visioncursed

[visioncursed]

Unfortunately for Jamie, there simply wasn't enough space at the Gala for her to hide from everyone she wanted to run away from. There were witches everywhere, and she couldn't if she hated her own coven or the visiting ones more; she wasn't very keen on the vampires either, having had a disappointing encounter with one of the Reardon leaders and she felt like she couldn't speak to one of them without feeling like they're staring at her neck. She found a quiet enough place to drink while Codie mingled with her pack friends and thanked the heavens for the few moments of peace she was about to have. Imagine Jamie's surprised, however, when standing next to her was an old friend. Friend? Sure, let's go with that. "So... burying any bodies lately?" / @autumnshowell

[visioncursed]

JAMIE MILLER — THE CONCLAVE GALA

Jamie's not a fan of Galas, she's not a fan of being among so many other witches, and she's not a fan of being a representative of her coven ...but she has a situationship ( @codie-mohren ) to impress. She actually tries this time and leaves the leather jacket behind for a brand new outfit - courtesy of her best friend - and jewelry, which belonged to her mom. Jamie's gonna make the best out of an uncomfortable situation.

[visioncursed]

It's impossible not to feel jealous by the way Kore talks about her magic. Jamie knows that this is how most witches feel, that their magic is a part of them, that it makes them feel complete, but she just can't relate to any of that. To her, magic is like a parasite, draining her energy to manifest its will. In the past she had wondered if she would ever be able to fix it, and maybe feel like everyone else did, but she's since given up on that dream.

"Sounds wonderful," and she means it. Jamie might hate her own magic, but she doesn't wish the same for everyone else. She knows Kore, and Nadia, and everyone else in the coven are much better off enjoying what they do. "If you ever want help to do your magic... count on me? I would like to see it in action someday." Jamie isn't exactly sure what she just signed up to, but it doesn't really matter. Kore's helped her so much through all these years and this is the least she can do.

Then she pauses and looks down, rubs her hands together for a moment; she can't hide her nerves and and at that point doesn't even tries to. "I never felt any of that. Not with my visions, anyway. And I think it's getting worse lately. It's affecting me physically. I almost caught on fire the other day." It was entire possible that she was just doing something wrong, being as unpracticed as she was with any kind of magic, but it didn't really matter, the final result was the same. She takes a deep breath and speaks again. "I think I want to get rid of my magic."

Kore's only response at first is to raise an eyebrow. It's not something she would have expected out of Jamie. Despite the chip on her shoulder and the anger she harbors toward the world, she's never been one to actively want to harm anyone. To go up against a vampire like this is dangerous, yet she felt that it was important enough to do it. To undo a vampire's violent impulses seems like an impossible feat, one that would need to be refreshed over an over. Violence is woven into the very nature of what vampires are.

She wants to ask why Jamie did it, what she had seen that made her feel like she needed to do such a thing, but the younger witch's next question cuts her off. Oh. Kore understands a bit better what Jamie is asking.

"It sucked at first... I had a panic attack the first time I think, but then they handed me this guy's liver, and I saw... everything." Her voice breaks with awe and a bittersweet reminiscence. "I saw who he had been, and the threads branching out to people his life had brushed up against." It's hard to decipher what any of it means sometimes, but with enough bodies, she's learned to pick out the overlapping patterns and predict how people will react to certain events. "It feels good, feels... right." It's the first time she'd admit it to another witch. "It's just the way my magic works."

[visioncursed]

⚡️do you regret what you did to aria

SEND “⚡️” AND A QUESTION AND MY MUSE WILL BE FORCED TO ANSWER HONESTLY

I did what I did to save lives, and it's one of the only times I actually succeeded at that, so no, I don't regret it and I don't see why I should.

[visioncursed]

⚡️do you think witches have a duty to protect humans or supernaturals?

SEND “⚡️” AND A QUESTION AND MY MUSE WILL BE FORCED TO ANSWER HONESTLY

Fuck no. Witches are just a bunch of fuck ups like everyone else, we don't have a duty to do shit and humans and supernaturals shouldn't expect anything from us more than we should expect anything from them.

[visioncursed]

⚡️where would you be without your magic?

SEND “⚡️” AND A QUESTION AND MY MUSE WILL BE FORCED TO ANSWER HONESTLY

Don't know. Somewhere better.

[visioncursed]

There's a constant level of tension in the air with Avi there. Not his fault — not hers either, but it's there. They hang out, they have a good time, but it's impossible for her to completely forget what happened the last time they were together. Part of her is thankful for how much of a talker he is simply because that means she doesn't have to say almost anything outside of snarky comments to his bad decisions, but it also means it's only a matter of time for him to bring it up.

She's done her best to forget it, but her best was far from good enough. Jamie can still feel the heat, she can still see herself in the middle of that fire, she's had nightmares — actual nightmares, for once — about what happened to her family. It was very clear that the end wasn't in sight. Jamie doesn't regret it, she did end up helping a friend with her magic, which was a rare occurrence for her, but she does hate it. She never wants to do it again and, frankly, she isn't even sure if she could.

It was almost as if she knew it was coming when Avi reached for the leather jacket, which she now badly regretted asking for. She rolls her eyes as she sits up to try it on — a little flashier than what she's used to, but she can make it work — but she doesn't want to give him too much time to start talking about that night, "yeah, whatever, looks good. Thanks."

And just like that she's back in her couch, with her arms wrapped in front of her, closed off to the world, "we're even, yeah, so no more reason to bring up that night anymore, yeah? We're done," she doesn't look at him, but her words are almost a plea for Avi, though one she's not entirely convinced he'll listen to.

who: @visioncursed where: jamie's living room floor

"So anyway, that's the story of how Flick and I ate her dad," he finishes the tale off with a smug grin.

Ramadan came and went, a portion of which he spent on Jamie's couch. New York came and went. Khaos came and went. Now, Avi still finds himself on Jamie's floor, drinking and rambling away. He yaps, she scowls. She bitches, he toasts to it. He begs her to watch every live performance of Espresso and rank them, and she scowls even harder. She tells him to get the liquor from the top shelf, and the short king that he is, he jumps up onto the counter to deliver.

What started as two acquaintances bar hopping and drowning their miseries has grown into something else. Avi wouldn't admit it, but he may hold some love for his drinking buddy. There's a quiet friendship there blooming beneath the surface, ever since she cast that spell for him. Ever since she found Flick.

Where there's friendship and affection, there's also concern. There's an uncomfortable, gnawing sense of guilt. She screamed, she cried, she sobbed. She lit herself on fire for the spell, she seemed to hate every second of it, but she did it. And afterwards, all Avi could see was a distant haunt in her eyes that, up to this point, he's dutifully held his tongue about. She didn't want to talk about it then, she didn't want to talk about it after, and she doesn't look anywhere close to wanting to talk about it now. But Avi is impatient, and he cares.

Whether Jamie realized it or not, Avi made a quiet promise to try again. To be there when she's ready.

Unfortunately for her, he's decided she's ready now.

"Oh!" he makes a sudden noise of realization, reaches back behind him into his duffel. "I picked this up in the city. Figured while Leiry can deliver on your tastes, it can't possibly deliver on mine." A leather jacket is thrown Jamie's way. One official promise kept, one unofficial promise incoming. "We even? I hope you didn't think I forgot."

[visioncursed]

Jamie feels many things as she adjust back to reality — despair for the people in danger, anger at her magic, hopelessness knowing that there's nothing she can do about it — but maybe most of all she's embarrassed for letting Codie see her like this. She's glad she's safe, but it's humiliating and not how she wanted the werewolf to see her that night.

"I got it," she mutters as she grabs the fabric from Codie and wipes some of the wetness herself. It's pointless, really, she's drenched, as if she'd just walked in from the storm. And in a way she did, but part of her was still trying to act like nothing happened, regardless of how hopeless that was.

She stays silent for a few more moments, reaching to her phone in the hope of maybe talking to Jac's family to keep her safe, but it's not a surprise to find out it there's no signal. She sighs, tosses the fabric to the side and runs her fingers through her hair before turning to Codie with a closed off look on her face. "Sorry about that. It's uh — my magic. I can't control it."

There's an internal debate of how much she should share, how much it's acceptable, how much would be enough to drive her away, how much Codie deserves to hear. "I have... visions of when bad things are going to happen. Deaths, usually. It's like I'm there watching it as it happens. It doesn't happen every time I sleep but it's often enough that I try not to."

Jamie feels pathetic; there's little doubt in her mind that Codie will be supportive based on what she knows about the girl, but this is not how she likes to be perceived. Jamie doesn't want to be pitied. "There's a lot of people dying right now, so. My mistake, shouldn't have fallen asleep."

On the east coast, she'd dealt with hurricanes and tornados and all manner of thunderstorms ranging from a sunshower to a raging torrential downpour - and none of it had absolutely anything on being near the coast during something like this. But when the warnings came through, she was already halfway through to the park to get some good urban exploration going -- and Jamie being there didn't really deter her from scratching that itch that was "figuring out the lay of the land".

But it soon became far too hard to see anything, much less walk with the wind and rain beating down on them. So a haunted house with fucked up, ratty costumes. She modeled for Jamie a bit, rambled on about her life a bit, and it wasn't long until the witch fell asleep.

She took the time to walk around the place, wincing a bit as she saw some places where the walls weren't quite as sturdy as they used to be, and some leakage in the roof. It'd have to hold or they were fucked.

She's almost done surveying when she hears Jamie calling for her, and practically sprints back skidding to a halt on her knees at the tone in her voice - "Why are you -- "

Codie reaches out and touches her forehead, surprised to find her cool and wet when she'd left her warming up and drying off. Looking around, she finds more costume fabric and wipes gently at her face. "What's going on?" Magic, by the smell of it, but she can't exactly place it.

[visioncursed]

who: @fengforhire where: jen's place

A fundamental truth about Jamie's magic is that it was never wrong. At least for the 10 or so years that she'd been having her prophetic dreams, it had never been wrong before. It didn't make it any less useless, mind you, just because Jamie knew tragedy was going to happen, it didn't mean she ever managed to stop it. Her accuracy served more as a torture for her than anything else.

But now that presented a new challenge. Jac, who she definitely saw dying in her dream, was awake from her coma and definitely alive. All the other deaths she saw happened during the hurricane — Jamie made sure to check every one of them — so the fact that Jac was different was confusing to say the least.

Still, as far as she knew, Jac's days were counted, and Jamie decided to deal with that the best way she knew how: alcohol.

She walked into Jen's place with two vodka bottles in hand, waving off any questions from the host; this was just between her and Jac. When she finally found the witch, she handed her one of the bottles and closed the door behind her. "Heard you were up. Welcome back to the land of the living," hopefully for a while, she thought, "now, start drinking. You and I have to talk and, trust me, you're gonna need it."

[visioncursed]

He's hopeless. Jamie doesn't need to look into the future to see that. The thing about magic — which Jamie in particular learned the hard way — is that you either shape it, or it shapes you, and if anything that she's heard about his magic is true, it was going to eat him alive.

Still, appearances aside, Jamie actually gave a shit about people around her, and she didn't want this guy, whoever he was, to suffer because someone didn't lend a hand when he needed it. Even more than that, she didn't want to be the reason why he shows up in her dreams two months from now. So she rolls her eyes at him and nods for him to come closer. "Just be careful with these candles."

"It's not a thing, it's a ritual. I'm trying to tap into divination magic and this is the best place to do it." Jamie isn't exactly a good tutor (she'd much rather leave this kind of thing for people like Jac), but she is knowledgeable enough to explain the basics to someone completely new to the coven. She still remembered all the books that she read when she was a kid and was still passionate about all this. She might be a crappy witch now, but at least she still had that.

She continued, "Divination is just about revealing the truth, so if you want to find out about something, come here, light some candles, focus, and it just might come to you. Capisci?" Jamie moved back to her original position, and flicked her wrists so the flame from the would double in size — she didn't need to do that, but she wanted to see his reaction. "Give it a try if you want. You probably won't explode."

Declan isn't trying to interrupt anything sacred. He hadn't even meant to stumble this far in - it's just that Nadia had said this is where the coven draws their power from, and Declan wonders if its power, if he manifests enough, will help him in some way. Provide some quiet, away from everyone's everything jumping out at him, preferably.

Dead boy walking. Okay, rude. But then, so is her entire...vibe. It's obvious, even without his abilities.

Still, Declan offers an apologetic, awkward smile. "Sorry, I'm not lost. I just - came here with Nadia not too long ago. I wanted to come see it by myself." He shifts, one foot slightly behind the other, like he's ready to leave if she tells him to. It's only respectful. He knows this isn't his place to claim.

"And I thought maybe I could sit. For a little. But uh, if you want me to go so you can continue your..." he glances to the candles. "...thing, I can do that. I didn't mean to intrude. I'm sorry if I did."

[visioncursed]

who: @codie-mohren ( and guest starring @fengforhire ) where: tumberwolf mountain

If you asked Jamie where's the last place she wanted to be during a one-of-a-kind hurricane, that would probably be an abandoned amusement park. ...But for whatever reason this is where the girl she was into wanted to be, so there she was. She did try to convince Codie to go somewhere else, find a safe place to stay for the weekend, but the girl wanted to go exploring, and Jamie, well, Jamie really wanted to kiss her again.

They found shelter from the rain inside the park's haunted house — which frankly wasn't any scarier than the rest of the place and at least had fake but somewhat comfortable furniture. There were also costumes, plenty of them, which they used to get out of their wet clothes. Wasn't the prettiest, or the most ideal, but it got them laughing at each other and it was comfortable enough, and for a moment or two they forgot about the storm.

Jamie didn't mean to fall asleep, but between Codie's yapping and the sound the of the storm hitting against the walls of the haunted house, her eyes got heavier and heavier, until she could no longer fight them.

When Jamie opens her eyes again she's elsewhere. She's standing safe above the storm, watching the destruction underneath. Suddenly she's pulled down towards the mess, there's a man at the docks who's hit by a wave and dragged into the sea. He's never gonna be seen again. She sees someone driving through the storm, she thinks she can handle it, but the wind makes her loose control and she crashes into a building; she's not gone yet but she needs help that isn't coming. A woman is safe inside her house when some old structure breaks and her home crashes down on her. Two friends laugh as they film themselves jump from car to car to avoid the flood. One of them misses a step and they're gone. She sees Jac, falling. From where she can't tell, it feels like everywhere and nowhere all at once. Jamie flies to her direction and screams but the girl's eyes are shut. They fall together for minutes as Jamie tries to wake her up with no success — there's nothing she can do. Again. There's never anything she can do, but watch. And so she watches as Jac falls, with ground finally appearing in the distance. She's gonna crash. She's gonna die. Jamie swears she can see her opening her eyes just before she hits the ground.

Jamie wakes up coughing up water. She's soaking wet, and she can't tell if it's sweat or the rain, but it hardly matters. Jamie doesn't know for how long she's been out but the storm is still raging outside, she's still in the dark and... wait, "Codie? Are you here? Are you okay?"

[visioncursed]

"Fair enough,"she replied with a nod. Her own story was far from simple and she wouldn't want to explain everything on a night like that. Well, hopefully she wouldn't have to explain it ever, but Jamie knew she wasn't lucky enough for that. At least it gave them a reason to see each other again. "Next time."

The kiss surprises Jamie almost as much as Codie, but the girl's reaction is good enough that she doesn't regret it. "Good, discombobulated looks cute on you," she winked at the other girl as she starts taking a few steps away from the girl.

This is nowhere close to where she thought the night would end up but she's... happy. Yeah, it's kind of a new feeling and she doesn't know how long it'll last, if it'll last, but for now she'll take it. "Yeah, you better. Night, wolfie."

Codie takes a second to follow what she's saying, and then her mouth forms a small 'o' shape. "Oh! Wolf dad and wolf mom. Ma is - complicated. She helped take care of me. Not really a fun story for a quick walk home, yeah?"

But she shakes her head when Jamie says that she should have asked for more than a smile - not in her book. She just wants people to be happy, and if they're not able to be, then at least to work on enjoying little things here and there. That's the goal she's taken upon herself, and it's always an uphill battle - but one she loves.

The returned cheek kiss makes her smile, laughing a little at Jamie standing up on her tiptoes -- it's what happens next that shocks her. She blinks down at the girl, her features locked in a dumbfounded grin while her cheeks colors bright, bright red.

Stunlocked as she is, it takes her a second to recover and she dips her head. "Aw. Shucks. Got me all discombobulated." It's said with a hint of a laugh. "I'll see you 'round, pretty girl."

[visioncursed]

Headcanon 1 / ∞

[visioncursed]

Jamie's anxiety reaches its peak while Kore take their time to respond, followed by immense relief at what she had to say. And she was ready to accept how fucked up it was that she was feeling better at the cost of the people Kore hurt, but in that moment, she didn't feel alone anymore, and that's what mattered.

"I cast a spell on someone. More like a curse, I guess," she finally speaks, feeling almost all of the weight leaving her shoulders at once. "A vampire, actually. I took their violent impulses." It takes Jamie speaking what she did out loud to really consider her actions. Was Aria still even alive? Maybe she lost the drive the drink blood at all and was starting to desiccate. It had occurred to her before to check in on her, but Jamie couldn't bring herself to face Aria again. "I got into her brain and... undid it."

There was a hint of pride in her own voice that Jamie didn't quite know how to deal with. She considered herself a pretty lousy witch, mostly because she simply because she had no interest in magic because of her curse — but it wasn't always the case. There was a period in her life, before the fire, when magic was everything, and being good at it was everything she wanted. How could hurting someone bring that feeling back, even if only in part? She bit the inside of her lip before speaking again. "How did it feel? When you hurt those people?"

The shop was mostly silent except the sound of the motorized grinder, carefully shaving away bits of metal to smooth out the ring Kore was working on. Jamie was nose deep in a grimoire and lost in her own thoughts, and the routine of it always made them pause. It wasn't a life Kore had ever envisioned for her future, where people willingly spent time with her and stayed. But maybe there was something to be said about outcasts sticking together.

Kore doesn't answer Jamie's question immediately, shutting down her tools and pulling off the safety glasses so she can look at the younger witch more clearly. There's guilt twisted over her features, and she sets her work aside entirely so she can move closer. The answer to her question, is yes, of course. In order for Kore's magic to be at its most powerful requires harming a living creature, but she has a feeling that Jamie is asking about more than just the logistics.

"I've hurt a lot of people," they say finally. Their voice is soft, the barest tinge of remorse but not nearly enough for the things that they've done. "I learned my magic from a vampire, who showed me how to understand what their victims' bodies left behind." Their fingers press against the table absently. "Four years with someone like that does some fucked up things to you, especially that young." They don't mention trying to chase that feeling after they'd been abandoned, how they still crave it now. "Believe me when I say, anything you've done? I'm not gonna judge you."

[visioncursed]

"That checks out, yeah, I feel like that's most witches I know," Jamie refrains from mentioning her own parents, but she makes the mental note of their mothers having that in common. "So, wolf dad? Bite?"

She's again thrown off by the way Codie saw the order. Those colors for her meant storms and blood, all too edgy and depressing and immature, she realizes. Part of her wishes wishes she could grow out of it, be normal, see passion in burgundy, but she's far too fucked in the head for that. Maybe in another lifetime.

Jamie doesn't resist when Codie reaches for her arms, offering a smirk in return to her question. "I think you could've gotten more out of that deal, but your call. I can manage a smile." Probably. She could try for Codie.

Her face burns at the kiss, but she doesn't mind it. She feels 15 years old, but in a way that she didn't get to feel when she was that age. It's a nice change. "You're sweet too," she repeated the other's gestures, getting on the tip of her toes to kiss Codie's cheek. Then she brings her fingers to the werewolf's jaw, and tilts her just slightly to press another kiss, short and sweet, this time on her lips. "Thank you for the flower."

"Bar crawl would be cool, witch spots would be cool, too - My Ma's a witch, but she mostly hangs around the stuffy old people." Said with so, so much affection.

There's something to the way Jamie carries herself, though - Codie's, well, she's naive but she's not stupid. People are easy to understand if she pays attention, and Jamie's throwing up every sign in the book that says there's more to her than she seems - and that 'more' is something that she's not proud of.

"Purple and burgundy are beautiful colors." Not at all somber in her mind. "Royalty and passion." Though there's space between them now, she closes it and rests her hands on Jamie's arms, gently tugging her hands out of her pockets. "I'll get you something if it'll earn me a smile - I think that's a even trade, yeah?"

She's still not done, though, and leans in - pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "Thanks for walking me home, though. You're really sweet."

[visioncursed]

Jamie doesn't know she's going to the opening until around 45 minutes before she gets there. But then Avi ( @aviofruin ) shows up at her door and picks an outfit for her and before she can even understand what's going on, she's at Khaos, having a night out with her friend that isn't at some shady bar for the first time in God knows how long. But hey, at least no nightmares tonight.

[visioncursed]

Jamie's blood boils almost instantly as Kali laughs. Stupid fucking idea it was to ask a vampire for anything. She's more embarrassed for having showed up there at all than for asking what she did. This creature has no idea what she goes through, or she wouldn't be mocking her.

Despite her anger and Kali's laughter, of course there was a part of her that had consider it. It was one of the first things Jamie thought about when her visions became too much to bear. Vampire blood, a werewolf's bite, and no more curse. Simple, effective.

But she knew better than anyone there was no easy answers for anything in Port Liery. She would only be changing one curse to another, a different kind of pain — pain that would last forever if she drank the blood. No, Jamie was desperate but she wasn't stupid.

And there was the other alternative. Just the knife, no turning. She'd considered it once or twice, and, well, the blade did look sharp enough... but she wasn't going to give Kali the satisfaction.

Instead, with a flick of Jamie's wrist, the cup holding Kali's blood flew from where it was sitting, dropping its content on the floor in front of her. "Oops. Sorry about the mess," she spoke with a dry, cynical tone.

"I can do the same with your knife, unless you're ready to stop wasting our time." This time she held her arm in front her aiming at the knife, which moved just slightly where it was sitting. "And just a warning, I have very bad aim."

She looked up, straight at Kali's eyes; if she was nervous before, now there was only anger, much easier to deal with. "So, lady, are you gonna help me or not? I don't have all day."

Lips curl into just an amused smile, at first, a nod to show Jamie she's listening, and when she finishes, all Kali does is laugh. Full and unrestrained, a melodic laugh right from her belly. Equal parts mocking and entertained.

"Is that all you want, witch?" she manages through the boisterous show of her amusement. "Such a small matter." Kali stands, reaches over and into her desk drawer. What comes out is an ornate blade, golden-hilted, beautiful enough to be mistaken for decoration until the edge catches the light. Without another word, she tips the remainder of her blood-tinged wine into the trash, and the now-empty glass lands back on the desk with a low thud.

Now for the knife. Kali drags the blade along the inside of her palm, clean and deep, until blood begins to pool. Before it can spill over and onto her furniture, she turns her hand above the empty glass and allows it to fill enough for a few sips.

"Whatever it takes, yes?"

Kali crosses to Jamie with both the stained blade and glass in hand, and places them carefully in front of the witch. She perches herself on the desk's edge and begins to wipe the blood from her hand with the loose end of her sari, the skin beneath already beginning to seal back up.

"If you're so desperate," Kali says, voice low, soft but steady, "here's your answer."

She has no real intentions of letting this girl drink or do anything untoward to herself. Kali has seen all manner of desperation before, and as real as Jamie's seems, Kali wants to see just how deep it goes. A pet witch has more value than a pet vampire, especially these days.

Just for the fun of it, she continues. "Here," she begins, fingers brushing along the side of Jamie's neck, just below the jaw. "One clean slice. It'll be fast. Quiet, enough." Almost beautiful, even if cliche.

"If you want drama," her finger moves to trace just barely along the base of Jamie's throat, "there is where you lay the blade. Straight down. Messy. Now, I'm not fond of messy necessarily but it is your death, after all." A beat. "For even more drama, your heart will do, but if you choke in the middle, I won't be pushing the rest of it in for you. You'll just have to bleed out."

Kali pulls her hand back and gestures to the glass and knife expectantly, but doesn't give any sort of indication she's prepared to snatch it all right out of Jamie's hands before Kali's blood can kiss her lips.