#two kids that can summon the supernatural? yeah they get along

[ancient-cats-unite]

Satoru's teaching Warlock about Aku spells.

[palettes-and-prompts]

hiii! can i get some spooky halloween prompts? anything goes: supernatural, terror, costume party... thanks!

Sure thing! Normally I would have done these last since I do requests in order but since they’re Halloween themed I decided to do them first just in case I’m not done with the prompts in my inbox by the end of the month or something.

Dialogue Prompts

1) "Hey, I got us invited to a costume party but we've got to bring a live animal for some reason." "Were you invited by someone who sacrifices animals?" "You know, they mentioned something about a sacrifice but I just thought they misspoke and meant to say sack of ice." "Yeah, we're not going to that." 2) "Hey, I accidentally joined a cult again, can you come pick me up?" 3) "Were you making out with Person A?" "It was just heat of the moment!" "We thought we were going to die when you chased us around with that fake chainsaw!" "Does Person B know about this?" "DO NOT TELL THEM." "Oh...I'm gonna." 4) "Grab a shovel, idiot, we've got to raise another person from the dead." "Ugh, again? Didn't we just raise someone else?" "Yeah, and now another person is dead so we have to do it again." 5) "Great. I'm alone. I'm alone in the fucking woods dressed like this. I'm gonna get murdered. I am. I'm gonna get murdered because Person A doesn't know how to follow simple fucking directions. It's great. Perfect, just where I wanted to be." "Are you talking to yourself?" "Jesus fucking Christ! Don't sneak up on me like that. God! Should put a fucking bell on you!" "I've been behind you the whole time." 6) "Sun comes up in two hours, we have to go back home." "I don't want to be a creature of the night like you." "Yeah, well, no one asks to be but you are. And it's either hide or burn." 7) "Hey, my shithead relative's in town so we're taking their things and burying them in the woods, wanna come?" "Wont they notice things are gone?" "Yeah, but they think my house is haunted so it's fine." 8) "Person A?" "What? Did you hear another noise?" "There's someone watching us over there." "Get in the car. Quickly, quickly!" 9) "You absolutely cannot wear that costume." "Why? Cause I look fucking sexy as hell in it while you're dressed like some furry?" "First of all, I'm not dressed like some furry. I'm dressed like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. You know that. And Second of all, it's a Halloween themed birthday party for CHILDREN. No, you can't wear your sexy BDSM catsuit. We're going to celebrate a birthday not get hit on by single mothers/fathers." "Maybe you're going to celebrate a birthday. I'm looking to get some phone numbers." "Change." "God you're a buzzkill. Fine!" 10) "Oh my god, there's the killer!" "You know, they're looking kinda sexy in this lighting." "They've murdered six people." "Maybe I should ask if they're up for destroying my-" "Stop talking!" 11) "Oh no, I sure hope no murderers are out there looking for me, Person A, a sexy and single person who likes long walks on the beach and having a good time with fun, adventurous, sexy singles in my area!" "God. Can you just act like a normal person for five fucking minutes, please? Please? I am literally begging you." "What? I just want to let everyone know I'm not afraid of a little danger!" "People are dead, Person A." 12) "You're holding my hand." "I just don't want to get lost in the woods at night." "You keep squeezing it tighter when you hear a scary noise." "Okay, so I'm scared. What? You going to call me a chicken?" "No. I think it's cute when you hold onto me tighter." 13) "You look like you're going to vomit." "I am, I'm incredibly sick. I was gonna go home, but Person A showed up and they hate me so I swallowed a handful of blood capsules so when I throw up it looks like blood." "Why would you do that?" "Because I hate Person A and want to scare them." "But what if they don't care." "Then they look heartless in front of everyone. Basically a win for me." 14) "How'd swallowing blood capsules go?" "Turns out they're super toxic and I had to go to the hospital immediately. But I did find out that Person A doesn't hate me, they're actually in love with me but didn't know how to express that because they're bad at expressing feelings. So we're dating now." "Jesus Christ, I can't believe that's the story you're going to have to tell your future kids." 15) "Don't panic, but I have a knife in my chest." "You what?" "I fell when I was carving a pumpkin and ended up stabbing myself in the chest with a knife. I'm fine though." "You're not fine, you stabbed yourself." "I'm fine, I'm driving myself to the hospital right now." "You're driving?!?!" 16) "What are you going to be for Halloween, Person A?" "Myself." "That's a horrible costume, it'll never win the contest. Go as a dog." "Sound's like Person A already is!" "Fuck you, Person B!" 17) "Person A got hammered and threw up in a child's Halloween bucket." "That's okay, they said trick or treat. Not everyone can be lucky enough to get a treat. It's about time kids started receiving some tricks." "I'll go give them the rest of the candy bowl and apologize. You keep A here." 18) "HEY! DID YOU FUCKING BUY THESE WAX CUBES THAT SMELL LIKE CANDY CORN?!" "Yeah." "Don't you EVER buy these again. Person A just ate seven before I read the packaging." "Why didn't Person A read the package? They're a grown ass person and it fucking says wax cubes on the front of the package." "They're a dumbass, Person B! You know you can't leave inedible things that smell like foods around them. Remember what happened with the scented erasers?" "Yeah, that was a weird hospital visit." 19) "Why would you want to go on a hay ride when you can ride me right now?" "Never been disappointed on a fucking hay ride." 20) "Switch costumes with me. Person A and I accidentally ended up matching and if they notice and point it out to everyone and call us twins I might end up killing someone." "Person B, is that you?" "Oh fuck me..." "Person B!" "I have to go, distract them so I can get away!"

Regular Prompts

1) A and B are invited to a party thrown by someone they work with, Person C, but don't know them that well. They get there early and it's just them and Person C tells them to help themselves to food while they fix something outside. A opens the freezer and panics when they find a severed head. It looks real and A and B decide they need to leave. Just as they're about to leave the power goes out. 2) A's in an unhappy relationship with Person B. Instead of going to a party with their friends like A wants to do B insists they play with the new ouja board they got. A doesn't want to but B complains until A gives in. They accidentally summon a demon and while B leaves them behind, the demon, Person C, insists that B was a piece of shit anyway. A and C form an unlikely friendship and when A finds a way to bring C into their world permanentally the two decide to live together and C helps A get out of their relationship. The two then get together after getting to know each other and A discovers dating demons is way better than humans. 3) A and B are close friends who almost kiss but then it's interrupted when vampires show up and start terrorizing the town. The two begin a hunting spree with a few friends to take down all the vampires and the experience makes their friendship stronger and the two share a first kiss after they take down the last vampire together. 4) A and B are at C's house for a party, someone they've known their whole life. They realize halfway through the party that the locked basement they've never been in is unlocked. They decide to go down to see what's down there but immediately regret it when they turn the light on and find C surrounded by bodies and their hands and mouth covered in blood as they tell both of them they can explain everything. 5) A group of friends sneak into the park during Halloween even though it's closed and discover that the public bathroom has a body and the whole place is covered in blood. They decide to leave and call someone but they don't get a signal and now five people in dark cloaks are chasing them with knives. 6) A and B are known for being unscareable since nothing's ever made them scream out of fear. Their friends try to scare them throughout the whole day but they're unable to. The go to visit A's grandparents in the nursing home after A's parents insist. But when they go there they walk into the wrong room and find two old people doing it and A and B, along with the rest of their friends, scream in horror before closing the door. Unable to look at another old person they visit A's grandparents, but don't make eye contact and none of the friends make fun of them for it. They all just go trick-or-treating and agree to never speak of it again. They all forget about it until the next Halloween when they're sitting around watching TV and A's parents walk in telling A to go visit their grandparents. The group of friends simultaneously scream NO in horror and the story ends with them all shuddering at the memory. 7) A is unscareable so their friends hire someone to fake a news broadcast and pretend to be a murderer loose in their area. A isn't scared but when the fake murderer walks by and A sees them through the windows they all pretend not to believe A because A's a known prankster. A sees them more and more around the house with a knife but it isn't until A turns around and the pretend murderer is right behind them in the house that they scream. Everyone either records it or takes pictures before admitting to A it's just a prank. (Bonus if A already knew about the prank and hired the fake murderer to pretend to be murdered by someone A knows who actually just got out of prison. No one gets hurt but A definitely gets back at the others for trying to scare them.) 8) A group of friends find a giant pumpkin in the woods and when they find it has a door only Person A is brave enough to go inside. The door closes behind them and disappears and when someone comes towards the pumpkin they don't know they explain their friend is stuck inside. The person explains that the pumpkin is actually a carnivorous plant that digests the people who walk in on Halloween and that it can eat twenty people at a time. Before they can get worried or call someone Person A bursts out the side of the pumpkin carrying two kids and telling the others to come help the rest of the people inside. The others are still shaken from being inside but A tells the others they're going to need a chainsaw and a truck. A ends up saving more people and making sure it's empty before the friends help them make pumpkin pies for the entire town. A ends up getting a first place ribbon at a pie contest they didn't enter and the friends are hailed as town heroes. 9) A group of friends go camping and ask Person A and Person B to go find Person C, who's near the road and doesn't know where everyone else is. The two hate each other and end up getting into a heated argument where they end up wandering around and getting lost. Unable to get a signal on their phones or figure out how to use a compass they end up getting more lost and end up seeing someone watching them. The two are terrified and run away. The stranger chases after them and soon more people pop out of nowhere, terrifying them as they run around. When they finally see a light they run towards it and find out they walked all the way across town where the community had set up a haunted house in the woods for people to walk into. The two end up hating each other less but agree they're never going camping again. They end up getting a cab and just decide to get Person A's car and go to a restaurant for food. 10) Person A and B are dating when Person A gets their head stuck in a fake pumpkin and B has to call the fire department. A laughs at their situation and B just stands by, completely embarrassed by their significant other.

[pennywaltzy]

"We don't trust institutions like that."

So this prompt was picked by @ourunsungheroes42344 for the Summer of 100 Surprise Stories, where I wrote a past Dean/Jo, present Dean/Castiel and Zane/Jo (Eureka, Supernatural) fic. I hope you all enjoy!

My Ex And My Husband And My Ex's Husband And a Cryptid -Jo runs into a familiar face while heading back to Eureka on a road trip honeymoon and gets roped into a hunt.

READ @ AO3 | BUY ME A COFFEE?

“We don't trust institutions like that.”

“Well, to be fair, the people at Area 51 don’t deserve to be trusted. They’re all kind of assholes.”

Jo looked between her ex and her husband. How she had ended up in a diner with Zane and Dean, she had no idea, but Dean was from a time in her life when she did a few things that were questionable. He wasn’t fully classified to know about the things she and Zane were part of now, but Zane had never cared for government classifications, and Dean had never cared for the government. The two of them hit it off great, apparently, while she sat to Zane’s left, nibbling on her thumbnail.

“Gotta ask...there really such things as aliens?”

“If I told you that I’d have to kill you,” Zane said to Dean with a grin as he shook his head.

“Jo Jo,” Dean said.

“I thought I was the only one who called her Jo Jo,” Zane said.

“With her cute face? She screams Jo Jo as a nickname,” Dean said with a grin, pointing at her with a fry. “Have anything that can help with a cryptid problem?”

“I may have a few things in the trunk, but I’ll only share if I’m in on the hunt.” She glanced at her husband, hoping he didn’t suddenly want to see this whole other side of his wife. But Zane was leaning back in the seat, looking at Dean with something resembling awe.

“I’ll wait in the motel room.”

“Great! You can keep my husband company,” Dean said. “He’s…” Dean trailed off then.

“Unusual?”

Dean started slightly as a man in a trenchcoat and pressed blue shirt and black slacks was suddenly next to them. It was a good thing that Jo didn’t startle, but Zane damn near jumped.

“I was trying to be diplomatic, Cas.”

“I am unusual. That’s the diplomatic term. But I think Zane and I will get along just fine.”

“Hey, where I’m from if you aren’t unusual, you don’t belong,” Zane said, sliding out of the seat, then leaning over and kissing Jo. “I’m not going to pretend to know what’s in the trunk, but no explosions, kay?”

“Take all the fun out of my hunt,” she said, giving him a fake pout. He kissed her again and try as she might, she suddenly didn’t care that her ex and his husband and probably the whole damn diner was watching. Kissing Zane was an experience, every time, and she slipped into it as easily as she slipped into her trusty combat boots. When he pulled away, this time the pout was real, but she saw Dean having a similar experience on his face and his husband straightening up.

“So, show me what you got,” he said when Cas and Zane walked away.

---

She was bloody, but none of it was hers. Thank God; she’d been in scrapes before around Zane, had to explain blood and bruises before, but the

amount

of blood? That would have taken some real fancy talking. Hunter Jo was a thing of the past, but she still knew what the hell she was doing. At least she was pretty sure she did if those kids didn’t go looking for more fun in the forest. The old Deputy Lupo may have come into play a bit.

“You’re tiny but I think I have a tank top that’ll fit. Pants, you’re on your own,” Dean said, tossing her an A-line tank.

“Just need a shirt and a shower. It’s mostly in my hair and on my shirt. Thank God Zane and Cas are in our room. Wouldn’t want to surprise them looking like this.”

“Cas has seen worse,” Dean said. “Pulled me out of Hell, so…”

She caught up on the wilder aspects of the last twenty years of Dean’s life while they’d been on the hunt, and considering the fact they’d met over a demonic summoning ritual gone bad by some idiot kids in her group of friends, him being in Hell didn’t surprise her. Sadden her, yeah, but not surprise.

“So he’s a demon summoner?”

“Former angel,” Dean said. “Didn’t think I could love anyone as much as I love Cas. A definite definition of 'soulmate;.”

Despite the blood dripping down her face, she smiled. “That’s kinda cute for you.”

“That’s me. I’m a softie now.”

“And Sam?”

Settled with another hunter, Eileen. Taking a break at the moment because she’s expecting their first kid. But they’re happy. So am I.” He paused. “Are you?”

“All things considered? Yeah. Zane’s the guy for me. He proved it when we reset time.”

“So that’s why some of the stuff you talked about didn’t make sense anymore.”

“Yup. Like the Doctor says, wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. It’s all pretty settled now, for the better. Eureka isn’t a government facility anymore, so...there’s some freedom now. It’s nice.”

“Guess I have to give the rifle back,” he said. “It’s a sweet piece of machinery.”

“Keep it,” she said. “I have two more in more office.”

“Jo, I love you. If we weren’t both happily married I’d sweep you off your feet for that futuristic gun collection of yours.”

“Hey, why don’t you and Cas come up to Eureka with me and Zane? Our honeymoon is just about over, and I swear, you have never had pie as good as the stuff that we can come up with.”

“You’re on.”

[albatris]

Wait that sounds cool tell me more about Bright and Burning Things? (If you want to ofc you definitely don't have to)

:D!!! of course, I can tell you some stuff!!! thank you for the question, I'm happy you think it sounds cool!!

this is not really a super sensical explanation, this is some rambles, as usual

so, this is a short standalone project of mine, it's uhhhh........ hm. something something fantasy comedy something. it's meant to be a bit of a light-hearted adventure, but as it is with most of my more silly stories, it takes a sharp detour into some "oof" territory c':

bits of the premise sound kind of Heavy but silliness and heaviness go hand-in-hand quite nicely I think

the central character is a ghost kid! this kid’s name is Max! the story kicks off right after they die and they’re being ushered onto the bus that will take them to the afterlife. as they are being ushered onto said bus, they’re like “holy fuck wait no” because they have unfinished business in the living world. they got straight-up murdered!  their life got cut short! they don’t have any closure! they don’t even know who killed them!! so they make a run for it and go ghost

and like, oh, this happens sometimes. the dead are sometimes quite affronted by the fact that they’re dead and kick up a bit of a fuss when it comes to Moving On. the thing is, souls aren’t really built for Being Ghosts and can’t really survive long out in the living world, so there’s a bit of a time limit on Max’s quest to figure out who killed them and solve the mystery of their own death, since if they stay too long in the living world as a disembodied soul they’ll start to unravel

related, and perhaps more pressingly, is that there’s various agents of the afterlife who are attempting to find them and bring them back and Make Them Move On. these forces take on a bit of an antagonistic role in the story, but they’re not really any malevolent force that wants to hurt Max, they’re just the folks who go after stray and panicked souls and try to bring them to the afterlife before they fade away and disappear completely

Max’s got shit to do, though, like I said

so the story follows Max over the course of one night as they piece together the story of their death and fill in the gaps in their memory, while also attempting to stave off their unravelling for as long as they can

Max becomes acquainted with various other supernatural beings who are on their own time-sensitive quests on the same night, n they form some sort of kinship over this fact and band together to help each other out on their missions

firstly there’s Daisy, stir-crazy thousand-year-old heir to the vampire throne, due to be crowned the next day, who suddenly had an existential crisis and was like “actually vampire society is dull as hell I wanna LIVE”

so she goes out into the human world and robs a pizza store and starts several fights and is like “hell YEAH this slaps” and basically decides she’s just gonna kick up some real chaos since this is her last night of freedom, basically, n she’s gotta make it count

she’s very smart! she knows next to nothing about human society and how to be a normal person though, and if you leave her unsupervised she will attempt to eat marbles

also the structure of vampire society is very convoluted and confusing and full of complete nonsense. it makes no sense to anyone but the vampires themselves, and even then the rest of the supernatural world is half convinced the vamps are just playing the long game with an extremely elaborate prank. their royalty live in an abandoned petrol station? they wear those little paper crowns from hungry jacks/burger king. they take themselves very seriously

also this is the story in which I was really drunk when I was planning it n just slammed some vodka and was like “VAMPIRES COME FROM SPACE NOW” and then sober logan just had to deal with that

ANYWAY

next there’s Hope and Deckchairs, a socially anxious uni student and a socially anxious demon respectively, and the deal with these two is uhhhhh

well, Hope was trying to be a Cool Kid and tagged along with some Cool Kids who wanted to do a demonic summoning ‘cause Hell Yeah That’s Edgy And Cool

and Deckchairs (not named Deckchairs at the time, this is a name that’s adopted during the story) was doing their very overdue demon taxes and stressing over demon finances, n then got yoinked out of the underworld because of the aforementioned summoning

(I think this is generally viewed among demons as a mild inconvenience, sometimes you get Yoinked when you’re right in the middle of something and you just have to be like “ugh fine I’ll just kick up a bit of a ruckus then come back”)

however, when the summoning actually works, the Cool Kids freak out and scatter and in the chaos Hope gets her head bonked on the side of a dresser and fuckin starts bleeding out, and Deckchairs is like “oh fuck I did not sign on for this” ‘cause they’re........ yeah, look, they’re gentle and anxious and not a very good demon, maybe. n so Deckchairs possesses the body of Hope to keep her alive

so now these two are co-piloting a body, and have to figure out a way they can split and return to their lives without Hope dying. however, they’re also being hunted down by

the Cool Kids, who are now all keyed up and paranoid and convinced they’re the heroes of a horror movie n they have to kill the demonic entity they brought into the world

the underworld, who.......... now, I haven’t figured out whether they’re pissed ‘cause they think Deckchairs is committing tax evasion by body-hopping into the human world, or they’re pissed just ‘cause Deckchairs has work to do and they don’t consider one human life to be worth all the hold up

so that’s not great for either of them, but like, yeah, if they can figure out a way to split and be done with it, it’s problem solved for both of them. yeehaw. too bad they’re both nearly too anxious to speak to each other

and that’s................................. all that

facts?

there’s a plot twist at the end that I am SUPER psyched about! and it has taken literally all of my willpower not to spoil it completely

I feel like it’s an easy one to guess, but it’s perfect for the story and the themes and it’s one I’m hella excited about

and this is..................... this is I think the only story of mine where I would say it doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending? like. it certainly doesn’t end in TRAGEDY, but this is definitely a bittersweet ending, it’s got some real sad undertones

it’s the best possible ending for the characters, but like, hey, my protagonist is already dead, y’know?

anyway if you read this far I hope some of this was fun for you :’))

thanks for coming to my ted talk I hope you have a nice day :D

[elsa-should-be-arrested]

Frozen 2 Pitchmeeting copypasta by Anonymous

>"So anyway Elsa, Anna, and Olaf are walking along to find the mysterious voice when they suddenly come across a shipwreck that turns out to be the same one from Iduna and Agnarr's final voyage!" >"Oh, wow." >"Yeah, it turns out they didn't go to the South Sea like Elsa and Anna thought, they really went to the Dark Sea, which is right next to the forest." >"So this scene takes place on a beach?" >"Oh, no, they're still in the middle of the woods." >"What?" >"Yeah, the beach doesn't come into it until later." >"How did their parents' ship sink in the middle of the forest?" >"Unclear." >"Did the area used to be part of the ocean but the water has since receded?" >"Oh no, there are decades-old trees everywhere and the ocean can't even be seen on the horizon." >"Did the Spirits throw the ship clear from the ocean into the middle of the forest?" >"I mean they probably could do that but I don't see why they would instead of just letting the ship sink to the ocean floor like we saw in the first movie." >"I just feel like this raises so many questions that could've been easily avoided if the scene just took place on a beach." >"Yeah, probably. So anyway the three of them run into the ship and look around to see if they can find an explanation as to why it's here in the forest instead of the South Sea like they said they were and find a map that mentions Ahtohallan." >"Gesundheit." >"No, sir, Ahtohallan is the name of the magic glacier that Iduna used to tell Anna and Elsa about when they were kids, and she thought it might have had something to do with Elsa's powers, if it even existed at all." >"That's an interesting theory. I just hope Elsa doesn't put all her eggs in one basket and immediately decide Ahtohallan is the key to everything because there's no concrete connection to her powers, and even her mother wasn't entirely--" >"And so Elsa immediately decides Ahtohallan is the key to everything!" >"Of course." >"But then she remembers Olaf's 'water has memory' thing from earlier in the movie and so she decides to use her water memory restoration powers to witness their parents' dying moments." >"Wait, what? Elsa has water memory restoration powers? I thought she just controlled ice and snow." >"Well, sir, as you know, ice and snow are just forms of water." >"Yes, but doesn't this movie's mythology treat water and ice as two completely separate elements? And if she can control water why hasn't she ever done it before? And even if she can use water to recreate past memories how would she even know how to do that? Wouldn't she need to train under some sort of magic ice Enchanted Forest Yoda or something?" >"Sir, I need a reason for Elsa to get really sad really fast, so I'd like you to get all the way off my back about Elsa's new water powers that will never be mentioned again." >"Fair enough." >"So anyway Elsa is able to recreate her parents' dying moments in which they embrace each other in the face of a really violent, terrifying death and call out Elsa's name." >"Not Anna's name, who is also their daughter and is watching this whole thing next to Elsa?" >"Nope, not at all, sir." >"Iduna and Agnarr couldn't put in the time or effort to think about both of their daughters as they were dying?" >"Nope! They even say Elsa's name multiple times, so it's not like they didn't have the chance." >"Wow, I guess the girls know who the favorite was." >"It is pretty rude, I will agree." >"Very rude dying parents!" >"So anyway, the sight of their parents dying horrifically makes Elsa really upset." >"I don't know what else she was expecting." >"She runs out of the ship, so Anna tries to comfort her by telling her she'll never abandon Elsa and she believes in her and her magic is awesome and that Elsa was a gift from Heaven above to bless their parents with basically just the most perfect child possible and that she'll always support Elsa in anything she does and that she loves Elsa with all her heart and together they're going to solve this mystery and save their kingdom. And Elsa thanks her." >"Aww, how sweet and heartfelt!" >"By throwing her down a hill." >"What." >"Yeah, Elsa's worried that the rest of the journey may be too perilous for Anna and Olaf so she summons an ice canoe around them and then sends the thing just... careening down a hillside at roughly fifty miles an hour." >"Oh my God." >"Yeah, it's pretty much an ice rocket, just shooting past trees and rocks left and right." >"Elsa wanted to keep Anna safe by trapping her in a murder rocket made out of material famous for people slipping on it and shooting it into a forest full of rocks and trees and cliffs and supernatural monsters that Elsa is in no way familiar with?" >"She had to. There was still one Spirit left to deal with and the Dark Sea can be very dangerous." >"Hasn't Elsa kicked the ass of every Spirit she's come across so far? And isn't she capable of freezing large bodies of water as we saw in the first movie?" >"She has and is, yes." >"And isn't she capable of creating life, so she could just make like a huge eagle or dragon or something big enough to fly herself, Anna, and Olaf harmlessly across the Dark Sea?" >"She most definitely could." >"So why does she need to kick Anna down a hill in order to continue the mission?" >"Because I want her to fight a horsey." >"Excuse me?" >"I want Elsa to fight a horsey and I don't want Anna just standing there watching and making it weird." >"I mean you don't have to have her just standing there watching, you could involve her. Make it a really cool fight scene where the sisters work together and show teamwork and it could be a really cool, inspiring, empowering moment where they unite against a powerful enemy and overcome it and--" >"Don't be silly, sir. Two women can't fight a horsey. That's just crazy talk!" >"I just feel like Elsa kicking Anna down a hill because a fantasy quest adventure is dangerous is sort of really harshly unnecessary and also sort of undermines the whole 'stronger together' thing we've been selling for the last six years." >"CRAZY TALK, I SAY!" >"I mean I guess so." >"Crazy movie producer." >"So tell me about this horsey fight, how does it go?" >"Well at first Elsa tries to run across the Dark Sea but she keeps getting hit by waves and sent deep into the water." >"The ice sorceress capable of freezing large bodies of water tries physically running across a stormy sea?" >"She does, sir, yes. And then one time when she's underwater she gets attacked by the Water Spirit, which is a kelpie named Nokk." >"The Water Spirit is seaweed?" >"No, sir, a kelpie is a beast from Celtic mythology. It's basically a horse made of water and it controls the sea." >"Oh, wow." >"And it killed Iduna and Agnarr." >"Whoa, what?" >"I mean it's pretty obvious since this is where they died and it's guarded by a supernatural sea monster that intentionally makes the ocean all stormy and dangerous, which is what killed them." >"That sounds pretty intense. So is Elsa gonna get some some sweet karmic justice on Nokk for killing her parents?" >"Oh, no. Well, not intentionally, at least." >"What do you mean?" >"Well like I said, it's pretty obvious if you think about it, but we're not gonna make a thing out of it. In fact we're not even gonna acknowledge it at all." >"Elsa's going to engage in mortal combat with her parents' murderer and she's not even going to realize it?" >"That's right sir, yes." >"Seems like a weird way to take that potentially massive plot point." >"To be honest, sir, I wanted to make more of a deal out of it but I honestly couldn't think of a way to... write it good." >"I guess it is better to write nothing than to write something disappointing and stupid." >"Exactly!" >"So how about the fight itself? How does Elsa versus Nokk go down?" >"Well Nokk can dissolve and become the water all around Elsa and if she freezes him he can just immediately unfreeze himself and he's just really strong. Basically imagine how dangerous a normal wild horse is, but then also factor in drowning, a shark attack, and a homing torpedo." >"Oh my God, Nokk sounds borderline invincible. Is it gonna be hard for Elsa to beat him?" >"Actually, it's going to be super easy. Barely an inconvenience!" >"How so?" >"Well at one point during the fight Elsa just... rides him." >"Just... rides him?" >"Yep. After getting the everloving snow beaten out of her for ten minutes Elsa gets the idea to hop onto Nokk's back and ride him around shouting 'yee-hah!'" >"The ancient supernatural being who controls the seas themselves is defeated because the woman who must weigh barely over 100 pounds asks for a pony ride?" >"That's right sir, yes." >"I guess that makes sense."

[raguna-blade]

So carrying on the shared symbol thing with persona games, here’s a fun one that probably needs more time in the oven but hey, can come back later with later revelations

So, here’s one that technically shows up in the first game but doesn’t really become a thing until (I am assuming, i still need to actually play the first few and finish most of them but whatever) Persona 3

Evokers! Also known as guns. Specifically hand guns, but I think that’s the least important detail when one of the big symbols of your game is shooting yourself in the head to summon mythic figures.

So Evokers. In game, and as per the wiki, they are supposed to function by more or less...making you face mortality and the fact that you’re going to die for real.

By simulating shooting yourself in the face. It’s a good thing that the Kirijo group already got their mad science comeuppance because man, that’s kinda...

But hey, the logic and rules at play here do seem to be consistent across the games. To Summon a persona requires, apparently, a huge amount of stress and or trauma to activate properly, and the Evokers are a fast way to do that that isn’t, comparatively anyway, super duper traumatic. It’s free artificial trauma for everyone that is comparatively less permanent.

Which...Well I don’t believe that for a second considering SEES is one big trauma center. I don’t think there is a single person in that group who is trauma free really. Nobody is free of it, even the dog.

I mean maybe the protag, but they come off as super depressed to me.

But for the moment let’s accept that as true. If i’m wrong i’m wrong, but I think i’m right and i want to get to the juicy stuff.

So given evokers function by applying trauma directly to the soul to summon yon persona, I think it’s obvious then what guns are SUPPOSED to represent right?

Trauma. But not just any kind of trauma no. Remember, Evokers are supposed to basically be going Hey Trauma But For A REASON. To Summon a Persona. A persona which is used to protect yourself from something (Shadows technically, but A persona is a mask used to face life’s struggles as the games are so fond of reminding us.)

So, Guns are Trauma Turned Towards Protecting Yourself from...something. My understanding of psych stuff is you know, layman, but basically it’s an active self defense mechanism. Or at least turning that pain on outside hurty things.

So if this holds true as a consistent and shared symbol going forward, we should expect that everyone who uses a gun is both

A: Traumatized in some manner.

2: Actively Defending themselves possibly by literally using that trauma against things.

Which i’m sure is totally a healthy thing to be doing. Has to be. Can’t not be right?

I can see no possible way in which using your trauma like a club against the world can possibly backfire on you.

SO!

Who uses guns in the series going forward.

In Persona 4, We have two for sure, maybe a third. That is Naoto, Adachi, and Maybe Dojima (I assume he HAS a gun, but I don’t think he’s ever shown using it. I’m going to assume for the moment this is true as fits the analysis, cause it fits well enough, but if he actually pulls it out ehh)

Persona 5 has uh...literally all of the phantom thieves. Technically not morganna, but if you think a slingshot isn’t basically a fire arm, well sure technically but also you can absolutely kill someone with a slingshot don’t get it twisted. But yeah, all of the phantom thieves and ESPECIALLY Akechi, since he uses a real one. Well, sans Futaba, but we’ll get there.

And do these individuals demonstrate being both traumatized AND using that as some kind of defense mechanism...?

yeh.

So start with P4. Now compare the other persona users in 3-5, the group in 4 is actually really well adjusted. Like yeah, you have some elements of stress and being an outcast and elements of weird harrowing stuff happening to them sure. I mean if nothing else they’re in the middle of a murder mystery with a serial killer in town, that’s stressful for anyone, let alone the weird supernatural shit on top of it, and then there’s the more mundane stressors.

But...Uh...Largely, they’re handling it pretty well actually. Protag was pretty alright moving to town and seems to get along with people well. Yosuke had the dislike of being in town but he had friends, he wasn’t really hated or anything. Chie is pretty alright, Yukiko is stressed but not exactly freaking out, Kanji has some shame going on however you want to frame that i’m told it reads different for japanese audiences though it’s not mutually exclusive, Teddie DID in fact have an existential crisis but that’s not really the same thing i think, Rise is hella stressed, and then there’s naoto who uh.

Kid’s got some problems. They’re also the only one who uses a gun So Hey First stop.

So depending on how you want to read it, Naoto is either dealing with some trans issues or just aggressive and unending misogyny given their profession. Personally while i can see the naoto is trans reading, the game doesn’t explicitly come out with that as the issue, while it DOES with the misogyny so I’m going with that. If you do think it’s more that than what i’m going with, you can easily sub it in I think since from what i’ve heard on the subject suggests it very much CAN be traumatizing dealing with that in society....And also because it’d still feed back into the misogyny thing so it comes back to that anyway.

Regardless. This is a thorny enough issue really, so i’ll strive to not fuck up but please forgive me if I do cause it’s not intentional.

What do we see with Naoto? They’re a genuinely skilled, talented and experienced detective, and at a really young age. Their skills are undeniable really, and they’ve got acclaim and real accomplishments under their belt.

They are also, apparently, belittled constantly because they’re read as female and that is apparently far far more important than their skill. Because of that they’re belittled, talked down to and dismissed purely because of that.

And Naoto is fucking tired of it. So much so that they do everything in their power to present as male and believe they should straight up just...cut out whatever lady aspects are there and just go full dude.

Which here you get two really radically(?) different readings depending on if you fall on the Naoto is Trans and so fucking tired of the misogyny vs Naoto Is fucking Tired of the misogyny and so damn desperate.

In case A, Naoto genuinely believes they’re a dude, and genuinely believes duding it up will solve their problem....But they’re rejecting that part of themselves actively, and refusing to acknowledge it at all. That’s a problem for him, if only because actively rejecting a part of yourself is by no means a healthy thing, especially when it keeps getting brought up constantly in your line of work (I can only imagine how much this would suck to be dismissed because people think you’re a girl when you’re a guy but also you’re denying that you’re a guy and recognize that even if you were outwardly a guy they would STILL dismiss you as a girl even though you’re not. Just typing that out is...yech.)

In Case B, you have a still tired of the dismissal, but also they think they radically need to change their body and gender just to get anywhere in the world which is egregiously fucked up because you know. She’s good at her job! Why should she HAVE to be a dude to get anything done? It’s fucked up.

But they’re a gunman! So...i mean i guess it’s obvious what the trauma at play here is, it’s gender related regardless of how you slice it and how is it used...? Naoto disguises (or “disguises”) themselves as a guy, actively using the thing that they’re being traumatized by to fight back against the world in some way.

I mean as thorny as the issue is in the reading it, the outcome is at least simple enough under the shared symbols thing.

Ok, but what about Adachi...? Welllllllllllllllllll

Adachi is definitely traumatized I think but it's not in the kind of way that's sharp and specific. I'm cribbing a bit off of [https://youtu.be/8qG8Mqe_1v8] with their description of how Adachi reacts to the Scoobies calling him out.

To summarize and or paraphrase, it's not that there's a specific thing that broke Adachi down. It's that he's trapped in a job he hates, or at least without the possibility of improvement. He's shoved in a backwater town when he's a city boy. He feels ignored, he doesn't like the people around him very much, he's got basically no money, he has no significant other, he has to just keep going and existing day in and day out and it's...

God it's so fucking soul killing.

It's not like his childhood was better apparently, in that it basically was a prelude to adult hood but also unlike then, he didn't have the supposed promise of do well in school and get cool shit that was summarily broken.

So what's a guy who's made to feel worthless, made to feel like a nobody, made to feel utterly disenfranchised, and has actual evidence to support some of this (keep in mind the reason he got reassigned did involve him screwing up somehow, though I don't think it's explained what or how) going to react when given the ability to act out with no consequences, or seemingly?

Well, I imagine that you would see them do some fucked up shit really. We've seen people in real life do things just as bad if not worse, and the exact way he wields his trauma is well...sadly understandable to anyone.

Though another interesting shared thing, which I neglected earlier and MAY share into the Gun Imagery is a sense of isolation. Which...Actually. Actually may track. Evokers are used by well...ritualistically killing yourself, which is for all the harm it throws out to everyone connected to you, is also a very solitary act. And in both cases here, the characters are in a very real way killing their true selves in order to deal with the world (In adachis case by presenting a fake version of himself and in Naoto's case by actively rejecting a part of themselves however you want to spin that one)

This does raise a question of the SEES gang having elements of isolation which off hand I want to say yes that's the case across the board, and only by coming together do they win but I also legitimately cannot recall how it plays out beyond the minimal We're The Only Ones Capable of Dealing With This thing which isn't quite the same thing. The ritualized killing yourself still stands so that's still in play really, and i'll keep an eye on it going forward.

I should probably ALSO keep an eye on the uh...Suicide aspects. Even looking back at Naoto and Adachi they have elements of it, although more figurative than literal. Both very much have a life is over thing related to their careers and where they end up when first introduced, so it's not an unreasonable call though the strict actual read of suicide suicide is...Hmmm...

Well I suppose Adachi's chunk of the world is accessed through the noose room if I recall, so that might not be quite as empty a connection, while Naoto's secret lab thing may not be quite as on the nose it does focus on a destruction of self in some way given the way a lot of those secret labs go about doing things in those shows.

That is, there's generally one of two outcomes. Either the Evil Org creates a mindless/corrupted pawn to use whatever their powers/abilities are for the organization (see every monster of the week) OR they create a hero/renegade warrior that uses those very same powers they were imbued with against them....Which suddenly makes me wonder if the the ambiguity of if Naoto's transness vs woman in male spaces thing is intentional in regards to how to read that section. If so that's actually clever as hell because then either way you want to read it the literal what's going on with their shadow (body modification either to become their true self and the rejection of that or to be able to actually be respected for their work and the implied destruction of self that's going on there) it reads as this is bad so...Kudos.

Anyway, off topic, maybe another day.

All this said, this leads to Dojima who SHOULD have a gun and probably does, but...never uses it that I can recall, not once. Doesn't even show up with a gun if memory serves.

It's not that he's not traumatized. He most definitely does have some shit kicking around what with the dead wife, disconnect from his daughter and all that, but he never really...weaponizes it does he? He never turns it on others, never uses it to isolate, none of that. Which is interesting because as a Cop I think we can safely say he SHOULD have a gun of some flavor right? That does seem to be the vibe, and yet he doesn't freak out. The reason why is heartfully straightforward though.

Nanako. He can't exactly revel in his hurt and lash out at folks with it. Like yes, he's not winning parent of the year at the start of the game by a long shot, but frankly emotionally distant and neglectful after your wife died but still trying (failing but trying, critically, the trying) is not the worst spot to be in, no way. And he takes to reorienting things quite well once he get's the additional stability in his life Yu and (at least in part) Adachi.

Which, really, is what also ended up saving the SEES members. Not Yu, but the fact that they managed to form genuine connections with each other that let them get past the hurt and not be taken up and swallowed by it. It's why Adachi ended up going the way he did because he really DIDN'T forge those connections, and because of the whole everything he couldn't really get out of that loop and fix himself up.

I mean Izanami's game basically threw two whole ass people into the deep end of their problems but this ain't about her right now.

So ok, that's the group from 4 and right now this is feeling pretty consistent.

So let's get to the group that has literally every party member carrying with The Phantom Thieves.

So...again, to bring it back, Guns symbolically here are weaponized trauma right? They're using that to strike back against what's threatening you, often by using it against them.

Now, there are variances with the phantom thieves for sure, and the most relevant and DIRECT one is that all of them, every last one, is an outcast of some flavor from the social norms, and this has screwed with them something fierce. Now it's not as apparent or visible in all cases, but I'll get into specifics as we go down the list, but I want to say this at the top because it fundamentally comes down to Because Of this outcast status, this particular form of trauma, they became the Phantom Thieves, and in doing so struck back against the society that hurt them, with the intent to inspire those like them.

Well not Akechi, but his specific issues at least nominally align I guess.

Anyway. I won't go into as much detail here, but I feel it's worth pointing out that their Phantom Thieves Personas are probably the cleanest way to point out how they go about weaponizing their various more personalized traumas to protect themselves and fight back.

Joker: Accused of a crime he didn't commit, sent to a city away from his family and friends, said to be a violent felon...Like it's not exactly brought up in the game in part because he's a silent protag but Joker absolutely had his life ruined. Like full stop, his world fell apart over night, not because he did something wrong but because he tried to do the right thing. And then Kamoshida happened which basically took boyo from being merely fucked over to losing what little he had left (where what he had left was a friend of a friend of his folks taking him in and shoving him in a drafty attic)

And then from said trauma he created the well...Joker Persona. Someone who emphatically is a criminal, the kind of guy who is actually pretty ominous when you consider the knife,gun and dark outfit combo making him look like some kind of assassin. That he helps people is probably a small miracle really.

But by the same token, it's blatantly clear the persona that he pretends at school is not his true self either. He has to hide himself, make himself look small and innocent and as unthreatening as humanly possible. He's not, by any means but...

Morgana: Imagine you wake up one day and you remember maybe your name, a few random bits of information, and nothing else except that you were (probably) a human and now decidedly are not. That's...Rough man. It's just rough to deal with and it's awful, and then you just keep getting hit with that fact over and over and over again. Mona's pretty straightforward, but it tracks that they would make themselves out to be the cool collected sort that they do (even though they botch it nigh constantly). If you can't remember anything about yourself, make yourself out to be the coolest smartest most talented type right?

Ryuji: He literally had an authority figure not only mock his family situation, he straight up broke his leg, killed his dream of running track, ostracized him from his friends and peers, put more pressure on his mom. He was reduced to a thug and his response to that was, apparently, let me be a (diet) delinquent then. It's not like he did anything bad really but he certainly stopped giving any kind of a shit to the world. His attitude got turned up for sure. This got more emphasized with the Actual Skull persona as a phantom thief, where he's far more intimidating, outright hostile and violent (A bat and a shotgun? yee)

Ann: I mean there's the obvious sexual assault, her friend attempting suicide, etc, but i've seen it pointed out that a good chunk of Ann's problems are also based in the fact that she's white in japan, so basically she straight up has to deal with racism too. It's why she's considered the sexy one for example (girls like her are easy you understand) so it's...well. How the game handles (or doesn't) that aside, the persona she ends up developing first off a very blithe sort of vibe to how the world views her (seen in her confidant arc) before ultimately gravitating to having more active control over her image and consciously choosing how the world will view her instead of them making the choice themselves.

Yusuke: Abusive parents (which is damn near a theme with the phantom thieves. Families being broken or Abusive which is hm) who actively stole his work, and he knew about it. It very clearly messes with his art and his relationship to this thing that he loves, and even after knowing how his adoptive dad was abusing him and other students and making a mockery of art...To which he actively throws himself into Art EVEN HARDER than before, as a dedicated fuck you on the subject. Actually straightforward, which is perhaps weird for Yusuke, but hey they can't all require deeper reading.

Makoto: Makoto's deal is a bit more complicated but boils down to She's tired of having all these expectations pushed onto her and dictating the exact kind of person she should be. Always the good girl, always kind and elegant, soft spoken, I mean she knows aikido and is supposed to be good with it. Which is why she turns that around is basically Lord Humongous, albeit less jacked dude in bondage gear and more Badass Violence Biker. Just let it all out and take no shit from anyone ever. Again straightforward enough.

Futaba: Now...Here's a weird one to say because it's...She doesn't have a gun. I mean we could probably make a fair enough statement, if an absolutely buckwild one, that she does not at this point have a trauma. Or at least, not one that is weaponized. Because well...Her issues were very self focused. She thought her mom killed herself because of her, and that almost made her (futaba) kill herself. That's not a great place to be, but it's not like she ever takes her dead mom issues out on the world. She doesn't even really take her extreme social issues out on the world. If anything she pretty much...Has them and kind of deals with them quietly.

I suppose you could say that her weapon of choice is the computer. It's no gun, obviously, but unlike everyone else up til this point she also doesn't really...hide herself. There's no fake persona (in the not summoned beings of myth and story) that she presents to the world. She's decisively genuine about everything, and pretty much the only difference between her and her Oracle persona is neat goggles yeah? Which makes her an interesting pair with Maruki who we'll get to later as another gun not haver.

Haru: Kind of a complicated one, though also kinda straightforward. She's ostracized from her father and finds the abuse that he's laying down on the people who work for them abhorent, which is bad enough, that kind of realization that your life is built on the suffering of others. There's also the uh...It's not strictly this because arranged marriages are very much business affairs more than romance, but the way it's portrayed definitely reads as her dad selling her which is you know. Not...ideal, though her specific reservations there seemed less the arranged marriage (it's business she get's it) but more the dude was an creep and also again the abuse. The family motto being betray anyone to get ahead (paraphrased to hell and back) also suggests some not so great things really, though her bond with her dad did seem to be genuinely strong, which is why her reaction is tada heroine of justice.

Which, I just realized this and I gotta point it out, actually lines up MARVELOUSLY with Morgana and Zorro. Wealthy Individual who see's the crimes and evil deeds of the world and decides to mask up and fight the crime they cannot contest with their unmasked face, warring against the system that enriched them at presumable cost to themselves because it's the right thing to do? Beautiful. Probably should look into that more. But yeah.

Sumire: I mean...I mean she basically straight up says I think I was second best to my sister in everyway and then I got her killed and her reaction to that was Let Me Be My Sister and well...yeah that's exactly how she dealt with her trauma, albeit with a little bit of magic help. And Perhaps most notably, this is almost the most explicit demonstration of Evoker Gun Antics because She Creates a Persona (“Kasumi”) To Protect Herself (alldattrauma.exe) by using that trauma (dead sister) against the world (Literally everyone else) it's...Actually a really clean example I think?

Akechi: Last but not least of the gun havers, Akechi who uh...Outcast because of family reasons (single mom, Dad's a creep) in a way that just...We don't actually ever get the details I don't think, but the way he reacts to it I think makes it clear that his whole life was basically a string of kick this kid while he's down, keep him outside the system, and of course the persona he ends up creating, both of them, end up being one the charming charismatic prince who seeks justice and a bloodthirsty lunatic, neither of which accurately reflect his true self I don't think. Aspects of it sure, but not completely. If pressed, I would say that the Akechi we see in the Third Semester is probably the closest even though he's probably a dream Akechi, being someone who does have a distinct judgement for what is right and wrong but also, critically, can and will shoot you in the face cackling as his plans come together. Rather like Joker actually, which is appropriate given their mirrored trickster roles, and the general shape of their outcomes (both get their smuggery on when things go to plan)

Anyway, the way he reacts to being forced to live an outcast is as mentioned, let me get back into that system, let me be part of it and all that.

And last but not least

Maruki: Now...He doesn't have a gun. It doesn't quite match up with the symbol thing which I think at this point is established enough that it's probably some kind of thing, but what I find interesting is that...he fits MOST of the criteria right? Definitely has a trauma that shaped how he reacted to the world and yet, it's not weaponized right? It doesn't well...evoke a different persona from him. It's not weaponized to protect him and that seems odd right? He ends up with a Palace right?

Sure. But I want to go back to what i'm proposing the Evokers Represent.

Trauma, A Destruction of the Self (Suicide literal or figurative), Isolation, and weaponizing your trauma to protect against the world...And he only actually tracks to the Trauma part of that. He IS hurt for sure, no question. He is fighting back against the world in his own way for sure, what with Azathoth and his mind whammy, and I would say that the nature of it is directing how he's doing things (no more pain for anyone yeah sure)

But where it falls apart, and actually DOES line up with the guns as metaphor for those things mentioned, is that he doesn't really Isolate. He doesn't present a fake self to protect himself. He doesn't destroy an aspect of himself to protect himself. No, he's extremely upfront that “No this is bullshit, it should change, fuck this noise, I'll do what I can with what I can and oh hey godlike power now I can help everyone”

Which cool, except that apparently in the Stay in Maruki's world ending he kinda fades into the background, which suggests the self destruction but no, not even then really. Like I know I made a bit of meta about him obscuring himself and kinda fading away as a person, but I don't think it's strictly meant to be get rid of yourself so much focus on the message and not the messenger. You can throw your mask away. No more pretending. You don't have to hurt anymore. As the song goes.

And it's worth pointing out that, in comparison to literally everyone else on this list, Maruki is unambiguously a healthier person mentally by a long shot. Shady antics with Sumire aside, He genuinely wants to help people, he want's them to be better the right way ideally but if he had the means to do it of course he'd just hot delete those deeply traumatic and life shattering pains that they couldn't overcome. Then he does get that ability. And Then he does do that.

Anyway, the ramblings on long enough, and I kinda feel i'm drifting, but yeah. Think this is another symbol that tracks (I probably wanna check out Persona Q and Q2, but what I know on those does have it break down a bit but they're also not mainline games so I'm not sure how to square that so....)

[elizabeatrice]

Feeling Blue, Seeing Red (Chapter 69)

Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga #5

Updated: 19/8/2020 (more thoughts)

Bea is back with the lame punny titles~

Warning: !!! MANGA SPOILERS UP TO CHAPTER 69 !!! Duh.

Soooo I opened the raws this morning. Saw the spicy and went 'ohh shoot'. Then some of y'all say that some folks are hating Akane bc of this chap. I proceeded to panic, because fandom war is scary af. So I translated the chap for myself. And I just gotta say:

Aoi, Nene, your boyfriends are idiots. Y'all gonna be punching and headbutting the idiocy out of them for the rest of your lives and I'll be willing to pay for your karate classes.

The teen drama made me laugh so hard ahahahaha I guess this is what you get for hoping sensei will drop a bomb this month lmaoooo.

P.S. Teru you little shit

Man I don’t even know where to begin. This chapter is oozing doraaaaama and I can’t take it seriously no matter how much I try. I remember thinking, “Shoot, this is the ‘I hate you, I hate you too, proceed to make out’ trope in JSHK’s classic ‘oooh serious moment, eh? PSYCHE!’ style,” before bursting into laughter.

I swear I’m not making fun of it.

Because it’s already fun to begin with. Ahahahaha.

I do however, take seriously the long-awaited insight into Aoi’s mind. I hollered in joy, y’all. ‘Cause like ... finally!

(Also like ... ngl the development of Aoi and akaoi in this arc might come into play in my Shrek AU. Pls don’t ask. Yet. That’s not the official AU name I swear I just wanna confuse my readers ahahaha)

Back when chapter 64 came out I wrote something that was supposed to be the first of the Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga series but I ended up not posting it because I wasn’t sure about a bunch of things. Here’s an excerpt from that post, titled ‘Aoi and Her Blues’:

I mean, what did the minions do to her? ‘Remove unnecessary things’. Someone said they removed her inhibitions (I’m terribly sorry I forgot who said this because it’s been so long so I can’t put the link here, but if you know, feel free to send me the link).

But she has to be brainwashed, right?

She remembered enough about Nene. Enough to call her out on her feelings (that she still denies btw lol) and recognize Hanako from Nene’s wonderful description (or because Aoi could see him all this time and never said anything, who knows?).

Most importantly, she remembered Akane.

So apparently they weren’t unnecessary enough to be erased from her memory. Which I’d beg to differ if I were going to make this girl willingly sacrifice herself.

Would she let her best friend fall down into a pit full of giant insects, or let her childhood friend get impaled? I mean this is the same girl that cried when Akane and Yamabuki got together (by accident) and when Nene started talking to herself like a madwoman.

So yeah. Definitely brainwashed. Pretty sure now.

The one thing that bugged me is what she said though.

“I’ve always wanted to go somewhere far away.”

“Nothing will stop me from getting my wish.”

Btw these aren’t accurate word for word I’m just drawing from memory.

Is that a wish forced upon her by the brainwashing, or has Aoi been depressed all this time and ... y’know, therefore thought about ‘going far away’? I’m personally leaning more towards the first, but it still got me thinking.

Remember back in The Clock Keeper arc when she said there was something she wanted to tell Nene?

Can some creepy hands showing up in the gardening club’s album photos really warrant that kind of expression? Is it just me who got disappointed when the thing she wanted to tell Nene ended up being just that?

But if she did have such thoughts, why?

Maybe she was lonely? I mean Nene got so busy with supernatural shenanigans. Akane’s busy with student council stuff (and school wonder stuff). Though I don’t doubt for a second that he’d drop everything for Aoi, but Aoi’s not the kind of person to do that. And to be honest, I feel like so far Aoi hasn’t been shown having genuine interaction with anyone aside from Nene and Yamabuki without the other person being completely enamored by her. And even with Yamabuki that was just in that After School chapter.

So I guess my hunch wasn’t that far off. Still though. Still though. Is she or is she not brainwashed? Because as much as Aoi likes-but hates-but actually kinda likes Akane, I still don’t think she’s the type of person to stab her childhood friend until he’s got a hole through his fucking torso.

Throwing Nene into the bug pit I guess makes more sense if Aoi knew all along that the pit won’t lead anywhere too dangerous, and that Hanako wouldn’t leave Nene’s side. Nene’s perfectly safe with him. Sorta. She did get kidnapped and were about to be sacrificed after all. But heeey Hanako still showed up to save her in the end.

Stabbing Akane like that tho? Even if she knows he wouldn’t die in a boundary especially in his school wonder form? It just doesn’t feel like Aoi, man.

Then again she did say no one really knows her, and that anyone who does would end up being disappointed in her.

I’m really happy to know that she does not, in fact, appreciate all the attention given to her. Comedy framing aside, constantly having some random guy approach you to ask you out presumably every day is ... annoying at best. Kid deserves better.

So ya girl got some extreme trust issues. Strangers, even Akane and Nene, I could understand. But her dad tho? Is something going on in the Akane household? Bruh ....

How long has Aoi not been able to trust anyone enough to let them get close to her? Because if she’s been feeling like that about Nene all this time, Imma be super sad bruh. Nene is one of the most genuine kids ever (perhaps only second to Kou).

I understand that Aoi’s disappointed because Nene’s been keeping secrets, but honestly, who would believe you if you come up to them and say, “Hey so I summoned a toilet ghost and now I’m stuck as his assistant. The rumors about supernaturals are like, totally real, and can endanger everyone in this school for real, too. Also I turn into fish when I come in contact with water.”

Sensible best friends would either a) not believe you, or b) try to get you as far away from supernatural shit as possible ‘cause hello? Ya ain’t Miles Morales ya can’t just blast What’s Up Danger when monster of the week shows up.

Even if Aoi does let it continue, wouldn’t she wanna get involved? Would Nene let her get involved when Tsukasa’s still around? Ya girl got cursed, thrown off the top of a boundary, sent to literally nowhere and everywhere, almost got her body stolen by mirror monsters, kidnapped and taken into a fake world, and now trapped in literal Grim Reaper’s realm. Honestly, who would involve their best friend in this sort of shit?

It just makes me sad to think that all this time Akane and Nene have genuinely cared about her but she didn’t think they were. Aoi, my girl Nene literally threaded hell boundaries and high shallow water to save you!!!

Unrequited platonic love hurts just as much as romantic ones, y’all ....

Speaking of romantic love.

Hey, uh, Akane. For claiming to despise Hanako and calling him a slimy pervert, y’all kinda act the same way with your respective girlfriends when things get a bit heated up, huh? Even the teasing part.

Boy, you’re dumb af. You deserve that.

There it is y’all, it’s official. We got punches for akaoi and headbutts for hananene.

You deserve this too. But Teru’s face here is really annoying, I’ll give you that. Teru you little shit.

At least you’re finally gonna be useful. Let’s just see.

Hmm I guess I have to address the thing now.

Ahem. The thing. The pushing (pulling?) Aoi down, grabbing her neck thing.

Yeah I don’t get it either. Whether it was a creative choice taken in consideration to the actual character’s state or to just pander to the trope that seems to be marketable in Japan or both, I don’t really know.

I do however, have to remind you that none of these kids are in their right mind. One is possibly still recovering from the effects of brainwashing and dealing with not only extreme trust issues and insecurities, but also the sight of a gaping hole on her childhood friend and perhaps crush’s torso, not to mention having to deal with this in the middle of nowhere. The other one is the said person with a gaping hole on his torso, who almost lost his life-long crush, and even got stabbed by her in the first place.

They’re lost. They’re tired. They’re emotional. They’re frustrated. They’re two hormonal teens.

I think Akane thought Aoi wouldn’t listen to him unless he makes her. Which is why he went with exposing her by saying he hated her. Which is still a dumb move in my opinion. But Aoi rightfully got back at him. And honestly I didn’t think he really hurt her. I mean, it’s Akane after all. *shrugs*

The way I see it, the entire thing was a result from not only their current condition but also the uh ... not telling each other how they really feel all this time. Aoi with her issues, Akane with his secrets. They’re a ticking bomb. It’s horrible that they ended up hurting each other because of this (physically and emotionally), but I could see why it went like this. These two are flawed. Most importantly, they’re teenagers. They’re bound to fuck up in this equation.

Heck, I’ve fucked up worse in less endangering situations before.

But heeey once things get cleared between them they fall right back to each other. Sure things aren’t entirely resolved. But they’re gonna be okay. Teru’s there. Should be fine. Probably.

The thing is we as the audience who come into the story with a clear head can easily figure out the best, most sensible way to deal with the characters’ problems. But these problems affect the characters in (physical, physiological, psychological, emotional) ways most of us can’t immediately empathize with, which can make their bad decisions frustrating for us to see. We know it’s wrong. And when these characters have calmed down and healed, they’ll know that it’s wrong, too. If they’re not dicks, that is.

You know how it feels when you’re fighting with someone, and you know the best thing to do is to talk it out, but you just can’t bring yourself to? It makes things worse, right? And you’re frustrated, right? Unfortunately that’s just how humans are.

Even I let my emotions get the best of me when I judged the villagers’ actions back in chapter 68 hahaha (but I still think they’re awful).

It’s just my opinion tho.

And whooo everyone is officially here but Yamabuki (and Sakura and Tsukasa, but they’re bound to show up)! Catch up soon, my citrus child.

Lastly, I have the moral obligation to remind you that if akaoi’s confrontation ended up like this, imagine how hananene’s would be.

I’ll leave you to your deductions.

As always, feel free to discuss. Just ... don’t fight, onegaishimasu.

[vagrantblvrd]

Another supernatural/urban fantasy AU where, like.

Jeremy’s from a long line of magic users/Chosen Ones and doesn’t know it at first? (Because genre rules?)

Inherits this old mcreepy mansion in the middle of the city, because of course he does. (Like the house in Up, only Scooby Doo-esque type mcreepy mansion.)

When he gets there he’s greeted by this asshole who is the very epitome of the ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  emoji in Matt.

This asshole who answers the door with a donut in hand (let’s be real, half a donut) and most likely in some nerd-ish graphic t-shit and all that? Little streak of color in his hair and “Can I help you?”

At which point Jeremy realizes Matt’s the house’s “Caretaker” although he doesn’t know why?

Aside from realizing he has a roommate he has no idea what to make of and all that, things are kind of sort of normal for a while.

But then Shenanigans.

Creepy stuff like ghosts that wander about the mansion at night and things moving by themselves - Jeremy knows for a fact he put the thing down here, but now it’s in an entirely different room?

At first he thinks it’s Matt, but the asshole insists he isn’t doing it. Jeremy doesn’t quite believe him but it’d be super awkward to call him a liar to his face and the whatnot without proof of any kind since roommates and all?

So.

More Shenanigans in which strangers show up at the mansion expecting whatever relative Jeremy inherited the place from and getting him instead.All of them looking to Matt for explanation and him just being ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  because he’s just the Caretaker.

AND THEN.

Something happens/someone mentions something and Jeremy gets all curious because apparently Matt’s been around for a while? Mentions working for the house’s former owner at a time that doesn’t line up with Matt’s apparent age because no way the asshole’s much older than Jeremy, you know?

And he does some digging, the whole Library Montage and whatnot and finds all these old photos to do with the mansion - newspaper articles and the whatnot - and Matt’s in more than a few of them.

Photos that go way back, long before Jeremy was born. Before his parents were born and wouldn’t you know it?

There’s fucking Matt in the background along with whichever relative of Jeremy’s lived in/owned the house at the time. Sometimes Matt’s facing the camera head on, sometimes looking at something off to the side or completely unaware he’s in frame or some such.

All this along with vague-ish comments from Matt and the others Jeremy’s run into have him going back to the mcreepy mansion to ~confront Matt about it although he doesn’t know what the hell good it’s going to do? (Like. Weird as hell, yeah, but he hasn’t gotten the impression Matt’s dangerous  - to him - at any point? But still DRAMA.)

When he lays out all his ~proof, Matt (who has yet another donut in hand) is like “...I thought you knew?”

And while Jeremy is just HOW WOULD I KNOW Matt sorts through the copies to the photos Jeremy made, this oddly wistful smile on his face at most of them, and this -

Grimace? Something bad on a few that he shuffles to the bottom of the stack like he’d like to forget they existed.

And it turns out that the mcreepy mansion is ~*MAGIC*~ because of course it is.

Started out as your regular mcreepy mansion but Jeremy’s relatives and their friends poured magic into it over the years. Protective spells and the like, and a few of them got all creative or just mucked about with stuff they shouldn’t have?

And then bam, you got yourself a magical - living - house.

One that decided it needed a human-shaped form to manifest in becasue reasons (some crisis or other having to do with one of Jeremy’s relatives) and a summons for help that went sideways and oh, hey, Matt has hands and fingers and legs and toes and all the other human-ish bits?

All that magic and the whatnot that was poured into the house also Matt’s (and it’d been years by that point, you know? All these powerful magic users and their spells and whatever artifacts they had laying around soaking into the very foundations and just.

Matt’s pretty fucking powerful in his own right, is the thing. Mostly defensive magics and the whatnot given everything? But he’s had a long, long time to tinker with his magical abilities and the wolfish look that flits across his face as he says that tells Jeremy he’d be an idiot ot underestimate him.

And then, just.

Look.

Jeremy’s convinced he’s nothing special, didn’t even know the whole magic user lineage thing was real before this? Thought they were all stories and the whatnot his parents told him as a kid and nonsense and he doesn’t even have magic abilities!

To which Matt is like. “Uh-huh,” as he’s heard that line before and something’s always proven it wrong, but whatever.

Anyway, anyway.

Matt’s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  about Jeremy finding out Matt’s not just his asshole roommate doesn’t really change things too much and honestly it stops being such a big deal to Jeremy after a bit. (Because Matt being Matt?)

Still.

Jeremy’s curious and starts asking questions and Matt indulges him by telling him stories about ~adventures he had with Jeremy’s relatives over the years.

Clams up when he gets to this one in particular, someone who was apparently a complete bastard and had weird ideas as to what it meant with Matt being the mcreepy mansion’s human-shaped manifestation meant if they owned the house?

Like.

“Moving on,” Matt says, and does just that. Distracting Jeremy from dwelling on that matter further by telling him about that time one of Jeremy’s relatives almost got them drowned in the sewers?

At some point there are more Shenaigans in which Jeremy discovers that hey, wow, he actually does have magic abilities and he and Matt team up to thwart some Evil Bastard’s attempt to enslave all of humanity or whatever his plan was?

Also he meets the others in the middle of all this Thwarting they’re doing, because reasons.

Weird/creepy Ryan with his basement lab/workshop for magical things and the whatnot, who leads him to Geoff and Jack’s shop of curiosities and other magic shit.

Gavin and Michael who are - fuck if Jeremy knows, but there’s a lot of talk about keeping Ryan in line because guy’s a lunatic? But they seem to be a relationship with him when they’re not out hunting monsters or whatever and it’s all Very Confusing. (Also Ryan may or may not be a vampire, and Matts just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  about it even though some of those old photos Jeremy found also have Ryan in them, and just. It’s a lot, okay, a lot.)

Lindsay swans in at some point with Fiona and they’re like. Magic police? But cooler, because of course, and did Jeremy know he’s broken several rules??? (But since he did save the world, they’ll just give him a warning this time.)

Fuck knows what’s going on with Trevor and Alfredo because they just show up at the mcreepy mansion at some point and kind of never leave?

But Matt seems happy to see them and everyone else are okay with them and they only tried to kill Jeremy that one time, so it’s probably okay???

Also, also.

Jeremy may or may not have a Thing for Matt, which is weird and awkward because magical human-shaped manifestation of the mcreepy mansion and all that?

But also Matt and his love for donuts and cats (like, fucking really, adorable as shit watching Matt with the strays that somehow end up living there full-time to the point they can no longer be called strays) and everything else?

Matt being Matt and Jeremy being Jeremy and both of them so stupid it hurts.

But also adorable as hell and everyone is so fucking done with their bullshit even though they start a betting pool about when the two of them get their shit together, and just.

Yes.

Also! While Thwarting a baddie at some point Matt ends up using so much of his ~magic that he can’t do the whole human-shaped manifestation for a while and Jeremy, okay.

He knows Matt’s okay? Just recovering and will do the human-shaped manifestation bit when he’s better and all that? (Ryan reassured Jeremy he would, and Geoff and Jack confirmed it as well, and apparently it’s happened before?)

But still.

Matt drained himself protecting Jeremy and so there’s moping and the whatnot over that and when it gets really bad the mcreepy mansion kind of kicks Jeremy’s ass into stopping that shit?

Little things here and there, like that time Jeremy was all :(((((((((((( in the shower and the hot water was replaced with ice-cold water? Doors shutting in Jeremy’s face when he’s going to tinker about with magic things down in the workshop/whatever and isn’t in the right frame of mind for it? (Might cause an accident and just. NO. Other things like that until Jeremy is like FINE and stops being dumb about things.)

When Matt does finally show up as a human-shaped manifestation it’s at the perfect time to give Jeremy shit for some dumb thing he’s just done, the way one does?

And Jeremy turns around, ready to get into it with him the way they do?

But Matt’s for this stupid soft, horrifically fond smile on his face and he looks tired, you know? Like shit. That streak in his hair that’s usually some color not found in nature (bit of ~rebellion on his part after that one relative of Jeremy’s who shall not be named that he’s kept up all this time) is colorless, and just.

Look.

Jeremy can’t be blamed if he just marches on over and kisses Matt after everything that happened, okay? (Because reasons.)

And if Matt kisses back, well. That’s no one’s business but their own.

(But also everyone else with the whole betting pool shenanigans once they find out and it’s a disaster watching them sort out who won, so yes.)

[eleventhdoctorsangel]

Too young too dumb to know things like love

Summary: I fell from a rift of reality. No memory of what my life was before. The only thing I seem to remember was my name. Now I live with the Winchester, Jack and Castiel. Along with training both Jack and I to become hunter I help Jack control his powers.

“So you boys will be taking Smash and then you will summon Grab. I will be keeping the girl.” Bart said. “Like hell that is going to happened.” Dean said. “Dean enough. I want to find Jack.” I said. “Fine but if lay a hand on her then I will kill you.” Dean said. “I won’t harm her. “Just as long as you keep up your end of the deal.” Bart said. I look at both of them. “We will.” Sam said. “Well get going boys.” Bart said as he grabbed my arm pulling me closer to him. Smash got up from her seat and walked over to Sam and Dean. “I mean it. If you so even harm a hair on her head I will kill.” Dean said. “Dean I’ll be fine I promise.” I said. I watched as the three of them left leaving me with two demons.

“Well why don’t you take a seat. It’s going to take some time.” Bart said as he let go of me. I walked over and sat down in the seat that Smash was sitting in. Not much was said between the three of us. I just hope that Sam and Dean get this done quick because I didn’t want to be here with them. “Well I wonder why the Winchester seem so attached to you?” Bart asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said. “Well I think you do little lady.” Bart said. “Maybe it’s that they want to keep me safe.” I said. “Look how that turned out.” Bart said. “I’m only here because you made it part of the deal.” I said. ”Well aren’t you a little spit fire.” Bart said. “We just want to find Jack before Asmodues does and if that means I have to spend a few hours with some demons than that’s what I’ll do.” I said. “So you care about the boy as well.” Bart said. “Yes I do Jack is my friend and I want to find him as much as Sam and Dean.” I said. “Sounds to me like you care about Jack than more than a friend.” Bart said. “If I do than that is none of your business.” I said crossing my arms over my chest. Bart let out a chuckle. “The Winchester have their hands full with you.” Bart said. I rolled my eyes at him. 

It was about a few hours then Grab disappeared I’m guessing the Dean summoned him. “Well come on things are about the get interesting.” Bart said. I got up from my seat and walked over to him. He grabbed me by the arm and then we were outside in front of a fence. I looked to see that Smash was running towards the gate. “Where are you running off to?” Bart asked. Smash was out of breath. “Everything went sideways. Grab is dead. The Winchester too probably.” Smash said. I could feel the tears start to form in my eyes. “And?” Bart asked. “And what? Job cancelled. Game over.” Smash said. “Alice just because I like you doesn’t mean I’m willing to renegotiate the rems of your deal.” Bart said. “So? I’ll do another job. Whatever. I’ll make it up to you. Just tell me what you want me to do.” Smash or well Alice said. “Will please give us a minute will you?” Bart asked. I nodded and walked away to let the two of them talk. I wanted to climb over the fence to go see if they were okay so bad but I didn’t know what Bart would do if I didn’t. “Alirght you can come back now.” Bart said. I walked back over and by that time Smash wasn’t there and the sun started to come up. Bart grabbed and we were back where we first started. It was about another hour later when he again grabbed my arm and we appeared in the middle of the road behind the guy I’m guess was Shirke I watch as Bart chopped the guy’s head off and I put my hands over my mouth to stop myself from screaming. “Luther. You never should’ve left the house.” Bart said as he looked down at the body. I took my chance and ran over to the boys. Dean pushed me behind him and Sam. Bart looked up from the body then at us. “Trust me he had it coming.” Bart said. “You let his son die.” Dean said. “Well he didn’t read the fine print and I am a businessman. Speaking of which. Alice. Little something for a job well done.” Bart said as he held up a wad of cash to her. Alice didn’t know if she wanted to walk up and take it from him or not. “Don’t be shy. Come on.” Bart said. Alice let out a sigh before walking up to take it. “Yeah. And for you boys. The spell. You earned it.” Bart said as he took out the other half of the spell to find Jack. “Sam.” Dean said. “No.” Sam said. “Let me see if I understand. You two do gooding idiots are willing to welch on our deal thorw away the olny chance you have at finding your boy because I killed a 200 year old blackmailing piece of garbage? Is that it?” Bart asked. “Yeah that and we just don’t like you.” Dean said as he and Sam put their guns away. “Huh.Time to re-open negotiations shall we? Give me my bones and the girl lives. Or try to burn them and the moment before I die I’ll snap her neck like kidding. It’s amazing what I can do in a half second’s time.” Bart asked as he grabbed Alice holding her by the neck. “Please.” Alice begged. “Okay.” Dean said. “Slide it out please.” Bart said. Sam and Dean both kneeled down sliding a box towards Alice and Bart. Bart let go of Alice. “My dear you’re alright. Would you mind?” Bart said as he motioned towards the box. Alice slowly started to walked towards the box. “You could’ve had this. It was almost all yours. But no you just couldn’t make it easy could you?”Bart said as he waved the piece of paper with the spell. “I’m sorry.” Alice said. “It’s alright. You gotta take of you. Right?” Dean said. “Sweet really.” Bart said. “Take care of you.” Dean said. “Alice chop chop!” Bart said. Alice looked down at the box to see a lighter on top of Bart’s bones. “Yeah.” Alice said as she kneeled down grabbing the lighter from the box. She turn it on throwing it on Bart’s bones. Both Sam and Dean grabbed her pulling her back. I watched as Bart started to go up in flames. “The Spell! The Spell!” Dena yelled and Sam went to grabbed to spell but it was on fire. Sam tried to get it to go out but it was too late. 

After everything happened we took Alice to get her stuff than to the nearest bus station so she could go back to living her life. Honestly I was going to miss her. She seem like a awesome person and she very sassy towards Dean. The three of us decided to walk her to her bus. “Thank for the ride.” Alice said. “You’re gonna be okay?” Sam asked. “Yeah I’m gonna be good. Hey I just wanted to say I’m sorry. What you did you didn’t have to do that. Thank you seriously. See ya around.” Alice said. I went to go give her a hug. “Take care of yourself yaeah.” I said. “You two. Here’s my number in case you ever need a friend to talk to.” Alice said as she handed me a piece of paper. I smiled and took the piece of paper putting it in my pocket. Alice climb on the steps of the bus. “Hey Alice. Dean said. Alice stopped at look at dean. “Stay weird.” Dean said. Alice stuck out her tongue giving the peace sign. “Yeah.” Dean said. I let out a small laugh. “Come on lets head back.” Dean said. I nodded and we walked backed to the impala. I got into the backseat and leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes.

I was woken up by someone shaking me. “Come on kiddo. We’re back at the bunker.” Dean said. I opened to see that we back at the bunker. I unbuckled and got out of the impala. I followed the boys as we walked back into the bunker. “You hungry kiddo?” Dean asked as we went down the stairs. “Not right now. I might go take a shower or something.” I said. “Alright kiddo if get hungry let us know.” Dean said. I gave him a smile and nodded then made my way to my room to grab some clothes and headed to the bath room to take a shower.

When I finished taking a shower I went to go put my dirty clothes back in my room then head to the kitchen to get something to eat. But by the time I had walked into the kitchen Sam and Dean were already in there. “Hey kiddo you feeling better?” Dean asked. “Yeah I feel much better.” I said. “Are you hungry?” Dean asked. I nodded. “Alright take a seat and I’ll whip you something up.” Dean said. I smiled and sat down next to Sam. Dean made burgers for the three of us and we ate in silences. We finished Dean grabbed two beers and some juice.  Of course the two beers for him and Sam while the juice was for me. “You okay?” Dean asked as he walked back to the table. “Yeah not really. Not exactly the best day you know?” Sam said. “Well it’s not the worst. We did save somebody. That felt good.” Dean said. “Yeah. Yeah it did. But back to square one with Jack.” Sam said. “We’ll figure something else out. And if that doesn’t work then we’ll move on to next and then whatever’s after that. We just keep working cause it’s what we do.” Dean said. “It feels really good to hear you talk like that like that again.” Sam said. “I’ll drink to that.” Dean said as he held his bottle of beer out. The two of them clank their bottles. I let out a yawn as I watched the two. “Go get some rest kiddo.” Dean said. “Alright. Good night you two.” I said as I got up. “Night kiddo.” Dean said. “Night y/n.” Sam said. I left the kitchen and made my way back to my room. I walked into my room and went to sit on my bed. “I don’t know if you can hear me Jack. But we though we found a way to find you. It didn’t turn out the way we thought. But we are going to fine you.” I said. I honestly didn’t know if Jack could hear me or not. But I thought that I at least try. I let out a sigh as I could up and went to turn off the light then I could in bed falling asleep. 

Supernatural Taglist: @darkqueennox​

Overall Taglist: @the-broken-halo-writer​

[wickedsrest-rp-archive]

High Tide || Season 1 Finale Chatzy

TIMING: Current LOCATION: The beach PARTIES: @wardinasrani  @carbrakes-and-stakes @inconvenientsimonstrocity @hackysackace SUMMARY: Ritual at the beach

“Hey Bill.”

Bill Took looked from counting money behind the General Store’s cash register. He absently glanced across the counter to meet the unblinking stare of Sam Rainsbottom. A long silence passed as Bill waited for his teenage clerk to offer up some inane lacrosse trivia or give some hyperactive opinion of how ‘lit’ something was. But Sam just stood there absolutely still, only the slightless rise and fall of the short boy’s chest letting Bill know that he wasn’t having a staring contest with a statue.

“Um...yeah Sam?”

“They're calling me,” Sam said in a dull monotone. “I must go.”

“Sure Sammy, I can clock you out. Who is…” It was then that Bill bill noticed the bloody boxcutter on the store’s floor and shifted enough to see the designs cut into Sam’s palms, welling up like eyes crying red tears. “Oh my god, wait Sam! What..”

But Sam Rainsbottom was already out the door, each step matching a rhythm that sang through his veins. The chant filled Sam’s ears and rushed along his spine like ice, drowning out the words of friends and relatives that attempted to stop the boy, features transfixed in mounting concern. Sam apologized with a drugged smile and insisted in a soft far away voice that the stars Vanth and Orcus stood ready at the gate, and the great vaults of Amansinaya echoed with the cries of those who’d been born adrift from time. He mustn’t keep them waiting.

The cloud’s had congealed into the red-stained amber of evening by the time Sam’s slow steady steps carried him over Jericho Hill and through a small patch of woodlands suddenly devoid of bugs or birdsong. The wordless melody guided him past Dark Score Lake and beyond the habor’s docks where Sam’s father was probably anchoring his fishing boat for the night.

The waters of the ocean seemed to stretch out like a vast sacrificial slab, churning with strange whirls and ripples despite there being no wind. Hooded figures cavorted in a festival of antediluvian worship on the shore. Sounds of fire, lightless caverns, lightning turning sand into glass came from the congregations’ lips, bathing Sam’s ears in alien psalms that played havoc with his neurochemistry and instilled the air with a pressure that felt like the moon had drawn too close to the Earth.

Sam’s tennis shoes crunched on the sand as he approached the beach.

Simon didn’t normally find himself at the beach, especially after the last couple weeks he had. First the wolves, then the full moon and its… horrors, the past week with whatever illness he seemed to have contracted, the vision at the Morgue... All of it was worrying, almost so much so that he nearly didn’t even notice as he was walking to his car that he… wasn’t actually walking to his car, abandoning the things he had bought uh... Somewhere as he instead walked in the general direction of the ocean. He didn’t have a chance to go home as he was initially trying to head to his car with food for his dog nor did he have a choice for what he WANTED to do - there was a thought in his head, a new set of sounds that he couldn’t understand that felt like a string of ink being woven through his neurons, getting mixed up with the wires already crossed from his being a wolf and he wanted to stop walking but he couldn’t. He walked, feeling almost like a zombie that aimlessly shuffled though he did his best to make it look like he DID know where he was going and why and he didn’t let the facade drop until he found himself with a small collective of other people, two men and… Alain? What was he doing here? He glanced down and saw the things that he presumed one of the men had drawn, and though it didn’t look immediately recognisable to him, he deduced that it was magic of some kind. Another ritual? He noted the rock in the center and, not entirely sure what to do or why he was here other than some otherworldly compulsion, he rubbed an arm with his hand awkwardly and stood there, quiet and waiting for… HOPEFULLY some form of explanation, wondering if any of this had to do with the vision he saw from the supernatural eyeball that stuck to his hand.

Years of practice, hours of preparation, and yet Darwin's forehead was damp with sweat as he traced the lines of the Circle in the sand. It wasn't ideal, he'd have to make sure the waves wouldn't erase all his hard work, but the ritual had to happen at the beach. That's where everyone would be summoned, and where they'd stop the madness that's been plaguing the town. Or die trying, but Darwin tried not to dwell on that.

People started gathering, and Darwin finally decided to show himself. He walked toward the others, hands raised in an offer of peace. His movements were slow, calculated, and he used the shadows to mask his nervousness. When he spoke, his voice was calm and even. “Good evening. You might be wondering why you've been called here, or by whom.” He paused dramatically and turned to point at the area he'd prepared a little farther down the beach. A big rock had been placed at the center of the circle, forming a rudimental yet effective altar, and on it he placed his tools: a dagger, a bowl, and a small wooden box that somehow seemed to shake every now and then as if something inside was tossing and turning. “We're here to put an end to a great menace that could very well wipe this town out. We all have a role to play today, and it is imperative that we do it well, or we might be doomed. We'll only get one chance, so I expect everyone to follow my instructions carefully.”

Again, he paused. How did you explain to a bunch of strangers that you were a demon expert about to summon a monster in front of them and force them to fight each other in the hopes of channeling some mystical force and banishing a creature that they might not even have seen? Darwin pinched his nose and sighed. Tonight would be harder than expected. He let his eyes focus on each of the others, studying them, trying to figure out who everyone was supposed to be. “I know none of you have any reason to trust me... So trust yourselves. You all came here following an impulse, deep inside you know we must act now. I promise... And those of you well-versed in the supernatural know that's not a word that should be used lightly... I promise that everything I'll ask of you will be for the good of everyone. Now... One of you should be able to change their form. Now would be the time to do so. Their natural enemy should encourage them.”

The hunter still had patches of grey ash in his hair as he approached the sea shore. This was not his plan for the night, but he had left the cemetery with no complaints, crossed the road ignoring the sound of honks and ended up stepping on wet sand, toward the group of people who he knew he had to join. His true purpose was to be here, with these people, with that kid who worked at the store next to his garage, this guy with the really excellent barber, and Simon ? What the hell was Simon doing here? The last time the two had been near water, Alain had ended up in jail. Yep, he did not like how this was going.

The promise made by Barber guy did not convince him, but he was right about everything he had said. Something had brought them here, something bigger than them all, certainly. Completely ignoring whatever rules he had on discretion, the hunter drew his sword out and turned toward Simon. There was something in the way Simon had reacted to the news of a shifter being present that did not sit well with the hunter. Pointing his sword in his direction, Alain stepped forward. The look on his face was neither grim nor menacing yet, but the threat was very present. He spoke calmly, although his tone and attitude would change, should he not listen. “Simon, I have no idea what is going on, but, I think this guy is right?” He would not have been able to explain why, but the man was right. He had to be.

And so it was that Sam Rainsbottom found himself on a beach with a bunch of Metallica Fans, a guy who believed the lake was possessed by demons, a guy who looked as confused as Sam himself, and a last guy who apparently was a preacher trying to get the other guy change and accept Jesus into his heart...or be stabbed?

“W-woah woah,” the teenager said, trying to interpose himself between Alain and Simon. The chanting and growing sense of dread had taken Sam’s nerves to a feather pitch. But though Sam was visibly shaking in the face of horrors he didn’t understand and the lacrosse championships were about as “violent” as he was up for. However he wasn’t going to let some guy get stabbed because of this creepy lake jesus religious stuff.

“Stop!” It suddenly occurred to Sam that he was interposing his attractive yet very soft and slashable body in front of a dude with a sword. ...Regrets? Yes. “I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t hurt him!”

So in one moment, Simon had no idea what he was doing but in the next, the man with the fantastic facial hair had given a succinct, yet understandable explanation for why they were gathered - well, understandable as it could’ve been given that he was correct about this being a ritual. The part he was a little more concerned with, however, was how the man with the facial hair mentioned that one of them should be a shifter. He wasn’t referring to… Simon, was he? Maybe he was talking about the younger man… he didn’t peg Alain as a shifter either and he obviously wasn’t talking about himself. “Y-yeah, about that last part--” He didn’t get to finish his sentence when Alain suddenly pointed a… sword at him. Alain owned a sword? “Hey!” He held his hands up, taking a step away from Alain. “Alain, it’s… me? Simon?” He asked uncertainly. He wanted to mention that he was not, in fact, a shifter; just a normal person with other people and this was all some massive misunderstanding. Even if he was, he didn’t CHOOSE to shift - that was something only born wolves could do, right? Then the youth jumped in front of him and while he didn’t necessarily feel protected, it was slightly comforting to see someone so noble as to take a sword for him, if only for a couple seconds until the sword pierced through him and into Simon himself. “Uh… I think you have the wrong guy,” Simon mentioned, looking over at the ritual-performer despite something inside him knowing that something was wrong. Well, wrong-er.

“No, no, no!” Darwin blurted out, shaking his head. “First the shifter will change, then blood will be drawn, you're doing this all wrong!” Amateurs. He had to remind himself that these people didn't know what Darwin knew, and admittedly his explanation had been vague. At least they seemed the heroic, self-sacrificing types, that bode well for the ritual. With an exasperated sigh he took another couple of steps backward, moving closer to the circle. “Very well, let me be more clear. One of you is a shifter, one is a hunter, one is a human. And then there's me, I'm the magical one. And the sharpest dresser, clearly.” That last bit wasn't necessarily true, but it helped him: while the dark clothes, the many mystical symbols hanging from his neck and the eyeliner only made him look like one of the bad guys they gave him confidence, and he needed to project the aura of a man perfectly in control if he wanted to inspire trust. “Now, I don't care who's who. And if you're worried about your identity being discovered, there are spells we can do to make people forget. We're here as allies, not enemies. But,” he paused dramatically, his eyes focusing on each of the others. “Balance must be restored. Hunters hunt, and shifters shift, that's how it's always been, and how it must be tonight.” Of course, he kept it to himself the role the human would have to play. Somehow he figured it would be best to save certain revelations for the very last moment. “We don't have much time. The cultists might find us. So, you, with the sword...” He focused his attention on Alain. “I assume you're the hunter here. If a change won't happen in the next moments, it is your duty to make it happen. By force, if necessary.” Darwin took another long pause, this one clouded with genuine fear. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he opened his arms. “You can even attack me if it'll make the shifter change. Just... Not the face, please.”

Alain’s attention went back toward sharp beard, who looked exasperated, at best. Alain, who was far from impressed by the man’s accusations, did not comment, and instead listened, lowering his sword. It wasn’t like he had anything to fear from grocery boy and Simon. Yet. If anything, he was more worried about the man who claimed he was a magician. He reminded him of Felix in some aspects, and that was not really a good sign for the hunter. “So this is about bringing balance back to the force? Dude, that’s the plot of Star Wars.” If he shook his head with disapprovement, he did not leave. He would have left, maybe he should have left, but he had this feeling he couldn’t quite catch, that kept him here, with this group of seemingly normal people. He had to play his part, and if whatever this guy said was true, then maybe they would finally stop getting fish rain, eyeballs everywhere, endless nights, and other types of horrors. He was not the kind to get his hopes up, as he could not afford being disappointed again. And so he listened, and looked at Simon from over the kid’s shoulder. “Simon, you have to shift. You need to shift,” they did not have time to lose. Cultists were everywhere and they would find them if they did not get this over with, and that’s what brought him to get his free hand on Sam’s shoulder, pushing him aside as easily as if he were a toddler. “I don’t know why you’re here, kid, but let’s make sure you don’t get hurt.” And if Simon turned, then Alain would keep on making sure of that. “Now Simon, don’t make me do things I don’t want to do, and turn.”

Black waves lapped at the shore. Sam’s lived near the ocean all his life and been running around his father’s fishing boat since he’d been old enough to walk. Each wave usually had gradations of color that reflected the hues of the sky, topped by white froth as the tiniest particles of water reacted with friction against the air. Sometimes algae deepened  it with green or undercurrents dredged up bioluminescent creatures that made the sea look a starry tapestry unto itself.

But now the waves were just a cold stygian void, broken only by beach debris of eyes whose neve cords tangled together on the sand like some perverse nightmare version of kelp.

Sam Rainbottom did not believe in magic, demons, aliens, werewolves, superhumans, or wizards. Even God, karma, and the angels seemed like wishful thinking in a world where so many were hungry and hurting for seemingly no reason.

But as he looked at the grim travesty that afflicted nature and say cavorting cultists beseeching the chthonic depths of the sea and outest reaches of space with sounds no human tongue could utter, something instinctive in Sam knew that something was wrong. Not wrong in the sense that this preacher guy was going to stab this other guy, or weird as in whatever sexy Gandalf over there was talking about. There was a more profound wrongness in the air right now that Sam felt in his bones, but didn’t have the words to explain or deny.

Sam wasn’t thrilled about being pushed by sword-preacher guy, but had been manhandled so easily that even Sam was stupid enough try his luck on that front.

“S-so uh...what d-do you need me to do,” he asked Sexy Gandalf, glancing nervously at the clusters of hooded figures by the shore whose chanting was rising in sonorous urgency. Sam wasn’t really sure why he was actively volunteering for whatever Satanic ritual was going down here, save that Sexy Gandalf seemed to be the sole point of certainty in a world going increasingly mad.

Wait wait wait WHAT? What was going on right now, where did Simon make the wrong turn and how did he get off the ride? He still held his hands up in surrender and looked at the strange cast of characters he was around. “I don’t know what you’re thinking is going to happen,” Simon didn’t address anyone in particular but his quiet voice was taking a tone to it - fear, most likely. He didn’t think they knew what was going to happen because HE didn’t; up to this point, he had no memory of when he’d transform and was forced to put the pieces of the night together going by clues he was left the morning after. He wanted to protest that he wasn’t a shifter insomuch as an ‘involuntary curse-bearer'; when he thought ‘shifter’, he thought of someone like Nora who could control her form or even a Born wolf like Salva or Ariana. Simon not only didn’t have control, he didn’t have memory of those times. “I, uh… I can’t,” He decided to conclude lamely. “I have no idea what I’m doing or how I’m… doing.” This was awkward. He hated talking about himself and what he... Could or couldn’t do. “You sure you can’t find any actual shifters?” He was pushing the problem off and he wanted to help, almost more than anything at the moment given the evident peril but he had ACTUALLY no idea of how to help.

“I haven't seen Star Wars, but I can only assume it ripped off from other ancient stories, because this is the plot of many rituals older than the written word itself.” Darwin replied to the Hunter, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Comparing magic to some ridiculous sci-fi flick. Tsk. At the very least the Hunter seemed willing to go through with things, as was the human.

Darwin turned to the kid and put his arm around him, doing his best to sound reassuring and comforting. Not a role that fit him, but he tried. “Young man, you're going to have the biggest part in this. Aside from mine, obviously, I'm the main character in this play.” A wink, playful, meant to ease the tension and to buy some time. How could it break to him the news that he was going to be a sacrifice? Darwin hoped it wouldn't be fatal, they needed the human to survive, but with the cultists so close, a demon about to be freed and a shifter that was obviously as green as the lettuce he had earlier... Things were looking grim. He hid his concerns behind a practiced smile. “You, my dear, are going to make this whole ritual possible. Without you,” without your blood he mentally corrected himself, “We wouldn't be able to do what needs to be done. You'll make it vulnerable.” Darwin didn't elaborate on the 'it', deciding to turn to the shifter instead.

The very reluctant shifter. “You don't seem to grasp the situation here. Hear the chantings? That's a bunch of cultists. You know all the eyes? In the sky, in the sink, in people's flesh...” To further make his point, Darwin raised his palm, showing the empty eyelid still there, sleeping quietly in the center of his hand. “They're working to bring forth something even worse. The magic we'll perform here will stop them, will stop everything. But we need you to transform.” With every word he took a step closer to the shifter. The instructions were clear, the hunter was supposed to force the change. But things weren't going according to plan, he needed to improvise. Of all the hunters and shifters he could get, he had to be stuck with the peaceful ones... He had to push them, somehow. With a sudden movement, he raised a fist toward the Shifter's face. Darwin closed his own eyes as he swung his fist, hoping that an old-fashioned brawl would get the Hunter and the Shifter into the proper mood.

The hunter looked at the self proclaimed leader, who sure had a lot of wrong opinions, with all the disdain he could summon. He must have been the spitting image of his father right now, and his disdain grew bigger, but for himself this time. His wrinkled nose still there, Alain watched as Darwin wrapped an arm around the kid.

If there was something Darwin could do, it might be to make sure that Sam was kept from harm’s way. However, something the magician said brought another frown to his face. What could he possibly mean by this? Was Sam in danger? A bigger danger than this situation, being near those cultists, was? Pinching at the bridge of his nose, Alain gave Mr.Talkative a look. “And what part exactly does he play?” Although, instead of an answer, all he got was Darwin raising his hand on his friend.

He had to react, fastly, and that’s exactly what he did although, now that Darwin’s fist was out of the way, they still had to find a way to make Simon shift. Force him to shift. If he was close to dying, he would have no other choice, no matter how good a person he was. “I’m sorry, bud,” with no warning, he wrapped his hand around Simon’s throat, and started squeezing the life out of him. With his hand on him, whatever happened next, he would at least have some sort of control over the situation, right? Unless…

This whole situation seemed like a bunch of bad ideas rolled into one grandiose bad idea. Everything the snappy dresser said made the hair on the back of Simon’s neck stand up all over again. The more he talked, the more Simon was being put under the impression that this was another one of those blood rituals. GRANTED, the last time he participated in one, they only needed a couple drops so surely that might be the case here, right? But then the man turned to him and he tensed up instinctively. The cultists, the unnatural eye the man flashed on his palm, the recollection that there was possibly a supernatural eldritch squid in the lake and the sun being reduced to a giant eyeball… the werewolf took a step back for every step the supposed spellcaster took towards him to maintain that distance but stopped when the other man did. There was a soft exhale, maybe it was-- Aaaand it wasn’t over. While he didn’t flinch necessarily, Simon’s reaction time already prepared him for getting decked in the face but the impact never came, instead blocked by Alain’s hand. What was wrong with these people? If they could just talk things out, this could be solved, right? “Look, I’m sorry but I can’t just--” He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence when Alain went from blocking the mustachioed man's incoming punch to starting to strangle him. He was caught off-guard by it and at first, for just a split second thought that it was a ploy but he quickly realised that it wasn’t as superhuman strength dug fingers into his neck, rapidly blocking off his circulation. Without thinking, his hands went up to Alain’s, scrabbling at it to get him to let go but he felt like he was in the lockjaw of a crocodile. “Alain--” He gasped, managing to figure out what was happening in those few seconds and if he was permitted to remember this, he would be sure not to blame Alain in any way for his decision. It made perfect sense; neither of them knew what would spark a forced transformation and the thoughts refused to cross Simon’s mind. He was killing him, that much he could feel. The human kept struggling fruitlessly, trying with every fiber to regain control of the situation because in the bottom of his gut, this was not going to go how it was planned anyway. At this point, he could only hope for forgiveness for what he was about to do. “I’m-- sorry…” Then it began; unimaginable pain coursing through his body, ripping over and under and in between every cell of his being. Grunts morphed into yelling that one usually heard on a battlefield accompanied with a missing limb before the shock took them. The hands that grappled Alain’s sharpened, lengthened and mutated where the claws started to dig into the skin. Clothes were ripped as though they were made of paper mache as fur sprouted like grass in tufts; this was no partial transformation, not this time. The yells turned into snarls and growls as Simon was twisted around and subsequently unfurled like a blooming flower, a writhing mass of sharp bits and angled limbs, gangly and wiry. Though the process might’ve seemed like it took several hours, it was over in a matter of minutes; where the man stood before was now a lithe, deep brown beast with piercing blue eyes and a long, scraggly tail that hung behind him, swaying faintly and breathing heavily through its nose as if it just ran a marathon. And it was fast. Eyes dancing over Alain’s features for a few seconds, then the spellcaster’s, a thin snout took to the air briefly before it dropped onto its long front legs and turned sharply to find Sam. Weak link. First prey. It leapt for the human, hearing only the call to destroy something, someone.

Like most human residents of White Crest, Sam lived in a state of a pathological denial. On some level it was a defensive tactic that the mind employed to shelter itself from grim truths best left unknown. Since colonial antiquity, Sam’s ancestors had been born and raised on land that teetered on the liminal horizon between Earth and Non-Euclidean dimensions whose alien realites defied hominid understanding. The only way for a powerless mortal to cope was to censor their own perceptions. The blindfold had been handed down generations and placed over a child Sam’s eyes by parental admissions whenever he mentioned things half-seen in the night.

But now, as a man contorted and seemed to split open before him, there were no more safe lies that Sam could tell himself. There was no sanitized logical explanation for the cracking of bones as they forcefully elongated or the serpentine slithering of muscle cords beneath the skin as organs and fibers reshaped themselves in seconds. The familiar form of human being was punctured by claws and fangs before distending until a sickening skull-crunch followed a man’s visage vanishing into something elongated and lupine. This was impossible..wrong. Sam must be dreaming, crazy, or high maybe. But when that feral sapphire gaze met his own, the young man knew in his blood that he was fully lucid.

Sam’s pale blue eyes widened with the terror of revelation, as if rose-tinted glass had been finally shattered to let in true light for the first time.

The teenager staggered a few steps back as the hulking russet-furred predator charged at him, stumbling on the slick occipital nerve seaweed as his pale lips mouthed soundless words of panic.  

Darwin didn't fight back when the Hunter pushed him away from the shifter. That sort of quick reaction, when blood boils hot and instincts take over, that's exactly the sort of reaction he was hoping for. He didn't bother answering the other men's questions, he just hurried back to the circle. The sound of bones shifting and rearranging was disgusting, but to Darwin's ears it was music: it meant the transformation was underway. He checked the circle on the sand, still intact despite the waves lapping at it. This would work.

In the few seconds they had before the transformation was complete, Darwin shouted “The shifter needs to draw blood from the human! I know it's horrible, but it's what must happen.” Again, he regretted being the bearer of such bad news, but he had no time to reassure the group: he opened the box and picked up what looked like a glowing orb covered in runes. That was a family heirloom, or the closest to it Darwin had: a powerful artefact he'd stolen from the Asrani and had used to trap the demon with Nell's help. Without warning, Darwin grabbed the dagger and used it to stab the orb. The blade dug easily into what looked like stone, cutting it as if it was flesh, and demonic energy started flowing from it. It fell on the lines in the sand, and expanded, filling the circle and making it glow with an eerie light that mirrored the moon's. Darwin started chanting, ancient words of power he had committed to memory, and the light shone brighter, blinding even, as something started to take form in the center of the circle as the creature was being released by its magical bounds.

“In a moment, a demon will rise from this.” Again, Darwin made sure to raise his voice, making it loud enough to be heard over the growls and fighting. “It'll attack us. I need its blood. And the human’s blood. And time to perform another ritual. And no one must die!” Channeling his own energy into the circle to give the demon form was already draining him, truthfully Darwin wasn't sure they were going to make it, but he had to act confident. The creature in the circle was almost solid, drawing his magic and using it to feed its own appearance, and Darwin felt he could move his focus from the summoning to the fight behind him. He turned to watch the wolf, the hunter and the human. “Remember, I need blood, not death!” Reeeally helpful, Darwin.

The leap was the quick part but the Wolf was soon inches from Sam’s face, drained of colour and frozen with shock. He was on the ground, not as exciting for the kill. The wolf loomed over him, dark umber fur brushing against Sam’s pale skin as its nose took in the terrified scent of the boy, his face, his hair, his neck. As it absorbed the stench of its prey, pitch-black claws held Sam’s arms, digging into the soft flesh as though they were made of melting ice cream. It drew back its head, the mangy fur on its thin neck bristling with a snarl that rumbled in its throat and it pulled its claws out sharply, leaving eight deep, dark gashes on his arms, four for each. The smell of blood flowed through his senses and it panted with a cruel desire. With another deep, guttural growl it reached forward again to put a paw on Sam’s stomach when suddenly it yelped and recoiled, feeling something pierce its hide on its hind leg and it whipped around to see Alain with his sword puncturing its skin, deep and sure as it sliced past part of the bone and leaving it notched. The blood dripping from its claws, it abandoned its previous quarry and instead turned to regard the slayer, keeping low to the ground with a limp immediately noticeable.

Demon. Blood. No dying. Ritual. Motherfucking magic nonsense.

Simon did not leave Alain any chance to protest or actually do what he wanted to do. Punch Darwin in the face. This pretentious fuck. He couldn’t stop the wolf from lashing out at Sam. Far from the hunter the idea of killing his friend, but some silver would have been nice to have. He did not really think this through, and while he was not entirely sure that this would work, clearly he could still do some damage with his sword, and stop Simon from hurting the poor kid. And so, as the wolf lifted his paw to strike again, the hunter bolted forward. The sword went easily through the flesh. He barely had time to breathe out in relief, for the beast was turning toward him (which he expected), menacing as ever. He had no other choice but to keep the damn thing away from Darwin and Sam, and so, readjusting the weight of his sword in his hand, Alain stepped back, luring Simon away from the two. Although the more he stepped back, the more he got close to the cultists. Perhaps this would end up being a two birds one stone situation. If he was being honest, facing a werewolf was not something he often had the chance of doing (to say the least) and improvisation being what it was, the hunter could not help but have a bad feeling about this. He had no idea, whatsoever, of how he was going to get out of this situation. If anything else failed, perhaps he would have to go for his usual methods, but losing Simon would truly be heartbreaking, and he wondered, what if, if someone died, none of this would even work?

One of the few tangential benefits of overwhelming confusion and terror is that your brain is so chock full of white noise that pain has to wait its turn. Sam looked down at his arms, palms bearing dried cuts from a boxcutter in the shape of eye-like sigils and now cruelly symmetrical slashes that welled up in scarlet. The athlete had lived a rough and tumble life with plenty of hard knocks and pain during practice, but the gulf between that and what he was experiencing now was so wide that Sam felt like he was being swallowed.

He had tunnel vision, eyes rimmed with wet red and darkness as the huge beast and man with a blade gracefully danced like deadly shadows at the edge of his consciousness, their movements like flickering flames as everything else threatened to be swallowed in smoke. For a time Sam heard only the steady crash of ocean waves and the ragged sound of his increasingly shallow breaths.

But something in Sam fought against the descent from shock into unconsciousness. When rational thought failed, instinct took the wheel, and a stubborn neanderthal part of Sam didn’t give a damn about things making sense so long as he lived. The teenager’s breathing steadied, perhaps having his coaches to thank for years of being hollered at as he powered through the enervating weakness brought on by blood loss and overstimulation. He staggered back to his feet and made his way over to Darwin, the memory of being needed there managing to cut through the dark fog in his head.

Darwin watched the fight, secretly grateful that he was a few feet away from that monstrosity. He had no qualms against werewolves, but seeing the wild beast going on a rampage only fueled his convictions: demons were better. You could reason with demons, bargain for your life. There was no talking to that bundle of muscle, fur and fangs, and seeing it in action he realized the Hunter would be too busy dealing with it to help Darwin with patching the human up.

The human was soon becoming Darwin's favorite person: even with deep gashes on his arms, he still made his way toward Darwin and the circle, and for that Darwin was grateful. He stepped closer to the wounded human and helped him walk where he needed him, right at the edge of the still glowing circle. “You're doing wonderful, just a few more steps, a few drops of blood and then it'll be over.” Darwin paused and quickly added “In the good way, not that you'll die. I won't let it happen.” As he spoke Darwin moved Sam's arms gently, so that they were right above the circle, and then... “I'm sorry, kid.” With only that as a warning, Darwin squeezed one of Sam's arms, watching as the blood dripped onto the circle where the demon's blood still awaited with an ominous glow. “With this sacrifice, thou art free,” he murmured, fueling those words with his own magic.

The moment Sam's blood touched the magical energy on the sand, it quickly spread, painting the lines of the Circle a deep, rich red, glowing with the demon's life force. The human's blood mixed with it, swirling and bubbling as it anchored the demon to this world, and the glowing figure in the center of the circle grew more concrete. The light solidified in a humanoid shape, wearing a dark suit that would be more fitted in a fashion show rather than here, on a beach, next to a rampaging werewolf. The creature's head, though, was far from human: instead of a face, a giant round mouth filled with curved teeth, the sort that would leave their victim no chance to free themselves.

The demon hesitated, bringing his hands to his own throat, and Darwin let out a sigh of relief: the magic was working: Sam's blood not only anchored the demon to this dimension, it also made it breathe. The logistics of it were lost on Darwin, he wasn't a scientist, but seeing the demon gasp for air let him know one thing: it could be drowned. And so...

“Hunter, wolf! Over here, drown the Dator! In the water! When the moon is at its peak!” Which was right about now, and would probably only last a few more minutes. They had to act fast. Of course, wolves were not known for being able to follow specific instructions, and the hunter was probably too busy to really listen to Darwin, so he had to come up with a new plan, quick. He considered using mental magic on the werewolf, something that normally he hated: he'd sworn he wouldn't use his powers to bend someone else's will, he was better than his family, but did he have a choice here? He focused, and tried to tune his magic to the wolf, sending it images of the demon, hoping it would make the wolf focus its attention on a new target, but as soon as he started channeling his energy, the Dator Vitae sensed Darwin's magic and turned its head toward him. Still struggling for air, the creature jumped forward, and Darwin wasn't quick enough to dodge: the demon tackled him to the ground, and the two started struggling on the sand. “Little help, here!” Darwin grunted, doing his best to keep the demon's mouth away from him.

He could hear Darwin shouting from afar, although what disturbed him the most was what he could see in the darkness. What the fuck was this monstrosity? Thoughts of beheading and burning it crossed his head, and this sounded like a much more pleasant option than Darwin’s. “Fuck no, I don’t wanna spend the next week hiding my hands and legs,” he cursed in French, and then started cursing at Darwin, and his whole family while he was at it. Alain knew what would happen if he put his hands in the water. He had ended up swimming in it just two weeks ago, and what followed had not been pleasant. No matter how hard he scrubbed, the ink did not fade, and he had to wait, and wait, and wait.

Alain, however, knew that he did not have a choice, and instead of keeping on dancing around Simon with his sword still in hand, the hunter darted on the wet sand toward Darwin, Sam, and the demon. In the long term, he doubted that he could outrun a werewolf, but what mattered now was to keep Darwin alive. It turned out that his habit of wounding legs was really a good habit to have.  Taking advantage of his short advance, the hunter kicked into the demon’s side, sending it flying a few meters away, head falling into the water. Heh. Maybe they wouldn’t have to walk into the water, after all. “Don’t thank me,” he shot a sarcastic smile at the all too proud magician, who had lost a bit of his glow now. Walking past him, the hunter kicked against the demon who was trying to get up, shaking his head. Glancing over at Simon in worry, Alain pressed his foot to the demon’s back.

The Wolf kept its bright blue eyes on Alain, seeing the glisten of its own blood on the blade he held up and pointed at it but not acknowledging that the blood was its own. Sam's gore filled its senses but now Alain was the prey and it circled with the hunter in a staring contest, eyes boring through the slayer, waiting for an opportunity to lunge, a spot of weakness, a move to counteract. Other voices were heard but ignored, other sounds tilted an ear but the man with the sword was the target.

Then it shook its head briefly but fervently, as if hearing an acute noise that punctured its concentration, images of something it couldn't understand but didn't inherently fear flashing before its eyes and in its head. The images were short enough not to fully register but in those few moments of distraction, Alain had made a move. Teeth bared and dripping saliva, the Wolf started to give chase and staggered with the first bound as its leg gave out before it had a chance to send adrenaline through its system to keep it going, sending the beast skidding along the ground. Once it righted itself, steeling its muscles, the second push was enough and the Wolf pursued, seeing Alain occupied with something. Perfect. It leapt at Alain, mouth gaping and claws out like a cat about to catch a bird.

Sam had responded to the appearance of a lamprey faced monster from the tribute of his own blood at first with dumb incomprehension. However when the creature had summarily attacked Darwin, Sam had immediately attempted to football tackle the Demon. Sam’s body was quickly losing blood, life, and strength. Nonetheless he fought against the creeping feeling of numbness in his limbs and tried to wrestle the strange suited thing off Darwin, teeth gritted in a blind determination to make the madness stop. Unfortunately Sam’s strength was purely mortal and wouldn’t have likely budged a Demon even if Sam’d was bodily sound and four feet taller.

The fact that the dude with the sword then interrupted Sam’s fierce mortal struggle to simply punt the lamprey monster into the water and do a Captain Morgan pose on it might have been a bit emasculating if Sam had the mental space to think about anything other than pain and the enormous wolf-thing making another charge.

“Dude heads up!”

Darwin was thankful to the human: even with his wounds still fresh he tried. Granted, he only managed to get the Dator Vitae more upset and to bleed all over Darwin's clothes, but that was secondary to the fact his intervention kept the demon from latching its face to Darwin's body and sucking him dry of magic. When Alain arrived and kicked the creature away, Darwin crawled back, trying to put a few more feet between himself and the fight.

“I'll thank you all once this is over,” he replied to Alain, voice tinted with a hint of frustration: his part had been done, and now that brawns were what truly mattered he felt useless. The Wolf's growling drew Darwin's attention to the giant shifter charging at them, and he panicked. The wolf seemed out of control, and headed toward Alain. He doubted the hunter would be able to handle both a Dator and a werewolf, so Darwin gathered the few magical energy he had left and focused again on the wolf, trying to create a mental connection between himself and the creature.

Despite being a skilled magician, and having studied mental magic for years, it was difficult: a shifter's mind was always slippery. Ever changing, and working on instinct more than rational thoughts, it gave Darwin very little to work with... There would be no communication with the wolf, at least not with words. Instead, Darwin pictured the Dator Vitae, and sent that image to the wolf, along with visions of raw, succulent meat, the smell of a grill and the woodlands, and hoped that would be enough to lure the wolf into attacking the demon instead of Alain. Still on the ground, out of breath and almost magicked out, there was nothing more he could do, and he lacked the human's stamina (or maybe it was willpower, the human truly seemed to be a remarkable individual) to push his own limits. Not to mention, he needed to save his strength to conclude the ritual once the demon had been drowned.

The Dator Vitae, for its part, refused to just stay down quietly. Using its supernatural strength, it struggled against Alain's foot, grabbing it with both hands and pulling, trying to make the hunter lose his footing and drag him into the water instead. In the distance, the chanting grew louder and louder… There was a good chance the cultists were approaching. Darwin could only hope Bertrand had somehow managed to lure them away from the ritual and would be able to distract them long enough.

“Putain de…” Alain frowned and did what he should have done seconds ago. Chopping off both the Dator’s arms, he turned toward the whole coming right at him. Good luck getting yourself up with no arms, the hunter thought to himself, although he didn’t really have time to check whether this thing could regrow limbs fast, as he now had to worry about Simon, who was leaping at him. A glimpse to the left and he saw Darwin and Sam looking somewhat safe. While he doubted that the human would help (and he did not blame him for it, or expected him to), Darwin sounded both like someone he would detest, and like someone capable, who knew what he was doing. Maybe it was the comment about Star Wars being a rip off, but the hunter had a bad feeling about the magician.

He tried to grab the wolf’s front legs, but the claws dug into his arms as he did so, and his foot slipped from the demon’s back. Alain really hoped that having cut off the arms would play its part into keeping this thing drowning. Right now, this was not really his priority anyway, razor sharp teeth were inching closer to his face the more the claws dug into his arms, forcing him to give more room to the wolf. “Bordel de coui- Simon, tu fais chier,” there were more curses in French as the hunter struggled to get the damn beast off of him. “A little help here,” he called out. Alain had not noticed it yet, too focused on Simon, but the chanting of the robed cultists had gotten louder and louder, as they were getting closer.

Everything seemed to be going in a blur yet standing still in time and the Wolf was no exception, in one area for a moment then advancing on Alain in the next, static yet in motion. It struggled with the hunter, snapping wildly at his face as its claws pierced the skin on his arms, being held at just enough of a distance though it pushed with strength that certainly belonged to it and not the human it was forced to share a body with. As it lunged and growled and drooled, however, its mind was filled with something else, something familiar yet distant and it recalled the images it suddenly saw, having been from minutes before. The combination of the images coupled with the new stench of whatever was coming from the armless thing in the water overrode the wolf’s instincts; Alain wasn’t the target anymore. The sensation was roughly akin to seeing another predator threatening to take away its prey. The wolf, with no trace of care, tore its claws out of the hunter’s arms and twisted in a fluid motion until its bright blue eyes fell upon the demon. Threat, thief, enemy of what was the wolf’s. With a barking snarl, the wolf dropped onto all fours again and dug its claws into the ground to get an extra burst of thrust as it aimed for the armless creature in the water, sharp night vision seeing that it LOOKED like water but it was pitch black. It didn’t need to focus on the water though, it only had eyes for the creature and it landed on the demon with the many rows of teeth, taking its paws to the snappy suit it was wearing and clenching its teeth into the shoulder of the other as the two rolled into the water, falling beneath the surface and becoming invisible in the murky black depths save for bubbles and splashes of activity from a stray limb.

Sam sat exhausted on the bloodsoaked sand watching as both wolf and lamprey creature vanished beneath black waves. It was easy then, as blood poured over his arms, to imagine that this wasn’t anything more than a dream. The pain was real though, climbing up his spine and guts. He coughed in thick shuddering gasps. Wide blue eyes drifted from Alain to Darwin, but nothing about their bloodstained appearances and bearing offered up any alternative explanation to Sam’s mind.

They’d murdered a wolf that’d split open from a dude, and a fish thing in a suit that’d been lubricated with blood out of a rock.

“This isn’t...that doesn’t.” The sky, sand, and sea began to spin like a gyroscope, switching places with each other. The world somersaulted and Sam felt like he tumbled off its axis. Damp sand and slick eyeballs pressed against his cheek as Sam slumped down on the shore and the world went dark.

The Dator Vitae had let out a terrible screech when its arms had been severed, but it didn't lose any of its fighting spirit, and only the weight of the werewolf kept it from lounging. Instead of attached to the spine of the hunter who'd hurt it, the Vitae found itself tackled by a wolf. Unable to fight back, it was dragged underwater, the black liquid filling its mouth. There was some sort of magic in the water, the demon could feel it, but it wasn't a magic it could feed on. Instead of strengthening it, it made it weaker. Its movements were sluggish as it tried fruitlessly to struggle against the beast keeping it underwater. The Dator's legs kicked, its teeth scratched, but the wolf was just too strong, and without its arms the demon couldn't get the upper hand, nor could it get free. And eventually, once the water was all it could taste, see and feel... The Dator Vitae stopped struggling.

“Good boy, keep it down!” Darwin mumbled to himself as he watched the wolf disappear under the pitch black water of the ocean. As the one who'd summoned the demon, he could somewhat sense its energy, and he smiled in feeling the way it faded with each passing second. He tentatively stood up and took a couple of steps toward the hunter, keeping a safe distance. “I think... Only a few more moments, and then it'll be over.” He sounded far more exhausted than panicked, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes of his concern. Gone was the façade of the confident magician, he was too tired, too drained to keep it up. He looked up and sighed. “Right on time... A few more minutes and it would've been too late.” As tired as he was, Darwin couldn’t keep a small smile off his face: the ritual had been completed, he could feel it. He gathered the last of his magical energy to send out a quick signal. A small flash in the sky above them, so that Nell would know they made it.

“Now we just need to find a way to calm the wolf and get out before the cultists arri” Darwin's voice was cut off by a sudden thump, and he turned to watch the human faint, his fall softened by the sand. “New plan. He needs a doctor, he lost a lot of blood.” Darwin silently vowed to keep watch on Sam's unconscious body once this was over, they owed it to him. Slowly, he reached the human, and did his best to lift him up, ready to carry him away, on his own if he had to. “Hey, Hunter...” Darwin frowned. They all worked together, risked their lives together, and he didn't know how else to call him. “We can’t do anything for the wolf, but he’s gonna be fine. He’s a wolf. And the cultists… They deserve an angry wolf.”

[tigerkirby215]

5e Yone, the Unforgotten build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

A YouTube comment on “The Path“ cinematic:

I can’t top this. This comment is fucking gold.

GOALS

Asakana - Trust me as a Kayn main I’m salty that we have another half-demon anime boy who isn’t even Darkin. But we still need a mask of many demonic faces.

Three swift strikes... - “Brother, why did Elder Souma let you have two swords?” Regardless we’ll need two swords for many slashes.

Death is like the wind - Yone is dead except not really, but he’s still capable of some astral projection to fight his foes from a distance.

RACE

Yone may have been human but with a demon fusing to him that gives him just enough infernal blood to be a Tiefling! As a Tiefling your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1. Your Hellish Resistance grants you resistance to fire damage, and Infernal Legacy grants you a few innate spells which I’ll cover in the build.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an anime sword boy who was second best only to your brother who is the most anime sword boy who ever did swing an anime sword.

14; CHARISMA - As the more level-headed brother you had to do most of the talking. Remember that Charisma is strength of personality; not raw attractiveness. (Though you certainly have that going for you too.)

13; INTELLIGENCE - A master swordsman needs to study the art of war, which is more theory and less art. (Feel free to set your CON higher instead if you want more health.)

12; WISDOM - Yasuo’s the hothead and you’re the calm one. Not calm enough not to try to kill your brother, and definitely not calm enough to not be a target for Asakana.

10; CONSTITUTION - You died before, and dying generally means you weren’t that sturdy to begin with.

8; STRENGTH - Being cut down by the legendary wind technique and then brought back from the dead doesn’t spell a good workout routine. Yeah Yone has big pecs but put simply we need everything else more.

BACKGROUND

You had a background before, but unfortunately dead men tell no tales. You are a Haunted One brought back to life to hunt the creatures of the night. You can choose two skills from the Haunted One list to be proficient in: Investigation will help you find any stray Asakana, and depending on if your definition of emotional demons are Religion or Arcana you can pick either of those for your second skill. (Arcana is probably going to be more useful though.)

As a Haunted One people can easily see into your Heart of Darkness, easily telling that you’ve faced unimaginable horrors in your past. No shit you have a demon mask permanently attached to your face. Regardless commoners will be willing to aid you as much as possible unless you’ve shown yourself to be openly hostile, such as throwing their promo games.

You also learn two languages of your choice: one of which must be Exotic but since you already know Infernal as a Tiefling Sylvan would be good to talk to the spirits in a dating sim. For your other language Elvish seems fitting for Ionia.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE PATH BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Perhaps not the most fitting for the honorable brother, but being a Rogue will give us the skill to strike swiftly. As well as more skills in general! Take Perception and Insight to find Asakana, Acrobatics to fight them, and Intimidation to strike fear into their hearts. You also get Expertise in two skills your proficient in: Investigation and Perception would help further with finding Asakana.

When you find the Asakana you can strike it down with Sneak Attack. If you have Advantage on an attack roll or are attacking an enemy within 5 feet of an ally you can do an extra d6 of damage. Despite the name “sneak attack” you don’t actually have to sneak, but you do need to use a Finesse weapon such as a short sword. Yes your swords aren’t exactly “short” but for the purposes of dual wielding it’s the best you’ll get.

And after striking the demon down you might need to speak its true name in Thieves’ Cant. That’s not what Thieves’ Cant is? Well regardless it’s a code language shared among rogues; perhaps you picked it up from the Navori? At least you can shout the demon’s name loud and proud as you seal it away thanks to Tiefling Thaumaturgy, along with all other sorts of little supernatural effects I suggest reading into.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

At level 2 Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action. Hiding isn’t very in-character but being able to move swiftly across the battlefield is key for the twin blade technique. Unfortunately attacking with a twin blade also requires your bonus action, so pace your movements accordingly.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Level 3 Rogues get to choose their Martial Archetype and in order to strike swift and true you’re going to want to play a Swashbuckler. Swashbucklers get Fancy Footwork to be able to slip away from enemies they attacked without provoking opportunity attacks, even if they miss.

Additionally they get Rakish Audacity which ironically provides two benefits: for one you get to add your Charisma modifier to your initiate, but you can also activate your sneak attack if you strike an enemy in melee with no other enemies nearby. Single the demon out and cut them down now that your Sneak Attack does 2d6 damage!

And finally you can cast Hellish Rebuke at second level as a reaction once per long rest thanks to Infernal Legacy. Strike a ganking lust demon with a big burst of “BEGONE THOT” damage!

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 1

Adding a quick level in Fighter because Yone was professionally trained, so a Fighting Style would be good to have. Naturally we’ll be going for Two-Weapon Fighting to fight with twin blades. You also get Second Wind to heal for a d10 plus your Fighter level once per short rest for a quick Corrupting Pot in lane.

But unfortunately now we’re going to have to die...

(Artwory by KAIZERS02 on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 1

Just kidding of course because it’s ya boii coming back with the WARLOCK LEVELS! You can choose your Warlock Patron straight at level 1 and as someone who came back from the dead you may think we’ll be going for the Undying patron right? Well that’s where you’re dead wrong because we’re going for a pact with a Fiend.

Why Fiend Patron? - Along with the lore reasons (not all Warlock pacts have to be made on good terms) Pact of the Fiend gives us Dark One’s Blessing to recreate the shield from Spirit Cleave (W), and Burning Hands also gives us an easy-to-use cone spell to recreate a cone-shaped cleave.

Why not Undying? - Undying has a pseudo-support role and a heavy focus on not dying, neither of which Yone does in-game.

Why not Hexblade? - We need at least 12 levels in Warlock for an invocation, and that means we’d be getting Accursed Specter from Hexblade. Yone doesn’t summon spirits to fight for him and while I could normally get past that bit of flavor fail (as both Hexblade’s Curse and Armor of Hexes actually make a lot of sense for Yone) Fiend made a lot more sense given that he literally gets his powers from a demon. A DEX build also allows you to be shirtless in Ionia.

Pact of the Fiend Warlocks have the Dark One’s Blessing, granting them temporary hitpoints equal to their Charisma modifier and their Warlock level when they down an enemy for some spiritual shielding.

Additionally Warlocks gain access to Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list: Minor Illusion creates a sound or small visual you can use to trick an Asakana into falling for a trap. And Toll the Dead isn’t Eldritch Blast! Excluding the war crimes I just committed by not putting Eldritch Blast on a Warlock (you’re going to be using your swords most of the time anyways get over it it’s one spell) Toll the Dead forces the enemy to make a Wisdom save or take a d8 Necrotic damage, or a d12 Necrotic if they’re injured, making it a great finishing blow after using Soul Unbound.

You can also learn two first level spells: Burning Hands forces enemies to make a Dexterity saving throw or be Spirit Cleaved for 3d6 fire damage. If you want to mark an enemy for Soul Unbound however Hex will let you do an extra d6 of necrotic damage every hit, and give an enemy disadvantage on skill checks related to an ability score of your choice. You can also cast the Darkness spell once per long rest as a Tiefling, blinding everyone in the 20 foot sphere of darkness. If only you could see through it...

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations and we actually won’t be taking the one that helps us see in the dark. We will however be taking Armor of Shadows to let us cast Mage Armor at will and go shirtless in Ionia. Your second invocation will remain empty for now.

You can also add another spell to your repertoire and Protection from Evil and Good will help a lot with fighting Asakana. A creature blessed by the spell is attacked with disadvantage by aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. Additionally they can’t be charmed, frightened, or possessed by them. If they’re already debuffed by these types of enemies they have advantage on future saving throws against them. Once you know the truth of Asakana there is no reason to fear them... or some other edgy one liner.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get their Pact Boon and hey look it’s Pact of the Blade. You can create a magic weapon in your hand as an action. The weapon counts as being magical to overcome armadillos who say “okay” a lot. And you know that Invocation I told you to hold off on? Improved Pact Weapon will let you do more damage with the blade of the Asakana. If you want to remain in character I’d suggest only attacking with your pact weapon in your offhand, but remember that Two-Weapon Fighting takes your Bonus Action so feel free to hit hard and then run if needed.

You can also now cast second level spells like Misty Step for some sick plays with Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 4

Fourth level Warlocks finally get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Dexterity by 2 for swifter and deadlier strikes with your twin blades. Could we take a feat? Yeah, but we won’t.

You also learn another cantrip at this level on top of another spell. For your cantrip Prestidigitation will further your ability to cast small spiritual magic, and for your spell of choice we already got flash so how about Ray of Enfeeblement for Exhaust? There’s a lot of other great options though: Blindness / Deafness from the Fiend list is also a great choice.

LEVEL 9 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters get Action Surge, allowing them to take one additional action on their turn. Right now that only means one extra sword swing but you can cast a spell after you attack!

LEVEL 10 - FIGHTER 3

At level 3 Fighters can choose their Martial Archetype and to unbind one’s soul you must travel to the world of Wildemount for the Echo Knight subclass. I’ve already made a few Echo Knights before on this sub so I’m going to give the cliffnotes version of a class that has quite a long ability description at level 3 for Manifest Echo:

You can summon your soul within 15 feet of you as a bonus action.

You can move your soul up to 30 feet for free on your turn.

Your soul can’t be more than 30 feet away from you by the end of your turn, or else it disappears. (Goes back to your body)

Your soul has an AC of 14 + proficiency and 1 hitpoint.

It’s immune to all conditions and uses your saving throws.

You can swap places with your soul using 15 feet of movement (regardless of the distance between you two.)

When you attack you can make the attack come from your soul instead.

Your soul can opportunity attack (using your reaction.)

Additionally Unleash Incarnation will let you attack an extra time from your soul’s location on your turn. You can use it a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier but your CON mod is currently zero. Thankfully you can use it a minimum of one time before finishing a long rest.

(Artwork by Valkhar on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 11 - FIGHTER 4

Fourth level Fighters get an Ability Score Improvement: invest further in Dexterity for 19 DEX and all the benefits that provides.

LEVEL 12 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters get an Extra Attack, letting them attack twice with their main action. This means that with your bonus action you can attack three times in a round! Now would also probably be a good time to put the Asakana’s blade in your main hand instead of trying to work around your fancy passive.

LEVEL 13 - WARLOCK 5

It’s straight down Warlock now to become one with the Asakana we wear as a mask. Level 5 Warlocks get another Invocation and it wouldn’t be Pact of the Blade if we didn’t take both Improved Pact Weapon and Eldritch Smite! Pretend to be a Paladin by turning a spell slot into more sword damage and pretend to be your brother by knocking people over when you do so!

You can also learn another spell like Gaseous Form to turn into petals on the wind. Additionally Hex is probably wearing away its welcome by this point so I’d suggest taking Hold Person instead to CC-chain a foe to death.

LEVEL 14 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Own Luck, letting them add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per short or long rest. I consider this less you being “lucky” and more you going all out just this once.

You can also learn another spell from the Warlock list such as Spirit Shroud from Unearthed Arcana to give nearby enemies a Randuin's Omen while you cut them down.

LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks get another Invocation and while there are plenty to choose from it’s only fair for the man who collects masks of many faces to get a Mask of Many Faces, allowing you to cast Disguise Self at will! Is this mostly done for flavor and is it a bit late to get Disguise Self? Yes but it’s still a very good spell to have.

And you can learn a 4th level spell like Fire Shield from the Fiend List. You can make a Fire Shield for resistance to Cold damage or a Cold Shield to resist Fire damage which you already resist. But regardless of your choice anyone who hits you with a melee attack for the duration will take 2d8 damage of either Fire (if you chose the Fire Shield) or Cold (if you chose the other.)

Also I’d perhaps suggest replacing Misty Step with Dimension Door? Sure Dimension Door takes a full action (while Misty Step takes a bonus action) but Dimension Door has a 500 foot range which will never not be useful! Teleport can be just as useful as Flash you know.

LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement: put one into Dexterity and the other one into... yeah Charisma. You also could learn another spell but none of these really interest me so I suggest holding off on it for now.

(Artwork by MizuriOfficial on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get another Invocation, and while again there’s plenty to choose from we strive for accuracy here so how about some spiritual levitation? Ascendant Step lets you cast Levitate on yourself without using a spell slot or material components, so you can float towards a wise old man who definitely isn’t an Asakana in disguise.

But most importantly you now gain access to 5th level spells! Hallow is a big spell with a lot of effects, a 1000 gold cost, and a 24 hour casting time but it’s the ultimate way to protect an area from Asakana! To seal the fate of your foes  Synaptic Static forces an intelligence saving throw on all enemies in an AoE to try to avoid massive damage along with a disorientation effect that tends to come with being knocked up into the air by a tornado.

LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks get Fiendish Resilience, allowing them to resist one type of damage of their choosing. They can swap the resistance out on a short or long rest but damage from magic weapons or silvered weapons ignores this resistance, so probably better just to resist wind magic (Thunder damage) in general instead of specifically resisting a magic wind sword.

Additionally while you won’t learn any more Warlock spells you do get your final cantrip: for some more minor spirit projection how about Mage Hand to grab things within 30 feet and bring them to you?

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 11

11th level Warlocks get Mystic Arcanum, which are like regular spell slots which only come back after a long rest because you’re no longer special. Regardless if you want to harness the wind technique look no further than Investiture of Wind Stone, because the rock spell actually lets you knock people over.

Regardless until the spell ends you have resistance to nonmagical slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning, you can move across difficult terrain without spending additional movement, you can move through terrain without spending extra movement (but can’t end your turn there), and you can spend your action to try to knock everyone near you over with some basic wind techniques.

Yes there are better spells to take (even in the Investiture spell line, such as the genuine Investiture of Wind which would let you fly as well as block projectiles with a wind wall of your own) but you’re not your brother. You’re a simple, practical stone who gets the job done. Or you can be a wandering poet: make your own Yone - you don’t follow this build point-for-point.

You also apparently get another spell because Mystic Arcanum doesn’t count as a spell? Hold Monster is like Hold Person but it works against everything at the mere cost of a much higher spell slot, meaning that you can only affect one creature with parallelization but that should be more than enough for your little brother to get the job done and flash his fancy blue crest afterwards. You do have three spell slots now after all.

LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 12

12th level Warlocks get our final Ability Score Improvement and... ugh. As much as I want to do something fun I have to accept the fact that Charisma will help us more, so you may as well grab the Resilient Feat with Charisma for better saving throws and a higher Charisma mod.

But that Charisma mod is going to get a lot of use since now you can take the Lifedrinker invocation which grants the Asakana’s blade Necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier! That’s a lot of damage? How much damage? Well...

FINAL BUILD

PROS

One to cut, one to seal - Let’s do the math for how much damage you do with your swords every round: two strikes from the Asakana’s blade (d6 + 6 slashing + 4 necrotic), one from your regular sword (d6 + 5), and sneak attack damage (2d6) for a total of... 5d6 + 25 damage (8 of it being Necrotic and the rest being Slashing) every round. Not to mention Eldritch Smites in a pinch and a large assortment of spells.

Fear, once named, controls no one - You are also incredibly elusive with 18 AC and strong saving throws. Swashbuckler lets you get into the fight fast and get out before your enemy has a chance to react, and cunning actions let you weave around the battlefield as you see fit. To top it off Echo Knight levels let you attack your foes without even being near them! "Cross the veil!"

Wear a mask long enough, and you forget the face beneath - You have a great deal of out-of-combat utility too. Language proficiencies (along with Thieves’ Cant), skill proficiencies (including expertise in two very important skills 23 passive perception, anyone?) Thieves’ Tools, several utility spells which you can cast pretty much at will, not to mention the utility of near-infinite teleportation and flat out infinite levitation.

CONS

Blink, and you'll miss your own death - Between two-weapon fighting, cunning action, and interactions with your echo there’s such a thing as too many bonus actions.

Do not wish to hide behind masks - There’s also such a thing as being too elusive. Swashbuckler gives you plenty of mobility as does Echo Knight, but putting them together means that you’ll be everywhere at once.

Are you here to usher me back? - Multiclassing a spellsword means that you miss out on some vital ability score increases. This means your Charisma isn’t topped off, the saving throws you aren’t proficient in are subpar at best, and your health is just barely over the Power Word Kill threshold.

But a hunter with many weapons will always have the right one to catch its prey. Lure out the Asakana and strike them down. Just remember that even if you alone can stop the demonic plague you don’t have to work alone. Your brother may have struck you down but if you learn to forgive the Asakana will be a lot weaker. "Long before blades and sorcery are needed, words... can save a soul."

(Artwork by @ThatwasforZED on Twitter)

[gojosatoruwifey]

Summary: Yugen, a Third Year student from Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. After a year, the three Third Years, including her, finally went home to Japan and while the two are either resting and catching up with their parents. Yugen chose to stay in the College for a while to accompany Shoko Ieri and study under her. So, what's the other reason she came back?

Characters: Itadori Yuuji, Fushiguro Megumi, Kugisaki Nobara, Gojo Satoru, Shoko Ieri, Geto Suguru, Masamichi Yaga ,Zenin Maki, Panda, Inumaki Toge, Okkotsu Yuuta, Yugen Akihisa, Ishida Den, Mizuki Shina, Hakari ,Zenin Mai, Todo Aoi, Utahime Iori

Genre: Supernatural,Fantasy, Slice of Life, Crack, Fluff, Action

Warnings: Curse, Swearing, Grammar Errors, mention of torn limbs

The ringing of the phone indicating that someone is calling echoed on a room until the person on the other side picks up. “Hello, Yugen-san?”

“Good morning, Yamato-san!” Yugen cheerfully greeted.

Right now, they are back to the infirmary; Itadori laid on the bed tiredly, Kugisaki on the swivel chair as she spins around, Fushiguro reading a particular book that caught his interest from the bookshelf near him while Yugen leaned her back to the window, her phone on her ears as her eyes stared outside of the glass.

“What did you do again?”

Yugen gasps exaggeratedly as she offendedly says, “I didn’t do something bad!...well… maybe…”

Yamato sighed. “Should I contact the Principal?”

“Hehe. I think you should.” Yugen carefully agreed. “I used the highway railings two streets away from Jujutsu Tech in the heat of the moment. We were attacked by a Grade 3 Curse and it’s a slime type-”

“‘We’? You’re not alone?”

“Yeah. I’m with the First Years.”

“Yugen-san!” Yamato yelled. “You should not do things that might influence the kids!”

“Are you implying that I am a bad example for the First Years?” Yugen rested her free hand on her chest as if Yamato could see her. “Don’t you know that I don’t cuss, unlike Den? Or get stressed quickly like Shina? I’m a chill person and I don’t utter such obscenity.”

“We both know that you’re the carbon copy of Gojo-san - in behavior.” Yamato rubbed her temples. Oh, the headache she gets whenever a certain troublemaker strikes.

“I don’t. I’m not like Gojo-sensei. I’m a good girl.”

“What is this I’m hearing? Is Yu-chan saying that I’m also a bad example?”

The students turned their heads towards the white-haired Sorcerer entering the room as he placed small boxes on the table which made Kugisaki halt her antics as Itadori got up and peered at the object.

“Hm?” Kugisaki’s brown eyes scrutinized the text of the box as her eyes widened in glee. “It’s a fruit sando!”

“Woah, it really is!” Itadori opened one of the cartons gingerly.

“It’s a souvenir!” Gojo exclaimed. “Leave us a few. I need to talk to this midget here.” he tapped the Third Year’s head and urged her to walk as they left the infirmary, Yugen smiled at the First Years, her fingers smoothly ending the call with Yamato.

“What is it that you want to talk about?” Yugen leaned on the pillar on the side as she crossed her arms and looked at Gojo with a questioning gaze.

“Where are Den and Shina?” asked Gojo.

Yugen blinked confusedly. “On their home.”

“You sure?” Gojo fished out something to reveal a ripped picture of a construction site and obviously from a newspaper. Slowly, Yugen’s indigo eyes slightly widened at the sight of the photo on his hand as her heartbeat drummed nervously.

Internally, she is panicking. Why does he have that picture? Does he know? Did the ‘business’ earlier he was talking about is looking for Den or Shina? I made sure not to make suspicious moves so why does he have that? What should I do? Should I act inno-

“Relax, Yu-chan. Your face is giving away your thoughts.” Yugen exhaled the air she didn’t realize she was holding and glared at the teacher in front of her.

“You’re being nosy, Sensei.”

“And you’re being skeptical, Akihisa.”

Yugen narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you want?”

Gojo hummed for a few seconds. “Hmmmm~”

He opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted when Yugen’s phone rang as she took out her phone from her skirt’s pocket and pressed the answer button on the screen.

“Hello?...eh? Five humans since she settled there?.......okay, good. Take care and see you.”

“Was that Den?”

“Yeah. Let’s go back to the topic.” Yugen says as Gojo’s lips quirk up in amusement.

“My, my. Impatient, aren’t we?” he teased.

“Why do you have that picture, Sensei?” she asked.

“First of all, it’s not my fault that someone left this on the Shoko’s desk along with scrolls sprawled on the table.” Gojo started. Yugen felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she remembered that she indeed left the ripped picture on the desk. “Second, your voice raised a bit higher than normal when you answered my question about exorcising the Special Grade and lastly...you.”

“What about me?” Yugen tilted her head.

“You’re acting shady!” Gojo blurted out. “You can lie to a stranger but you can’t lie in my face.”

Σ(‘◉⌓◉’) ‘I thought he was going to say something cooler like you can’t lie to someone who knows you.’ (一。一;;）’ but since this is Gojo-sensei we are talking about...I guess this is expected.’

“You really have an expressive face, Yu-chan.”

“I was just asking how did you get your hands to that thing, why did you end up talking like a detective from the movies?” Yugen says, “You are demanding answers since I arrived here.”

Yugen continued. “Your actions are saying that you are suspicious of me since the very beginning because if you’re not, you should have brought the First Years late but you’re early.”

Underneath the blindfold, Gojo furrowed his eyebrows.

“You being punctual means that you know something even though I haven’t said yet the truth why we came back home before the appointed time Principal Yaga thought,” Yugen stated. “Am I right, Gojo-sensei?”

“Not to mention, you eat the trap I baited,” Yugen smirked, seeing Gojo’s mouth agape in surprise. “I invited the First Years for lunch as soon as you left and in the meantime, you used that gap to survey the infirmary. When we got back to the room, I noticed that Megumi’s paper was moved to the side. As far as my memory says, the paper was placed near the lamp and I didn’t use the lamp to pin the paper either. It just means that someone interfered while I was not there.”

“Bingo.” Yugen grinned in victory as Gojo howled in laughter. “I didn’t think that you would pick up the picture. It’s a trap that tells whether someone touched the things without someone supervising.”

“HAHAHAHAHA!! I just can’t outwit you!”

“That picture was in between Megumi and Yuuji’s paper.” Yugen shook her head with a smile on her face. “I just use a simple trap.”

“You know that I’m willing to cover you up, right?” Gojo ruffled her mahogany hair. “You’re like my daughter.”

“I don’t see you as a father figure.” Yugen teased. Her gloved fingers fixing her messy strands. “Ready for a storytelling?”

“When I am not ready?”

One cautious step on the concrete while a juniper colored hair peeked behind the worn-out wall to peek at the two figures discussing what they are gonna do next as the womanly figure childishly threw a tantrum on the larger figure when her companion says something that upsets her.

“Why can’t I go outside?!” says the lass.

Believe it or not, Shina knows that these people are registered Special Grade Curses that her group has been hunting for a year since their Second Year and now they are the Third Year, the chase of these bloodthirst Curses are gonna end today. The female Curse was wearing a torn kimono, showing her smooth blue skin while her violet hair was tied up in a bun with a few strays falling on her forehead. The other one was a large Curse standing on 6’9 with only pants as his clothes and just like the female, he had blue skin and his violet hair was tied in a tight bun.

The plan is simple yet required for them to execute it in accurate precision. It was not the usual set up.

Have Shina sneak into the lion’s den to watch the Curse’s moves and report it, Den to summon weapons using her talismans to surround the vicinity if ever the Curse escaped, and Yugen to activate her Domain Expansion within 0.2 seconds and use it to trigger the Domain Repercussions to exorcise the Curses.

Right, it’s not the complex ploy they set before the day of exorcising.

Yet, the pair already notice her presence and they sharply turn to Shina’s hiding place, chasing her as she skips from side to side of the deformed, old hallway.

‘I followed Yugen’s instruction on how to conceal my existence and lowered my Cursed Energy, how did they know I was here?’ Shina shoveled the collapsed block of cement she passed by halting momentarily to kick the objects as it obscured the visions of the stunned two Curses; their eyes caught dust and foreign particles.

“Shina, can you hear me?!” the voice of Den reverberated around the place.

“The Curses are chasing me!” Shina answered as she felt dizzy from running in twists and turns. Behind her, the growling from one of the Curses can be heard. ‘Where does Den’s voice come from?’

“Which Curse!?”

“Special Grades!”

“Shit!” the navy haired girl cussed loudly. “Yugen is fighting a bunch of Grade 1 insects! She can’t use Domain Expansion!”

“Well, damn it!”

Shina can’t see Den but she swears she heard her laugh.

It made her lips quirk up in a soft smile. She, after all, doesn’t cuss when she is not frustrated-choosing to stay quiet until her stress level reached its limit.

The running is taking a toll on her.

“Where are you?”

A glance to the left as she answered, “Floor C, Emergency Exit.”

“Why are you so far away?!!” Den whined.

“I know I should not-” Shina dodged the Cursed Energy beam from the male Curse shot on her way as she leaped to the stairs. “..ask! But how are you able to communicate with me?”

“I put Talismans earlier on the building!”

“You think I’ll let you off the hook, brat!?” the female Curse exclaimed, her long nails scratching Shina’s back as she hissed in pain-the excruciating tingles making her gaze hazy.

“SHINA!!”

A flash of similar dark uniform slams the female Curse on the wall loudly. Shina felt her breathing hitch as her green eyes caught blood dripping on Den’s head who had her rose-pink eyes glaring at the struggling female Curse; hands gripping the Curse’s neck as she tried to free her limbs from the Talismans.

“Did you injure yourself on your way here?” Shina asked as her hand pulls out a Talisman from Den’s belt bag hanging on her back; sticking one Talisman on the female Curse’s mouth, completely shutting her shoutings.

Swinging the blade multiple times, on the sides, on her front and back. The insect Curses resembled grasshoppers charging at her in full speed as Yugen swiftly sliced them; purple substance on her dark uniform and the filthy stench invaded her nose. Yugen tightly held the hilt of the tanto sword on her right hand as she continued to swing in different directions.

“This is why I hate pests.”  exhaled and fastened up her jumping pace; creating a large distance to the Curses.

“Okay, okay.” Yugen steadied her footing on the ground as she bounced to feel her legs that started to numb from exhaustion. She inhaled and exhaled as Yugen focused the power on her right leg; pivoting her left leg to raise her other shin.

The rumbling noise of a large portion of air gathering in one place blared towards the insect Curses as the force crushed the earth and made the Curses retreat until the air entered their internals; bursting their bodies apart. Yugen blink at the nauseating view. The forest is also affected by the pressure as the land had a large and long dent on it.

“Ah, there’s another group. Geez,” she says as her body flashes mid-air behind the ongoing Curses; the blade of the tanto sword whistling with the wind as she swung it again.

The slapping sound of Talismans sticking to the walls loudly.

Den sprinted towards the female Curse’s torso as she smacks a Talisman different from the others; Shina is behind the male Curse, kicking him in the shins to take his balance off which the Curse quickly recovered as she dashed to the female Curse; She and Den crossed paths; their minds saying the same thing.

Talisman Technique: Synchronization.

Within those seconds, both of the Curses felt something creepier. The sensation of a boiling liquid slowly seeping through their muscles, taking its time to crawl in their body as their senses shout at them of the impending danger. The uncomfortable feeling of it made their mind distracted.

Shina rose her hand mimicking a marionettist manipulating her puppets with strings.

A tug of an invisible force.

“Wow, I just came at the right time.”

Yugen wields the tanto sword to the side as purple blood splatters in the process. Den threw a clean cloth to her. Meanwhile, the two Curses trembled upon hearing Yugen’s voice as she used the cloth to clean the purple liquid on the blade.

“The plan failed, idiot.” Den played the talismans on her hand.

“Sorry! hehe.” Yugen apologized sheepishly, still wiping the blade. “Take it easy! The theatre is starting.”

“So? You can’t move?” Den questioned the two Special Grades with mockery. The Curse pair stood frozen on their spot as they registered that they are not moving anymore.

“My Cursed Technique allows me to control living beings by touching them thrice as my Cursed Energy flows like a fluid,” Shina stated, her right index finger haul up as the male Curse’s arm moves; demonstrating her technique.

“Since Shina can’t touch you, I used my Cursed Technique,” Den said. “You see, my Curse Energy is made to create and they only manifest when I’m using these Talismans-” she waved the Talismans, “-and the papers plastered on the wall had her Cursed Energy on it and since it’s surrounding us-”

“-you Special Grades are going to die.” Yugen finished as she removed the dark glove of her right hand and throw it aside

“What a waste. I was hoping to use weapons to kill you guys to make me practice but you just have to crush that and see Shina.” Den brushed the dust on her skirt.

“Please let my sister go…” the male Curse pleaded as he struggled to move.

Yugen looked at him. “Do you know the story of Hansel & Gretel?”

The Curse didn’t answer.

“Hansel & Gretel are siblings like the two of you.” Yugen closed her eyes. “According to the story I read, there was a great famine struck their country and their family is starting to suffer from starvation, having no choice but to abandon the poor Hansel and Gretel. Their parent left them in the forest and suddenly, a sweet aroma filled their senses and followed the smell. As they reach a house made from different sweets, they met an old woman and she ushered them to enter her abode. The old woman turns out to be a witch! And she wanted to cook Hansel and eat him. However, Gretel is a smart girl and helped her brother to escape from the cage he was stuck and pushed the witch from the pot and she died.”

“W-What happened to Hansel and Gretel?” the female Curse timidly asked.

“Unfortunately…” Yugen opened her eyes to glance at them. “..they died in this life!”

Yugen slit the male Curse’s arms using the tanto sword on her left hand as the female Curse shrieked in fear; squirming on her spot as she thrashed around and called the male Curse in repeat.

“AAACKK!!!” the male Curse shouted in pain and Shina’s eyes widened when her ‘grip’ to the female Curse loosened; hands trembling from holding two Special Grades. For some reason, Shina can’t let the female Curse to sit still as the Curse erupt a high amount of Cursed Energy.

“Shit!” Den brings out a black talisman and sticks it towards the female Curse’s back; upon sensing her presence, the female Curse turns around and grabs her wrist then twists her body and fling Den towards Yugen and they both crash to the wall with a loud slam as the stones crumbled and fall into pieces..

“Nii-san!” the female Curse run to the male Curse and hoist him up but before she can carry the male Curse properly, a long black hand shot from the wall where Yugen and Den crashed into harshly grabbed the male Curse away from the female Curse as she yelped from the unexpected force.

Shina watched a figure stagger to her feet, swaying a little as she steadied her balance.  

“Let me tell you that I hate it when my head gets hit.”

Yugen glared at the female Curse. “It really pissed me off.”

Behind her, the long black hand is still clutching to the male Curse like a child holding her doll. Yugen raised a brow. “Oh? Not fighting back?”

“I already accepted the fact that I will die in our Creator’s hands…” he answered, defeat lacing his voice. “Our purpose is to fulfill our Creator-”

“You think I will let you die on her hands, Nii-san?!” the female Curse bawled as her Cursed Energy pressured Shina and Den to the ground, leaving Yugen standing-albeit not perfectly.

‘Shina can’t tend Den’s wounds…’ Yugen shifts her eyes to Shina and Den laying on the concrete. ‘I have to finish this woman.’ her tanto sword dangling on her gloved hand.

“For now, let’s kill that Curse.” Yugen’s indigo eyes followed another long tentacle-like hand appearing on her left back as its index and thumb passed to the male Curse’s center chest like a ghost going past to a wall as it dug out a small shiny dark orb and placed it onto Yugen’s palm.

The female Curse watched Yugen crush the dark orb in horror as the male Curse on the long black hand faded into specks of dust.

The Curse’s lips quivered as she screamed.

“And that's how the story ends.” Yugen lazily shifts her weight to her other leg. “The female Curse or let’s call her ‘Gretel’ escaped by releasing pressure again and almost made Shina a limp and Den had an amnesia.”

“Woah, what a terrible ending,” Gojo commented.

“It was a good thing that my little friend-” she caresses the left part of her hair as if touching a baby, “-protected the two yet ‘Gretel’ ran away before I got my hands on her. I just can’t let Shina and Den leave there in pain.”

“Spoken like a true older sister.” the white-haired Sorcerer patted her. “You did well.”

Yugen hummed, letting him stroke her hair like a child.

“That picture…” she paused. “..the construction site. That’s where ‘Gretel’ currently lives. Den might have sensed Gretel’s Cursed Energy in that place since she sticks a talisman on the Curse’s back before she flee and she could not get rid of it even if she tried to. Den’s Talisman can seal her but since Den is not near her, she can’t seal that Curse.”

Yugen cupped her chin with her gloved fingers. “Speaking of Den, we don’t know how many meters she should get near to chant the spell and seal Gretel until I exorcise her. Will one-meter good or she have to get closer? I think there’s a certain distance between the User and the Curse if it comes to sealing and not creating..”

“Yugen-senpai!” Itadori cries out as he rushes towards them. “I finally found you!”

“What happened, Yuuji?”

“Ku-Kugisaki is going to murder me!”

From afar, Kugisaki retorted. “I'm just putting your share! Senpai and Sensei are going to eat too!”

“Hah! For all I know, you secretly want an extra!”

“Just eat in peace,” Fushiguro muttered under his breath.

E X T R A :

“Huh?” Yugen looks around the old building. The aftermath of the exorcise had great damage and the residuals of the Curses are everywhere. She glances beside her to see Den surrounded by Medics provided by Jujutsu Tech and she approach the silent woman smoking on the side.

“Shoko-sensei!” the said woman puffs out the smoke and turns in her direction.

“Yugen, you seem fine.”

“Those Curses don’t affect me.” she rests her hands on her hips. “They belong to me, after all.”

“But still, you don’t feel dizzy?” Shoko asked.

“Not anymore.” Yugen let out a sigh. “How’s Den and Shina?”

Shoko dropped the cigarette on the land as she stomps on it. “Den is still light-headed and Shina is feeling weak. They should know that they should not have to use their Cursed Technique too much. Even though you are Grade 1 Sorcerers doesn’t mean that you have to use your skills for your full potential. Yugen, you already know this, right? The three of you are strong but handling two Special Grades especially coming from the unknown is dangerous.”

“I don’t know why the Principal insists that you exorcise these Special Grades.” the Doctor sighed. “He must be teaching you a lesson.”

Yugen only smiled wryly. “I feel responsible so I don’t mind if the higher-ups dump this work to us.”

“Higher-ups? Are they involved?”

“Of course, they are.” she scoffed. “They are expecting me to fail.”

Shoko laughed in amusement, “Cowards, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, they are.”

Then Shoko held out a familiar dark glove to Yugen as the Third Year’s face brightened up. “You’re looking for this?”

Yugen whispered a small ‘thank you’ and  wore the glove. “I thought it was missing.”

“Did you know that your other classmates made trouble?” Shoko says. “They receive suspension as punishment.”

“Eh??”

“All of the Third Years are suspended except the Three Espada,” she explained. “I’m saying this beforehand. Don’t be surprised if you can’t see a Third Year roaming on the school grounds.  Satoru will likely not explain it.”

Yugen chuckled. “Right.”

Domain Repercussions - A Domain Technique: details will be provided from the following next chapters.

*Yamato - a female Auxiliary Manager

i only posted my work here in tumblr (gojosatoruwifey) and in my ao3 account. please report immediately if someone reposted my works on other sites without my permission.

[nctxnation]

A Haunting in Neo City

➳ Pairing: Renjun x Reader 

➳ Genre: Romance | Buzzfeed Unsolved AU

➳ Word Count: 4.8k

➳ Warnings: Mild Language

➳ “Of all the problems and complications in my life, I had not expected love to be one of them.” ― Stacie Evans

You spun around in your chair, eyes tired of seeing the screen after finally finishing another article. The coffee mug next to you, empty, and your brain still sleep deprived and sluggish.

“You look like shit.”

You groaned, pressing send on the computer and turning to see your partner in crime, or more like partner in the occult and crime. 

“Hello, to you too, Renjun,” You flicked a paper clip at him and he rolled his eyes as it bounced off his chest. “I’m just tired. Yeri and the girls’ invited me out for dinner last night.”

“Fun,” He grinned, jumping onto your desk, knocking papers to the side. “All I did last night was see how many pens Jisung could stuff in his mouth, nine, by the way.”

“I’m guessing you have some news for me,” Your eyes zeroed in on the stack of papers in his hands. “Let me guess a cursed doll that terrorizes its owners?”

“Been there, done that, remember?” He smiled down at you, eyes brightening at the prospect of a new adventure. Your heart fluttered at the eagerness in his tone and the sparkle of his eyes, “We’re going out to Neo City to scope out the Evermore Woods, aka the Haunted Woods of Neo City. There’s supposedly haunted cabins and we might just end up possessed, you in?” 

Of course, you were in. You’d follow Renjun anywhere, he didn’t know that. You sure as hell didn’t want to submit to the sheer embarrassment and awkwardness that would ensue after disclosing your romantic feelings to your coworker and closest friend. 

“Do I have a choice?” You grinned snatching the prints of research out of his grip. “We’re not gonna end up possessed, it has never happened.”

“You never know,” He was positively buzzing with excitement and it made you beam at how adorable he looked. “I have a feeling this one is gonna be a good episode though.”

“You always have the craziest shit up your sleeve,” You noted, glancing through rumored sightings of ghosts and wild stories that spurred from college students partying in the woods. “This is no exception. Sounds like a fun roadtrip to me.”

“Wait ‘til you read about the Ghost of Jieun they saw there, it’s some crazy shit I kid you not!” 

Renjun went on the full blown spiel, trying to persuade you that the woods were indeed haunted and it wasn’t just a hoax. He did this all the time, seeing as he was the one who fully believed in the paranormal between the two of you. You were the one who decidedly followed him throughout his supernatural investigations sprinkling witty commentary as you weren’t as sold in any stuff like that. 

You were often the cause of Renjun’s constant hysteria as you seldom kept quiet and continuously egged and taunted any ‘spirit’ that might be lurking. It got to the point Renjun would keep a small bottle of holy water in his car and occasionally spray you with it just to make sure you weren’t actually possessed. 

A long ass story about some ghost later, Renjun was summoned by Jeno who needed help as Haechan had gotten his hand stuck up some tubing they were filming a video with. You took that as your cue to refill your empty coffee cup, to regain some life and have at least a semblance of a normal, functioning human being. 

You however didn’t expect yourself to be cornered by Yeri and Yuta, who were looking far too devilish. Their evil smirking were making you want to add them to the list of possible people to perform an exorcism on, part of Renjun’s never ending list.

“So, you and Renjun looked pretty cosy there,” Yeri commented, subtly glancing at Yuta whose face only darkend with mischief. 

“We’re partners on this ongoing project,” You deadpanned, pouring in some burning hot liquid into your mug. The steaming zest of life. “He literally has no choice now, the loser is stuck with me. We ordained it with a blood oath which is pretty on brand for us, I guess.”

Yuta cackled heartily, “No wonder you guys’ are in love. You have the same sense of humor.”

“Thanks,” The words processed in your brain slower than Internet Explorer. “Wait--what? In love? Renjun and me?”

“Am I speaking in Japanese?” Yuta winked at you, sipping his coffee so smugly you wanted to slap him. “So, when’s the wedding?”

“It’s not like that,” You began to feel uneasy, their staring was predator-like. “How many times do I have to spell it out to you guys? Renjun and me, we’re friends and co-workers, nothing more. So, we share a room every once in a while and have inside jokes, you and Winwin do too.”

“Mhmm sure,” Yeri shrugged it off, “One day we’ll get you to admit your love for each other.”

“Not gonna happen,” You gritted out, taking your mug and walking away as fast as you could so they couldn’t see the intense blush coloring your features. 

“You better send a wedding invitation!” Yuta hollered as you rounded the corner and saw Renjun and Haechan laughing about his incident.

Your heart warmed as Renjun’s eyes met yours and you could have sworn you saw a fondness in his eyes that was only reserved for you. A small sliver of hope slithered its way into your heart, but you crushed it easily on account of it being your sleep deprived brain creating scenarios in your head that weren’t real.

Unbeknownst to you, Renjun sighed in aggravation. His little frown catching Haechan’s attention.

“You might as well tell Y/N you like them,” Haechan said as he watched your retreating figure. 

“It’s not that easy,” Renjun admitted, “Y/N and me are a team, we have our own series and its doing really good. I don’t want to ruin any of that knowing they don’t feel the same.”

“You sure about that?” Haechan snorted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Renjun snapped, ready to put Haechan in headlock at any given offense. 

“I mean the supernatural isn’t the only thing your blind to,” Haechan patted his friend’s shoulder and left, leaving Renjun more confused than before.

Renjun thought it was easier to be cornered by ghosts, demons, serial killers, and bizarre monsters than having to ever come close to admitting his feelings for you. Your friendship ran deep and he didn’t want to derail the dynamic he worked so hard to upkeep. Plus, he didn’t think you’d like him, you got along swimmingly due to the fact that you two instantly clicked. You were his best friend, in his eyes, telling you he wanted something more was severely scarier than facing ghouls. 

The matters of the heart were always something terrifying.

Renjun placed his folder of information neatly on the table, eyes bright as he faced the camera. You sat next to him trying your best not to stare too much at him. You failed of course and you hoped your audience thought none of it. The comment section had a few comments littered about they way you looked at each other. The last thing you needed was your full blown heart eyes for Renjung to be the one thing your viewers discussed. 

“This week we will be exploring the haunted cabins in the Neo City Evermore Woods.”

Gosh, even the way his voice went into professional mode was starting to sound immensely attractive to you. 

“Do you think we'll see bears?” You asked, smirking at the frustrated sigh he let out. The edges of his lips turned upwards and that in itself was enough to have you glowing.

“The woods are crawling with ghosts and demons and you're worried about bears?” He chuckled, it was so like you. It was one of the many things he liked about you, even when it clashed with who he was. 

“I just don't want to take my chances.”

“But you'll be okay with being possessed?” His eyes bulged out of his face and you giggled at how comical he looked. 

“I'm being realistic. I guess we can trace a circle around us.”

“Of salt?”

“No, dirt like with a stick. For the bear, Renjun. Not the ghosts.”

“Isn't that from Spongebob?” He regarded you with sparkly eyes full of amusement. 

He loved the way you made the tension in his body release, the way your eyes crinkled when you laughed at your own stupid jokes. He was seriously gone and he hoped it didn’t get captured on camera. 

“Yeah that's where I get all my educational information from.”

He started wheezing and you joined in laughing at how silly you sounded. That was your role in this dynamic duo, he took everything regarding the supernatural seriously and you joked about it. You two were like yin and yang in a sense, you balanced each other out. 

“Well, I get all my educational information from reliable sources,” Renjun began addressing the timeline of the Disappearance of Jieun, to telling about her murder and the hauntings of the lake and cabins.

You added your own commentary, smiling when the camera turned off and Renjun excitedly high fived you. Yup, you were way too deep. 

“You were really funny out there,” He said, shuffling all his papers back into his folder, “Great stuff. I think I’m going to need an inhaler or something.”

“Nah, I think I sounded cringey,” You waved off his immediate protests, “I just wanted to take the time to say that you really put a lot of work into this series and it shows. You’re doing amazing, Renjun, and you deserve to know it.”

“Couldn’t do it without you?” He was too sweet, he was going to give you tooth decay.

“I don’t think--”

“No, of course you don’t see how great you are,” He interrupted you, placing a small warm hand on your shoulder. “But I see how great you are and I think you should know you make this series worth doing.”

“Renjun…”You swiped an imaginary tear off your cheek, ignoring the actual tears building up. “You really are the sweetest person in the office, don’t tell Jungwoo I said that.” 

The weight of his compliment and your lack of though, had you wrapping his frame around your arms. He froze, but then melted into your hands. 

“I’m serious you make the other half of Spooky Duo,” Renjun’s warmth blossomed a new kind of warmth in your heart, “I love you, Y/N...I mean, you’re the best partner in crime money can buy.”

“You threatened me to join you,” You sniffled, ignoring the fluttering feelings the eight letters he murmured brought you. “I had no choice in the matter, but you’re a great partner in crime...I love you too, Renjun.”

The love you felt was different than the love he felt that much you knew. No lack of sleep or caffeine rush was going to lull you into a false reality that you made up in your head. He didn’t feel the same. 

There was beat, in which you both stood, arms tangled and breathing rough, staring into each other’s eyes. The moment was broken when Yuta and Yeri stumbled into your work room claiming a group meeting. You scrambled away from each other, your eyes having totally not been hyperfixed on his lips. Renjun cleared his throat and fist bumped you claiming you as the best friend he could ask for, before he went on his merry way.

You sighed, not trying hard enough to hide you own dejection, but you followed behind him. This, unfortunately, only roused Yuta and Yeri even more as they began gossiping about the office, murmuring about how any day now the Spooky Duo were finally going to get together.

It was dusk, night barely stretching across the horizon when you reached the edge of the Evermore Woods. The forest was cold, dark, and dense. It was the picturesque vision of any horror movie setting, horrific and nightmarish. It would certainly allow for your mind to conjure up the scariest of things to crawl from out of the forest, had you been creative enough for it. From the look in Renjun’s wide eyes, you can tell he felt the eeriness set in too. 

The uneasiness reflected in Jeno and Jaemin’s eyes, your camera crew for tonight. Haechan and Yuta were already setting up things in the cabins. Renjun gulped and led the way down the path,  Jeno and Jaemin stayed a couple of steps behind you two, jostling through the greenery with their equipment. 

“Are you afraid of anything?” Renjun trekked through the foliage skillfully, the bright flashlight guiding him, although there was a subtle shake to his grip.

“Yeah, dying alone. Thank God I have you.” It was meant as a joke, but the weight of your words rang heavy and poignant in contrast to the eerie silence of the night.

Renjun deliberated for a moment, before following it up with a quip of his own, “I'll feed you to the demons before you even get to me.”

“That’s to say there’s even demons.” 

“Our viewers think you’re a demon.” His eyes were playful, reeling you in and effectively turning you into mush.

“I can’t confirm nor deny that.” You squashed the butterflies easily, falling into step behind him. 

“Do you think we’ll catch some real footage of something?”

“What if we see Bigfoot?”

“Wrong episode,” Renjun smiled, “Do these woods spook you out? What's that noise?”

“Do you know what a cricket is? Speaking of Bigfoot,” You poked his side and he flew up, sending you a glare, “Remember last time? Dude, you were practically crying.”

“I thought we were gonna die,” He defended, “How was I supposed to know Johnny was in a Bigfoot costume ready to scare the shit out of us.”

“That was the whole point,” You said as you finally reached the small lake where the Ghost of Jieun was rumored to be seen. “Are you down for a late night swim?” 

Renjun focused his thermal camera on his surroundings, frowning as he caught sight of nothing out of the ordinary. “Should we try the spirit box? Maybe we can speak to her.”

“Chick was murdered by a man, she probably has some deep issues,” You said, plopping down on the wet grass that covered the lip of the lake. “She probably won’t want to speak to you. Or maybe she’s hiding in the cabins back there.”

Jeno and Jaemin propped up all the filming equipment and readied the camera to start filming. They signaled Renjun to get started and he immediately launched into ‘YouTuber Renjun’. 

“We’re here at the Evermore Woods of Neo City. As you can see, we have Green Water Lake right behind me and some of the cabins that remained from the old campground. People say the Ghost of Jieun likes to linger around this general area, near the dock.”

“Wasn’t she killed by her lover?” You bounced a small pebble into the water and watched it ripple.

“Yeah, he dated her. He actually said she was too beautiful to be murdered and she agreed and used that as her tactic to live for one more minute.”

“I--what?”

“Yeah she was basically like ‘Please don't kill me, I’m too sexy for this disrespect.”

“Do you think he was like hahaha don't die your so sexy...oops sorry my knife fell into you.”

“We really shouldn't be joking about this here,” Renjun bit his lip, glancing around nervously.

“That sounds like a freaking skit from American Horror Story 1984! How am I supposed to take it seriously?”

“Because we're probably standing within the general vicinity of the crime.”

“Oh, shit.” You turned towards the cabins. “Should we go inside?”

“You want to go first or should I?” He asked, brushing off bits of grass of his pants and helping you up off the ground. 

“The non-believer always goes first,” You smiled, pinching his cheek, “You, my dear, are last because you’ll most likely freak out and that will be great footage.”

“Please don’t summon anymore demons from the pits of hell.” Renjun begged, although you caught subtle lilt of amusement in his voice. 

“Can’t make any promises,” You took the spirit box and thermal camera from him. “It’s not like anything exciting ever happens anyway.”

“Be careful.” 

The words were simple but the way he said them, dripping with concern. You almost turned around to see his face, but you knew that if you didn’t stop walking towards the cabin, you’d kiss him then and there. Your feelings were growing and him being the sweet, caring person he was, wasn’t helping your case. 

“Honestly, Renjun, is probably pissing his pants right now.” You told the camera Jeno was pointed at you, he agreed silently with a grin. “He’s always terrified, but is like an eager puppy wanting to catch anything.”

“Y/N probably raised hell in there, but what's new.” Renjun called out, opening the door to one of the cabins. 

“I did no such thing...just told the ghost to screw itself for not singing Fergalicious to see if it's real or not.”

“Fergalicious wasn't even a thing back then.”

“Fergie withstands the fabric of time, it's all an illusion, Renjun.” You walked up to him and he made room for Jeno and you to enter. “Maybe something will come out if there’s more of us. It could want variety in its selection.”

The door closed behind you and all you could hear was the heavy breathing of everyone in the room. There was a freakish vibe to them, more so than when you were alone. Jeno swept the camera around the room, catching every cobweb and dust particle within view. Jaemin focused his camera on the Renjun and you waiting for some action.

“Okay, if there’s anyone--Jeiun or any other ghost can you say something to let us know you’re hear.” Renjun flipped the spirit box on and the room was flooded with static noise and the occasional gurgle of something possibly otherworldly.

“My name is Y/N and this my buddy Renjun,” You licked your lips, feeling the chill of the night creep up on you like a frosty hand. “For his sake, can you say something? Is it like in Ghost Whisper, that you have unfinished business and that’s why don’t cross over?”

“Ren…”

“Oh, fuck,” Renjun began to blubber.

“Y/N….” The voice was barely audible above the static, but still managed to erupt a trail of goosebumps down your arm. It clearly sounded like the voice of a girl. “Ren...jun…”

“Oh, hell no,” Renjun looked on the brink of a breakdown, he clambered towards the exit but Jeno blocked it. “Jeno, what the hell!”

“I...am...Jieun…”

A shrill noise pierced the ear and the static of the spirit box became muffled right after. Suddenly, Jeno began to move frenetically, casting the camera aside on a wooden table. His eyes were twitching and his arms waved in the air as if he were possessed.

“Jeno?” Jaemin’s voice was hoarse, he gently shook Jeno.

His eyes widened as Jeno glared down at him and then smacked him on the side, knocking him straight down. Jaemin whimpered from the brute force of his hit and recoiled as Jeno wailed violently and incoherently.

“J-Jeno?” Renjun grabbed your arm and shoved you behind his body, shielding you from any harm Jeno may cause. “Hey, man, if this is about you not getting to pick the location, we can work this out?”

Jaemin got up and quickly grabbed a hold of Jeno whose eyes were rolling back, his whole body contorting under the hold of Jaemin. Renjun pushed you back, slowly stumbling into the small closet in the corner of the room.

“I think he’s possessed!” Jaemin shouted, pinning Jeno down and waving you two off. “Take cover somewhere, I don’t think I can hold him down for much longer.”

Renjun hesitated, not believing his eyes. You pulled him back and ducked into the small closet, the only thing you could hear was the violent rustle of the wind outside and Jeno’s screeching. 

“I shit you not if this is one of your pranks Y/N--”

“It’s n-not,” You stuttered, your whole body quivering like a feather in the breeze. “I swear to God Renjun, I don’t know what’s going on.”

Jaemin’s screaming ceased, there was silence, then a loud, thumping. Jeno’s fists hit the door in frantic, solid beats shaking the door with each hit. 

“He loved me,” Jeno’s voice sounded distanted, higher pitched, “He said he loved me. He said I was beautiful, yet he killed me.”

“Jieun?” Renjun almost sounded sympathetic and you wanted to cry at how sweet he can be, but this wasn’t the time. “Is that you in Jeno? Look, I’m sorry for--”

“You’re not sorry!” Jeno’s thundering voice was full of anguish, “You mock me with your love!”

“What?” You cleared your throat, finding it hard to sound anything remotely human when all you wanted was to sob. 

“Your love for each other,” Jeno as Jieun said, “I thought I had that with him. I was wrong. All I want to see is the love I never got.”

“Is she on crack?” You blurted unthinkingly causing Renjun to silence you with a frantic glare. “I mean, oh yeah, we have a very deep friendly affection.”

“Love,” possessed Jeno corrected, “Tell each other you love each other. You never know what life might throw at you. Enjoy love while you can.”

“Is that a threat Ghost Lady?” You didn’t know what to think of possessed Jeno’s words.

“I’ll let you out only if you speak your heart’s desire.”

“Heart’s desire?” Renjun laughed perturbed by the ghost’s insinuation. “This is crazy.”

“Confess your heart’s desire or face the consequences!” Jeno began banging on the door again and it looked like if he slammed his fist one more time, it would crumble under his sheer strength.

“Renjun do something!”

“Okay, okay, stop Jieun,” Shaking like a leaf, he turned to you ignoring the persistent badgering and grumbling from possessed Jeno. “Y/N, if we don’t make it out of this alive I’m sorry I dragged you into this place.”

The lack of heartfelt confessions only angered Jeno even more. 

“Hey, Samara chill for a second, okay?” You looked at Renjun, taking his hand and squeezing it. “You don’t force me to go anywhere with you, truth is, I’d follow you to any stupid place you want to go. It doesn’t matter if I think it’s haunted or not, for work or not, I’d still follow you anywhere.”

“What?” His breath knotted in his threat and as your breath fanned across his cheeks, he could have sworn he’d be the next ghost to inhabit that cabin. You were too close and his poor heart can only take so much in one night.

“I don’t know if its the fact we’re about to die,” You wanted to be swallowed by some random hole in the ground or have creepy ghost Jeno drag you away. “Or the fact I can’t see you since it’s dark as shit in here. Or even the fact that I’m starting to think this is a nightmare and I’ll wake up in my desk with you hovering over me with fresh coffee and that cheesy smile of yours that I lo--”

“Y/N.” The way he spoke your name so softly and lovingly, made your temperature rise the cold of the dinky closet no longer affected you. 

“Oh, right, sorry,” You rushed through your words, wanting this all to be over, “Truth is I like you, Renjun. I’ve liked you for a long time and that’s why I didn’t need a lot of convincing to join your team.”

“Is that true?” Samara-Jeno asked. 

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

“I like you too, Y/N,” Renjun’s voice cracked and your heart swelled. “I’m not...I have no words to describe it. But I like you so much and I never had the courage to say it.”

You smiled, shrouded in the darkness he couldn’t see the pure happiness on your face. 

“I’ll leave this body now,” Samara-Jeno said, breaking the heart-eyes-through-the-dark spell you two were in. “You can rest easy, I’m gone…Hey, you guys what the hell happened?”

“Holy shit it worked!” The sheer exuberance of him confessing and you not being in danger had you squealing. “I didn’t think that would work!”

Renjun, however took this differently, “Yeah, you’re such a good actor. That confession...wow.”

“What?” You didn’t even have time to process the crushing sensation his words brought. “Oh, yeah, good one right?” You knew it was too good to be true.

“For God’s sake--”Jeno threw the door open and you clambered over to grip Renjun close to you.

Jaemin sighed exasperated as he readjusted the camera in his hands. You crawled out of the closet, disoriented and bewildered by everything going on. Haechan was handing Chenle money (“Told you they were dumb to see their love”) and bitterly glaring at you two. Yuta and Yeri looked like they wanted to bang their heads. 

“What the hell is this?” You shrieked as Renjun gaped at his coworkers. 

“This was a set up!” Jeno explained, outraged by the sheer dumbassery you two possessed. “You guys literally confessed to each other like we wanted! Then straight up made it sound like it was all acting...what the heck!”

“You guys are really something else,” Yuta shook his head. “Love is blind and makes you oblivious, but you two are just dumbassess.”

“Wait, so you like me?” Renjun’s eyes widened at your accusation.

“You like me too?” 

“Yeah, I actually wasn’t lying,” You felt sheepish at all the pairs of eyes glued on you. “I do like you, Renjun...enough to go ghost hunting even though I don’t believe in that.”

“I like you too,” He cupped your cheek in his hands, ignoring the camera Jaemin pointed right at you. “You’re my partner in crime and I kinda wanna have you around to hunt more ghosts.”

“That’s an offer I can’t resist,” You grinned, kissing him gently on the cheek. “However, you’re gonna have to buy me dinner after, all this ghost hunting makes me hungry.”

“Deal.” The same fondness in his eyes you thought you imagined before, returned and your eyes reflected that fondness. “Now, what the hell were you guys thinking this was a great location and we could have had awesome footage!”

You spent the rest of the night scouring the woods for ghosts, although you didn’t find any. Renjun and you, trailed behind everyone, hand and hand and beaming brighter than the moon above. 

“What do you think our viewers are gonna make our ship name be?”

“I hope it’s not something silly,” You gripped his fingers tightly, yanking him closer to you. “There’s something I’ve really been wanting to do, but doing it in front of everyone and in haunted cabin, just didn’t seem right.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” His fingers caressed your cheek, letting them trail down as he placed his hand on your arm. He marveled at the way you shivered under his touch. He was getting too cocky and needed to be stepped down a notch.

You pecked his lips quickly, the only witness to your kiss was the moon and stars. He soften under your touch, holding you tighter. You pulled away all too quick for his taste and laughed as you made your way towards the cars and the group.

“That’s what you get for being a tease!”

He smiled and followed you spraying holy water from his spray can at your retreating figure.

“You really are a demon!” He joked as he caught up to you and took your hand in his again.

“Another one to add to the list of completed missions,” You grinned shuffling into the van. “Up for another adventure?”

“With you, yes,” He would never stop making your heart flutter.

“I swear to God if you two are going to be this cheesy, I am going to regret setting this up in the first place.”

Yuta was only kidding, considering he was the biggest shipper. The next day at the office the video of you two confessing to each other was seen by everyone. For once, you were glad to have been terrorized by an alleged ghost. You watched as Renjun walked over to you, glowing, and a folder in his hand. Yeah, you’d definitely followed this dork through any “haunted” place or anywhere for that matter. 

Paranormal Neotivity masterlist 

[packsbeforesnacks]

Blank Space || Darwin & Winn

TIMING: Wednesday, July 1st, 2020, Late Afternoon LOCATION: Fine Print (Darwin’s Bookstore) PARTIES: @wardinasrani & @packsbeforesnacks SUMMARY: Winn visits Winston’s contact, Darwin, hoping to find answers about his hidden memories. When Darwin looks into Winn’s mind, the answer shocks them both. WARNINGS: Brief depiction of an anxiety attack.

Truth be told, Darwin wasn't too keen on coming out of hiding. The ritual a couple of weeks back had drained him, and it had taken him days to even feel like himself again. He wasn't an idiot, he knew the Asrani probably had people on his trail, and he'd decided to disappear at least until his magic came back. Now he could feel his energy flowing through his veins once again, power crackling at his fingertips, but did he feel safe from the Asrani's reach? Not really. Still, this was a favor to Winston, the kid he'd doomed with a cursed eye, the kid that had allowed him to perform the ritual that had stopped what could very well have been an apocalypse. Darwin owed Winston, the whole town owed Winston. White Crest might not be aware of its debt to the kid, but Darwin wasn't going to forget the part Winston had played in keeping the world safe. He'd help their friend, even if that meant coming out of hiding. When he heard the bell on the store ring, he raised his head and offered a polite smile. The door was open, even though the sign outside said closed. “Welcome. You must be Winston's friend, correct?”

It had taken a minute for Winn to find Fine Print, especially given the gaps in his memory (ha) he was still filling in with regards to the town’s twists and turns. Each new street could have hidden shops he’d never been into — and that was even before you started thinkin’ about all the magical shit that Winn couldn’t see, or could only see part of. Winston had put a lot of faith in this guy, so he hoped their bet paid off. Fine Print was louder than any bookstore Winn had ever been in (admittedly, not many), noises echoing from behind each shelf as he made his way to the only other person in the store. Winn considered Darwin’s question longer than was really appropriate, given its straightforwardness. “Friend, yeah, that’s me.” Winn wasn’t sure if Winston considered him a friend, but he’d let that last worm of anxiety wriggle its way around his head when there wasn’t a hole in his head — memories, whatever. “You’re the, uh,” he glanced around, knowing full well that there wasn’t another soul — well, maybe he shouldn’t go that far — in the store, “specialist that they mentioned, right? Darwin? I’m Winn.” Should he sit? Should he shake hands? His normal social graces weren’t applicable here, in the mage’s home territory. And God forbid he pick up a book just to make himself feel less awkward.

Darwin smiled as he studied the newcomer. Part of him, the part that he tried to hide from himself, enjoyed his nervousness: as an Asrani he'd been taught to use other people's anxiety, wield it as a weapon in order to get the best bargain. It was the reason behind the villainous mustache, the dark silk shirts, the haunted noises in his domain and the theatricality in everything he did: it created expectations in other people minds, tricked them into thinking he shouldn't be messed with. But this particular meeting wasn't about scoring a good deal, it wasn't about covering his own ass... Winn was no threat to him, and Darwin had nothing to gain from this except the warm, satisfying feeling of a good deed done. It was worth it: he had much to atone for on behalf of his family, any small step to improve his standing in this community and his karma was worth the risks. He walked over to Winn and nodded, offering him his hand. “Darwin Asrani, yes. The... Specialist.” That word sounded a bit cold to his ears: mental magic wasn't surgery, it wasn't something anyone could ever truly master: each mind was different, each spell simple at its core but presenting unexpected turns and surprises at every corner. Darwin gestured toward the small door at the end of the store, leading to the basement. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Winn. Tell me, are you the type that would prefer some small talk before getting into the reason for your visit, or would you rather jump straight to the point? I can make tea.” He was aware that, to someone who didn't know him, anything he said probably sounded sinister, but nevertheless Darwin tried to keep his tone friendly and casual.

Winn took Darwin’s hand in his own and shook it firmly before letting go. “Um,” he said, frown on his face, “I don’t mean to be rude, but… smalltalk afterwards, maybe? Sorry, it’s just… if the problem can get solved, I’d rather get it over with. It’s been a pain.” He looked towards the door, humming a bit in the back of his throat. “Some tea could be nice, though? I’m, uh, a little nervous?” It wasn’t the first time Winn had met a spellcaster, sure, but magic was all still so new to him. That mystery, ironically, kept Winn comfortable. The more he knew about it, the more scenarios his mind would play out, trying to figure out what could be possible. He’d already lost two years of memories to magic — albeit of a different origin, apparently. Winn had seen Nell summon, what, hellhounds? Winn might be a scary story, but magic was a fairytale, and, save for demons, was the hardest thing for Winn to accept about the supernatural world. Even Otto’s assertion that his father had protected his office hadn’t eased Winn’s anxieties around it. “I, um, don’t know how much they told you, about me, but to cut to the chase… I can’t remember everything in my past. For two years, there’s a… blur. I thought that I had been,” turned into a wolf, “preoccupied, during that time. But some folks say they saw me during that time… and I don’t remember ever seein’ them. My, um, my friend threw me into a tree, recently, and I slipped into a, like, almost a fugue state? Not the kind from any sort of identity disorder, but I couldn’t remember — can’t remember — the next five minutes. I came to, but… Yeah. I don’t want that to happen again. Someone,” how to phrase this delicately? “... could get hurt.”

Darwin nodded and offered Winn another smile. “Nervous is exactly what you should be,” he murmured solemnly. Jumping into magic with no fear, no doubts, that was reckless and stupid. Winn's concerns were understandable, wise even. Then again, Darwin reminded himself, doubts could also become obstacles when it came to magic. “My tea is terrible,” he concluded with a shrug, hoping the joke would ease the tension as he led his guest to the room. Darwin opened it and walked downstairs. Walls covered with libraries, a small altar in the middle of the room, runes and circles scribbled and carved everywhere, and a small electrical stove, along with some kitchen supplies. The room wasn't well-stocked enough to live there, but it had enough supplies to make some tea, and while Winn shared his tale, Darwin listened carefully, keeping himself busy with the stove. At the end of the tale, he turned around, arms crossed as the water boiled. “Mh. I see. Two years is quite a long time. My first guess would be, well...” He paused and bit his lip, stroking his mustache as he stared at Winn, deep in thought. The young man wasn't sharing everything: vague words like 'preoccupied', the awkward pauses... Darwin sighed. “Actually, I have a couple of theories. I'm going to assume you already tried regular medicine. When people come to me, they're usually at the end of their rope.” There he went again with the villainous talk. He shook his head and continued “I mean... Messing with magic can be dangerous, I'm sure Winston told you, and people don't always trust a perfect stranger with their mind, and who can blame them? But you need to understand... If you want my help, you'll have to be honest with me, no lies, no omission, or someone could get hurt.” He chuckled after echoing Winn’s own words, trying to show the guy he wasn’t threatening him, just offering Winn the same honesty Darwin was demanding of him. “So before I share my theories, I have to ask... Are you willing to do that?”

The room was about as Winn imagined a sorcerer’s would be, somethin’ out of Arthurian legend or the study of Freyja, but with modern edges, and an… altar? Some sort of centerpiece, definitely, and Winn didn’t know nearly enough about magic to begin to guess at what the placement, the runes, the shapes meant. It was enough to send his head spinning, so he focused on Darwin, ignoring the thrum of energy in the air. He’d known, of course, that he’d have to admit what he was to the mage, but… Well, he wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t make him a bit uncomfortable, what seemed like every spellslinger in White Crest knowin’ about the werewolf with the broken memory. In the wrong hands, that information could be dangerous. But… Winn trusted Winston, knew that they wouldn’t intentionally steer him into a trap. “I’m willing. Um. I’m goin’ to assume you already know about… shapeshifters. Selkies, bugbears, and… werewolves.” He paced, careful to avoid stepping on anything not recognizably English. “I’m a werewolf. Bitten, not born. I, um, it’s been almost a decade. I have a friend whose parents trained him to be a hunter and we’ve been researchin’ for weeks — or, well, he has. Nothin’ we’ve found has been useful. Until a couple of months ago, I had just thought I was… transformed, for a really long time. Thought maybe the animal didn’t know… didn’t feel the passing of time? But I called up an old packmate after I got into a… fight, with another wolf. I’ve always been fairly in control of my emotions. But this was… different. And then, later that month, my friend tossed me into a tree while I was shifted, and I almost killed her. I pulled back, barely, but… My dad, he’s, um, a huxian? He suggested it might be magical, and then pretty much everyone else has thought the same thing. So… Tada. Here I am.” He gave a weak smile. “If you have any questions, I’ll answer them. Sorry, just… y’know, I’m not human, technically. Some folks aren’t big on that.”

“I know of shapeshifters, know they exist, but nothing really specific.” Darwin replied. The natural curiosity that had pushed him to explore the Asrani library even before his father was ready to begin his training was throbbing inside him, and it took all of Darwin's willpower not to ask Winn about a dozen questions. When he mentioned a Hunter friend, though, Darwin couldn't keep a small snort at bay. Talk about unlikely friendship. After a pause, Darwin moved his hand toward Winn's shoulder in an attempt to squeeze it to reassure him. And, well, the guy had amazing shoulders, Darwin couldn't deny it. “Don't worry. This here? Judgement-free zone. An amnesiac werewolf doesn't even score in the top five dangerous creatures that I've dealt with.” The loud whistling noise let Darwin know the tea was ready, and he quickly poured two cups, offering one to Winn. He took a sip from his own, squinted and then abandoned the cup on a small desk, mumbling something about needing more sugar. “Magic can erase memories. Or, rather... Make them inaccessible. Though I don't know why someone would do that to you. There's a chance they wanted to hide something else. Maybe you witnessed something a caster wanted to be kept secret. Maybe they even manipulated you and then blocked those two years out so you wouldn't be able to go after them.” Darwin started circling the room, pacing back and forth, talking more to himself than Winn. Then he suddenly stopped and turned to stare at the werewolf. “The wolf. Is it... A separate entity within you? Does it have wishes and urges that are different from yours? Is 'it' even the right pronoun? What I mean is... Are we dealing with one or two minds, here?”

The squeeze to Winn’s shoulder was comforting, if slightly too long. He resisted the urge to waggle his eyebrows, knowing that him being serious was the most important thing here, not flirting to ease tension. “Maybe sometime I’ll ask you ‘bout that list, man.” Winn sipped the tea after a moment, wincing at the bitter taste. Hm… Okay, so. Darwin hadn’t been lyin’, that was crap. Rather than be rude, he let it cool down. It would be water soon enough. There were theories, but Winn, not unkindly, didn’t want to hear them without knowin’ the truth. Darwin could deal with the magic; Winn would deal with whatever was waitin’ for him after he broke through. Winn gave the question some thought. “I… I mean, it’s me, right? I am the wolf, the wolf is me. It’s…” Winn sighed. No judgment, Darwin had said. “It was easier, when the wolf had blood on its claws, to act like it was… separate from me, in some ways. After a while, it became a habit.” He picked up the tea again, took a sip, made the same exact face. It’s not like his memory had been great before he’d had them taken from him. “But… I don’t know, when I’m transformed, even on the bad nights — near the Moon. I remember everything. I have since the end of that first year or so. Average, from what they tell me, for Bitten. When I almost attacked Blanche?” Winn gave a thoughtful hum. “It was… almost like an instinct, one that overrode my senses and consciousness. I… a defense mechanism? Could that be somethin’? I mean, I know for… humans, their minds can develop responses to trauma that can’t really be… explained, with a simple answer. So, maybe it’s just… my mind tryin’ to protect itself? Maybe there’s somethin’ down there that I shouldn’t touch? I don’t have any answers… well, except the original one, I guess. No. The wolf isn’t different, or, uh, isn’t supposed to be. Just a turn of speech.”

“Oh, it's a fascinating list, one better enjoyed in front of dinner.” The invitation in Darwin's words wasn't subtle at all, but he didn't push any further than that: they were having a Serious Conversation™ . “Defense mechanism, mh. Makes sense. You know earlier, when I asked you if you'd explored different venues before turning to magic? That's what I meant. Trauma can block memories, and that's as mundane as it gets, something I couldn't help with no matter how deep I dug. But from what you're saying...” Darwin hesitated, not sure how to phrase things. He'd never really discussed the nature of werewolves with anyone, let alone with an actual werewolf, so he wasn't sure what would cross the hypothetical line of werewolf etiquette. After a few moments, he decided he'd deal with this not unlike a medic: clinically, detached. But damn if he wasn't curious. “Well, from what you're saying, you normally remember what you do in wolf form, even if you can't always control it. So either what you've blocked is bigger and worse than any other stuff you remember, or there's something else at play.” There was only one way to know for certain, but Darwin wasn't sure how to bring it up: 'Hey, can I look inside your mind?' wasn't exactly a first meeting offer. Then again, it had been Winn seeking him out, so... “There's a spell I can do. It would allow me to take a peek under the hood, so to speak, catch a glimpse of what's going on in that head of yours. But I have to be honest: it's a one way show, I'll see some shallow thoughts, but you won't be able to see inside my head. It might feel... invasive, I suppose. But it's the quickest way I can get an idea of what's going on and at least narrow it down. On the bright side, it would only take a couple of minutes. And, ah... to even the score, I'll answer truthfully any one single question you may have about me. And, of course, any questions you might have about the process.”

Unlike his tryst with Jimmy, Darwin’s invitation didn’t make Winn feel quite so… gross. He was happy to flirt, but… well, after. Regardless of what Noah and he decided to do, bein’ charming was, well, part of his charm. “That sums it up,” Winn said, popping the p. Even for a werewolf, there were things Winn could comfortably say he didn’t know much about — subspecies that he’d only heard about in whispered rumors, whatever hybrid monsters Adam had spoken about. But this was different. “It gets… harder to control, near the Full Moon, yeah. And on,” the three days of, “the Full Moon, we transform. Bam, the legends are true. Some of them.” He laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “Let’s do it,” he said, immediately. Winn wasn’t one to wait, even if — when — waiting was the best option. When he saw somethin’, he needed to go and handle it. His memory had been weighin’ on him for too damn long, and he wanted to know. Curiosity, though typically noted of cats, called Winn to think hard about the question he’d ask Darwin, too. “Man, I’d have questions, if I knew what questions to even have. Um, will it… hurt? I guess? It doesn’t matter, I’ll take the pain, just… preparing myself, y’know. Werewolves and gettin’ hurt don’t always go great together, so please… I know you said I wasn’t dangerous, but I can be. So, I don’t know, maybe have a sleepin’ spell in your back pocket, in case you need to Sleeping Beauty me. If that’s a thing.” It had to be a thing, right?

“Wow, I give you a free pass at any personal info, and you don't go for my digits straight away? That tea must have been really bad. That, or I've lost my charm.” Darwin joked, adding a playful wink to the end of it for good measure. It seemed like Winn was more at ease whenever he assumed a less formal tone, so Darwin switched his posture to a more casual one. Yet, no matter how relaxed he wanted to keep it, he realized what Winn was saying was a real concern. Being trapped in a basement with a bloodthirsty monster was not something Darwin wanted to try any time soon. Sleeping spells existed, of course, but to check Winn's head he'd have to get close to him, so close that he wouldn't be able to even utter abracadabra before being ripped to shreds if the werewolf decided to appear. How quick did the change happen, anyway? Darwin shook his head to chase those distracting questions away, and looked at Winn, this time serious. “It will only hurt if you push me away.” The times he'd seen the ritual performed, when his father had done it to some unwilling rivals to steal their secrets, it had looked mighty uncomfortable at best and hellishly painful at worst. But Darwin himself had also done it with friends and lovers alike, using it to get closer to each other when words just wouldn't cut it. “This sort of spell can either feel invasive, or... Well, intimate, but that's up to you. It's why I offered you a question: trust will make it easier, on both of us.”

“Ah,” Winn said, an easy laugh coming out of his mouth. “I’m… goin’ on a first date with this guy, Saturday. I tried to… burn off some tension, if y’catch my drift, and it was a little weird. Given you’re about to poke around in my head, I feel like I should just come clean… If he and I had DTR’d or were open or whatever? Well, I know an easy way to help us both relax. That said, you could always steal a kiss away. Door’s open, Darwin.” He let that hang in the air for a moment, giving the man time to consider the offer. Sex? Definitely off the table, not even a little bit alright. But… one kiss? That wasn’t that bad of an idea. “So, ‘m not gonna be sorry if you see some colorful details in there, dude. You’re stacked and I have eyes.” He winked. “‘Sides, I’m fine with intimate. I’m tryin’ this new thing where I just tell folks shit that they might want to know. I won’t push you away. Hell, get as close as you need.” Winn thought through Darwin’s ask a little more carefully. It seemed, almost, like askin’ something would make the other man more comfortable. And, hell, he’d been thinkin’ a lot on the subject lately, so there was… one question that occurred to him. Winn was just the brand of shameless to ask. “What’s it like for you, when you fall in love?” he said before he could stop himself, though he quickly followed it up with, “I know you said… anything, but if that’s too, uh, personal, I get it. Really, I do. I can always get your number.” He smiled, this one a little more real, and left himself open to Darwin’s best… or worst.

Darwin seriously considered the offer: Winn was extremely attractive, and one way or another he was about to be inside him anyway. The way he licked his lips made it abundantly clear that the temptation was there, but ultimately Darwin shook his head, albeit a little reluctantly. “I'm not the sort to steal kisses, Winn. No way to enjoy the build up and the aftermath of a kiss if it's stolen and tinted with guilt. More importantly, I'm not a home-wrecker. Or, well, an opportunity-killer, if things aren't that serious. You seem pretty into this guy, and I'm not gonna jeopardize that.” Again, a wink, followed by a low chuckle. “That said, if come Saturday you two have defined things and the door's still open, I'll let you have my number anyway.” Winn's eagerness to share was refreshing; the people that usually came to Darwin were secretive at best, with far too many things to hide for Darwin's taste. Hell, Darwin himself had his fair share of secrets, but he only kept those because he knew they'd scare most people off, not because he really wanted to keep them hidden. What Winn asked, though? That wasn't scary, and Darwin let out a relieved sigh when he heard the question. “Not too personal at all. Could've asked way worse shit. But it is a... Difficult question. I could wax some poetry, feed you some lines like 'it just feels right', but truth is... I don't know.” With his father keeping such a close eye on him, Darwin had never gotten the chance to grow close enough to someone to fall, he'd barely had the time for the casual one night stands he'd somehow managed to keep a secret from his legacy-obsessed family. And once he'd finally left them, he'd been too busy moving from place to place, following demons summoned by the Asrani and fixing their mess. Wow. Up until that particular moment, Darwin hadn't really thought about how much his family had taken from him. “Never been in love, I don't think. Been in lust, had some intense friendships, but love? Never had the chance. I can only assume it feels... like home. Not my home, mind you, my home was a mess, but like... a not fucked up home. One that accepts all of you, one where you feel comfortable and safe and can be simply yourself and walk around in your boxers, one that smells like your favorite food and... Sorry, I guess I am waxing poetry now. What can I say, I'm a romantic at heart.” They were getting off topic, but it had been a while since Darwin had just had a pleasant chat with someone, one that wasn't necessarily about dark pacts, obscure rituals and potential apocalypses. Again, refreshing. “Why that question? Of all the questions you could have asked, you went for the love one right after sort of” another wink, the last in what felt like a long series for such a brief meeting “turning me down. Sending some mixed signals here, buddy.” Before Winn could have the chance to answer, Darwin placed a finger on his lips to silence him. “Actually… Perhaps you should answer that after Saturday, mh? After all, you did turn me down. I’m guessing that date is related to the question, and we don’t want you focused on all these confusing emotions right before I dive into your head. Besides, I’d like to talk more, get to know you. Platonically, I mean. Haven’t had the chance to meet many friends here, so… Let’s not burn all the steps with the deep personal love stuff just yet, mh?”

Leaning forward, Winn settled in for Darwin’s explanation. He couldn’t find it in himself to be… disappointed, per se, but Darwin’s decision to stay out of his and Noah’s dance — or, well, Twister game — only confirmed that Winn could trust this man, even if the man had a story, a past, and plenty of secrets. If he wasn’t relaxed before, the last coil of anxiety had been taken from his gut. When Darwin explained, Winn couldn’t help but smile a bit. The honesty was nice; Darwin reminded him almost of Rio in that way. Romantic at heart, a big apologetic for when he rambled, but ultimately kinder than… well, what White Crest could turn people into, if they let it. When Darwin’s finger left Winn’s lips, he nodded. “I’d like that, too,” he said, after a moment. “But,” he clapped his hands together, “leeeeet’s do this. Spread me open, bro.” Wow. Talk about an innuendo. There was an energy to this interaction, and Winn wasn’t sure if it was the magic coursing through, what, Darwin’s veins? Or if it was simply the chemistry of two future friends. Either way, Winn was diggin’ it. Felt better than wiggin’ about his memories. “How do you want me?”

Darwin tried to keep a straight face. Seriously, he gave it his best shot, he bit his tongue and winced at the pain of that. But in the end, he just couldn't keep it in, and his loud, baritone laughter echoed in the basement. “That was... so bad,” he finally let out with a gasp, shaking his head. “I've used some terrible pick up lines, but you've got me beaten.” Again, he patted Winn's shoulder, this time the relaxed gesture of two buddies sharing a good laugh and nothing more. Well, almost nothing more, the guy still had incredible shoulders, and Darwin's hand lingered there. He used the contact to cop a feel, sure, but also to lead Winn toward the desk where his tea had been abandoned. With his leg, he pushed the chair, to give Winn room to sit, and then he gently pushed the man on it. “At the cost of being just as cheesy as you've been, I'll need you to relax, it'll make it easier. I'm also going to look like one of those evil hypnotists you see on TV, but no pocket watch or swirling spirals. Just some intense eye contact as I try to establish a... a connection with your mind.” As he spoke he lowered his voice to a soft whisper, and put both his hands on Winn's temples, tilting his head slightly so he could look in his eyes. “Just focus on my breathing, and try to match it. Slow and easy. Take me in as you inhale, let your worries out as you exhale. Like meditating, but we're doing it together.” For a moment he wondered if his sandalwood cologne would smell chemical to a werewolf this close, and if he could sense Darwin's natural scent, but instead of dwelling on that — more questions for their potential friendly outing — he started gathering his energy. He didn't need words for this particular ritual but he kept murmuring, to give Winn something to follow as Darwin visualized his own conscience enveloping his hands. He couldn't see auras, but he liked to think his right now would look like a bright ball of energy surrounding Winn's head, warm and almost electrical as his essence moved around, gentle, tentative almost, looking for an opening, hoping Winn (more importantly, his wolf instincts) would feel safe enough to make his job easier.

Even if it had been an accidental joke, Winn still was happy to hear Darwin laugh, even slightly at his expense. “Only terrible,” he said, with another friendly wink, “if it’s never worked.” He allowed Darwin to put one of his big, warm hands on Winn’s shoulder — and, hm, okay, heel boy — and guide him to sit. Darwin was close, and he was right, this was intimate. Winn could think of partners whose face he hadn’t gotten this close to. Winn snorted at the joke, but tried his best to relax. In, out. Darwin smelled like cologne, sandalwood one of the few scents that Winn enjoyed, but if Winn inhaled deeper, and he did, he could smell something… like a burning, almost, but it was faint. Underneath, though, Darwin’s scent reminded him of… Ricky’s, almost. Saltwater and the outdoors, someone perpetually destined to be a wanderer. Unlike the mountain scents that Winn associated with pack, this one was, admittedly, a little strange to him. Not… bad, but strange. In, out. Darwin’s hands on his head buzzed, almost, and it wasn’t painful, not quite, but the feeling was… too much, almost. His mind had only ever had Winn in it, that he’d remembered, but. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. His eyes, though open, lulled to a half-closed state, his gaze lost in Darwin’s dark ones. There was so much on Winn’s mind, at all times, but here, like this, the cores rose up to meet Darwin. Winn wouldn’t describe it, except that his mind was… light. Noah, his friends, his newfound purpose, all lived there, linked together and shining out from Winn. Without thinking, his lips slid into a smile. Inhale. Exhale. The light, though, cast… a shadow. And within that shadow, concealed from vision, was a hole. The shadow, his mistakes, his anxieties, the ways in which he’d failed, time and time again, to make things right. And, if Winn followed Darwin’s energy, he could almost feel the absence in his mind. It hurt, more than he could describe, but it wasn’t… physical. It was grief, loss, unnamed things and unremembered things. And then, Winn’s eyes glassed over, as Darwin looked into what his mind refused to see.

Winn's mind was not what Darwin would have expected when looking into what people often described as a savage beast. While the spell was too superficial to really put faces to the soft feelings swirling inside Winn's head, it was clear that those bonds meant a great deal to the man sitting in front of him. That was the mind of a protector, not a monster. Like demons, perhaps werewolves were misunderstood, and people should focus more on their deep sense of family and pack rather than their fangs and claws. Then again, this might just be Winn, not a werewolf thing. Darwin had learned long enough not to generalize when it came to these things. Feeling Winn grow more comfortable with what they were doing, he dove deeper, moving past the superficial thoughts, those that were either so ingrained in Winn's core or so fresh that the man had no trouble remembering them on his own. The painful memories, the doubts and fears weren't unexpected; everyone had dark corners in their mind, and Darwin did his best to move past those as quick as he could, to let the man have as much privacy as he could give him. But what he sensed next... Darwin's spell was meant to let him reach within for things he'd lost, things that might have been locked away. And once he'd found those cages, he'd just open them and return the memories to Winn. Simple, clean. Except there were no cages. What he saw was... a void. Like a puzzle missing a few pieces. Darwin paused, so baffled that Winn would probably be able to sense it through their temporary connection. Winn's memories weren't trapped, they weren't hidden under a hazy fog, or lost in an endless sea. They were just... a blank space. Darwin moved his thumbs' on Winn's temples, trying to soothe him as best he could as he lingered in his head, searching for something that wasn't there. Perhaps it was the fact he was dealing with a wolf, but the longer he spent looking, the more he felt like a dog chasing a ball that'd never been thrown. He spent minutes hunting, each moment everlasting, but no matter how much he tried... Nothing. Finally Darwin gave up, and he slowly pulled back, his hands releasing Winn's face as the last remnants of his conscience left him. He gave Winn a few moments to recover before opening his mouth to speak. And then he closed it again, not sure how to break the news to him. The silence, coupled with the grim expression on Darwin's face, spoke volumes, and when he finally made a sound it was tentative, guilty almost. “How are you?”

The fuzz from Darwin’s temporary confusion stung at Winn’s temples, almost like brain freeze, and he felt himself wince even if he was practiced enough at weathering pain to not break the connection. In, out. He bit into his lip, so hard he was half-sure it was bleeding. Darwin spent more time in his head, looking for what he wasn’t sure. Winn trusted the spellcaster — or, trusted that Winston trusted the spellcaster — and knew that, if he could just wait, just be patient, then Darwin would ever be able to put his fractured mind back together. But, the longer Darwin looked, the more Winn began to sense that… that maybe his mind wasn’t fractured, so much as missing something. That hole, the one hidden beneath the shadows, was that… was that an actual hole and not just a place where things were hiding in wait? He felt a spike of anxiety run through him as Darwin pulled away, and Winn searched his face. When the silence didn’t break, when Darwin’s mouth just kept opening, shutting, and the look grew even more grave, Winn started to ask… and found he couldn’t. How are you? Well, panicking, if Winn was going to be honest. He took a few breaths, trying to calm himself down, but he knew the signs of an anxiety attack like the back of his hand. Winn hadn’t had one in years, had grown to an expert at managing them between therapy and becoming a counselor-in-training himself. But something about this one was different, and Winn felt himself burying his face in his hands, blocking out the light, blocking out Darwin’s pained expression. There was a part of him that wanted Darwin to touch him, to reach out and say something. And then there was the part, equally as strong, that was sure that would make him lash out at someone who didn’t deserve it. And so Winn took shuddering breaths as he tried to wrap his head around what he sensed was true. Finally, a whisper, “... They’re not there.” It wasn’t a question.

Darwin could only watch in silence as emotions danced on Winn’s face, and he felt like some sick peeping tom, even more so than when he’d been inside his mind. He watched as doubt turned to fear and then into terrible certainty, and he felt powerless to help Winn. The selfish part of him was glad at least that the werewolf seemed to have grasped the situation, it kept Darwin from struggling with how to break the news to him. As things stood now, there was nothing his magic could do for Winn: nothing to release, nothing to fix. Maybe, maybe Darwin could help if only Winn had a vague hint about where the memories had gone. Who’d taken them. But this whole situation was obviously something Winn didn’t fully understand, and Darwin assumed if he’d had some vague suspicion he’d have shared it with him. Darwin could maybe tell him that, should the memories be found, it would be possible to put them back where they belonged, but right then, staring at Winn’s chest rising and falling with deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down, Darwin didn’t have it in him to offer his new acquaintance (possible friend?) any false hope. So, after a long, endless pause, he just lowered his head and sighed. His hand moved once again to Winn’s shoulder, this time not to feel the muscles there, but just to offer a small anchor in this moment where the rug had been pulled from under his feet. He opened his other arm in a silent invite, and simply whispered… “No. No, they’re not.”

[excindrela]

12 Days of Demon Ayno- Day 4

Supernatural AU

Pairing: demon! Ayno (Noh YoonHo) VAV x Female Reader

Genre: Fluff 

Warnings: Implied sex

Word Count: 1739

AN: Welcome back to the 12 Days of Demon Ayno! It’s Day 4- only 8 more to go! As promised, more smut is coming (hint: Day 6) but since it’s the Holiday Season, this is Fluffy! I love feedback- so if there’s something you like, or something you want to see- tell me!! Thank you to everyone who has continued to read this, and especially to those who have re-blogged! 

Demon Ayno: Summoned, Thanksgiving, 12 Days: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5  Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

On the 4th Day of Christmas: Ayno Gets His 1st Christmas Tree

Just like the song said, the weather outside was frightful- and had been for a couple days, but inside your apartment it was actually pretty delightful. Ambiance and heat were being provided by the electric fireplace, and you were stretched out on the couch across from your inhuman boyfriend. You were focused on your laptop, trying to get some work done before your office closed for the holidays, and Ayno was watching the “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special on TV.

You would occasionally glance up at now skinny Al Roker (you liked him better fat) or respond to Ayno’s comments or questions. (Why do those girls have such long legs? How do they do that? I think it’s a requirement- they’re the Rockettes, they practice those kicks a lot. Are those the boys that sing and dance on the blonde lady’s show? Oh, yeah- I think so? They’re from Korea…BT something? Ellen loves them. Why is this lady surprised? She isn’t – she’s just had too much plastic surgery.) Finally, the big moment came, and they lit the tree at 30 Rock. You glanced up and smiled at Ayno’s “Awww” of awe- he was really loving all the Christmas lights.

“It’s pretty, huh?” you asked.

Ayno nodded profusely, and then hesitantly asked, “Could we get a tree and put lights on it?”

You smiled, “Yes! Of course!” You paused “...I was going to say we could go after work, but I have meetings and I’ll be late the next couple of days.”  

He looked disappointed, and then brightened. “If you will allow me…This is my first Christmas tree- I would like to pick it out and decorate it. You don’t need to help- I will choose the tree and make it perfect.” He said excitedly.

Your Spidey sense tingled. You weren’t sure you should let Ayno do this without guidance, but he wanted so much to prove he was capable.

“Ok. If you buy from the Boy Scouts tree lot on 4th & Grand, they’ll deliver it for you.”

“I promise I will choose well and make it beautiful!” he declared.

Of that you had little doubt…it was the process that concerned you.

When you rolled in just after 6:15 the next evening you expected to see a tree in your living room and Ayno decorating it. But there was no tree, and Ayno was cooking dinner. “No tree??” you asked

“It is being delivered after six. I am waiting.” Ayno said taking the chicken parmigiana out of the oven. 

You changed your clothes into something comfortable and went down to the building’s basement to retrieve the two boxes of Christmas decorations from storage while Ayno made noodles & poured you wine.  

You had no sooner returned to the apartment and there was a knock on the door and what appeared to be an entire troop of Boy Scouts standing there.

“We have a tree delivery for…I-Know?” the leader asked hesitantly.

“A-Know”, you supplied.

“That is me!” Ayno said as he went sprinting for the door.

“Sign here”, the boy said. “Where do you want it?”

Ayno pointed to the living room and then stood aside.

You watched as the top of the tree came through the door... and then just kept coming…and coming…and coming. They marched into the living room, stood it in the spot Ayno pointed to, and then cut the twine holding it tight and it exploded out into all its bushy gloriousness.

It was huge. It was the Christmas tree that ate your living room.

You tapped one of the Boy Scouts on the shoulder “What is that??”

“It’s your Christmas tree ma’am”

“Yes I know that, but what kind of tree is that??”

“It’s a Grand Fir ma’am… Abies Grandis? It’s a soft wood conifer.”

“Uh-huh... how tall is that tree?”

“Oh that one is only 12 feet. Grand Firs can reach the height of almost 300 feet.”

“Ok. Wow. Here- thanks kid.” You said if you handed him a $20 bill.

Ayno clapped with joy. “Look! It is just like the one on TV!!” 

Well it certainly looked as big as the one on TV. You weren’t sure exactly what Ayno had in mind, but you had a feeling it was about to get interesting. You grabbed your dinner from the kitchen and made yourself comfortable on the couch to watch the show.

Ayno immediately began digging through the boxes. He finally found a string of colored lights stuffed into the bottom of the second box, but it was a giant tangled mess. He happily sat down cross-legged on the floor and began un-tangling it while singing a little song to himself.

Once the lights were untangled, he stood before the tree holding them trying to decide exactly how to make this work. He walked around the tree looking at it from all sides and stuck his head into it between the branches. Finally, he turned to you with a quizzical look on his face. “How do they stay on?” He asked confused.

“How do the lights stay lit or how do they stay on the tree?” you clarified.

Ayno shot you a droll look. “I understand electricity. How do they stay where you put them on the tree??”

You shrugged “You have to kind-of wind them around and through the branches?”

This seemed to make sense to him, and he began- right in the center front. He sort-of wound them around the front section of the tree and got about 4 feet up when he suddenly ran out of lights. Looking a bit confused he went back over to the boxes and rummaged around looking for more lights, before sighing in frustration as he came up empty. “There are no more lights”.

“No… I think I only have the one string”.

“But there is more tree.”

“Yeah…I don’t think I’ve ever bought a tree bigger than 4ft. I had no idea you were going to buy a 12ft tree.”

He looked defeated. He said down next to you sighing heavily “I think I have failed in this task.” he said sadly.

“I don’t think so.”

He looked at you questioningly. “You want to try to blend in and be perceived as human right? Well, failing at things is part of being human -but so is resilience and finding solutions to problems. I don’t think you have failed- I think you have encountered a setback. The tree itself is lovely and it smells amazing! I think you chose well. ... and I am confident that you will figure out how to fix this- without my help…but If you want it, I’m here.” He nodded, still feeling bad.

You had come to realize that feeling like he was competent at existing in the human world was important to Ayno. He wanted so much to fit in so that you could tell people he was your boyfriend and not worry about him being odd or embarrassing. So, although the solution to this problem was simple, for the sake of his self-esteem, you wanted Ayno to get to it on his own.

You climbed over into his lap and straddled him, winding your arms around his back, your hands into his hair as you brought your mouth to his. You kissed him deeply, feeling him melt into you. You kissed along his jaw and down his neck, listening to him sigh as his hands gently stroked your back. “Let’s go to bed Ayno”, you whispered looking into his glowing eyes. “It is still rather early” he reminded you. You smiled, “I didn’t say anything about going to sleep.” He smiled back and carried you off to the bedroom, leaving his frustration behind, just as you hoped.

*           *           *

Thanks to co-workers who were incapable of reading their e-mails and insisted on asking the same stupid questions over and over, you didn’t get home from work until almost seven. 

When you opened the door to the apartment it was pitch black – the only thing visible were Ayno’s eyes because they glowed in the dark. It still freaked you out. You made to flip on the lights, but he caught your hand. “No, no lights! I will take you to the bedroom so you can change.”

You were at least allowed to turn on the bedroom light while you changed, but then he led you through the darkened apartment to the living room. You had no idea what he was up to, but you were glad for his un-natural ability to see in the dark like a cat. He came to a stop and turned you, and then said, “Cover your eyes!”

“Ayno- what are you doing??”

“I have made a surprise! No peeking!”

“Ok, ok! They’re covered.” You could not see that he came over and checked to see that they were.

You could hear him rustling around, and then “Ok. You may look now.”

A breathy gasp escaped your lips as you uncovered your eyes. Ayno had solved his problem: he had purchased more lights- and his 12-foot tree now sparkled in hundreds of multicolor lights of every shape and size, some of them gently fading on and off making it twinkle. He’d bought silver tinsel “icicles” too, and lovingly draped them individually on the branches creating a beautiful waterfall effect.

“Oh Ayno- It’s beautiful!!” you gushed.  

He flashed his giant smile, and then stood up on his tip-toes to flick the switch that turned on the star on top. The topper was a huge 3D cut star with a disco ball that hung in the middle and 4 tiny LEDs that shone on it. The ball slowly turned, casting the sequin like shadows around the room that they are known for.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“It’s gorgeous, Ayno. This is, without a doubt, the most beautiful tree I have ever had”, you said sincerely as you pulled his face down to kiss him.

“Succeed”, he said softly.

Then, he reached into his pocket for the sound system remote and pushed “play” as he led you to the middle of the room. As the music began, he pulled you into his arms and began to sway.

…Yeah, we've time to spare without a care We don't need nothin' new. Some mistletoe, a lover's glow And a table dressed for two. Oh, I'd rather have Christmas with you. Yes, I'd rather have Christmas with you…

[sinfullytempting]

Temptations (Gluttony)

ITS YEOSANG! HE IS THE NEXT SIN

San (Lust 1) / Yeosang (Gluttony 2) / Seonghwa (Greed 3) / Wooyoung (Envy 4) / Filler Chapter (5)

You shoot up from your spot once he disappears, fear swimming in your eyes as you look around. “What the fuck?” Is the first words out of your mouth. You rub your eyes, looking down at your chest out of reflex. Its still there, in bright red lettering, your very own S I N in red cursive lettering. You get up, dragging your feet towards the closet door, hoping not to meet his so called brothers. “What just happened…” You get changed for the day, still looking around, just incase San was still around.

You grabbed your bag and bolted out the door and towards your first class, avoiding people at every cost, sitting down next to your friend with a worried glance from her. “Jinnie do you remember anything last night?” At the shake of her head she frowns. “Did you have any dreams?” She shakes her head again, worry forming. “Y/n are you ok?” You nod, a hand over the lettering, feeling somewhat protective of the word.

You barely focus in class, spacing out, almost paranoid as you scan out the window, thinking you see San in dark spots of the field, thinking hes in your peripheral vision only to not be there when you glance. You take a deep breath only to jump when the bell rings signalling the end of class and the break between classes, where there are 5 minutes to get to your other class and the temptation to skip is overwhelming.

You bit your lip before heading towards the cafeteria, deciding to skip second period. Walking in the first thing you notice is someones already in there…and eating? You blink and take in the person. Your college is big so you dont know everyone but you believe youve never seen this kid before. Bright pink hair and icy blue eyes once he looks up and the writing burns when he looks at you. But he perks up, eyes bright and excited as if hes seen something new.

“You can see me?!” He sounds ecstatic, and the warning bells go off in your head, San’s name is on the tip of your tongue but before you can say it he holds his hands up. “Dont call Sannie!” Thats why. You bite your lip, hand holding the shirt over the writing. “How do you know S-”

“Dont say his name!”

You frown but nod carefully. San’s name seems like a threat to him so you store it safely in your head. “Im Yeosang, my sin is Gluttony. And my color is orange…” He glances at the orange starbursts then towards the tangerines he was eating. “Uh yeah..” You dont know what it is but you take a few steps closer to him and he smiles softly, something about him makes you calm and you sit in front of him. “How much has Sannie told you?” You think back to this morning. “Only about this.” You pull down your shirt so he can read the lettering. “Wow he used his nail, and he claimed you…” He mumbled before he nodded. “What he told you most probably correct.” He pops another starbursts into his hand and offers you one which you take and glance at him when he speaks again.

“But has he told you about anything else? Thats the most important thing but…basically, youre pretty useless…whatever you do here, San’s claimed you. Meaning you have basically ‘immunity’ and you can see us, ‘supernatural’ beings.” You nod, chewing on the candy slowly. “Am i the second one you met?” You nod and he breathes a sigh of relief as he pouts. “You do smell good and its a shame Sannie got to you first, but he will treat you well!”

You swallow it and bite your lip. “Do i smell the same to you?” He shook his head before nodding. “Yes and no, you smell pure but to me you smell like citrus? Delicate…” You nod slowly and he bites back a giggle. “Makes no sense huh?” You nod and he cant hide the giggles and it makes your lips twitch up in response and it only turns his giggles into full laughter, your own giggles mixing in and he stands up.

“I was looking for you, and its nice to meet you, im positive we will meet again! I hope you can handle the next sin you meet! And Remember Sannie is always one breath away.” You nod and watch as he cleans up when the bell rings and disappearing from in front of you with only words left. “Sannie is possessive, so be careful when you meet the other sins.” With that hes gone and the first few kids trickle in for lunch.

You space out for the rest of the school day.

And the burning stops

——————————————————-

You practically breath out San’s name once you close and lock the door. “San?” He materializes on your couch, relaxed like he had been waiting for you to call his name. “You smell like Sanggie.” You blink before you drop your back and slip off your shoes. “So im the only one that can you guys can see?” San pauses before nodding. “Unless we want to be seen.” You nod, feet moving towards San on their own and you sit by his feet and he grins, canine’s sharp.

“Yeosang also said that i have ‘immunity’? Whats that mean?” The smile drops and he groans. “I hate explaining things. Why didnt Sanggie do it?” You huff. “Hes so much nicer then you, plus we had…a time limit you could say.” He nods, humming quietly. “Alright. Yes, im somewhat your ‘guardian angel’ just more aggressive. You’re personal guardian sin, your little demon.” He grins at you.

You rub your head and sigh, already comfortable, yet a little on edge, with San. “You dont show up whenever i say your name right?” He shook his head. “I chose. Why?” He furrowed his brows and stopped spinning- Is that a pair of your underwear?! You snatch the garmet from his finger and throw it in the laundry. “Dont touch that!” He feins a pout.

“Yeosang said not to say your name because it calls you to me…” San chuckles. “It does, but i can see what you see, but he wouldnt know, Sanggie has never claimed anyone before.” You nod and San hums.

“Whats to eat?” You throw a glare but turn into the kitchen. “Can you even eat human food?” San hums again, deep in his throat. “I can, i dont like it most of the time, i usually feed off people who have sex, i feed off my sin. But now that i have you, love, i might have to eat real food for a little bit.” Your cheeks flush and you pout at him. “What does that mean!?” San laughs at your flustered state before wrapping his arms around your waist, startling you by how fast he appeared behind you.

“It means darling, that when you have sex ill feed off that, when you get, squirmy and wet, i feed off that.” He presses his lips against your throat and stays there. “If you have sex with me, im fed for a two weeks.” He murmurs before he smirks at the shiver that runs down your spine. “Did Yeosang tell you anything else?” You hesitate but nod, another shiver appearing when San runs the tip of his nose up your neck, hot breath fanning across your skin.

“H-He said youre possessive so i have to be careful around the others when i meet them…” San sops before he grins, tightening his hold. “I am possessive, i want you to smell like me all the time.” He whispers. “So if you come along any other demons they wont try and touch you.” He murmurs, sharp nails pressing into your skin.

He pulls away as you crouch to grab pans to make dinner as your stomach growls softly and San giggles, making you giggle quietly before you start cooking. “Chicken is for dinner.” He hums. “Sanggie would love to be here.” He hums quietly and you nod. “Yeosang likes chicken?” He nods before thinking. “Try real hard and you might be able to summon him…” You nod. “Maybe when im done…i dont need two demons breathing down my neck…”

He laughs but theres something deep and hidden in it, and its almost scary. “Once you meet everyone, we can do something special…”

You bite your lip.

Your mind goes back to his words. ‘If you have sex with me, im fed for two weeks.’

The doorbell rings and you can feel San tense, a growl leaving his lips, he can smell the anger from the other side of the door.

“San open the fucking door i can smell you, i want to see her too, Sanggie already saw her and thats not fair.”