool in yandere:

names: names hold power and if you tell a Faerie your name (specifically your full, true name), they hold power over you. the Fae are tricky, so it can be easy to literally hand your name over to them. 

faerie rings: if you step in a faerie ring, you’re trapped until the Faerie who created the ring comes to collect their trappings. But faerie rings are also rumored to be portals into the Fae realm

selkie: in folklore, men would convince a selkie to marry them and hide their seal skin as a means to trap the selkie with them. if the selkie ever finds her seal skin, she’ll dip on the man and return to the ocean.

Slaugh Sidhe, or the Wild Host/Wild Hunt: the Slaugh Sidhe are hosts of restless, unforgiven dead, sometimes rumored to be Fallen Angels. I believe the Headless Horseman is in the Hunt as well. They roam the Earth on Samhain and hunt during the night; they prey on humans and will steal their souls. You can also inadvertently call the Slaugh to you by saying their name during nightfall or feeling hopeless (they prey on sadness, broken hearts, and the depressed). 

each-uisce, or each-uisge: a shapeshifting water-horse; it typically takes the form of a man on land and a horse in water. Though if in the form of a horse on land, a human mounts them, and they smell water, the uisce will drag the human down into the water and eat them

zombie apocalypse au: I haven’t seen too many yanderes in the zombie apocalypse, but it sounds pretty cool (way I see it, the yandere is prepared to keep mc alive and the mc gets to kick some zombie booty! win-win!)

Yandere Situations

Storyteller: this is the perfect place to crack out fairytales! the Storyteller forces the character to live out retellings of fairytales (best if used with people the character knows). 

Shapeshifter: the yandere!shapeshifter shifts into a new person every time their relationship with the mc goes wrong. Doesn’t matter how many times it takes, the shapeshifter can become as many people as they have to be to end up with the mc :)

Resurrection: the mc kills the yandere plenty of times, but the yandere resurrects themselves every time. In the time it takes for the yandere to resurrect themselves, the mc runs/escapes, trying to get as far as they can away from the yandere. The yandere is rather amused with the game of cat and mouse; how far will the mc get this time?

Necromancy: the yandere is a necromancer and perhaps didn’t get to save the mc in time (or killed the mc themselves) and so they reanimated the mc. Maybe the mc loses a little bit of their soul with every revival, maybe they don’t, but one thing’s for sure: death isn’t an escape :)

Phasmophobia: this is another game on Steam. you are on a team a paranormal investigators, and you’re trying to document what type of ghost is haunting a location. This time may be your biggest break yet, but your latest ghost is a huge puzzle and also rather keen on keeping you...

Yandere Pairings/Characters

human and angel (bonus if there are clipped wings ☺)

witch and familiar

serial killer and grim reaper

forgotten deity and lone follower

thief and detective

time traveler and immortal

~*~

I hope this helps spark something even if you don’t use any of them, and lmk if I should clarify something or if you need more assistance! I’m happy to help ☺

Blessed be, deliciae! and may writer’s block not plague you!

your lil monster delight, tor-mon 🖤

[letusmeetagain]

Hello! I've been reading some of your recent meta posts and I really like them. I noticed you said you thought EM would meet again even if it's years in the future in an AU where they run into each other, but at the same time the Rumbling wouldn't be erased/wiped from existence or people's memories (i.e. by a new AU world). What do you think will be the most likely ending for them then? Thanks!

Hi Anon!!

Disclaimer... I’ll let myself be carried away by my feelings of which ending would be possible... I’ll for sure say things that may not happen at all.

Should I start with my preferences (based on what I feel would be logic for the story) or just include all the possibilities I have considered in the diagram I posted some days ago?? Some of them aren’t viable because of the inner logic of the story... Mainly every path where:

1. escapism is promoted in the sense that “because this world is already fucked up, let’s go to a better one and leave this cruelty behind”. That would somehow be against the coexistence of cruelty and beauty inherent to every single story in the world. Escaping the endurance of the bad side of something would be like denying the beatiful side of it. As the main point for me, there’s this decision of Mikasa to come back to reality and endure the cruel side just because the beautiful one is worth the suffering.

2. the catastrophe is forgotten. First because there’s this foreshadowing in Rod’s line that every catastrophe has a meaning. If it has a meaning, it has to be remembered in order to achieve any kind of further effect. If this has the goal of a sort of lesson, then the memory of it will lead humanity to change so it doesn’t happen again. That would be actually the best outcome, to be honest. Second, another happenings that hint this mindset are first: Eren didn’t erase the memories of any character (at least not that we know and it goes against this “I will let you be free”-mindset of him), then: because erasing memories was something that already happened and was portrayed as a detrimental decision. In the Uprising arc, humanity decided to REMEMBER.

At least its memory should remain. So: no escapism, no oblivion.

3. No outcome where the rumbling gets justified and Eren gets a second chance while he has to live with his sins. Living without pride... like Historia who lives knowing she survived at the cost of hundred of millions of innocents... This kind of outcome shouldn’t be a positive ending for us if Eren, let’s say... survives while the consequeces of the rumbling aren’t reverted. At least not if we think about how he considers his own existence and that he couldn’t save the people he loved.

Maybe something magical could happen such as Ymir granting him a second chance but... well. Same idea. What about his traumas and regrets? Would Isayama be able to portray such an ending in just 45 pages? With a time skip? It sounds like an insult for the rumbling.

Easiest path for Isayama as narrator if he wants to develop well the ending? Eren dies and he starts a sort of path to reconsider his own role and existence. That would let him close his own story, it wouldn’t be necessary to add any kind of rushed miracles that disregard the rumbling (like justification or reverting it 100% so we suffered reading all these chapters like a bad dream).

Of course I’m not pointing out death as Eren’s sole salvation. No. Death was in the end Eren’s choice. Not death but this outcome. Although it was very hard for him, he was the one that made up his mind... He, as character of his own story, was prepared to give up his life and I don’t feel like Isayama would make an exeption and give him a second (actually third) chance (at least just with him... if he does, everyone will have a second chance)... and maybe not for the ending. The other times he was resurrected, he was still needed for the story. Now it’s the end of everything. Will Isayama grant us Eren’s survival under such circumstances just for the sake of letting his redemption arc (something that would be needed to compensate the rumbling for readers) open up to us?

Hmm...

Now I come to my preferences and the true answer. I feel like he will die... better said.. he is already dead. His role is not done yet as he has to redeem his own existence, his value to himself in order to “leave the world” in peace like Zeke (almost) did. If Zeke’s death showed us something is that one’s crimes aren’t something that can be easily be forgotten. Some effects of our choices can’t be taken back.

My two big hints of it: Zeke’s lines (if they aren’t empty words)... I would be born again just to play catch with you. That might be (and I’m 97% sure of this) could be in the end a hint of a massive reborn in the (near) future. Some songs (Great escape, Akatsuki no requiem, -similar- Name of love) say “Let us meet again in a world without walls”... that somehow hints a promise and the will to meet again, and also a world without division and hatred... a peaceful world.

Or it might be left open. .-. (Let’s be honest... Isayama would indeed troll us like that... there’s nothing more annoying than an open ending to me)

What I know for sure, is that Eren and Mikasa will meet again. I go for reborn option but in their current world, in the future where they can live again under better circumstances.... circumstances they achieved through the sacrifices they made in their previous lives. What I REALLY like from this ending is that they would enjoy the direct consequences of their sacrifices and Ymir’s wish for them as a reward. *cries* Still... he won’t show us too much... just maybe... the confirmation that everyone is going to be reborn and then it will be up to us.

If that doesn’t happen because Isayama goes for a philosophic ending, Eren will close his life story as a circular story meaning he reaffirms it with pride and that he would endure for eternity all the suffering because the beauty was worth it. I mean as an eternal return from Nietzsche’s philosophic approaches. I’m.... I kinda feel like it would be okay for me... well.... Idk... but a lot of fans wouldn’t appreciate nor understand it or they would even hate it as they don’t really seem to want Eren to achieve enlightenment but a conventional ending with him and Mikasa being happy together in an regular comfortable life.

Then you have an afterlife... It would be toooooo overused. Or... this crazy idea... that Eren’s spirit (conscience) remains connected to everything that’s in the world and he “stays” with Mikasa that way. I give this last option... 10% (?) chances to come true.

AU... are something I can’t see unless the AU is in the end the HS AU but.... it would be indeed a rip off from Muv Luv Alternative and I would punch him mentally from my country... Okay. I know that’s not an argument... but he can do things better than that. I guess he may tease with a last page of the HS AU doing something like that but only to troll.

That was it... I hope I didn’t bother you with my takes as I try not to avoid less happy endings. :-/

Thanks for the question!

[foxydivaxx]

Eren, Lelouch, Light, Seto Kaiba and Sasuke: Beautiful Sinners Chapter 3

Time for some fun

There was silence in the car save for Seto humming and Light tapping his feet. Sasuke looks out the window to catch a glimpse of the city they would be living in for now. 

It comes across a pretty nice quiet town which is good news for all of them as the last thing they want is to attract unnecessary attention towards them. So if this school they would be heading to is decent, then they are sorted.

This makes him to glance over at Eren who was staring into space once again. He then remembers the conversation he and Lelouch had when they arrived the house before going into their rooms.

Flashback

The boys had just arrived at the mansion and decided to go explore when Lelouch taps Sasuke’s shoulder.

“We need to talk.”

The other was taken aback by his comment but nevertheless accepts it and follows him to the kitchen.

Once he was sure the coast was clear, Lelouch then speaks. “Have you been noticing how quiet and closed off Mr Shirtless is?” he asked.

Sasuke then thinks for a moment. “Now that you mention it, he seems a lot more closed off than we are which is weird. We probably went through a lot more shit than we did. Yet we are getting along well.”

“Almost as though we have all met each other at some point in the past.” says Lelouch with widened eyes of shock. Even Sasuke is surprised by this.

“Could it be that we all had some other life in some timeline where we met and probably became friends or something hence why Wizard-Kun brought us together?” Sasuke asks.

Lelouch grins. “Hmmm..seems likely. Though I wonder what horrors Mr Shirtless must have seen. Unless....”

“Let me guess, you intend to coerce whatever horrible truth you could get out of him.”

“That will be totally unethical of me but at the same time, I will only use it when it is necessary.”

“We need to be on alert then in case some crazy shit happens.”

End of Flashback

Eren yawns and rests his head against the window. He does not understand his sudden gloominess. Could it be because of his dark past and having to live through the same disastrous time loop Lord knows how many times till he finally fucking snapped and went ape-shit?

One thing is for certain, he has to tread carefully here because chances are his sacrifice might have been all in vain and accomplished nothing.

A couple minutes later, they arrive at Jump City High School. “Here we are gang.” says Seto as he parks the car and stops it.

The boys all get out. “Pretty huge school.” says Light. Eren looks around in awe. This school is bigger than the crappy classroom he and his old friends used to be in.

Sasuke nudges him causing him to nearly trip but follow the others as they head inside.

As soon as they walk in, the other students stop and stare at them. Eren simply rolls his eyes at them. Considering the world he came from, it makes sense for him to get irritated and uncomfortable, haven been treated as a weapon and canon fodder for years.

Once they reach the Principal’s office, Seto take me charge since he is the oldest and get forms for the boys to fill in and sign. Light helps both Eren and Sasuke with theirs by telling them what information to put in.

“So we are pretending to be cousins of sorts?” Eren asked in a low tone. Seto shrugs. “That shit works like a charm.”

“I guess the first phase of our mission is to more or less do some research into this town. So us posing as students here makes our job easy.” says Lelouch.

“Agreed. Like who would suspect a group of young men from different worlds and timelines to carry out whatever crazy heist it is that we are gonna carry out?” says Light. Sasuke smirks. “This will surely make our work easy.”

The boys head off to their first class, not noticing a certain brunette boy watching them over his shoulder. Hmmmm.....who are those guys? Are they new here?

During lunchtime, the five of them gather at a table together. “That wasn’t so bad.” Seto asked as he sips some mineral water.

“I slept off during History class.” says Eren, earning laughs from the others. “Bitch that shit is boring!!” says Sasuke. “I might have been a A star student in a previous lifetime but that shit still pisses me off.” says Light. “History? Pfft!!” says Seto.

“Now you know why I fucking ditch class.” says Lelouch. At that moment, Eren panics inwardly as he sees two familiar looking faces, a Asian-looking girl dressed in black and red goth clothing and a blonde boy in a white shirt and glasses.

“Shit....”

Lelouch notices his look. “What?” He asked. Eren then whispers to them. “Those are my former friends from the previous timeline Armin and Mikasa.”

“Oh shit.” says Light. “Wait....if those guys are here then..,” Lelouch does not finish his sentence as he sees Kallen, C.C, Shirley and Rolo pass by as well. Sure enough, a couple other noticeable people from the various timelines all five of them came from start to show up.

“Wait....so we are in an alternative timeline.” says Light. “I guessed as much because how else would this make sense?” says Seto.

“A timeline where you all get a second chance.” At that moment time stops as Wizard-Kun re-appears to them.

“Second chance?”

“Yes. You see, your deaths in various timelines helped to reset the world into its current state.” The quintet exchanged looks. It seems they all reached the same conclusion.

“Now your purpose is simple: all five of you shall serve as a special black ops team. You have already figured out why I sent you to this school.”

“Like duh.” says Light.

“Now your first mission will take place in the evening. Will stop by. In the meantime, enjoy some normalcy.” With that, he disappears.

“Ok. Now that is sus.” says Seto, raising an eyebrow.

Later on the evening at approximately 6.30 pm, Wizard-Kun re-appears again. The boys were already at home and all of them were sitting in the living room.

“Ah. Good to see you all here.” he says. Eren rolls his eyes. “Spare is for the formalities and just get down to it.” he grumbles. Wizard-Kun smirks. “Ever the first one huh Eren?”

He then clears his throat. “Your mission is a very deadly task.” He then glares at them seriously. “Years ago, I had a similar squad like this one with a different set of individuals. However, one of them by the name of Leblanc betrayed the squad and went rogue.”

“So our task is to find this Leblanc and bring her back right?” Lelouch asked. “Yes. But a little warning. This woman is a mistress of magic and can manipulate one’s cognitive senses. Plus she is an assassin.”

“That should not be a problem.” says Sasuke. “The rest of you that have some magic ability of sorts get to retain them. Eren on the other hand....”

“I guess my little sacrifice to rid my people of our Titan curse worked.” says Eren as he runs his hand through his head.

“It worked way too well meaning that you cannot transform into a Titan anymore.” Eren heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God!!”

“But I do have a special something for you.” Waving his hand, a gold gauntlet materialised out of thin air and lands on Eren’s lap.

“What is this?”

“Your new weapon.” Eren raises an eyebrow as he puts on the gauntlet. “This will take some getting used to.” he says as he carefully moves his hand around in order to get the hang of the gauntlet.

“Light I believe you would love this.” He magically creates a rifle which lands in Light’s hands. “Hmmm...sweet.”

“Kaiba.” He hands the man a sword. “Lelouch.” Hands him two revolvers. “And lastly Sasuke.” Gives himself replica of the sword he once used in his old life.

“Leblanc owns a nightclub downtown named Black Rose. She ironically has a secret team of the same name. I hear that they are expecting some shipments tonight at 9pm. You have to take all of them down.”

“Understood.” says Seto.

“Now you are sorted. So off you trot.”

[lightneverfades]

Frostiron AU (WandaVision) -  Episode 9

Here’s a few more of the WandaVision Frostiron AU I made! :)

Storyline: (Contains Spoilers)

< Story is set in an alternate universe set after Thanos is defeated >

Loki is alive, lives through the events of End Game but loses Tony in the fight when Tony sacrifices himself to use the Infinity Stones. Loki can’t cope with what’s happened and resurrects Tony from the dead and creates an alternate reality where they are in a sitcom, living as a happy couple... to shut out the real world.

Note: The fic is a continuation of this post here :D (Listening to this song while writing, it’s so good <3)

+

The walls around the Hex glowed ever so brightly in luminescent green, static energy fizzling in between its barrier. Dark clouds started to form as Loki chased after Agatha, who flew up effortlessly into the air with a laugh that echoed into the expanse, trails of black magic whirling around her.

“Give me everything you’ve got, trickster!”

Loki threw a ball of energy at Agatha, but the spell missed, hitting the other side of the wall behind her. It faded quickly back into the surface.

“Loki!” Tony cried out as he flew up to help. He attacked as well, shooting beams of energy in Agatha’s direction. One particularly nasty one hit Agatha and the witch hissed, her smile faltering. Her gaze shifted, her lips curling in annoyance and her eyes lit up in a darker shade of purple.

“Let the adults fight, mmm?”

Tony felt the blast of dark magic slam into him with full force. He thought he heard Loki’s shout of alarm, but his senses became somewhat numb as he fell, his suit shutting down temporarily as Friday blipped out with a “-Boss, I’m going to have to go into emergency shutd--!”

The ground came up to greet him, or rather vice versa, as Tony broke the concrete floor, creating a massive dent on the road. Pain shot through his whole body, begging for him to stop and quit moving altogether, but there was no way he was going to do that. This is our home! Tony thought furiously.

“Friday!” Tony called out, but his screen was absolutely pitch black.

With a groan of frustration, his helmet disappeared. Tony got up as quickly as he could, ignoring the terrible ache in his whole body and wincing at the cuts on his cheek and lips.

“Tony, are you okay?” Loki’s voice made Tony’s head turn and he saw the god flying over to him, his brows already furrowing as he caught sight of the blood.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tumble that’s all, nothing I can’t-” Tony hissed as a particular area he’d hit trying to protect his back argued otherwise. Loki reached out his hand to cover the cut on Tony’s cheek and Tony felt warmth as the pain instantly faded away. As soon as the glow faded, Tony knew the god had fully healed him from top to bottom. What was more, the suit was coming back to life and he could feel the nanobots shifting around his body.

“Thanks babe,” Tony smirked and Loki’s lips curled upwards. 

“My pleasure,” Loki answered in kind, a tinge of an American accent slipping through from the many timelines he’d adopted from his stay at Westview.

"Have you forgotten we’re not done yet, lovebirds?” Agatha’s voice called out from above and both men looked up to see the witch hovering above them, staring down at them.

“Haven’t forgotten, darling,” Tony shot back as his suit rebooted back to full capacity.

“Good,” Agatha spoke and she directed her gaze at Loki. “Won’t you just stop dilly dallying? I’ve been ever so patient with you lot. Perhaps I need to make things more clear for you.” 

Tony hadn’t quite noticed earlier, but he now saw that the citizens of Westview were now completely frozen in their place, their actions having been paused mid-action. Their eyes were the only thing that blinked, their lips pulled up in a smile that Tony could tell were make believe and imprinted. A chill passed through him as he realized in spite of his love for Loki, his god was also the one imprisoning these people in this place. 

Dark curls of energy lit around each of the citizens of Westview and their eyes lit up for a moment, before consciousness of their own replaced it. Each of the men and women holding their accessories or smiling at their fellow neighbors mid-conversation stopped what they were doing, and looked around in confusion. And then Tony saw it, their eyes all veering towards them and he could see the insurmountable pain and agony in their faces.

“Loki, Loki... please... please just let us go!” They chorused, and converged around them. “Please... we have your nightmares, we feel your pain! Please! I want to go back... I need to see my family! PLEASE!”

Loki’s hardened expression didn’t quite falter as much as Tony’s did, which made the situation even worse. “Loki, they’re right, you got to stop this-” 

“Stop what?” Loki countered and there was an edge in his tone that only Tony knew what it meant. It was full of anger but underneath it all, he could hear the agony within it. He reached out his hand to touch Loki’s cheek, placing his other hand on Loki’s chest. “You’re torturing them. I know you don’t mean it... I know, cause you’re not that kind of man. Stop it.”

“Mmm, Loki, yes, why don’t you?” Agatha sneered from above, her malicious smile growing ever more sinister. “Don’t you want to be good? Aren’t you an Avenger? You made an oath during the Blip, didn’t you? Thou shalt not kill, blah, blah, blah! But you know in your heart of hearts that that’s not true! You want your Tony Stark to stay intact, don’t you? So give me your power and I’ll grant you this fantasy! I’ll be your villain in your superhero origin story, hah!”

Loki’s frown deepened, “I can’t...” 

“Why, Loki?” Tony urged, hearing the ever growing pleas and cries of anger and suffering from the people of Westview. He felt the pain as if it were his own, and he winced every time he heard the hatred in the voices of the men and women. And they deserved to be angry - he hadn’t been aware until recently, but they were prisoners, made to play a role that is not their own. 

“Because I’ll lose you,” Loki whispered, the god’s eyes catching Tony’s and it was filled with sorrow. Tony flinched, but it wasn’t because of the statement.

“Then you weren’t the man I thought you were,” Tony spoke and he stepped back. He felt the arms of the men and women; desperate, ordinary people who he had pledged to save their lives as an Avenger, pull at his arms, crying and screaming, clawing for his attention. He didn’t resist; he let them take him.

The look of hurt and realization dawned on Loki’s face.

“Tony!” Loki reached out, trying to get to Tony but the man gave him a glare.

“Don’t come near me, Loki. Not unless you intend to undo this and set them free.”

“I will, I will...” Loki said but his voice was hesitant.

“Then do it, trickster! Heroes don’t torture people!” Agatha’s voice called out with a cackle/ 

Loki looked at Tony one more time and with that his eyes burned up. A gust of wind flurried around them and a surge of energy blasted out of Loki and towards the sky, tearing the barrier in half for a moment, creating a crack in between. The enormity of the action caused the god to lean back further, arms outstretched and his cape whipped behind his back harshly. 

“GO! ALL OF YOU, NOW... LEAVE!”

Tony heard the screams of the people as the ground shuddered and the town, which had been sealed shut by emerald barriers, start to split. He gently pushed the woman that had clung to him in desperation and whispered, “Go! Run! Go back to your family! I’m sorry!”

They all did, crying out and running for their lives as the Hex started to withdraw within itself. 

And then Tony felt it, the first anomaly he had experienced before when he stepped out of the Hex. First it was the strength in his arms, then quickly his legs, as something stole away the life in his body. With a pained heave of breath, his knees crashed onto the broken concrete. He could hear his heart drumming away fast at first, but slowly losing its speed. With it, he felt what he knew was Loki’s magic seep back towards his owner. 

“Loki-” Tony managed and Loki was crying, his eyes panic-ridden. With a agonized cry, the energy forcing itself out of Loki faded. The Hex started to ebb back, the four corners reforming back.

Tony wheezed as the pressure in his lungs and the heaviness of his body lifted a little, but he was far from okay. His body felt like it had been burnt and when turned to look at his arm, it was darkened and crisp and he realized the familiar sight. It was the same blackened state he’d found himself in once he’d used the Infinity Stones to stop... yes, he’d stopped Thanos and his army. I died. And I saw Loki, there, just before... He tried to revive me...

Loki’s hollow and agony-filled scream that penetrated the battlefield had been Tony’s last memory of his death before everything blacked out.

And here he was again, in Loki’s arms, the god’s face staring down at Tony with tears brimming on his eyelashes and freely falling down on his battered cheeks.

“Now do you see what you’ll lose?” Agatha said and her words were like knives.

Luminescent green light enveloped Tony and the magic did its work, life energy from one powerful being surging back into another. The warmth of the magic reignited, furiously pushing back the deathly grip that had threatened to take Tony away forever earlier. Tony gasped as the magic sped his heartbeat back to its normal pace and the right side of his body, which had grown limp and numb started to heal rapidly. 

"Don’t leave me, Anthony... not yet,” Loki spoke and leaned in, pulling Tony upwards so that his left arm was supporting Tony.

“Leave you...? Not a chance, Reindeer games,” Tony managed to teased, his voice coming back to him now. He wiped away at Loki’s tears with the back of his armored hand. The chuckle he heard from the god warmed him. “We’ve got unfinished business with that bitch.” 

A grin started to form on Loki’s lips at these words, “Yes, the witch must burn.”

[thingwithfeathers]

tag 9 people to learn more about their interests

tagged by: @enniomorricone :)

MUSIC

fave genre? indie/alternative rock, and pop but not really current pop more like 80s/90s.

fave artist? bastille, twenty one pilots, fleetwood mac, the clash, the smiths, abba, probably a lot more i can’t think of right now.

fave song? my joint favourite songs are ‘with or without you — u2′ and ‘landslide — fleetwood mac’

most listened song recently? 'song for zula — phosphorescent’ it’s become one of my favoure songs ever.

song currently stuck in your head?  any abba song because i was listening to them a lot earlier.

5 fave lyrics?

“It’s a hell of a long way to fall just to learn to get up” — the mess, the naked and famous.

“But now it’s just another show / and you leave them laughing when you go / and if you care, don’t let them know / don’t give yourself away / i’ve looked at love from both sides now / from give and take and still somehow / it’s loves illusions that i recall / i really don’t know love at all.” — both sides now, joni mitchell (this entire song though! really hard to choose lyrically because it’s a masterpiece).

“See, honey, i saw love / you see it came to me / it put it’s face up to my face so i could see / yeah then i saw love, disfugure me / into something i am not recognising / see the cage, it called, i said come on in / i will not open myself up this way again / but my heart is wild and my bones are steel / and i could kill you with my bare hands if i was free.” — song for zula, phosphorescent.

"Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love? / can the child within my heart rise above? / can i sail through the changing ocean tides? / can i handle the seasons of my life? / well, i’ve been afraid of changing / ‘cause i’ve built my life around you / but time makes you bolder / even children get older / and i’m getting older too.” — landslide, fleetwood mac.

“And then you put your hand in mine / and pulled me back from things divine / stop looking up for heaven / waiting to be buried / and all their words for glory / they always sounded empty / when we’re looking up for heaven.” — bastille, glory.

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie (depends!) | loud or silent volume in-between! I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on.

BOOKS

fav book genre? just fiction in general. i’ve kind of grown out of young adult so i don’t really read a lot of that, and have been reading classics lately. just any books that make you really think and are written so beautifully that you can highlight quote after quote. i’ve also been reading a lot of non fiction spiritual books lately.

fav writer? recently, taylor jenkins reid. i’ve read two of her books and they’re incredibly gripping. love the simplicity and warmth of benjamin alire saenz as well, the care that ari & dante was written with. and also emily dickinson, especially her letters in particular to susan are just gorgeous.

fav book? aristotle & dante discover the secrets of the universe, wuthering heights, little women, a little life, and recently the seven husbands of evelyn hugo.

fav book series? i don’t really read book series, so the only thing coming to mind is harry potter which i only read for the first time about five years ago now.

comfort book? little women and aristotle & dante.

perfect book to read on a rainy day? any easy read, probably several i listed above.

fave characters? aristotle & dante, jo & beth march (little women), mina murray (dracula).

5 quotes from your fave books that you know by heart?

“You teach me now how cruel you’ve been — cruel and false. why did you despise me? why did you betray your own heart, cathy? i have not one word of comfort. you deserve this. you have killed yourself. yes, you may kiss me, and cry; and wring out my kisses and tears: they’ll blight you — they’ll damn you. you loved me — what right had you to leave me? what right — answer me — for the poor fancy you felt for linton? because misery and degradation, and death, and nothing that god or satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will did it. i have not broken your heart — you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine. so much the worse for me that i am strong. do i want to live? what kind of living will it be when you — oh god! would you like to live with your soul in the grave?”  — wuthering heights, emily bronte (i could choose so many from this book but this is the most underrated one in my opinion and deserves more recognition).

“I will love you forever, whatever happens. ‘til i die and after i die, and when i find my way out of the land of the dead i’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, ‘till i find you again. i’ll be looking for you, will, every moment, evert single moment. and when we do find each other again we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. every atom of me and every atom of you... we’ll live in the birds and the flowers, and the dragonflies and pine trees, and in the clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams... and when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight...” — his dark materials (amber spyglass), philip pullman. (don’t talk to me, this quote makes me actually ache)

“I wanted to tell them that i’d never had a friend, not ever, not a real one. until dante. i wanted to tell them that i never knew that people like dante existed in the world, people who looked at the stars, and knew the mysteries of water, and knew enough to know that birds belonged to the heavens and weren’t meant to be shot down from their graceful flights by mean and stupid boys. i wanted to tell them that he had changed my life and that i would never be the same, not ever. and that somehow it felt like it was dante who had saved my life and not the other way around. i wanted to tell them that he was the first human being aside from my mother who had ever made me want to talk about the things that scared me. i wanted to tell them so many things and yet i didn’t have the words. so, i just stupidly repeated myself, “dante’s my friend.”” — aristotle & dante discover the secrets of the universe, benjamin alire saenz.

“There are many beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”— little women, louisa may alcott.

“And so i try to be kind to everything i see and in everything i see, i see him.”— a little life, hanya yanagihara.

hardcover or paperback (paperback for general reading and hardback for special editions!) | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature (i love nature and want to be able to read outside but i cannot be in nature without being hypervigilent of bugs so wouldn’t be able to concentrate) | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending (i also used to read the last line of a book first for a long time but i started to piss myself off when it wasn’t vague enough) | reliable or unreliable narrator  | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary (i can’t help it, i love pretty covers) | rereading or reading just once.

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? disaster/post apocalyptic, drama, sci-fi, documentary, occasional fantasy. i’m pretty on board with most things, other than horror but even that has some exceptions.

fave movie? titanic, shaun of the dead, little women (1994), eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, wuthering heights (2009 tv movie), portrait of a lady on fire, practical magic, the greatest showman, finding nemo, the grinch (2000).

comfort movie? finding nemo, little women (1994), shaun of the dead, all my favourite christmas movies which are too many to list.

fave tv show? friends, charmed, golden girls, gilmore girls, the walking dead, new girl. currently: 911.

most rewatched tv show? friends. i watch it almost every day and it would be impossible for me to count just how many times i’ve watched it from start to finish.

5 fave characters? all the friends on friends, piper halliwell (charmed), tara chambler (twd), glenn rhee (twd), maddie buckley (911).

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging (i’m conflicted because i miss the event of catching a show every week but at the same time once you binge watch you can’t go back) | one season or multiple seasons (but shows need to know when to stop) | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes (depends on my mood) | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once.

tagging: @bettyhofstadtdraper / @kubrickking / @koningen / @urispatty / @marmaladepotion / @mixye + anyone else that wants to do this, feel free to tag me to read :) !

[kekeslider]

I’ve been holding on to this one for a while because of sheer laziness, because I knew it would be long as fuck, but I continue to see people saying that Shadow Weaver was redeemed at the end, via one act of good before dying, and I don’t think that’s the case at all. I believe at the end she may have escaped.

Here’s my biggest take on SW, obvious as it is: she is primarily concerned with power and control at all times. It’s consistent through every bit of her story. She recognizes power in young people, Adora and Micah specifically, and seeks to control them. She’s nice to them, affectionate, at first. In her own super messed up way she cares about them. But never more than herself, her own desires and interests.

The common belief after the finale is that Shadow Weaver’s last act before the end was an attempt by the writing to give her a miniature redemption through death. And other people have said it but one of the purposes this actually serves is to show that despite all her efforts, SW never really controlled Adora and Catra, she never turned them into the things she wanted them to be, because they anchored each other. Adora and Catra crying over SW’s death isn’t to show that she was actually not so bad, it’s to show that in spite of everything, Adora and Catra still care about the life of others intrinsically.

Shadow Weaver knew this before her sacrifice. The fact that Adora could not continue on to the Heart without Catra was proof enough that she had lost control, if you could even argue that she ever truly had it. You might view SW’s decision to stop the beast and let them go as an acceptance of this fact, or that she simply did what had to be done to save the whole universe, or that she had a genuine desire to do one good thing in her life. But I’m going to argue for two different alternatives.

1. Shadow Weaver sacrificed her life here because she realized that she had no way out after this. She no longer had sway over Adora or Catra, and throughout the season, and some specific scenes in prior ones, both characters repeatedly call attention to SW’s abuse of them. They’ve reached a point in their journey where they’re both completely aware of her manipulation, her abuse, her two-sidedness. They never believe during this season that SW is a good person now, or that she repents for what she’s done. There’s a recognition that Shadow Weaver is helping the rebellion because she’s chosen to be on the side of the winners because that’s how she’ll guarantee her survival and maintain her control over the situation. She tried in the previous season to control Glimmer like she had the others, but Glimmer was too wise to actually trust SW, potentially because she knew what real love and loyalty was and recognized that that wasn’t what Shadow Weaver offered. In a genius turn, Glimmer uses Shadow Weaver rather than the other way around.

All attempts to guarantee her position after the war have failed. She has no control over Micah, Adora, Catra, or Glimmer. She can’t get Adora to the Heart without going back for Catra, so even if they somehow pull through without it she can’t claim herself a hero for her role in it. She is at the end of the road, she’s run out of tricks, and she makes a decision. She decides that dying in one last act of manipulation over the two girls she almost destroyed is her final way to secure her place in the narrative as a Hero. It’s about the legacy, it’s why she says “You’re welcome,” so they will be forced to believe she did it for them, and that would solidify her life as meaningful. It’s her last attempt to retain some of the power she craved, fought for, and stole throughout her life.

But I don’t think the writers actually intend for her to get what she wants here. Shadow Weaver is an interesting character, she has a lot of pull over events in the story, but there’s no sense that she’s beloved. Not by characters and not by writers. I’m eternally sorry to fall back on one of the most tired comparisons in the universe, but bear with me for a moment. In thinking about all of it, I noticed certain similarities between SW’s death and that of Severus Snape. One final moment before death that they want the child(ren) they abused to see that will justify everything. But that is where the similarity ends, and why I think it’s so different on the writing side of things. Snape’s death was intended by both author and narrative to excuse and forgive him for countless misdeeds. And over the years we’ve become far more critical of that. I don’t get the sense that the writers of She-Ra want us to forgive Shadow Weaver because she was oh so complex. I don’t think there’s a future catradora kid named “Shadow Hope Prime.” I think they wanted us to see this act of desperation for what it was: a last ditch attempt to retain control by a person that can’t care about anything but herself.

2. This is where we go straight into theorizing and headcanons so I’ll try to keep it shorter. My suggestion is this: Shadow Weaver did not die in her final scene, she made a grand escape.

At this point she has no friends, no allies, no one who believes she’s anything but dangerous. She has 4 people in positions of power she has personally and extravagantly harmed. She abused Catra and Adora throughout their lives, she manipulated Micah as a child and eventually sent him to Beast Island for at least 10 years, making him miss his daughter growing up, and never to see his wife again, and while SW never had the sway over Glimmer she did the others, she still was directly responsible for taking away her father, turning her mother into a, to be harsh, cowardly and ineffective leader for years, and indirectly responsible for the strife between Adora and Catra that took the war to new extremes.

Shadow Weaver has no one, and no options, and at that point in time the most likely outcome after it’s all over is prison, and she may not be lucky enough to be treated to Brightmoon’s cushy prison again.

You may ask at this point, Catra, Hordak, all the clones all get a redemption without threat of imprisonment, why not Shadow Weaver? And the answer is simple: Shadow Weaver has not redeemed herself in the eyes of the writers, viewers, or other characters. Catra saves Glimmer in an act of selflessness and love for Adora, and then becomes an instrumental help in saving Etheria. Not to mention Adora’s personal relationship with her and the recognition that they come from the same place and lived much of the same hardships. Hordak and the clones get a second chance because it is now known that they were all effectually mind-controlled and enslaved by Horde Prime, and their lives, as individuals with free choice and no strings holding them down, is only just starting. Not to mention Hordak and Wrong Hordak both have Entrapta on their side, and she’s a princess with her own kingdom and could just grant them asylum and bet the other princesses wouldn’t do anything about it lest they risk a civil war, but that doesn’t seem like a realistic issue for this new post-Horde planet anyway. The point is, the other antagonists from the show have made meaningful connections with other characters for the sake of them, not to be self-serving. Shadow Weaver continues to be manipulative up until the very end, no one will give her another chance at this point.

And she knows this. She’s a smart lady, and there’s a great big universe out there full of people that don’t know her. If Adora saves the day and the universe is saved all she has to do is get off planet, and if Adora fails they all die anyway, so why not have a go at it? My theory is that she uses her great big show of magic as a distraction and a disguise to make her escape. The world will believe she died, they may even celebrate her for her role in saving the universe, and she’ll be free.

You think there’s a hitch in this theory right? Because we see the room after she’s gone and all that’s left of her is her mask. Obviously she was completely destroyed, right?

But this specific scene reminded me of something else

If you’ve watched Teen Titans you know that the mask-wearing Slade was one of the major antagonists throughout the series, was also quite inclined to use and abuse powerful youths, and at the end was at the mercy of one (arguably two) of the children he had hurt. She kills him, he falls into lava, and the last thing we see of Slade is his mask. The next season picks up with Robin obsessed with the search for Slade, believing that he couldn’t really be gone that easily, and driven by this single remnant of him. Only to find out later that while Slade did die, he was resurrected and was once again back to be a massive asshole.

I think Shadow Weaver’s last scene does what it is meant to at first glance. Audience and characters believe she’s dead, which makes for a tidy ending, the death is non-explicit so kids don’t get too traumatized, but the ambiguity of it also means that if they wanted to, Shadow Weaver could return for a future installment in the series, be it comics, a movie, or another season. Whether those things are likely to be produced isn’t my interest in arguing here, it’s the possibility.

There’s still a lot of potential for Shadow Weaver to be used as the primary villain, and facing her again could be used any number of ways to shake up a domestic bliss the characters end up in, to have them, older, more mature, having spent time healing from how she hurt them, no longer be affected by her in the same ways. Or the complete opposite, they may still be affected by her, seeing her again could tear open old wounds, but in the end show that while hurt remains, they still carry on.