#other strong effects Miles has on Phoenix:

[inbarfink]

One of the major themes of ‘Ace Attorney’ has always been trust, obviously. Like, this is the most important creed that Mia Fey passed down to Phoenix and from there to anyone he has touched.

As well as just generally being one of Phoenix’s most important positive qualities.

The entire arc of the first game hinges on the idea of the Power of Trust, with it being a core pillar of Phoenix's relationships with both Miles and Maya.

And even the main gameplay themes of ‘turnabout’ and ‘turning your thinking around’ are linked to this theme of Trust. The whole idea around the narrative of a ‘turnabout’ is that the Defendant seems obviously totally guilty, but the defense attorney proves them innocent by Trusting in their innocence. 

And ‘turning your thinking around’ is generally framed as - rather than the general mystery-solver mindset of trying to deduce what has happened from the evidence given - trusting in your client’s innocence and looking for evidence that should be there if they are innocent/that other person is the culprit. Using the Trust in the client as the foundation to build your logic from.

And being such a core theme of the franchise, the games started reiterating on and deconstructing it almost immediately. “Farewell, My Turnabout'' having a Guilty Client feels like the most obvious example, maybe. But actually the game starts casting suspicions on Engarde pretty early on, and most of the emotional turmoil related to him is more of the, like “will Phoenix sacrifice the truth for Maya’s sake” hostage situation stuff. 

I think the more important stuff in that case is more about the Phoenix-Edgeworth drama. How Phoenix’ sense of trust, which seems like such an unwavering and unbreakable virtue in the first game, does actually have limits. Phoenix feels that Miles has betrayed his trust by, y’know, running off to Europe and making him think he was dead - and it takes him time to learn how to regain this sense of trust in him.

Meanwhile, Matt Engarde, he considers himself strong because he trusts in no one. In contrast to Adrian, who both he and she herself see as ‘weak’ because of her tendency to blindly trust the person she is dependent on. But at the end, it’s Matt’s distrust in everyone around him that brings on his own downfall. 

And the game after that adds in Dahlia Hawthorne who is, as Mia Fey’s nemesis, a sort of representation of the dangers of trust. A character who uses and manipulates those who put their trust in her.

“Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney” establishes its more cynical and deconstructivist tone compared to the original trilogy in part by always putting some sort of element of distrust between the Lawyer and the Defendant. With Apollo basically unable to really have a decent conversation with any of his clients, many of them being antagonistic towards him or hiding things from him. Phoenix Wright was basically the only defendant Apollo went into court actually 100% putting his trust in him… and we all know how that worked out.

And this moment is especially effective because… if you’re playing this game unspoiled after finishing the Phoenix Wright Trilogy, you probably trust Phoenix as well! The emotions Apollo feels as he sees who Phoenix had become are meant to mirror the emotions the Player probably feels at this very moment. And the hints and questions about what Phoenix did in the trial seven years ago are a challenge to the trust of both Apollo and the Player. Both of them are stuck between what they knew of Phoenix before and the revelation of what Phoenix confessed to in “Turnabout Trump”. Apollo’s uncertainty is the player’s uncertainty as well. 

And even if Apollo’s image of Phoenix is somewhat improved by “Turnabout Successions” and it’s clearly established that, no, Phoenix never knowingly used forged evidence as an attorney… There’s no big reconciliation that fixes everything like with Phoenix and Miles. It’s clear that Apollo’s sense of trust, in Phoenix Wright and in general, never quite recovered from the events of AJAA. Later games do still reiterate that he’s a lot more distrustful than other playable attorneys.

(And that’s also a point where the Player-Player Character Synergy from ‘Turnabout Trump’ kinda diverges, since I think most Players do regain their trust in Phoenix by the end of AA4 at least. Especially as unlike Apollo, we actually got to be inside his head again - that’s not exactly an experience Apollo will ever get to have. )

But, well, maybe it’s because it’s just really fresh in my mind, but I just think what ‘The Great Ace Attorney’ Duology does with this theme is just… really cool!

These games really play on the idea of challenging the trust… not just of the Player Character Ryunosuke, but also of the Player themselves. Because Ryunosuke also gets to have a Guilty Client… as his very-first actual client who is not himself. And since the game doesn’t lay on the suspicion quite as thick as with Matt Engarde, and since there’s no hostage situation of course… This plotline can have emotional synergy between the Player and the Player Character and focus a lot more about the emotional repercussion of putting your trust in someone totally absolutely unworthy of trust. 

And how this betrayal of trust haunts the characters moving forwards. How Ryunosuke now finds himself being held back by his doubts due to the memories of this terrible trial, and... not necessarily a lack of trust in others as much as a lack of trust in himself. How Susato is driven to do something she considers unforgivable - tempering with the Crime Scene behind the police’s back - because that trial had made her lose trust in the entire British Justice System.

The entire climax of the first game is thus a reaffirmation of the power of trust. By unwaveringly defending Gina - a girl they have bonded with, but has also been extremely uncooperative, shady, dishonest and literally involved in what went down in the McGilded Trial, in a very grueling and seemingly unbeatable trial  - Ryunosuke and Susato rediscover their ability to trust their defendant. Because, yeah, trust is a leap of faith - you never know when you’re gonna meet a McGilded or a Dahlia Hawthorne - but it’s also absolutely worth it.

And then with the themes of conspiracy strawn throughout the games and especially ramping up in the second game, that’s really kinda a thing that’s bound to sow seeds of paranoia and distrust in the Players about… all sorts of characters. Like, okay, I am fairly sure that pretty much every player who first walked into the Lord Chief Justice’s office and saw Mael Stronghart was like “Oh look! That’s the Final Boss!”. But with the hints for there being some sort of web of intrigue being hidden in the shadows, there’s plenty of other characters that skirt the line between feeling suspicious and trustworthy. The reveal that Seishiro Jigoku is actually a culprit was one of the best-done reveals in the whole franchise. And on the other hand, there are many reasons to be suspicious of Yujin due to the amount of secrets he clearly keeps, and yet he turns out to be a very straightforwardly heroic character. 

And then there’s Kazuma. And Mael Stronghart might be the Obvious Final Boss to the Conspiracy and Murder Mystery parts of the game, but within this thematic throughline of the challenges of trust, Kazuma is pretty much that part’s Final Boss. 

Initially designed to be someone both the characters and the players intently trust, both in terms of the meta-perspective of how he’s set up to be a kinda Mia-Miles hybrid and any Player with knowledge of the previous games will know that’s a kind of person you can rely on. And in general, even to newcomers, everything he says and does in the first two chapters of the game make him feel like just a very upstanding guy you can trust.

Then, when he comes back in the second games, he comes back with a new attitude that feels colder towards Ryunosuke (and thus the Player) and that’s also coupled with a whole bunch of mysteries about him that were hinted in the previous game, but are now coming to the forefront. 

And as the Trial of Barok Van Zieks progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Karuma has, theoretically, all the possible motivation to kill Greyson and frame Barok for it, that he was one of the last people to see Gregson before his death and that he literally brandished a sword at him. And despite how cagey and shady he acts, he still insists he never killed anyone.

And the reveal that he has knowingly participated in an assassination plot behind the backs of both Ryunosuke and Susato is bound to cause a feeling of shock, confusion and betrayal not just in these characters - but also in the Player. The Player and Player Characters are in a lot of emotional synergy through this entire Kazuma storyline. These feelings of conflict between wanting to trust Kazuma after seeing him in his best and all the mounting suspicions due to all the revelations about him are really felt by all three of us.

And in the end the challenge for Ryunosuke and Susato is not to abandon Kazuma completely, and it’s not to continue blindly trusting their old idealized view of Kazuma - it’s to face the fact that he has kinda lost his way for single-minded revenge, while also still trusting that he is deep-down the same good not-murdery man they have known him as before.

[rk-ocs]

Carnelian Ryan

Inspired by Frank William Abgnaile

Name :Hannah Alyssa Carnelian Lareau -Jordan-Ryan

Address : 59 Rue de Tilly,  Boucherville, Quebec.

Birthday: December 22, 1996. Age 8 (barely not seven) in 2004

Eventual size: 6'2"

Blood: AB+

Tattoos in order: 1. semi colons on feet, Hawaii style. 2. Holocaust tattoo.3. Phoenix coming out of # complete with fire Hawaii style. Native style Raven on back, Hawaii style, on back. 4-9.  Candour, Abnegation, and Amenity just below waistline, and above crotch, with Dauntless and Erudite on hip bones, normal tattoos. 10. The Japanese Kanji for fight on her ankle. 11. 12 a Native style  eagle on her other upper shoulder.

Appearance: pale blonde, grey eyes, pale skin (burnt)

Mother: Angela Lareau- Jordan

Father: Jason Ryan

Mentioned First Cousin: Monique- Theirey . Full name "Mary-Jacob- Elizabeth-Brandon, Monique-Theirry, Ryan- Laframbois.

She works at couche-Tard, a connivance store that got robbed and started this mess. The address is 710 boulevard Marie-Victorian Boucherville, QC J4B 1Y2

MT lives at 22 rue Pierre du Caumont

Mt's Parents are

Eleanor Ryan

David Lefranbois

Grandparents

Logan and Helga (ne Burnham) Ryan

Marion Lareau and Leo Jordan

Felix Lafrombois and Emily Baker

Godparents

Alyssa Cote and Rae Lavoie

Male counterpart. Aaron Rae Jasper.

Reds traits

Talents (eventual): Hacker, Multi-Lingual, Driver, Mathematician, mechanic, hunter, doctor, Sniper, orenitering, Artist (Strong in perspective, weak in colour), photographer, computers, lying, stealing, B&E, Maps, fast talking, fitness, strategy, good in crisis,

Weaknesses: grammar, history, sense of time, temper (eventually adjusted to tranquil furry), naive (shifts to paranoia), Strange morals, impulsive, often running late, impulse thief, restless, messy, snobby, blunt, loud (will get better), aggressive (worked on), strange brutal honesty, unscrupulous, proud.

Desmond information

Desmond was born March 13 1987

Ran away age 16, in 2003

Apparently became a parent in 2005

Captured September 1, 2012

Died December 21,  2012

Desmond was 6'

Conner info

Birthday:  April 4 1756

----

Clay Kaczmarek

B:1982

D: August 8, 20012

------

Sometime in the future, when driving Red asks," what were you doing, The day you got kidnaped, anyways?"

Shows a flashback of Desmond going to GameStop to preorder Borderlands 2.

"I just realized! I never got to play boarderlands 2, because I got kidnaped by  goddamn Templars! I preordered it for nothing!"

(Show some Templar playing it somewhere)

"You also missed dishonoured. It's an absolute outrage! Lets do something about this!")

(One day they will go back in time, and pick Desmond's pockets to get it back.")

-------

Piece of Eden thought out

Time travel pieces of Eden.

"Some Pieces of Eden were known to interact with and change the passage of time, possibly creating paradoxes. "

"When activated, Apples of Eden are capable of extending a pulse of energy that can drive those in the surrounding area to insanity and death. Doing so has a detrimental effect on the physical health of the wielder if they are unskilled in the Apples' use, but a capable user is not as easily afflicted.[8] Altaïr, for example, was able to use Apple #2 for a limited duration without adverse affects at age 92.[2] Using the Pieces' powers in short bursts can also minimize the negative effects dealt by the artifacts, though to what extent is unknown.[1]"

"According to emails read by Desmond Miles in 2012, at least one Piece of Eden existed that granted the ability to manipulate time. Concerns over possible paradoxes, however, led to Abstergo Industries locking it away.[16]"

So the pieces of Eden that could time travel were mentioned in an email, but never directly explored in game. Astrobo locked them up for fear of causing paradox. But they don't have all the pieces of Eden, and I think the ones in the ocean would be hardest to find intentionally, because the ocean current would be moving the small items around the ocean. So this one was discovered unintentionally by a man on an undersea exploration, who's young daughter had always been asking for a present. So he turned this piece of something he found into a necklace charm, and put it on a sterling silver chain.

She wore it, but it didn't activate until she was injured. See, I think the First Civilization made the TTEden pieces to escape dangerous situations, like battles, or incoming solar flares. When activated by injury, it takes them to a time without active combat, and to an ally who will get them healing. Be it future or past.

As someone with presumably some FC blood she has some minor control over it (she can travel 10min-so far-into the past and speed up her personal time movement to beat a hasty retreat) but not the bigger things, like where she ends up when injured.

Finally, it doesn't leave her. The necklace doesn't come off. It could activate whenever she suffers major injury. So she prepares for it, always carrying weapons and a backpack of things.

[corvidares]

aug!! some questions from the ask game for youuu: 11, 12, 28?

autism asks

11. If you could give any advice to your younger self, what would it be?

oh boy okay.

just cuz some stuff is easier for you doesn’t mean that other things aren’t harder. one doesn’t erase the other, okay? i know you’re not really able to come to terms with these struggles yet and that’s okay. but please try to stop comparing yourself to others and what they’re capable of. and, more importantly, stop holding yourself up to an impossible standard. it’s never going to be worth it, and your parents and your real friends will love you just as much.

12. Do you headcanon any characters as autistic? If you want, tell us why you headcanon them as autistic.

yes oh my god so many. hits my faves with the autism beam. some examples;

Miles Edgeworth i’m into ace attorney right now and edgeworth like.. hes very much an ambitious man who’s a stickler to his own rules and ways of seeing the world. he plans and prepares for EVERYTHING. he has an extremely hard time communicating and connecting with people, but he can understand them in objective ways that enable him to do his job so effectively. also he bounces off of phoenix’s adhd in the best way lmao

c!ranboo

i think cranboo has some other brain soup goin on, but hes definitely autistic if you ask me. they become overwhelmed in high intensity (high sensory) situations easily. theyre over empathetic to a point of self destruction and causing others to dislike them for being supposedly lacking in moral viewpoints. (on the contrary they have very STRONG personal morals) theyre friendly with many (masking) but only lets a few people get close. actually speaking of masking good lord does he do that. nearly everyone they encounter only sees a “presentable” more “normal” side of them.

28. How long do your special interests usually last for?

sO in my head there are two “types” of my special interests. the first tend to last 1-2 years, being more cyclical and predictable. the second “type” is one that remains for many years - examples being birds and pokemon. pokemon has been a special interest of mine since i was 10 years old, and birds have been since high school. back in middle school / high school, freshwater fishkeeping was my special interest! this type is nice bc its always there and i can always fall back on it. itll always make me happy and i can rely on them while im engaged with smth else or if i dont have a current cyclical special interest.

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1980 - The Dark Phoenix Saga

The X-Men, those enduring mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 132 - 140, X-Men Annual 4) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, John Romita Jr. and Bob McLeod

Go on. Name a more iconic X-Men panel. I’ll wait. (X-Men 134)

If you were born in 1980, you were born under the sign of the Phoenix. This means you will have great hair, but you’ll also be absolutely corrupted by power. Don’t worry, as long as you don’t consume any stars and/or galaxies, you should be fine.

This year hits the ground running, introducing Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde and Dazzler in one fell swoop. The White Queen is the first of the Hellfire Club to make her move, but Phoenix is quickly able to dispatch of her, as you can read here.

Cyclops, worried that the rest of the Inner Circle will soon come in for the kill, decides to abscond to Angel’s Aerie in New Mexico to throw their pursuers off their scent. Jean decides to make the most of it and has sex with Scott on top of mesa. (Kinky!) She also shuts off his uncontrollable destructo-beams, nbd. This somehow inspires Scott to go from reactive to proactive and lead an ill-advised charge straight into the Hellfire Club on the night of their big ball… soirée... thing. Call it a Hellfire Gala-avant-la-lettre.

Fine, he might have been inspired by the raw power of the Phoenix. She’s the biggest gun on their side and, if there's one thing you can be sure of, it´s that reliable powerhouse Jean won´t switch sides in the middle of battle.

Oh wait, that's exactly what she does.

As soon as they enter the Hellfire Club, Jason Wyngarde, who reveals he’s actually Mastermind, takes control of Jean, finally turning her into the Black Queen. With the power of the Phoenix and the patriarchy on their side, the Inner Circle makes short work of the X-Men. They consists of:

Jason Wyngarde, aka Mastermind.

Sebastian Shaw. Often shirtless. The Jeff Bezos of mutantkind. Has the ability to absorb kinetic energy, which means punching him only makes him stronger. (Colossus and Storm figure this out the hard way.)

Harry Leland. Ability of mass manipulation, which has got to be one of the dopest powers ever. Uses it to dunk Wolverine three floors down into the sewer.

Donald Pierce. 25% robot, 100% asshole, 100% useless in taking out X-Men, 225% the worst.

Wolverine is the only one who escapes, resulting in another iconic image:

Apparently, this picture is solely responsible for the fact that Wolverine became the face of the X-Men in the zeroes. It also lit my cigar from the other side of the room. (X-Men 132)

Needless to say, stabbing ensues.

Meanwhile, Shaw pontificates what he wants with the X-Men. He means to use them as guinea pigs to isolate the X-Gene, which he’ll then reverse engineer to give everyone (with money) super powers and all of a sudden, I want Shaw to do a team-up with John Sublime. Jean is not all there, however: she’s trapped in the astral plane, cultivating a cruel streak a mile high.

And suddenly, Jean-turning-evil is not all that funny anymore. (X-Men 133)

Cyclops traverses the mental link he shares with Jean to confront ‘Sir Jason’ and challenge him to a duel. Guy can’t catch a break: in Jean’s mindscape, he is stabbed and he promptly collapses in the real world. Ruh-roh!

Wolverine, meanwhile, has done a passable impression of the Bride against the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill, and he interrupts the Hellfire Club and their gloating. That’s when Jean resurfaces as well, snapping out of her voluptuous Victorian fantasy and, playing a dubious tango with everyone’s trust issues, switching sides once again. The Phoenix is like the golden snitch: as long as your team holds it, it’s enough to win.

Colossus snaps Pierce’s robo-arm, Shaw gets punted through a floor and Leland uses his powers to increase Wolverine’s mass - just when Logan is jumping on top of him. Oops! Should have made him lighter than a feather, Leland.

Jean, meanwhile, is doing her own passable impression of the Bride and goes on what the advertisements would refer to as a ‘Roaring Rampage of Revenge’. (Oh, she roars, and she rampages, and she gets bloody satisfaction.)

This is what happens when you fuck around and find out, Jason. (X-Men 134)

Phoenix makes Mastermind’s mind touch the infinite. His tiny human mind can’t cope. And, just like me when I’m at Pride and surrounded by a bevvy of shirtless gym bunnies, he becomes a dribbling mess. A shell with nothing inside. For those of you paying attention: this is where your Lit teacher would shout “dramatic irony” and underscore Emma Frost vs. Storm on the chalkboard.

This is also the moment where she officially Breaks Bad.

We see powerless people become heroes all the time. The reverse, where the angel falls? That happens far more rarely. I think that is the reason this story was so shockingly effective in the eighties. The reason why it’s still so effective? I think because, like the One Ring, you can read the rise and fall of the Phoenix in a myriad of ways. Is this a victim, reclaiming power? Is this a woman, trying to rise in a man’s world? Is this someone who was always buttoned up, daring to embrace her own power, her sexuality, her dangerous side -- only to get promptly beat down? The ambiguity of the narrative gives it strength, which is why I think it keeps resonating even now. This counts especially in the X-Universe, inherently designed to appeal to the underdog.

Anyway, the X-Men try to flee, but it’s too late. Jean can’t hold it in any more. She explodes in Phoenixesness and vaporizes the X-Men’s aircraft over Central Park. Relishing in her power, Jean easily defeats her friends, before flying off into the galaxy.

In the Avengers mansion, Beast gets the report that the X-Men are trashing the Hellfire Club. Ignoring his duties as an Avenger, Beast chooses his old family and hops off to investigate on his own.

The report, by the way, comes from Shaw, who knows when to turn tail and cut his losses. Among the confused, scared refugees of their party, he begins working a politician on the importance of a Sentinel program. That politician? Senator Kelly. Remember that name.

Jean can’t talk, she’s doing hot girl things. Nomnomnom that star system, sis. (X-Men 135)

Originally, Jean wasn’t meant to die. This one panel, the one showing the inhabited planet, is the reason why she eventually does: Jim Shooter, editor-in-chief, felt Jean shouldn’t be able to get away with a literal genocide. Claremont and Byrne, who had planned to strip Jean of her powers at the end of this, had to change the end of their story within days before it went to print. Additionally, this stoked the adversarial fire between the two: Claremont claims that he hadn’t originally intended there to be an inhabited planet, but felt his hands were tied when Byrne drew one. I wonder how true this is, considering how embedded it is in the narrative, but that’s neither here nor there.

The Phoenix’s genocide alerts the Shi’Ar - and therefore Lilandra - to her presence. Lily says that Galactus is nothing compared to the Phoenix: he merely eats planets, she will consume all that exists.

A hungry Jean, meanwhile returns to Earth, not sure what she’s looking for. She pays a visit to the home of her parents, but when they warily come to greet her, she can’t help but read all the innermost thoughts of her family. Nothing is secret, nothing is sacred. (Imagine knowing all those little thoughts your parents had about you, all those little terrible human things they did in their life. Imagine knowing all their sexual fantasies. Brrr.) It sours the Phoenix against them and she is about to start familicide to her list of sins, when the X-Men attack!

Nightcrawler slaps a psionic scrambler designed by Beast on her, but she’s still too strong. Wolverine tries to end her, but he isn’t ruthless enough to do the deed. When the scrambler overloads, Scott tries reasoning with her, appealing to her love. This causes the Phoenix to waver and Charles Xavier (airdropped in by Warren), bolts Jean telepathically.

Drinking game rule for the Phoenix saga no 6: shout “ca-caw” and take a sip every time the raptor appears. (X-Men 136)

Xavier feels Jean helping him out from within the Phoenix and together, they slowly trap Phoenix in the same sort of energy-matrix as Jean did with the M’Kraan-crystal. The Phoenix finally lays dormant, the X-Men have Jean back and Scott, overwhelmed by emotion, sort of awkwardly proposes to her. Happy Ending! And then, pulling the rug out from under our feet, the X-Men (including Beast and Angel) are whisked away.

They appear in front of Lilandra. The Shi’Ar hold Jean accountable for her planet-killing ways and Lilandra orders her Imperial Guard to take her away! But Charles invokes an ancient law with the same relish of someone who invokes an obscure board game rule against the person who is about to win: he demands a trial by combat.

The rules are easy:

X-Men win: Jean lives

Shi’Ar win: Jean dies.

The trial will be on the dark side of the moon. The Shi’ar are way too strong and, one by one, the X-Men fall, until only Jean and Scott are left. In their last stand, Jean loses control and becomes the Phoenix again, wiping the floor with the Imperial Guard. Technically, they win, but she knows now.

Suicide by abandoned-machine-of-a-long-forgotten-civilization-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon. (X-Men 137)

She dies. Phoenix dies. The X-Men lose. Scott, bereft, leaves the X-Men.

One detail I love is the holempathic crystal that Lilandra bestows on Jean’s parents.

Without becoming too maudlin, the idea of this is beautiful. A condensed image of a person you love, one you can touch when you feel memories slipping away so you can remember who they were. (X-Men 138)

And with that, season 2 of the X-Men ends. Without Cyclops and Phoenix, the X-Men have to readjust. While Beast returns to the Avengers, Angel takes up residence in the mansion again. He confesses to liking most of the new X-Men, except Wolverine. (To be fair, Wolverine is an acquired taste.) Kitty Pryde also formally starts attending the school and slowly, the Jean-and-Scott-shaped void is filled.

Patriarchal Charles is thrilled to finally have a new teenager in the house who will hang on to his every word. It’ll be like the sixties all over again! (X-Men 139)

There are so many beautiful touches in the few panels:

Wolverine calling Charles ‘Chuck’

Nightcrawler getting drinks (and a beer)

Most amazingly of all, Storm becoming the leader. (I give Chuck a lot of flak, but this decision is Right.) Not just because Storm is the best X-Man for the job, but also because she was a black woman leading one of premier Marvel superhero teams for, what? The better half of a decade? The eighties had barely started, so this was a big fucking deal.

Storm also takes up a motherly role for Kitty, who takes up her suggestion for a codename: Sprite. (This after Kitty rejects Charles’ suggestion of Ariel, which is only fortunate, considering that name would soon be associated with redhaired mermaids.)

The rest of the year is dedicated to two adventures, both of them starring Kurt. The first is depicted in the annual: on Kurt’s birthday, he receives a mysterious package with a mysterious figurine that mysteriously explodes in his face. Professor X calls guest star Dr. Strange for aid, who deduces that his soul has been stolen. What follows is a quest to regain Kurt’s soul in an adventure that feels a little too I just read Dante’s Inferno, check how smart I am.

Hell is a little too pedestrian and boring, though we do get a King Minos hitting on Kurt and Ororo. A man of wealth and taste indeed. Anyway, at the end of this side quest, it turns out all of this was a convoluted revenge scheme concocted by one Margali of the Winding Road. She turns out to be Kurt’s (adoptive) mother, who’s getting revenge for Kurt killing her son.

Kurt, racked with guilt, reveals he had no choice. Stefan had always feared the darkness in his soul and he’d made Kurt pledge to stop him if he should ever succumb to it. After Stefan killed a child or two, Kurt had no choice but to end him. Stefan perished and Kurt was blamed for all of the murders, having to flee an angry mob.

Margali forgives him, with some help from Jimaine, Kurt’s foster sister. In a twist that is a little too soap opera for my tastes (and I watch Riverdale), Jimaine turns out to be Kurt’s squeeze, Amanda Sefton. I’ve always disliked this twist, and not just because of the incesteous vibes: I like the idea of Kurt dating a regular lady who is into him despite his appearance and his being a mutant. Making Amanda Sefton his sorcerous half-sister dilutes that message a lot.

The tail end of 1980 involves Wolverine going to Canada so Wolverine can make amends with Alpha Flight. Kurt joins him, ostensibly to flirt with Aurora, but in fact this shows that Kurt and Wolverine are establishing a rapport. A deeper friendship.

In a pretty paint-by-numbers adventure, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and the worse half of Alpha Flight take down a Wendigo. We don’t get Northstar or Aurora, but we do get more Snowbird, who can change herself into Canadian animals, with the danger of being consumed by her animal side.

We get this delightful panel out of it:

Scared Nightcrawler almost makes me forget how full of shit Jimmy MacDonald is, considering last time Kurt saw them, they tried to kidnap the fuzzy elf. (X-Men 139)

This whole arc is meant to show the softening of Wolverine. Not only does he share his name with Kurt (well, sort of: “Logan, is that your name?” “Yup.” “You never told us.” “You never asked.”), but when they fight the Wendigo and Snowbird turns into a white wolverine to deal the final blow, he talks her out of being consumed by her vicious animal nature.

The year ends with two details worth mentioning:

The Canadian government dissolves Alpha Flight, which I can only find a prescient move that highlights their good taste. A realistic note I like is the minister referring to the mutant problem as ‘an American problem’ even though they employ the Beaubier twins. Wankers.

Fred Dukes escapes prison to join the New Brotherhood of Mutants!

We’re now entering a run of the X-Men which I haven’t read much of yet, but Freddy mentions he was helped by some lady lawyer. That’s gotta be Mystique, right?

I can barely contain my glee.

Ugliest Costume: Despite that godawful hooded thing Kitty wears, I have to give this to Dazzler. There’s no salvaging that costume: I’m sorry, but she’s wearing a disco ball around her neck. It's a boot from me.

Best new character: Emma Frost. Fight me by the bike rack near the parking lot if you disagree.

Turns evil: Jean Grey, famously so.

What to read: X-Men 129 to 137, the Dark Phoenix run.

[passable-talent]

May I perhaps request a part 8 for the dai li series? I'm very very hype for what's to come for the finale!

should’ve figured this would happen within 20 min

ya boi returns after a week of classes with significantly better mental health! not enough to make me think I’ll be here more often than I have, but enough to give me the passion i need to f u c k i n g d e l i v e r 

and now...

THE MOMENT YOUVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR

| part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 |

The day of Sozin’s Comet.

The comet tore its way across the sky behind Appa, vaporizing clouds and turning the sky blood red, as though it knew the terror and destruction it was meant to bring. Seated in Appa’s saddle behind Katara and Zuko, you looked over his tail at it, its brightness in the sky that rivaled the sun. You wondered when it would behind to effect firebenders- you wondered if Zuko could already feel it. 

“Zuko, don’t worry,” said Katara, catching the anxiety you had noticed slipping off of him like waves. “We can take Azula.”

“I’m not worried about her,” Zuko said, “I’m worried about Aang. What if he doesn’t have the guts to take out my father?” You made brief eye contact with Katara before moving forward, getting closer to the conversation. 

“What if he loses?” Zuko’s voice was clear in its trepidation. 

“Aang won’t lose,” Karata said, confidence in her tone. “He’s gonna come back. He has to.” You put your hand on her shoulder, settling down on your knees between the two of them. 

“Of course he will,” you said, looking over your shoulder once again at the comet. “He wouldn’t let us face Ozai without him.” Zuko caught his reaction before it made its way to his face, controlling it. But all the same, he had to wonder- had he even told you his father’s name? And referring to him as ‘Ozai’, rather than ‘the Firelord’- a disrespect that even some of the others of the team hadn’t done. 

None of the three of you wore armor. What would metal do against fire, anyway? You wore the uniform of a Dai Li student, or what had once been. Its long, loose sleeves had been ripped at your biceps and the baggy pants ripped just below your knees, so that all that was left to be recognized was the symbol of Ba Sing Se on your chest, and the gold trim as it hung at your waist. If you were going to win the war, today, you’d do it for your home city. 

You didn’t wear shoes. 

“There’s the palace,” Katara said, leaning forward to get as good a look at the courtyard as she could. “It’s almost empty.”

“Except for Azula,” you said, narrowing your eyes as though that would help you see. “And those guys.”

“Those are the Fire Sages. Everyone else is either with the fleet or at home, waiting for the victory,” Zuko said, his normal brand of anger yet nonchalance gracing his voice. Drawing closer, the words of the Fire Sages drifted up to where you could hear them, high on Appa’s back. 

“By decree of Phoenix King Ozai, I now crown you Firelord-” he hands swung down to place the crown in Azula’s hair, but he paused, noticing Appa beside one of the towers. Appa bellowed as he approached, and Azula’s words were lost beneath the sound. Appa landed at the steps of the palace, and Zuko stood. 

“Sorry, but you’re not going to become Firelord today.” He leapt down, leaving you and Katara on the saddle. “I am.” Azula’s laugh ground on your ears, shivering you to the bone. She looked... unkempt. 

“You’re hilarious.” Katara approached Zuko’s side, and you flanked his other. 

“And you’re going down,” she levied against Azula, and you couldn’t help but find a smile sliding to your face. Azula has had this coming, just like you said to Iroh only hours ago. You were happy that you got to be a part of the force that took her down, after all the pain she had brought into your life. She was a monster. 

“Wait,” Azula said, stopping the head sage from placing the headpiece on her, “You want to be Firelord?” She stood, and walked toward the edge of the stairs. You didn’t like standing beneath her. “Fine. Let’s settle this. Just you and me, brother.” She spat the word with contempt that you wanted to wipe right off of her face. “The showdown that was always meant to be- Agni Kai!” 

“You’re on,” Zuko growled before you could even react. You turned your head, noticing Katara had done the same. 

“Zuko-” you said, concern in your voice. You’d come all this way to help, and Katara had too, and now he was going to take her on without you? 

“What are you doing? She’s playing you,” Katara said, narrowing her eyes. “She knows she can’t take all three of us, so she’s trying to separate us.” You wanted to reach out and take his hand, as though to pull him toward reason, but something held you back. You stole a glance at Azula, and the sick, gloating smile on her face. 

“I know,” Zuko said, and your eyes widened slightly, surprised that he knew the trap but still walked into it. “But I can take her this time.”

“But even you admitted to your uncle that you would need help facing Azula.”

“Zuko, that’s why we’re here for you,” you added, finally breaking your gaze from the princess. 

“There’s something off about her,” he said, “I can’t explain it, but she’s slipping.” It was like you could feel her gaze on the side of your head as you looked at her brother, like you could feel her weighing her decisions, like she did back in Ba Sing Se, when she manipulated you and Zuko both. It made you shiver. 

“And this way,” Zuko said, reaching out and taking your hand while he looked at Katara, “no one else has to get hurt.” You squeezed his hand, tightly, before letting go and circling him to Katara’s side. The courtyard before the steps of the palace were cleared, and the two siblings took up positions facing away from each other. You stood with Katara, not far from Zuko. It may have been against the rules, but still you wanted to stand by, in case you needed to interfere and help him. You were sure Katara felt the same way. 

Slowly, the siblings stood, what felt like miles separating them. 

“I’m sorry it has to end this way, brother,” Azula said in a near snarl, slicking her robe from her shoulders and discarding it to the ground. Zuko stood steadfast in his ready stance, calm. 

“No you’re not.”

Azula took up her ready stance, and before you knew it, the battle had begun. 

Until this moment, you hadn’t seen firebending under the influence of Sozin’s Comet. You understood the effect it was supposed to have had, but the pure size of the awful flames was something you could never have predicted, nor truly understood, if it weren’t for this moment, this amazing and intense shot of flame Azula conjured, her blue contrasting the sky and sun of dark red, and Zuko’s return, his bright yellows and oranges filling your vision and blocking Azula. The impact of the powers of the siblings created a wall that bisected the entirety of the palace grounds, and the heat and wind pushed your hair from your face. 

From the fading wall burst Azula’s fire, four waves of flame accompanying her movements, and as Zuko split and deflected each one, you kept your eye on him. His footwork. His stance. He had learned from Aang, just a bit- don’t go straight to the attack. Weave with your partner. He had absolute control, but still your fists flexed, making the ground roll beneath your exposed toes. Your feet were firmly planted to the ground, so even when you blinked, you could follow the fight. 

The two traded blows, their deflected flames launching up and out of the courtyard, coloring the clouds. Azula’s misfires tore through homes and set rooftops ablaze. Zuko’s blast toward her was matched, and as he adjusted his position it moved past him, a wall of cyan sliding past a wall of amber. Planting a foot to the floor, you rocked your fist up, a wall erupting from the stone floor to split Azula’s blaze in front of you and Katara. For the moment, you huddled together, watching as the fire circled you like a predator before disappearing. Quickly, you shot it down into its place, and once again took your eyes to the battle. The front of the palace was ablaze, and in a rage, Azula leapt toward Zuko, raining down on top of him what looked like a whip of fire. Planting his stance, he split it, a pathway opening straight from him to his sister. You recognized that move- Toph had taught it to you. 

Azula was on one knee, collecting herself, and from far away it looked like she was breathing hard. Zuko, on the other hand, stood strong, and steady. He moved toward her two interwoven streams of flame that roared and grew as they moved, which she slid out from beside. You couldn’t look away, even as tears fought to moisten your eyes from their onslaught of heat. Azula gave him a sloppy attack, and so he did what you could only describe as ascending, rising on a pillar of fire until he could swing an arc at her as he fell back down, splitting her next offense. 

She swung around him, weaving, and he stood his ground, protecting himself. But he sensed the weakness that you could not see- as long as she was sliding on her flames, as long as she wasn’t connected to the ground, he could break her root. He sent a wave of flame in all directions that broke up her fire, and sent her crashing to the ground. 

She collected herself up, her hair fallen from its updo, fluttering around her and into her eyes. She had a madness in those eyes, a bloodthirst, but her stance was weak and her back hunched, like something was giving out beneath her. 

“No lightning today?” You heard Zuko taunt. “What’s’a matter? Afraid I’ll redirect it?” He brought himself into an offensive stance, and, sensing danger, Katara ran closer. You followed, remembering your last run-in with Azula’s lightning. The night Aang died. 

“Oh, I’ll show you lightning!” Azula snarled, and, following your instincts, you pushed Katara behind you. Rock would fare better against lightning than water. 

With movements to her right, then her left, Azula collected her lightning, thunder echoing off of walls and mountainsides and clouds all around you. Through the earth you felt as Zuko took a deep breath, his heartbeat calm, but your eyes remained on the princess. 

She gathered her two fingers to her chest, readying to fire. But then, you saw her eyes land on you.

Sometimes, a person sees a million moments pass in less than one. 

You saw her stance pivot to you, and her arm extend toward you and Katara. But she wasn’t targeting Katara- she knew what you were, and what you had become. You had become a weakness, not in yourself, but in Zuko, and she had seen it in the way you looked at him in Ba Sing Se, and she had seen it in the way he had reached for your hand at the steps of the palace. You had endangered Katara, and so with the world moving by at the pace of a million moments in less than one, you launched forward to plant both feet, sweeping your arms from your sides and in, up, and from the tiles began to rise a wall. 

And you saw, at a pace of a million moments in less than one, the way that Zuko ran between you and the lightning, the blue of it drowning out any other color. The strength in your arms faded, and the wall in front of you, meant to protect you and Katara, vaporized to sand, and crumbled back to the ground. Zuko absorbed the lightning, and shot it out above the walls of the volcano. 

There he was left, then, trembling. 

“Zuko!” you shouted, and Katara the same, both of you meaning to run toward him. But Azula reminded you that she was still a threat by slamming the ground in front of you with lightning, and you snapped your gaze to her. 

Once, in a cavern deep beneath a palace in Ba Sing Se, Azula had come between you and Zuko. And that day, you’d been too scared- you were a kid who had never seen war. You weren’t ready to attack, and if you were, maybe that day would’ve changed how the war played out. Once, in a cavern deep beneath a palace in Ba Sing Se, you’d failed to keep Zuko from his sister. 

It wouldn’t happen again. 

You let out a scream and lifted a dozen boulders from the tiled ground, launching them at the princess, each in turn. Her laughter grated against your skin and you’d never moved with such rage in your bones before, the strain on your joints nothing compared to your heartbreak. Your hair and clothes whipped around you, put to the test by the speed with which you were moving. And yet, Azula alluded you. 

“Y/N!” Katara called, and you wisened up for just long enough to realize that she was all too used to fighting off a rage-fueled attacker. You weren’t going to win this way, and now, winning was up to Katara and you. One more shot you pressed toward her, and using that as a distraction, you knocked her from her path with a stone launched from just beside her. It gave you enough time to slip with Katara from the battlefield into the awning-filled pavilions nearby. 

You could barely keep your legs from turning you back to where Zuko still lay. 

Azula brought her fire down from behind the pavilion where you and Katara had taken shelter, and so she chased you out, back toward the open yard. Katara made a break for Zuko, covering her hand in water so she could heal him, and as you ran, you threw your open hands down toward the ground, walls slicing up beside him, hopefully to keep him safe. But your path was interrupted by Azula’s flame, her laughter rocking your core as she conjured lightning, and so you shot back a boulder to divert her long enough for you and Katara to put just a bit more distance between you and her.

Still, her lightning caught up to you, and the explosion sent you both flying. Katara rolled, and you brought up a platform to land on properly. Azula landed on a nearby rooftop, giddy smiles on her face. 

“I’d really rather our family physician look after little Zu-zu, if you don’t mind!” Her voice gave you pause, even as you launched to the side to avoid her lightning. What, really, was she doing, attacking her own brother? What had brought her to being the bloodthirsty murderer she was so prepared to become?

More flame chased Katara as she joined you behind a pillar, and you stomped your heel to the floor to raise even another wall between you and where Azula had just been. 

“Zu-zu, you don’t look so good!” Azula snarled, and with her scream sent another bolt of lightning to Katara, the crack of thunder nearly deafening you as it split you from her, sending you in opposite directions. 

After all that, though, when choosing who Azula would go after, who Azula would see as a threat, it wasn’t you. She went for Katara, and after a moment, you realized her goal- Katara was the only one, now, who could save Zuko’s life. And so you slipped to the side, running between columns, one eye on Azula and the other on Zuko. Katara froze both her and the princess in place, and immediately you knew who would come out the winner. You bolted to Zuko’s side, your feet carrying you shakily, until you crashed to your knees beside him. You lowered the walls you’d put up around him and rolled him to his back, finally laying eyes on the deep, raw wound on his stomach. 

“Stay still,” you ordered him, extending one foot out to ground yourself, and you punched the tile in order to raise up a platform underneath him, where Katara could hope to work better. Shaking hands extended toward his face, and those tears that once tried to protect your eyes from the heat now tried to protect them from something far, far worse- the pain in Zuko’s expression. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” you promised him, even as he flinched and groaned, even as your voice shook, even as you slowly cupped his face. The sound of a crash of water made you look over your shoulder, and the sight you found was relieving- Katara chaining Azula to the ground. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” you promised again, your voice shaking even as this time, you knew you weren’t lying. Katara was there only a moment later, water already coating her hands, ready to press it down into his wound. It began to glow, and you watched as Zuko’s face first flexed with more pain, then relaxed. A tearful smile crossed your face and a small sob escaped your lungs, and he looked first to you, then to Katara. 

“Thank you, Katara,” he said, taking a deep breath, and settling his muscles down onto the stone beneath him. 

Azula had been defeated. Zuko was to be Firelord. For the moment, the world was triumphant, and you saw him smile. You’d waited a thousand moments for this one, right here, when everything was okay, and when he was safe. 

You’d waited a thousand moments, but in this one, you couldn’t remember the ones where he’d hurt you, where you’d hated him. You couldn’t remember the ones filled with pain, and anger, the ones in which you walked away from him in anger, or threw up a wall between the two of you, or yelled at him. You couldn’t remember the ones in which he hadn’t done what you’d needed him to, or in which you had kept yourself at arms length. 

All you could remember where the moments that truly brought you to this one, right here. 

Finally, you leaned down, and you kissed him. 

Your fingers slid into his hair at the back of his head, and cupped his head away from the hard stone beneath him. Your eyes closed, all you could do was feel, your instep pressed to the ground beneath you, your lips pressing against his. And you didn’t want him to move, to push himself, but he did cup your face, letting his fingertips feel into your scalp, as your hair fell down past your cheekbones. 

When you parted, for a moment, you couldn’t do anything but stare. 

“I love you,” you said, and a smile pulled at his lips. 

“I love you, too.” 

You brought your legs to your side to help him sit up, and then stand, one of your arms around his waist. Seemingly overwhelmed by her brother’s total victory, Azula truly fell, tears and screams leaving her while she flailed and spit fire. Finally, as you stood in front of her, in her truest, basest form, you recognized what you had never, any time you’d faced her. 

She was never in control. She was just scared, and finally, she’d been beaten, just like she always feared. 

Katara looked away. You couldn’t bring yourself to. 

~~~

As you took Zuko into the palace to rest, Katara traversed the palace city, putting out fires. It would take work, but the city would be inhabitable again, once Zuko took the throne. He had a lot of recovering to do, but by the time the world had gathered for his coronation, he was well enough to walk on his own, and to kneel to receive the crown. Still, though, he had trouble reaching behind himself to put on his robes. 

Luckily, you were always there to help him. 

“So I suppose, after all this, you’re going to go home,” he said as you lifted his clothing to his shoulders. 

“Hmm?”

“Back to Ba Sing Se. I know you miss it.” A small smile graced your lips, but you shook your head as you smoothed the wrinkles across his shoulders. 

“I do. I miss the city, but it hasn’t been my home. Not for a long time.” You circled around Zuko to take his hand just beside him, regarding him with a warm expression, warmth toward him that you could only match with a few moments before. 

“I thought I made it clear that this- right here-” you lifted his hand, interlocked with yours, up to his sight. “-This is my home.” He brought your hand down so that he could lean into a kiss, and you could enjoy it only for a moment before you had to pull away. 

“I’ve got to go,” you said, a bright smile on your face. “Toph saved my seat, and Aang is waiting for you!” You rushed to the door, a small exit that wouldn’t be noticed by the crowd gathered out front, but you paused. “Good luck,” you said, giving him an honest and traditional Fire Nation bow. 

“Your Highness.” 

-🦌 Roe

tag list: @furblrwurblr @eridanuswave @bernadineisreborn @angxlicwanda @celamoon @mywigglybaby @silentwhispofhope @the-girl-in-the-box @mavix @eury-dice3 @ninipoo1 @bigbuckyenergy @lucensei @srgania @uncovered-mad-man @11mb0 @deansbbysblog @pillowjj @ilovespideyyy @heavensgaymenace @thearachna-kid @llama2264 @anime-simp @akariblue @lostgirlheart @kacchasu @ctrl-alt-jeon @tadpoledancer @i-bitch-you-bitch @wetleafwrites @lammello @oddment-niwit-blubber-tweak @kittyddandnyla @smol-vy @lana-isabelle @doomedcampesinos @luleck @izzieserra @little-miss-sleep-deprived @poofyhairuwu @astroninaaa @littleladdty @davnwillcome @flourish-and-bloggs @heavensgaymenace @obnoxioussmiley @thyunnamed @harmlessoffering @j-ma26-rb @happyseadreams

[ace-attorney-x-reader]

No specific characters except maybe Edgeworth or Phoenix, so I’ll leave that up to you, but maybe an S/O who has trouble reading social cues especially jokes/sarcasm and sometimes gets mocked for it?

thanks for the ask anon!! i appreciate it 🥺 you’re great- also, because you said no specific characters, i added larry since you can never have too much larry and you can’t change my mind-

also i might remove the genre thing, because most of the time idk what to do with it other than to goof around- and sorry that i sound unsure and if it kinda effects it, and if anyone seems ooc, i’m still trying to figure stuff out and get a grasp on the characters 😔

- - - - - - - - -

Character(s)  - Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Larry Butz

Prompt - Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Larry with an S/O that has stuff like jokes or sarcasm fly over their head easily + how they deal with their S/O being mocked for it

Genre - Fluff, kinda comfort i guess? idk- and p r o t e c c

Pronouns - Neutral (They/them)

Warnings - Bullying (does mocking count as bullying?? eh-)

- - - - - - - - -

- Phoenix Wright -

Phoenix has never really FELT your pain, he’s generally pretty good at catching social cues, as well as dishing them out himself- well, dishing out sarcasm, jokes aren’t his strong suit- but he understands why you have trouble catching them.

He does nOT tolerate people mocking you for it, and would definitely tell them off.

He probably wouldn’t get physical, but he DID slap Lotta that one time when she made a comment about Maya getting accused of murder again (either that, or my memory’s failing me-), so maybe he would?? Maybe depending on how bad the comment was and how bad it affected you, I don’t know-

He would definitely explain the social cue to you and comfort you if you felt embarrassed.

So, overall, it doesn’t matter to him and he loves you anyway!!

- Miles Edgeworth -

I imagine that Edgeworth has a bit of trouble catching social cues as well, due to his general lack of social skills, so he does actually feel your pain. 

Luckily, no one actually often mocks HIM for it, because of him being generally someone people don’t mess with, so they usually leave you alone as well.

However, when people DO mess with you, he does basically the same thing as Phoenix- tell them off.

He does comfort you if you feel embarrassed, and you two actually try to figure it out together if he didn’t understand it either.

Honestly, him getting physical is straight up out of the question, but I think when he tells the person mocking you off, how cold and harsh he is when he does it depends on your reaction and how bad the comment was.

Again, something this little would never affect your relationship in a bad way- in fact, it makes it a little bit better, with the fact that you share something like that in common!

- Larry Butz -

I can’t help but see Larry having the EXACT same problem as you, maybe worse, not wanting to admit it at first, but then finding out that you have the same problem, and then just going “oh hey me too :D”.

You both probably get mocked for it occasionally, and his reaction is just about the same for both of you, but maybe a bit worse when you get mocked- just absolutely flying off the handle.

You’d probably expect that you would both have to comfort each other, but he would definitely comfort you, even if he’s, uh, maybe a bit bad at it. He’s not really embarrassed about the actual thing, but maybe about his reaction a bit later.

I don’t think he’d get violent, at least not often. I think he’d teeter in the middle of being all bark and no bite and you having to physically hold him back, and it depends probably solely on your reaction.

Again, the two of you would probably bond over your shared problem.

[stainedglassthreads]

How about, for the headcanon meme: Talon, Rita, and Papyrus? OvO

Hoooo boy 

Talon

(Technically everything about him is both a headcanon and canon buuuuuuuut--)

Headcanon A:  realistic

Hair is an extremely important thing in Greshan and Angran societies. Growing it out to different lengths or putting it in different hairstyles can convey information. But in Angran tribes specifically, touching or doing someone else’s hair is an extremely intimate act, reserved only for immediate family and your betrothed.

His younger siblings used to do his hair, but there was a long span of time where *no one* did it. Once he finally trusted Elian and Nania enough, they’d have some meet-ups where they didn’t do any sparring or anything, just relaxed and did each other’s hair. 

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

He acts like Elian had all these stupid ideas when he’s much more rational but there was at least one incident where he grabbed a goose or phoenix, climbed into a tree with it, and tried to fly by jumping out of the tree as the bird flapped wildly. 

He denies it ever happened, but Elian and Nania both saw. They Know. 

They know he’s a melodramatic goof. 

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

When Talon met Elian, his kindness threw him for a loop, and got him to re-evaluated the path his life was taking. Ultimately it made him much happier and well-balanced. But if Talon had never met Elian, he’d have basically no positive influences in his life, and become someone really awful. Had he met Elian in a battle instead of when they did in comic, he might have just killed him, never knowing what good friends they could have been, in another world, another life... 

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

He’s descended from Rue. In the AU where he somehow survives thousands of years, when Rue eventually gets better she tries to make up for what she did to him in the past because he is a fun person to fight! Those are so so rare!

Rita! 

Headcanon A:  realistic

(spoilers for season three but) I love her and Jet’s friendship. I like to imagine that she just hyperfocuses on some stream or coding a program/hacking Dark Matters on her coms, but the group’s heading off somewhere, so Jet just. Picks her up in his arms and carries her after them while she’s still typing and rambling because she’s Tiny and he’s Huge, and while she’s rambling about it sometimes he’ll respond with “Yes.” “No.” “I am not familiar.” But he tries to keep up with her because in Tool’s of Rust he mentioned how following her train of thought is great exercise. 

Idk I really just like Jet carrying Rita around places while she talks at a mile a minute while doing five other things, this chaotic whirlwind of manic energy in the arms of the most stoic guy you ever met. Great dynamic A+ 

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

She tried to join Dark Matters once thinking that ‘it’d be like in the movies!’, brought absolute chaos to the establishment for like a week, and then got bored and left, but still keeps tabs on all the ‘friends’ she made there by hacking into the highly secure Dark Matters database, and sends them memes. No one knows WHAT to make of her. 

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

It wouldn’t surprise me if she had an exceptionally lonely childhood growing up and Juno was her first ‘real’ friend. She seems to think and speak entirely in pop culture references, not to mention she’s leagues better at programming and codes than anyone else in Hyperion City, even the CIA-equivalent organization Dark Matters. Perhaps her genius and general though process scared other kids away, and when she met angry, bitter, defensive Juno, she thought ‘oh, he’s like me!’ and latched onto him because they both needed a friend, even if they had their respective ways of hiding it. 

Season 3 spoilers but this might also be why she’s so desperate to help her friends and fix their problems for them, she’s so weird but they won’t leave if she’s a useful kind of weird. 

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

She’s very smart... she’s cagey about both her age and her last name... She’s bi... She is a woman from the 1800s who was very smart and inquisitive but barred from participating in the science community and them got bitten by a vampire only instead of ever becoming a famous scientist she kept getting distracted by hot people and penny dreadfuls and traveling to try ‘exotic’ food but kept picking up so much knowledge she’s completely gotten her knowledge of the past all muddled up iN THIS ESSAY I WILL--

The Great Papyrus! 

Headcanon A:  realistic

I don’t know how realistic it is but I still REALLY love the ‘Gaster is Papyrus’ theory and am sorely disappointed that to this day, I’ve only found TWO stories that explore it :( 

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Papyrus' powers are strong enough to destroy the Barrier, the only reason he doesn’t know is that he’s simply never tried. There are a lot of things he doesn’t know he can do simply because no one else can do what he does and so he’s never known to try. 

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

Going with the ‘Papyrus is Gaster’ theory, the reason Papyrus has no friends is that whatever power caused Gaster to be forgotten is still in effect, albeit it’s worn off a bit. The only way people can legit remember him and his depth and capability is through Determination, so Undyne, Flowey, and Frisk/Chara. But for those who don’t... he’s a weird tall kid(?), he’s Sans’ brother, he’s that Royal Guard Wannabe. They can only remember who he is in connection with other, more memorable people and concepts, otherwise he’s a stranger, barely an acquaintance. 

Even Sans doesn’t remember him. This is his brother, and he knows he really admires his brother and thinks he’s cool for... some reason... but he can’t quite recall what those reasons are. He doesn’t remember his brother’s favorite food, eh, it must be spaghetti, right? He’s making it all the time. He thinks his brother likes japes and jokes so he’ll make the laziest puns. His brother really wants to capture a human, but he’s not quite sure why, so he’ll ask the human to play nice so Pap can meet them and do... whatever. He’s happy, right? He looks happy, but Sans feels like he’s not quite doing... enough... What’s missing? 

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Papyrus doesn’t become a police officer or a chef or any of the ‘popular’ headcanons on the surface. (Defund the police.) He becomes a superhero.  He rehabilitates all his former enemies. He’s Batman now, but less broody and just as dramatic. Flowey is roped into being his side-kick. Flowey complains a lot but secretly loves being a superhero. Undyne is his fellow superhero, the Spear of Justice.  Everyone loves them. Fuck you. 

[brandyovereager]

The Phoenix Effect - pt. 7

This is the longest chapter I have ever posted! The conversations in this chapter were so much fun to write, I hope you have fun reading them ;). Let me know what you think, I love to hear from you guys!!!

On ao3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22195906/chapters/60178285

Summary: Rowan is in Rifthold with Dorian when a strange phenomenon sweeps the land. Those once dead are popping up alive. Everyday, more and more are Reborn. One day Rowan encounters a Reborn young man who refuses to give his name, only asking to know the whereabouts of Celaena Sardothien.

-

Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius lounged on her throne. Her posture was casual in a way that made her appear superior, but the grin on her face betrayed the childlike joy within her.

Aelin had heard about the reborn phenomenon in Adarlan from Rowan’s reports, and knew all the miraculous details of what was happening. It shouldn’t have been as much of a shock as it was for her to hear that reborns were showing up in Terrasen.

The first ones arrived in towns near the border between Terrasen and Adarlan. Within a week there were reborns appearing in Orynth. Luckily, Aelin was a swift and wise leader. She was able to quickly institute a procedure for helping reborns similar to the one in Adarlan.

The whole situation was managing smoothly, her mate would be returning home soon, and just three days ago Aelin found yet another reason to be happy.

It seemed there was no real logic to where the reborns popped up. It didn’t coincide with where they died—or even where they had lived most of their lives—because when Aelin last visited the reborn specialists’ center, she was reunited with a dear friend she thought was lost forever.

Somehow the magical force behind this phenomenon had brought Nehemia Ytger to Orynth, alive and well.

Their reunion was joyous and tearful. Aelin had so much to explain to Nehemia, things she never had the chance to say, but all she could get out were incoherent sobs of delight. Several minutes of heartfelt embrace later, the pair was sat close together and calm enough to delve into their much needed conversation.

The story spilled out of Aelin faster than she could think—along with a stream of pent-up apologies and guilt for what happened to her friend. Aelin had blamed herself for so much after Nehemia died, and all that shame came resurfaced as she sat across from the other young woman.

Nehemia adamantly denied any guilt on Aelin’s part, but made sure Aelin knew that she would be forgiven anyway. After sufficient reassurance and long overdue healing, the two friends jumped right in to all the wonderful updates on Aelin’s life.

The young queen excitedly took her old friend on a tour around her castle and introduced her to her court—most of it, at least. Nehemia and Lysandra hit it off wonderfully, and the three spent many hours together with broad smiles on their faces. It filled Aelin’s heart to see two people she loved get along so well. She couldn’t wait for Nehemia to meet Rowan.

Now, three days after their reunion, Nehemia sat beside her in the throne room while she held her court. The two friends exchanged many secret smiles as various courtiers made their—often ridiculous—remarks.

From outside the throne room, Aelin could hear a commotion begin amongst her guards. The Fae queen sat up straighter in her seat and focused her gaze on the large doors ahead of her. As expected, they soon opened and a servant entered.

“Your Majesty, two new reborns have arrived and wish to speak to you.” That was quite odd. Why would her guard have gotten in a fuss over a couple of reborns?

“Reborns should be sent to the specialists’ center to find help. Why should these two be brought to see me?”

“You know these ones, My Queen, they are your family.” A jumble of feelings rushed through Aelin with the servant’s statement, and the look on his face betrayed his knowledge of her reaction.

“My family? Send them in.” Aelin was tingling and buzzing down to her fingertips. The possibility of her own family being amongst those reborn had always been there, but she hadn’t let herself believe it would happen.

The doors to her throne room opened to reveal a male and female, each with golden hair. The male Aelin recognized immediately, and she leapt from her seat to meet him in an embrace.

“Gavriel.” The golden-haired male held her firmly to him with just as much enthusiasm as Aelin felt herself. She had missed him, and Aedion had too.

Stepping back from the beloved Fae, Aelin turned to look at the female beside him. Her heart jumped for a second before she realized that—despite the many similar features—the woman was not her mother. This was Aedion’s mother. There was no denying it, her face so blatantly Ashryver. It was easy to see why Gavriel had once suspected Aelin to be her child.

“I don’t think we ever met, but I am Aelin Galathynius—Rhoe and Evalin’s daughter—and you are Aedion’s mother.” There was no question in her voice.

“Yes, I am Andelin Ashryver. It is wonderful to finally meet you, Aelin. I loved your mother very much, and I owe her everything. You are her spitting image.” Aelin’s heart both warmed and grew heavy.

“I have been told that a lot,” Aelin smiled lightly, “as I’m sure you have too.” Andelin threw a wry smile back at her.

“The Ashryver genes are strong.” Aelin had to agree.

“Aedion got them as well. He looks very much like you.” Andelin’s face softened at Aelin’s mention of her son. Aelin continued, “You would be proud of him—for many reasons.”

“I am incredibly proud of who he has become, but I’m afraid I can’t take much credit for that.” Aelin recognized clearly the guilt and sadness Andelin felt over her son’s upbringing. “Do you know where he is? I need to speak with him.” Aelin grimaced slightly in response.

“It’s rotten timing but Aedion is actually in Adarlan right now fetching my mate for me.” Aelin reached out to grab the other woman’s arm in reassurance. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, though. I will have a suite prepared for the both of you immediately, right near Aedion’s.” These two were family, she would not have them be anywhere else.

A servant was promptly summoned and sent to ready their suite. Another servant was directed to find Lysandra, who arrived minutes later. Similar to Aelin’s reaction, Lysandra first recognized Gavriel and rushed to meet him in an embrace.

Aelin watched her friend closely as she finally took in the woman next to Gavriel. She could see the shifter piece things together and widen her eyes slightly in realization. Lysandra’s gaze flickered over to Aelin and the queen nodded in affirmation.

“I should introduce you to my dear friend, Lady Lysandra Ashryver. She is Aedion’s wife. Lysandra—you have met Gavriel—and this is Andelin Ashryver, Aedion’s mother.”

————

The journey back to Terrasen was too gods-damned long.

It wasn’t even that Rowan was sick of walking for hours on end, day after day—though that was certainly part of it. Rowan needed to get back to his mate. He had so much he needed to tell her. So much had happened that she would need time to process, and he would have to be by her side anchoring her as she did.

Even more, though—selfish as it may be—he just missed her. He had been separated from his love for too long. He ached with the knowledge that the other half of his immortal soul was not beside him. It was a challenge every night to lay down in a cold bed by himself and fall asleep without holding her. It was wrong. Mates were not meant to be apart.

For the past week he had been walking the long road back to his love, and it was awful. There were far too many miles between them. He wanted to forget about his traveling companions and just fly back to her as fast as his wings allowed. Surely they didn’t need him walking beside them—after all, Aedion had travelled all the way to Adarlan without Rowan. Terrasen’s royal caravan was more than enough enough manpower if they found themselves in trouble.

He couldn’t leave Aedion alone with Sam, though. The young Ashryver had not taken to the reborn assassin very well. Aedion had no great love for anyone from Aelin’s time as Celaena, often choosing to avoid that part of his cousin’s past. During the seven days they’d been on the road together, the male had only spoken to Sam a handful of times—each in a gruff and unfriendly manner.

Rowan supposed that might be for the best. He didn’t put it past Aedion to spill the truth about Aelin in some attempt to torment the boy. Needless to say, the unlikely trio travelled in a state of unending tension.

Rowan managed to keep himself as a buffer between the other two most of the time, but it was exhausting him. The Fae wasn’t exactly overjoyed at the presence of Sam either. The two had spent a fair amount of time together back when Rowan was helping Sam in his search, but ever since the young man’s identity was revealed it was awkward for Rowan to be near him. They had never spoken much—and that was certainly fine with Rowan—but the silent walking left Rowan alone with his thoughts, and he was a little uncomfortable with the thoughts he had when he knew Sam Cortland was beside him.

He was especially uncomfortable when he considered the thoughts Sam might be having himself as they travelled.

Sam knew nothing about what Aelin’s life was now. He had no idea she was the Queen of Terrasen, that she was an immortal Fae, that she was mated and married. The Aelin he had last known was Celaena, and Sam was in love with her.

Yes, those thoughts didn’t sit well with Rowan.

The three travelers and their caravan were currently surrounded by dense forest. Rowan didn’t mind too much—it shielded them from the hot sun—but it did mean they were farther from lodging and refreshment. They hadn’t encountered many others on their journey so far, and they hadn’t seen any intelligent life this entire day.

A bush about three feet to Rowan’s right rustled and the Fae turned to watch as a deer bolted away, startled at the sight of them. His hand relaxed from where he’d reached for his sword, taking notice of Aedion beside him doing the same. They might both be protected members of Terrasen’s court, but the warrior’s instinct to defend never went away. Rowan was sure the guards in their caravan had instructions to ensure Rowan’s—and Aedion’s—safety first, but if an attack did happen, the male doubted he’d be able to run for cover while others endangered themselves to protect him.

He and Aelin had similar opinions on that matter. They were powerful, immortal warriors. As the leaders of Terrasen, it was their responsibility to serve and protect their people, not the other way around.

For the first time that day, Rowan spotted what looked to be human figures ahead of them on the path. There were two of them, with hoods over their heads, unmoving on the side of the road. Beneath the cloak of one figure was a pair of high boots, and beneath that of the other Rowan could see full skirts, indicating the pair was likely a male and female.

As their caravan neared the two travelers, Rowan started to detect more details about their appearance. Their cloaks were high-quality and made from an expensive-looking hunter green cloth, not typical attire for two lone wanderers. Anyone of money or status traveled with a caravan, like he and Aedion were.

The pair turned slightly more towards the large group approaching them and the woman called out at the sight of Terrasen’s flag on their uniforms.

“Terrasen! The royal caravan!” The woman nudged the man beside her to draw his attention to them. “Are members of the royal family with you?”

The caravan’s head—Captain Algaard—stopped their advance and addressed the woman.

“We are of Terrasen, yes, and this caravan is transporting important members of the court.” The guard kept his answer vague so as not to reveal too much to a stranger. “What do you want of them?”

“We must speak to Aelin Galathynius. We need to warn her.” That was concerning.

“What must you warn Her Majesty about, traveler?”

“It may be difficult to believe, but my husband and I should not be alive. Someone has tampered with death, Captain, and we need to tell her.” Aedion approached the captain and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“We are alright, Algaard. Two reborns don’t pose much threat to His Majesty or myself. They are just confused.” Aedion then turned to the traveler woman. “Do you need help, kind woman? Are you in need of provisions?” The couple seemed to notice Aedion for the first time. The woman’s eyes widened in recognition.

“Aedion?” The Ashryver male paused in surprise—an emotion Rowan shared—before walking closer to the couple. Rowan could see the moment Aedion realized who the woman was because something in his face crumbled.

“Evalin?” Evalin. Even if Evalin were a common name—which Rowan didn’t believe it was—a closer look at the woman was all he needed to confirm that she was, in fact, Evalin Ashryver Galathynius. This woman, reborn to a body not much older than Aelin’s, was the near twin of his mate. It stirred something deep within the Fae to look at her.

Aelin’s mother was one of the dead brought back by this strange phenomenon. From the woman’s statement earlier of her husband, the man beside Evalin was likely Aelin’s father. These were his mate’s parents, ones she had grieved for years and missed every day.

Rowan snapped out of his thoughts to find Aedion in a firm embrace with Evalin and Rhoe. They didn’t appear to be speaking, but he had a feeling emotions were being communicated in other ways. These two were important to Aedion as well as Aelin. They had been his guardians during his early years.

Rowan felt a little intrusive watching such an intimate moment, so he turned to address the rest of their caravan. They would be adding a few more to their party, it would seem. Evalin had said she needed to speak to Aelin, and Rowan very much agreed.

“These are Her Majesty’s parents, Rhoe and Evalin Galathynius. We will be bringing them with us. They are members of Terrasen’s royal family and should be included in your protection the same as Prince Aedion and I.” The news was understandably shocking to the guards, but they remained serious and registered Rowan’s statement as the order it was. He continued, “Someone prepare them refreshment.” That was enough to set the group moving about.

When the king turned back to the reunited trio, he found them more composed than before. Aedion met his eyes and Rowan took that as his cue to approach.

“I am honored to meet you, Your Highnesses. I am Rowan Whitethorn—“ Rhoe cut him off before he could continue.

“The Fae warrior. I have heard many stories about you, Rowan Whitethorn. I have to say I have always admired your skill—the stuff of my childhood legends—but we have no want for Maeve’s presence in Terrasen. Thank you for helping Aedion, however you may have, but we should make the rest of our journey alone.” Rowan couldn’t help but smile slightly at Rhoe’s words.

“I can assure you, Rhoe Galathynius, that I no longer have any ties to Maeve. My allegiance lies solely with Terrasen and its queen, both of which I would protect with my life. You can rest knowing my particular skills will only be used for you, not against.” Rowan spoke firmly to hopefully convey how serious he was, and he would have continued had Rhoe not butted in yet again.

“You are blood sworn to Maeve, don’t think I am unaware, you have no choice where your allegiances lie.”

“That oath was broken by Maeve herself. I am now bound to Aelin completely, by ties even stronger than blood.” Rowan had to admit, witnessing Rhoe Galathynius’ face as he explained the situation was quite amusing. “As I was about to say before, I am Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius, mate and husband of Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. I will, in fact, be traveling to Terrasen with you. The whole purpose of this caravan is to bring me back to my mate, but we are more than happy to have you join us.”

The wry look Aedion gave Rowan indicated that he had not hid his satisfaction well. How could he blame him, though? It wasn’t every day you got to tell your mate’s resurrected parents that you were soul bound to their daughter.

@rowaelinforeverworld

@flowersinvegas

@aelin-queen-of-terrasen

@camixd93

@lord-douglas-the-third

@montse121296

@dank-queen7

@slytheringalathynius

@rhyswhitethorn

@jesstargaryenqueen

@trilogiesrule

[synnefo-nefeli]

Hi, this is Bicycle from your Stranger Stories comments. I had a thought and would like to hear your opinion. So I gather that in your A/B/O universe, there are multiple mating seasons a year (this is what I remember, correct me if I'm wrong) when omegas go into heat. Would this mean, at least for the children of A/O couples, that birthdays would be concentrated around 9 months from each mating season? How would this impact the culture? Would there be birth seasons as well as mating seasons?

Hi!!

Thank you so much for this excellent question and for your patience! I am so so sorry that it’s taken me forever to answer- I’ve been trying to respond for a while but words are hard this year orz.

So yes, you are correct that there is a mating season once a quarter.

The Winter season lands somewhere between late December - early February (we are here in Strange Days FYI)

Spring Season is between late March- early May

Summer: Late June- early Aug

Fall: Late September- early November

But keep in mind that the season’s dates can fluctuate.

The mating seasons are dependent on when the omega population goes into what is referred to as a “true heat”.

A true heat where the omega population’s pheromones are strong enough to cause an Alpha to enter rut.

Alphas can only knot during ruts, which is important to successfully conceiving /managing or ending the Omegas heat. The need for the knot is due to the fact that while Alphas (depending on their weight) produce more semen compared to Beta males, unlike Betas, the semen isn’t viable for long after ejaculation- so the knot is needed to keep it all in to increase the chances of conceiving. Plus being tied to your partner along with the post sex endorphins is really good for the couple’s bond.

So due to the mating season being dependent around the omega population’s true heats- it is why the season is spread across a few weeks. It’s not always a defined time, rather it’s an estimated time omegas are most likely to enter a true heat. Some omegas can enter a heat earlier or later than the spike of the season. But with modern medicine and science, the world has become better at predicting these periods.

Depending on the weight of omega and if they’re using blockers/birth control, they may also “skip” a season. But again it depends on what the omega is on. Athena for example, is on birth control and a blocker than minimizes her symptoms. So she’ll feel the effects of the season but it’s not enough to trigger a full on heat. The worst she’ll feel is fatigued and the best, a bit frisky. However she won’t feel the overwhelming need to mate, like, let’s say, Apollo.

Miles prefers to skip heats all together, at least, that’s what ppl say is his official position.

All other times through out the year, an omega May experience a “false heat” one a month for a day or so, but the likelihood of conception then, is very low as outside of mating season, an Alpha is unable to knot /the omega isn’t actually ovulating. However there are instances of successful conception outside of the season. It’s extremely rare, but it has happened.

Anyway, now that the “science” is out of the way, let’s talk cultural impacts.

So yes, it is common for A/Os birthdays to be clustered around certain times of the year. There are definitely “baby booms” four times out of the year, deoending on an area’s overall A/O population.

Side note: I made my own AA birthday charts, based off other games timelines and characters ages and wouldn’t you know it? Majority of the protag’s birthdays are clustered between Jan-March with a few outliers in April and May (Klavier May 23rd and Simon, April 1st in my head canons- I wrote an extended post on Klavier and Apollo’s birthdays for Heard Your Heart Beating). In chapter 14 of SD I mentioned that Miles and Phoenix are the same zodiac sign so they were definitely born within a few weeks of each other, most likely conceived in the Spring mating season the year prior.

So what does this mean for the packs? Well, if a lot of omegas in the same pack are pregnant together it strengthens the bonds between those omegas. The children born are raised as packmates and the responsibility is of raising them is shared between the adults of the pack. The children grow up considering the others they were born with as siblings /close cousins. Depending on the pack, it may be considered taboo to mate with a packmate from the same cluster you were born into, as it can be seen as mating your sibling (despite there not being any actual biological relation there), and it doesn’t encourage diversification of the gene pool if packs are inter-mating.

It’s more common for the kids to break away and form smaller packs with their own mates from other packs /families. This is how things like Houses and Tribes get started as children eventually split off from the main house but still retain loyalty to that lead pack.

Having a cluster of children introduces a “class” mentality (like “class of 2024” sort of deal) and it’s used as a way to introduce the younger packs into society through customs similar to debutante balls/London Season/coming of age ceremonies we see in the real world.

It’s during these introductions (usually at the age of 15/16 whatever age when all of the children in a “class” have had their first rut or heat) into society is a way to mingle and network with other families outside of the children’s packs. Not surprisingly, these are events were breeding contracts or the right to court are often negotiated between families.

This cluster mentality is also enforced through the marriage /mating ceremony, as the couple will have their ceremony during the first mating season following their engagement. Due to this, there are hotels and resorts that cater exclusively to Alphas and Omegas as they can make most of their annual revenue from about 12 weeks or so out of the year. Venue space is fought after because not only is about the ceremony, the couple will also stay for the next week or so as the Omega will be in heat. So having accommodations like this for A/Os is really important.

There are also older establishments run by Alphas who have back rooms ready a few times throughout the year to accommodate an A/O couple while they’re out; should the omega suddenly have their heat. (Apparently mounting your omega in public is frowned upon in the increasing majority that is polite Beta society XD) These accommodations have helped the A/O community start to assimilate into Beta society.

There’s more that will be covered in SD eventually (courtship practices/breeding rights/mating ceremonies, etc), but I hope this post answered a lot of your questions.

[greentrickster]

TheNamelessNPC: Omg, now all I can picture is avatar-setting!Phoenix hanging out with AA!Miles, and miles just dropping like a sack of potatoes cause and earthquake and Phoenix just panicking cause. This hasn't? Happened before?????

Also, if Dalia is traveling with them when the coss happen. The shear panic that AA!Phoenix  has when seeing her.....

Oh no, I meant for this to be more light-heart-y.... oh I know. You think two Kays can cause chaos? I think you're forgetting Avatar-setting Apollo and AA!Trucy  (cause Avatar-setting!Trucy is still a baby)

Oh yeah, Avatar-setting!Phoenix would be panicking hard at seeing Miles react to an earthquake like that, and would be heartbroken to find out that AA-setting!Miles was so horribly traumatized by his own element. AA-setting!Phoenix has his hands full when he finds the two of them.

Dahlia doesn’t travel with the group for too long - a month at the absolute most - and since I would want a crossover to happen when we have the maximum number of Ace Benders possible, she would be long gone by the time it happened. Avatar-setting!Larry and AA-setting!Phoenix would definitely commiserate with each other over what she did to them, though, the whole thing coming out because it would definitely be a moment that had a strong effect on Larry’s personality, and someone in the AA-setting would definitely ask about it.

Avatar-setting!Apollo is still Apollo, and he’s an Apollo who got raised as an Air Nomad - he’s more playful than AA!Apollo, but he’s got nothing on the full-on chaos beast that is any incarnation of Kay Faraday. He’d absolutely get swept up in the Kays’ shenanigans, though. And, while AA!Trucy is indeed a little scamp, I think in this instance she’d be too busy asking all the Avatar-setting characters a billion questions to get up to more than a little mischief. She’s such a smart person, I think she gets bored easily if she doesn’t have enough to do and think about, and tends to cause mischief when she’s bored. So for once she finally has enough stimulus to keep her fully engaged and entertained for really extended periods of time.

Thanks for the questions!

[littlewoldvineyard]

Terroir - One of the key factors in giving wine its unique flavour.

The wine world is full of terminology that sometimes seems almost other worldly. They aren't words that are often used in everyday conversation. Whilst we love to use expressive terms to describe the flavours of wine and particular grape varieties the technical words are not exactly stimulating dinner conversation. I think the wine industry is guilty of not sharing the simplified meaning of words. It means that for many people wine still seems to be something that people are intimidated by. One of the words that is often used like that is Terroir, (Te wah). It comes from the French word and simply put means land or earth. The land where vines are planted whether in South Cave or Stellenbosch will with time have a big influence on the eventual flavours of the wine. There are other factors that we take into consideration. This picture shows the other things that are the main contributors to the flavour of wines. 

Climate is usually key to what sort of grape varieties will work. In the run up to harvest the average temperature in the Barossa Valley in Australia is 28 degrees. Long sunny days, cool nights make it a great climate for the grapes they're famous for, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot. If we were to plant those at Little Wold then we would never make any wine. It simply isn't hot enough for those grape varieties to work for us. The result is our vines are right for our climate, they aren't household names. Varieties such as Phoenix, Seyval, and Rondo are not on the end aisles of major supermarkets. They have their origins in Germany and deal far better with the fact that as we know, we are never guaranteed quite as much sun as we would like. 

Soil is one of the biggest influence over vines. There are vines planted all over the world on many different types of soil. The key to it is to have free draining soils. Grapes like most crops need a combination of sun, rain and the right levels of moisture. Sand, Gravel, Clay are all common but one of the best is chalk. Chalk is perfect for grapes that have a good naturally high acidity. It allows the roots of the vine to easily penetrate and take hold. Roots can grow up to 15ft and as they pull up nutrients and hit pockets of water that chalk has an influence over the flavour of the grapes. Chalk provides outstanding natural drainage. If we look at the majority of wine production in the South of England, Champagne and parts of the Loire valley, chalk plays a part in all of these areas. We at Little Wold are also on chalk. We have a very small topsoil before we are deep into the chalk and it’s that lends itself incredibly well to the vines that we have planted and are planting. Our older vines that we planted have started to show the classic mineral and flinty notes associated with chalk. 

Topography – In essence this simply is about where you choose to site your vineyard. Soil as we know plays an important part but knowing a few simple things can help give you the best chance of you vines taking to the soil. Topography has a wide scope of geographical elements, for example, altitude, proximity to hills, inclined land portions, or areas close to water bodies. At Little Wold most people will see that our vines are planted at the top of the Hills we are on. Hot air rises and as a result when we experience those nights, mornings where it is much colder than we expected, we give ourselves a better chance of avoiding frost. We are also only a few miles from the Humber. Large bodies of water tend to have a moderating effect on the climate locally. That influence is seen in places like the Mosel in Germany. One of the countries warmest regions but grows arguably some of the best Riesling, (higher acidity) in the world. It is the influence from the River Rhine that helps to moderate that warmer climate and help Riesling reach its peak ripeness. 

Surrounding Plants

These can have an effect on how your grapes will eventually taste. Forests and woodland release a huge amount of humidity and play a large part in influencing local climate. When you have large amounts of trees near to your vineyard sites, they offer protection from strong winds. In places such as Australia many vineyards have seem the influence of eucalyptus trees lending that intense minty character to some vines, particularly the Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra, South Australia. In Provence there is a huge amount of rosemary planted and it can defiantly be detected in some of the wines. Vegetation can also be a great tool in attracting pests and keeping them away from your vines. 

So soil, the weather, the location and the surroundings are the component parts of terroir. One of the things that people often ask us is how do we grow grapes this far north. Well, when we examine the grapes varieties we grow, our soil, the locations on our farm that we have chosen to plant we feel we have the perfect location to grow grapes. The weather is always a challenge but as we approach our 5th full vintage, we feel that the terroir in South Cave is helping us achieve great wines. 

[bananaairplane]

Land and Sea

I ran away to sea. We sailed into the Bahamas early yesterday morning, after leaving West Palm Beach at sunset. Leaving the inlet that protects the harbor where we had been anchored from the ocean, the boat began to roll on ocean swells. The Gulf Stream runs northwards about five miles off the coast. The lights of Florida fell behind us and the sky opened up overhead, bigger and more studded with stars than I’ve ever seen it. As we sailed, Orion rose and climbed overhead, wheeling off to the south as dawn approached. After barfing up two dramamine tablets, I was ready to take my first watch.

I felt the pull of the sea as soon as I hit the Oregon coast this fall, and also for a good while before that. It’s a constant theme, the sea. A wide open space of freedom, and another kind of wilderness. I drove back and forth past a cargo dock in the days before departure, on provisioning runs and to get a tooth looked at for a possible emergency root canal— no, I just haven’t had a teeth cleaning in rather a long time thanks to the pandemic. Big orange containers marked “Tropical” were stacked around the cranes and one or two big ships. I thought of my great uncle the sea captain, who sailed ships like these to East Asia in the 1930s. This pull I felt toward the water, is it something like what he felt, running away to sea as a teenager? Who can know, I immediately thought, and why does it matter? Why do we look for explanations of our behavior— good or bad— in the past? Heritage holds the promise of connection— that we are not alone in how we feel. It offers reassurance that we’re not alone and justifies our choices by offering an explanation for them. In doing so, though, it gives the lie to the fantasy of breaking free. If the longing for freedom is an inherited trait, like my narrow eyes or my freckles, then it isn’t really freedom so much as a fulfillment. I don’t think this is the right way of looking at it. We all have the same destination in life, but we choose the lodestars that will guide our passage there. They are not infinite, and the choice not entirely free— freedom is an odd imperative because, like nature, it is so poorly defined. But we do have a range of action within which to shape what we do. Do it consciously.

Every trip has two parts: departure and arrival. The switch happens somewhere along the way— possibly the halfway point, but not necessarily. The valence of departure is broken, and your focus swings around toward where you’re going. I took off from San Diego two weeks ago, aiming to catch this sailboat in Florida. I did not know very much about the boat, or the people on it. I didn’t know how long I’d be on it, even— just that we were headed to the Bahamas. I could not answer even the most superficial of the follow-up questions people asked when I announced my plan. All the way through the desert I was leaving California. I felt the places I’d been pulling back, and saw before me everything I was leaving. The beginnings of a life in Oregon, the friends and family scattered down the coast all threw a strong valence out over the highway as it stretched before me.

I blew across the white gravely desert of Arizona, listening to an audiobook of D.H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow, banned for indecency when it came out in Britain in 1915. Alternating descriptions of quivering flesh and pointed arches boomed at maximum volume over the whoosh of the road. The sky felt like a glass dome placed over the earth, and in places where the road began to rise gently it felt like my car might take flight. Then the highway thickened into Phoenix and I stopped at the first of a string of worn out roadside motels.

Roadside motels, offer a smooth, hard surface to the consciousness, unable to become particular and therefore familiar. Well, not smooth— more like lumpy in the way a wall is that has been badly painted. And not so hard, either: Why are all the lampshades in cheap motels dented? How many ways are there to dent a lampshade? Or is it the same way, over and over? One clumsy salesman is roaming around, all elbows, putting the same dent in squared-off Days In lampshades.

In New Mexico, a man sat in front of the souvenir shop/ gas station with his dog, looking for a ride to Las Cruces. The exits feel perfunctory— the land around them is as vacant as anywhere else along the highway. Buildings are placed far apart and gratuitously set back from the road, like they didn’t have enough of them so they wanted to really space them out for maximum effect. In New Mexico the land turns orange and the mountains are red instead of the inky blue of California. As you begin to hit Texas, the grass picks up, thickening into shrubs and then live oaks as you get out of the hill country. It is deeply dark on I-10 at night west of about San Antonio. The only lights are white and red columns on the road and the glow of the yellow lines. After El Paso, the lights of Juarez shine off to the left, like distant land when you are at sea.

I stopped in San Antonio for a day off the road with my aunt and uncle and a masked, impromptu Thanksgiving. Every place you stop is sticky: it’s hard to push back out into the the empty current of the road— even more so when you drop into a warm cocoon of kin. We stood around in the kitchen catching up, a dog shuttling around at our feet; the next day was filled with the project of preparing and eating food. In the evening, my aunt and I popped open tubes of dough and rolled up Thanksgiving leftovers into little pastry pockets. When I got back on the road, the arrival of the East Coast announced itself with the thick roadside vegetation of the Bayou and torrential rains. After the austerity of the desert, the excess of vegetation and water felt messy, crowded. It also marked the shift into the next chapter. I had definitively left the West behind and now, instead of the backwards pull of the beginning of the trip, I felt the tug of arrival pick up. In Mobile I parked and went for a walk with a friend through neighborhoods of deep porches and old plaster. I wound up in St Augustine for several days at the house of old family friends, to await the results of a Covid test before joining the boat.

The periodic connections with people and places along the way felt incongruous— so much for wilderness, or the idea of the long drive as some kind of mystical journey of self-discovery. Thanksgiving leftovers and cozy afternoons on back porches felt like cheating. But that’s the lie of departure again. There is no radical break, only a series of arrivals that, like the other half of a parenthesis, reshape the meaning of the departure.

[gangrenados]

✔️ & ❌ : for X-Men ; Deadly Class ; MCU --- elaborate why woman! we wanna know the tea lol 👀)

Uhhhh I was gonna do it anyway lol 💓

Deadly Class:

✔️

•Saya Kuroki: Saya is one of my favorite characters for so many reasons: she's cool and strong, also doesn't fear to fight when the situation needs it.

But Saya can be pretty cold and distant, manipulative even. I guess it's a side effect of the harmful environment she grew up with.

•Willie: He was just an innocent kid in the wrong place. Willie tried really hard to appear tough, without fearing to pull the trigger but we all know that was lie.

He was much more than that, but King's Dominion consumed him before he could do anything to get free...

•Maria: Another victim (but all of them are, right?) I find her way of trying to have fun and forget about her horrible past intriguing, she's just trying to survive the day and not breakdown.

Maria is a sweet girl with a burning desire of running away from her hellish life and have some peace. I just adore her.

•Marcus: He has been through so much, the death of his parents, the abuse in the boys home and his time in the streets had made him what he is today a manipulative, pessimistic boy and with a lot of unsolved traumas that consumes his head in such a painful way.

But even with his twisted mind he tries to connect with others and have friends so he won't feel alone again, the sad thing is that he always end up pushing others away.

•Zenzele: My favorite of new bunch. She a literal angel, but hellish when pushed too far.

She just wants to have a good future for her parents and have a decent life without breaking the rules of God (which is ironic considering the place she's living) I think she's the most pure of them all.

❌

•Master Lin: That old man is just creating weapons without caring about his kids health (physically and mentally), he tortures them and puts them against each other.

Fuck! The test to pass to the other year is killing each other like if it was the hunger games, that man is a monster.

•Shabnam: That pig can choke. He's a little bitch with such low self-esteem that he makes people to stick to his side by blackmailing them or threats, it's pitiful.

Also, he claims that nobody cares about his sorry ass,but he will not hesitate to betray a friend when he can benefits from it.

I hope he dies.

•Petra: I don't hate her, I rather feel sorry for her, however I'm still bitter about Billy's death.

Petra was a lonely girl who was just trying to fill that void with friends, but her need of survive surpassed her in such a horrible way.

The days after the juniors finals she was a complete different person, trying to pass as one of the lagacies and completely losing herself, also I think she was off meds (if I'm not wrong, I think she was schizophrenic)

I am happy shad found some peace of mind with Helmut, I think it benefited her and made her more happy. It's sad that didn't last long :(

X-men:

✔️

•Peter: Peter is a carefree guy who just runs around wrecking havoc and avoiding responsibility, which is pretty harmful cuz he still have a teenage mindset when he's in his thirties.

But he's the first character I fell in love with, his personality and scenes were to good to not fall for him, but I'm sad he didn't grew as a person and that he didn't told Erik he was his son.

•Warren: He was so intriguing in the movies I couldn't help myself. The short screen time hooked into adopting this character.

It's heartbreaking all the horrible things he had to face just to suffer a gruesome death.

•Jean: She's a powerful girl ready to protect her loved ones, but at the same time is pretty broken because of it. It's interesting.

I like her personality and the way she's all smiley when her friends are near or when she's with Scott.

•Ororo: The old Ororo was my role model when I was a kid. I mean, this strong woman controlling the weather with glowing eyes while looking fabulous? Fuck I wanted to be like her even I didn't knew what the hell was going on!

She's strong, protective, witty, compassionate and so much more...yeah, I still want to be like her 🤷🏽‍♀️

❌

•Raven: She's a horrible person, she threw Kurt into a river when he just a baby, is a horrible mother, I mean, she really doesn't care about her kids.

Her movie version isn't like this, but I found her annoying, especially in Dark Phoenix; the only exception I have towards her is in First Class because her presence was important to the plot.

•Charles: I think he has his low and highs as the average person, but I find it extremely hard to accept that he has put the X-Men towards risky missions just to prove the humans that they were friendly and capable to bring in hand anytime they needed it.

Also hiding Jean's past was a horrible mistake, telling her about how she get to the mansion and what happened with her parents could have prevented a lost of unfortunate events.

MCU:

✔️

•Wanda: I found her story interesting, it's really sad when you finally know all the things this girl had to face, so much loss and so much pain had caused her mind to break.

But she let herself love and be loved, her relationship with Vision and Clint it's a prove of this. To not mention she's so powerful, that is slightly scary.

•Gotg: Yeah, I know this was supposed to be just one character, but I really love this family because that's what they are.

The story behind the guardians of the galaxy is heartwarming in my opinion, a bunch of outsiders finding safety and comfort in each other. They have trough so much, loss, pain, anger, but those things just had made them stronger and closer.

I love this family more than any other found family.

•Peter Parker/Miles Morales: They're both innocent kids who wanted to make a difference and that's pretty cool.

I love them both, they're personality is so bright that you're happy when they're happy on screen...it's crazy.

❌

•Thor: Thor is strong, humble and positive. I don't hate him by any means, I find him rather cute, but there's something about him that just doesn't sit right with me.

Maybe it's because he can be so happy go lucky with everything and everyone, a trait that it's really nice to have ,but let's be real a person whose like that all the time will explode in the worst way possible when everything crumbles...

•Carol Danvers: She's just meh for me, not great, not bad just meh.

Her personality was too cocky for me, in a way that it seemed that she was trying to appear better than anyone and I dislike people like that.

However, an scene I really liked was when she was with her bestfriend because to me it feel more natural, just two "friends" (cuz to me it seemed more than that ngl) finding each other again. I must say, it was really cute.

•Bruce Banner: For me he always was a crybaby, and I get it, being the Hulk must be hard, but there was so many times he was just being plain rude to others.

I'm happy he grew as a person, but I still don't like him that much

[dumbbitchenergy17]

I’m Sorry (Part 3)

Summary- You are Michael’s vessel as you are dean’s kid and letting him use you instead of your dad

Dean x daughter!reader

Word count-2,374

A man sits in a small motel room getting ready to pray. “Glorified be you, all praise is yours, perfect is your name, most high is your majesty and greatness. None has the right to be worshipped but you, the only one God.” he speaks in Arabic placing his knees and hands on the floor, “Glorified be my God, the highest. Glorified be my God, the highest. Glorified be my God, the highest.”

He looks up. In front of him, Michael is sitting on a chair and staring down at him, wearing Y/n’s vessel. He falls back, scared. “Hello, Jamil.” Michael greets “Who are you?” the man quivers “Oh, we’ve never met. But you’ve read all about me. How does it go?” “Whoever is an enemy to Allah, and His angels, and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael then indeed, Allah is an enemy to the disbelievers.” He declares resting his hands on his knees as his eyes glow blue.

“You’re… God?” Jamil wavers

“Close, but… not quite.” Michael sighs “Gabriel?” he questions “The other one. The better one.” Jamil replied“Michael.” “There we go.” Michael clasps his hands “No, no, no, no. Why are you here?” He asks Michael stands up brushing the invisible dirt off him “Well, that is the question, isn’t it? Why are we here? I know why I’m here to ask you a question.” Jamil wonders “What question? Michael leans in closer “The same question I’ve spent weeks traveling around this world asking all sorts of people. Holy men, leaders, killers. And now I come to you, Jamil Hamed...What do you want?” Jamil stutters “What? “Do you want? Exactly. If you could have anything, name it.” the archangel pressed “Peace. And love.” Jamil answers Michael hums “If you cared about peace, you never would have left Syria. You never would have ran and abandoned your friends to die – and they did die.” “No.” “And if you cared about love, you never would have gone into that broom closet with – What was her name?” Michael continues “No.” Jamil breathes shakily “Darlene? Your wife would have never left and you wouldn’t be living in this... rat hole.” Jamil tries to attack Michael, who throws him on the floor without even moving. “And that’s the problem with you. You’re lost... And not worth saving.” Michael sighs “Wha—what—what do you want?” Jamil cries

“What I always wanted... a better world.”

Survivors from the Apocolypse are preparing their weapons. Mary approaches one of them. “Hi.”

“You got silver. Devil’s trap. Holy Oil.” Russel lists pointing at various bullets as he grabs a gun “And these here, they’re dipped in Dean Man’s blood.” Mary takes the gun and loads it. he continues “Basically, you need some freak dead? I got you.” Mary checks the gun. In front of her, Maggie is helping another survivor with his wounds. “A rawhead did this?” she asks “Yeah. Outside Phoenix. They’re faster than they look,” Howard winces as Maggie extracts a fang from the wound, “Meaner, too.” he said “So, so gross.” Maggie gags

The door creaks open. Trevor walks in. “Soup’s on. Who’s eating?” “Right here.” Howard lifts his good arm up “Yeah, I’ll –” another began just as Sam enters the bunker making his way down the stairs. “Yeah, right here. How about you guys?” Trevor asks Mary looks up to her youngest “Sam.” she smiles pulling him into a hug “Hey, Mom.” “How was Atlanta?” she asks walking with him “It was, uh... It was a bust. The woman who claims she saw an “angel”... was,” he laughs, “Let’s just say I think she had one too many hits of the brown acid, you know?” Mary frowns“Sam, we’re gonna find her. Ketch is working that thing in London. Castiel is in Detroit. I know it’s been three weeks since Y/n...Something will break. It has to.” Sam nods yawning “Yeah. Yeah, you keep saying that.” Mary sighs “Have you slept? At all. Sam, you need to rest. Go and lay down.” trying to convince her son “Mom –” Sam sighs “Chief.” Someone cuts into their conversation “Hey.” Sam gives a weak smile “Good to have you back.” he says handing a bowl of soup. “Thanks.” Sam nods

“Don’t thank me yet. Word is we got some vamps heading East on I-90. Gipsy types. Pickin’ off truckers mostly. Last body got drained and dropped just outside La Crosse six hours ago.” he explains  Sam sighs before talking

“Okay. Um... All right. Get me teams of two. I want watchpoints every 50 miles. If you see something, say something. Maggie, can you hack the traffic cams on the freeway?” he questions

“Um... no,” Maggie says sheepishly

“Right. Right. Of course. Sorry. Um, I got it. Thank you,” Sam says passing the untouched food to Mary “Uh, please. Would you call in Sharon and her crew? We’re gonna need all hands on deck here.” the man nods walking out the war room Sam sits down, starts typing on his laptop. Mary approaches him again.

“Sam..” Mary starts “I’m good,” Sam replies Mary puts a hand on his. Sam looks at her. “I’m good. I am you should be asking Dean that he’s the one with the missing daughter.”Sam says giving her a sad smile  “Hey, how’s Jack?” As devotees are leaving the Church. A couple stops to talk to sister Jo. “You saved me, Sister.” The man thanks “Thank you.” Sister Jo smiles “God bless you.” the woman states “He does, every day.” Sister Jo walking down a dimly light alley, counting the money she made. Suddenly, a flutter of wings “Hey, Jo.” The feminine voice stops her in her tracks. She turns Y/n Winchester but not her. “Who are you?” Jo queried “You don't recognize me with this pretty face?” stated Michael Jo frowned “You're not -- You're not Y/n Winchester. You're,” she trailed off seeing his true form, “oh god.” she inhales sharply

“People keep calling me that.” Jo turned to walk away. “Ah, ah. We need to talk.” Michael tsked “You're the Archangel Michael, from another world, and you're possessing Y/n Winchester.” Jo confirmed

“Sounds more complicated than it is.” Michael shrugged “Why would she ever say “yes” to you?

“Love.” Michael spat walking towards Sister Jo. “Really? That's very Hallmark Channel. So, I'm just gonna go now.” Jo chuckled “No, you're not. Not until I ask you... what do you want?” He remarked

“I don't know. Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton.” Jo joked “You think this is a joke?” Jo shook her head “I don't know what this is. You asked I answered. We done?” Michael scoffed “No. I asked, and you lied.” “I didn't.” Jo crossed her arms Michael walks closer to her placing a hand on her cheek. “I know about you, Jo. Because he knew about you. You're the rebel, the angel who doesn't like playing by Heaven's rules or whatever. You pretend to care about these things -- pretty things. But that's all it is -- pretending. These trinkets, they don't make you happy. They just pass the time. They're not what you really want.”

“And if you're so smart, what do I really want?” Jo sassed

“Love,” Michael stated, “To belong, to have a place -- a home, a family. It's very very human of you. And so, so disappointing,” he smirked, “I can sense how many angels are in this world. There aren't many left. I thought... maybe I could help. But if they're all these sad, lost, fallen things -- things like you -- maybe they're not worth saving, either.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam walked out of Nick’s room sighing running a hand down his forehead. his phone goes off seeing it’s Cas he picks up “Hey, Cas.” He greets “Hello, Sam.” A voice answers Sam straighten up at the unfamiliar voice “Who is this?” he demands the voice laughs “Oh. I'm the boy who's got your angel. And if you want to see him again, you know, alive, we should probably chat.”

Sam begins to pack some weapons to rescue Castiel, along with Bobby, Jack, Maggie, and Mary. “It's a trap.” Mary sighed closing up her bag “Yep.” Sam nodded continuing packing

“This guy's a-” bobby asked “Demon.”Sam cut him off as he closed up his bag “He just told you he was a demon?” Jack questioned

Sam nodded “Yeah. He seemed pretty proud of it, too.” Bobby grumbled, “Yeah, they ain't a real humble bunch.” Maggie looked at the group of people “So, what do we do?” Sam loads his gun speaking “We get Cas back. All right, grab holy water, Devil's Trap bullets, angel blades, because whatever we're walking into-”

“It's gonna suck.” Bobby groaned “Exactly. Maggie, you're with Bobby. Mom, you're with me.” Sam continued Jack stood up looking at Sam “I'm coming, too. I know I'm not as strong as I used to be, but... I can help...I have to.” bobby placed a hand on jack’s shoulder “Listen, kid..” “Okay. Grab your gear.” Sam interrupts him Jack smiles at him and hurriedly leaves to prepare. Bobby looks over at Sam shocked “Sam, I mean -- Jack's a worker, but he ain't ready for a full-on demon smackdown.” Sam sighed “So... we keep an eye on him. He needs this, Bobby.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kipling grabs a cup of coffee from the bar. Castiel is still chained to the chair, bloody from his previous fight with the demons. “And danke, sweetie.” The demon raises his glass towards the bartender as he sits next to Castiel. “Castiel, you sure I can't get you anything hot and black?” Cas replied, “Coffee has no effect on me.” Kipling shrugged “Hm. Me either.” he takes a sip “You know, not anymore, but it's like saltwater taffy or infants -- you know, I just like the taste.” “Why are you doing this?”

“I'm just trying to be a good host like Mother would have wanted,” Kipling answered

Castiel sighed “No, Why are you using me as bait?” He said shaking the chains around him Kipling looked over at him “I mean, it's kind of what you're for, isn't it? And I need something... from Sam Winchester.”Castiel laughed “You really think that he's gonna make a deal with you?”

“Oh, he's dealt with worse. You see, recently, I had a revelation. You know, somebody asked me what it was that I wanted, and I realized that after 600 years as a demon walking the planet, destroying, drinking, defiling -- you know, the Three D's -- I didn't know. So, I sat back, and I gave it a good think, and I realized exactly what I wanted.” Kipling continued now standing above Cas

“And what is it?”

“Everything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The Impala speed down the road, followed by another car Sam focuses on the road as Mary is sitting shotgun “Sam, it's gonna be fine.” she tries to reassure him. Sam scoffs “Stop saying that, please.”

“What?”

“It's gonna be fine,” that everything's gonna be fine, we're gonna find y/n, and..” Sam started thinking about his niece out there with Michael having no clue what he could be doing to her. Mary placed a hand on his shoulder “We are.”

“You don't know that....Y/n's gone, and we have no idea where she is or-or if she's even still alive. You know, Michael could have... burned her out or... worse, and...” He sighed

Mary frowned ”I know. I know she's out there, scared and alone. I know. I know she might never come back. Never think I don't know that. But -- I can't -- I have to think about the good, Sam, because, if I don't, I will drown in the bad. For Dean's sake for his kid, I can't do that. We can't do that.” She answers for the sake of Dean Sam and the rest had left after killing Kipling and most of the demons before heading back. Sam sits at the table, pressing a cold beer to his forehead as he talks on the phone “Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I -- No, I don't care. I -- just keep looking. Yeah. Thanks.” he hangs up sighing another dead end.

“Who was that?” Cas said entering sitting next to Sam “Uh, Ketch. He's in London searching for the Newton-Dee Hyperbolic Pulse Generator.” Sam answers

“The what?” Cas tilts his head in confusion

“It's the -- It's the magic egg that kicked Lucifer out of the President. I thought we could use it on Michael, but -- Ketch can't find it. So, that's another dead end, which is just awesome.” Sam explained sighing

Cas glanced over to his friend “Sam, are you all right?

“Yeah, I've been better. I've been worse. You?” Castiel looked down ashamed “I'm-I'm just sorry. I should never have gone to those demons.” Sam placed a hand on his shoulder “Cass, I -- No, I-I-I don't blame you. I... Honestly, I-I wish I'd have thought of it first. If it meant finding Y/n, I-I'd work with -- I'd do anything. Dean hasn’t been himself since.”

After Cas left Sam headed to his room he turns the light on and leaves his phone on the table. The phone starts vibrating Sam grabs it answering “Hello?”

“Sam?” The voice of Sister Jo calls through 

“Jo?” Sam handed heard from her since Lucifer 

“Yeah. We have a problem.” Jo answered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now, you -- you know exactly what you want. You don't pretend to want to help people or save the world. Your want is pure and simple and clean. And that's why you are worth saving. That's why we are going to work so well together. Because you -- you just want to eat.” Michael smiles looking over at the pack of hungry werewolves and vampires.

Dean sits in his room staring at an old photo of him and Y/n it was her 17th birthday they were sitting on impala talking about life when Sam took a photo of them together so happy and pure. A tear lands on the glass as Dean realizes he’s crying, wiping the tears from his face he stares at her face in mid-laugh. The door opening tears Dean from his thoughts.

Sam looks at him with a small smile “Dean we found her.”

[erikmagnuslehnsherrx]

name: Erik Lehnsherr

alias: Magneto

age: 43

face claim: Michael Fassbender

pronouns: he/him

[[MORE]]

biography: https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/Magneto

Because it’s so much easier then typing it all out lol

Powers

Magnetic Force-Fields: Magneto usually protects himself with a personal force field that he can quickly expand to protect large areas. His force field has withstood the effects of multiple nuclear weapons, volcanic eruptions, the depths of space and attacks from multiple Avengers or X-Men, including Phoenix, Thor though not galactus.

Magnetic Flight: Magneto is also capable of sustaining flight for very long distances and at varying speeds. He apparently has several means by which he achieves flight, one of which is by gliding along the planet's natural magnetic lines of force, another by simply creating a repulsive force between himself and the planet, propelling himself thus. By using his magnetic powers, Magneto can virtually travel at trans-light speeds; however, in order to travel in space, Magneto also requires his force field to breathe.

Magnetic Pulse: Magneto has the ability to focus magnetic energy into an extremely powerful concussive blast, which can be utilised for various purposes.

Matter Manipulation: Magneto is able to manipulate matter even to the subatomic level for a number of purposes. This might explain why he is not limited to objects with metallic properties and is able to manipulate objects with non-metallic properties like wood, stone, plastics, etc. to such a degree. This is due to the electromagnetic force which exits between atoms and other subatomic particles.

Electromagnetic Sight: By concentrating, Magneto can perceive the world around himself as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy. He can perceive the natural magnetic auras surrounding living beings and percieve their current physical and mental condition.

Metallic Bonding: Magneto has recently presented the power to atomically bond metallic substances to any designated surface material. This newly developed technique allows Magneto to blend metallic alloys with the earth, water, and air (HoM).

Organic Iron Manipulation: Magneto can control the traces of iron within organic matter, which allows him to have full control over an opponent's body. He can manipulate the iron-enriched blood-flow to one's brain to induce aneurysms or unconsciousness, alter thoughts and perceptions, or blank a person's mind completely. He can even remove ferrous compounds from the bloodstream entirely through a person's skin. Magneto has used his magnetic abilities to extract the Adamantium bonded to Wolverine's biomolecular skeletal structure. Through this ability, he is also able to save people who are injured by metal, e.g. bullets.

Geomagnetic Link: Magneto is tied very closely to Earth's EM Field. As is it affected, so is he. He knows instinctively all that happens to it, and with this link, is granted an odd sort of immortality. The Earth lends him strength by its simple existence. He draws on it all unconsciously.

Superhuman Strength: Under normal conditions, Magneto possesses the physical strength of a well-conditioned athlete. However, he can channel vast amounts of magnetic energy through his body for the purpose of granting himself vast superhuman strength which limits are unknown. Whatever those limits might be, he is ultimately able to lift far in excess of 100 tons with ease.

Superhuman Stamina: As a result of increasing his strength, he dramatically increases the overall efficiency of his musculature. While magnetically enhanced, his muscles produce considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a normal human. Magneto can exert himself physically for up to at least a few days before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood starts to impair him.

Superhuman Durability: Under normal conditions, Magneto possesses the physical durability of a well conditioned athlete. However, he can channel vast amounts of magnetic energy through his body for the purpose of granting himself vast superhuman durability, to the point he can shrug off punches to the face from super humans such as Namor and Colossus while weakened and remain unharmed.

Superhuman Reflexes: He naturally possesses enhanced reflexes. He can further enhance this reflexes with magnetic energy, to the point he can pluck out of the air with his hand, superhumans as swift and fast as the likes of Northstar with ease.

Superhuman Speed- By using magnetic propolsion Magneto is capable of reaching superhuman speeds very easily whether if he is Earth bound or not.

Electromagnetic Spectrum Manipulation: Although Magneto's primary power is Magnetism, he has an extensive ability to project or manipulate any form of energy that is related to the electromagnetic spectrum. He can fire and absorb bolts of electricity and magnetic force, reverse lasers and other forms of radiation or energy, create enough intense heat as infrared radiation to level a city, manipulate gravity, and become invisible by deflecting visible light around his body. Infrared radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which also includes visible light, radio waves, ultraviolet light, gamma rays and x-rays -- Magneto can project any of these. Magneto has demonstrated the capacity to produce a wormhole, and to safely teleport himself and others by means of the wormhole.

Astral Projection (Possibly Formerly): Magneto has occasionally been said to be able to manifest an astral projection of himself. However, like all formerly attributed psychic powers, this has been retconned out of existence at least once, and hasn't been used by Magneto since the "Silver Age" (chronologically speaking), possibly implying any such abilities were lost during his regression to childhood by Mutant Alpha.

Telepathic Resistance: Magneto has trained himself extensively for fighting telepaths, and is resistant to all but the strongest telepathic attack. This training is similar to that given to the X-Men and New Mutants by Professor X, although the effects are further augmented with the aid of his helmet (see below), and additionally his own Electromagnetic powers which has shown evidence of countering, dampening and even outright stopping any form of telepathy. Additionally, Magneto is possessed of a strong will, which also aids him in resisting telepathic assaults.

Abilities

Genius-level Intellect: A mastermind, Magneto is a genius within various scientific fields. He is an expert on genetic engineering and mutation, with knowledge far beyond that of contemporary science. He can mutate humans in order to give them superhuman powers, instill genetic mind-control, create adult clones of human beings, and then manipulate the genetic structures of these clones during their development. He has designed magnetically-powered aircraft and spacecraft, complex robots and computers, and magnetically-powered generators and created artificial living beings, space stations said to possess technology even Reed Richards would envy, and machines capable of nullifying mutant powers within a radius of several miles.

Military Training: Magneto is a skilled strategist and has more than a rudimentary knowledge of hand-to-hand combat.

Excellent Strategist: Magneto is an excellent strategist, both in actual battles and games of chess.

Weaknesses

Physical Condition: Magneto's ability to wield his superhuman powers effectively is dependent upon his physical condition. When severely injured, his body is unable to withstand the strain of manipulating great amounts of energy. When his powers are not at their peak, he also appears to have greater difficulty controlling forces other than magnetism. There is a possibility that Magneto simply has a genetic predisposition to magnetism that simply makes it easy for him to manipulate it. He is also susceptible to physical and mental fatigue that can ultimately affect his ability to adequately use his powers.

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write Entry #13: To Tend the Flame

Prompt: wax | Master Post | On AO3

Notes: Spoilers for Shadowbringers MSQ and spoilers for the Binding Coils of Bahamut side story.

She first noticed it during the battle at Laxan Loft, but it’s not until they reach Il Mheg that Synnove really paid attention to the new aether curling and weaving amongst her own.

Oddly enough, it’s not the Lightwarden’s. That had felt ice-sharp and rotten-soft at the same time, white to the point of pain and not singing but screeching of broken glass and denied, raging hunger. No, that aether sat in the core of herself, sulking and bitter, but otherwise not influencing her spells.

No, this aether was…warm. Fiery, but the welcome flame of a campfire in the night, or the hearth of a well-loved home. She outright dismissed it as Ifrit’s aether leaking from Ivar; that was too distinctive and too familiar. This new aether was familiar, too, and the way it intertwined among her own, yet remains separate, reminded her of a primal’s lingering touch, so clearly at some point she had come into contact with it.

There was a niggle of an idea at the back of her mind. The hypothesis was set; now to observe.

First: the Dreadwyrm’s aether coalesced much faster. Previously, she had needed to trance at least twice to build up sufficient reserves to (grudgingly) indulge Ivar and use him as the core to summon Demi-Bahamut to the field. Now she only needed to trance just the once. Ivar, at least, was delighted by this change, her bloodthirsty, rage-filled boy.

(And at least she’d stopped having panic attacks every time she’d needed to activate that array.)

Second: the new, strange aether reached peak coalescence only after she had finished coalescing Dreadwyrm aether, and then dissipating it with a summon of Demi-Bahamut. In fact, she couldn’t even tap into Dreadwyrm aether again until she’d tranced with the new aether.

Third: while trancing with the new aether, it affected two of her spells. Outburst was a relatively new creation that the aetherochemistry department had only recently finalized; Synnove had offered to field test it shortly before she and the others had been whisked away to the First. That spell fluctuating due to an unexpected outside influence was unusual, considering how rigorously the Guild tested and developed their arrays, but not impossible. Ruin III, however, was an old standby, a tried and true blast of pure, unaspected power reserved for the most talented members of the Guild that had been in circulation for years. The only arrays more stable were the ones for the rest of the Ruin series and the standard carbuncle summons they gave to the baby arcanists (who weren’t insane overachievers like herself who had to write her own from scratch).

And it wasn’t just subtle effects. No, both Ruin III and Outburst were unaspected; arcanists liked working without the interference of specific elemental affinities, or alternatively with an equal amount of each kind so that they all canceled one another out, it made the math behave. (There was a bloody good reason she’d run into the wall on her artificial aether infusion project: working with elementally aspected aether was essentially working with literal fucking chaos and sometimes it was fun, but sometimes it just sucked.) This new surge of primal aether turned her respectable, unaspected spells into roiling balls of fire and pitch.

Ivar, of course, loved it. Heron and Alakhai, who also preferred to fight in the melee, not so much.

Fourth: the aether sang, as it always did. It reminded her very strongly of the Dreadwyrm aether’s dirge-like ballad, but this aether’s song was slower, more solemn. Wordless crooning matched with the resonant tones of an Ishgardian pipe organ. It was a funeral hymn: no rage, only deep, boundless sorrow, and a bottomless well of love.

Observations complete, she compared the data sets the night they vanquished Titania, absently rubbing her chest every so often as she did. The carbuncles curled up around her in various stages of patience—Galette in her usual spot around her neck, Tyr loafed next to her, Ivar sprawled in her lap and reaching up to either bat at his sister’s tails or his brother’s ears—as she set up the portable readout device she’d thankfully packed back on the Source. Synnove flipped open her grimoire sitting on the ground next to her on the opposite side of Tyr, paging through until she got to the first page of the arrays for Ivar’s passive sensor programming.

Humming quietly, she took the channeling stylus from her mouth, and placed the tip on the activation sigil. The array lit up, and so did the readout device, pulsing out a hologram that scrolled through the most recent aether readings. Synnove squinted as she skimmed the data, scratching Tyr’s neck until the big carbuncle turned into a happy puddle of brass purrs.

Then she called up data from nearly four years ago.

“Synnove?”

She looked up, only a little startled, to meet Alisaie’s worried gaze.

“Is everything all right?” said Alisaie.

Synnove looked back at the data, gnawing on her lower lip as the implications of the data sunk in. She let out a slow breath and said, “Don’t know yet. Fetch your brother, please, the both of you need to see this.”

Alisaie, Twelve bless her, didn’t hesitate, just turned and hurried off to find Alphinaud. She returned with her twin in a handful of minutes to the spot out in the fields surrounding Lydha Lran that Synnove had settled in to review her notes. By the time they reached her, Synnove had pulled up both data sets onto the viewer at once. She gestured, and the siblings both sat in front of her.

“So,” said Synnove, setting down her channeling stylus carefully to ensure the tip still touched the activation sigil of the array, “I’ve noticed a peculiar bit of aether mixing with my own recently and no, it’s not the Lightwarden’s.”

Alphinaud and Alisaie’s looks of alarms quickly subsided, in favor of concern and interest as Synnove outlined for them the changes she noted. Then she pointed to the readout device.

“The display on the left is the recent data Ivar’s passive sensors have recorded,” she said. “I’m sure Galette and Tyr’s would read the same, but since Ivar is the only one installed with the Dreadwyrm Protocols, he has the most complete set.”

Alphinaud scratched Tyr behind the ears, as the big carbuncle had crawled forward for pettings during Synnove’s explanation. “And I note that it’s exactly the same as the display on the right,” he said.

Synnove hummed agreement, rhythmically running her hand down Ivar’s back from his head to the base of his tails

Alisaie sat with her arms crossed, just staring at the displayed data. Finally, she said, “The data from the right is from the Binding Coils, isn’t it?”

“It is,” said Synnove, quiet and serious.

“That’s,” and Alisaie swallowed, “that’s Phoenix’s aether.”

“I believe so.”

Alphinaud didn’t look as rattled as his twin, but Synnove had known him long enough to spot the tension around his mouth and eyes. “Why now?” he said. “You’ve been using the Dreadwyrm Protocols for a number of years by now, so why has Phoenix’s aether remained dormant for so long?”

“My best guess,” said Synnove, “is because we’re here on the First. Eorzea is upfront about the fact that Dalamud’s fall and Bahamut’s rampage unquestionably fucked up the continent both on a physical and metaphysical level. The rest of our home star claims suddenly only having a single moon in the sky after the second one blew up a few miles directly above the surface had no effect on their magicks and aether, but we can all three agree that they’re probably trying to save face to a bunch of foreigners how mucked up things got for them, because that is a load of chocobo shite.”

Alphinaud coughed, smothering a smile, as Alisaie momentarily forgot her distress and snickered loudly.

“Bahamut’s aether didn’t just insinuate itself into everyone at Carteneau,” continued Synnove, continuing to pet Ivar and reaching up with her other hand to scratch behind Galette’s ears. Both carbuncles purred happily. “And it didn’t just insinuate itself into everyone in Eorzea, though I’ll grant that Eorzeans have the highest concentrations. No, Bahamut’s aether is everywhere on the Source; it’s permeated every rock and tree and beastkin and Spoken.

“It’s always been too easy to coalesce Dreadwyrm aether; when I’ve run through my own aetheric reserves, I can still use the Protocols without much fuss. If I was only ever using the aether comingled with my own, I should run out, but I don’t. Thus, I have to be unconsciously drawing upon the Dreadwyrm aether all around me.”

“But here on the First,” said Alphinaud, thoughtful, “Bahamut’s aether only exists in you and us Scions. I have noticed you still have had no issues using the Protocols, so we can assume you are able to draw on the Dreadwyrm aether within us and the others.”

Synnove inclined her head to him. “Just so.”

“So, with a finite amount of Dreadwyrm aether,” said Alisaie, “Phoenix’s aether is finally detectable, and even able to exert influence and become usable with the dissipation of Bahamut’s. And with how quickly and how strong it coalesces, it needs to be dissipated in turn before repeating the cycle.”

“That is my theory for what’s occurring,” said Synnove. “And, of course, I’ve noticed it steadily growing stronger and more stable since this began. No doubt it’ll continue to do so, although at the moment I couldn’t tell why.”

The twins shared a long, silent look. Alphinaud raised a single eyebrow. Alisaie nodded.

They turned back to her, their expressions serious, but the gleam of excitement was in their eyes. Synnove recognized it and grinned; bless their nerdy hearts, her darling little sibs.

“What would you like to do with this, Synnove?” said Alphinaud.

“And how can we help?” said Alisaie.

“Well,” drawled Synnove, “we’ll need to build some arrays to control how Phoenix’s aether warps my spells when I’m trancing with it. And then, I believe, we should prepare for the day when his aether has grown strong enough that Phoenix will fly the skies of the First as he once did at Carteneau to vanquish Bahamut, with all the prayers of Eorzea to guide him. If you two are all right with that?”

The twins dove forward to embrace her; Galette squwaked unhappily at being jostled, but they ignored her. Synnove returned their hugs, smiling, and tucked them in under her arms. Tyr immediately came over to flop across all three of their laps.

“You’re the only one I’d trust with it,” Alisaie said.

“We couldn’t think of anyone better suited,” added Alphinaud.

“Thank you,” Synnove said, as heartfelt and honored as she could. “Now then, my fellow nerds, let’s get to it!”