The League tried to interrupt a summoning of a powerful being from the Infinite Realms. From the information they collected, the being isn't of the status of a royalty, but they still had to be careful as the being the summoners tried to call forth was still of noble status.
They failed.
The head cultist finished the ritual, the last words to finish the summoning left their tongue and the room was suddenly doused in heat, as black flame came to life from within the circle, twisting and turning, back and forth until a pair of red eyes suddenly flashed from inside the twisting pillar of flame and just as suddenly as the eyes appeared, was the pillar broken apart.
What was left behind was the figure of a giant phoenix, wings spread as embers black as night gently fell down to the floor below and suddenly disappearing, as if they were never there in the first place.
"Who dares to disturb-" The being started, eyes scanning the crowd below before stilling, extremely and worryingly quiet. One of them quietly cursed. "Constantine..." The creature's voice was low, dangerously low, no doubt anger in its voice as it called out the Warlock's name.
Everyone tensed, expecting something dangerous, except for the cultists, and the Head, who turned his head towards them and smiled, obviously expecting them to be reduced to not even ash.
"100 years. One. Hundred. Years." The being spoke, and confusion wormed its way into the hearts of all those present. "100 years I have waited for you, and when we finally meet once again it's not even you summoned me but these-" The creature waved a wing at the cultist below. "-These fatuous and vacuous little things."
"And what is this? You surrounded yourself with those not even of human birth before you have even thought about me?" The noble's eyes narrowed. "Did our relationship mean nothing to you?
Someone, probably not Constantine, choked.
"Well then, after all of this time you can at least make yourself useful." In a flash of black fire, Constantine was brought from within the ranks of heroes and in front of the beast, a man who seemed to be trying to-and unsuccessfully- lighting a smoke. "Ah, why do that when you have me?" The being purred, bending down to apparently light a smoke before freezing, as if remembering what exactly it was doing, but the action was already done, and Constantine was killing his lungs away.
The phoenix snapped back up to standing above everyone else, clearing its throat as if what happened decidedly didn't happen.
"What exactly did you want me to be useful for, love?" Constantine asked, expelling the smoke from his lungs and deciding that this might as well be happening. The noble huffed, folding its wings at its sides as it stared down at its apparent lover. "Take care of our son for once in your sad, pathetic life."
This time, not only did Constantine choke, but a good chunk of people there did as well. Constantine ran a hand through his hair, looking up at the phoenix incredulously. "Aren't we both men?"
The phoenix looked at his lover as if he were stupid. "Your point?"
"I-" Constantine sighed, took a breath, held, then expelled more smoke from his lungs. Apparently, he decided not to question anything anymore. "You know what? Sure, where is the little bugger?"
Over the next few moments, both the Justice League and Cultists were treated to the noble transforming into a human (still having wings) and handing over their apparent child-who looked nothing like them by being a dragon, but who were they to question the apparent reproduction of a being from the Infinite Realms- and being lectured about what not to do and what to do and how he should be cared for.
Also, a warning for his many powers.
Then the Duke stole a kiss (One that he claimed was long overdue) and left.
The room was silent, only the sounds of breathing occupying the room as the temperature was brought back down to normal levels.
A moment later, Batman walked up to the nearby cultist and punched him across the face and knocking him out cold, suddenly reminding everyone what exactly they were here for.
A while later, in the meeting room, everyone looked at Constantine. Who had a baby eastern dragon wrapped around one arm (who was apparently his child) and rubbing his temple with the other.
"I can't explain this."
===
Danny was actually not Constantine kid, neither was he Vlad's. Biologically, at the very least, however. Vlad did adopt both him and Jasmine a while back after their whole parent fiasco.
They're dead, sadly unable to become ghosts, or perhaps not so sadly.
Of course, they unfortunately outlived Jasmine, which was to be expected, but Vlad and Danny did grow close enough that they no longer viewed each other as enemies.
However, who could have expected that Danny, finally ascending to his princely status, would turn him back into a literal child because he was, for all intents and purposes, one by Dragon standards.
Utter malarkey, he would say.
Taking care of that boy was the worst few memories he has ever had. He was constantly being kept from his sleep, his work being interrupted constantly, and the child managed to find a way to leave his sight at each and every turn.
But there were some sweet moments, he would say.
It's only reasonable, however, that his lover (who he hasn't seen for an entire century might he add) share the workload.
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Kaelan Makes Progress
-:-Master Post-:-Previous-:-
More days pass, and the suspicious lack of "ghostly" activities continue. It gets quiet to the point where the prevailing rumours move away from ghosts and poltergeists to gossip over Prince Ayal'aran and Auree's budding romance.
Kaelan doesn't quite know what to think of it, but he absolutely won't believe any of it without concrete proof.
As it is, he has other more important things to think about. Like lamenting the sheer amount of time he's been wasting on this endeavor of his that just felt more and more ridiculous as the days passed. What was he even doing these rounds of the castle for anyhow? It had gotten quiet after all.
He spots Miss Auree unsubtly sneaking her way out into the gardens. From his vantage point, a window three floors up, he watches her as she largely ignores the footpaths while carrying her cloth covered basket through the bushes. The tall neck of a bottle pokes out on one end. Suspicious. But well within her right...
Still. She had shown an antagonistic interest in the Rascal, and also Prince Ayal'aran...maybe...?
When she finally slips out of sight, he makes his way down as well, following the trail she made. It's far from difficult.
When he finally does spot her again, she's no longer alone.
The little remote pavilion is nearly overgrown. It's obvious the castle gardeners have had other things on their mind than the upkeep of areas that normally see little use. Yet Ayal'aran seems comfortable where he sits on the vine covered stone bench, the usual cat pressed to his thigh, purring loud enough for Kaelan to hear from his hiding place behind a large rose bush several yards away.
"...next time it's your turn to go to the kitchens, allright? I can't handle the questions alone! It feels like my face is about come off with how hot they get!" Miss Auree is saying.
Ayal'aran chuckles, helping her unload the basket's contents onto the stone table between them. "What kind of questions?"
"You know what kind!"
"I really don't..."
Auree groans. "You know, the teasing kind!"
"Teasing you about what?"
Auree gives him a look. "About you. Little Prince. Dear Fiancé. Are you really saying they don't tease you AT ALL?" Whatever look Ayal'aran is giving the girl, it must be unsatisfactory, as she nearly shrieks with frustration. "That's it. Next time, and every other time after that, it'll be YOUR job to get the food and drinks! I'll handle the--the Cat!" She declares.
"Is that really necessary? I'm sure they'll stop doing that eventually if you just keep at it." Ayal manages through giggles, then hurriedly ducks out of the way of the pillow aimed at his face.
Huh. Maybe the rumours of the two finally hitting it off well were founded in truth after all.
Kaelan is about to turn away to give the budding couple some privacy when his eyes catches something that makes him do a double take.
One moment the cat is there. The next it's shape is rapidly expanding into an infuriatingly familiar mop of bushy haired teenager who takes more space than the stone bench can hold. With an undignified yelp the boy tips off the bench, followed by a groan accompanying the thud as he lands.
Auree snorts a most undignified laugh.
Ayal'aran coughs his own behind a palm. "Are you allright, Wy?" He asks.
The boy huffs back at him, unamused.
"Well, now that you're awake, how about lunch?" Auree suggests, as if the cat turning into Wy is a normal occurrence.
But of course it is. To her. Druid alcove. The conniving little liar was a Druid. It explained everything. Why the little shit was so difficult to catch. How he'd disappear so easily.
All the instances where he'd personally interacted with that black cat comes to mind as well as he watches the three chatter amicably over the food, and he can feel the rage bubble to the surface. He turns on his heel and stalks away to cool off before he finds himself doing something exceedingly stupid.
-:-
Wy Talks
-:-
"Are you alright?" Ilira asks as she happens upon a thoroughly aggravated Kaelan heaving a sigh.
"Just. Fine." Kaelan grits out as he massages his temples. "The last few weeks have been a bit...rough. That's all." Not to mention the absolute exploding fireball of a reveal he'd witnessed earlier.
"So I've heard." Ilira comments lightly. "I'm not usually privy to the servants' rumour mill, but even I have heard a few. Why, my personal maid even waxed poetic about your ghost exterminating prowess. That howling ghost down the hall from the library disappeared rather fast after you went to take a look."
Kaelan's eyebrow twitches. He's known her for long enough to know what face she makes when she's holding back laughter, and that is just the face she's making.
"I'm glad..." He has to pause to rearrange his face out of a sneer. "...amusement to the Princess." He grumbles eventually.
She hums in agreement. "Well, don't let your...exploits distract you from your normal duties, Captain Kaelan." She tuts teasingly as she walks past him towards the throne room.
He crosses his arms at her receding back.
Normal duties...
-:-
He's still thinking hard when the Cat comes circling his shins later the same day, for the first time in nearly a week. Unbeknownst to Kaelan, Wy has finally gotten some things off his chest, and is thus itching to reinitiate the shenanigans. Kaelan on his part is so off kilter he impulsively grabs the Cat by the scruff of its neck, raising it to eye height to scowl into confused gold slitted eyes.
"You." He nearly hisses.
The Cat yowls pitifully at him.
"Don't you even try that with me now." He sneers. "I know exactly what you are, and you are a Menace. You might as well just drop the act, right now, as I have Finally. Caught. You. And this time you're not getting away."
Just as the Cat mrrps indignantly, Kaelan finally notices the red haired servant watching him with eyes as big as saucers. Frozen in her confusion as to what in the world has come over the usually uptight Captain, she presses the laundry basket in her hands to her chest with a squeak when their eyes meet.
"D-don't mind me, Master Kaelan. I-I'll just--" She begins, then scampers off down the hall. A few pieces of laundry jostles out of the basket in her haste, and she nearly trips in her attempt at picking them up speedily, but she does disappear from sight in the end, flustered out of her mind.
Kaelan returns his attention to the Cat, who is...pouting up at him? He narrows his eyes at it.
"Allright. Time to turn back boy. We need to talk."
The Cat considers it for a moment, then suddenly he's got a hand full of fabric instead of fur, and a very tall teenager meeting his ireful stare with a carefully neutral one of his own.
A tense silence stretches as the two try to negotiate the terms of this conversation with eyes alone. Then Wy shrugs. "I won't run. You caught me. Rules are rules."
Kaelan almost sneers as he lets go of the Menace's shirt a bit more violently than probably necessary. "Oh, so you have rules you follow. Would be great if you informed everyone else of them?"
"But that's no fun, Mister Guard Captain Sir. Half of the fun lies in you figuring out the rules."
"Is this a game to you?" Kaelan has to make a concerted effort to not deck the boy.
Wy eyes Kaelan's white knuckles, face still infuriatingly neutral. "Obviously."
Dragging in a deep shaky breath in an effort to put a lid on his building anger, Kaelan turns on his heel, letting his gaze skim down the empty hallway. Then something occurs to him, and he whirls back around again.
Wy blinks leisurely at him, still in the same spot as before. "Oh. You thought I'd run?" He glances over his shoulder as he points his thumb down the hallway the other way. "I will if you're done."
"I'm not done." If he spits the words a bit too fast, he's way beyond caring. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are bored. Yes? That is why you've been doing--" Kaelan waves his hand in Wy's general direction, "all this."
Wy pouts thoughtfully, then nods. "Pretty much."
"So as long as you are not bored you'll stop being a menace to the servants."
The boy takes another moment to think, then shrugs again. "I mean. If you catch me, maaaaybe I'll stop. For the day."
Kaelan has to turn around again so as to not grab the boy and shake him. "What--hey, where do you think you're going!? I'm not done with you!"
"But I'm done with you!" Wy shouts over his shoulder as he jumps onto the windowsill of an open window.
"We're four floors up!"
Wy flashes him a grin as he makes a show of falling out of the window. Kaelan's string of curses are drowned out by the sound of howling wind and flapping wings.
-:-Next-:-
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i found jay’s black jacket (an ID guide)
This black jacket is worn by Jay about 9 times throughout Marble Hornets, including his final appearance. And after some weeks of on-and-off research, I think I know the exact make and model.
This post will detail exactly how I found it, and serve as a guide for anyone that wants to find the jacket, whether that's for cosplay purposes, or if you're just keen on collecting items related to MH.
Main post under the cut
Intro
The first step to identifying the jacket was to gather as many references as possible.
I went back to the web series and took screenshots from any entries the jacket makes an appearance. (shoutout to mg549′s very comprehensive MH wardrobe guide, without it this would’ve been much more of a pain)
Jay's jacket is, for the most part, very plain. It's a solid color, full-zip jacket, without any particularly eye-catching logos or other details. I had to look for moments where even the slightest distinction appeared clear on camera, at least as distinct as it can be. Even if it was just close-ups to get the shape of a zipper, or how many buttons are on a sleeve, it was the best I got.
While I did manage to find a decent amount of these, there was just one crucial detail that would've made finding it near-impossible; the brand is never shown. Thankfully, I had another resource.
In 2018 Troy Sold a Lot of Stuff
In early 2018, Troy officially announced that MH would be continued in a comic series. To fund the first issue, he held a number of auctions for production items used during the web series on Ebay.
These included items such as Jay’s camera, Brian’s hoodie, A Masky mask, and Jay’s black jacket.
Lo and behold, the jacket listing includes a picture with the brand in clear view. It's from Gap.
Ebay does not archive sold listings older than 90 days. However, Worthpoint, a website for valuing and pricing collectibles, does. Using Worthpoint I was able to find all of these items, (and a lot more, which can be found in this doc I submitted to Archive Hornets)
Identification
With the picture from the listing and the series screencaps, I had a complete ID list.
(Top image is from the Ebay listing, with the contrast adjusted a little for easier viewing. The bottom two images are from Entry #79)
The Gap logo (This specific logo dates the jacket being made anywhere between 1986 and 2009, when it first appears).
Front Zipper (Note the shape)
The two front pockets
The two buttons and pointed cuffs on each sleeve (Second one is a little hard to see but it's jusstt peeping out at the side)
The blue piping in the inner lining
The zipper in the right side inner lining
The gray mesh inner lining
With these in mind, I could now go to the next and longest step-
Finding the Jacket
I combed three resell sites; Ebay, Depop, and Poshmark. My main goal wasn't to actually purchase the jacket, (although, I would like to at some point) but to find a jacket listing that had every identifier, and have a more definite baseline for finding others. I needed to be sure what I had was enough to properly ID the jacket. The references I had stitched together were decent enough, but I wanted to see if there was something better out there.
After tons of page scrolling and tab-switching and comparing and contrasting, I finally got lucky.
(first two images are from crashthecloset's listing on poshmark, last six are from shannfo-76 on ebay)
I haven't bought one myself as of posting, but I feel pretty confident this is it. The jackets were already sold, but every marker seemed to be accounted for. It also revealed new ones, like the reflective pattern and pockets on the inner lining, (zipper on the right side pocket, button on the left pocket) and the materials tag.
With that, here's some final notes that may be helpful if you try looking for the jacket yourself:
Online sellers often describe it as a light jacket, a windbreaker, a 2-in-1, or 3-in-1.
"Gap Mens Black Jacket" is the search phrase I used the most since it yielded a (very) broad result pool.
Most of the jackets I found came from Poshmark or Ebay.
The exact size of Jay’s jacket is unclear. My best guesses are either a US Men’s S or M, since Jay was pretty skinny and of average height. I’ve only been able to find maybe 2 jackets that are a size M, one of which is the first pic in the photoset above.
Gap has sold other black jackets that look remarkably similar to Jay’s, and they do pop up on resell sites. One of these was so similar, the only discernible difference was the style of the logo. I highly recommend making sure it matches the exact one Jay had before purchasing. (It's also more than fine to ask/msg me if you have any doubts!) As long as you know what to look for, you shouldn’t have a problem finding at least one.
One detail that confounded me was this sleeve poking out of Jay's jacket. At first I thought he was wearing a long sleeve underneath, making this shot a continuity error since he appeared to Only be wearing the green short sleeve under the jacket.
@hivemite pointed out that this might be a two-in-one jacket, which has multiple layers for different types of weather. While I have not been able to see the sleeve outside of two shots in entry #79 and #80, one listing I found did describe it as a 3-in-1.
that's about it! hope this helps :)
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