#i love the idea that the skeletons came from another dimension

[chacochilla]

[robinskey]

In My Mind (Part Two)

A/N: Here it is! The first piece of writing I’ve published on here in two years! Is it the best thing I’ve ever written? No. Is it fully fleshed out? No! (I do have a lot of ideas of where I could take this, though; this part might seem a little choppy since it was originally part of a longer piece that I’ve decided to weave through the narrative to (hopefully) avoid info-dumping. Anyway. I apologize for the chaos and background-laying, and also the grammar/spelling mistakes I probably have in this--I just want to post it because I’ve been working on it for weeks lololol. Okay bye love u! Mwah! 

Read part one here. :) 

Too long. That’s how long it took Steve Harrington to ask a girl out.

To put a long story short, the stars never aligned for you and Steve. Obstacles kept popping up–people, events, unfortunate situations–and, you know, monsters from another dimension. When you moved to upstate Indiana and into a little house in the middle of town, not too different from the home that the Byers had inhabited in their hometown. You and Nancy wrote weekly letters to one another. She told you how strange Hawkins High felt without you, even though you’d only gone there a few months, and begged you to visit because she missed your dumb jokes and even dumber face. You told her you didn’t have time; you’d started working in the cafeteria of the elementary school and babysat some of the kids as a side-job, and even though you’d never been too fond of kids, they were starting to grow on you, and Nancy joked that maybe you could be a live-in nanny for her and Jonathan someday when they were famous journalists, to which you responded absolutely not shut up right now Nancy Wheeler. And she did–at least about the idea of tiny Nancys and Jonathans running amuck. She never stopped asking you to come visit, to come home, and you never had the courage to tell her that half your home was here, and the other half had died trying to save all of you. Your home was not in Hawkins anymore. Instead, Hawkins was filled with the skeletons of the memories you’d made with your friends, El, and of course, your dad, for the best seven months of your life. Home was wherever you could connect with your father, in any way, whether it was through his flannel you’d managed to salvage from the cabin, rereading the speech he’d left for El, or spending time with the people he loved. There was no one he loved more than El and Joyce, so when the Byers decided to move, you came with them. And you worked hard to show the love to them that your dad would have wanted to give. No part of your dad was in Hawkins anymore.

But 100% of a certain Steve Harrington was still in Hawkins. And was reason enough to avoid it.

However, after months of being denied a visit, Nancy found out through Mike (of all people–since when did she talk to Mike?) that your spring break coincided with hers. You managed to save yourself by claiming that, even though you were off cafeteria duty since the school was closed, you still had to babysit little Carlie Day that week, for 12 hours a day because her parents worked long shifts. 

“12 hours? Really? That seems…excessive.”

“Yeah, well, that’s workin’ up here for you!”

“Mhm.” The suspicion in her tone rang in my ears. 

“Mhm, yep. So anyway…”

And though it would be completely unlike her, you secretly hoped that Nancy would somehow just forget about what you’d said. That her reporter instinct to investigate any fishy claim would quiet down just this once. For a few days, you thought it did. Then, about a week later, you came home from work to find El clutching the landline and saying, “Oh, I’m so excited for spring break…Wait, she has to watch Carlie? I thought she told me that the Days were going out of town until–” You dropped your bag by the door and sprinted over to the phone, but it was too late. El looked at you with her wide brown eyes, completely ignorant to what she’d just done. A rambling voice echoed from the speaker, asking, “Wait, what? El, what did you say? Is Y/N busy–”

El covered the phone with her palm.

“El, who’s that?” you asked, caution dripping from every word.

“It’s Nancy. You know, Mike’s sister,” she whisper-yelled. “She seems a little upset, I think? But she’s pretending to be happy? I’m a little confused.”

As soon as El finished her incredibly indiscreet update, the ranting stopped. The tone of the caller transformed drastically into a slightly strained, high-pitched: “Eleven, is that Y/N? Give the phone to her, would you, please?”

You closed your eyes and deeply inhaled, then exhaled, before taking the phone into your own palm.

“Hel–” “You aren’t doing shit over spring break, are you?” Nancy’s voice nosedived an entire octave.

You glanced at your shoelaces sheepishly, eternally grateful that Nancy could not see you right now. There was nothing more you hated than getting caught in a lie.

“I mean, I’m doing some shit–” You were interrupted by the sharp click of your friend’s tongue against the roof of her mouth. El continued to stare at you, somewhere between absent-mindedly and bewildered. She only got more confused, then more visibly red in the face as Nancy continued to speak. 

“I call bullshit. It’s not cool to lie to your friends, Y/N.”

Friends. Don't. Lie, El mouthed.

Sorry, you mouthed, before shooing her away, pivoting on your heel, and walking as far as the telephone cord would extend. Resting your head against the plaster wall, you admitted that, okay, maybe it was a little bullshit. You didn’t know for certain, but you could have sworn you could feel her presence over your shoulder and hear the “tsk” of disappointment upon your confession. 

“Oh, come on, Y/N. I know this place is a shithole, with shitty memories attached, but all the bad stuff is gone now, and I’m here. Your best friend in the world. You know, the one you haven’t seen in months?”

“And do you know who else is there?” 

“I know.” You could picture her running her hand through her curls, biting her lip, thinking. After a pause, she repeated, “I know. And I understand, I do. The thing is, I just miss you, and I miss Jonathan, too, I just–I can’t make it over there. Plus, Mike’s room will be vacant, so you can obviously stay with us and have your own space. I just really would just love to spend time with you since you’re basically my only friend.”

“Damn, you still haven’t befriended any of the cheerleaders? I thought you’d have rejoined the  popular girls since Jonathan and I aren’t there to bring down your coolness anymore.”

“I was never a cool kid, Y/N. I just dated one. And we all saw how that worked out for me.” 

You both laughed. 

“At least you’re with Jonathan now. You’re perfect for each other.”

Nancy paused. “Yeah. Yeah, we are,” she finally replied–or maybe she coughed, because you were barely able to make out the words. You didn’t have more than a second to ponder it before Nancy raised her voice once more, beginning, “Speaking of our ex–”

“I sure hope you’re talking about some guy I don’t even remember dating last year that you also happened to go out with once or something. Otherwise we do not have a mutual ex.”

“Oh, come on. Steve? Don’t lie to me, Y/N, I know you’ve made out with Steve.” 

“It was once, Nancy! And it didn’t mean anything because we thought we were going to die! He would’ve made out with anyone,” you huffed. “Including you. He’d have paid money for it to be you.”

“Maybe. I mean can you blame him?” Nancy fluffed her hair. You tapped your toes. “Anyway, I think he’s interested in a new girl now, maybe? That girl he works at Family Video with? I don’t know. I think her name’s Rhonda? Wait, no–Robin. It’s Robin. She’s my age–Class of ‘86.” “Robin Buckley?” 

“Yeah, do you know her?” “I was in band with her. Nancy, I don’t think she’s…never mind.” Nancy’s forehead creased slightly, but she did not press. You took a deep breath before adding, “Look, I’ll talk to Joyce and see what I can do, okay?”

“Perfect.” Nancy let out a giggle. 

That’s how you knew Nancy was genuinely amused or excited; she never really laughed out loud, so when she couldn’t contain it, she was happy. Being the source of that happiness was the best feeling–and even though you’d never admit it, your heart fluttered a little with excitement. You choked down your own laughter and made one last declaration.

“As long as it’s okay with Joyce, I will come. But on one condition: We avoid Steve at all costs. Deal?” “Deal.” 

The last time you’d been in Hawkins had been hellish, sure, but you knew all of that was long gone. You could avoid your (not)  ex and have a stress-free trip to Hawkins, right?

You were wrong on both counts, of course. But that’s a story for another chapter.

[weonbullshit]

I have some concept ideas for the Nyumal Afterlife.

They kinda vary and you don't have to integrate all of them or any for that matter into your stories. They're just some dumb ideas that I came up with.

Concept #1: The Nyumal afterlife can just be a everexpanding valley of some sorts, with beautiful landscapes, towering trees, and cool crisp water. In the heart of the land, there is a pool of sparkling water that spirits can use to roam the living world and connect to loved ones (similar to the afterlife in Black Panther)

Concept #2: The total opposite of #1, spirits who have lived treacherous and cruel lives are damned to spend an eternity in a endless swamp filled with rivers of tar, barren trees, and smoke that scars their lungs.

Concept #3: A more neutral take on both concepts (and some inspiration from Black Panther) the geography from concept #1 is still there however, there is no concept #2. Spirits who go there-whether good or bad-have to make a journey to get to 'The Pathway'. These journey's can range on difficulty; with spirits who have lived with integrity and kindess having a more easier journey while spirits who have been unkind and cruel go on treacherous trial-like journey's that can reflect their life, failures, and misdeeds. Some of these spirits who are forced to take on these trials give up and as a result, fade away into an existence simply called 'The Void'.

Spirit Concepts:

For #1: A spirit's physical age is reverted back to a more youthful appearence (So if you died when you were 60, you're appearence is reverted back to when you were younger.). Injuries and amputations (Blindness caused by an accident, castration, missing leg. etc) is restored. As the spirits 'age', their appearence may have a more symbolic take on them as a person. Like a beautiful and motherly spirit having cherry blossoms covering their bodies or a wise and strong spirit having characteristics of a deer or lion.

For #2: The damned spirits have a more zombified and skeletal look to them. With the cause of their deaths being shown and exaggerated into their appearence (Like if you died from old age you would look like a fucked up skeleton.) and their eyes are hollow with dim light acting as their pupils. If they are forgotten by the living, they slowly fade away to The Void.

And spirits of #3 are reverted to their younger selves and healed like in #1, but they don't really take on a new appearence as time goes on.

So Weon, what do you think of these concepts?

First concept with the afterlife being similar to Black panther is actually exactly how I imagine it to be in my story!

Another thing is that the afterlives can be connected so that they can travel through the dimension, but each spirit has their own little domain.

And I always imagine that spirits can revert, but I like to think that they can chose their own appearances. They don't have to look exactly how they did in life, or they can chose their form to be when they were the happiest.

I've never thought about the damned spirits though, I really should because at some point I have to decide what all happens to Sekahn. I'll definitely talk a scary look into account!

Also, I think I described Hina's little spot in the afterlife at some point during 'Y(our) Power'. When Seojun visited her. I think I should solidify that too.

[agnol117]

Series I, Part I

Some notes on my intended methodology here: unlike the 001 Proposals (which we will get back to, but they were starting to wear on me), I’m going to mostly be looking at these as standalone stories/items. The 001 Proposals kind of necessitate looking at them as part of a larger story/universe, and I know some of these will as well (so much cross referencing happens), but for the most part I’m looking at each of these as their own thing.

(Also I’m not going to summarize the items. All the articles are readily available to be read online for free, so summarizing feels unnecessary. Some might get brief summaries, but it won’t be the rule)

SCP-002 - The “Living” Room

I like this one a lot, actually. It’s creepy. It’s weird. The most origin story it has is “it came from space.” All around, this is a good SCP. It’s a creepy room made out of flesh, hence the name, and if people go in, they run the risk of being added to the room. It’s just a lovely, creepy idea, and it really encapsulates what an SCP “is” to me.

10/10

SCP-003 - Biological Motherboard

I like this one, too. It’s weird, not necessarily malicious but still harmful, and just fundamentally alien. It’s another one where the idea is really everything that I want an SCP to be. I just generally love it.

10/10

SCP-004 - 12 Rusty Keys and the Door

See, this is why I like the “normal” skips more. They’re just things. Weird, creepy things. 

004 has a lot going for it. It’s got the whole “it’s bigger on the inside” thing (maybe I just don’t watch enough Doctor Who, but I feel like more people should be fundamentally broken by that revelation). It’s got one key that just straight up explodes people (technically most of the keys do that, but we only know where they end up with one of them). There’s time dilation in an alternate dimension, there’s mysterious creatures…it’s great. These early ones are all that existed when I first encountered the SCP Foundation, and they’re still some of my favorites.

10/10

SCP-005 - Skeleton Key

I love how mundane this one is. It’s just a key that can open literally any lock, mechanical or otherwise. It’s not inherently dangerous, though it can be used for dangerous things. It’s just weird. Skips like this are a large part of the appeal to me. There’s room for items that have the capacity to destroy everything, and I like those, too, but I like that there’s some that are just generally weird.

10/10

SCP-006 - Fountain of Youth

This is another mostly mundane one. Well, as mundane as you can get when the subject is a spring that produces water that lets you live forever. I’m ultimately torn on this one: the true “horror” of it, I think, is that they know it exists and only keep it for themselves (specifically, the O5s), but it’s still just special water? It definitely fits the “weird” category, and it definitely fuels other horror aspects of the Foundation, but on its own, I think it’s kinda weak.

2/10

[brief-candle]

ᴡɪᴛɴᴇss - Yoshikage Kira.

this has been a hiatus and a half, huh?

first of all, i'd like to apologise for the wait on this. and a couple of other requests that i've yet to do, but this in particular. because this is a good couple of months old and,, omg i can't believe it. i'm so so sorry

a lot has happened. college is back, unfortunately, and i've just been taking a lot of time to myself to avoid writer's block! as well as having wrote like 3000 words for this chapter and hating it all so then purging the vast majority of it to make it like twice as dark and gritty. kinda. still kinda iffy on most of it.

hope it's at least passable, and apologies that my long hiatus resulted in,, this.

anyways! here's wonderwall everyone's favourite hand fetishist!

series: jojo's bizarre adventure.

notes: yandere, choking, minor character death, general lack of niceness here.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰ 

Work wasn't exactly stressful, but by god it was boring. Day in, day out; nine until five, nothing was ever different. Not that you'd expected anything different. It just came with the process of being an adult.

You almost snorted sardonically, thoughts wandering back to school. Back then, your head was full of dreams of grandeur, of something far better than some dead end job sat in an office, achieving nothing before death finally arrived. However those ideas were little more than delusions that would never be given the chance to develop to fruitation. Such were the realities of life, that childhood dreams very rarely were given the chance to become a reality. A truth. Something more than an unachievable, faroff pipe dream that could only be experienced through hard drugs or strange dreams that one would shrug off or forget by the time that a coffee is poured. Ah, speaking of, you could really do with one of those right now.

It was like he had read your mind, as per usual you'd found with him, as a cup of coffee exactly to your tastes had found its way onto your desk.

"Ah, thanks Mr. Kira."

You'd found yourself coming almost quite close with the man, despite him usually keeping to himself and separating home life from work. Well, as close as one could get to someone who seemed to distance himself from those who worked with him, anyway. In a way, you'd found it rather admirable. Some colleagues may have thought the same, or disregarded it entirely, with how they fawned over him. It was pretty gross to watch, but you tended to keep such thoughts to yourself. Life was easier that way, as less drama came from it.

Besides, you could see where they were coming from in a way. It was clear to anyone with functioning eyes that Yoshikage Kira was attractive, with immaculate taste that only seemed to compliment naturally good looks. Especially with his smile, which seemed so broad and genuine. You envied him in a way, with beautiful features and a smile that could make many a heart skip a beat.

Though you supposed that you were no exception.

Even now, after so many coffees brought to you and so many small sessions of idle chat, you could practically feel your cheeks redden as he spoke. Voice like honey and smooth as silk, with such a charming expression to match. You could only hope that your cheeks weren't as red as they were warm to the touch. As long as no one noticed, it would be fine. You feared you'd die of embarrassment if your little schoolgirl crush on your coworker was exposed, even at this stage in adulthood. It truly was a pathetic situation. Especially when you couldn't even dream of calling him by his first name else you'd immediately regret it from the sheer embarrassment it could bring upon yourself. Besides, no one called Yoshikage Kira by anything but his surname, seeing as he tended to keep to himself and no one was close enough to acceptably use his given name.

Then that smile emerged, and the revelation that your heart was not immune to the effects of his charm made itself known like a slap in the face. Oh, how the mighty do fall. Or how the pathetic fall further.

"You're welcome."

Just those two words, spoken like they were imbued with the very essence of charm itself, and he was gone. You almost sighed, whether from relief for your heart or some sort of wistful longing was beyond you. Perhaps it was even a combination of both, seeing as that would most likely be your only conversation with the man that day. Maybe even for the next couple of days.

That said, your cheeks felt like they were on fire. This interaction had been different, shockingly so, as there was something more than words there.

It was almost funny how things so quickly changed. From there you'd ended up in what felt like some sort of alternate dimension, as strange and silly as such a thing sounded.

"Don't kill me...! Please- please! I won't tell a soul, I swear!"

It was just a drunken night out; the first in a while and a chance to catch up with some old friends for the first time in a long while. Your separate careers had prevented you doing so for a good few months at the very least. And oh, how you'd wished it had been delayed for a few months longer. How nice it was to imagine how differently it could've all gone, to find comfort in the infinite possibilities of 'if', to seek shelter in it away from the harrowing present splayed out in front of you.

Or the lack of things splayed out in front of you, that is.

You were just a normal office worker who liked their morning coffees a little too much. This sort of strange, otherworldly phenomena were way beyond you. Was this some sort of dream? A sick joke that life had decided to play on you?

It was easy to believe that. Much too easy to fall into disbelief. And yet you couldn't do it, with your throat feeling like it was being constricted torturously slowly, closing in on itself little by little. Fraction of a millimetre by fraction of a millimetre. Tear ducts had long since dried up in your panic and sheer, unbridled fear. How useful they'd be now, adding any sliver of extra punch to your last resort: begging for your life from what you had believed to be your just-as-normal coworker.

His gaze was cold. Sharp as it seemed to pierce you completely, and only further convinced you that it was over. Useless to do anything but sit there on your just as useless, quaking legs and take the death he'd grant and hope to any and all forms of God that it'd be quick. Hell, maybe he'd just erase you completely. Like what had happened to the rest of your friends, drunkenly foolish in their suggestion to follow your coworker for the sole purpose of revealing your mundane, fruitless crush. How childish it was, and how unfathomably huge the consequences were. How what you'd stumbled in on, little more than a hand with no body in sight that he grasped so tightly onto, with a strange smell and thickness to the air. How quickly his head had snapped around as you'd all turned around the corner into the apartment's living area, bumbling and brainless as you'd almost literally stumbled upon such a horrifying sight.

The screams bounced around your head, echoing off each wall of your brain and skull and everything. Vibrating and reverberating through your skeleton, before crashing to a sudden, incomplete halting.

"You weren't meant to be here."

His voice was smooth as always, icy as it never was. You would've described it as uncharacteristically so, if you weren't so firm in your realisation that the Yoshikage Kira that you'd known was little more than a façade for this...

Whatever this was in front of you.

His eyebrows furrowed, perfectly groomed in their shape like every other immaculate thing about him, and you briefly wondered why he hadn't spoken about his obvious displeasure. You would've asked if you could, but the heaving movements of your body quickly told you the reason why.

You were laughing.

"Don't you think," and, as if you weren't already convinced your grave had been dug there and then, you decided to pipe up with your foreign, cracking and hoarse voice, "that I'd love to be anywhere but here, too? You think we followed you asking to..."

Asking to what? To continue that question, rhetorical or not, it'd require you to have an ounce of knowledge as to what was going on. You didn't even have a fraction of a fraction of a clue. And so, hysterical laughter finally grinding to a slow and weak halt, just like the rest of you, you abandoned that train of thought and speech completely.

"Just get it over with."

He was still silent, as if listening to the heightening of pride and lack of fear many humans seemed to have when realising that death at the hands of another was inescapable.

"I mean-" it wasn't even a laugh, more of a dry and desperate huff than anything else, "what are you even waiting for? I bet you're enjoying this, aren't you, you disgusting fuckin--"

Then you were cut off, a force akin to a truck at full speed crashing into your neck and

tightening

its

hold.

The prior panic and fear reared its head again in full force, limbs thrashing and clawing at thin air. You could feel the imprints of ghostly fingers around your neck, silently gasping in a greedy attempt for air and out of groundless shock as they pushed and slammed your already disoriented, powerless form into a wall and pinning you there. It was confusion, panic panic panic panic as you continued to struggle.

Air came just after the darkness threatened to invade, and your aching lungs welcomed it with open arms.

Whatever invisible, untouchable hand had grasped your neck was still present, if the grooves threatening to choke you within an inch of your life again were anything to go by.

"Now, now, now," he'd said, moving closer. Each step seemed to bring the already very present threat of immediate death closer, as if even one step into his shadow could wipe someone off the face of the Earth without a trace nor second glance. And, at this point, you'd believe it.

His mouth was moving, words spoken but drowned out by endless roars and waves of deafening white noise. You had to crane your neck to look at his face, and the hand around your throat used its thumb (? did it have a thumb? you didn't know, and didn't care to know at that point) to do so after noticing your lack of effort to do so. His eyes were daggers, and lip curled in disapproval.

You were looking at him, but all you could see were your friends becoming less than dust.

How their eyes, dull and lifeless, blamed you wordlessly with oceans of contempt. It was your fault for not stopping them, for having such feelings for such a monster. Even if you didn't know; you must've known! It was impossible for you not to notice something so inhumane lurking under that mask of pleasant smiles and warm small talk.

Even sharper than his gaze was the pain in your scalp as he wrenched your head to the side. When had he kneeled down? You weren't aware; you weren't present. But you were. Were you? Through his staring, you could see their tears and the unclosed eyes, wide and frozen in time. Doomed to shock and fear for an eternity.

"It'd be wise for you to start listening." They screamed at you, for you. To join them, that you would join them. To run, to lie down and just let him off you already. To scream for help, as if anyone who'd have offered help in the first place wouldn't have come running by now.

"What's the point?"

You were still snappy, it seemed. As if begging him to send you to meet your friends. Maybe you were. It would probably be better than teetering on the line of panic and terrifying calmness, seesawing between them with too much ease and swiftness.

"This is why you should've been listening."

He released your hair, cool and unsettlingly neutral eyes wandering to one of your hands. They were lay by your side now, having given up on your struggling some time ago. You didn't struggle when he picked one up, either, cradling it and rubbing soft circles into it. There was no reaction from you. Just apathy, letting him continue as he liked. It was easier that way, and would bring a less painful fate.

"It seems your manners need some work," neither of you were sure if you were even listening anymore. You doubted he even cared either way, with the way he tended to your appendage, "but there's time. We can improve it, can't we?"

Surely not.

Absolutely not.

If he was meaning what you thought he was meaning, you suddenly found that death seemed much more favourable. Desirable, even, rather than a resignation of yours.

"Don't stare so dumbly."

Yoshikage was quick to chide you there, and even quicker to strike you not-too-gently upside your head. Not quite enough to black you out, but definitely enough to daze you for a good while. Not that it mattered too much if you weren't fully unconscious; your chance of escaping was incredibly slim to none even if you did know the way. After all, Yoshikage's routine was perfect. Always followed meticulously. All he needed to do to make sure you didn't wander was to slot you in there as well.

Your hands weren't the most beautiful. Definitely not when compared to prior girlfriends of his, but (strangely enough) they weren't his main focus for once. It was everything else, too, from the curve of your smile to the lightening up of your eyes, to the way you styled your hair and the scent of your perfume. A combination of the small, meticulously analysed details that made you... you. And this strange fascination made you one of a kind. Dangerous, really, yet he couldn't yet bring himself to be rid of you.

Maybe one day. It would be easier to continue living that way, without you to confuse him so after a lifetime of being certain about everything he'd done. Having planned his whole life, only for you to upset it all and throw off the delicate balance.

He'd make it work. Until the day he could bring himself to rid himself of you, you'd stay no matter what. Even moreso after what you'd witnessed, after you saw what he hadn't planned you to.

Though you won't be seeing much of anything anymore, really. Three rooms maximum don't really offer much in terms of variation in sights.

[thecreelhouse]

feral love || pt. 9

Paring: Steve Harrington x Witch!Reader

Summary: You come from a long line of witches in dark magic. You’ve never felt like you belonged, always feeling like you’d rather do good than evil with your magic. Another escape attempt leads your life’s path overlapping with Steve Harrington’s life, and things take a turn darker than you’d ever imagine.

Catch up here!

Word count: 4.8k

Warnings: language, violence, light gore/body horror

A/N: This is The Big Chapter™️ y’all, hope you’re ready. I may or may not have gotten weepy while writing* 😅 Next part will be the last! Enjoy! <3

———

Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours, long, excruciating hours as you watched time pass, waiting for the day to begin anew. It was just a waiting game until the sun would rise, then set again on Halloween, only to finally reveal the cover of darkness you waited for. It was a narrow window already, and the time it’d be open didn’t give much grace to work with. It wasn’t just a waiting game, it was a game of survival.

You glanced over at the clock, reading 3:33 A.M. and sighed, feeling exhausted but unable to sleep. Not until you had a plan on how to rescue Steve and erase Victoria’s existence from the face of the Earth. It was the only way to insure safety for both Steve and you, if you ever reached that finish line to begin with.

“You’re falling asleep sitting up, you should try to sleep for awhile.” Robin said, also carrying weariness in her own features. She had shown up after finishing a shift, long after Victoria vanished with Steve.

“Can’t. Not until we have a solid plan.” You mumbled, burning a small bundle of dried dandelions over a candle, being careful enough that you controlled the smoke with your powers. Still, you were thankful that Mr. & Mrs. Wheeler weren’t home to question their kids about any details of the night so far.

Nancy and Jonathan got back late, too, already fast asleep with most of the kids. The only one awake besides you and Robin was El, quietly watching you work over the worn coffee table.

“I still can’t believe the neighbors didn’t hear a damn thing,” Robin wondered out loud, and you laughed bitterly.

“That’s Victoria for you, always working her dirty tricks in a bubble, hiding it away from anyone nearby.” You explained, holding the bundle with one hand as you shaped the smoke with another into an orb. “I’m surprised the kids saw everything. I wish they didn’t.”

El frowned, looking at the smoke. “What is that?”

“It’s supposed to let me find people, kind of like your powers, but it’s not working the way I want it.” You admitted, gazing into the slow swirls of the smoke. “This spell isn’t really designed to work past our dimension.”

“So- so you really think she took Steve to- to the-“ Robin kept stalling, afraid to speak what was possibly the truth.

Sighing, you nodded, “The Upside Down? Unfortunately, yes.”

“Why can’t she leave you both alone for good?” El asked, brows knitting together.

Your heart sank at the innocence of her question; If only it were that easy.

“Practicing only dark magic for multiple lifetimes turns you cold enough to hurt others. She doesn’t know how to express emotions without negativity, so she uses that to hurt me for trying to break out of this cycle.”

You rested your head in your hands as your elbows rested against the table’s surface. You had a skull splitting headache for hours now, and the warning pain that shot up your spine still left a warm sting. Tears kept creeping up throughout the night, but you did your best to hold them back. Exhaustion finally broke you, though, and a sob escaped your lips.

“Hey, we’re gonna find him,” Robin assured as her arm wrapped around your shoulders, squeezing you into a side hug. “We’re gonna fix this, we’re not going to let Victoria win again.”

Tears fell from your face onto the table as you thought of the last time, nearly a century ago. Last time Victoria won, you thought it was Death this whole time who sent you to your early graves. It had only been Victoria glamoured as Death, meaning Death never came for you in the first place, never came after either you or your soulmate.

You rubbed your hands over your face with a sigh, “Maybe so, but the cost will be high.”

“What do you mean?” El asked with a frown.

“I—“ You hesitated for a moment, looking at El, then at Robin, then over at the rest of the Party, still sound asleep. “— I have an idea, and it might be the only shot we have, but I’m taking it if it guarantees Steve’s safe return.”

“Which is?” Robin asked, almost afraid for the answer.

Your gaze trailed back to the smoke, dissipating from its former sphere shape.

“I’ll have to play as dirty as she always has.”

———

Sleep didn’t rest long enough over your bones; you spent the time curled up on the old couch tossing and turning, having nightmares of the moment Steve was taken from you. You were lucky if you got at least an hour of sleep at a time, waking up each time clutching the pillow next to you tightly, eyes opening with disappointment that your hands weren’t around Steve. That he wasn’t here, he wasn’t safe, and you couldn’t even imagine the ways Victoria had been torturing him this whole time.

As the sun began to rise, marking the new day, you figured it was best to get something done while you couldn’t sleep, and off you went into the woods behind the Wheelers’ home. This part right now, was something you had to do alone, had to do without endangering anyone else.

The deeper you went into the woods, the stronger the energy felt around you. Wind blew in from behind you, almost pushing you in the direction you walked, guiding you. The air was crisp, almost sharp, a late fall frost crept along the surface of everything the sun had yet to touch. You walked until you found a clearing in the woods, an open circle where the thick forest wrapped around you.

Summoning Death, under any circumstances, was a risky, foolish move, but calling for her without any offerings was simply asking her to put you into an early grave. Still, you had no choices left, and you’d take your chances to save Steve.

Arms held out in front of you as your eyes closed, you began muttering incantations, calling for Death, begging for her help. A black static with a purple glow bounced between your fingers, and you turned your palms upright to the sky, releasing the twisting static to the air above you. It cracked into the sky, tearing a small opening in between the clouds of the early morning sky, invisible to those with mundane sight.

The static turned to lightning, cracking rapidly back into the ground, inches from your feet. You held your stance, though felt your legs wobble at the force of the shock. Thick smoke swirled around you, vanishing at the center as it continued swirling into a protective wall around you, just outside of the clearing’s edge.

Before you stood Death, in all her horrifying glory. To be fair, Death was as beautiful as she could be; wrapped in a hooded cloak like the mundane pictured the grim reaper in, only she wasn’t fully a skeleton underneath. Death’s face was half intact, half rotted off, but the side untouched was naturally beautiful, features glowing, almost to outshine the side that fell apart.

Legend had it her body hidden underneath was mostly rotting, too. Frozen in the process of decomposition. Her hair was long, silver, wiry but wavy. Her good eye had a silver glow to it, no pupil, just a solid, glowing silver orb. A sleeping, ghostly cat hung off her shoulder.

“My dear, it’s been a long while,” She spoke, her voice held an elegance above what most would expect Death to sound like. She looked to the ground, empty, then to your hands, empty again, before looking up at you, brow quirking. “Very bold to call upon me with nothing to offer.”

You bit your lip, wondering if this really was the only option. You made it this far, though and couldn’t turn back now.

“I know, I’m sorry, I desperately need your help.” You plead, trying to hold your shaking body still.

Death reached her partially bony hand out to you, cupping your face gently. The bones felt strange against your living, breathing skin, but you stomached it. This would all be worth it, for Steve.

“You’re losing him again, aren’t you, sweet child?” She spoke, and the sentence stung enough to prick tears at your eyes. You tried blinking them back. “Let it go, dear. Let the pain out.”

The destructive feelings that had been building up since you watched Victoria snatch Steve away from you broke, and broke with ease. You didn’t realize how tired you had become trying to hold them back for the last several hours. Tears fell, hot and fast, stinging your skin as they rolled down. Sobs racked your body, just like the night before.

“Please, please don’t take him from this lifetime.” You pleaded in between sobs, looking past your blurry tears to see Death frowning sympathetically at you. “Please, I’ll do anything. He doesn’t deserve to hurt again. He doesn’t deserve to die again.”

Death pulled back, reaching out to the cat waking up and crawling down her arm. She cradled the small cat, tickling its belly softly as she looked back at you. “You know, asking for such a favor is tampering with fate. Why are you so worried, child? You’ll find each other in the next life.”

“I don’t want him in the next life, I want Steve here, safe and sound!” You yelled, desperate for any help at this point. “I don’t want to keep this torture up of losing each other to find each other again. The curse is rotten enough without all of this on top of it.”

Death stopped petting the cat, gently setting it to her feet before bending back up to look at you. “My dear, what curse do you speak of?”

Your eyes glanced off from Death, in disbelief at her question, then back to her. “The curse you help carry through when dark magic witches stray from their roots. The one where we fall in love and are punished terribly for it.”

Death slipped a sharp laugh out, which only confused you further.

“What? What’s so funny about this? Nothing! Why are you amused by this pain!”

Death continued laughing, a tear slipping from her healthy eye, wiping it off with an exposed, bony finger.

“My child, that was always an urban legend. Simply a myth.” She said, trying to compose herself. You felt sick as her words hit your ears, bile rising in your throat. She finally noticed you were serious, and calmed down completely. “Nobody told you?”

You tried controlling your emotions, shaking your head ‘no’ while rage began pumping rapidly through your veins. Death’s face fell into an expression filled with sorrow, with pity. Your stomach only continued to churn with dread.

“Covens on the dark side of magic tell that to the children to keep them from straying away from the dark path.” Death explained softly. “Most find out in their teen or young adult years—“

“Yeah, something I’ve never reached this far until now, in this life,” You chuckled bitterly, thinking back to not just the past life in 1897, but the ones in between that life and this. You never had the chance to actually live a full, long lifetime. No one in your family let you. You never had the chance to grow up and grow old simply because your family put their selfish needs first, hoping with each reincarnation you’d be who they’ve always wanted.

In each new life you were born into, though, you had the same rebellious fire in your heart that kept you fighting towards the side of light, hoping you could finally break free.

“This whole time it was a lie. We lost our lives then over a lie.” You mumbled, looking off to the smoke that still swirled around the two of you. “So the time Victoria glamoured herself as you-“

“Excuse me? When was this?” Death interrupted, looking confused. The swirls of smoke formed into their own dark clouds, lightning cracking within them as Death’s demeanor shifted. “When did this happen?”

You didn’t realize Death was unaware of your sister’s betrayal, posing as Death to solidify her own wicked plan.

“Impersonating Death... what a coward Victoria is.” Death spoke calmly, though you could hear the anger laced in her words. “Glamouring either goddess of Life or Death is a punishable crime in our world, did you know that?”

As you shook your head again, you felt an unusual twist of fate begin to chase out the dread that was flooding your body. Was she saying what you thought she was?

“My sweet witch, where your family has failed you, I will not.” Death spoke, grasping your hands gently in her decomposing ones. You did your best not to flinch at the feeling, not wanting to offend her. “Victoria must learn once and for all that magic is and never was a game. I’ll assist you on taking her, banishing her from the Universe, once and for all. No do-overs, no rebirths.”

You couldn’t believe the words as they met your ears, trembling at the gift Death was giving you. The excitement didn’t last long, though, as you remembered with each gift she offers, Death always has a price.

“I’m afraid to ask what the cost of this could be,” You mumbled, heart racing at the thought. “What about Steve? Will he be safe? Can he stay?”

Death hummed knowingly, giving you a peculiar look, like you should’ve already known the answer. She was right, you did.

“One can stay, one must go. That is all I ask.” Death backed up from you, exhaling and pushing her hands towards your body. An unseen force hit you like a ton of bricks, but left you feeling more powerful than before. You looked down at your hands, where black lightning zipped between your fingertips, then looking up to find Death, and all the smoke surrounding you two, had vanished instantly.

Death’s last words rang in your ears, leaving a chill down your spine.

One can stay, one must go.

There was only one way this could finally, truly end.

———

The crisp, deep orange sun began to set beyond the trees out west of Hawkins as night was ready to fall. The moon hung low, impatiently waiting for her time to rise up from behind the trees in the east. You noticed already the blood red ring peeking out between the foliage, another sobering reminder that this was real. This was the last shot you had at fixing this mess, for good.

Though you argued with the kids to stay home, they all refused, and you knew you couldn’t stop them. They wanted to be there to help and support you and El in the fight, and welcome Steve back as soon as they could. Naturally, Robin mentioned her and the older teens should come along with, also wanting to help and protect the kids as well.

You really had no room to screw this up, not with everyone else’s lives on the line, but a small, silent part of you was grateful, as you didn’t want to go this alone.

Some of the Party brought their own weapons; Lucas with his trusty wrist-rocket, Nancy kept her gun close, El with her own powers, of course, and Robin with Steve’s nail-ridden bat. The kids promised to stay hidden and safe, only jumping in if necessary. El was the only one of the Party closer to the danger.

Following the sense in your powers that Death had heightened, you lead the group into the woods, where you could feel Victoria’s power source growing stronger with each step you took closer.

El was walking right behind you, alert with her hands ready to throw her telekinetic forces if necessary. You kept thinking about the meeting with Death, and how you hadn’t told the group everything you and Death agreed on. You slowed a bit to El’s side, and she looked up at you with a questioning expression.

“El, can I trust you with something?” You asked, and El nodded softly, trying not to bring attention to either of you. “I need you to close the gate when I say so, got it?”

El frowned, brows furrowed. “When everyone is safe?”

“Most importantly Steve and all of you.”

El grew quiet, connecting the dots in her head. “And you?”

You gulped, nervous for your plans to skew away from everyone else’s. “I— It’ll be okay. I just need you to do this for me, for everyone, okay? When I say so, you have to close it.”

El reached for your hand and tugged, looking up at you, “It’s not far behind.”

You were the one left in confusion this time, but knew El had seen something, and knew not to question it, for it would make sense in time. You rustled her hair gently, earning a giggle from her as you pushed on toward the spot where your sister was waiting.

The moon was high, now, beaming through the trees, still a deep red. Something within you told you ‘Stop’, so, you did, holding your arms out to signal to the group to stop, too. It was an open clearing, like earlier, but the woods were thicker around it, keeping you from seeing much beyond them. The moon hung over the opening, practically covering the sky from here, like a giant lamp overhead.

Robin hung back behind you, looked up, then back at you, bat balanced over her shoulder. “This is it?”

Before you could answer, deep red lightning struck down from the clear sky, splitting a tall oak tree right down the middle. The crater it opened within the tree’s trunk glowed red, with a gooey, slimy mass at its edges.

“Is- is that-“

“Yeah,” Nancy answered quickly, nervous to see a gate in person again.

“Remember what I said, stay safe, and if you are in danger, get out, run. Do not let Victoria fool you.” You muttered under your breath quickly, watching the gate yawn open, while a gruesome looking creature climbed out, flapping its petal like head open while growling.

“Shit, not demodogs again,” Dustin cursed, and you looked over to him, about to ask, when Will cut in.

“I can feel him, but he- he’s not here.” Will panicked, “His- his powers are here, but he’s not-“

“The Mind Flayer?” Mike asked, and Will nodded. Another demodog tumbled out of the gate.

Lucas stretched the band of his wrist rocket as his eyes landed on a few more, all growling as they stepped foot into their dimension; he held his aim to protect his friends. “Do you think... Victoria has his powers?”

“What happens if she does?” Jonathan asked, but that wasn’t something you had an answer to.

“Fuck, we’re so screwed.” Max grumbled as her hands tightened into sturdy fists, raising them in front of her, too.

“Stay alert, who knows what kind of rotten tricks she has lying in wait.” You warned, stepping forward into the circle. The demodogs all turned towards you, growling viciously, and you gulped. You never dealt with a monster like that before.

A long, bony hand emerged from the gate, and another, pushing themselves up and out of the gate. Victoria dusted herself off as she stepped onto the ground, covered in crunchy leaves, before walking towards you. The demodogs guarded her, and she had a sinister smirk upon her face.

“Ah! My dearest sibling! So elated you could join us!” Victoria laughed sharply, standing tall and proud.

“Where’s Steve?” You firmly asked, and she shrugged. Your blood began to boil. “Where is Steve?!”

“We can’t make things fun anymore, can we?” Victoria whined, rolling her eyes as she snapped her fingers, sending another strike of red lightning down from the sky. As the smoke cleared, Steve laid in the leaves, unconscious, limp and restrained. Your heart shattered at the sight of him, roughed up and weakened down to this state. His skin was faded to a ghastly pale colour, and his breathing was shallow. Anger coiled in your gut.

“Let’s not waste any time, shall we? The veil is thin, and I think this is a perfect send off for your lover, again.” Victoria said boldly, smirking. Her hand held out above the demodogs, then flickered her gaze up to you, then just beyond you, where the rest of the group stood.

“Head’s up!” You screamed back, throwing your own hands up to cast a sheer, black and silver shield of power behind you, covering your friends in safety. A demodog slipped through just before the shield went up, but El wasted no time flinging the dog into the darkness of the woods. Its whines echoed as it flew off in the air.

“Ah, you brought your friends to play, too, hm?” Victoria implored, twisting her arm to another demodog, sending it off. It hit your shield, whimpering in pain, but fought through it, heading towards the kids. “I love a good challenge.”

Lucas shot a rock at the demodog before it could take notice of how close it was to Will. While it was distracted, Nancy shot it, causing it to stumble backwards and keel over.

Victoria moved quickly, teleporting at a rapid pace, darting from one side to the other, making you dizzy as she disappeared and reappeared over and over again. She appeared directly in front of you, sending you flying into a tree. Your body hit the tree with an incredible force, pain radiating through your body, though it dissipated quickly, much to your surprise.

Every turn to your powers, you knew Death had a hand in. She wanted you to win this, wanted to wipe Victoria’s existence into the void of the unknown, wanted justice once and for all. Still, Victoria wasn’t about to give in easily.

Holding her arms out, she screamed, and black shadows erupted from her finger tips, whipping around the trees to reach for you at all angles. The ghastly limbs wrapped around your ankles and wrists, pulling you into the air as you struggled to be free.

“You really think you and your friends were a match to my powers? With my powers combined with Mother and Father’s, as well as the Mind Flayer, you’re bound to lose, little sibling.” Victoria spat as she rose to your level. Your eyes darted to Steve, still unconscious on the forest floor, then to the rest of the group fighting off the demodogs who kept coming their way, avoiding your shield.

“You don’t need to live this way, Victoria.” You said, searching her eyes for any empathy left. She was reborn again and again with nothing but selfishness deep in her bones.

“And what? Fall in love like you have? How pathetic, wasting your potential on the mundane. Your precious Steve was an absolute bore to hold hostage.” Victoria snarked, and your fists balled up at the mention of him being held against his will. “Was my warning all those ages ago not good enough? Was me playing Death not enough to scare you back onto the path of darkness?”

You tugged at the restraints more, eyes keeping a check on the scene below. You held your eyes back from lighting up at the sight of Robin, Nancy and Jonathan sneaking over to Steve, hoping Victoria wouldn’t notice. The few dogs left were pummeled to a pulp by Robin as she swung the bat, or where Lucas hit them skillfully in the places that inflicted damage the most, eventually obliterated by El. Nancy and Jonathan grabbed Steve, moving him quickly to the edge of the clearing, where he’d be safe, out of reach of Victoria’s cast circle.

Victoria twisted her hand, and one of the shadowy limbs twisted your wrist, causing you to yelp in pain. She did it again with the other wrist, feeling your bones twist individually as they cracked under the pressure.

“You’ll never hurt a single soul, mundane or magical, ever again, Victoria.” You forced out, face scrunched in pain as the effects spread up your arms, up your legs, twisting your bones individually.

“Oh, is that so?” She laughed, reaching out to pinch your face. “Enlighten me, dear sibling.”

Your head hung lows as you winced in pain, holding back your own tears before breathing out, “Death has no mercy among those in her debt.”

Victoria’s eyes widened in fear as black lightning shot down from the sky, knocking Victoria out of the air. Her body fell like a rag doll, slamming on the ground with a sickening sound. Still, she pushed her shaking body up to her feet, sending off red lightning to the branches of the trees around the circle. Branches reached out like greedy hands, tossing your body across the circle effortlessly. You hit a tree again, and slid down the bark, vision dizzy and mind clouded. You couldn’t give up, not yet.

The distant cries and screams from the Party muffled out even more as your vision tunneled in, and you reached a hand out towards Victoria, holding her in a chokehold by an unseen force. She grasped at her neck helplessly while gasping for air. What would’ve been a difficult spell for you, Death made a piece of cake. Holding your grip, you looked back at the group, just beyond the cast circle, and back at Victoria before throwing her body high into the air, and slamming it back down. You knew it’d only stun her for a moment, but you’d take any time you could get.

Sprinting towards the edge of the circle, you fell to the ground, quickly taking Steve up into your arms. He began to stir, groaning weakly, but his hands gently gripped you back.

You ignored the questions and concerns pouring from everyone else, and grabbed Steve’s face, shaking him gently. His eyes opened, barely, but enough to see a blurry outline of you.

“Y/N?... Is that you?” Steve asked, bewildered as he tried to bring himself into reality faster. Whatever spells Victoria had over him were nearly drugging him, to say the least.

“Steve, you’re safe now,” You said quickly, looking over your shoulder to see Victoria stir, groaning in pain. You looked back at Steve, “I don’t have much time, love.”

Steve’s eyes slowly began to open more, adjusting to his surroundings. His brows crinkled at the scene finally appearing before him. The exhaustion leftover from the spells made him feel dizzy and heavy. “Much time f- for what?”

You heard Victoria growl in anger, writhing around on the forest floor, but didn’t take your eyes off Steve as you continued to cup his face. “I love you, always. I told you I’d do anything to protect you, to make up for the mistakes long ago.”

Steve sat up more, pushing past his own aches and pains while he coughed, but looked at you panicked. “What are you doing? Wait- wait- hold on-“

You pulled him close, kissing him firmly, memorizing the shape of his lips against yours, the way his hands gripped your hips, the sound of his sharp breath as you kissed him quickly, before pulling away.

“We’ll find each other again,” You promised, unable to hold tears back, and Steve’s eyes grew wide at the sight, realizing what this meant. He scrambled to hold onto you, but you pushed yourself back into the circle, out of arm’s reach.

“No, no! I can’t lose you again!” Steve yelled, but the older teens held him back, knowing the main priority of this mission was to get Steve back, and keep him safe.

You ignored his cries, ignored the way your heart crumbled at his voice breaking, and lunged for Victoria, who had finally gotten back up, only to be knocked off her feet again. She wailed, unable to accept defeat, while trying to claw at your face. You held her in a chokehold, just the way she held Steve the night she stole him away. You floated above the open gate in the tree’s trunk, and with a great, inhuman force, one that could move a thousand mountains, snapped Victoria’s neck, crushing her bones into dust. The gory crunch echoed out into the woods as you dropped her limp body into the gate below.

Steve’s eyes met yours, and your chest felt heavy with grief. For a moment, you almost stayed back. You wanted so badly to stay behind, but this wasn’t the way the plan was made, and you weren’t one to rise up against Death, especially not after all she had done for you.

“Eleven! Close it, now!” You screamed, and El pushed forward in front of the group, hands out, already screaming into the night sky while blood gushed from her nose and ears. You took a deep breath, and dropped yourself into the darkness of the Upside Down.

This isn’t where it had started, but this was where it would end, once and for all.

———

Taglist: @harringtown @harrington-ofhawkins @nxncywheeler @heart-eye-harrington @comedy-witch @mochminnie @starssscary @anotherr-fine-mess @asheseiler

[fmdjace]

◤you won't love me less

❝ if i introduce you to my demons, tell me

solo related to fmdbaseonline1.3 date: sometime late january, 2021 song choice: love me less word count: 503 notes: i guess he is a lil sad? maybe even bitter

jihoon loved sad songs. he loved making upbeat songs with sad lyrics, loved sad music with sad lyrics, acoustic songs with sad lyrics. the list of combinations goes on, a lot longer than jihoon has managed to show off in quantum’s discography. so picking a song for such event, he wanted to it to be something he didn’t have the opportunity to do with his group.

he picked and picked songs, starting from a large list of options, hitting a solid double digits, cutting it down to no more than one and working with that. he had an idea of how he wanted it to go, acoustic guitar, somewhere without many people. he gave his little instructions to the staff, to see what they would like to do best. jihoon wasn’t a picky guy when it came to locations, as long as his criteria was met.

that’s how he found himself in a rather small studio, not well lit, but then again, he was yet to see a well lit studio. it was just him, a guitarist he had picked out when he decided on the song, a camera man and a few staff members he recognized. it seemed like it wouldn’t be a big deal and he was glad. it doesn’t take long after that for him to be given instructions on what will happen, how it will happen. the idol just takes it in and works with what he has got.

they take a lot of takes, from different angles, from different positions around the room. it shows thought and dedication to jihoon, even if he isn’t the one doing the most work. he was sat on one of the amps, leaning against it more so, singing to the music the guitar was creating.

it wasn’t like he had experienced the main topic of what the song was talking about: love. he personally was just relating it to his inability to open up.

i got too much dirt to come clean closets full of skeletons that you don't wanna see will you judge me? all my ugly? i won't blame you if you do

but people didn’t have to know about that, they would just assume it was yet another love song. it’s exactly what jihoon wants people to think. he is just worried that the love of his life will leave him when he opens up and that was all there was to this cover. a little venture into what songs he wants to write and hopefully will someday.

i'm happy you never saw me in college blood on my hands I refuse to acknowledge that's why i get light-headed, thin ice that i'm treadin'

he allows himself to get into the song, to feel it and enjoy the lyrics. he didn’t know how much the staff knew what the song was about, but as long as he could see them feeling what he was portraying with his voice, he was fine.

after all, he dropped his initial dream of being a recognized dancer, now mixed with being a vocalist, but dimensions would push the variety persona. jihoon took the step of doing something, a lot, out of his comfort zone. singing was the first step, to show he was willing to change in the direction the company wanted. so here he was now, a variety idol.

baby, would you love me less if you knew the places that i've been? if you knew the damage that i did?

[demon-winchester]

Tremors Behind The Veil Chapter 4

-Chapter 4-

Aiden’s POV:

"How did you find me?" I asked, breaking the silence. She sighed. "I felt something a few hours after we had that talk and I kind of knew you were in trouble. I had kept your jacket from when we were in the cathedral and I used it to open a portal and track you here" she answered. "Well, I guess I am lucky then" I chuckled. 

"Oh wait, yeah.... How the hell did I get here" I said dumbfounded. "What's the last thing you remember" she asked. "Well, I went back to a hotel after the mindfuck and the dragons". "THE WHAT" she interrupted me. "Pfffft, the fucking dragons" I continued, "As it seems, seeing stuff is a part of having superpowers". "Superpowers?" she asked interrupting me again "You're no Batman. Boy, you are both blessed and cursed with these extraordinary abilities" she continued. "Batman didn’t have superpowers" I said with a proud smile and even though she was walking in front  of me I just KNEW she rolled her eyes. "I want to know more about these dragons once we get out of here" she continued. "Ummm we have another problem" I said hastily, "I need my sword back... It got destroyed in the fight". "Oh dear Lilith, you're full of surprises, you should know that" she groaned. "There are skeleton weapons. Once one of yours get destroyed you need to find one of these and bind it. They basically are empty husks that need some of your form's DNA to be able to be used by you as a true weapon". "Perfect" I answered with a smile, "where do I get one?". "About that.... All the known ones are locked up tight by Omnis on their nests" she answered. "Okay, I have a few questions" I interrupted. "Don't cut me off, I was about to tell you", the anger in her voice was obvious. "Omnis are powerful Accursed that have a hold over less powerful ones of their respected race. In this city I know of three nests. Firstly we have Touch, a club owned by Sylvia, a powerful vampire. Next up, we have the headquarters of Lien, the famous Fashion House, owned by Levi, a powerful shapeshifter. Last but not least Red Tiger, brothel obviously owned by a succubus called Stella ironically. " " Did I answer your questions?"she asked". "Yeap" I answered "I guess I know what we're doing after we get the hell out of here". "Oh yeah... Where the fuck are we... You were going to explain how the fuck I got here". "Almost forgot, the dragons took me by surprise" she chuckled. "Alright, so I finally reached the hotel and I just fell asleep... Then boom snow everywhere" I concluded. "Hmmmm, honestly, I have no idea, a mystery I guess" she answered concerned. "Holy shit, you know things are weird when miss know-it-all is at a loss for words" I sassed. "Do you at least know where we are?" I asked. "Oh yeah, we're in an alternate dimension whe-" she tried to talk. "IN A FUCKING WHAT?!?! HOW THE ACTUAL FUCK DID I COME HERE" I basically screamed interrupting her. "Rude, to be honest but I'll let it pass. We're in an alternate dimension as I was saying... It's only inhabited by people who don't want to be found and well... Us at this moment" she continued. "We need to get back.. HOW CAN YOU STAY SO CALM FOR CHRIST'S SAKE" I screamed. "Silence" she groaned stopping me. "I'm trying to get us out all this time and I think I got it, if you just follow me for a bit we'll be gone in no time. And please for the love of Lilith keep quiet". We kept walking in absolute silence and we finally reached a circle made of quartz. "At last" she said breaking the silence "create some of your darkness and shoot it straight in the middle. And in all seriousness try to think of your room in the hotel, we don't want to end up somewhere unexpectedly... The cosmos is a strange place. "  she added. I started shooting straight in the middle and the only thing I could think was the room. Suddenly black lines came straight out of the circle and they hit us. Everything went black for a moment and we appeared in the middle of a graveyard... 

Whistles were all around us. "I'm sorry, I thought I only thought of the room" I apologized. "Oh hell, don't be sorry, it's not your fault,we fell in a trap" she replied.

"Harbingers all around us". As she said that the whistling stopped and they started raising from the ground right in front of our eyes... We were surrounded. The air was full of tension and it was an unspoken truth that whoever moved first would either attack or defend. You could see their nails scratching each other craving the feel of flesh. Smoke coming out of their mouths with a horrid stench that reached our noses."What do we do?" I whispered to her, my lips barely moving. "The choice is yours to be made" she answered. "Now" she whispered. I let out a breath. I started suiting up and a Harbinger decided to attack. Mid transformation I caught it by its throat. It was struggling and I could feel the armor covering me. I started applying pressure.

Circe's POV: You could hear the thing struggling to breathe. A cracking sound traveled through the air. "It's not killing if it isn't human" Aiden said with a slight grim smile, darkness starting to cover his throat. He was now wearing his armor and just in time, the Harbingers started rushing towards. Their screams covering the air. Aiden pulled me down. His wings suddenly materialized. We were face to face , kneeling down with the wings protecting us from the attacks. I could smell the Harbingers and their foul scent. Sounds all over, you almost couldn't diversify from one another. Screaming, crying, nails hitting flesh, nails hitting armor. All I could see was his face. His eyes had turned black, darkness vines were expanding from his throat and I thought I could see tears. "I can't anymore" he said, "I'm sorry". He grabbed my arms and at once we were flying. I could see Harbingers still on our tail. "They are still behind us" I said. "I know" he replied hastily and the wings started going faster and faster but to no avail. They were rapidly covering ground. "Circe, what's happening?" he asked,"why am I suddenly awfully tired..", "The sword" I sighed. "When your form is missing something you are less and less powerful" I answered. "Please, try to hold on a little bit longer".... He screamed. "I can't. I - I'm sorry" he groaned. We were starting to lose height and I could see black feathers almost abandoning the wings. "Brace yourself" he howled.

Aiden's POV: I can't take it anymore I thought to myself. We hit the ground. I was okay but Circe went blackout on me from the fall. I know the bastards were right behind us. I picked her up and I started walking dragging my wings behind me, I couldn't keep them up anymore. The screams were getting closer. One came out of nowhere and it hit me pushing me on to a wall. I summoned my gun and I managed to shoot its head and banish it just as its "friends" decided to show up. I started running. It was a lost cause... I couldn't outrun them. I couldn't outshoot them, they were too many, they were too fast and I was too tired. I felt nails on my neck and I was pushed back falling down. They took Circe out of my grasp and they started hitting me breaking my armor and hurting my wings. One of them took her and it started flying away.A few seconds passed, the ones hitting me turned to smoke and they flew away too. I dragged myself to the nearest wall in order to get back to my feet, I tried to support myself but i fell down on my knees. "I'll get you back" I said under my breath and I slowly started weeping.

[sparklyricee]

This isn’t an episode but here’s a Janstar fanfic I FINALLY FINISHED

Janstar story thing

It’s been awhile since Star has been in a relationship. Well, since she and Marco broke up. Star promised herself that she would let herself take a break from the romance, knowing it’s only caused her trouble anyways. She’s still friends with Marco, even though things are a bit awkward, but she’s okay with it. It’s better for things to be a bit weird than to be on bad terms with someone, for the most part at least.

Star has been hanging out with Janna more, getting back all that time not spent due to being with Marco and figuring things out on earthni. Her and Janna would usually talk and chill out at her place, or wonder around, checking out the weird new dimension Star created by accident. The only downfall of that, was that Star was slowly developing feelings for Janna.

Star has already felt this way for awhile, but never acknowledged that they were those kind of feelings. Mostly because she didn’t realize she was gay until her and Tom got back together. Which by her luck, Tom was very supportive of her and was also bisexual.

Star didn’t want to let her impulsive urge to jump into things take over, she wanted to wait it out and see how much closer they would get. Janna and Star were already close friends, but she had no idea how Janna would feel about her having these kind of feelings. She knows that Janna also likes girls, but Janna didn’t really talk about her love life that much. The last time that happened she went on a date with a skeleton guy and refused to tell Star why they didn’t go on a second date.

She really wanted to tell Janna how she felt, but Star was nervous about how she would react. Even though Janna was pretty chill with a lot of things, Star knew she would get panicky when it came to people liking her. And Star didn’t want this to come off as her hoping from one person to another, which was one of the reason she took a break in the first place. Other than the fact that she need an emotional break from relationships. She didn’t want to take any chances of ruining her friendship with Janna. Other than Ponyhead, She’s the only other close girl friend that she has right now.

The girls were once again at Janna’s house, they were in her room, sitting on her bed. Janna was talking about her new tarot cards that came in today. They were all shiny with dark colors and pretty pictures, that’s how Star always saw them anyways, still not knowing exactly how they worked. Janna couldn’t stop smiling and her eyes were bright as she messed with the cards. Star always though Janna was the prettiest when she lit up the way she did with things she’s passionate about. Her beaming brown eyes had Star melt every time, her smile made Star’s heart drop. Star loved seeing Janna genuinely happy, it’s not often she shows that side of her.

Star was having one of her intrusive thoughts of “I need to tell her” days. But this time it wasn’t just her not being able to keep a secret, she felt that maybe this was a good time. She’s waited 6 months to make the move.

Janna moved to the topic of star signs, this was Star’s chance to possibly make a move.

“Soo uh, who’s all compatible with Capricorn’s?” Star asks.

Janna looked up at her and the back down at her bed. “Hmm, I’m pretty sure it’s Cancer, Taurus, Virgo, Libra, Pisces, Scorpio.”

Star face started to turn red, Janna was a Scorpio and she was a Capricorn. She wasn’t going to fully depend on the stars to prove her point, but it would make sense.

“Aren’t you a Scorpio?” Star asked. She immediately regretted asking that.

“Yeah, why?” Janna responded.

This was already going downhill.

Star froze, not knowing how to answer without actually telling her the truth. That’s why she asked right? She couldn’t be sly this time.

“N- no reason! Just making sure.” Star stuttered.

Janna furrowed her eyebrows and poked Star’s arm. “Hey, what’s going on with you?” She asked.

“Nothing!” Star chuckled. Go going Star.

Janna crossed her arms and smirked. “Star, you know you can’t lie to me.” She said.

Star started to felt really anxious, why was this going so horribly?

“Why, is it because of your ‘Scorpio senses’?” Star smarted off. “Star why are you doing this?? Why do you have to get so defensive?? Just tell her!” She thought to herself. Her acting like this wasn’t helping her redeeming herself.

“You’re a horrible lair.” Janna said.

Star really couldn’t disagree with her though, Janna knew when she was lying. She seemed always know when her friends were lying. Star was never really the best at lying either way but she knew that she couldn’t get out of this one.

Star sighed. “I’m sorry Janna, I didn’t mean to come off like that.” She said covering her face with her hands.

Janna knew something was up and she really wanted to know, Star hasn’t been this jumpy since her and Tom broke up.

“Like what? Star, please tell me what’s going on. You’ve been acting weird for the past few weeks and I’m..kinda concerned.” Janna said.

Janna put her cards away and sat in front of Star on her bed. Star saw the worried look on her face, which made her more anxious. She tried to avoid eye contact for her to possibly calm down. But nothing was helping, she couldn’t even get words to come out of her mouth to tell her. Star’s heart was pounding and her face was red. Then out of impulse, she did something that was crazier than telling her how she felt. Star closed her eyes, quickly leaned in and kissed her.

It felt like everything around them went dead silent. Janna froze with her eyes widen. Her mind went completely blank for a few seconds. Her lips were so soft, she was about to kiss back but Star pulled away quickly.

What just happened?

Both of the girls faces were burning red. Star heart was racing, not knowing why she did that, and most importantly Janna.

Janna looked up at Star and saw the terror on her face. Janna had no idea what was going on and didn’t think Star knew what she just did.

“I’m- I’m sorry..” Star said.

Before Janna could say anything, Star quickly stood up and grabbed her heart purse. “I need to go.” She said.

Janna wasn’t going to let Star leave, now she more than ever wanted to know what was going on.

“No wait!” Janna said grabbing Star’s arm. Star turned back to Janna and saw her leaning off the bed so she could catch her.

“Please, talk to me.” Janna was basically begging Star at this point. She was so confused for all of this happening at once.

Star felt sick to her stomach, but this was almost not as bad as she thought it was going to be, since Janna was taking it slightly better than she thought she would.

Star let out a heavy sigh, and she sat in front of Janna on her bed.

“I..I really like you, but that wasn’t supposedly happen.” Star said.

Janna looked away. “Yeah, I uh..kinda figured that you didn’t mean to do that. But..why though?”

Star was shocked by her response. “What you mean why? You’re like, the coolest girl ever.” She said.

Janna’s heart started to pound, she always thought Star was cooler than her. Hence why she always wanted to show Star her magic things. But, Star thinking that she was cool too?

“You, really think I’m that cool?” Janna laughed nervously.

“Of course! You can do magic anytime you want! Your earthy magic is so interesting to me! And just the way you’re so passionate about it too...” Star responded.

“I mean, your magic is really cool too. You can do literally almost anything with it. “ Janna said.

“Yeah but, I don’t have that anymore, but you still have yours. You get so excited when you talk about those things and it just.. it makes me feel all warm inside. Seeing you light up about those things makes me happy too..” Star said.

Janna’s face turned red again, she’s never been complimented like that before.

“And you know, I’ve had feelings for you for a while now..and I didn’t want you to freak out because of that...and I thought they would go away after awhile but they just gotten more intense the more I tried to deny it and act like they weren’t there. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship..” She added.

Janna really didn’t know what to say, she was still trying to comprehend that Star even had feelings for her like that. But she knows how that is, it sucks.

“ I get how you feel, holding it back is really hard.” Janna said.

“It was.” Star said.

“I think you’re cool too Star.. and pretty..” Janna said.

Star’s eyes widened. “Wait.. you like me back??”

“Of course I like you! You’re like..the coolest person I’ve ever met. “

Star’s eyes lit up, her face started to feel hot again. She thought it was crazy that Janna thought she was cool, since she obviously think of herself like that.

“Well.. I guess..we should date then?” Star hesitated.

Janna’s heart started beating fast again, she never thought this day would come.

“Umm well, I’ve never dated another girl before.” She said nervously.

Star laughed. “I haven’t either..”

They both looked at each other awkwardly, not exactly knowing what to say next.

“Well,...I guess we can try this out. I mean since we’re on the same page.” Janna said.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Star said.

There was another awkward silence, Star bit her lip.

“Soooo, I guess you’re my girlfriend now.” She said with her face red.

Janna laughed, “Yeah, I guess I am.”

The girls both laughed nervously, but this time it seemed more out of contained excitement.

This didn’t turn out to be a disaster after all.

[loser-62]

first dph trip

trip report.

I've been looking into dph for a while now and finally decided to give it a shot last night. Keep in mind that I am just under 100lbs (approx 96lbs) and do not have any prior experience with any other hallucinogen/deliriant. Spoiler alert: I fucking loved the trip and will definitely try it again soon at a higher dose. This trip is a memory that I will cherish and hold onto for the rest of my life and I am so glad I did it. I want to go back to that world.

Ok, now for the actual trip:

26/9/19

3:30pm - Initial dose: 150mg

I decided to start off with a low dose because of my weight and then increase as the day went on. I didn't feel different until after about an hour and a half, which is when I started to feel kind of drunk and dizzy (pretty sure it took that long because I had just eaten a lot of food). It took some effort to walk completely straight and I was getting really drowsy. I started seeing little movements in the corners of my eyes and faint shadows that weren't there.

When I would stare at the wall it started shifting and moving around; it looked almost like it was breathing. After a few seconds of staring, I started seeing little creatures in the wall (they kind of blended into the wall but were definitely discernable). At first, I saw a tiny dancing skeleton (it was dancing very aggressivly, like flailing its arms quickly), and then I saw a bull trying to ram itself into the wall repeatedly; it looked angry and like it wanted to attack me. I came to the conclusion that I was looking into an alternate dimension (the wall dimension) and that the creatures I was seeing were trying to escape it and get through the wall.

After this I decided to take a walk to try and get less tired. It was pretty uneventful. All I saw were little shadows on the ground and I kept seeing a fluorescent blue dot (like an orb) flying around in front of me. At some point during the walk I started seeing floaters VERY visibly everywhere I looked, and I could control where they moved with my eyes. I moved a floater next to me and pretended that it was my ghost friend and that we were taking a walk together.

(Floaters):

After this I went back home and just chilled out. I saw a few rainbows which was pretty cool but I was just really drowsy and I was starting to get a little bored/disappointed at my trip.

Forgot to mention that throughout this whole thing I felt butterflies in my stomach and very nervous, but I'm really used to paranoia and just ignored it.

7:00pm - Added 100mg (total dose - 250mg)

I took an extra 100mg and waited for about an hour and a half. While I was waiting for this dose to kick in I took my dog on a walk. At some point during the walk I looked at the sky and saw a bat flying around and then disappearing. I saw this around 3 times and everytime I would try to follow it but it would just disappear into the mist. I'm not sure if this was a hallucination or not but I could see the "bat" outline very clearly and proportionately if it was real it would have been a huge bat, so I'm pretty certain it wasn't real. Otherwise, the walk was pretty boring.

When I got home I decided to try and eat dinner. My parents had bought sushi. I tried eating it but my appetite was completely gone and I had to go outside to spit it out. Swallowing felt very weird since it felt like my mouth was completely numb.

10:00pm(ish??) (at this point I really wasn't paying attention to the time)

Now I just felt really drowsy and like the force of gravity was ten times stronger, very similar to being on xanax. I didn't really feel anything kicking in so I decided to go outside and listen to music. While I was outside I took two hits off a wax pen and got very high (felt like being cross-faded, I usually dont get that faded off two hits). I felt like it had gone away in a few minutes however and I started to feel very clearheaded/lightheaded. This is when the visual and audio hallucinations REALLY started kicking in. The first thing I saw was a lamp shift into a little person, but it turned back into a lamp when I blinked (I was still outside at this point). Then, on a wall, I saw hatman. I had been reading about hatman earlier so I think my mind was predisposed to the idea of seeing him. His face was completely black, as was his hat, and I wasn't really scared (moreso interested) because I kept telling myself in my head that it was just a hallucination.

I started walking around my backyard and slowly things began appearing. It got to a point where I just saw random people laying down/sitting on the ground just chilling. The first actual entity I saw was a skeleton. It was sticking out of the ground and only its upper body was visible. It was moving its arms around really fast like it was trying to dance. It kind of spooked me but I thought it was cool. After this I approached a plant and saw a plant creature. This actually terrified me. I walked toward it and it slowly turned its head to look at me, to which I responded by turning around and noping the fuck out. After that I just kept telling myself "It's just a hallucination it's just a hallucination" over and over again in my head which really calmed me down. Even if I was kind of scared (and the paranoia started up again) I was honestly having a good time because I thought the hallucinations were really cool.

I saw a little girl and I got a strange feeling that she might be a demon. It reminded me of the little demon boy from The Conjuring that was just happily running around the house. She was sitting down and I tried talking to her. She turned her head toward me then disappeared.

After this I kept walking around and in between two plants I saw hatman again. I only saw his head, which was now a skull, and his hat was still all black. The more I stared at him the more real he looked. At first I just saw his head floating but after a few minutes his whole body had manifested in front of me and it looked so real, like an actual being was just standing in front of me. He was wearing a really big jacket and black pants. He was very tall. I asked him questions like "Why are you here" and we began having a conversation. When I turned around and looked back at him his head was now that of a human boy (not a skeleton), so I just said "Oh, so you're a shapeshifter then," and he began explaining that he was from another dimension and had many forms. I said "so this is your human form," to which he just shook his head no. We talked for a little longer and he actually turned out to be a really nice guy. I hope I see him again the next time I trip.

I went over to the plant creature I saw earlier (I'll just call her plant girl) and decided to try and talk to her. She didn't really respond but looked really sad, so I asked her if she was being held captive (I don't know why). I don't remember her response but I remember seeing a tiny pitch black wolf with glowy red eyes right behind her and looking very angry with me, so I assumed she was being kept by him. I walked off.

Throughout this whole time I had been seeing a large fluffy duck walking around my backyard, but when I tried getting close to it it disappeared, and eventually it turned into a young boy laying in the grass (who eerily looked like me). I went back to see hatman and he was still there, so I had another short conversation with him but I don't recall what we said.

Then I saw a pitch black figure with a black hat (it wasn't hatman though) and this is the only hallucination I actually got scared of and thought was evil. It was just standing there looking at me and was very unsettling, even if I knew it was just a hallucination.

I saw a few more things, like when I looked over the fence into my neighbor's backyard, I saw a white man in a white suit and white hat (and white hair) looking at me and then slowly walk into their house. I just remember flipping him off. I knew it wasn't anyone that lived there because the people living in that house are an Indian couple. At some point I was near the back door to my house, and when I looked at it I saw 3 fingers reaching in from the other side of the door, but they suddenly pulled away and I didn't see them again.

Oh yeah, I also saw a bunch of insects. Mostly what looked like mosquitos or flies or just little dots flying around, but no spiders.

12:00am(ish)

After a while the visions kind of subsided, so I decided to go back inside. When I got to my room I got into bed and watched The Office for a little while before trying to sleep. I heard a few voices calling out and my mom saying my name but nothing too extreme. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep at around 1am.

[dorkshadows]

This one time I had a dream that the phandom was getting into discourse over this YA book series. Apparently a lot of people were getting mad over Leroux!erik showing up in the books. So in the dream, I googled it because I legit had no idea why you were all so mad and it was this young adult fantasy adventure horror(??) series about a teenage girl who solved supernatural mysteries with her friends.

In every book, she’d go up against a classic gothic villain (who were summoned from their actual novels or something??) and it was all leading up to a fight with the overarching big bad at the very end (I think the big bad TM was actually an OC and it was all the other minor villains who belonged to gothic “canon”). There were like, 15 books total(?), all Goosebumps length. Erik was the villain of the first book according to dream!wikipedia lol. But then he returned at the end of the second book and just stayed on as the protag’s sidekick for some reason. 

And then it turned out the blurb referring to the girl’s “friends” was actually pointing to Erik and her dog. Also the source of all that discourse came from the degeneration of Erik’s character from book 1 to 15. Because he was out there trying to strangle people and dropping chandeliers in book 1. But by like, book 5, the protag would come home from school and he’d just be there on her couch eating cold pizza and complaining about TV. Or crying about his canon love life. The protagonist’s respect for him drops a bit with each book. I was confused over why anyone would be upset because that sounds like a very Erik thing to do.

Also, wikipedia said Erik managed to die not once, but twice throughout the series because the big bad TM beat him to death(???!) the first time and then stabbed him to death the second time. But he’s okay because Protag brought him back to life both times.

Other stuff I vaguely remember about this hilariously detailed dream article:

Dracula was the villain of book #2

Protag looked like Skai Jackson

Halloween arcs- it was always Halloween in this series

Protag thinks Erik is very annoying and dramatic

Protag and Erik hated each other at the start of the series, but through 15 short books of character development, became bffs’ (sort of)

Erik is pretentious and angsty, but also always hungry and raiding the protag’s fridge for leftover food

Something about a portal to another dimension in hell and this cursed dagger you had to use to activate it

^I think that was the dagger Erik got stabbed to death with lmao

Protag rides a bicycle and her dog runs beside it

At one point, Erik also rode the same bike to pull off a dramatic rescue

Erik always says he’s not going to help and he hates everyone; shows up to save everyone anyway

Big bad killed off Erik for getting in the way (twice LOL) of his master plan

Master plan probably involved world domination, but it wasn’t every well-executed since it kept getting foiled by a tweenager, a dog, and a starving skeleton man

Protag (and dog??) resurrected Erik by re-summoning him through some black magic and that portal thing because I guess once a character dies, they get sucked back into their books as words on paper (or into that hell portal? I can’t remember)

Wait, I remember more now LMAO phandom was mad that Erik died “easily” and thought that he should have been able to survive his two violent deaths

Half of you were also upset that Erik was not the big bad

Protag had a crush on the boy next door

Author ended book 15 on a cliffhanger and still hasn’t written the final book

At the end of all that, I genuinely wanted to read this thing and was slightly disappointed that none of it existed when I woke up. 

[qfantasydragon]

Finis

Author’s note: This is the fifth and final part of an ongoing good omens fanfiction. You can find part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, and part 4 here. It’s also up on AO3 (x)

Aziraphale drifted.  

His mind wandered through old memories and thoughts. He dreamt of falling, and then of an unpleasant fire that licked at his humming soul without doing any harm. Power washed over him in a wave, cooling the blaze. It felt like plants after a rainfall, open night skies, a car rocketing along to the beat of drums and the wail of a guitar, and questions asked in sarcasm and desperation.  

Crowley, Aziraphale thought with a sigh, slipping deeper into sleep, comforted by his presence.  

Now he dreamt of soaring upward in the heart of a nebula, clouds of turquoise and silver cradling him as he slept. A constellation snake formed around him, stars igniting, watching him as he drifted.  

Finally, he woke up.  

The first thing he noticed was that he did not seem to possess eyes. Or hands. That is, there were eyes he could see through and hands he could feel, but they weren’t his.  

The second thing he noticed was what felt like Crowley’s soul, wrapped around his own. It was warm and comforting and felt like home in a way that even the bookshop didn’t–after all, he’d only had the bookshop for a century or two, but he’d known Crowley for millennia. He tentatively spread his wings, pressing them against Crowley in a gentle question.  

“Angel?”‌ the demon’s voice asked, “are you awake?”  

Yes. I‌ think I can understand why you like sleep so much, my dear. That was quite interesting. Although I must ask, why do we appear to be sharing a body?  

“Yours got discorporated I’m afraid. Really, I’m wondering if that bookshop’s bad luck for you; 6000 years and the two times you’ve lost a body are sitting in it.”  

Oh dear. What happened?  

“The frontal attack was a distraction. While we were focused on that, Hastur snuck in the back, disposed of your body and dragged your soul down to Hell.”  

Alarm sparked through Aziraphale; to Crowley, it felt like sparklers looked, golden, sharp, and bright.  

Are we…  

“Nah, I got us back out. Pretty sure they’ll leave us be now.”  

Well, that’s good news at least.  

Aziraphale paused to peer through Crowley’s eyes, taking in their surroundings. 

My dear, where are we?  

Around them was nothing but rolling dunes, dimly illuminated by the millions of stars in the clear sky.  

Crowley glanced to his right, and the world shifted for a second. For half of one of the demon’s heartbeat, Aziraphale saw familiar towering walls and the vibrant green that peeked over the top.  

Hireath was an old Welsh word that meant longing for a home one could never return to. It felt like a cool fall wind and a parched desert as it rolled from Aziraphale’s soul into Crowley’s and out into the night air.  

“Between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, or thereabouts,” Crowley answered after a silent moment.  

Is there a reason why?  

Crowley glanced down. The angel took a moment to orientate himself in the demon’s body. The form was longer and lankier than he was used to and had a certain restless energy that seemed to be built in– or maybe that was just Crowley. Currently, it was sitting cross-legged, staring at a pile of what looked like black sand, red and silver pebbles, and pale blue and white ice.  

My dear, what is this?  

“Well, seeing as you don’t have a body anymore, I thought I’d try to make you another. Right here are all the big building blocks, fresh from the stars; I’ve got carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and calcium…The problem is I‌ don’t know how to put it together.”  

To Aziraphale, Crowley’s frustration felt like popping embers, hot and orange and able to flare up with any breath of help. He spread his wings and sang-sighed-murmured soothing words, spreading out the coals to cool off.  

My dear, I know it takes teams of angels to create a single body. That’s why there's so much fuss and paperwork involved when one gets discorporated, and I don’t imagine the demons do much better. Only the Almighty can create human bodies easily; it may take some time before you can even assemble a skeleton.  

“But itsss not fair to you, to keep you stuck in here with me. Not that I mind sharing space, but, well….”  

We are two separate individuals. It's perfectly natural that we each want a body to our own. You have no reason to be apologetic about not wanting me sharing yours for an extended period of time.

Relief was cool water on a summer day, the idea of homemade chicken noodle soup during a cold, taking off a jacket and relaxing into home.  

“Love you angel,” the words escaped Crowley’s lips on the faintest of breaths; had Aziraphale had his own body, he would have never heard them.  

But he felt the motion of Crowley’s throat, the lips and tongue that traced the words into the welcoming star-strewn air.  

Crowley’s sudden burst of anxiety was a thorny flower, sending roots tangling down into his gut, scratching thorns up his chest, unfurling leaves forcing motion into limbs that had never learned what do with themselves and blooming a choking flower in the back of his throat.  

Aziraphale gently tugged the flower free, casting it aside. Hesitantly at first, forcing his way through thousands of years of fear and silence he opened his hands (his wings his soul his heart his being) and showed Crowley what was at his core.  

It was… It was the first note of Creation, it was pure white light and radiant darkness; it was sunrises and moons and stars, it was the birds singing to greet them all; six thousand years of laughter and meetings and food and drink, six thousand years of friendship instead of hatred. It was six thousand years finally being able to look back and recognize what had happened.  

It was six thousand years of love.  

I am an angel. My wings are white and strong and can carry me however high I choose to go. When the War came I did not Fall, but oh my darling, my dear, for all of that I’ve spent a very long time Falling.  

I love you too.  

The Almighty is, first and foremost, a being of love. When the demons had been cast out, they lost their ability to feel that love and any lesser extensions thereof. (This is why Crowley has spent the last millennia convinced that there is no way Aziraphale could actually love him; Aziraphale’s excuse is general obliviousness coupled with worryingly low self-esteem.) (That, and they’re both idiots.)  

What this means is that Crowley had been cold and freezing for a very long time. He had gotten used to being numb, convinced himself that there was nothing else. Aziraphale had done the metaphorical equivalent of wrapping him in a heated blanket and giving him a cup of rich hot cocoa.  

Crowley trembled as that warmth rushed through him, inside and out, shook as he suddenly regained feeling in parts of his being that he thought that had been lost forever in his Fall.  

Oh, my love. It’s alright. It’s okay.  

“’M fine,”‌ Crowley gasped, wrapping his arms around himself, “’sokay.”  

You’re crying.  

“Demons-- Demons can’t cry…” But there was a warm wetness dripping from his eyes and he knocked off his glasses as he dragged a forearm across his eyes. “’s not tears, ‘m not crying.”  

Of course my dear, of course.  

“OH,‌ MY CHILDREN.” There was a voice in the wilderness, a light where before there had been nothing. Crowley jerked and the light coalesced into a human shape. Kind of.  

She was human, She was entirely blazing dark/light, she was a Mobius strip with two edges, she was a shape with one dimension or infinitely many.

Aziraphale’s soul sang a pure joyous note at her presence and the whole landscape was blessed for miles.  

Crowley’s reaction was more mixed. His soul hummed a low abandonment made of questions without answers, of a long hard Fall, and every lost child’s desperate wish for love and an explanation. If there had been any humans within hearing, they would’ve fallen to the ground and wept. Aziraphale offered shelter under his wings and Crowley curled beneath it, head poking out and tongue nervously testing the air.  

She smiled at them both and reached out to the pile of raw elements Crowley had assembled. It twisted and reformed and while it was doing that She reached out and gently tugged Aziraphale’s soul from Crowley’s body. In a way, Aziraphale’s soul in her hands resembled a bird, darting slightly from side to side with graceful motions. But it was also…more in some indescribable, ineffable way and Crowley knew that when the world did come to end and all that was left of them was this, he would recognize Aziraphale’s being even if it was surrounded by a million other angels.  

She gently placed the soul into the new heart and let the body finish forming. Then she gently cupped Aziraphale's face as he blinked into awareness and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. It left a glowing silver mark that quickly faded.    

Then She turned to Crowley and hugged him tightly.  

He shuddered once, twice and then broke down, weeping into her shoulder/wing.  

“MY GREATEST JOY AND‌ MY‌ GREATEST GRIEF WAS‌ WHEN‌ I‌ GAVE MY CREATIONS FREE WILL. I SAW WHAT THE DEMONS WOULD DO, AND I SAW THAT THE ANGELS WERE NO BETTER. I DID NOT AND DO NOT WANT ARMAGEDDON. THUS I PUT AZIRAPHALE IN CHARGE OF THE EASTERN GATE SO THAT HE WOULD LEARN TO LOVE HUMANITY. I LET YOU FALL BECAUSE HE WAS GOING TO NEED SOMEONE TO CONVINCE HIM THAT THE ANGELS WERE NO DIFFERENT THAN THE DEMONS, HE WAS GOING TO NEED SOMEONE TO PUSH HIM INTO ASKING WHY. AND I SAW THAT YOU WOULD NEED SOMEONE TO HELP YOU KEEP YOUR FAITH, IF NOT IN ME THEN IN THAT THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS GOOD IN MY CREATION. TAKE HEART CROWLEY; I HAVE A PLAN BUT ITS RATHER INEFFABLE FROM YOUR STANDPOINT.”  

She gave him one last squeeze and placed a kiss on his forehead. It rippled through him, a small fire during a biting winter night, and stayed, crackling in his being.  

The world twisted and She was gone and they were once more sitting in the back of Aziraphale’s bookshop.  

The angel looked around and sat down heavily in his chair, looking like someone had hit him over the head with his original copy of the Lord of the Rings.  

Crowley just kind of collapsed into a snake, a half coiled puddle of scales on the wooden floorboards. Eventually, Aziraphale reached down and scooped him up, draping him carefully around his seat.  

They both sat there for a very long time.  

Finally, Aziraphale spoke.  

“My love, would you consider moving out of London for a couple of decades at the least? I’ve heard there’s a lovely cottage in the South Downs whose owners are trying to find a buyer.”  

Later, when they’d settle in Adam and Anathema swung by and told them immediately that there was a mark on both their foreheads– Anathema described it as a ‘bright white light that blanketed their auras’, while Adam said it looked like a shield.  

The angel and the demon gave each other sidelong glances and decided to move on with life. After a decade or two, Heaven and Hell both began exchanging very, very, polite messages with them. Both Gabriel and Beelzebub looked like they were going to pass out when they came to ‘check in’ and left in a hurry, eyes trained on Crowley and Aziraphale’s foreheads.  

As for the angel and the demon, they spent their time contentedly in that cottage. Crowley started a garden that took up most of the yard (he no longer screamed at his plants), oftentimes growing edibles for his angel who was learning to cook. He also grew grapes, and many a neighbor commented that that nice couple down the way made the best wine. Aziraphale started a smaller collection of books and never had to worry about anyone trying to buy them. After the sun had gone down he would often read to Crowley in a low murmuring voice that lulled the demon to sleep.  

And you know what?  

They all, the Them, Newt and Anathema, and most especially Aziraphale and Crowley, lived happily ever after.  

Finis.

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations BECK! You’ve been accepted as EUROPA with a FC change to ELIZABETH OLSEN.

Bea’s skeleton was one of my favorites when I wrote it, and you definitely brought her to life and reminded me so much of why I loved writing it, Beck! I love the straddled lines between facade and feeling, of power and control, of protection and obedience that you explored through her eyes. There’s a tangled web she left in her wake, and her ties to others outside the mob only give her an extra dimension I can’t wait to see you explore! 

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: Beck

PRONOUNS: She/Her

AGE: 22 in January!

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: GMT. I am in my final year of uni, so admittedly there will be times where i’m not as active as I would like to be. Though no doubt writing will be the only break I have from work so i’m gonna want to write as much as possible lmao

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Beatrice ‘Bea’ Einfalt // Europa

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis Female She/Her

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:

Bea is a cataclysmic event of her own making. It is hard to tell how solid she really is, and how much of the forced calm demeanour is just an optical illusion. As if this carefully balanced and closed off exterior is like a thin sheet draped over a gaping hole, of something much emptier and bleaker beneath. It was once such a conscious effort to keep those walls high, to keep herself two steps away from everyone else. That distance soon became a comfort, second nature, a feeling of security. Was that security for her or whoever she was distancing herself from though?

She would have been happy to play on no ones team. Stay a free agent but more importantly, keep herself far from anyone she could remotely care about, for fear of hurting them too. In her mind she’s the the pin of a grenade, finger on the trigger, a molotov cocktail waiting to be thrown. Her’s is a mind so shredded by it’s own teeth that sometimes, there are glimpses to be seen through the holes and tears. Her expression slips carelessly for a moment and something twisted and suffering is there instead, peering out from the body that has been forced into a prison.

Bea is similar to a flower growing through the cracks on the side walk. Other flowers look nice with their neat and pretty garden beds, but rest assured this wild flower had to fight like hell to be where it is now. It takes an observant eye to take a moment to appreciate the violet growing by itself and see the little beauties in her simplicity.

BIO:

Beatrice does not have an origin story; nothing is known about the girl she used to be, before she came to Chicago that one fateful day- a skin-and-bones rag doll girl dragging herself and her sister through the world, starved and desperate. At least, that’s the truth everyone has been led to believe.

There was always something off about the Einfalt girl. Something unsettling. People had been talking about her since you first came into this world, bright eyed and big lunged. There never seemed to be a reason for you to cry, but she was one of those babies desperate to be heard. She came rocketing into the world begging for attention, but her cries got quieter every year until she was quiet enough to make some adults around her uncomfortable. No wonder she had so few friends growing up. The kids called her mouse. Oblivious to her social ranking among some circles. Kids didn’t care that her father was quietly raising in political rank. They didn’t care that she became so quiet at home because he was so loud about what he saw as terrible world issues.

Growing up the word ‘mutant’ was always followed by ‘freak’ or ‘menace’ or ‘problem’. They were made to be the monster under her bed, the creak of floorboards at night. Bea can’t count the times her mother had to tuck her back in at night, begging her not to listen to her father and his wild thoughts. It wasn’t until years later that she found out why her mother was so gentle when her father was cold and angry.

Everything had always just felt so empty to her. The houses lined up one after another. Straight like the teeth every one of your father ‘associates’ seemed to smile at you with. Everyone seemed to be trying so hard to cling onto the façade that they were happy. They might have been. She herself was happy enough but she never understood why it just felt so ungenuine from everyone else. Her life was silver spooned perfection, but she always felt like a dove in a cage. Raised to be gentle but with fiery strength burning her your skin, threatening to burn its way out.

Bea’s childhood never seemed like anything to think twice about until you were older. To her, everyone had full days of classes, learning languages no matter how hard they were to comprehend. She was raised amongst wealth, the few friends she had were just as busy learning through the days, leaving little time to play. It was years later when she realised her father was trying to mould her into his own shadow. Unaware that she was everything in life he seemed to hate.

Growing up with so much fear of even the word ‘mutant’. When her powers reared their ugly head, Bea was rightfully terrified. If her father ever found out about her, it was unimaginable what he would do. A quiet child, her voice hadn’t raised in years. So when her mother dropped a glass, and Bea came running into the kitchen, treading on the sharp scatterings, her scream was surprising. In more ways than one. Bea will never forget the way her mother was propelled across the room, or how calm she was even as Bea couldn’t stop crying. Pressing a cloth to the back of her mothers head to stop the bleeding, all her mother could do was try to reassure her it was okay. The story of the mutant gene in their family was a long one, but Bea’s mother managed to tell the tale before her father got home.

Life was always going to be difficult after that point. Bea went from quiet to almost silent, terrified if she spoke something awful was going to happen again. It took years for her to allow her mother to tell her more about their family, about her mothers own power. It wasn’t until her little sister, Ellie, showed signs of the gene that anything really kicked off, however. Where Bea had kept this secret so close to her heart, it was basically sewn into her. Ellie was never as subtle.

The day their father found out was the end of it all. For someone who’s voice felt like a caged bird, a locked away box to never open. She had no trouble using it when she found her father ready to turn over her sweet, harmless little sister to people that would no doubt poke and prod or even worse. There was no literal blood on her hands that day, but Bea will never forget the light leaving her father’s eyes, or the way her little sister cried and clung to her.

Bea would never have gotten away with this normally, and her father was no normal man. A politician with strong Anti-Mutant views was always going to be well known. It was her mother that took the fall. Persuasiveness weaved through her DNA, literally. Convincing officers and officials that she was the one to do this was easy. Too easy. While some looked deeper, suspiciousness rampant, others were just glad to have this cruel man out of the way.

It’s been years since that day that Bea and Ellie were made practically orphans. Several cities, several lives. Bea’s mother is granted a visit once a month that never goes unanswered, and hearing the pride her voice when Bea mentioned The Jem Family eases a hole in Bea’s heart each time. Guilt still rages rampant at where her mother will be for the rest of her life. Now that she’s older however, knowing that she took out a horrifically evil man, and saved so many mutants? Makes it all a little more worth it. What if the truth is revealed, however? There will still be her fathers supporters, even years later, still digging for the truth. Each day Bea works that little harder, to work on her own powers to protect herself and her sister in case that day comes.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

When there was no one in the world Bea could trust besides her sister. It was a small, lonely world. Then there was her introduction to Jem and those involved. She went from having no one, to people who actively wanted to know and care for her. It was far too much all at once, and frankly Bea pulled away more than she wanted to.  Sensible distance was always kept from people, but it felt like she was digging a ravine between her and them all. The first to start building a bridge was Shae. When Bea took a step back, Shae stepped forward. When someone would usually write her off as too broken, too distant, too uncaring. Shae was always there. Never pushy but always actively trying to get to know Bea. If her life was a constant storm, Shae was the sun behind the clouds. It was impossible to make friends, and Bea will admit that was on purpose. It was a comfort to be unknown. Now its a comfort to know she can call or visit Shae and be understood and wanted. She’s the one person in the world that has some idea of what might have happened in Bea’s past, however no matter how close they become, Bea knows she’s always going to keep Shae that little bit away from the truth.

EXTRA:

Pinterest Board here!: https://pin.it/fnymedfualhdfq

Her father raised her with every intent of moulding her into his own shadow. With his wealth he enrolled her into more classes than a child was ever capable of keeping up with. This included languages like German and French. As a result education is exhausting for Bea, and she avoided going to further education and instead learns in her own time. Alone.

There are very few people that can pull a full, engaged conversation out of Bea. She isn’t rude, she’ll always talk to people when talked to first, but her interest is often elsewhere. She’s well aware this makes her come off as uncaring at times, and she doesn’t bother to correct people.

There’s fear of the unknown weaved between her bones, born from years of fear. But there’s an adventurous streak that brings out the bold and the brave within her. New experiences and the thrill and power that come with them are calculated and thought out butare often craved.

She’s not naive, she knows how this world works. Its good at times yes but there’s so much bad and so many people that fall under that darker side. That she knows to keep her wits about her at all times. Those she has befriended still know only what she wants them to know about her.

The memories are never going to fade, everything a constant reminder of the past. However the longer she spends pretending her past didn’t exist, the easier it becomes to believe it herself.

Theres a rage inside Bea she tries so hard to pretend doesn’t exist. It built her entire childhood, when she had to face fear every single day. Or as she lacked the friends she needed. The comfort she needed. It exploded out of her when her father threatened her sister, and  ever since Bea has tired to lock it away. The only person who ever saw that anger since then was Ciara and it keeps Bea up at night that she saw that side of her. No matter how angry their break up, she knows she could have kept more control.

ANYTHING ELSE: A FC change to Elizabeth Olsen please?

[bellygunnr]

Train Run, Train Fast

A Commission for the ever-lovely @allonsymituna!

The two bounty hunters were a pair-- brothers, as far as human customs go; built together, activated together, they had never been separated before. It was only fitting that as they broke into this massive facility, they'd die together, too. Such were the tapestries. They only saw the possible riches this defunct factory could net them. They did not see the warning signs as the final lock in place lit up green and the doors slid down, down, down, permitting them access into their final resting place.

The room itself-- a laboratory of sorts-- was completely metal, unrusted but untouched. Pods lined the walls, most of them empty. The ones that were full contained a bright, glowing fluid, yet as the two brothers walked among them, they only saw skeletons inside.

Half-projects. Abandoned ideas.

“Look at this one,” a brother suddenly said. His name was Bruce. “It looks like a kid.”

“Human, do you think?” said the other, and his name is Miles. “Doesn’t look very human…”

“No, it has the triangle. A reploid kid…”

“Who makes a kid nowadays? Pretty sure that’s illegal, isn’t it?” Miles said with a frown. He taps the edge of the glass.

The kid inside does nothing. Completely inert.

“Must be why the facility’s abandoned. Man, we’re not getting anything out of here, are we?”

“Could save the kid, I mean--”

“Kids aren’t money, and that’s gonna raise a lot of questions. I doubt camp would be thrilled if we brought home a reploid kid. They’d send him to scrap!”

Silence falls between them. It’s true, but you didn’t need to say it out loud.

“Maybe we should just go,” Bruce says soberly. “I don’t…”

Just then, the building shakes. The wall across from them cracks. A single red eye can be seen through the shattered steel and brick before it all falls away.

“Mavericks? Here?”

“No, those aren’t ordinary Mavs. We must have tripped an alarm-- we have to run!”

Yet as they charged for the door they came out of, more mavericks appeared, their eyes crimson and indifferent. Guns whined and lit up the dark space. Their shots were too close to go astray-- Miles and Bruce, brothers and buildmates, were obliterated to shattered broken hulls within seconds of being discovered.

And the pod they had found began to leak.

Its glass cracked.

Others cracked with it-- a couple shattered. The steel floor became slick fast, covered rapidly with water or whatever protective fluid was in the pods. The mavericks stormed it indifferently.

“Look what you’ve done-- you’ve gone and broke the whole place,” a voice complained. A tall figure floated themselves down into the broken lab. “We were supposed to keep it intact… Jeez.”

“Don’t be so hard on them, Prometheus,” a second voice said. Their voice was slightly higher, smoother-- lilting. “Oh? That must be our target. Grey.”

The one called Prometheus settled themselves onto the ground and approached said target, still dripping from his time inside the pod. A shiver shoots down his spine at the look he is given.

“Pandora? We may have some issues. How troublesome!”

“I can feel it too…”

Grey. Grey is the only thing he could remember, even as he recounts his tale to Butch, the camp medical chief. He tells him about where he had woken up at, the strange… Reploids… he had met, and what they had called him.

“Grey,” he says flatly. “Greye,” he repeats, this time with inflection.

“Grey...e?” Butch replies.

“You get it,” Greye says, and he seems happy.

“Well, Greye… You’re welcome to stay here. You’ve had quite the journey for your first day.”

Butch leaves the sentence hanging. First day as a hunter, a kid, alive, of all things. That must be why there’s something off about him, he thinks to himself. Still getting adjusted to everything.

Greye smiles. “Thanks! Uh… I feel like there’s something I’m forgetting…” “Could it be the gun in your hand? Maybe holster that?” Butch says immediately.

A beat of silence.

“...Shit, probably. It’s out of ammo anyway.”

And he drops it on the floor.

Butch groans.

The camp gives Greye a few days to learn the area and meet everyone before asking if he’d like to work. Most folks, they say, are licensed by the Legion to perform special duties and missions. They’re offering the same benefits to Greye.

He naturally accepts the offer.

And starts that day.

“Help escort this package to the Legion itself, at the center of the city. It leaves from the train this evening so don’t be late!”

Greye frowns at this. That was awfully soon-- and awfully chipper.

“What’s in the package?”

“It’s a tool called a Biometal,” and the line goes dead.

Well then.

From there, Greye meets several other people-- even another reploid kid, though they’re younger than himself. This makes him frown, but he resolves not to mention it. They could be illegal builds together! Right?

Right.

“Once I get back, kid, we can play some games or something. I’ve got some sick tricks.”

Just then, the kid’s caretaker came back, scooping her high into the air and setting her on his massive shoulders. He smiled down at Greye with kind eyes and a rumbling laugh. “You’re the new friend, right? Grey, was it?”

“No… It’s Greye!” Greye corrected, puffing.

“Ah, forgive me. Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Greye scowled and ran off-- he was going to be late for that train mission! What a pain.

+

“...This is the worst train ride ever. What the hell.”

Greye had been tasked with protecting the secret package as it made its commute between one mysterious pair of hands to another. That sounded simple enough by itself, but the folks had loaded him on an open-faced trailer, the wind howling and lashing at him. He clung to the box-- the only strapped down thing-- desperately.

“They’re trying to kill me,” he mutters. “What the hell…”

Each bump and shudder the train took shot up Greye’s spine. He grits his teeth against the unrelenting vibrations, fingers digging into the metal crate, threatening to dent it.

Let up on the box before you hurt yourself!

“Wh-- what was that?”

Oh, dear....

Oh, this was awful. First he was put on some kind of death trial mission and now he’s hearing voices! As if he didn’t have enough to deal with already!

My name is A. You’re not supposed to hear me!

The box shook violently.

Light burst from within it.

Greye, in a fit of self-preservation, tries to flee to the other end of the cart before he catches a face full of shrapnel. As the box breaks, nothing goes flying-- it peels back as if shorn. A single item floats up from inside.

Wow! It’s bright out here!

“Whhh- hey, A? You said you’re name was A? What the fuck was that?”

We don’t have time for that! Also, watch your mouth.

“What do you mean we don’t have time?” Greye demands, bristling. Then he hears it.

A Maverick drone dives down onto the open-faced cart, its bomb load thankfully released earlier, now armed with simple claws and a small blaster. Greye screams as he dives out of the way-- and screams again as A, whatever it is, dives onto him instead.

Just trust me! Megamerge with me!

Light flares again.

Biometal and Reploid merge.

+

Greye has little time to become accustomed to his new body as more Mavericks begin to swarm the train. He’s equipped now with not one but two pistols, and he wields both furiously, flinching back as debris falls apart around him. A urges him to climb onto the next train car.

What else can he do but listen?

I don’t really know what’s happening, but staying alive sounds pretty okay!

“A- Agreed,” Greye hisses, boots slipping as he hops onto the covered car. He crawls across it until finding the hatch that leads inside it, hastily dropping down.

It looks clearer here.

“Does this mean the train is under attack?” Greye asks out loud.

I guess it does! We should keep going before something bad catches up with us!

“Or we catch up to something bad… What are you, anyway?”

The two of them begin to pass through train cars, Greye fumbling around each time they met an enemy. Only with A’s sharp coaching and brittle humor did he figure out the trigger from the barrel-- these pistols were much different than the one he had handled before.

I’m a Biometal. My name is A. And I don’t know much else!

Now, the car they were inside looked fairly important, filled with gadgets and shining lights that Greye couldn’t hope to understand. As he begins to walk toward the front end, the roof suddenly peels back, and a massive machine drops down.

Flame jets out from the horns on its head.

“What the fuck?”

That doesn’t look very friendly....

With a wild scream, the new machine lunges at Greye, spitting words in a broken, slanted English.

“Defects must be destroyed or captured! Master wills it!”

Greye yelps, scrambling out of the way of the mad charge.

“D- defects? I’m not the crazy one here, buckaroo!”

The big machine stops and turns, arms crossing together. Three flaming bolts are fed to life-- and Greye cannot escape. He feels his armor and skin char from the centermost arrow.

That hurt! Who does this guy think he is?!

Greye, pull the hammers on our pistols. That should shut this guy up!

Through the pain and stinging, Greye almost doesn’t hear what Model A says. His hands shake as he tries to move his thumbs from the grip to the hammers, flicking back on each. Nothing happens for a long, silent moment.

“Master wills that you must be captured for the Great Game!”

Another series of bolts are charged.

Greye lurches forward, his energy tanks suddenly empty.

The world is plunged into a deep, whirling violet, and all that Greye and A thought they knew goes very dark. Beyond them, the violet dimension they summoned seizes upon the violent deer, ripping his armour to shreds. Flame spits out wildly and unchecked from the destroyed horns upon his head. Each breath leaks fuel and smoke from his chest cavity.

A is the first to wake up when the violet world is gone.

Buckfire is still very much at large.

Hhhey, big guy! Can you hear me?

Thankfully, broken as he is, the machine snorts smoke and looks around for the voice.

Good… This kid is pretty out of it, so let’s have a little chat. Who are you? What’s going on?

“My name is…. Buckfire. Pseudoroid in service of the Master. Must destroy or capture the defect.”

Pseudoroid, huh… Well, nice to meet you. We’re not the defects you’re looking for!

Greye’s eyes pop open.

Buckfire is screaming, charging at him from where he’s lying prone on the floor. Greye screams back.

They’re both screaming.

A shouts for Greye to just start shooting, aim for the chest, do you see that core-- wow, that’s a big core--!

He shoots at the core with both pistols. The rapid barrage quickly razes what little is left of Buckfire’s chest cavity. The big beast halts--

Run, Greye! Run!

Greye has nowhere to run, so he jumps, clawing his way out of a puncture in the ceiling. He jumps again onto the next cart, then the next, body thrumming wildly and clinging to the very last vestiges of energy and strength. A has latched on much more tightly.

Staying alive is a team effort.

The back end of the train explodes behind him.

And neither of them expects what happens next.

Standing guard in front of a huge castle, head inclining to the arrival of another of your kind-- the twins, Argoyle and Ugoyle. They give you high fives to the best of each of your abilities, laughing between themselves. They’re admitted to the Master’s chambers shortly thereafter.

Even though your gaze is straight ahead, you can’t help but peek at what the twins bring out with them a few hours later. A huge pod, supported on wheels, pushed along by both on their motorized peds.

You’re transported elsewhere. All you see is dancing green light awash in water. A single silhouette of a hand fills your vision.

“Dear son, when all is said and done, you shall be the King.”

Greye comes up gasping. His energy tanks are even lower than before and his head is pounding.

“A? What was that?”

I don’t know… I really don’t know!

Greye never makes it to the Legion that day. Instead, he scurries home as soon as he finds the means to, practically running on fumes. Butch saves him from having to send his mission report in, insisting that he sleeps and recharges, promising to run him through the repairs.

He doesn’t ask about the floating rock.

Greye is good with that. He’ll tell him more the next day.

[picsofsannyas]

WHY IS MONEY SUCH A LOADED ISSUE?

BELOVED OSHO, WHY IS MONEY SUCH A LOADED ISSUE? IT SEEMS AS THOUGH WHEN WE HAVE MONEY, EITHER WE FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT, AND THUS COMPELLED TO SPEND IT, OR INSECURE, AND THEREFORE WANT TO HOLD ONTO IT. OBVIOUSLY IT AFFECTS A MULTITUDE OF AREAS THAT REVOLVE AROUND THE PIVOT OF POWER AND FREEDOM. THE CURIOUS THING IS THAT EVEN TO DISCUSS THE SUBJECT OF MONEY IS SOMEHOW AS MUCH A TABOO AS DISCUSSING SEX OR DEATH AT THE DINNER TABLE. PLEASE COMMENT.

Money is a loaded subject for the simple reason that we have not been able to work out a sane system in which money can be a servant to the whole humanity, and not the master of a few greedy people.

Money is a loaded subject because man's psychology is full of greed; otherwise money is a simple means of exchanging things, a perfect means. There is nothing wrong in it, but the way we have worked it out, everything seems to be wrong in it.

If you don't have money, you are condemned; your whole life is a curse, and your whole life you are trying to have money by any means. If you have money it does not change the basic thing: you want more, and there is no end to wanting more. And when finally you have too much money -- although it is not enough, it is never enough, but it is more than anybody else has -- then you start feeling guilty, because the means that you have used to accumulate the money are ugly, inhuman, violent. You have been exploiting, you have been sucking the blood of people, you have been a parasite. So now you have got the money but it reminds you of all the crimes that you have committed in gaining it. That creates two kinds of people: one who starts donating to charitable institutions to get rid of guilt. They are doing "good work," they are doing "God's work." They are opening hospitals, and schools. All they are doing is trying somehow not to go mad because of the feeling of guilt. All your hospitals, and all your schools and colleges, and all your charitable institutions are outcomes of guilty people.

For example, the Nobel prize was founded by a man who earned money in the first world war by creating all kinds of destructive bombs, machines. The first world war was fought using the means supplied by Mr. Nobel. And he earned such a huge amount of money... Both the parties were getting war material from the same source; he was the only person who was creating war materials on a vast scale. So whoever was killed, was killed by him. It doesn't matter whether he belonged to this side or to that side; whoever was killed was killed by his bombs.

So in old age, when he had all the money in the world a man can have, he established the Nobel prize. It is given as a peace award -- by a man who earned the money by war! Whoever is working for peace receives a Nobel prize. It is given for great scientific inventions, great artistic, creative inventions.

And with the Nobel prize comes big money -- right now it is near about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The best award, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars with it; and it goes on increasing because money goes on becoming less and less valuable. And such a fortune that man must have created that all these Nobel prizes that are distributed every year are given only out of the interest. The basic money remains intact, will remain intact forever. Every year so much interest accumulates that you can give twenty Nobel prizes.

All charitable work is really an effort to wash your guilt -- literally. When Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus, the first thing he did was to wash his hands. Strange! The order for crucifixion does not make your hands dirty, why should you wash your hands? It is something significant: he is feeling guilty. It took two thousand years for man to understand this, because for two thousand years nobody even mentioned or bothered to comment on why Pontius Pilate washed his hands. It was Sigmund Freud who found out that people who are feeling guilty start washing their hands. It is symbolic... as if their hands are full of blood.

So if you have money, it creates guilt. One way is to wash your hands by helping charitable institutions, and this is exploited by the religions. They are exploiting your guilt, but they go on buttressing your ego, saying you are doing great spiritual work. It is nothing to do with spirituality; it is just that they are trying to console the criminals. The first way is what religions have been doing. The other is that the man feels so guilty that either he goes mad or commits suicide. His own existence becomes just anguish. Each breath becomes heavy. And the strange thing is that he has worked his whole life to attain all this money, because the society provokes the desire, the ambition, to be rich, to be powerful. And money does bring power; it can purchase everything, except those few things which cannot be purchased by it. But nobody bothers about those things.

Meditation cannot be purchased, love cannot be purchased, friendship cannot be purchased, gratitude cannot be purchased -- but nobody is concerned with these things. Everything else, the whole world of things, can be purchased. So every child starts climbing the ladder of ambitions, and he knows if he has money then everything is possible. So the society breeds the idea of ambition, of being powerful, of being rich.

It is an absolutely wrong society. It creates psychologically sick, insane people. And when they have reached the goal that the society and the educational system have given to them, they find themselves at a dead end. The road ends there; there is nothing beyond. So either they become a phony religious person or they just jump into madness, into suicide, and destroy themselves.

Money can be a beautiful thing if it is not in the hands of the individuals, if it is part of the communes, part of the societies, and the society takes care of everybody. Everybody creates, everybody contributes, but everybody is not paid by money; they are paid by respect, paid by love, paid by gratitude, and are given all that is necessary for life. Money should not be in the hands of individuals; otherwise it will create this problem of being burdened with guilt. And money can make people's lives very rich. If the commune owns the money, the commune can give you all the facilities that you need, all the education, all creative dimensions of life. The society will be enriched and nobody will feel guilty. And because the society has done so much for you, you would like to pay it back by your services.

If you are a doctor you will do the best you can do; if you are a surgeon you will do the best you can do, because it is the society that has helped you to become the best surgeon, given you all the education, given you every facility, taken care of you from your very childhood. That's what I mean when I say that children should belong to the communes, and the commune should take care of everything.

And all that is created by people will not be hoarded by individuals; it will be a commune resourcefulness. It will be yours. It will be for you, but it will not be in your hands. It will not make you ambitious; it will make you more creative, more generous, more grateful, so the society goes on becoming better and more beautiful. Then money is not a problem.

Communes can use money as an exchange, because every commune cannot have all the things it needs. It can purchase from another commune; then money can be used as a means of exchange -- but from commune to commune, not from individual to individual, so that every commune is capable of bringing in things which are not available there. So money's basic function remains, but its ownership changes from the individual to the collective. To me this is basic communism: the money's function changes from the individual to the collective.

But the religions will not want that. Politicians will not want it, because their whole game will be destroyed. Their whole game depends on ambition, power, greed, lust.

It seems very strange to say that the religions exist almost on irreligious things, or it will be better to say, on anti-religious things. They use those things, but on the surface you don't see that. You see charity, but you don't see from where charity comes, and why. In the first place, why should there be a need for charity? Why should there be orphans, why should there be beggars? Why in the first place should we allow beggars to happen and orphans to happen? And in the second place, why are there people who are very willing to do charity work, to give money, to give their whole lives to charity and serving the poor? On the surface everything seems to be right because we have lived in this kind of structure for so long; otherwise it is absolutely absurd. No child is an orphan if the commune owns the children, and if the commune owns everything, then nobody is a beggar; we all share whatsoever we have. But then religions will not have their sources of exploitation. They will not have the poor to console, they will not have the rich to help get rid of their guilt. These are the reasons why they are so much against me.

My work is almost like that of a gravedigger who goes on digging up beautiful marble graves and bringing out skeletons. Nobody wants to see them. People are afraid of skeletons.

One of my friends was a student in a medical college, and I used to stay with him once in a while, while traveling. If I had to stay the whole night, rather than staying at the station I would stay in the hostel with this student. One day it happened that somehow, late in the night, the discussion went on about so many things, and came around to ghosts. And I was simply joking; I said, "They are a reality. It is strange that you have not come across them."

Almost fifteen students were there in the room, and they said, "No, we don't believe in them. We have dissected so many bodies; we have never found any soul, and there is no ghost, nothing."

So I prepared my friend... In their surgical ward they had many skeletons, and they also had another ward where autopsies are done, when beggars die or somebody is killed or commits suicide -- it was a big city, it was the capital of a state. The wards were joined together. On this side of the hall were the skeletons, and the other side of the hall many dead bodies used to wait. And who cares about the beggars and this and that? -- whenever there was time the professors would do the autopsies and decide.

I told my friend, "You do one thing: tomorrow night, you lie down on a stretcher where the dead bodies are lying, and I will bring in your friends. You have to do nothing. In the middle of the conversation, when I am there with your friends, you just have to sit up. From the lying position you simply sit up."

It was a simple thing, there was no problem. He said, "I will do it." But a problem arose... it became very complicated. We went into the surgical hall, and my friend was lying down. As we entered he got up, and all the fifteen people started trembling. They could not believe their eyes that a dead body...! But the problem became real because a real dead body got up! So my friend who was pretending jumped up and he said, "There are really ghosts! Just look at that body!"

There had been some misunderstanding: that man was in a coma. Some servants had brought him in the night so they put him in with the dead bodies. Then he came back to consciousness, so he stood up. When he saw these people he thought it must be morning and now it is time to get up and ask what is going on. Even I could not manage at first to work out what had happened, because I had sent only one. This second man...! We closed the doors and started to leave. The man was shouting, "Wait, I am alive! Why I am being put here?"

We closed the doors. We said, "It is not our business," and we left. It was difficult to convince my friend who had been lying there that it was not a ghost, that the other man was just a mistake. He said, "But never a next time! It was good that he stood up only when you all had come. If he had stood up when I was lying there alone I would have died! I could not have survived."

If you go on digging at the roots -- which are ugly, which nobody wants to see.... That's why words like `sex' or `death' or `money' have become taboos. There is nothing in them that you cannot discuss at the dining table, but the reason is that we have repressed them deep down and we don't want anybody to dig them out. We are afraid.

We are afraid of death because we know we are going to die, and we don't want to die. We want to keep our eyes closed. We want to live in a state as if "everybody else is going to die, but not me." That is the normal psychology of everybody: "I am not going to die."

To bring up death is taboo. People become afraid because it reminds them of their own death. They are so much concerned with trivia, and death is coming. But they want that trivia to keep them engaged. It functions as a curtain: they are not going to die, at least not now. Later on... "whenever it happens, we will see."

Sex they are afraid of because so many jealousies are involved. Their own life experiences have been bitter. They have loved and failed, and they really don't want to bring the subject up -- it hurts.

And so is the case with money, because money immediately brings in the hierarchy of the society. So if there are twelve persons sitting around the table, immediately you can put them in a hierarchy; the similarity, the equality, for the moment is lost. Then somebody is richer than you, somebody is poorer than you, and suddenly you see yourself not as friends but as enemies, because you are all fighting for the same money, you are grabbing at the same money. You are not friends, you are all competitors, enemies.

So at least at the dining table when you are eating you want no hierarchy, not the struggle of the ordinary life. You want for a moment to forget all those things. You want to talk only of good things -- but these are all facades.

Why not create a life which is really good? Why not create a life where money does not create a hierarchy, but simply gives more and more opportunity to everybody? Why not create a life where sex does not make bitter experiences, jealousies, failures; where sex becomes just fun -- nothing more than any other game, just a biological game.

A simple understanding... I can't conceive why... if I love some woman and she enjoys some man, it is perfectly okay. It does not disturb my love. In fact I love her more because she is being loved by more people; I have chosen really a beautiful woman. It will be really ugly to find a woman whom only I love, and she cannot find anybody else in the whole world to love her. That will be really hell.

And what is wrong if she is happy sometimes with somebody else? An understanding heart will be happy that she is happy. You love a person and you want him to be happy. If she is happy with you, good; if she is happy with somebody else it is as good. There is no problem in it. Once we stop the old nonsense that has been poured into our minds continuously -- of monogamy, of one-to-one relationship, of fidelity -- which is all nonsense... When there are so many beautiful people in the world, why shouldn't they be intermixing? You play tennis; that does not mean your whole life you have to play tennis with the same partner, fidelity...! Life should be richer.

So it is only that a little understanding is needed and love will not be a problem, sex will not be taboo. Nor will death be a taboo once your life has no problems, no anxieties; once you have accepted your life in its totality, death is not the end of life, it is part of it.

In accepting life in its totality, you have accepted death too; it is just a rest. The whole day you have been working -- and in the night do you want to rest, or not?

There are a few insane people who don't want to sleep. I have come across one person who was brought to me because he did not want to sleep. The whole night he made every effort to keep himself awake. The problem was that he was afraid that if he sleeps, then what is the guarantee that he will wake up? Now, who can give the guarantee? That is really a great problem -- who can give him a guarantee?

He wants a guarantee that "I will wake up. What is the guarantee that I will not go on sleeping? -- because I have seen many people just go to sleep and... finished! People say that they are dead, and they take them to the burning place and burn those people. I don't want to be burned. So why take the risk? This sleep is risky!" Now sleep can become a problem.ep rejuvenates you, makes you again capable of functioning better, efficiently. All tiredness is gone, you are again young. Death does the same on a deeper level. It changes the body, because now the body cannot be rejuvenated only by ordinary sleep; it has become too old. It needs a more drastic change, it needs a new body. Your life energy wants a new form. Death is simply a sleep so that you can easily move into a new form.

Once you accept life in its totality, life includes death. Then death is not against it but is just a servant, just as sleep is. Your life is eternal, it is going to be there forever and forever. But the body is not eternal; it has to be changed. It becomes old, and then it is better to have a new body, a new form, rather than dragging the old.

To me, a man of understanding will not have any problems. He will have only a clarity to see -- and the problems evaporate. And tremendous silence is left behind, a silence of great beauty and great benediction.

Osho.

Beyond Psychology

Chapter 1

[spacedimentio]

Save the Light Impressions

I recently became interested in what Hessonite’s deal was and since it’ll be a long time before I’ll be able to get the game, I decided to just watch a cutscene compilation (this one, if it matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy5tOb3gzLY). Dunno why I’m taking down all my reactions, just cause it’s fun I guess. Enjoy

RIP Car Wash

What even is the prism? It's not a gem, right? But it's clearly got conscious thought, even Hessonite talks to it like a person

haha Greg called her a glittery space lady, accurate

it's a little OOC that Greg wanted to come along. at least he's having fun tho. aww, steven's so proud of him :D

actually, what's Hessonite even doing. Why didn't she fuck off back to space once she found the prism

yeah that's totally not a triforce with six arms or anything. it's not the diamond authority symbol either i don't think, the triangles in that all meet in the middle

Mayor of Bummertown

I would have named the boss Dave, zero hesitation

"Our prism is in another castle!" i love you steb

oh no, bad memory time at Bismuth's forge :( I hope she'll be playable in the next one (i would scream forever if there was a playable diamond)

did Steven really just answer the phone with Myello? Oh IT'S PERI. Aaaand we're learning about RPG mechanics. Meta.

frozen donuts are a thing?! :o

it's her. the square. she seems to be almost identical to how our peridot used to be, so i wonder what the difference in personality is. Aside from her favorite insult being pebble instead of clod

ah yes, ye old tennis match

man i love that you can form fusions in this game

oh lord, i don't wanna imagine what chaos would happen with two peridots. also Greg is taking ice damage during the cutscene, help him

oh no, they're meeting. of course the first thing Squaridot says is "WHY ARE YOU NAKED" (and they obvs flipped her sprite cause the gem's her other eye now)

hey look, new insults for my list of gem related curse words

weird, angry mirror indeed. imagine what they could do if they were friends!

oh RIP. why do you get to choose who murders Squaridot. I hope for more multi-peridot action in the future

wait, what machine did you rip that off of and when

i already knew Peri was playable but it's still cool. i love how she flutters her feet when she jumps! i wonder who the DLC character is going to be (lapis, probably. Bismuth would be metal, though)

"Clod-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named" oh my god i love you

"Whatchu talkin' bout Peri" the best, they're the best

Oh so wow, Hessonite is THE Hessonite, huh. Real famous. If she came out as a Crystal Gem, it would sure cause a stir

Yeah I was also wondering why she's sticking around instead of just leaving? and she is kind of leaving her troops scattered all over the place with no rhyme or reason

these are great names. The Great and Terrible Spikey McSpikeball! of course the guy playing picked the most boring one

i love how Peridot just fucking yeets her tablet to attack

sugilite tiny!

you know, i was gonna get this game anyway at some point, but it's nice to know that it's the kind of rpg i like, one where you can participate in the attacking and blocking process.

how dare you switch out peridot for pearl. you know what, next game i hope you can be everyone all the time cause there's too many good characters to pick from

whatchu doing up here pizza lady

yeah they just...all ran right in front of her directly in her line of vision and she didn't see them somehow

oh the prism is resisting. it really took Steven's words to heart last game

Hess my dear, is this prism your only friend (oh my god that's totally it isn't it)

is the wiki sure she can't teleport cause holy fuck is she fast

"Gugh, Peridot, this is just like when we tried to hunt you down. But worse...cause, y'know, she's actually threatening." rude

huh. i don't remember the pyramid temple blowing up and leaving debris, i thought the whole thing disintegrated cause it was a construct of the gem it was housing. looking at screenshots of Serious Steven it definitely did explode

are they really trying to tell me there was a pyramid under the pyramid and no one noticed

call it the Spooky Basement! call it the Spooky Basement! you disappoint me, player, although Secret Temple of Secrets isn't so bad

*steven rolls cheerfully through a skeleton and then everyone jumps down a big hole* um

yo there's a mural of Rose fighting some light warriors! that's rad as shit!

*gets to the hallway with the torches that turn on as you go by* gee i sure wish i could watch this with sound, but alas i am recovering from ear fatigue and it would be a bad idea.

oh my god he reset her preferences no wonder she's pissed XD

HOLY FUCKING CHRIST RIP AMETHYST AND PERIDOT GODDAMN AND GARNET TOO PIZZA LADY STRONK

wow she really is a genuine threat, she forced Rose and Pearl to give ground back in the day

oh no you did not just say that Pearl should come with you. fuck her up, P!

also i just realized that she is really tall. like 10 feet tall at least

aw no fair you can't just flashbang them all you dink

oh it's sapphire. wait has connie even met ruby and sapphire in the show? did we not get to see it?!

where the fuck even are you guys, i could swear that connie and greg fell off the platform into the abyss

wait, they don't have new forms, did they even regenerate? i don't think connie was out cold for that long. did they even poof? i saw colored clouds of dust but no gemstones. i mean, i know this is a game and all but it's also canon so ???

and peridot is breaking the fourth wall by commenting how you can't force her to sit at home at the moment

ancient thingamajig. wow is thingamajig a real word, my spellcheck is not yelling at me about it

yeah connie! kick her ass for me!

since when are gems into riddles. i wonder if anyone has made much headway into translating the written gem language yet, last i heard they hadn't made much progress. apparently only Steven Sugar knows what all the symbols mean

wait steven was watching connie and greg's parties running around that whole time? i guess even the game never leaves steven's POV. where even is he, in the prism realm? oh, the place was turning pink for a minute until he went towards the sparkly thing

steven is always accessing memories isn't he. at least these aren't his mom's this time

you might be getting sick of her steve but i'm sure not!

from far away it really looks like she's chillin' with a martini glass and i was about to scream

corruption beam :(

was he just like passed out on the floor somewhere hallucinating

aww, he picks up the light steven exp by hugging it :o

"Just feeling a little...light headed." i...puns?

the Light Warrior is the final boss of the first game right? ...i should have probably watched a video about that one first

oh i just had a thought! if they make a third one then we get to have Rainbow 2.0 and Sunstone and Obsidian in it! :D

woah, trippy. tbh steven's connection to the prism is kind of strange. i wanna know exactly where that thing came from and why it's so deeply connected to him now. did Hessonite have visions like this when it was hers?

yeah that's... if a place is connected by warp pad, wouldn't it be easy to find by just warping randomly? unless separate warp networks are a thing but still, you'd just have to sneak onto a CG warp pad and go. ....how do warps even work, they can go through roofs and stuff and there's like this whole other dimension with all the warps like stars in the background and ???

how does the forge even do an upgrade with no Bismuth. maybe i should stop trying to fit this into canon details

what makes you think Hessonite could see you? is this some Voldemort Harry Potter connection shit. is that actually how she found the forge, this game ain't explain much

oh that's...that's a big oof. bismuth was working on a huge-ass statue of Rose before they got into their argument

"i saw her again" what no you didn't, that was just a white screen with a text box

"Beats me how any of this whacky prism stuff works!" ...i feel called out

why does that bigger spaceship look like a funky piece of headwear to me

well, at least it's closer than the moon

oh what, Lion didn't come with you? didn't you need multiple roar warps to get to space last time, just above the earth still seems kind of far, also how did he know the coordinates of the ship, he could have easily sent them all into the void

?! and then he's there?!? already asleep? how???????

aww what you're going to tease me with a citrine guard but not let me see her?

freaky. strangely organic looking technology is nothing new but i don't think i've seen stuff oozing through it before

"Look at you, acting as though you have the moral high ground!" *shakes fist angrily* She's like Emerald, but better! I can't

i guess he did kind of steal it, but it was more like finders keepers really

whuh has the prism always been able to talk?

"a Prism" oh no are there more? probably

woah that's a big boy. What the heck does Spectral Conclusion mean. and the prism is inside it instead of it being a separate creation, interesting

aww, it's looking at itself in confusion. Steven reaches out to it with his words, as he does

the prism isn't really...doing a lot of attacking (cause the player is picking the right choices probably). oh nevermind, it has a hugely damaging rainbow cannon

/r/murderedbywords, except in a good way

"Destroy Steven!" huh since when does she know his name? she could have gotten it from several places, really

oh oh oh! it's pizza time! standing in the middle of them is probably not the best idea, but look at her, she's exuding confidence!

wait wait wait, when the player used a healing move, did i just see an option to heal the prism? or at least, it's health bar showed up. is it gonna help later?

can i have like, a full sprite sheet for Hessonite please and thanks

if this was in the show, steven would be dead from that hit

aaand Steven did two points of damage with his shield bash, she ain't even flinch

pearl what are you doing

wow, she also only did a few points of damage

is Hess like, super tough. i love how much of a threat she is, cause most Homeworld gems we've seen aren't all that scary

oh! oh! you can heal the prism! that's probably how you damage her cause you'd be here forever chipping away otherwise

HOLY FUCK, SHE JUST DID 270 POINTS OF DAMAGE, THAT'S LITERALLY ALL OF SUGILITE'S HEALTH. I know the wiki says that attack does massive damage but jeezus!

so far the prism hasn't done anything, they're just chipping away at her slowly

oh, so gems do poof in this game. i guess we're just ignoring new forms because it wouldn't make sense in the timeline if we didn't

huh, does pearl inflict burns in this game? oh and she shoots fireballs, guess that answers my question.

it's kind of sad that the status is doing more damage than everyone else combined

whuh, she just attacked the prism! RUDE.

stop beating up the prism you degenerate! i guess i shouldn't be shocked

hey, Garnet and Amethyst are alive again. ah finally, some damage now that Garnet's lowered her defense

A-Amethyst, you're facing the wrong way. i wish Hess had targeted her with her big attack, then i could have made an "oh no she has airpods in" joke

oh, but the player formed Smoky, so she's not even aiming at anyone in particular anymore lol. she went for Pearl tho, fuckin' eviscerated

is this battle normally this long, it's been almost 10 minutes

this battle would probably be much harder if she didn't waste her turn being a bitch and attacking the prism. gee, and you wonder why it doesn't want to listen to you after encountering steven's kindness. i wonder...what would happen if you let the prism's HP get to zero? it would take a long ass time but...now i really wanna know but i doubt there’s any videos about it!

garnet's rocket fist did damage to the prism cause Hess is standing next to it. c-can you attack the prism, is that how you get the bad ending??

man, they haven't even had to heal because she's just beaten up on that poor thing for the past 10 turns. i mean, really, she could easily murder all of them in a heartbeat if she wanted

ok finally, she is defeato. I'd feel more sad for you if you didn't abuse your subordinates (definitely has detracted from my liking of her, i won't be too hard on her for it though because Homeworld is bad like that and she doesn't know better). at least you’re good at eating your humble pie without complaint

oh, i guess you get to choose your ending? it's kind of weird that it's not like, influenced by your game choices. cause technically like this it's your choice, not the prism's choice. so what was with the prism having health then. was it just to show how awful Hessonite is to it?

also, i can't look at light Steven without thinking of Pink!Steven and hhhhh

"You're a wise creature, aren't you?" Yes, yes he is *nods sagely* I hope you come back someday to learn more from him

You're pretty adaptive, huh Hess? of course, if you've been having these thoughts and feelings for thousands of years you're probably not too shaken up by the realization that they're true. That’s actually pretty great of you to want to figure yourself out.

ha, so Garnet didn't let her leave like the wiki made it sound like, she just yeeted away, and good luck catching anyone who can move at 5 million miles per hour

the gems are running in place in the next scene and Amethyst is backwards again. connie is also facing the wrong way. ...this game's a bit jank, isn't it :P not that i mind, a little jank is fun!

Peridot breaking the fourth wall with her Are Pee Gee again. I wonder which one it is. Golf Quest Mini?

do you get anything for 100 percenting this? oh, i guess there's achievements. no bonus content tho?

Lapis: I think I could use a break.

i for one would like to know what book the prism was reading. also, it's back to not talking again.

AWW YIS! We goin' out for pizza tonight bois!

The gems finally get to stop running in place in the corner

aaww, it's a beach scene reminiscent of the opening. kind of weird that greg is the only one animated but still cute

also someone's last name is Gooch and i feel bad for them

alright now to google Hessonite's VO... Christine Baranski. Are-Are we just hiring broadway singers for everyone now? not only would I die if Hessonite made an appearance in season 6, my soul would reach the farthest realms of space if she sang a song on top of that.

well, that's a wrap! time to jot down all of Hess's dialogue for later reference! It’s a crime that there’s so few fanfics about her, she actually has a lot of potential!