#jem is too good for this world

[zarovichsbitches]

D&D is really just nerd therapy

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #roomie look away this is a vent space #my paladin was showing issues similar to my real issues and the dm said it so casually and what’s worse is he doesn’t know I have those Jem #also his daughters death got mentioned so much #am uncomfortable when about me #his crush also died #and instead of a big love speech like he was mentally screaming to do he nodded at him and let him die as was planned #he needsd to die for the greater good and sharing those feeling would’ve meant nothing #that absolutely helps my real world struggles with never confessing I like people hmmmmmmmmm #but yeah rip ashryn - Jasper just wanted like one smooch #oh and due to other world shit now my paladin canonically doesn’t know what that kind of love and attraction feels like anymore #like he’s never experienced that. had flings sure but that kind of schoolgirl soft crush in a rough world na just GONE now #this is hitting a little too close to home

[secretsofblackthornhall]

Emma To Bruce

Dear Bruce,

We did it! The curse is broken! Rupert is free! Long live Rupert!

In retrospect, it’s insane how much of this we tried to do by ourselves. We should have known that when we finally succeeded we would do it with a whole team present—in this case Jem, Tessa, Kit, and Magnus. (Mina assisted by raising morale and drawing all over everything with her toy stele.)

Everyone’s still here, too, and we can relax a little in a newly uncursed house. (It really is quite homey, now that it’s been cleaned up and, you know, had its demonic aura dispelled.) Everyone except Magnus, who left this afternoon in a great rush to get back to New York.

New paragraph to talk about this, actually, because I have a lot of questions that don’t have answers and I can only ask you, Bruce. So Magnus was in a hurry to get back because of a meeting Alec is holding with Luke and some other Downworlders about plans for negotiating with the Cohort. Okay, but I feel like the Cohort doesn’t have much leverage, right? The situation is way worse for them than for us. We should be able to wait them out—shouldn’t we?

I mean they have a symbolic advantage, I guess. We’re all Shadowhunters and we all miss Idris and Alicante and Lake Lyn and probably a lot of us left stuff there we can’t get back and oh right, also a lot of people lived there who have had to evacuate all over the world and want to get back. I get that. But, like…what are the Cohort even eating in there? Idris doesn’t really grow food. Are they all homesteading in there? Raising crops? Churning butter? It’s kind of hard to imagine Zara doing any of that. But you never know. I mean, there aren’t even any demons to fight in there. Which is a good reminder that Shadowhunters are definitely not meant to hole up in Idris where there’s no demons for them to fight. I feel like Raziel was pretty clear on that point.

They must be losing their minds in there. I hope they found some board games or something.

Maybe Zara has declared herself Queen for Life and she doesn’t have to farm because she just marches around threatening to kill anybody who doesn’t grow her a potato right this instant.

Or maybe we haven’t heard anything because they all ate each other in there. Or maybe they mutinied against Zara and someone else gets to threaten to kill people now.

Okay, end of pondering the Cohort. I’m in a good mood, or was before I started this entry, anyway. We’ve been hanging out with Jem and Tessa and Kit and it’s really great. We ordered in Chinese (delivery couriers are always a bit terrified to come up the driveway, but we tip them like crazy so they’ve started to know us while we’ve been here). We lit candles—for ambience instead of for dark magic, what an idea!—and ate dumplings until we were too full to move, a thing I haven’t done since Magnus and Alec’s wedding. Apparently if I am offered dumplings, I will eat them until I become a dumpling myself. To that I say: I would never reject becoming that which I love most.

Anyway. Even Kit was less broody than usual tonight! He was hanging out with Round Tom and they seemed to be getting on okay. Oh, and I almost forgot! How could I forget! The workers found a coffin buried in the garden. But there was not a horrifying dead body inside, but rather a bunch of old stuff! Using a coffin as a time capsule seemed like a weird choice to me, but Tessa and Jem made some faces and some noises that suggested there was a long-ish story there we’ll have to ask about later.

Anyway, in the coffin was A SCABBARD FOR CORTANA. I mean, right? Can you believe it? Tessa said it used to belong to Cordelia Carstairs, who was Cortana’s wielder generations ago. The scabbard needs a lot of cleaning (a lot of cleaning) but then it can be reunited with Cortana. (After all, I think it’s probably more Cortana’s possession than anyone else’s; perhaps they’ll be happy to be reunited.)

There was also a sword for Julian—what used to be a Blackthorn family sword, but this one is only a hilt, its blade is totally missing, I have no idea why. He’s talking about getting it reforged. Big shock, Round Tom knows a guy. Triangular Jerry. No, I’m kidding on the name, but Round Tom actually does know a blacksmith and he and Julian have started talking about getting that done. (Actually, what Round Tom wants to do is have a forge installed at Chiswick, which is a cool idea, but do we want another building project on top of all the others? I mean, maybe, having a forge here at the house would be pretty cool.)

Oh, you might be wondering about Rupert’s ring, since it’s not like he could take it with him, and he hasn’t come back for it in a ghost way. Magnus checked it out and said no magic any more, just an ordinary ring Tatiana must have enchanted to bind Rupert. But none of us is going to wear it, of course. So we put it on the mantelpiece in the drawing room. Where it will remain.

The Gray-Carstairs-Herondaleses are heading back to Cirenworth tomorrow. It’s been really great having them here, but you know, it will be nice to have them go and have it be just Julian and I here in the house, not feeling creepy all the time. That seems like good times for us.

#

Bruce, good times are canceled. Everything’s gone wrong. I guess I was a little too smug about how everything was going; the universe had to come and screw it up for me.

Mina is gone.

And by gone I mean kidnapped.

And by kidnapped I mean, the kidnapper left a creepy old-timey porcelain doll (with wide, dead eyes, ugh) in her place, and a note.

I had just finished writing the above stuff when I heard a horrible scream from upstairs and loud footsteps, and came out to find everyone gathered in Mina’s room staring in horror.

I immediately thought oh no, another curse, or the same curse, the curse isn’t over, and maybe you did too, but that’s not what this is. This is something else entirely. Something involving faeries. Something involving Faerie.

Tessa picked up the note, read it, and handed it to Jem with a bad look on her face. Julian was already opening the window to see if anyone could be spotted outside, and I read over Jem’s shoulder:

#secrets of blackthorn hall #sobh #mina carstairs #emma carstairs #Tessa gray #faerie #jem carstairs #Rupert #zara dearborn #The Cohort #cortana

[the-moral-of-the-rose]

Rilla of Ingleside created a new timeline...

Anne's House of Dreams mentioned a historical event - a federal election: “Mistress Blythe, the Liberals are in with a sweeping majority. After eighteen years of Tory mismanagement this down-trodden country is going to have a chance at last.” (AHoD).

From Wikipedia: "The 1896 Canadian federal election was held on June 23, 1896, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Charles Tupper, won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the next government. The election ended 18 years of Conservative rule."

It wouldn't be surprsing, but... it was also the year in which Jem Blythe was born! The election took place few weeks after his birth: "When Anne came downstairs again, the Island, as well as all Canada, was in the throes of a campaign preceding a general election." (AHoD).

So... according to this timeline, Walter was born a year later (1897), then the twins (1899), Shirley (1901) and Rilla (1903).

The point is... at the outbreak of the war, Walter would have been only 17 years old, the twins 15, Shirley 13, Rilla 11...

Shirley would have been too young to participate in the war and Walter would have barely turned nineteen at the time of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September of 1916...

Someone in one of my older posts noticed that puff sleeves fashion suggested that Anne of Green Gables took place in 1880s rather than 1870s... so it would make sense!

I wonder why Montgomery chose Rilla as her teenage heroine (according to the original chronology, Rilla should have been only 11 years old), while there were 15-year-old twins...

Can you imagine Nan and Di as the main characters of the war book? Two young girls at Queen's, trying to come to terms with rapidly changing world? Rilla and Shirley at Ingleside, growing closer in such trying times? Teenage boys - Jem and Walter - who had to choose if they wanted to sacrifice their life at even younger age - at eighteen? Walter, never reaching the age of twenty (or maybe - dare I hope - coming back home safely)? Anne and Gilbert in their 40s, trying to collect all the broken pieces that was once their family?

It would have been equally good, in my opinion. I wonder... why Montgomery felt she had to suddenly change a whole chronology?

Side note: of course, I love Rilla of Ingleside. But I am just curious... (Nan and Di of Ingleside would be a good book, too!).

@diario-de-gilbert-blythe @gogandmagog @pinkenamelheart @valancystirling48

#lm montgomery #anne of green gables #anne's house of dreams #rilla of ingleside

[fairdale]

to william herondale, with love

you have two options when it comes about will.

you can choose to stay in the surface, to think of him as a sassy, sarcastic, superficial and selfish man who doesn't give a shit about anything nor anyone except for jem, who makes insensitive jokes and doesn't care if he hurts people.

or you can choose to know him. the little parts of him that make him wonderful, sweet, delicate and caring. and, oh, how much love will fill your heart when you realise how much he deserves to be loved.

and how much he craves it.

will is sarcastic, yes. he's funny, he pulls off jokes like it's nothing, he makes people laugh, he sings the demon pox song and makes everyone think he's a little crazy.

but he's also the kid who left his family too young because he thought he was cursed and he loved them too much.

he's also the kid who thought no one could ever love him anymore.

he's also the kid who felt terribly lonely after leaving his family.

he's also the kid who wanted jem to be his parabatai so badly he didn't care he was sick and that he would leave him too soon.

he's also the kid who didn't want people too close to him because he loved them and didn't want anything bad to happen to them. jem was different. it wasn't just because he was sick, it's because he was jem. because jem saw who he truly was when no one else did. his heart beat because jem's did as well.

he's also the man who loved to read. the man whose name will still be dancing in the walls of the library centuries later. the man who found a safe place between books.

he's also the man who was so in love with tessa he tried to break the curse after years of living like that, because his love was so pure, so deep, so real, he had to do something.

he's also the man who put his hands into the fire to save jem's yin fen, because he couldn't imagine a life without him. because he didn't want a life without him.

he's also the man who was desperately in love with tessa, but made himself scarce because he couldn't put his own happiness over tessa and jem's. because he saw how good they were to each other.

he's also the man who held jessamine in his arms when she died too young.

he's also the man who let jem go when he told him he didn't want to live like that anymore even though it would forever break him and he would take a part of his soul with him.

he's also the man who went to save tessa even when he felt his heart getting carved out of his chest when jem died.

he's also the man who learned how to have his sister next to him again, the man who went back to his parents even if he were terrified.

he's also the man who made sure tessa never doubted for a second that he was devoted to her.

he's also the man who travelled the world with her and wrote her letters to show his love.

he's also the man who made sure to love his children loudly, to tell them he was proud of them and that they weren't monsters.

he's also the man who fought against injustices in the clave.

he was also the man who died surrounded by his loved ones (because he was, in fact, so loved).

he was also the man watching jem and tessa's wedding dream since the other side of the river, being happy for them.

will was the man with a heart so big he didn't know what to do with all the love he held in it.

when someone asks me, but why do you love him so much? well, how can you not? how, when he tried to love so quietly but he was screaming, when he was trying not to care but he cared more than anyone.

will herondale was, is and forever will be the character i hold closest to my heart, the character who made me laugh, cry and love the most.

"he lies consistently. he always invents the story that will make him look the worst."

"but it was there, in the touch of his hand on her cheek, in the softness of his voice, in his eyes when he looked at her. it was the way she had always dreamed a boy would look at her. but she never dreamed up someone as beautiful as will, not in all her imaginings."

"all my life, since i came to the institute, you were the mirror of my soul. i saw the good in me in you. in your eyes alone i found grace. when you are gone from me, who will see me like that?"

"against his own will, almost, will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make tessa love him. he would have done— almost anything. he would not betray jem for it. that was the one thing he would not do."

"don’t you see, will? you’re a person like me. you are like me. you say the things i think but never say out loud. you read the books i read. you love the poetry i love. you make me laugh with your ridiculous songs and the way you see the truth of everything. "

"when she tilted her head up and brushed his lips with hers, he cupped her face in his hands. so many years, he thought, and each kiss was new as the break of day."

"wo men shi sheng si ji jiao," said will, and he saw jem’s eyes widen, fractionally, and the spark of amusement inside them. "go in peace, james carstairs."

"and in the shadows they’d whispered, reminding each other of the stories only they knew. of the girl who had hit over the head with a water jug the boy who had come to rescue her, and how he had fallen in love with her in that instant."

"she remembered when will had died, her agony, the long nights alone, reaching across the bed every morning when she woke up, for years expecting to find him there, and only slowly growing accustomed to the fact that side of the bed would always be empty."

"i don’t know how to live in the world as a shadowhunter without will. i don’t think I even want to. i am still a parabatai, but my other half is gone. if I were to go to some Institute and ask them to take me in, i would never forget that. i would never feel whole."

"i miss you. we miss you. someday, we'll all be together. not too soon, my angel tessa. i can wait."

...

"my name is herondale," the boy said cheerfully. "william herondale, but everyone calls me will."

#tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #shadowhunters #tid #tlh #will herondale #jem carstairs #tessa gray #i love will with all my heart you don't understand #i cried while writing this #don't judge me ok #herongraystairs #the infernal devices #the last hours

[rinadragomir]

15 Reasons to read Sword Catcher

1 - DRAMA, no one stopped Cassie so she had an opportunity to show off. Royal intrigues, criminal secrets, whispers of forbidden magic which is about to return

2 - bisexuals💙💜lgbtqia took over this book and refuse to leave, good for them

3 - perfect multilevel world-building, CC spent lots of time exploring historical materials, complicated fantasy series and it shows. Makes your brain work, which is always a plus

4 - Will/Jem vibes between Kel/Conor🥺

5 - enemies to lovers to enemies to— they're driving me INSANE

6 - POC characters, two of the main characters have brown skin, the queen has black skin, lots of characters whose appearance is probably inspired by people from the Middle East. Asian killer girl, my beloved🫶✨

7 - Political games, if you loved Game of Thrones/ House of the Dragon/ ARCANE, you'd love this one too!

8 - A high delusional society coexisting with a much poorer majority. Provocative grotesque parties/ fancy balls VS Brutally beautiful criminal city/ local dance holidays with magical roots

9 - The main girl is apparently Cordelia/Catarina's lovechild. She came here to show her dangerous dance skills and heal you🤗. Everyone is scared of her and she's scared of her weird dreams about sex & apocalypse🤔

10 - Main character being a sweet silly cinnamon roll...but like "randomly criminal whore" edition. He's either too smart or too silly & horny, no in the middle. Always kind🌻savage little marshmallow that needs to be held and protected

11 - Glittery outfits, Bridgerton X Euphoria? Marie Antoinette X Great Gatsby?

12 - Magic, necromancy 🔮🪦 Magic was common centuries ago until it became too powerful and destructive, which is yay for me, but for some reason, no-no for everyone else. The last battle between enemies/lovers and boom👁️👁️the land was destroyed, magic is gone. Which is what legends say. BUT IS IT GONE THOUGH🤨

13 - "I know we've just tried to kill each other/threatened to kill, I know this is our third meeting, but what about a kiss?👉👈" AND IT'S ABOUT AT LEAST TWO COUPLES

14 - You know that character, who's like mysterious✨ minor/third main character✨he lives in an emo mansion and feeds all stray kittens🫶and everyone who bothered him was killed brutally or disappeared under mysterious circumstances for some reason...oh these silly little coincidences☺️

15 - because I ask you🥺

#sword catcher #sc #cassandra clare #tsc #kellian saren #kel saren #conor aurelian #lin caster #the ragpicker king #will herondale #jem carstairs #cordelia carstairs #catarina loss #merren asper #antonetta alleyne

[todaysanother]

Jem during The Blitz: Sorry we can’t perform our annual romantic date on Blackfriars Bridge. London is too dangerous this year. I can’t risk you, Tessa

Tessa: Of course, I understand. I can’t risk you too. Good that we both can magically travel in the span of a second, so we can meet literally ANYWHERE else in the world where’s safe and nice rn.

Jem: No, my absolutely beautiful immortal love, I’m afraid you don’t understand. It’s Blackfriars Bridge or nothing.

Tessa: What? Why??

Jem: Oh, what do you mean “why”? For DRAMA & AESTHETIC, of course.

Tessa: ...

Jem: ...

Tessa: IT’S A FUCKING HOUR IN A FUCKING YEAR

Jem: NOOO I upset you, my love, please, don’t be upset 😭 I’m sorry. Let’s reschedule and meet at that lovely hospital you work at instead. We can even have a nostalgic role play! How about you’ll be literally a nurse and I’ll be your literally dying (again) patient?

Tessa: ...

Tessa: FINE, but it’s a whole ass night this time, not just an hour. And I’ll get to make out with you!

Tessa: I take your silence as a yes.

#A Deeper Love as it is #ghosts of the shadow market #gotsm #the infernal devices #tid #the wicked powers #twp #the dark artifices #tda #the last hours #tlh #the shadowhunters chronicles #tsh #cassandra clare #tessa gray #jem carstairs #tessa x jem #jessa #herongraystairs #brother zachariah #silent brothers

[reanimatedheart]

OMG @adventa messages time :) My fave! Thank you for the messages. Let me comment on and answer some things:

"Though I'm this close to starting a petition for MC to stop bullying Crux."

He likes it.

Thank you for the comments about the voice acting! I'm honestly so thrilled about these actors, and I'm hoping to work with them more soon. <3

"Speaking of the world, I can't help but notice that the weirdest thing about it is not the eerie green sky (still love this shade of green!), not the mythical creatures walking the streets, not even the fricking Iggdrasyll in the middle of the town, but how hot everybody we've met so far is!"

Someone actually warned me like "people are going to want to romance the side characters!!" At first I tried to make them more plain, but... it's my art style, I can't help it... LOL. I just leaned into it in the end.

"I wonder though, how delusional MC can be/needs to be to successfully romance him, because he's so obviously trying to manipulate MC to make them doubt everything they know (which isn't much at this point, to be fair) and trust no one but him. I wonder if it's possible to call him out on his bullshit while still romancing him?"

You can romance Vincenzo in a multitude of ways, I'll make sure of this. You can play straight and get a yandere romance experience, or, as you've mentioned, develop a more defiant stance against him. (Just don't get too defiant, or else he'll catch on to what you're doing. In many legends, it is important to trick the monster with your wits, wink wink.)

These characters are very dynamic, and what you say to them matters. Seriously, my game's "brain" (aka code that remembers stuff you've done and said) has gotten pretty complex, esp this early on! And you'll find that they'll remember very specific stuff you've told them.

"For now thank you for this absolute jem of a game and all your hard work! Stay safe and take and don't forget to take a break and have a good rest from time to time!"

Thank you so much! I am resting this latter holiday season, but... I have already sent the update to my programmer. :) Once he polishes up the code, I will go through it one more time then post it. Ideally, it'll be the end of December.

#asks #meta commentary

[dropthedemiurge]

I am once again fascinated by P’Aof’s power in filming and intentional message for every episode (hello to the Metaphors Overflowing episode lol).

It’s so clear that the overall theme of this episode was ‘the ending’. (SPOILERS for Moonlight Chicken EP 7 below!)

First of all, a very obvious one – Ms.Hong gone, it’s the end of her life, it’s another parent of Gaipa gone, he’s alone and heartbroken now, in need of someone to stay by his side – but his possible relationship with Jim ended right before this episode as well (and completely finalized now). He says he doesn’t want to be the good and kind guy anymore, because kind guys give out love and get nothing in return. Gaipa got his world shaken and turned upside down, it’s time for him to find a new anchor.

Then the relationship between Alan and Wen – yes, they broke up already but again, it’s final once and for all in this episode. Now they confirmed for sure that nothing could’ve saved their relationship they’ve been clinging to so hard all those months. But the bond is still there. The soft smiles and letting each other go are there. The end of 5-years-old couple.

The end of unfair gap misunderstanding between Jim and Liming we witnessed as well – when Jim finally got the advice and started listening and talking to his nephew. What does he want? Why did he try to smoke? Why is he gay? What are his plans for the future? Come on, grab a beer and tell me. I’m going to let you make the decisions for yourself. It’s the end of their conflict, now they are equal adults.

It’s the end of Jem’s abstence from Li Ming’s life. He might not want his mom back in his life or himself back into hers – but his mom is here now and she wants to take care of him, now it’s up to Li Ming to choose.

And, well, Heart got the closure of his conflict with parents in this episode as well. Now both his mom and dad FINALLY after three years let him outside and they even make effort to communicate in sign language with him. He’s already on the path of having a different life.

I also loved how mature the relationships were shown – yes, they established JimWen heading towards dating finally, they hinted at Alan meeting Gaipa as well, but Wen takes care of Alan and Jim stays by Gaipa’s side throughout the whole funeral. There is no jealousy, no bitterness, just people who care about each other and understand that we need to help each other. Even Jim tried to help Alan (wow I was genuinely afraid of how that’d go, but seems like the bitterness from Alan towards Jim has almost faded too).

Following this message, Jim deciding not to use someone’s title deed and just closing Moonlight Chicken Diner which he was so proud of in the beginning... isn’t giving up. It’s not a sad finale. It’s not losing everything. It’s getting his closure with Beam and their dream, writing down a dot on disrespect from Beam’s parents. The closed restaurant is a metaphor of closure and a very obvious symbol.

All of the characters had something end this episode. But things have to end in order to face new beginnings.

Wen, Jim, Alan, Gaipa, Li Ming, Heart, Jem, even Leng and Praew – in the final episode we’ll see how each of them (and together) will move on. What new path will they choose? Some of them held to their past for too long. Finally, they’re free to choose.

#moonlight chicken #moonlight chicken series #moonlight chicken ep 7 #i swear i said i wasn't going to write analysis or thoughts #what IS THIS damn

[sweet-honey-tears]

3 Wishes

Tanjiro x fem!Reader in Aladdin Au

Hello! Long time no see! So this was a request for Tanjiro x femReader in an Aladdin Au. Imma deal with you all- I haven’t watched the movie in years and kinda hate Disney- don’t ask. So I hope you all enjoy and I’m sorry about the wait and how… off this story line is. This is my first time EVER writing for Demon Slayer soo…. Advice is welcomed.

Tanjiro counts his stars when he looks at you. The princess of the empire who somehow fell in love with a boy who barely scraped by.

His honesty and pure heart never allowed him to steal like others in his position, and he seemed to always give away what little food he got.

"His parents would be proud." The old ladies would say.

The town believes that's why you fell in love with it. A Jem in the city of filth and decay. There was fear in the streets, something you hadn't been aware of till the day you traveled there. You had been being followed by a group, likely those under Muzan. Yet, you only knew once it was too late- or so you thought.

"Are you okay, Miss?" His big red eyes held nothing but kindness despite the crimson color. "Ah! I'm so sorry!" He pleaded with surprise, his arm leaving your waist from where he pulled you away from the group. Hiding the two of you in a small ally.

From that day, Tanjiro seemed to find you, or you him.

He always saw you dressed as the citizens you ruled. Yet.. they were always clean. You seemed to… kept? Too unaware of the dangers to truly be from around the area.

"Do you work in the palace?"

"W-what?"

"You smell like like dried flowers and jasmine" Your face made him regret his words. "AH, I have a really good noise! Like I can smell the bread being baked down the street right now!"

A servant at the palace. Yes… that's what you were.

"What is it like there?"

"Smothering, but.. It's a good life. I'm grateful for where I am." Especially after seeing the truth of the kingdom you were destined to rule.

Months passed, and you met his closest friends and even his little sister. It all worked until Muzan found out you were unguarded walking around the streets.

"Please stay behind me." "Tanjiro!" "I'll be okay."

"Come now, princesses, it's time to return." The voice caused your skin to crawl. You knew this man, his white hair and colorful eyes. He was a monster.

"Pr-princesses?… No, it doesn't matter. She doesn't want to go!"

You were wrong, Tanjiro. His Eyes weren't like blood; they were like fire. Blood is too sticky to compare to the beauty of his soul.

——Skip——

Tanjiro had been lucky to find the lamp and lucky to love you. Three wishes: Your safety, wealth…

"Tanjiro!" You had screamed, seeing the male limp on the ground as Muzan laughed. What had gone wrong? You had been stabbed, yet the blade seemed to cut nothing; only your clothes showed you had been stabbed.

"I wish for her to always be protected."

"Young master, whatever she becomes afflicted with, you will instead."

"That's okay, as long as she's safe."

He had risen in status, wishing for wealth and handing it out as quickly as he received it.

"Now I can be with you if that's what you want."

"Ha! I see. How pathetic." Muzan had grabbed you, trapping your form against his own. "If I can't harm her, then I'll take her. You'll live enough to know everything you wish was in vain. Even in death, you'll mourn. You're pathetic."

—-Skip—-

How strange and horrific, watching the man melt into a pool of black as his soul left his body. Pulled from the air and trapped in the lamp. A fever dream, one would say, but it wasn't.

"Tanjiro!"

You grasped the boy's battered body as he gave you a sweet smile. "You're okay, I'm glad."

Tanjiro survived-a slight limp and scar is the only thing left. He was your right hand, your husband. Loved by the people and generous beyond words.

"Be free, enjoy the world."

"I wish you the best of luck."

@princeasimdiya12

#demon slayer #demon slayer fanfic #tanjiro x reader #tanjiro x y/n #demon slayer au #demon slayer fluff #I don’t know tags for this community help

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

𓅨 Your Fate is Sealed With Mine: Chapter Two

Your Fate is Sealed With Mine: Y/N Burgess is the granddaughter of Alex and Paul, and after having spent so many summers at their manor and always wondering why she was forbidden from entering the basement, she descends the steps into the world of the Order. She broke out the being that had been trapped in that glass cage, but what does he want with her now that he is free?

Warnings: Language, Psychological Trauma, Electroshock Therapy Gone Wrong (In The Real World You Are Fully Anesthetized), Flashbacks.

To Note: Morpheus/Dream x Female!GranddaughterReader, based on Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’, Reader now has long-ish hair for plot reasons (Just so Morpheus can tug on it later).

Word Count: ~2.6k

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“I cannot believe you are actually doing this,” Jemima sighed from where she lounged on your bed as you carefully packed away your belongings. “I mean, you handed in your two weeks' notice! This is not just visiting, Y/N, you are full-on bloody moving to Wych Cross. When I said to visit Paul and Alex, I didn’t mean for you to bloody quit your job and bloody move in with them!”

“I don’t think you’ve said bloody enough, Jemima,” You drawled out, glancing at her. “One more for good measure?” 

“Bloody hell, Y/N! I’m serious!”

“So am I!” You retorted, flaring your fingers from where they gripped a packing bin. “Face it Jem, my parents didn’t fix me, they only found a place to shove all of my fears and dreams in, close and lock the door, and dispose of the key. I’ve never dealt with it, just medicated myself so I didn’t have the thinking capacity to deal with it.” 

You stared at each other, not breaking eye contact until Jemima heaved out a sigh and her face morphed into one of concern. 

“I’m worried about you, Y/N/N, you’ve been off since that night at the club. What happened?” You dropped your head and stared at the packed, wrapped objects from your room, pursing your lips. You wanted to tell her everything. She was your best friend and you told each other everything. But this, this wasn’t something you could talk to her about. You didn’t want her to think you were going crazy, you didn’t want anyone to think you were going crazy. You had been in that situation as a child, and you did not want to be subjected to the same treatment as you had in the past. Haunted by silver blue eyes in both your dreams and waking hours, you were determined to go to Wych Cross and get your answers. 

“This is something I need to do myself, Jemima, and I love you, but I can’t do this with help.” You could tell Jemima wanted to argue with you, but thankfully she remained silent on that matter. 

“What are you going to do about your finances, Y/N, you’ve quit your job.” You snorted at that.

“I’m Paul and Alex’s only grandchild and they smother me with gifts and love. I’m set to inherit the manor and they’re loaded, I’m not going to be in financial trouble any time soon, Jemima.” She didn’t look entirely appeased and was still clearly upset that you were leaving. Abandoning your packing, you walked over to your bed and climbed onto the mattress to lay next to her on your back. Staring at the ceiling, you pondered on what to say. You hadn’t ever strayed too far from each other, nor had you ever stayed away for too long. But you moving away entirely? You didn’t know how either of you would deal with this. “You’re always welcome to visit, you know. It’s not like I’m never going to let you come. I’d be a horrid friend.” 

Jemima rotated her head to look at you laying next to her, her brown eyes still filled with worry. 

“I don’t know what’d I’d do if something happened to you, Y/N. Whatever your great-granddad got himself into, I don’t think the rumors are just rumors. You know what they say about what he had in the basement.” You didn’t laugh at her worries or try to correct her statement that in all your years of visiting Paul and Alex, no demons had ever come out of the basement… not that you had ever been down there. 

“Well I don’t plan on going into the basement and I’ve never heard anything while in the house. I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine. You know that Alex and Paul will never let anything happen to me.” Jemima sighed and rolled over, wrapping her arms around your body. You did the same as she buried her face into your neck. “I’m sure everything will be fine, you can come to visit during your summer break, and spend a few weeks there. I’m sure you’ll love walking the grounds.”

Your attempts at packing stopped for a moment as you and Jemima took a few moments to yourselves. That feeling of foreboding danger was still growing in the pit of your stomach, but you weren’t going to run away anymore. It was time to face your nightmares. 

You had departed from Manchester Victoria train station at approximately 05:11 in the morning, to arrive in London at about 08:25. It had been a brutal early morning on the train ride despite riding first class and having comfortable seat. You hadn’t bothered trying to sleep, knowing that you would only be plagued by dreams you still tried to avoid. So you spent the morning texting back and forth with Jemima who had driven you to the train station. She was still a ball of nerves and you doubt they would subside any time soon. You hoped that by texting her you would ease her worry by letting her know that you were okay. While you were waiting for your train to Wych Cross, you sat down with a coffee and scone. 

Paul had written you a full-length letter in the excitement of your coming to live with him and Alex. In the letter, he talked about everything that had been happening recently including Alex’s most recent decline in health. He was spending more and more time in his wheelchair and physical therapy was now coming more regularly. It was hard for Paul to continue to take care of Alex and your presence could certainly help with the strain. You were worried about Paul hurting himself and if you could prevent him from doing so by being there, your worry would lessen.  

Upon boarding the train that would take you to Wych Cross, you found a seat directly next to the window and decided to just enjoy the scenery you hadn’t seen in so long. Greenery and quaint houses passed by and you had vague recollections of them in your memories. Leaning your head against the glass, you let your thoughts wander.

Sitting on the edge of your small bed in your equally small hospital room, you stared at your sock-covered feet and ignored the man trying to talk to you about your latest therapy session. You didn’t want to talk about it, talking about it usually ended up with more treatment, or medication, or more shocks. Shocks you could still feel running up and down your spine. The doctors told you that the therapy would help your apparent psychosis. You didn’t understand what that word meant, but according to everyone around you, including your parents, it was bad. 

You worked so hard to pretend to be normal, to reduce the number of painful treatments you were subjected to. To reduce the number of times you were forced to swallow the medicine they gave you. It was never enough though, you could control yourself during your waking hours, but not when you were asleep. Your unconscious state gave you away every time.  

“Y/N, I need you to work with me. It’s the only way to make you feel better.” Dr. Cunningham spoke, tapping his pen on the clipboard he carried around. Your bloodshot eyes finally lifted. Dr. Cunningham looked old enough to be the same age as grandpapa Alex or Paul. His hair was greying, his face wrinkled, and his dark eyes dead from life. You didn’t like him because he personified everything you hated in this place where you were alone and scared. Mama and papa said they would fix you here, but all you felt was terror and pain. 

“I want to go home,” Your voice was soft yet scratchy, rough from the screams of pain during your shock therapy. You were supposed to be sedated, but every time you retained just enough consciousness to feel and remember every muscle twitch and spine-tingling shock that left your strapped-down body jerking place. You didn’t know what was worse, the shock therapy or the feeling of the sedatives they had started pumping into you at night to stop your dreams. You hated the lethargic feeling that bogged your body down so much you could barely move or speak. 

“We’ve talked about this, Y/N, you can go home when you’re nightmares go away and you stop having those dreams of yours.” He reminded you candidly. His pen clicked on his clipboard a few more times. “Perhaps it is time to have another session with Dr. Springer, I think it’s been quite a few days, hm? Let’s see how this session goes and reassess.” 

While your body started trembling in terror and crippling fear, Dr. Cunningham rose to his feet, wrote a few notes on his clipboard, and strode out of your room without another word. Drawing your legs up to your chest, you hugged your legs as hot tears leaked from your eyes. You wanted to go home, you wanted to go home so bad and forget that you had ever been sent to this place. No, you wanted to wake up from this nightmare and return to a life where you were happy. If only you didn’t have to forget about him to do so.

It wasn’t long before two orderlies arrived to collect you for another session with Dr. Spinger and herded you toward the treatment room, you let yourself fall into a state of numbness. Shutting down deep within yourself seemed to help you through your sessions, but it didn’t help the pain that crackled its way through your bones and body in sharp waves. Twisting through your nerves until your very fingers spasmed. You were lifted onto the treatment table by your arms and when the padded straps were strapped over your ankles and wrists, you stared at the same spot you always stared at before the treatment began. The orderlies moved around you without talking, poking and prodding you while sticking you with a needle and shoving a mouth guard between your teeth. As the electrodes were attached to your forehead Dr. Springer appeared overhead.

“Hello Y/N, Dr. Cunningham has told me it’s time to have another session. We’re going to up the frequency this time, and see if that makes a difference. Your mind is a tough nut to break, but don’t worry, we’ll make it crack soon enough and have you on your way home.” He said cheerfully. You didn’t like the way he spoke about breaking your mind. Your mind didn’t need to be broken to be fixed, did it? There was some chatter between the orderlies and the doctor and the metal probes were brought to your temples. Something was injected into your I.V., causing a wave of burn up your arm. Sleepiness started taking over, your body feeling heavier and heavier as each second passed, and just when you thought you would be able to slip into a sleep that would protect you from the shocks to come, intense lightning rippled from your temple straight to your toes, burning and tingling every inch of the body it passed. 

Biting down on the mouth guard, you thought you’d break your teeth with how hard your jaw clenched. Your uncontrollable jerking limbs were caught by the restraints as Dr. Springer counted out loud. You couldn’t hear what number he counted to, but the intense buzzing stopped momentarily as you sagged back to the cold table and another machine in the room started beeping and making other sounds. Whimpering through the mouth guard, your blurry vision settled on one of the nicer orderlies who sometimes held your hand, letting you squeeze hers as hard as you could.

“We’re almost there, love,” She whispered to you gently, patting your messy, unwashed hair. “Promise.” 

Maybe if you tried harder to let them break you, this would all be over. You focused on that thought as the next wave of electricity ran through your body, seizing your limbs until the leather restraints dug into your skin. 

Jerking from sleep while feeling the painful ghosts of electricity running through your limbs, you blinked against bright sunlight and winced as your head hurt. Straightening up in your seat, you rubbed your forehead and tried to get the memory out of your head. That wasn’t a particularly helpful memory to remember, you’d have preferred to not remember the fact that you had been shocked until your mind had forced itself to forget all about your dreams and experiences. At times your toes still curled from the phantom pain rattling up and down your spine. Apparently, they had gotten your medication dosage wrong and the anesthesia you were supposed to receive before the procedure, failed to work properly, leaving you to fully experience and remember the treatment. 

Your mind might have blocked out most of the memories of your experiences with your dreams but it had no issue remembering what you had gone through while at the psychiatric ward. It protected you for some time, but now you were remembering what it had worked hard to keep a secret, and you weren’t sure you wanted to remember what your brain had repressed. But then there was the raven-haired, silver-blue-eyed man who continued to haunt you even after all this time. Who was he and what did he want with you? Continuing to run your fingers through your hair, you noted that the train was slowing down and that the conductor was speaking over the intercom system. You had arrived in Wych Cross. 

Exiting the train and collecting your luggage was easy enough, finding a taxi that would take you to the manor was another story. Even today the locals were wary of approaching the old manor, but eventually, you found one willing to take you after explaining that you were the granddaughter of Alex and Paul and that they were expecting your arrival. It wasn’t that long of a trip to the manor and after paying for the taxi, you picked up your luggage and walked over to the grand front doors still just as polished as you remembered. You hit the door knocker and waited. It was a few moments before the door creaked open to reveal Herman, the steward of Paul and Alex. 

“It has been some time since you last visited us, Little Miss,” Herman spoke, opening the door wider and holding out his hand for your luggage. 

“You’re going to have to get used to seeing me around, Herman, are my grandfathers in the study with tea?” Herman bowed his head while taking your luggage. 

“As you suspect Miss, I shall bring your luggage to your room?” Nodding in thanks, you glided through the familiar halls, heading in the direction of the study where you would find Alex and Paul enjoying a cup of afternoon tea. They were creatures of habit after all. Quietly letting yourself into the long room, you saw Alex sitting in his chair, sipping from his cup while Paul held a paper in hand, reading the morning news no doubt. 

“I hope I’m not intruding,” You spoke up, emerging from the shadows. Paul beamed at you as Alex’s face glowed with happiness in his old age. You were honestly surprised they were both still living given their ages, but you were glad to have them as long as you had.  

“Y/N! You’ve arrived! We’ve missed having you running around the manor in the summer.” You went to Alex first, leaning down to kiss his cheek and hug him before doing the same with Paul. 

“You needn’t worry about me leaving, grandpapa, I’m here for good now,” You reassured Alex as Paul prepared you a teacup from the tray on the table. He handed you the cup. “So, do tell me what you two have been up to as of late?” 

Date Published: 8/19/22

Last Edit: 4/25/23

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#dream the endless x reader #morpheus x reader #morpheus #lord morpheus #the sandman netflix #dream of the endless x reader #dream the endless #dream x reader #dream of the endless #the sandman x reader #sandman x reader #the sandman

[alexanderlightweight]

I think Alec would really consider Magnus’s people his after they get together so what about him being protective of Cat and/or Ragnor

alec definitely considers them people to protect! thank you for the prompt i have you enjoy

--

“Alec, get off of me.  Just because it hurts you less doesn’t mean it won’t hurt you!” Cat yells, because this stupid, stubborn shadowhunter of Magnus’ actually has to be a decent person. Not just a not-awful shadowhunter.

He’s got his big body stretched across her own, as tightly pressed to her as he can go and Cat can hear and smell the sizzle of his skin as shards of energy land on it and burn through him.

“Alec, Magnus can’t take this.” Cat pleads, “not after he just got you back.”

“And who do you think is going to hold him together when I’m gone? If we’re both gone?” Alec says, a tired, sharp note in his voice. “Who else can take care of him and Madzie, Cat?”

They’ve never been this close before and Cat can smell the sandalwood on him, the same as Magnus’ makes and wears. The one he and Ragnor created together.

“You’re not serious Lightwood, not after what we talked about. Tessa is helping me, even Valois and Jem are looking.”

“But there is no assurance that we’ll find a way to make me immortal.” Alec reminds her, voice hoarse even though he hasn’t screamed yet and Cat wants to cry because this cannot be happening.

She cannot be having this conversation.

Especially not when he’s letting himself be burnt layer by layer to protect her.

“Cat, Cat listen to me. Think of this like a test run. Because Magnus is going to need someone who will be by his side if he loses one of us. And there’s no guarantee that will be me. And there’s no guarantee it will be you. But you’ve got a better chance of it.” And Cat can feel Alec’s shuddering breath and the way he grunts, trying to contain his pain.

She’s grateful, in a dark way, for the training the clave puts their shadowhunters through. She couldn’t handle having this conversation while the man Magnus’ loves is screaming in pain above her.

“I’m going to tie you to my own bloody life if I have to.” She threatens, furious at Alec and the world and Magnus for falling in love with such a ridiculous, idiotic man. 

And Alec laughs, it’s wet and tired and Cat turns off the medial side of her brain that’s trying to figure out how bad the damage is. When his wounds became internal and how deep they went. It won’t be of any help here, not while the leylines and angelic core are exploding around them. 

“Look, you’re the only one I know who can and will hold him together. Who won’t let him fade. So you and me, we’re going to keep each other as safe as possible.  Because we love him.”

And Cat agrees, “because we love him.” In a soft voice that is made up from her very core and then the leylines shatter for good and it sets off the angelic core, its veins exploding around them.

And Cat holds her breath as Alec warned her too and keeps her eyes closed as he loses the battle and finally screams, not allowing himself to move in case it will touch her.

The angelic core will kill her, but Cat fears what it will do to Alec in her stead.

It passes in an instance and a lifetime and Cat waits exactly a single breath as her magic returns and she has Alec up and floating in the air as she turns him over.

The damage is... gruesome but he’s not bleeding and he’s not actually burned.

His back is a kaleidoscope of angelic power and destruction and what Cat recognizes fearfully as her own magic.

She hesitates as she reaches out, wanting to help Alec more than she wants to avoid the pain and she finally reaches in.

The angelic power doesn’t burn her.  It’s cold and alien and foreign. It’s hostile to everything but Alec... and her.

And Cat blinks as she realizes her heartbeat is louder than usual and it’s not a concussion, Alec made sure she wouldn’t hit her head or jar his neck when he pounced on her from the top of a building and then refused to move.

He’d seen her, from his birds eye and knew no one could get to her in time. He hadn’t cared about the injuries he’d get and had laughed when Cat had tried to share the burden of pain and injury.

Only the angelic core is fatal for her. She could have helped him during the leylines but in Alec’s own words, ‘look this is the easy part, you stabilizing me before Magnus gets here is the hard part’. 

And damn if the little asshole wasn’t correct. 

“No Magnus, dont!” She calls out because he’s running to her with a face that looks so tortured she wants to weep.  But something is going on that she doesn’t understand but she has a thought and she ignores Alec’s pained face as she rolls him magically over in the air.

Alec’s eyes are glowing, with her magic and his lips as forming words that she can’t hear but Cat recognizes.

It’s Magnus’ name and she may not know this particular ritual, but she recognizes the bare bones of it and she grits her teeth.

Because she also loves Magnus Bane. 

She loves him more than she loves the world and if that means sacrificing as much of herself as she can get away with and still be there for him, she will.

Cat bites her own lips and leans down and pinches Alec’s nose, getting her fingers into the joints of his jaw so his mouth opens and she can drip her own blood into his mouth.

And then, knowing full well that this is going to suck, she bites Alec lip and swallows the blood that wells up. It burns her tongue and aches as it slides down her throat.

Alec’s blood is cold. Cat realizes as darkness creeps into her vision, not warm.

She wakes up in soft and floaty segments. 

The air is filled with frost but somehow she’s warm.

She’s not shaking and she feels possibly the softest material she’s ever experienced against her skin.

And then the warm but firm pillow under her is moving and Cat latches on, grumbling in her sleep.

“Cat, dearest. I really do appreciate everything you did whatever it was. But please, pretty please will you give him back to me?” And Cat wakes up to find that her magic is keeping her glued to a very confused and mortified looking Alec Lightwood.

One who has a very bruised lip that doesn’t feel coincidental when Cat licks her own lip and tastes blood.

“Oh ew.” She can’t help it and Alec, in a strange parody of their first position, is laughing under her.

And then Cat shoots off of him and just stares for a good moment.

“You have wings now.” She says flatly, because it’s too obvious for her to actually ask.

And Alec shrugs like he doesn’t particularly care and there’s a satisfied gleam to his eyes and Cat suddenly wonders if he can feel something. Some kind of change.  Because the way Alec looks at the world not is different, it’s more calculating.

Like he cut off some piece of himself so he could fit better with Magnus. 

Like he’s no longer terrified of leaving Magnus without support.

“What did you do?” She asks quietly, while Magnus is summoning water and blankets and destroying the evidence. 

“You did it first.” Alec sasses back and then he shrugs, “there’s a choice when you’re that close to Raziel’s embrace. I fell a little and you caught me. I’m still me, just perhaps a little more.” And he smiles, teeth a little sharper and eyes a little darker and Cat tries really hard not to think about how she’s now willingly tied herself to not two, but three people who need to be looked after so badly.

“We’re going to talk about your self-sacrificing tendencies. “ Cat threatens as she sits down across from him. “Because that’s not good for Magnus.” And they both wince, because something flares between them.

A little demand that they both endure, to live, to carry on.

For Magnus.

“He would be furious if he knew.” Cat says softly and they both know she really means heartbroken.

“We ease him into it.” Alec says with a shrug, “if he decides he doesn’t want me for more than one lifetime, I’ll figure out something that won’t give you backlash.”

And Cat groans because she is not a therapist and she does not want to be one.

“One, Magnus is not going to be willing to let you out of his sight when he realizes what we pulled off. Two, that would not be the solution, that can never be the solution. Do you honestly think that even if Magnus did get tired of you, he wouldn’t eventually find out what happened to you?”

And Alec winces, “okay yeah. So I figure something else out if this goes wrong with him.”

“It’s not going to go wrong.” Cat mutters because she knows Magnus and this is going to be overwhelming for him but he’s also going to be slightly unhinged for a while. Once he knows Alexander wants to stick around, forever, Magnus is going to try and keep Alec as protected as possible. And Alec, with his stupidly self-sacrificial love and devotion is going to have to deal with it because he still doesn’t understand that Magnus just wants him.

“I’ll trust you.” Alec says, because he does, trust her with Magnus. Sometimes more than he trusts himself.

And there’s a panicked yell and Alec groans and then shakes his head as he stands in the rubble of the room.

“Did you? Why does he have wings?” And Jace is staring at them in a bit of shocked horror as he lifts up his shirt and shows his bare hip. “Did you steal my parabatai? Because he’s not dead but he’s gone?

And Cat snorts as Alec accidentally knocks Jace over with one, lumbering wing and she can’t stop when he then knocks himself over.

It turns into full blown laughter as she lists against Magnus’ side because she did.

She did indeed steal Jace Herondale’s parabatai. She broke a bond not even the clave will and she did it to ensure that Magnus won’t ever have to lose him and she doesn’t regret any of it.

Well, maybe that part where she had to kiss him.

She could have done without that.

#shadowhunters #writing wednesdays #writing wednesday #lumine writes #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #prompt fic #prompt fill #immortal husbands #my fics #my fanfics #my ficlets

[secretsofblackthornhall]

Emma to Bruce

Dear Bruce,

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. Will I keep writing to you when all these renovations are done? When things have returned to some form of normalcy? Or is normalcy over—is the crack in the Nephilim world one that can’t be healed but will only widen over time, with more and more changes, until finally there is too much change to bear? In which case I guess I will keep writing to you, Bruce, as a kind of silent witness to the strangeness of these times.

Sorry, sorry. I am feeling a little poetic tonight because Jem and Tessa and Kit and Mina arrived today and…well, that’s just kind of how Jem and Tessa talk. Being, you know. Way old. And because it feels like all this business with the cursed house is in its final chapters and I don’t have any idea how things are going to be after that.

In any event we didn’t do anything about the curse today, we just ended up visiting with the Carstairs-Herondales, who should definitely pick a shorter name we can use for them. Team Victorian Era? Team Time When Everything Was Very Romantic But It Took Forever To Get Anywhere? Hm. I guess I’ll ask them for ideas, since mine are, uh, bad.

There was some complication right when they arrived. We had picked out a couple of bedrooms for them to use and asked the brownies to make them up with sheets and towels and all that. And then we checked them before the guests arrived and I’m glad we did because the faeries had made up all the rooms for…birds? Like, for huge, person-sized birds. Big nests of sticks, six feet across, and branches to perch on. And big balls of birdseed hanging from the ceiling.  So we had to ask them to redo the rooms and the brownies looked so disappointed. (But we didn’t say the guests were birds! I have no idea why they thought that!) The worst part is they did a really nice job, like, if we were being visited by giant birds they would have been very comfortable. They still seemed puzzled when everyone did show up that Mina wasn’t a big egg. Faeries, man.

Speaking of Mina, who is not a big egg but rather a small toddler, she is extremely cute. She is walking now, or toddling, I guess, and she says “mama” and “dada” and also “kish” which apparently is what she calls Kit. And she has a little wooden toy stele that she is constantly trying to scribble on everyone with. Apparently Kit has been learning runes and Mina wants to learn them too.

We should have just gone straight into curse-breaking but to be honest we were just having a very nice time hanging out. Tessa and Jem are very easy to spend time with, which is nice given how high-strung most of our other friends are. I suppose once you’ve gone through all the stuff that has happened to them, it takes a lot to upset you. Just the way Jem talks about the curse makes me feel more reassured that we’ll be able to fix it, even though we don’t really know what we’re doing or what’s gone wrong so far.

They seem really impressed by the house, also, which makes Julian look all proud of himself in a highly adorable way. Tessa said the last time either of them were here was after Tatiana was arrested and sent to be an Iron Sister, and they were searching it for demon stuff. (Most of which, she admitted, they clearly didn’t find. It seems obvious from the way she talks that they didn’t understand how dangerous Tatiana really was until it was too late—I really want to ask her about that but it seemed a dark topic while we were all having a good time.) Jem said by that time it was already in pretty bad shape, but Tessa said she saw the house once “in its prime” at a ball, and then she blushed a little. Whatever happened during that ball must have been pretty impressive if she’s blushing about it 130 years later!

Of course there’s still that overall shroud of heavy memory that kind of hangs over the place, and no amount of new paint and replaced windows can help that. That’d be the curse, of course. Still, it felt cheerier this evening than it ever has before. For the first time I felt a little like it was our house and friends had come to visit and it was surprisingly nice and ordinary. As long as I don’t think about what’s going on with the Clave.

Also a concern: Kit. He was hanging out with us most of the day, but he was really quiet, for him, and a couple of times he excused himself to go take a walk in the garden. Julian said he thinks Kit broke up with his girlfriend and maybe he’s sad about that, but I don’t know. He was really jumpy whenever any of the builders were around, and kept a close eye on them anytime they were nearby. Round Tom introduced himself and Kit nodded, but he didn’t say his name or much of anything else. I mean, you can hardly blame him. His relationship to faeries, and Faerie itself, is complicated. According to Tessa, Cirenworth is very tightly warded against faerie incursions, and even the town and the roads nearby are protected. Magnus and Catarina made sure of it. So this would be one of the first times he’s been around faeries since the big battle outside Alicante; even though these faeries are safe, it must be weird for him.

But you know Kit. He has this aura about him like he doesn’t want to answer any questions about how he’s doing. Today he’s been out front, watching the faeries in the garden — it could be he’s worried about them, or maybe he wants to join them? I don’t know. Maybe Julian or I can get him to open up a little while he’s here. Or maybe I’ll get a moment to ask Jem or Tessa if they know what’s up.

Anyway, that’s all from me for now, Bruce. Tomorrow we break a curse! I hope!

Emma

#sobh #secrets of blackthorn hall #emma carstairs #bruce #Kit Herondale #jem and tessa #julian blackthorn #faeries

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 2: SepticHeroes Revisited

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs | Read Septicheroes

Read SITCV | SITCV SepticHeroes Chapters | AO3 Link  It sounds like your friend Bro showed up near Schneep and Marvin, JJ says. And now everyone is coming here to meet up. 

“Oh good!” Dahlia says. 

Jackie perks up from where he was resting against the wall. "Oh sick!" He grins. 

“We should probably let Soren know so he doesn’t try to freeze them for intruding.” Dahlia says. 

JJ raises an eyebrow. I thought you liked Soren. 

“He could be worse. But he would definitely react badly to lookalikes suddenly showing up with your friends.”

Jackie  tilts his head, "Freeze? Oh oh! Does Soren have ice powers??"

Dahlia laughs. “I meant that metaphorically. Like you know, when people freeze up with fear?” 

"Oohhh sorry- I thought lots of people had powers here." Jackie replies with a timid smile. 

“Oh no, you’re right, lots of people do,” Dahlia says. “I’ve fought three different ice villains over the years.” 

I’ll go find him and let him know about all this, JJ says. Jackie, do you want to come? You know, meet him? 

Jackie looks at JJ then grins, hopping up to his feet. "Yeah! I'd love to meet him!"

Dahlia leans back against the pillows. “Tell Soren I say hi.” 

I will, JJ says, standing up. Follow me, Jackie. 

They leave the room and enter a narrow upstairs hallway. All the doors up here are ajar so JJ only glances inside each—bedroom, bedroom, bathroom, closet—before heading down the stairs at the end of the hall. This whole house seems very generic, with single color walls and almost no decorations. Didn’t Bro and Alt mention some of the guys here were in hiding? This must be a place they’re staying, not anyone’s home. 

Jackie observes the house with interest. He can definitely tell this is not a lived in house- he knows what a lived in house looks like. His kids have taught him that lesson over and over. This place seems wayyy too clean. 

The first floor has an office, a bathroom, a living room, a dining room, and, finally, a kitchen. Which is the last place they look and the place where they finally find who they’re looking for. There a man crouches on the floor, looking through the cabinets. 

JJ whistles and the man looks over at him. 

“Hey Jem. Jackie.” He stands up. He’s wearing a dark red jacket over a white crop top with a purple heart in the middle. His hair is red, cut short on the right and longer on the left, and his eyes are—dark purple? Huh. He’s also taller than both Jackie and JJ. “I was just about to start—” And then the man stops. His eyes narrow at Jackie, and Jackie feels a little afraid all of a sudden. “Jameson, that’s not Jackie.” 

No, I know, JJ says. He can be trusted.

Jackie stands stiff as they meet Soren- he's almost surprised he knew his name... before remembering he's technically a copy. He smiles timidly and raises a hand in greeting. "Yo...? You're.. not too far off. I am Jackie but... Jackie Mann. I'm... from another universe...?"

Soren blinks. Then he looks at JJ. "Wait, you were telling the truth about all that?" 

Did you think I was messing with you? JJ asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"Actually I thought you were delirious." 

JJ looks like he wants to say something defensive, but then he sighs. That's fair. But yes, it's all true. We really met people from another world, and now they're back. More are coming here soon, along with everyone else. 

"...huh." Soren leans back against the kitchen counter, contemplating that. Then he nods. "Alright. Nice to meet you, then, Jackie Mann." He looks at the shirt Jackie's wearing, the one that says 'Oh No Everyone's Hot' in the bi pride colors, and grins. "Heh. Mood." The fear Jackie felt briefly is gone now.

Jackie finds himself blushing- not only cuz this guy is attractive but... its not often he meets someone with the same eye color as his wife. A bit darker than hers but...mmmm. He looks down at his shirt and blushes more. "O-Oh uh.. y-yeah! Mood-" Oh god he's being cringe- where are the others??

It turns out, the others are right outside, as Alt glitches Jackie and Chase onto the path to the front door. Frosty shakes himself, fur floofing out like he's trying to shake off the glitches. 

"Here we are!" Jackie says, making sure his mask is secure. He walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell. 

Alt shakes off the glitches too, feeling momentarily dizzy but being able to push it off. He's fine- it's fine. He smiles and follows after Jackie towards the door.

JJ, Soren, and Jackieboy can hear that doorbell from the kitchen. Soren raises his eyebrow. "Is that them or should we ignore it?" he asks. 

It might be some of them, JJ says. Alt can teleport people.

Jackie's phone chimes. A text from Alt: Yo nerd we're outside 😼

Jackie laughs and tilts his head towards the door. "It's them! Alt just texted me." 

JJ giggles. Alright, let's go meet them, then. 

"I'm coming with," Soren announces. "I want to meet the people coming into my house." 

JJ laughs as the group leaves the kitchen. Let me and Jackie answer the door, at least. 

"Yeah, sure." Soren leans against the entrance hall wall while JJ opens the door. 

"Hey!" Jackie grins--and then grins wider when he sees his other self. "OH! HEY! HI!"

Jackie Mann’s eyes widen and then he grins super big, stimming slightly. "oh my god oh my god!! It's true! You really are a super hero!! Or youre like- totally yanking my chain and wearing a costume and this is all a joke and if it is imma kill Chase but AHHHH"

Alt bursts into laughter, "Jackie, breathe man! You're gonna pass out!"

“No no no, I really am! I—” Jackie glances around, then hurries through the doorway. “Check this out!” He jumps—and stays in the air, hovering a few inches over the floor. 

Jackie's jaw drops and then he stims even more, practically vibrating, "THAT'S SO FUCKING COOL!!" 

Alt glitches over and puts a hand on his Jackie's shoulder, "Inside voice, my guy-" He giggles. 

Jackie lands, grinning and giggling. “It really is so cool! I forget about how cool it is sometimes.” 

Chase walks in with Frosty. “I was so surprised the first time he showed me,” he says. “I didn’t even believe him until I saw the flying. Hey, other Jackie! I’m Chase.”

Jackie blinks and then beams at Chase, "Omg! Other Chase!! AND A PUPPY!!" He bends down to admire Frosty and almost pets him before seeing his vest. "OH! working pup- I see. Carry on good sir and/or ma'am!" 

Chase grins. “This is Frosty! He’s my good boy. You can give him a couple pats, it’s okay.” 

Jackie's eyes sparkle as he gets down and pats Frosty on the head, "oh! Hello Frosty!! Oh aren't you the best boy?? Damn- I should get a dog... maybe once Penny is older." He laughs. 

JJ laughs silently. Hi Alt, it’s good to see you again. 

Alt smiles, "Hey JJ! Good to see you too." 

Bro isn’t here yet, apparently he and Marvin and Schneep had to take the train. 

Alt tilts his head and frowns, "The train? huh... Guess the others didn't wanna get flown around... you know what? that's fair." He laughs. 

In the background, Soren watches all this happen with visible curiosity.

Alt blinks at Soren and then waves a bit, "Uh hi! I'm Alt-"

Soren grins and raises a hand. "Hello. Call me Soren."

Alt smiles, "Hey, nice to meet you. I think I remember them mentioning you last time!" 

"JJ's boyfriend," Chase says teasingly. 

We're not officially dating, JJ says. 

"Oh really?" Soren raises an eyebrow. "So what was it last night when we--" 

I am going to make you shut up, I swear to god, JJ says hurriedly, a few strings appearing around his fingers. 

Soren laughs. 

Jackie looks back and forth between each other. "...wait a second, did you guys--" 

Jackie springs up to his feet and rubs his hands together, "Oh!! I'm sensing drama and tea~??" 

It's not what you think! JJ interrupts, his face turning very red. 

"Aaaaanyway," Chase says. "Where's Dahlia?" 

Jackie's face falls and his points dramatically at Chase, "Noooo! Don't change the subject!!" 

Alt bonks him on the head, "Stop being weird, ya doof-" 

Still upstairs, JJ says, relieved at the change of subject. Do you want to meet her, Alt? 

Alt blinks at JJ and then smiles, "Oh yeah sure!" 

Jackie grins, "I think you'll like her, Alt. She's real cool~"

She'd love to meet you, JJ says. I think she's love your powers. 

Alt flushes but grins happily. "Neat, let's see her then."

Come on! He turns and hurries towards the stairs. 

"I'm coming too, I wanna hang out with Dahlia," Jackie says excitedly. 

"Fanboy," Chase whispers under his breath. 

"Hey!" 

"You guys have fun, I'll wait for your other friends down here," Soren says, waving the rest of them off as everyone heads upstairs. 

Dahlia sits up straight when everyone returns to the bedroom. "Hey Jays. Jackie, Jackie, Chase, Frosty--and new guy, hello!" She waves. 

Alt glitches a bit and tries not to get into his old habit of hiding his face in his mask. "Hi! I um-- I'm Alt. You're Dahlia, then?"

"Yep!" Dahlia says cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, love. You're the one who can turn into electricity, right?" 

Alt blushes a bit more and grins, "Uh yeah- kinda? I'm... a magician so I do magic but... electricity is mostly it." 

"He can do all sorts of shit," Jackie says. "Like glitching--that's how we got there." 

"Nice, nice. Sorry there's not many spaces to sit in here. Chase, d'you need the chair?" 

"No, I'd rather not, uh, change position too much," Chase says. 

"Alright, in that case, it's a race to claim it," Dahlia chuckles.

Jackie and Alt glance at each other and seem to share a thought- and race towards the chair. Alt glitches into it though and grins. "Too slow~!" 

"Hey! No fair ya cheating bastard! I could run circles around you!" Jackie pouts. 

"But why would i try that if I can just glitch~?" Alt laughs.

"Whoa!" Dahlia's eyes light up. "That's so cool! It's like--teleportation with an effect." 

Jackie laughs at Jackieboy and Alt's interaction. "Isn't it? It's so cool! Last time, Alt went into my phone--I mean, that didn't really work out too well but it's because Anti was there." 

"Ah yes, the hellspawn," Dahlia comments in response to Anti. 

"H-hey, uh, be careful." Chase glances at Alt. "We, um... might... You know how weird other dimensions get?" If Alt really was another version of Anti, he doesn't want to indirectly insult him. 

"Do you mean universes? Dimensions are different," Jackie says. 

"Jackie's right," Dahlia says. "And I know, I studied physics." 

You dropped out, JJ says, grinning. 

"Hey! That's a family secret!"

Alt grins at Dahlia, "Hey no sweat- I never finished secondary school. So you got me beat!" He laughs.

"Also, Don't worry Chase- I've been to lots of universes now. Most Antis I meet fit the description of hellspawn. I was just born different~" He grins mischievously. He then glitches out of the chair, "By the way- I don't need this, I just wanted to beat Jackie~" 

"Yer such a jerk," Jackie laughs. 

Dahlia blinks. "Wait... you're an Anti? How?" 

"It doesn't really make sense, does it?" Jackie says. "But apparently it's true. I guess there are infinite possibilities with other universes." 

"Huh. I suppose that's right." 

Alt hums, "The only reason I'm an Anti in my universe is cuz... I picked that name when I was little. Was better than my old name. But, now I just stick with Alt. Only Bro really still calls me Anti." He shrugs, "But, apparently, Antis have lots of similar... traits." He seems to shiver, sticking his hands in his pockets and bunching up some, his confidence shrinking a bit. "... Glitching is one of them," He pulls at his mask, rubbing up against his neck.

JJ claims the chair now that no one is moving for it. How many universes did you guys go through before you reached home again? he asks. It must have been a lot if you've met lots of versions of yourself. 

Alt blinks up at JJ and then thinks, "Oh... um... yeah it was a lot." He mentally counts, "We've been to two of them twice before this one- i think it's been... 7 ish?" 

"That's a lot of other worlds," Jackie says in awe. 

Alt seems to shrink in more and rocks on his feet, looking away. "... Antis aren't... usually the greatest... in other places. Typically they're... bad guys. Freaky villains and..." He presses his lips shut and closes his eyes, trying to push back some thoughts. "...i... I'm not like them though. I'm trying my best not to be. Cuz... I'm more than just an Anti. I'm Alt." 

Jackie gives Alt a gentle smile and pats his shoulder, looking at him proudly.

"Well, I can guarantee that you're nothing like the Anti here, Alt," Chase says. "Everyone is themselves, y'know? Not just like... a role to fill. Besides, we just said that the universes are, like, infinite, so there's probably more good Antis than you know. I bet there's some bad versions of us out there, too." 

"Ha! I'll always be a hero," Jackie says, folding his arms. "No matter what world I'm in." 

I don't think so, JJ says. Look at other Jackie here. I mean--I'm sure you're a good guy, other Jackie, but it sounds like Chase is the main hero in your world. 

"...uhhhh... good point." Jackie blinks, at a loss for words. 

Chase laughs at the blank look on Jackie's face. "Bro. We were just talking about how different everything is, and you come in like 'nah I'll always be the same.'" 

"It's just--just hard for me to picture being evil, is what I mean!" Jackie stammers defensively.

Alt opens his mouth and then shuts it, not sure he wants to tell Jackie about the bad Jackies he's met. Like Sangira... or- well... that Jackie is getting better now. But still- He has killed people. 

Jackie laughs, "Man! I wish I was a hero! But nah- I'm just a geek who's a dad and does parkour~" He grins, "Chase is our main hero. I'd love to help but- as our Dr. J says im 'injury prone'." He adds air quotes. 

"You are injury prone-" Alt deadpans, "You're hiding a wrist brace right now!" 

Jackie pulls down on his jacket sleeve, "No I'm not, you're a liar!"

Chase laughs. "Bro, I didn't even notice that!" 

JJ also chuckles. I don't think anyone would have said anything if Alt didn't point it out. 

"Hey look, I get you, man--Mann, haha." Chase laughs some more. "My balance sucks. Frosty helps out with that, along with some other stuff, but accidents still happen sometimes." 

Jackie's ears turn red but he grins, "I mean... it sucks but- being clumsy is how I became best friends with my Chase. ... wouldn't change that for the world." 

While this nice conversation is happening inside, outside, Marvin, Schneep, and Bro are walking down the street. "Why do we have to walk everywhere in this city?" Marvin grumbles. 

"Learn how to drive," Schneep says, still invisible. 

"No, I don't want to." 

"Your loss, then." 

"You don't drive, either, don't talk shit to me." 

Bro laughs and hovers a bit in front of them, "Maybe you two just need to learn to fly~" He jokes before touching back down. He walks backwards grinning at them. "I don't drive either- but Jackie does! I try to avoid it though-" 

Schneep is quiet for a moment. "Anyway, we are almost there." He flickers back into view long enough to point out a house. "That is it." 

Bro blinks and then notices the house as Schneep points to it and grins. He hurries over to the door and knocks on it.

"Whoa whoa hey!" Marvin and Schneep rush after Bro. "I think it's best if we don't lead with the stranger. Soren's as paranoid as me." 

Schneep walks through Bro and ends up in front of him, returning to visible view. 

“Oh right-“ Bro starts to say and then shivers as Schneep passes through him. He backs up and pats the spot where he went. “…that was so weird woah-“ 

And then the door opens. Soren leans against the doorway and looks down at the three of them. "Marvin, Specter, good to see you." He smiles, then looks at Bro. "New guy. You look very heroic. Other Chase, I'm told. I'm Soren, Soren Moizone."

Bro blinks up at Soren and then grins. “that’s cuz I am! I’m called Bro Fantastic back at home! Nice to meet you, Soren!” 

"Heh. Fun name." Soren grins and Bro feels immediately at ease. "Your friends are inside, talking upstairs. I was going to start making dinner in the meantime." 

"It's like four in the afternoon," Marvin says. 

"And? There's a lot of you. We need a lot of food." 

"I'm not sure we have the time for that..." Schneep mutters. "Something has happened." 

Soren's easy demeanor immediately shatters, replaced by a hard, serious look. "Get in, then." He steps aside so everyone can come in.

Bro’s smile drops and he looks sad for a second. Damn… if Mag hadn’t gotten here… they could have actually had a good time. He squeezes his eyes shut and pushes down his anger and walks in to find his friends. “…thanks, Soren.”

"Not a problem," Soren says. "I'll head on up with you." 

They walk up the staircase. The door to Dahlia's room is ajar a bit. Schneep hurries over and pushes it fully open. "Hey, Hen!" Dahlia waves. "I was just about to bring up when you'd get here." 

"Hey, other me!" Chase says. "Hi!" 

Jackie waves furiously at Bro. "Hey! Good to see you again!"

Bro smiles as he walks into the room and waves, "Hey guys-" 

Alt immedately straightens up, "...what's wrong?' He asks in a quiet voice. 

"What? Huh- how did you-??" 

"Please Chase- I know you." Alt says with a raised eyebrow. 

Bro looks conflicted. But eventually he sighs, his shoulders dropping. "...Magnificent is here..." 

"WHAT?!" Jackie and Alt shout almost in unison.

"I thought you guys were just visiting?!" Jackie gapes. The curtains flutter as a nervous breeze flies through the room. "Did he tag along somehow?" 

"Whatever happened, it was not intentional," Schneep says. "Bro said that it may be something wrong with your TRVLR device." 

"Magnificent is... a villain, right?" Dahlia says. 

"A bad one?" Soren asks. 

A bad one, JJ confirms. 

Chase shudders. "Last time he was here he got in my head. I-it was freaky."

Alt starts to pace and glitch anxiously, tugging at his hoodie. "NO no! I... I was so careful! All that planning! The warding! The protection spells! It all meant nothing?!" He shouts at the end, the electronics in the room all flickering and shuddering from Alt's anger and panic. 

"Hey hey lil bro, Breathe!" Bro says, coming over and holding his shoulders. "It wasn't your fault! he... it must be something with the TRVLR! Did anything seem weird about it??" 

Alt shakes his head, "I.. I dunno- It seemed fine... just- why?!" He shouts, angry tears in his eyes. "Why is he here, again??" 

Jackie looks at Chase with a sympathetic gaze before turning back to Dahlia, "Yeah he's... our main villain back home. A power hungry maniac corrupted by black magic... he wants to make people into his puppets or steal their power or... lots of other fucked up shit. He's a dangerous dude..." 

"Where's Marvin?? He was with you guys, right?" Alt suddenly shouts, worry on his face, "Mag really hurt him last time- he didn't-?!" 

"Alt please, try to calm down..." Bro whispers.

"I'm right here." Marvin steps forward. He'd hung back to take off Bro's spare clothes, which he then shoves at him. "Yeah, I still have the scars from him turning into a fucking tiger. But he clearly still wants to kill me." 

Alt deflates a bit, less worried now that he knows Marvin is okay. Bro fumbles with the clothes then stuffs them back in his bag. 

"Turning into a tiger...?" Soren repeats slowly. 

"The powers from the other world are more varied than ours," Schneep says. "A 'magician' there can do many incredible things at once." 

"Uhhhh okay," Dahlia says. 

"At least, uh, h-he can't find us here," Chase says. 

JJ frowns. Can he? How did he find your flat last time? 

"Um... I-I don't know. I never really thought about that." 

I think he had help, JJ says. He signs something: the letter A, and then smacking his hands together. A-virus. The meaning is clear.

Alt's eyes narrow and he growls, "That Anti fuck... he's probably gonna try to help him again! Fuck... fuck fuck fuck!" Alt shouts, looking like he's ready to hit something or explode- pixels coming off him as his body breaks in and out of being whole by his glitches. 

Jackie Mann looks between everyone and tries to smile, "M-Maybe it wont be so bad! Maybe... this is actually hidden this time? Mag usually can't find shit without magic!"

"Uhhhhh..." Jackie bites his lip and stares at his other version. "How do I put this...? Anti can look through cameras. All our phones have cameras. We all have phones on us right now." 

"We should have never started using them again!" Schneep curses. 

"God damn it all!" Marvin punches the wall. 

Soren rubs his eyes. "Yang and I only have so many safe houses in the city, you know," he says tiredly. "Why did you all start using computers again?" 

"Well, we figured that now we know Anti can't reach us, we'd just have to be very careful what we said," Chase says slowly. 

Clearly this was a mistake, JJ says. We have to get out of here. 

Alt sighs and crosses his arms, "...trying to run might get innocents hurt. Knowing Mag and how hard we kicked his ass last time... he's not gonna be happy. He's gonna hunt all of us down..." 

"If Magnificent is coming here, why don't we wait for him?" Jackie argues. "We could spring a trap!" 

I'm not putting Dahlia in danger. 

"I can handle danger," Dahlia mutters. "Even like this."

"I mean- yeah! We know he's coming so we can prepare! We got him really good last time!" Bro smiles,

JJ still looks reluctant, but he nods. Alright, I suppose we have to prepare for a fight, then. 

"Great, we can put these to use." Soren walks over to the armchair, bends over, and opens a hidden compartment in one of the legs, pulling out a knife. JJ looks at this, surprised, and bursts into silent laughter. How long has that been there?! 

"Since before you guys moved in. There are weapons in all the chairs and lamps, some of them with special features." 

Chase leans closer to Jackie. "I told you," he whispers. 

Alt blinks and then grins, "Fuck yeah that's metal!" 

Bro looks worried. "Are the houses around all safehouses? Because our powers aren't necessarily... discrete?" 

"And what about us powerless people huh?" Jackie says, pointing to himself. "I mean- save a face punch from me for Mag- but I'm also fragile!"

"Super fights happen all the time, don't worry," Jackie says. "I don't think any of us are destructive enough to level the neighborhood or anything." He hesitates. "Even so, I-I--I can go around and ask people to clear out. The citizens know me, they'll listen." 

"And don't worry, other Jackie, I have all sorts of stuff," Soren says. "My powers aren't exactly combative so I have to make up for it. What are you, blades, guns, or blunt instruments? I'm sure I have some protective vests somewhere, too." 

Jackie brightens up, "oh! I just learned how to use a knife better! Gimme!" 

Soren grins. "Alright, here you are." He flips the knife over and holds it out to Jackie hilt-first. 

Jackie grins and flips the knife, testing out the feel. “Sick- I’ll cut some new whiskers on Mag’s face!” 

"I'll try and find those protective vests." And Soren stands up and leaves.

"I can try to cast some wards and stuff-" Alt says, digging out his spellbook. "He's a strong magician but I... I can probably keep him back for a bit..." 

Go ahead and do your magic, Alt, JJ says. Any time you can buy us will be great. And he gets up. Dahlia? 

"I'll be careful, Jays," Dahlia says. "Promise." 

JJ nods, then goes out to follow Soren in the search for the protective vests.

Alt nods and starts flipping through the pages. His eyes burn with green blue light as he recites some words, going to trace some runes in the air above the walls.

Bro shifts nervously, "I could come with you if you need, Windstorm-" 

Jackie looks at Bro. He nods. "That's a good idea. If we spot something suspicious while out, one of us can fly back and tell the others here. I think we should avoid texting for now." 

Bro nods with a small smile and puts back on his mask, his hair flaring to green-yellow. “Right!” 

"Alright." Jackie nods. "Let's go!" 

Time passes as everyone prepares. Soren passes out weapons to everyone who doesn't have more combative powers. He also finds three protective vests--which are smaller and thinner than traditional bulletproof vests, but which he assure everyone is just as protective as Kevlar. JJ insists that Dahlia gets one, and the other two go to Chase and Jackieboy. 

Outside, Jackie and Bro fly around, telling the neighbors that theere's going to be a fight happening soon and they need to either hunker down or leave. Nobody protests, understanding the gravity that comes with a Hero--and another hero--telling them directly. 

Until, about half an hour later, Jackie nudges Bro. "Look," he says. "Do you see that?" 

Bro narrows his eyes at where Jackie points and then frowns. “Uhhh… no? What am I looking at?”

Jackie glances at him, then back to where he was pointing. At a line of bushes in someone's front yard. Indeed the movement he saw there before is gone now—until it isn't. 

Suddenly Jackie yells and tackles Bro to the side, just barely knocking him out of the way as a soccer-ball-sized metal sphere rockets towards the spot where Bro's head had been seconds before. 

Bro yelps as he's pushed to the ground. 

The sphere spins around midair and rushes at them again. Jackie raises a hand and a gust of powerful wind knocks it off course, sending it crashing to the sidewalk next to them. It's some sort of robot, mostly spherical with a tail-like peripherary. "That's a SAM," Jackie breathes. "Semi-Autonomous Machine. SepTech made them to help people but then Anti took control of most of them. I think it was spying on us."

Bro pants and then looks at Jackie with wide eyes. "If... if Anti took control of them- could he send them to the house??"

Jackie's eyes widen in turn. "Definitely." 

The SAM's peripheral writhes, and it slowly hovers back into the air, pointing a camera lens in its center at the two heroes. 

"We gotta warn the others then-!" Bro starts to say but freezes as the SAM gets airborne again. 

Compartments on the side of the SAM open up, and out pop small devices--devices that then shoot a hail of sharp darts at the two of them.

Jackie dodges out of the way, a gust of wind pushing the darts away from him. 

Bro yells in surprise as the darts are shot and crosses his arms in front of his face to try to block them. But, a few stick in his arm- one even breaking through his suit. "Ah- fuck!! What the fuck??" He pulls it out and looks at it then waves it at the SAM, "The fuck did you stick in me ya round orb bitch?!"

Jackie looks at Bro and pales. "Wait a minute." He plucks one of the darts that didn't pierce through Bro's suit from his arm. Inside the tiny glass compartment is a pale lavender liquid. "Shit! That's neutrinalin! It'll muffle your powers!" 

Bro's eyes widen. "What?! Shit-!" 

The SAM prepares for another volley of darts, aiming at Jackie this time. He barely dodges another round. "Go back to the house!" he shouts at Bro. "Quick, before it takes effect! Tell the others the SAMs are coming!" 

Bro looks hesitant to leave Jackie but he quickly nods and takes back off into the air, hurrying back towards the house. He barrels through the door, nearly tripping into Alt who was prepping a seal against the door. 

"What? Chase what's- dude what happened??" Alt asks. He's a bit pale and seems shaky but he's also half chewing on a snack bar Jackie brought. 

Bro pants, wiping at his face. "That bitch Anti is sending machines this way! R-Round bitches that shoot out power nullifying shit! They look like eyes-" 

Alt's eyes widen and he grabs Bro and pulls him in, "Where's Windstorm?" 

"H-Hopefully right behind me!"

Schneep suddenly appears next to Alt. "You mean the SAMs?" he says. "The Semi-Autonomous Machines. They were made by SepTech to be helpful for people and Heroes. 

"Yes! Those guys! Jackie said Anti-!" 

“They should not be able to--what was it? Shoot power nullifying... you mean neutrinalin?" 

 "Yeah yeah that!”

JJ has arrived about halfway through the conversation. He frowns. Anti must have modified some of them. Did you get hit with the-- he makes a sign that the other-world visitors don't know, like JJ is pushing something down. It must be the sign for 'neutrinalin.' 

Bro blinks and then nods to JJ, “uh... yeah i think so- I felt a prick-" 

Then there's a distant screaming. It slowly gets closer--

Alt glitches and throws Bro and the others out of the way of the door. 

—and then Jackie flies right through the doorway, still shouting, and crashes into the living room wall. "Oof!" 

"Jackie!" Bro shouts, hurrying over to him. "Are you okay??" 

Alt wastes no time in shutting the door and hurriedly chants another spell over it. He holds two hands over the wood and pours his magic in, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "A-Any sign of Mag??"

Jackie recovers surprisingly quickly, popping back up. "I'm okay!" he gasps. "No sign of Magnificent. But there's at least one SAM out there, and probably more coming, with--" 

"Neutrinalin? Yes, Bro just told us," Schneep says. "He also said he might've been injected. Can you still access your powers, Bro? Will it even work on you?" 

"I-if it will, it should be working by now," Jackie adds.

Bro blinks and then looks down at himself- for a second, he feels kinda dizzy. He shakes this off though and tries to see if he can hover in the air. He's able to for a second before he crashes down. His normally bright blue eyes under his mask seem a bit duller and he pales. "... f-fuck...!" 

JJ looks at Alt. Do those wards block out any threats or just magical ones?

Alt grits his teeth and concentrates, trying to spread out his magic over more than just the door. "I... I started with just magic wards but- I-I'm trying to expand them to anything now that Bro and Windstorm are back! Hopefully they can hold for a bit... but if... if these machines are coming the wards I put over Dahila's room might not be enough...!" 

Bro pushes himself up on shaky arms. "Alt- you're not draining yourself, are you??" 

"I'm giving us a fighting chance!" Alt bites back. "We need every advantage we can get!" 

"You know what would be giving us a chance? Having you ready to fight if they show up, Alt," Schneep points out. 

Bro nods along with Schneep. "You're just as powerful as the rest of us Alt! We need you!" 

Alt laughs at this, giving them a semi-pained look. "... Mag used me against you all last time- I dont want to give him that chance again. I'll be fine- but... I... I'll try to refuel." He backs up from the door, letting his hands slip off. The door and the walls/windows on that side of the house glimmer slightly with green- like the effect of looking at something under sunlight in water. 

JJ pales a bit at Alt mentioning Dahlia. Do you think someone should stay with her? he worries. Maybe Chase? Or other Jackie? 

Marvin appears just as he asks that. "You know your sister can take care of herself, right?" 

Yes, but she was in a COMA until a couple weeks ago, so there's some difficulty there! JJ snaps, practically throwing his hands in Marvin's face. 

"Whoa!" Marvin leans back. "Um... s-sorry. I didn't mean to... sorry."

Jackie peeks up from where he's been sitting on the stairs, nervously fiddling with the vest and the knife. He blinks at JJ and then smiles, "Hey- Jays- I can try to protect Dahlia if you want! Dunno how much use I'd be in the big fight but, I'm sure I can keep some metal fuckers away from her!"

JJ smiles at him. Thank you. But you said you were best at knife fighting, right? Knives won't be much use against robots. 

Soren and Chase peek into the living room. "I can stay with Ti--with Dahlia, Jem," Soren offers. "I'm sure I can handle some drones." His weapon of choice is a metal bat, which he taps threateningly against his hands. 

Jackie pouts slightly, "They're like- eyes right? Just- jab em in the pupil!" He tries to demonstrate, jabbing at the air. 

Schneep laughs. "Their 'pupils' are their cameras, so that may actually work out. If there is no camera, they cannot see." 

"But I also know... some martial arts! ... but I guess that'd hurt against a robot. Mannn what the hell! I hate being normal..." Jackie mutters. 

Chase looks down at Jackieboy. "Yeah, I know how you feel, bro. Not sure how much I can do. All anyone would need to do to take me out is knock me down." 

"If you guys want to get somewhere safe, we're not gonna stop you," Jackie says. "It's up to you." He peers out through the curtained windows.

Bro smiles at his friend with sympathy. "Well... looks like I'm in your boat too, Jackie..." He looks down at his hands and flexes them, as if willing his power to come back. 

Alt sits down on the floor and grabs more things to eat, tiredly trying to get his energy back. He leans against the wall and tries to catch his breath, looking a bit pale and clammy.

Marvin nods. "Alright. Sounds like it's time to wait." 

#SATCV #SATCV septicheroes #alt anti #bro fantastic #jackie mann #more introductions then!! trouble starts!! :O #i love dahila and soren so much ajhbak beans

[pastafossa]

Just saw a recent ask you answered about TRT and found out that you've been adding songs to the playlist that readers suggest.

Well, I've got a whole list of suggestions! I actually made my own playlist because I had thought of a bunch! Anyway, here's the list:

Alive by SIA, Angel With a Shotgun by The Cab, Battlefield by SVRCINA, Become the Beast by Karliene, Carolina by Taylor Swift, Centuries by Fall Out Boy, Darling by Halsey, Devil on My Shoulder by Faith Marie, Ember by Katherine McNamara, Enemy Fire by Bea Miller, Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde (alternatively, you can use the original by the Beatles), False God by Taylor Swift, Human and Divine by Lynda Carter (not so sure about this one, tbh), The Joker and The Queen by Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran, Labyrinth by Taylor Swift, Life Vest by The Material, Rescue Me (How The Story Ends) by Kerrie Roberts, Seven Devils by Florence + the Machine, Shatter Me by Lindsay Sterling ft. Lzzy Hale, Soldier by Fleurie and Tommee Profitt, Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift, Take Me to Church by Hozier, This Is The Hunt by Ruelle, Tomorrow We Fight by Tommee Profitt and SVRCINA, Walk Through the Fire by Zayde Wolf and Ruelle, Warrior by Beth Crowley, Warriors by Imagine Dragons, The Way I Was (from "Jem and the Holograms" movie by Aubrey Peeples, We Go Down Together by Dive Cameron and Khalid, Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey (I prefer the DH orchestral version, but the regular also works).

What do you think?

I THINK YOU HAVE GIFTED ME A TREASURE TROVE, MY FRIEND, LOOK AT ALL THESE SONGS. And I know this shit is gonna be GOOD because I both have a couple of these already on the playlist and because a bunch of these artists make appearances with others songs! AKA, THESE WILL FIT RIGHT IN because apparently we've got a TRT hivemind going on and I fucking LOVE IT.

Thank you SO MUCH! I'm going to drop these onto the playlist!

(and for anyone looking, these are all going onto the official playlist that can be found here! Feel free to listen or browse at your leisure; it's about 50% reader-recommended songs at present, and there are a bunch of other fan-made playlists around spotify, too, so I encourage poking around!)

#the red thread #MOAR SONGS FOR THE TRT SONG GODS #(is it me? am i the trt god? or am i just its prophet???) #anyway i LOVE this and recognize a lot of the artists as voices that have popped up with other songs on the playlist so these fit right in! #THANK YOOOOOU FOR THE SONG FOOOOOOD

[darcyolsson]

What's the ultimate ranking of all parabatai pairs in your intellectual tmi-spiral opinion

thanks for acknowledging the fact that tmi is making me a bit crazy 💛 without further ado, parabatai pairs from worst to best at being parabatai:

luke & valentine - they get some points for participating in a Parabatai Love Triangle (tm) which we all know by now is an essential part of all parabatai pairs but i think it's literally mentioned once that they were parabatai and then it's never brought up again. clearly this was the parabatai equivalent of an embarassing teenage relationship. 1.5/10

lucie & cordelia - they at least take the whole parabatai connected-souls things quite seriously but they forgot the most important part and thats that you need to actually be friends. 3/10

jace & alec - these two however absolutely did not take it seriously enough lmfaoooooo there's real love between them but they hate communicating, talking and speaking to each other SOOOO MUCH. however i kind of have to respect it? sometimes a joint parabatai slay is that they both dont actually give a fuck ab being parabatai. they were kind of real for that. 5/10

james & matthew - i acknowledge that they tried but they werent very good at it were they. i think they kind of suffer from the same thing as lucie & cordelia in the sense that they interact too little to come off as besties even though they both want to be besties. however they did have quite a few moments of unwavering homoerotic loyalty and i do love that. didnt live up to their potential though. 5.5/10

robert & michael - yeah they ended on bad terms but at least they gave us the drama and the completely insane intensity i'm LOOKING for!!!! like i said earlier, almost 20 years after his death michael was still the person robert loved the most in the entire world and michael literally came back from the dead to attend roberts funeral. perhaps robert failed to notice michael dying but thats iconic in and of itself imo do you know how deep you have to bury your emotions to not notice your parabatai's death?????? complete emotional rollercoaster i love it. 7/10 no wonder jace & alec are Like That

simon & clary - they rlly just became parabatai because they could. overhated and underrated parabatai duo i think they lack a certain je ne sais quoi that other pairs do have but i'm obsessed w their friendship so i love them anyway<3 have we considered that more ppl should just become parabatai with their besties simply because they can? besides at this rate simon will be a werewolf or something in 3 months' time anyway so we can't ever blame them for jumping on the opportunity! 7.5/10

jonathan shadowhunter & david the silent - literally invented the parabatai bond. bestie goals. couldve made it more feminist and included a woman though 🙄 8/10

emma & julian - do i even need to explain. they burned down a church. objectively awful at the whole parabatai deal though but in such an iconic life-changing culturally historically and aesthetically significant way that i dont even care. 9/10

will & jem - our souls are knit. we are one person, james. 10000000000000/10

#the fact that emma and julian belong both at the top and the bottom of this list is what makes them iconic #idc if they played by the rules of being parabatai did they serve cunt? i think they did #answered asks #anonymous #tsc #tmi #tda #tlh #tid

[kujo1597]

Oh geeze. I didn’t mean for it to take this long to do another one of these. I’ve actually been dealing with persistent vertigo for... over three weeks. Kind of made me not really want to spend too much time at the computer. (But for some reason it did make me finally get around to playing Cyber Shadow.) Don’t worry about the vertigo thing by the way, it’s likely due to lack of sleep.

Well anyway. Let’s pick up from where we left off.

Oh yeah, everything is on fire.

Everybody manages to evacuate the burning building but we see Ashley run off towards the inferno. After doing a quick head count Jerrica notices that Ashley was missing and then sees the girl running out the house while holding the Honor Jar.

Naturally Jerrica tells Ashley that she is worth more than all the money in the world.

The fire crew arrives and they put out the fire. Although there really wasn’t much house left to save.

Sooooo....

This bird is dead.

Poor thing.

We see everybody wrapped up in blankets sitting on their lawn before Rio shows up. After a hug he assures Jerrica that everything will be okay. So, I will say this here. In the early episodes of the show Rio is actually a very solid guy. I don’t really have a problem with him at this point. I’ll talk more about Rio and his evolution into my least favourite Jem character over the course of this series.

Let’s put the Rio ramble to the side for now.

The Misfits arrive at the scene shortly after him, I wonder if the fire was on the news, and Pizzazz and Roxy gawk at the fire, Stormer stares too but she really seems like she feels bad for the people who just lost their home. Pizzazz on the other hand says, “Couldn’t have happened to a better person” in a very uncaring way. Class act.

Deirdre being twelve and homeless asks Jerrica a very good question. Where are they going to live now?

Jerrica’s answer, Howard Sands’ mansion he’s put up as the winnings for the battle of the bands competition. She asks the girls if they want to help Jem and The Holograms put on a concert. And then Jerrica and her sisters load up in the Starlight Express and drive off to meet Synergy. Rio takes the children to Howard’s house in his van.

We get an exciting chase scene where the Misfits follow Jerrica and The Holograms and using Synergy to transform the car into a garbage bin they lose their rivals. But only temporarily as Stormer notices Rio’s van and they start to follow him.

Yep, totally inconspicuous. Good job Synergy. Well, to be fair, this is a drive-in theatre. But it’s also one that’s been shut down for years. Soooo... yeah.

After a quick change of clothes our titular band heads on over to Howard’s house that he lives in to wake him up with a concert.

To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of this song. Can’t really put my finger on it. I think it goes on for too long. The songs in these first five episodes are a minute thirty long and get kind of repetitive. But later on when the songs are better written I'd love it if they were longer than a minute.

Anyway, Howard gets woken up by the impromptu concert and rushes out of his home to see why there are twelve kids on his lawn, seventeen if we’re considering Jerrica an older teen at this point in the series.

The Misfits climb out of their van and starting booing Jem and Pizzazz announces that they’re going to make trouble. Rio warns Jem who sneaks off to change into Jerrica. But Stormer is sent by Pizzazz to follow Jem around. Jem hides behind a bush and summons a hologram of Jem who just fucking, sprints towards the mansion. I wish I could make GIFs because she’s so fast! It’s awesome.

Meanwhile Kimber tells Howard that her sister will explain the situation.

Jerrica gets away from Stormer and joins up with everybody else who are arguing about the fact that one of the bands in the competition has just crashed Howard’s living quarters. Jerrica tells him about Starlight House burning down.

And we get another moment showing that Stormer might not be that bad of a person. She tears up while listening to the story. Roxy elbows her in the gut though putting a stop to it.

Naturally the Misfits oppose to the idea of Jerrica living in the winnings with all her children and Howard’s like, “I still own the mansion. I’m giving Jerrica the keys.” because he probably doesn’t want to leave sixteen or eighteen people without a place to live. I know I keep putting an emphasis on how many people lived in Starlight House but it’s an awful lot. It was a pretty big house though.

Anyway, Pizzazz hates this decision and pushes Howard into a pool, then Roxy steals a bulldozer and starts running things over. Then Jerrica tries pulling Howard out of the pool and ends up

flying like, ten feet through the air and into the path of a runaway bulldozer. I had to post the GIF because it’s just *chef’s kiss* So good.

Cut to commercial before we see Jerrica get plowed over.

Rio does save her though and they do a pretty good job of showing how in love they are. Like I said! Rio was perfectly fine in these episodes! They’re actually kind of sweet together.

Aja manages to leap into the bulldozer and turns it off before anything else could happen.

Then the Misfits speed off in their van and judging by the animation give Rio’s van a nice scrape.

Howard being understandably mad at them says that he’ll do what he can to help Jem and The Holograms. But if the Misfits do win the contest they do still get to keep the mansion.

Now we cut to Starlight Music where the Misfits are complaining to Eric and he tells them that he’s doing everything he can to keep them from getting sued by Howard.

They take this well and trash the office before going to the mansion. Meanwhile Eric phones Zipper and tells him he has another job to do.

Here’s our first look at the mansion Howard put up as a prize. It has a pool which takes away the sting of losing everything. I adore how Kimber is just as excited as the younger girls to look around their new home.

Rio buzzes in and tells Jerrica that he’s here with a camera crew for their magazine shoot for an article on up and coming rock groups. The crew comes into the courtyard and Zipper manages to sneak in before the gates close.

We see a scene inside the mansion where Ashley says to Lela and Becky that she shouldn’t still be held accountable for the money she stole from the Honor Jar because they’re now living in a home that isn’t falling apart. But she’s told that she still owes them money. And Ashley makes the point that she saved the Honor Jar from burning in the fire. But Lela tells her that doesn’t make up for stealing it. And honestly Lela, I think saving the couple hundred bucks in the jar does make up for stealing thirty. Ashley is understandably frustrated. She heads outside and sees an opportunity to make some money.

The Misfits are complaining about not being able to stay in the mansions and Pizzazz is saying how badly she wants through the gate. So Ashley tells them that she’ll let them in if they give her thirty bucks. Stormer ends up having to pay because she’s a bit of a pushover.

After Ashley runs off to open the gate we see Zipper sneak into a room.

Now we get a very fun music video. Click Clash which is performed by both of this season’s bands. I really like whenever they do this. The mix of musical styles is so interesting.

After the music video we see Zipper hide a bomb in the couch.

He’s very good at his job.

Eric arrives on the scene and warns Pizzazz and Roxy about the bomb. Not Stormer though, I guess she’s too nice for his liking.

Then the bomb goes off.

JESUS! I forgot about that! Let’s add this to our “Kimber almost dies horribly count.” Yeah it’s a recurring thing for my favourite character. Hm. Maybe that’s why I hit her with a car.

The police and press shortly arrive on the scene. They ask Eric how he knew about the bomb and he claims he got an anonymous phone call from a fan of Jem and The Holograms saying that they’re going to blow up the Misfits. Jem apologizes to Howard and he tells her that he doesn’t believe Eric’s story for even a minute.

As thanks Jem offers to help clean up the mess. And Rio runs up to the group asking where Jerrica is. One quick hologram of Jerrica waving from the top floor later and Rio is satisfied.

Then suddenly a blonde woman appears, she is Howard’s friend Countess Danielle Du Voisin, he introduces her to his new favourite band and she invites them over to a party on he yacht. Then after her invitation is enthusiastically accepted she bumps into the Misfits who are less than charming. And the countess tells them that they’re not invited. I wouldn’t be surprised if Howard told her about the mess they caused earlier in the morning.

Jem gets rid of the Misfits in a fun way by asking them to help clean up the rubble.

And then we cut to the yacht.

Everybody climbs onboard and frankly, Kimber is severely under dressed. I love the outfit but it’s not really one for a back tie party. Oh, and Rio says that he wishes Jerrica could have come along, Jem tells him that Jerrica asked her to show him a good time.

And now we see the party on the yacht. It’s full of movers and shakers in the entertainment industry. Including Lindsey Pierce who I’m quite fond of.

By the way, the music that’s playing makes me wonder about the production. I recognize it as a song from episode 9. So it must have been added in after they stitched together the shorts. I suppose it’s also possible that it was included with one of the Jem fashion dolls or a playset but I don’t recall “We Can Make a Difference” being included with anything. But I also haven’t looked up the entire list of cassettes. I wonder what was playing in the Super Sunday airing during this shot, if anything.

Back to the show. Lindsey introduces Jem to a cinematographer, Anthony Julian who Shana is very attracted to. So Jem played wingman and told Anthony that he should really be talking to Shana about the music video.

Then we cut to the Misfits sitting in a speedboat looking at the yacht and plotting to crash the party. As you do.

So, something interesting about Roxy here is that she has a heart tattoo near her armpit. That tattoo is the result of the person making the model sheet misreading the artwork Roxy’s outfit is based off of. There was a shape used to indicate shading but because the sketch was in black and white this shape was misinterpreted as a heart. So Roxy ended up with a tattoo. I honestly do kind of wish she got to keep it. Oh well.

Now we see some romance, Anthony’s talking to Shana and is shocked that her group doesn’t have any backing from a record company. And then we cut to Jem and Rio. I don’t know what exactly went through Jerrica’s mind here, but as Jem she asked Rio if he likes her. And Rio says that he hardly even knows her. Jem says that maybe she should tell Rio who she is and then leans in for a kiss.

And then cue The Misfits cackling and spraying seltzer on the upcoming love triangle involving two people.

They tear up the party and even cause a guy to get pied so hard he’s sent to the Shadow Realm.

The countess complains about their presence and the Misfits run off and enter the ship’s control room where they mess with some dials and send the yacht onto a crash course with a gigantic ship.

Well, this was episode 2 of Jem. Things really got crazy in this one. Somehow more crazy than a lantern causing a fire that engulfed fairly big house.

I actually don’t have too many final thoughts on the episode. It was just really fun. Jem’s a very fun show.

#Jem and the Holograms #Kujo Watches Jem #I'm only putting this one in the main tag because it's been like two weeks since the first one